#Quick sketch because he's still easy for me to draw

[thedailyvio]

Day 66

[crackedpumpkin]

a/n: before i go to sleep, it's drabble time!

"So..." You drawl, leaning back in your seat with a lazy grin. The city's local hero, Spiderman, dangles upside down in your trap.

He struggles to get free from the tightly bound ropes, almost tugging off his mask in the process.

"I have to admit, I love the new suit." You comment, grabbing a pencil and doing a quick sketch.

"What do you want from me?"

You pause, looking up from your sketchbook. "You sound pretty young to be a hero." You purse your lips, trying to guess his age.

"W-what? No, I don't." His voice turns gruff, and you chuckle from how obvious he was forcing it to be.

"I don't really want much. Just to draw you is all." You hum, flipping a page and letting pencil meet paper.

"What?"

You don't respond, eyes trained on sketching the dimensions of his midnight black suit. "I like the spray paint."

"Thanks," He's surprised by your comment, hands still furiously working to free himself. "Aren't you a villain?" He questions, unable to hold back his curiosity. You weren't really doing anything to him either, not like the muggers or robbers that roam the streets at night.

You were just... drawing him.

"I just thought the suit was cool." You respond simply with a shrug, looking straight at the white material on his mask that hides his eyes.

He flinches, surprised by the sudden eye contact. "And you trapped me because...?"

"I wanted to draw it."

"You could've just asked."

"I tried. You weren't really paying attention. "

Now that you mentioned it, the hero does vaguely remember, just passing by you as another face in the crowd.

"Oh. My bad."

The corner of your lips tug upwards into a slight smile. At least he has the common decency to admit it.

"Could you untie me though? It's getting a little uncomfortable." He voices out, fingers still trying to wriggle free.

"Sure, but I'll need something in exchange."

He sighs. Of course you did. People always wanted something from him as Spiderman, be it a photo or even to just gain clout.

"What is it?" He's wary now.

You grin, hands closing the sketchbook with a loud snap as you place your pencil down on your desk.

"That's easy," You walk towards him with ease, eyes filled with certainty. You're inches away from his upside down figure, leaning in slightly until your lips are next to where his ear would be under the mask.

"Be my model, Miles Morales."

[rusmii]

⌞ઇଓ⌝ ─── 𝓭𝓮𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓭𝓮𝓽𝓪𝓲𝓵𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓪𝓬𝓮 .ᐟ

when an artist from russia is hired to paint the portrait of the first daughter of [Surname], how will their relationship pan out as they start to get to know each other?

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. painter!fyodor x fem!reader, fluff, reader is a rich girl, fyodor is a foreigner, founding father language, fyodor character exploration, renaissance au.. I think

𝐩𝐬. haihai special early valentines gift for @aureatchi <3 luv ya revrev. NOT edited/proofread. was supposed to be longer, but I got tired and cut it💔

wc: 1.4k

“From where?” A question sprung from her chest.

“From Rus’, my lady,” the butler of [Surname] answers for him. Though her outward expression told him enough, Fyodor took this initiative to smile in respect.

“Yes, sir is correct — I am indeed from Rus’. Nice to meet the fair lady of [Surname].”

In quick addition, Fyodor bows slightly as he takes your hand into his. The gentle kiss placed on top of your white laced gloves still didn't seem to sway your opinion on him, however. How unfortunate.

After acknowledging his confirmation, Fyodor is swept away by the butler as you were with the maidens of the mansion.

Outside of the mansion was absolutely breathtaking. Circling around the fountain and to the main entrance of the tea house, Fyodor admires the new freshness of warm spring flowers.

Akin to that of his homeland, the flowers here in your country serve to be much more beautiful — as beautifully breathtaking as you are.

No third party opinion can convince him otherwise, that's for sure.

But for now, Fyodor must focus on his main job at hand; to draw a portrait of you.

It wasn't a hard job, per say. No, it was very much easy if he said so himself. But what really composed the challenge was the subject of fine details.

When an artist paints, you can easily follow along the very first few blobs of wet paint — the muse being satisfied from just a few pecks of fine strokes and a little bit of color here and there to liven up the look.

But those large specks of blobs soon turn into smaller little blotches of paint that are scattered everywhere on the canvas the higher the muse is willing to pay.

A very fine example of that would be you. A very demanding lady who expects the finest of quality works to be subjected to you when you're the main attraction.

While some had something to say about your ridiculous demands, Fyodor liked to say the opposite.

Because in his eyes, what other artists lacked was the fundamentals of the person doing the art.

It wasn't just confident brush strokes or the signature style of a person's canvas.

No, it was patience.

What others lacked was what he had acquired since birth.

And to him, that was exactly why many artists weren't able to meet your expectations. Why you were so disappointed when you first saw the finished product of your portrait.

Every single pretty piece of you just wasn't you. It was of another girl sitting in your place with the more descriptive details of your face.

In short, he thinks every self-proclaimed artist in your kingdom should rot for even daring to pick up the brush.

Ugly, so ugly that it had become ridiculous. Every pass by on the street, did Fyodor run into these cheap street artists that did nothing but sketch the outline of your body and called it a day.

Every corner turned was a portrait shop in the periphery of his vision. Even then, the finished product looked absolutely hideous.

He now saw why he was desperately called upon from your maidens despite his absent leave.

If he was judgested from the displays of art this kingdom had to offer, then he could guess how horrible you were feeling when you found out that the arts were just disrespected inside the premise of this land.

“We've arrived. Please do try not to fight with each other.” Announcing the arrival of his company, Fyodor bows, and thanks the butler for escorting him. “Thank you for going out of your way to escort me here, sir.”

A smile made its way on the butler's face. ‘Seems as if he's not used to these praisments,’ Fyodor thinks before waving the butler off from sight.

Now that he was alone, he set his eyes on the double wooden door. Its gorgeous carved craft made him question why the artists just weren't up to par as other vapa professions in the area.

“Lovely for you to join me today, Dostoevsky,” the clink of your teacup very well matched your outfit. Seemed as if you were the stylish type.

Not that he minded. In fact, he very much appreciated you being the second most beautifully fitted piece he's laid his eyes on since stepping foot into this kingdom.

“Not at all, my lady,” Fyodor sips his tea, the plaid smile resting comfortably on his face. “Hm.. If I had known how polite you'd be, I'd very much have approached you with a far pleasant attitude.” Ah. Apology accepted, Miss [Surname].

“No, no. I do not condemn you for your misuse of tone towards me. I, too, would have been irritated had I known that the artists of the kingdom I was residing in were.. erm..” How should he put it without offending your nationalism pride?

“Horrid?” You finished the word for him. “Yes, horrid,” his smile grows as a response to you. A mutual smile following the lines of your face as well. Fyodor sets his cup aside, walking over to the art set, sitting next to the beautifully lined vines.

He inspects the canvas and quality paints rowed out into columns. “Do you guys usually have sets out sitting like this?” He asks.

“Just for the occasion.”

“Ah.”

For a few more seconds, Fyodor takes his time to admire the smooth wooden palette. Its edges looked as if it fit a comfortable vice and didn't retain any splinters.

He notices your eyes on him. Indirectly, the light of the teahouse mirrors his reflection.

Turning his attention back to you, Fyodor decides to muse you on your questions. “Care to chat about your questions, my lady?”

His perception almost caught you off guard. Almost.

Coughing up the air from your throat, you sit upright to fix your posture and re-cross your legs to sit in a mannered form while Fyodor sits timely across from you.

“Well, to start off…” Pausing to take a sip of your tea for dramatic effects, Fyodor waits patiently for your first question. “Why did you accept the offer to paint my portrait when you were on absence?”

Without skipping a beat, Fyodor responds with a quick that's a bit personal.

Which led to you choking up on your strings and having him lead the conversation.

Fyodor stirs his spoon inside the teacup. The sugar cube melting away from the light waved of bitterness.

The silence that was started by him now was broken by him. “How did you arrive at the teahouse so early, before me?” A simple question, but still something nonetheless.

“I had taken the short route whilst as I had him give you the scenic view the kingdom could not offer you." A somewhat apology from you on the behalf of the people. An empathic gesture that was not needed from you.

“I see…” Fyodor let out a short witted answer. His interest in this conversation dwindled as fast as the kingdom's normal artisan.

His faded expressions sent bells to your head. The commoners bore all too familiar with you.

Trying to find another topic that'll get him to stay, Fyodor abruptly stands up from his seat and stalks over to the set.

His never ending fixation.

“Get up and sit here. Bring your chair too,” he suddenly orders you — his demeanor all too serious from who you were just talking to a second ago.

“Agh. Blasphemous,” he hears you mutter your breath, but chose not to confront you on anything as you were complying with his demands.

“Sit, sit.” He ushers you into a spot under the direct sunlight where it shines the brightest.

You cross your arms, “Don't tell me what to do in my own teahouse.”

Ignoring your words, he grabs a hold of the paint brush lying in the tray. “Chin up, head straight. Posture fixed and don't move.”

Distraught with complaints, your expression sours as you zip your lips to refrain from spouting any irrationally nonsense.

“Loosen up your face,” he says, dipping the brush into the water as he picks up a nearby pencil to measure your outline.

You huff, “Why?”

His soft smile still adorned his face, “To capture your beauty in my memory.”

Memory? Dostoevsky wants to remember your beauty forever?

While thoughts skyrocket out of your head, Fyodor takes this opportunity to start sketching your aloof expression.

The graphite from his pencil marks every curve, dent, mark, and bump of your face to a t. Every color that his brush paints over color matches you perfectly.

Even if he couldn't deny your beauty, you were still a snot nosed brat who longed for praise and compliments at the end of the day.

Still, despite your huffing and puffing — he found you the prettiest when he could stare at your relaxed face.

hi first fyodor fluff fic🫣

taglist (comment on this post to be tagged in future works!): @luvan1 @bfdazai @asqmi @squigglewigglewoo @liviash @doonifox @ishqani @xxcandlelightxx

belongs to @rusmii 2024, don't steal >:((

[bookshelfdreams]

do it. gimme the Izzy straight-coded meta 👀

I feel like I need to preface this by saying that Actually, Izzy Is Straightcoded would be the inflammatory clickbait title I'd give this if it were written to draw traffic & ad revenue to my shitty website. So don't take that term too seriously.

There has been a lot of ink spilled about Izzy thinking he's in a story where one can only be subtextually queer. Some even by yours truly, but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. What would be the purpose of queercoding Izzy?

In general, villains* aren't queercoded to show that men being attracted to other men is bad. It's often the outcome; but it's not why the trope exists. It exists because cishet people tend to be (and are encouraged to be) profoundly uncomfortable with gender nonconformity, and so, making a character gnc becomes a quick and easy way to make him appear twisted and untrustworthy. If he** can't even obey the fundamental rules of his own gender (rules that are inherent and unchangeable!) what other rules does he disobey?

Or: If a man is insufficiently masculine, he can't be trusted to have morals. The villain isn't gnc because that's an evil trait to have; rather, the gender nonconformity is a symptom of his evilness. Being evil is what enables him to embrace his feminine side, and embracing his feminine side is what others him and marks him as a villain.

This only really works when he's contrasted with a hero (or heroine) who is Doing Gender Correctly. The villain is foul to highlight how good the hero is. The Hero will be honest and straightforward, brave, physically powerful; the Queercoded Villain treacherous, cowardly, and physically weak. The hero is a Proper Man, a Good Person. The villain an Improper Man, and therefore, a Bad Person.

Of course ofmd fundamentally rejects this. The shorthand wouldn't work, because ofmd simply doesn't think effeminacy is creepy. It's uninterested in moralizing self-expression; it just lets people be how they are. There's a wide range of expressions of masculinity on this show, and none of it is inherently bad. People are allowed to be hypermasculine, flamboyant, and anything inbetween, can express their gender in whatever manner they want, and it's all fine - as long as they are authentic about it. Be however you are, but be yourself, and this is what Izzy fails at. The repression marks him as a villain. The strict adherence to what he thinks a Real Man Pirate ought to be like. He's very preoccupied with enforcing a traditional (and toxic) masculinity on himself and others. It's no coincidence the characters he antagonizes the most - Stede and Lucius - are also the most effeminate ones. And I know, I know anglophones have a much more casual relationship to twat and cunt, those don't nearly feel as uncomfortable for y'all as they do for me, so I don't want to assign too much significance here, but he is the only character who constantly uses this kind of language, and also the one who uses the most gender&sexuality based slurs (as far as I remember).

All of this while being clearly, obviously queer himself! I do not feel like I need to explain this; his flustered reaction when Lucius asks him if he's ever been sketched speaks for itself. The fact that he meets Stede and immediately slices his shirt off of him, speaks for itself. And so on.

Izzy isn't straightcoded in the sense that the story wants us to believe he's exclusively attracted to women. Much like a queercoded villain doesn't need to be shown to be attracted to men (and can even be shown to be attracted exclusively to women!) to still be queercoded. He's straightcoded in the sense that he's a stand-in for restrictive and toxic gender roles that society enforces on people. He buys into the idea that there's a way of Doing Gender Wrong, and this is presented as a tragic character flaw. Something he has to overcome to be able to do the thing that actually marks a hero in this show: express himself authentically.

Part of why I found his death so moving is because it enables him to set right the toxicity he spread. His rehabilitation arc was about himself; about finally allowing himself to be, accepting love, accepting community. His death was about taking responsibility. About fully recognizing the hurt he caused. Looking death in the face enables him to finally abandon the last shreds of that toxicity, to apologize and be granted forgiveness. In the end, he was not beyond saving, and the harm he has done will be healed.

*Izzy is introduced as an antagonist to both Stede and the central romance of this romcom. I'm not gonna debate this; if you disagree, fine, but you clearly have such a fundamentally wrong different view of the show that it's pointless for us to try and convince each other.

**of course Queercoded Female Villains exist s well, but they are a whole different can of worms and less relevant to this discussion

[thrasheraxe]

Ahhh, what a thrill!! 🙈✨

I wanna request a James/Reader story. The reader is biologically female, but is gender fluid but usually likes to be treated like a boy.

The story would be about his first time. It would start out soft and end up rough.

---

Thanks and sorry for my English. 🤧

hetfield x gender fluid reader

weee woo!! thank you for this one!! im not gender fluid myself but ill give it my best go!!🫶

thinking current james and these images because DUHHH

cw: smut, talk of gender identity, virginity, age difference

prompt: genderfluid reader who is an illustrator working at the park one day, when they come across garage owning James, unbeknownst to the reader he was also in a local band

sitting on a park bench watching the world go by and drawing the scenery around you was one of your favourite ways to relax. there was no judgement there, dressed in a baggy hoodie and jeans you had no fear. even if you were masc presenting today its not like strangers would notice or even care, they just thought of you as some guy on the park bench and that made you happy.

coming out as genderfluid had been hard on you, it wasn't easy to find anyone so accepting or even just understanding, so you'd take your comfort elsewhere. it was no small feat and it was even harder to find like minded individuals, you often thought of others like you and wished to make them not feel as alone as you did.

you almost didn't notice the larger man approaching you, headphones in and staring intently at the forest line trying to capture every detail. he pats you on the shoulder lightly, an older gentleman something you weren't expecting. most of the interaction you'd had at this place was from sweet old ladies who would ask for the time.

cigar in hand and a cowboy hat on his head (which was out of place for the city but it worked for him), he stared down at you with his piercing blue eyes and a bright smile while you took out your earphones. a slight confused expression as you spoke softly.

"uhm..hello?"

"oh sorry darl, didn't mean to spook you, i was just strolling past and noticed your drawings, they are very impressive, can i take a look?" his voice was soft and calming. hesitantly you passed him the sketchpad sheets you were working on.

“wow…i mean wow..” he strokes his finger over the linework lightly, just adoring it. his smile is still bright and as you look at him, you realise this man is stunningly beautiful. even this is enough to make you blush.

“this is fantastic, you work as an illustrator?”

“n-no, it’s mainly something i keep to myself, i uh, work in retail.” you cringe at your own words sounding meek and uninteresting.

“well…can you draw anything or are you just into nature?” his tone kind as he looked directly at you. he had no judgement at all.

“uh yeah i mean i can always try can’t i?”

“well, i actually run an autoshop, and ive been looking for something to spruce up the walls a bit, you think you’d be able to design something for me? not for free of course”

you grin at his suggestion, the mere thought alone of someone enjoying your work was insane but now wanting to pay for it? it was some sort of blasphemy in your eyes.

“of course! i could do that. could probably get it done in a few hours”

“amazing, thank you sweetheart, james by the way. if you think you could get something done that quick, why don’t you come by the Luxe downton? my band is actually playing there.”

He had a huge grin on his face and he was clearly proud of himself for that subtle mention. his gaze not leaving your eyes.

“yeah that’d be really fun.” you smile sheepishly and nod. you also pause and tell him your name with a laugh, realising you’d neglected to mention it.

“great see you at eight” still with that grin on his face, he winks and walks off leaving you in awe of this mysterious and handsome individual.

it didn’t take you long to get home and in the fully lit presence of your desk, bubbling with inspiration you sketch up something. it was nice, in a weird way he’d inspired you with his compliment but you kept it simple. this was for a stranger after all, a simple sketch of an old ‘67 chevy impala, carefully shaded in and small subtle details. you sign your name and get ready for the night, time escaping you faster than you’d thought.

as you arrived, hair done and settling with a slightly nicer combination of jeans and a button up, you plop yourself down at the bar looking out for james. it wasn’t until the first notes of an unfamiliar song that you see him on the stage, he gives you a subtle smile and a nod.

you sat there taking in the environment and enjoying the set they played, bopping your head along and nursing a drink. his voice was actually quite spectacular which added to your already slight attraction to this man.

after he had finished, he made his way over to you, beer in hand with a grin.

“hey there sweetheart.”

“hi” you answer nervously, quick to reach for your bag and grab the drawing out of it, meticulously glued to a piece of card and protected by a sleeve as not to damage it. he takes it out of your hand and with one look his eyes widened.

“wow! this is…amazing…thank you so much, darlin’, let me know how I can repay you?”

you smile brightly and shake your head, a slight blush creeping onto your cheeks

“no, no. that’s okay! i actually had a lot of fun, it was nice to work on something different for a change.”

“least let me buy you a drink, sweetheart?”

“that’d be really nice, thank you”

for the next few hours you’d spent time drinking together, you both talked about his band, your ambitions, your identity since he was very curious. he asked a lot of questions, respectfully of course and you answered them with grace. his willingness to learn made you feel a bit fuzzy inside as no one had ever treated you that way.

you find yourself getting over your aversion to eye contact, willingly staring into his eyes as he spoke about his hobbies and his musical influences. he notices your stare and grins to himself. taking a mental note, he changes the subject to loved ones and is surprised to hear you’ve never dated anyone. you were young sure, but he didn’t expect you to have no experience atall.

“really? thats…interesting.”

“are you making fun of me?” you say raising your eyebrow and glaring playfully. feeling the buzz from the last few drinks.

“no…no. just something crossed my mind is all. shouldn’t’ve but it did” he says softly, his body language a bit more serious and he looked slightly embarrassed.

you look at the time on your phone, 1 am. you’re feeling buzzed and james is looking very fine, screw it. you move closer and sit next to him, thighs pressed to one another and your face flushed. so what if it was your first time? this man was too beautiful to pass on.

“jealous are we james?”

your sudden confidence and proximity threw him for a loop, his eyes flitting between yours and your lips. “pardon?”

“you heard me. jealous? wishing it was your cock buried deep inside me? giving me that wonderful feeling for the first time?”

“fuuck…you don’t waste any time do you?”

“guess i’m just feeling a bit out there and lucky tonight, james.”

the way you kept saying his name made him squirm in his seat, the thought of you sat on his lap, fucking like rabbits and him giving you your first time was overwhelming. when suddenly he stood, held out his hand and not saying anything.

you take it gracefully, grinning to yourself. the reality of the situation not quite kicking in yet as the alcohol made you feel fuzzy. he pulls you to his side, snaking an arm around your waist, chucking some money on the table and walking like a man on a mission.

15 minutes later and a tense taxi drive, where he’d been struggling not to take you right there or even just touch you a little bit, you arrive at a hotel. he rushes you in, holding onto you as if you’d run off if he let go. the silence was deafening.

in the elevator, he just looked down at you with a grin, a gentle hand coming up to lift your chin, his eyes piercing into you once again as he finally spoke.

“you really wanna go through with this?”

“more than anything.”

a moment later his lips were pressed against yours, kissing you deeply, hands nestled at the small of your back. you kiss him back with a little more force, the heat in the room rising. he begins to trail soft kisses down your neck before biting ever so slightly at the crook.

“oh fuck..”

he laughs heartily hearing you curse under your breath and brings a hand to your chin again, rubbing his thumb along your bottom lip and tapping at as if he was mimicking something in his own mind.

“you’ve got such pretty lips, know that?”

too distracted by his gaze at your lips, you fail to answer as you bring tour own hands up his sides slipping under his shirt and scratching at his back in need, producing a breathy groan from his own lips. his head tilting back slightly as he felt your nails dig into his flesh.

you take this moment to start kissing his neck, your own body trembling at this point as you’d never really gotten past a small kiss with anyone before. he could definitely tell, by the way your lips moved hesitantly along his neck, awkwardly sucking and biting at random areas. a furious red blush on your face and your brows knotted together in concentration.

he shook his head and laughed, lifting your face away with his hand.

“let me show you sweetheart.”

his lips trailed your neck, finding that sweet spot and at first he just places sweet kisses there, slowly but surely he takes a little bit of skin in between his lips and nibbles, letting you feel each sensation. soft whimpers escaped your lips as he moved, taking this as a sign he bit harder. you let out a moan and grip his shoulders lightly.

“you like that hun? so cute” he purred in your ear. the ding of the elevator pulling you both out of this heated moment. you break apart and stare up at him, the swift transition of him grabbing you and ending up in the hotel room, clothes being tugged at during another heated makeout session makes your head spin

heart racing you look at him with doe eyes. which makes him curse under his breath and compose himself. sitting back on his knees.

“cmere pretty boy, lets take this your pace huh darl?”

you nod, that nervous feeling welling up inside, sitting up you start to unbutton his shirt, trailing your fingers down his exposed chest and placing kisses there. appreciative groans leaving his lips as he caresses your neck with his thumb. need building up inside himself now, he was struggling at how teasingly slow this was moving. if it was any other person, he would’ve just pinned them to the wall and fucked them violently chasing his own high. but even though you were pretty much a stranger to him, he didn’t want you to regret this. you were so sweet looking and nervous.

eventually after extended amounts of strained eye contact and lustful gazes you make your way to his jeans, unbuckling his belt as he stroked through your hair with his big hand. you pull the fabric down and gasp at the way his cock bounces back, hitting his stomach and throbbing, dripping with precum. he takes it his hands and strokes it a few times, thumbing over the tip, collecting the liquid.

he grins and offered his thumb to you.

“wanna taste it darl?”

“yes” you say tentatively taking it and sucking the tip. with a groan he watches you swirl your tongue around it, cursing under his breath.

“fuck can’t take it any longer, i need you baby, that okay?”

you don’t say anything, just start tugging his jeans down completely, you focus on your own and then pull him on top of you, fiercely making out with him, whimpers escaping your lips.

he sits back up and pulls your thighs apart, gently stroking through your folds, his hands glistening with your wetness.

“need it james…please”

he groans at the sounds you make and your desperate words. he doesn’t take a breath before lining up with your entrance, looking at you for approval. you nod and he leans over stroking your cheek sweetly.

“this gonna hurt a little bit okay? just relax for me, you’re doing so good already ,pretty boy.”

before you can react, he pushes just the tip in, letting you adjust as he stares down at you. you hiss in pain and grip his shoulder tightly, a yelp escaping your lips. he peppers kisses along your jaw and neck, speaking softly

“it’s okay, i know i know. breathe sweet boy, we can just stay like this a moment, yeah?”

one big hand drifts down to your clit, circling slowly and applying some pressure. your head tips back slightly letting out a strained moan.

“ready, james. just do it…please?”

barely able to control himself, he continues working with one hand, the other gripping your hip as he pushes himself to the hilt.

“fuck!” you moan loudly, with his accompanying groan, he starts to move, slowly and gently holding you. it takes you a minute to get used to the feeling but when you do, your body trembles all over, frantic moans escaping your lips. he strokes your hair and keeps kissing your neck tenderly.

“god you feel so fucking good darl, so good…”

his words send you into overdrive, feeling the need for more, you buck against him. your teeth find its way to his shoulder and you bite down, whispering pleas. his demeanour switches, seemingly not being able to control himself at feeling you clench down on him. so soft and warm, he just starts moving faster, his hips stuttering, watching your face to make sure it’s okay.

“fuck…yes…shit…james…feels so good” your words escaping as whines as you stare up at him. you could see his expression become more desperate as soft moans tumble from him. his grasp getting tighter and he grits his teeth.

“so good for me, god..shit i don’t know if i can hold back anymore. so fucking tight and wet for me, baby. drivin me insane”

you lean up and bite his earlobe before whispering “so don’t. i can handle it.”

it was like something had snapped in him, he heaves your thighs up over his waist and hastily shoving a pillow underneath you. slamming his hips into yours and grabbing your thighs tightly, hard enough to leave bruises for sure. your hands reach up and tug at his white hair, your sounds only growing louder which was like music to his ears. he was out of control, slamming back down on you and pulling out before repeating the process, like it was his own first time too.

“fuck look so good taking me , honey. you like that? getting fucked so hard by this fat old cock? hm? gushing round me baby.”

“yes yes fuck fuck…i can’t” you whine, in a stroke of adrenaline you guide his hand back to your clit, pushing yourself further on him. he gladly continues swirling, his fingers moving at the same pace as his hips. hitting you so deep you could feel it in your stomach.

“gonna cum in you, pretty boy. wanna make you remember this forever, gonna ruin you for anybody else.”

this sends you into primal need, borderline fucking yourself on him as you whimper in his ear.

“fuck yeah, fucking ruin me. fill me. need it so bad james…so fucking close.”

“god you are fucking filthy i love it” he growls, slamming harder into you, his body not being able to hold back. his thrusts become messy as you chase that high together. whispering obscenities to each other and grabbing at wherever you can reach.

the sensation comes faster than you’d ever felt before, like a rollercoaster dropping down a peak, your legs begin to shake and you scream out his name. he takes this as a challenge and moves at an impossible pace, cumming hard inside. growling in your ear and pulling at your hair lightly.

“so fucking good, darl. oh fuck I can’t get enough. no, i think i’ll be seeing more of you. mm ill teach you everything.”

[cosmicpearlz]

baby, it’s cold outside

summary: you convince your boyfriend to play in the snow with you after curfew hours.

pairing: xavier thorpe x reader

a/n: welcome to the 7 days of ficmas! cheers to day 1 (december 19, 2022)

…………………………………………………………………………….

xavier sat by his desk working on a sketch for you while soft music played in the background. he wanted to add it to your christmas gift knowing that you loved when he drew you anything. the picture was of your favorite flowers. the knock on the door brought him back to reality. he closed his sketch book and walked to the door of his dorm room. there you where dressed in oversized pajama pants (more than likely his), a hoodie (also his) and your boots. he’s quick to pull you in the room and shut the door quietly.

“hi my love, to what do i owe this great pleasure of a visit?” he smiled rubbing your arms before placing a kiss on your head.

“let’s go play in the snow!”

“wait, it’s snowing?”

“yes! look,” you enthusiastically pulled his hand to his widow to show him the snow that made the dark sky look bright. it covered the ground and was still falling down.

“so you snuck out of your room pass curfew hours, made it all the way over here without getting caught just to get me to play in the snow with you?”

“well yes. what else are boyfriends good for?” you grinned up at him.

xavier playfully put his hand on his heart like you hurt his feelings, “ouch, you wound me.” you push his shoulder with a laugh still waiting for his answer.

“of course i’ll go with you honey. but you’re not going just like that,” he points down to your outfit.

“what. why not?”

“you don’t have a coat on.”

“babe it’s fine. i’m sure it’s not that serious.”

he looks at you like you’re crazy. in no way was he letting you get sick because you didn’t have a coat on. he silently walked to his closet and pulled out two of his winter coats handing one over to you.

“please put the coat on love.” you put on the winter coat and zipped it up. the coat was almost drowning you but you didn’t mind too much. slipping into his boots and throwing on his coat, he nodded at you.

“see now we can play in the snow,” xavier grabbed his phone placing it in his pocket and holds his hand out to you. you smiled and latched your hand with his.

-

sneaking out was too easy being that everyone was truly sleeping or just didn’t care enough. you guys made your way to the quad uninterrupted. you immediately took off running into the snow. xavier laughed at you and followed you.

“c’mon xavi!” you threw the first snowball at him. he chases after you without a beat to miss throwing a snowball right back at you.

the two of you continued to act like children. just throwing snow and chasing one another. xavier was happy that he was able to make you happy. he lived to see your beautiful smile, he’d do anything to make it stay like that.

“come here!” he rushes up with a grin to finally catch you and grab your waist. you shrieked as he picked you up and spun the two of you around.

“baby! stop it!”

“you gotta surrender honey.”

“never!”

“never? okay,” he sets you down and then falls back first into the snow but not before pulling you with him. he pins you down and rolls to hover over you.

“you surrender now?”

“yes, i feel snow sinking into my pants and now i’m cold. my fingers are cold too,” you pout at him gazing into his beautiful green eyes.

“well baby it is cold outside and we unfortunately didn’t put on gloves,” he brings your cold hand up to his lips and kisses it.

“can we do movie night?”

“i’m down for a movie night,” he gets up and then bent down to pull you with him. you took one last look at the snow and xavier took the time to take a picture of you on his phone. you weren’t facing the camera but you were dressed in his clothes and looked absolutely beautiful. he made a mental note to remember to draw this picture, so it can hang in the art shed.

“shall we my darling?”

“we shall,” you grabbed his hand and lead the way back to the dorms.

-

you both take off your shoes and coats as soon as the two of you were safely in his warm room.

“first order of business is getting out these wet clothes,” xavier finds some spare pajamas for you and lays them on his bed along with some pajamas for himself.

“lift your arms up baby,” you lifted your arms up for him to pull the hoodie off of your body. once he tossed the hoodie on the floor, he goes to pull your pajamas pants down and tosses them on the floor too.

you had learned very early on that one of xavier’s love languages was acts of service. he loved doing little things like this to help you just because he loves you.

“now you lift your arms up pretty boy,” you smiled up at him still in your undergarments.

“you don’t have to do that babe.”

“you get to do it for me and i don’t get to do it for you? not fair at all.”

“okay okay,” he lifts his arms up and allows you to pull his shirt off. although, you had to stand on your tippy toes to fully pull the shirt completely off. you then helped him out of his pants just had he had helped you earlier.

“i’m starting to think you just wanted to get me naked.”

“yeah love, i totally wanted get you naked,” you walked to the bed and throw the pjs at him and it hit him square in the face. you let out a loud laugh.

“no need to get violent.”

“just put on your pjs, so we can watch the movies nerd.”

both of you got cozy on his bed wrapped up in the blankets with his laptop playing a christmas movie. these were your favorite nights and now it was better because of the snow. snowy nights and cuddles from your loving boyfriend.

“thanks for hangout with me in the snow my love.”

“sweetheart you don’t have to thank me. i love hanging out with you. plus you looked so cute in my jacket,” he smiled brightly at you and kissed your nose. you smiled back at him and placed a matching kiss upon his nose too. what a perfect night.



[snakegentleman]

He warned me. How many times did he tell me that he was a trap.

-Becoming Eden[The Whole Damn Forest]

Rambling about technical details/my thought process behind this piece below cut:

I knew I wanted to do something from either the end of [it’s me I’m trees] or the first chapter of [The Whole Damn Forest] because that was where the strongest imagery for a drawing was. I’m not a sequential artist at all so it was hard at first to pick a scene where I didn’t need the dialogue to make it clear what was going on. I had a bunch of quick thumbnails for the elevator scene and stuff with Zazie, but I initially started sketching for the part where Wolfwood is holding Vash in the last chapter of [it’s me I’m trees] and I was going to reference this knives panel:

But this one just kept turning out really boring. Then I started on the sketch that turned into the final composition. The composition is a blatant reference to The original trimax panel of Wolfwood contemplating killing Vash:

It’s one of my favorite panels from trimax and super easy shorthand to convey Wolfwood’s conflict in this scene. I switched his pose to be holding the punisher to comply with the fic scene.

For Vash, his plant/angel form is described as being very sea creature-like in Becoming Eden. I know Lilith’s Brood was an inspiration, but it’s been a while since I read it. So, I just went with an amalgam of sea creatures (I shrimped him). I really wanted the ‘wings’ to be lion fish fins and the tail is a scorpion tail. There’s also jellyfish and coral bits for fun. He’s got short hair for canon getting-melted-off reasons, but also I made it Knives’s trimax hair for juicy thematic reasons -Wolfwood is choosing whether or not to kill them both after all :)

The glass cracks nearly killed me; I could not get them to look convincing. I’m still not sure about it, but after fiddling for hours with them, I’m at least satisfied with the result. The problem with the whole thing was that I knew the lighting behind the glass was different than what we, the viewer are seeing from inside the tank. But making that clear meant it just kept standing out too much and breaking the believability of the cracks. I used some airbrushing to push the edges back and that helped.

Anyway, I had a fun time with this. @madnessmadness your fic rewired my brain, and I got to make this, so thanks!

[illicitlamb]

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐗: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑 | 𝟑𝟎-𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄

SUMMARY | Wednesday finally allows Xavier to draw a portrait of her for himself. In return, he makes her time worthwhile.

“Easy enough?” Xavier quizzed as he pushed himself up from the chair, staring at Wednesday for her approval. He only received a sigh, which was interpreted as a “yes” as she seated herself. “Good.”

Making his way back to his desk, he waited for his wife to get into position, already picking up his pencil. “Turn your head a little more,” he corrected.

“Just draw,” growled Addams in return, but carried through with his order.

Thorpe smirked. “Aye-aye, Captain.” He knew she had been dreading this for whatever reason, but he was more than appreciative of her for actually allowing him to draw a portrait of her – a pose of his choice and on both of their times rather than any quick moment he had while she was not looking.

Starting with the outline of his piece, his strokes were painted as soft lines before being filled in by more defined, darker scrapes against the sketch paper. Now having a reference rather than relying on his visions’ sole memories, he would glance up often, flicking his bangs from his view for his hazel eyes to admire the gothic beauty before him. In the midst of it all, he was doing two of his favorite things: draw and take in the view of his spouse.

The outfit he had chosen for her to wear was still in her taste of color palette but out of her comfort zone with style. A 2-in-1 mini dress complemented with a black tie – a white collared shirt overlayed with a strapped black corset stretching down into a relaxed slim-fit skirt. Instead of matching heels, he finished the selective look with black thigh-high stockings.

Of course, this whole thing was not something she would agree to easily, but it would all come with a favor in return. Just a little while longer.

Seated on the prop for 20 minutes now, Wednesday’s neck began to ache with a creeping cramp that threatened to strangle her into defeat. “How much longer?” she grumbled. A soft, amused scoff teased her hearing.

“Almost done.”

She expressed a nasal sigh and opted for playing the part of a model for several more minutes before being relieved of her statue-like role. Pacing over to her husband, she came up on his left to see his finished work. Of course, it was bold and striking, but his artistic ability seemed to dive into a deeper level of detail. His strokes, his shading, his effort – everything looked intensified with a sense of emotional influence. Maybe it was because this would be one of the only times that she would let him draw her by her will. Or maybe it was because she was finally his – his love, his mate, his wife… even if it was the other way around.

“What do you think?” questioned Xavier while looking from his drawing to her face, searching for a responsive look.

The other’s mocha orbs reviewed the page with an observing gleam. “It’s not bad.”

Thorpe smirked. “But it could be better, huh?” As she looked at him, he sat back. “Everything could be better when it comes to you.”

Giving him an unamused huff, she glanced back at the portrait and leaned forward to show her efforts of seeing his talent. This time she complimented him with phrasing containing a little more positivity. “It’s a very impressive drawing.”

“I think I’ve gotten better at drawing you.”

“You should have,” Wednesday pressed. “Considering your countless sketches of me, I assume you would have me memorized by now.” She glared at him. “It’s a wonder why you were so adamant to have me take time out of my day to do nothing but serve as a reference.”

“Well, I guess that just proves that I can’t get enough of you,” the artist played. Pushing himself up from his desk, he pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Did you ever assume that?”

But this did not phase her as her dark eyes locked to his light ones. “Actually, I did. I just thought you were a little more creative than that.”

Pearlized teeth were sided with raised eyebrows. “Creative?” He then leaned close to her ear with a beckoning voice saying, “I can do that,” prior to pecking her cheekbone and then magenta lips as she turned her head his way.

When they broke, the raven challenged him. “Show me.”

Joining once more in a mutual kiss, things escalated. With his wife moving in time with him, Xavier hoisted her up to have her legs secure around his hips and carried her over to the guest room’s bed. He felt her slender fingers get a feel around his neck and in his hair as he eased her onto the mattress, now granting his own hands more freedom to roam about her petite yet heavenly body.

They kept each other occupied with passionate kisses and occasional, soft moans for several more moments before the heat between them manifested into a burning flame. Thorpe’s shirt was stripped of him and thrown to the floor. Addams’ skirt had been pushed up to reveal black-lace undergarments. Her inner thighs were nudged apart by his knees in time with her handle on him traveling down to massage the contracting muscles of his bare back. Black nails pricked the smooth skin, tracing steady lines before she broke from his lips to catch her breath.

Meanwhile, the other psychic turned his head to plant sucking kisses along her jawline and down her neck. Her luring scent drove him wild, giving way for him to tease her with subtle nibbles here and there which had him smirking in between when he hit a sensitive spot every now and then. Rewarding her gentle cringes with a nuzzle, his roaming hands moved to undo her tie.

Another nip to her neck broke Wednesday’s barrier. “Xavier,” she moaned with a hitch in her voice thanks to her sensitivity.

He only spoke between pecks while freeing the cloth. “What?” Then, he met her gaze. She was calm, which he did not expect judging by her call out to him. “I didn’t think you were the needy type. Guess I assumed wrong.” Holding the tie in his mouth, he took her wrists up and above her head. He transferred his hold to one hand while the other pulled the accessory from his teeth. “You ready?”

Her tempting lips curled slightly at the corners, eyes flashing with an intrigued spark. “Now, this is getting interesting.” After her wrists became locked together by the bind, she was seduced by physical touches – with one hand gliding down her raised arm to hold her tricep, the other slipped down further to press against the side of her chest. Xavier lowered his face closer to hers once more and spoke with a husky whisper.

“We’re just getting started.” He then subtly nuzzled her nose with his, “Can you handle that, Mrs. Addams-Thorpe?”

[kyhgwts]

Summary: when you get in a twist with the popular boy, who you didn’t think would ever like you. Realizing a deep connection.

WARNING(S): Modern AU, Regular high school AU, reader is good at drawing (i’m not even good at drawing, let’s just pretend), big brother Draco ;), kinda angst i guess, (the pictures shown are not meant to be what the reader (or Draco) looks like, just the vibe of the story!!)

PAIRING: Modern!Popular!Draco x Fem!Reader

It was easy to stay away from drama, being in a small friend group no one seemed to care about. Sure most of your friends knew all the drama but that didn’t mean they were in it. You loved your friend group, sure they annoyed you from time to time, made you want to cry, scream, pull out all of your hair, but you still loved them.

But there were some times where you really wished you didn’t love them, and times you wish you weren’t in that friend group. Sitting there listening to your friend say how she thinks Draco Malfoy is attracted to her, makes you want to scream till your lungs collapse.

No one should like Draco Malfoy, the only thing he was, was a pain in the ass.

‘Today, in art, he stared! Even ask y/n, she saw’ Your friend explained to the rest of the friend group, you look up from your notebook feeling the stares.

‘what?’ you ask, your friend rolls her eyes.

‘When Draco stared at me today in art’ she says, his name sounding so… different on her tongue.

‘yeah’ you whisper, because the best to do in these type of situations was to agree. Just go along with it, or else she gets embarrassed and then she’s mean when she’s embarrassed. Try’s to go after the one who made her embarrassed, to make them feel more embarrassed.

‘Well did you make eye contact with him?’ your other friend asks, you look back down at your notebook more interested in finishing your sketch.

‘no… well i’m not sure?’ your friend says, you close your eyes trying to not loose your shit.

‘y/n do you know what we do for math?’ you look up to your friend sitting next to you, you shake your head no.

‘i haven’t had it.’ you explain, just like you have a million times before. You felt a relief wash over you as you heard the bell ring.

You put away your notebook and pencil, slinging on your backpack. You walk off, your friends going in different directions to different classes. You put in your AirPods tuning out everyone else as you walked back to class.

You take in a deep breath and slowly let it out as you enter. You take your assigned seat, funny enough that you actually have a class with him this period. And even more funnier, he sits right next to you.

When you hear that spontaneously obnoxious laugh, you turn your AirPods from off to noise cancellation. It’s not that you hated him, no, you just can’t stand the way he’s so confident in himself, the way he laughs, his smile, the way he looks, the way he… is he.

At this point you were in your own head, leaving out everyone and everything. It didn’t really matter, since this was a study hall class, most kids either do work or stay on their phone the whole class. You pull out your note book, since you’ve been all caught up on your classes for a while.

You had been drawing in your notebook for a while, when you get the most soul leaving body experience ever. A hand comes into view tapping on you desk, you take out you air pod following the arm. You mentally roll your eyes, met with a face you really wish you hadn’t dreamed about.

‘Do you have a pencil’ he whispered, you were never a mean person. Leaning over to get a pencil from the small pocket of your backpack. It was your least favorite led pencil, one you only used if you couldn’t find your favorite in the hell of your small backpack pocket.

You leaned back up looking over at him, handing the pencil to him. He took it, saying a quick thank you. You nod putting back in your air pod. And for some reason, your heart rate wasn’t the same.

—

It was a week or so later, you were back in the same class when the bell had just rang. You walked out the class, pulling on the other side of your backpack.

‘Y/n!’ luckily having your air pods on transparency, you turned to see that bright smile you oh wish you didn’t. You stop waiting for him to catch up. You were never the person to ignore someone, no matter how much you didn’t want to talk to them.

‘Hey, um…’ he scratched the back of his head, almost as if he was nervous. Weird.

‘I noticed you never really do anything in study hall, you’re always drawing,’ he nodded to your notebook that you were holding, you make a thin line with your lips looking anywhere but his bittersweet beautiful face.

‘Oh, uh i usually have most stuff done or sometimes i just do it at home, drawing helps me calm down so i sometimes do it in that class to help me get through the day’ shit. over explaining, just shut up.

‘Yeah, we’ll my mom has been on my ass about getting a tutor. And it just seemed like you were smart, it would be a delight if you can help me out’ He said, you let out a laugh you most definitely didn’t mean to, making him frown.

‘Sorry,’ you cleared your throat making a straight face ‘it’s just that i would have never thought you’d need a tutor’ you say, he grins.

‘I’ll take that as a compliment’ he mumbles, and you almost laugh, almost.

‘I can help you, i guess. When do you need help’ when he had asked for you to be your tutor, you thought it meant an hour after school at school, at least twice a week. So his next words really made you confused.

‘yeah well, the thing is… i kinda already told her i have a tutor… and she said to bring them over after school on Thursday’ he said, you stared at him in shock. Well, you definitely weren’t expecting that.

‘So basically you want me to act as a tutor, so your mom thinks you have one.’ you ask, he nodded. You raise an eyebrow, letting out a breathy laugh.

‘Why didn’t you just get a tutor? like your mom asked you to in the first place’ you say, he rolls his eyes.

‘Look, i just need you to pretend okay? you seemed nice enough, and it has to be someone my mom doesn’t know… so’ he explains, you sigh in defeat.

‘Um, i mean i guess so…’ you mumble, you didn’t like saying no to people.

He hands you a paper with his number, making you laugh as you both walk your own way. He had to of written it down before, showing that he has been thinking about it for a while.

You decided to not say anything to your friends, which would only make things worse.

—

He had texted you a few times, telling you things to know and details. He didn’t make an effort to talk to you in school, which you liked.

Thursday came around, he had come up to you after study hall to remind you to which you told him, you didn’t forget. He went over everything again, and he made it clear to ignore his little sister that she says things that are not true.

‘You can walk with me after school’ he says, you nod, surprised he didn’t get picked up by a limo.

As you walked out of your seventh period, you were surprised to see him leaning against a pole outside your classroom. How did he-

‘That excited?’ you ask in a monotone voice, making him laugh. You somehow grew fond of the boy, even if he has only spoke to you a few times.

‘I’m ecstatic!’ he says back, giving the perfect amount of sarcasm. You both began to walk, him once again going over things. You passed a few friends which made you kind of scared. What would they think, seeing you walk down the halls with Draco Malfoy talking to you at a rapid speed as you just nod.

His house actually wasn’t quite far, getting there pretty fast. It wasn’t what you expected, the house very much normal. Toys scattered around the front yard, a small pink tricycle with frays of sparkling strings on either side of the handles.

When you entered the house, it felt like a home, you could feel the life that was held in it. Some houses didn’t have that.

‘I’m home!’ he called out, to whom you were assuming was his mother in the kitchen. When you heard footsteps, a beautiful lady who couldn’t have been older than late thirties turned a corner immediately smiling when she saw you.

‘Oh! how lovely,’ his mom rushed over holding out her hand, shaking yours when you held yours out. You smiled when she held your hand in both of hers.

‘It is so nice to finally meet you, i’m Narcissa’ you smile as both your hands go back to your sides.

‘It’s nice to meet you too, i’m y/n’ you say, she gives you such a warm smile it actually makes you feel good inside.

‘yes yes, well aware, you know after hearing about Draco talk about y-‘

‘mom.’ he said interrupting her, shaking his head slightly. You just give a smile, leaving the subject alone.

You jump when you heard a loud thump, than a screech. Before you can process it there are tiny feet making pats against the floor, revealing a small figure who seems to be about 4 or 5. She has on a very bright pink tutu with ponytails that looks as though she did them herself.

She stops dead in her tracks when she sees you, eyes turning from evil play time to soft admiring time.

‘Orion, you want to say hi?’ Draco’s mom says smiling, said Orion gave a small wave before twisting the ends of her tutu with her fingers as she swayed side to side. You can’t help but smile so hard, waving back. The little girl ran back off, going back to what you assumed was the living room.

‘Well, i’ll have an after school snack ready in about 15 minutes or so, you can hang out here or in your room.’ His mom explained, walking back to the kitchen. On the way to his said room, he stopped at an open door.

‘I’m home.’ it sounded more sad, with less enthusiasm than what he gave when he walked in the house. There was no response so you assumed it was a head nod that was given. When you walked past the room, you saw what must’ve been his dad working on a computer. Now you understood.

When you walked into his room, it was actually way more put together and perfect rather than from the rest of the house. That had toys thrown everywhere, not that it was bad just an observation.

The only thing that wasn’t put together was his bed, you stare at a stuffed unicorn that looks like it’s lost some stuffing, as they do when you’ve had them for too long.

‘It’s my little sisters… she sleeps in here sometimes’ he mumbles, seeming embarrassed maybe, you couldn’t quite figure it out.

‘It’s really nice in here, i like the colors’ you whisper, not realizing how much you were admiring the room. But it was hard not to when it felt so cozy and yet so put together, unlike most teenage boys’ rooms that feel disgusting to be in.

You smile at the tv which was paused on max and ruby, you had no idea little kids still watched that show now.

‘Orion!’ Draco shouts, you grin when you hear the small feet patting onto the floor as the little girl runs to the room. She shows up and now has a tiara on, looking somewhat embarrassed and guilty.

‘Were you watching this before we came in?’ he asks, she nods shyly.

‘I thought i told you to turn it off when you were done watching something?’ he said, you could hear that he was trying to keep calm with her.

‘You did! i wasn’t gonna be done, was gonna watch with you’ she said, making your heart slowly melt. You can see Draco’s eyes instantly soften.

‘Why didn’t you say so?’ he says, she makes a nervous giggle casting a quick look to you as he hands twisted together behind her back.

‘y/n likes max and ruby, don’t you y/n?’ Draco says, a slight warning behind his tone, you look at him then back to the little girl nodding.

‘Yay!’ she jumps running to the bed climbing onto it with small grunts and huffs, grabbing her stuffed animal. She scoots closer to the nightstand, grabbing the remote. This was no new routine to her, and it showed.

—

About after 10 minutes, you were all called into the kitchen for what you guessed was the snack his mom had mentioned.

‘Piggy back!’ Orion screeched, you couldn’t help but become fond of the small girl so fast. Draco was about to pull up the girl when she shook her head running to you.

You smile leaning down so she could hop onto your back. Once she was secure, you stood up holding onto her legs. You turn to look at Draco, who happened to already be staring.

‘What?’ you ask, he clears his throat looking away and mumbling ‘nothing’. He walks off to the kitchen making his little sister giggle.

‘He thinks your pretty’ she whispers, you go wide eyed.

‘Does he now?’ you say tilting your head to the side, the little girl smiles.

‘mhm, he talks all the time’ she says now annoyed, you laugh nervously.

‘What do you mean Orion?’ you say, scared for the answer.

‘y/n, y/n, y/n! blah blah blah’ she says, you stare at her for a little longer before you heard Draco walk back into the room.

‘What’s wrong?’ He says, you look over at him.

‘Nothing, she was just telling me her favorite max and ruby episode. Weren’t ya?’ You say, Orion giggles before nodding.

Once you all get into the kitchen, and his mom sees you interacting with Orion she knows she won’t let Draco fail on you.

You actually felt okay, talking to the mom, and Orion. The family made you feel welcomed, you were expecting a rich mean family, now you knew to never judge a book by its cover.

When it was time to go, you actually felt a pull at your heart. Saying bye to the Orion, who acted as though she knew you for years, never wanting to let go.

‘Are you sure you don’t need a ride honey?’ His mom asks for about the millionth time, you smile shaking your head.

‘No, i’m alright! I’m not far from here’ you say, the mother looked like she wanted to fight it but let it go.

‘Alright, well bye honey! hope to see you again’

—

Walking through the door of your house, walking straight to your room. You felt a wave of sadness, who knew a family could grow so fast on you. You felt your phone buzz, pulling it out of your pocket to see.

‘Get home?’

You wipe away a tear that suddenly fell, cursing at yourself. Because he didn’t like you, like he said his sister told lies, she must of have been playing around. Because Draco likes your friend, your friend said Draco was looking at her in art class.

‘Yeah, thanks’

—

Within the next week at school you wanted to avoid him, but you couldn’t help with the small glances and smiles when you passed him in the hallway. And you definitely couldn’t help the butterflies when he gave a smile back.

So, it was another sitting down at the lunch table. Headphones in, so you could be in your own headspace while you drew.

‘y/n!’ your friend shouts making you jump, you pull out one air pod looking up.

‘what?’ you say, they all stare at you, until you realized they weren’t staring at you. You turn around to see Draco, shit.

‘Can i talk to you, for a minute’ he says completely aware of all your friends, and he didn’t seem to care at all. You stand up, following him to where not many people were.

‘What are you doing! my friends are gonna murder me’ you say, he gives you a confused look.

‘Why?’ he asks, you take a glance over at them and they are all staring.

‘Because! you are you and i am i, and you and my friend both like each other— so-‘

‘Woah woah woah, what? who said i liked your friend. I don’t even know your friends?’ he said, looking over at them.

‘wha- you look at her in art- and i guess a lot of other places, and at lunch.’ you say, to which he laughs at you.

‘why are you laughing. this is no laughing matter! now their gonna come after me! my friend is gonna get mad that i was talking to you, and now all my friends will get mad at me for talking to someone my friend likes! and let me tell you, it’s not fun when they get mad, it’s hell an-‘

‘It sounds like to me, you need some new friends.’ he said, you glare at him.

‘what did you need?’ you ask, definitely not in the mood.

‘Orion keeps on asking about you.’ He says, your mood immediately falters.

‘She wants you to come over again, and so does my mom’ he says, you squint your eyes smiling.

‘Are you, Draco Malfoy, really asking me to hang out?’ you said.

‘No, definitely not’ he says sarcastically, you make a ‘hm’ sound.

‘Fine then’ you say beginning to walk off, he goes wide eyed not even thinking when he grabbed your wrist bringing you back to him.

‘I am, Draco Malfoy, really asking you to hang out’ he says, making you laugh.

‘Did Orion really say that?’ you ask, he nods.

‘Where’s y/n? y/n, y/n, y/n’ he says, sounds familiar you think.

‘And also… i appreciated you being nice with her, not many of my friends can handle her.’ he says, you can imagine because she is a lot, but she truly is just a sweet girl.

‘When?’ you say, he kinda looks shocked, as though he thought you were going to say no.

‘Just… whenever’ he says, shrugging.

‘Whenever? so this isn’t like planned?’ you ask, he shakes his head.

‘my mom has really been on my ass actually, to tell you that your welcome to the house now.’ he said, you smile.

‘That’s all it took?’ you say, he nods laughing.

‘guess so’ he shrugs.

You told him you can come over sometime this week, and you really don’t understand how you grew so fond of the family so fast. You hadn’t even known him, and then you get dragged into this fake tutor thing and now you can’t help but fall for him. Which was bad, very bad.

When you walked back to the lunch table, all of your friends were staring.

‘What was that?’ your friend asked.

‘oh um-‘

‘you know i saw you walking with him after school last Thursday, talking to him’ you other friend mentioned, to which you mentally cursed at her for.

‘Is he telling you stuff about me?’ your friend asks, making you want to scream in her face, that no he wasn’t, the world doesn’t revolve around you.

‘No, just uh stuff about art’ and shit you really wish you didn’t say that, because now you just dug yourself a bigger hole.

‘Art? why doesn’t he just ask her about it,’ your other friend points to your friend and you loose your shit.

‘Yeah, why would he ask you i didn’t even know you guys knew each other’ you friend says, you make a thin line with your lips.

‘um… well- i don’t know’ you mumble, shit shit shit.

They eventually let it go, but you could tell your friend was still mad.

—

Your walking with Draco after school, when your friend walks up to you.

‘Hey’ you turn to meet her, saying a small hi back.

‘You walk home?’ she asks, you narrow your eyes.

‘Yeah…’

‘My mom can give you a ride, you know if you don’t like… have a car or whatever’ and it actually made you laugh.

‘Sorry, friend of hers but she’s walking with me.’ Draco says, you turn to him giving him a pleading stare.

‘You guys walk together after school?’

please don’t say it, please don’t say it, please don’t-

‘No, she’s coming to my house.’ he says, ‘and she does have a car or like whatever’ he says mocking her by making a high pitched voice, you close your eyes. why.

‘Oh.’ your friend responds, and your tempted to laugh again, but you don’t. 

You could tell she got embarrassed and left, you turn to Draco and glare at him.

‘What!? she deserved it!’ you shake your head, but couldn’t contain the laugh.

—

When you entered his house you were met with a screeching Orion, once again. She ran up to you full of happiness.

‘Y/N!!!’ she ran into you hugging you as you got down to her size.

‘Hello Orion’ you smile, basking the the love she was radiating.

You hear footsteps com from down the hall, and you smile when you see his mom turn the corner.

‘y/n! nice to see you again’ she gives such a warm smile, and it makes you want to cry.

You’ve never felt so loved by a family. The way they just accepted you, not even really knowing you.

‘Hi’ you smile back, you tried not to make it so soft, tried not to show your emotions. But you failed.

‘How about i go and make another snack? Orion you wanna bake those cookies with me?’ his mom asks, you see Orions eyes light up running off to the kitchen with her mom.

Draco brings you along to him room, stoping by the opened door room.

When you made it to his room, it was a little messy some clothes thrown on the floor, the bed wasn’t made, and there was a water bottle on his nightstand, it showed that he hadn’t really planned for you to come over. But even then the room still brought you a sort of comfort, the smell of him was a lot stronger in his room.

You both sat on his bed, and you just wanted to fall back and sleep.

You couldn’t help it, your eyes filling with water that you couldn’t stop.

this is so embarrassing

you thought, but when you look up at Draco, the only thing he showed was soft eyes. God why did you have to cry.

You couldn’t even really pin point why you were crying, but for some reason it looked like Draco knew why. You felt him come closer, as you sniffled you felt his arms around you.

You haven’t even known him for a month, and he made you feel like this? He gave such comfort it hurt, it felt like you had been avoiding his comfort he gave you. Even before you didn’t talk to him, though out your years of being school mates you seemed to always be aware of where he was.

It’s like there was always a string pulling you towards him, and so when you tried pulling away from it, it snapped. Pulling you towards him in a way more quicker way than you could comprehend.

Being around him and his family brought out a happiness you’ve never felt, it seems as though you’ve been with them for such a long time. Only have been here 2 times, seems wrong. It feels like you have a deep connection to the family, as if it was planted there when you were born and you’re barely realizing it.

And here you were, tangled in his arms. It made no sense, did he feel the same? or did he just take pity on the weird girl who randomly started crying in his room?

‘fuck, i’m sorry’ you whisper, pulling away embarrassment shown on your face as you quickly wipe away your tears.

‘I knew you’d break, soon enough,’ his words make you freeze, you look up at him confusion shown in your eyes.

‘I liked you for a long time, i just felt like i was drawn to you’ he shrugged, a weight was lifted off your shoulders knowing you weren’t alone at the thought.

‘I felt like i could see, and feel the pain you were going through’ he mumbled, and it made you think.

‘To me, you were a precious soul slowly being crushed. You don’t even talk to your friends, and they treat you like shit. So when i told you my mom wanted me to get a tutor, i was lying.’ he admitted, you give him a look to please continue.

‘I felt like that was the best way, you seemed like a sweet person. So when you said yes, i kinda splurged a bit and said she wanted you over, and after that day i told her. She doesn’t really know or understand truly what i’m doing but she knows i like you…’

‘and so does Orion, and funny enough…’ he began, and when he let out a broken ‘so does my dad’ your heart felt like it stopped beating, in fact the whole world stopped.

‘Draco- you… you liked my frie-‘

‘stop saying that, i don’t like her’ he said, a distaste on his tongue.

‘she told everyone you stared at her during art-‘

‘i was staring at you.’

Your stomach drops, your head felt like it was spinning. And it might seem over dramatic, but you didn’t care.

Sure you had only really knew the boy for a little over 2 weeks, but you couldn’t explain how much connection you felt towards him. The feelings in your pit of your stomach, the one you had always felt, it lifted.

You were scared.

Scared because you had no idea what to say, or do. You wanted to go back to his arms, and stay there until stars in the sky exploded.

You wanted to sit and talk to him for hours, you wanted to hang out with Orion. You wanted come to this house knowing you were dating the teenage boy at which lived in it.

You breath stutters, and you let out a sob while smiling.

‘You, Draco Malfoy are a very dangerous person.’ you said, he smiled shrugging. Only then did you realize the gleam in his eyes.

‘So i’ve been told’ his voice sounded shaky, on edge.

Every other girl he’s been with, or has dated, has never gave him this feeling. The feeling of belonging and loving, the girls he dated always just dated him just because they wanted to be known for dating him. They never truly took time to get to know him, or they never connected with his family like you did.

Orion has always hated the girls Draco brought over, she insisted she wanted them all out of the house, said they were infecting it. So right from the start, when she smiled and shyly waved at you, Draco knew you were the one.

When you didn’t judge, or ask about his dad always working in the room. When you didn’t judge the toys scattered around the house, and the stuffed animal he seems to always have in his bed. When you literally sat there, watching max and ruby with his little sister.

Most importantly, his mom liked you.

And he liked you, so much so, that it hurt.

‘What the fuck is going on?’ you ask, you both laugh, the laughs sounding so genuine.

You lay down next to him, both looking up at the ceiling.

‘You know, i don’t even know your favorite color’ you say, he looks over at you.

‘green?’ he nods, and it felt like it was pulled out of your mouth.

‘yours is y/f/c, it’s the color of your favorite pencil’ he says, you go wide eyed.

‘yes it is’ you nod, and you realize that you did know each other, it was weird.

‘We’re such idiots’ he mumbled, you laugh. It wasn’t even funny, but when you both started laughing together you couldn’t stop.

‘i think we have super powers,’ you say

‘oh definitely’ he says sarcastically, you smile the feeling you felt at the moment was one you’ve always dreamed of feeling.

Everything felt like it was going in slow motion, like you were in a dream.

You hadn’t really remembered when you fell asleep, it just happened. High on each other, laughing and whispering your favorite things, and things about each other.

—

‘DRACO!’ his mom called, the cookies had been done a while. She put some on a plate, picking up Orion to make their way down to his room. When she knocked and got no response, she raised an eyebrow.

She opened the door and her heart felt warm, seeing the both of you tangled up in the bed. Draco’s arm thrown over you protectively, head above yours. His mom looked over to Orion, Orion giggled silently and put her finger up to her lips.

His mom put the cookies on his nightstand, taking the old water bottle which was probably from the night before. When she walked out the room, she closed it softly.

This is the life she dreamed for her son.

Ky: AHHHHHH i had this thought, because i have friends who act like this, sad to say. But i just love this concept of fated mates, the fact that they had a connection without even knowing! ugh love🥹

[chatisthisfr]

sketches

Percy Jackson x FEM! Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: none. Clarice is mean ig

Summary: You are Hephaestus's daughter. An artist. One day Clarice finds your sketch book and shows off a particular drawing that wasn't to be shared. and someone in particular was around to see it.

Your Pov

Mornings where your favorite, especially during the summertime. The beautiful camp lake was the best view that nothing could beat. Well it was also the best view because if you look to your left about 100 feet away was Percy Jackson, your crush sense you got here 3 months ago. He was practicing, but failing miserably, at archery. He was alone since it was pretty early so he didn't have anyone to accidentally shoot in the head with an arrow. you backed up against a tree and instead of facing toward the lake, you faced more towards Percy. I mean like not all the way so its obvious you're looking at him but, kind of angled. You grabbed your sketch book out of your little tote bag and grabbed a pencil. You knew it was risky. Someone could be watching and seeing you draw this sight. But who could resist. Percy did look pretty. He was falling pretty bad at archery bad but the sun was beaming on him just right. His eyes looked beautiful even from a distance. So you got to work. You quickly sketched a position he was in where he was carefully picking up his last arrow and looking up at the target with anticipation. you got the sketch down and started getting the details in and erasing certain guidelines. you took time with this drawing. making the shadings practically perfect. making every detail better than you've ever before. you weren't even thinking about it that much but there was just something about Percy's presence that made everything just feel easy.

After about an hour, your drawing was done. and not to be selfish but it was amazing. You where naturally a great artist because you where the daughter of Hephaestus. Craftsmanship and art came easy. But nothing this great has ever come from your own hands. You looked up to see where Percy was. If he was still shooting arrows or otherwise. And you did freak out when you realized said boy was coming closer to you. walking your way. and your sketch was out. Your eyes widen and you quickly turn to another page and pretend to be drawing a flower from the other day.

"Hey Y/N. Watchy'a drawing." Percy asks a sits next to you on the tree. "Oh just a flower. Kinda boring but I couldn't think of anything" I smile at him. "No it's beautiful." He points down at a certain spot. "That detail is really impressive." "Thank you. I was watching you uh do archery. I think you're getting better." I say, trying to hold back a slight laugh. "You don't have to lie it's al- wait you where watching me?" Percy says with a small smirk. my face heats up. "Wha- no that's not what I meant. I-I just glanced over there. It's not like that." "Hey hey chill I was just messing with you. " he smiles over at me. "Anyways it was nice talking. I have to get to a meeting real fast. Catch ya later." He said with a quick smile and a wave. "Alrighty bye." I wave back.

Percy didn't have a meeting. He was just so completely and utterly mesmerized by your beauty that he thought if he was there for another second he would go insane. Though, truthfully, Grover did ask for Percy to talk to him about something Percy didn't know what though.

Percy's pov

i made my way to Grover in the dinning area for some late breakfast. I knew he would be in here because well Grover never passes up a good meal. I open up the door and find him there and I make my way over to him. "Hey man, so what was it that you wanted to talk about?" I ask him as I sit across from him at a table. "I know your secret" ".....What secret?" Really, I didn't have any secrets with grover......Except my crus-"I know who you like." oh crap. "What do you mean? I don't like anyone. That's crazy grover." "Oh really? Because when you look at Y/N L/N with those longing eyes, I can tell that that's not true." He smirks at me. Just the mention of her name has got me nervous. And he can definitely tell I'm lying when I say I don't like her. "Oh come on, Percy. You don't have to deny it. You are pretty obvious." "I AM?! DOES SHE KNOW?!" Grover calmly shushes me. "Chill chill. If she didn't already she will now. wow man that was loud." I glared at him "That's not funny, Grover." He laughs "It was a little funny come on." "No but seriously, do you think she knows?" I look at him with a worried expression. "Luckily, no. I think literally everyone else knows but you two are some of the most oblivious people I know" I thought about what he said...and then It hit me. "Wait what do you mean you two? As in also Y/N?" Grover looked nervous for a moment. "Ummm nothing I meant to just say you." Grover was a terrible liar. I knew he was hiding something but I just let it be for now. "Okay. So was this the only thing you had to say?" "Uh yeah yeah that was it." "Alright then. I'm gonna get going. get on with my day"

with that, the two boys separated and they did go on with there day. It was a beautiful day and very relaxing. nothing was really planned so everyone just did there own thing. It wasn't until the bonfire after dinner that things got interesting.

Clarisse pov

Y/N L/N was never on my list. She never did anything great but she never really did anything wrong. But how can I help it when I find out valuable information about someone and not make something out of it. She was out practicing in a field. when I found this information. many people where in this field so it was hard for her to focus on her bag that was strewn over a bench far away from where she was practicing. It was hanging out and I saw a page folded over, presumably so she could come back to it. I found something on that page that I was never expecting but man Could I use this information greatly.

Your pov

I made my way down to the bonfire after dinner. We didn't have these every night but it was kind of a boring day so we decided to have one. I sat down and took my sketch book out and sketch the fire. I had been sitting there for a bit and suddenly my sketch book was snatched out of my hands. "Hey wha-" "Come on Y/N. Come and get it." It was Clarisse. She was taller than me so she used this for her advantage. "Clarisse please give it back." I asked her. "Aw why? Huh.. are you hiding something in here." "Hey come on Clarisse. give it back to her. I looked over and saw Percy. "Percy Jackson. You are just the right person to come over here to help little Y/N." she smirked down at him. "What do you mean Clarisse?" Clarisse flips to a page, with her hands still up in the air. She brings the book down and shows Percy. His eyes widen and I know exactly what she's showing him. I quickly took my sketch and run away. I run to the lake. The same place from this morning but only its dark. The stars shine against the water. I bring my knees up to my chest and sit in my thoughts.

after a few minutes I hear rustling behind me. I assume it's an animal so I don't think about it much but when I hear it again but closer I turn around. Percy. I quickly whip my head back to where I was looking earlier. Not daring to look at him again. "Hey" I hear him say. I don't say anything back. "Hmm we've found ourselves here twice today." He laughs. I can tell he's trying to lighten the mood. I give a small laugh just so he knows I'm alive. "Um so I'm sorry about what Clarisse did. That wasn't fair of her. But the drawing it was-" "Please don't. I don't want your pity. Look, I know it's stupid that I like you. You probably have like ten million girls begging to be with you and i'm just another one. I know all of that so you don't have to feel sorry for-""the drawing was good. I was a great drawing Y/N. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it and you know why it's so amazing? Because It was made by you. You make it ten times more special. I-I like you too. That fact that you made that drawing makes my stomach do flips. I'm thrilled that you drew that." I sit there in silence for a minute. "You..Like me?" "Yes Y/N yes I like you so can I please do this thing that I've been wanting to do since the day I met you? Please let me kiss you." My eyes widen. I nod my head. and he pulls me in.

My day started great and ended great and I can't believe i'm saying this but..Thanks Clarisse!

[quilveor]

It's 4 AM, I had to do half of it twice because MS Paint betrayed me and I didn't notice, but I am SO incredibly proud of this.

Quick, my aarakocra cleric struck by wanderlust, often writes in notebooks and does small sketches. He's not an artist, but he likes it. So I figured, the best way to have his short story would be in a diary form.

There's a lot of character lore included, but I'll keep it brief [I want to sleep.]. Quyeekrraouhsh/Quick is very friendly albeit haven't seen his family in a while. Gwynddu, an albino black dragonborn warlock under Tiamat, is his boyfriend. Duke is a hedonistic kobold rogue, Kenku is a wizard/bard who sings by illusions, and Korek is an insane kobold bard. Jalan'lham is a lizardfolk ranger obsessed with fishes and not a part of the team. Skweerk is not a character, I made her up JUST for this.

It's getting bright.

This was an insane thing to do, making everything just so manual, even though you can clearly tell it was just a computer font [Ink Free, with a guest visit by Segoe Script]

And for people who can't view images, the entire transcript: [Every time [Kenku] appears, it's a drawing of a kenku [crow] head.]

Dear diary I am in such a good mood! I haven't been writing in a while but -t- there was just no time! We just left this big city, [very big] [Baldur's Gate -> [map of region]] heading northways, but omigosh it's SO COOL. There's SO MANY PEOPLE. I didn't meet any Baldur though… There was one dog named that though! [though though though] Very cute doggo. [Doggy.] [Doggerino.] I got to pet it!

Also I think Gwynddu is happier we left. He seemed so tired lately, ,some peace will do him well. He's been tossing and turning last few days, but he says it's "fine". [Sure.] He always has so much to think about. Can you BELIEVE I saw him in the [Pictures of Bahamut and Tiamat] temple of Bahamut?!‽ He went there few days ago to meditate in silence and, to be fair, it was pretty quiet there, but it's still so surprising! [on hush hush he was like 'me and the priest made a pact of non-aggression' and that's just the cutest thing ever] Anyway! So! SO! Today, right, I wake up, Gwynddu wakes up, Duke wakes up, Korek and [Kenku] too, we leave the tavern saying good byes, everyone in GREAT mood honestly except Gwynddu but that's normal for the grump <3 [he's so cute i swear] [the owner wanted us to stay because apparently they really liked [Kenku] singing but we gotta keep moving!!] ANYWAY so we leave, go to the gates [of Baldur Gate [haha]] and there was another aarakocra! Can you imagine that! I haven't seen one in so long! Apparently there's a city in Chult, but it's a bit of a travel there. I already already wrote to check it out later in a different notebook but I [picture of T-Rex] ABSOLUTELY have to go there. Skweerk was really lovely though, it was so nice chatting with her. -> [picture of Skweerk] She was in the city to get some -unusa- unusual materials that usually don't go to Chult! I guess it's harder if you live on an island. I think it's an island. [How big is Chult, anyway.] [I know it has like, [at least] [two cities.]] And a jungle! And those bizarre creatures called dir dinosaurs! -> [towards the T-Rex picture] And temples and tigers and AAAAAA i want to go there so badly! [just on description from Skweerk] [friend] We do need to first go to Daggerford. It's a bit -aft- before Water-deep, and so it's gonna be a few days at least, but we got a letter saying a friend's gonna be staying there and we DEFINITELY -gonna be- have to be there. Jalan'lham!!! Maybe FINALLY he will teach me fishing! He promised!! i wanna catch a fish he does it so -easy- easily [it's probably not actually that easy!] So I think the plan is, Daggerford -> Waterdeep -> [maybe?] Chult so that is probably it for today! [oh but shhhhh i see [Kenku] and Duke sneaking out. Both are far more nocturnal so I bet they're gonna just stay up until very late again. I don't think they know I know but I heard Duke getting some singing lessons from [Kenku] once when I woke up in the middle of night.] [But,] yeah! Gwynddu's getting ready to sleep, I should join him soon. [And where's Korek oh he's already out [okay]] imma go join them then. Until next time! Quyeekrraouhsh

[maiji]

Reverse-engineering Hokushin and Otake

I am very very close to finishing part 3 of fight / flight! So close…!! I decided to take a break with what was supposed to be a quick drawing but ended up going down reference rabbit holes oops. This is modern day (actual Yu Yu Hakusho series canon) Hokushin and Otake alongside my imagined early Kamakura-era versions of them in North Bound.

More commentary below the cut.

To figure out their relative heights, it was the usual game of Measuring Stick Yusuke, i.e., relying on the fact that every single character at some point has stood next to Yusuke, or next to someone who has stood next to Yusuke. In this case:

Hokushin is a head taller than Yusuke.

Otake is about half a head taller than adult Koenma.

Adult Koenma is half a head taller than Yusuke.

Therefore, Otake is about half a head taller than Hokushin. Success!!***

This is assuming nobody changed in height between 700 years ago and now lmao

(*** EDIT: I reread this post and was like, wait, what I wrote doesn't make sense. Measuring stick logic outlined above actually indicates that Hokushin and Otake would be about the same height lol. My logic failed. However, I went back to doublecheck my notes and the manga panels and "Otake is about half a head taller than adult Koenma" is little more than guesswork because they spend most of the time crouched next to each other and leaning slightly forward, so he could be anywhere from the same height to even a head taller. Ehhhhhh close enough. Again, 700 years, who's counting.)

Reverse engineering character designs to different ages/periods is always a fun exercise. Aside from new clothes, one of the easiest and most obvious things to do is to change up their hair! Super easy for these two. Give Hokushin hair, and shave Otake’s mustache off and give him a closer-to-period hairstyle instead of his Western-style cut. Done! But of course, a challenge is that for most visual storytelling purposes, you still need the character to be quickly recognizable.

To me, the really distinguishing aspect of Hokushin and Otake is how Togashi renders their eyes. This is where I find it particularly interesting, because both of them have very fixed eye styles. I personally struggle a lot with making them more expressive without feeling like I’m going super off-model. I have a lot more flexibility with Hokushin now because I’ve drawn him about a bajillion times, and through North Bound I’ve stretched the comfort level of how I can depict him. This is only Otake’s second appearance in North Bound (though it feels like a lot more because it’s taking me a while to draw all these parts of a story), so it’s been more challenging. Page 7 in fight / flight part 1 was difficult in terms of making him look intense. You can see what happens if I tried too hard to convey intensity with his eyes by checking out the sketch of the page - it doesn’t look like him anymore. (Sometimes that can work though, for drama especially when conveying something going off the wall and pushing their limits or shocking others with an about-face.)

Working through their designs allowed me to reflect on the parallels in their design and nature. Hokushin and Otake are both envoys of sorts for extremely ancient and powerful non-human masters, and naturally bring a lot of visual gravitas to that role. Neither of them are the sort of people who’re here to just chill and hang out, and their visual appearance and presence need to convey that.

Hokushin I’ve talked about before. Togashi draws him with these really low eyebrows and flat, dark eyes that almost never shift. This makes him look very serious, to the point of glowering. But through the magic of characterization, context and other little facial details, he feels a lot “softer” - friendlier and more approachable. On the flipside, Otake has very thick bushy eyebrows and beady eyes. His eyebrows are definitely much more mobile than Hokushin’s in the manga, and the styling has the potential of coming off almost comedic, but we never get that impression from him unless Togashi is actually drawing him in a situation where we’re intended to laugh at him (e.g., his reactions to Yusuke pretending to turn into an evil demon). Instead, he feels really serious - much more rigid and inflexible than Hokushin.

Part of this is due to reader perspective as well. Hokushin is a demon who eats humans, which is typically terrifying nightmare material. Otake, on the flipside, is the head of the Spirit World’s Special Defence Force, sent out to save the Human World and also stop a powerful demon from awakening, which sounds like a classic hero. But of course, Togashi has flipped them on their heads, at the most basic level simply by sheer virtue of their associations. Yusuke is the protagonist we’ve followed since volume 1; by the time we get to volume 16, we know him very well and have been rooting for him for all these pages. We can quickly recognize and identify his struggles even in challenging situations. Thus, Otake intent on killing Yusuke (permanently) makes us quick to judge him as villainous - or at the very least on the “wrong” side. Meanwhile, Hokushin appearing in Yusuke’s court, understanding Yusuke’s concerns and even giving answers that clearly align him with Yusuke’s values, immediately develops more benign associations. It’s interesting to compare and contrast them!

[nananarc]

EXCUSE ME WHILE I RANT FOR A BIT

So anyway I finally started with the graduation project and, lemme tell ya, it was annoying. I mean I expected this, but it's still annoying.

The school and the mentor wants things to be of a certain aesthetic and standard so it can fit with the general public's taste and eventually it can be picked up by a publisher. it has to be commercial and easy to digest, for a lack of better words. Which is like, the opposite of essentially what i am as a person and as an artist.

So anyway I'll be doing Truyện Kiều again, illustrating the full book with better art this time. Here are some sketches I did:

Below is the mentor's very quick sketch for demo:

Which is. Ok cool, it's very traditional, Vietnamese fine art design and aesthetic. The thing that you see everywhere in books and media. The thing that is taught in fine art school. And it's also very HIM because he's a very prominent artist since a long time ago. I'm not talking about the difference in the era clothing tho because he demoed in Nguyễn dynasty while mine is of the Trần dynasty.

My style was criticized (politely) that the face doesn't look pretty, the nose is too prominent and big, the lineart is too scratchy and loose, and that I have to restrict the freedom in my lineart more.

Which is. Like. Pretty much all the things that i like about my art the most. I don't really like drawing "pretty" people, I wanna draw distinct and unique people. I like the fact that the nose is prominent because that's a very Vietnamese facial feature. Our nose is big, flat and flared. And I like it. AND I DIDNT EVEN DRAW IT THAT BIG. it's already stylized and stuff. The lineart is scratchy and spontaneous because that's how my ADHD brain works! And I like the freedom, the raw unfinished feel to it. And my way of scrawing is kinda similar to sculpting in a way that I like to put in a block of line or shape (yang) and then erase it and putting in more nothing space (yin). And I like Maximalism and Kitsch and Neo-traditionalism so I love to do things a bit crazy and new and filled with emotions.

My mentor comes from a very different generation, and a different field than me. He's very commercial, leaning more into minimalism, fine-art conservative and traditional aesthetic. WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF ME. Sadly we don't get to choose mentor cos there's only one lmao.

And also I don't understand why I have to aim for publishing in Vietnam too, because that's not where my target customer is. I'm a niche artist with limited customer base and they are international clients (who mostly pay better, treat you better, and appreciate your art more than the general public in VN do). Luckily I have a bachelor in business admin so I know how to do brand and marketing myself, othewise id just keep on trying to please everyone (flexing a little bit, but i was graduating with excellence and on the top 10 of my intake lmeo). Not to mention the fact that why do I even have to publish in the first place, because this is a school, it is a place to experiment, make mistakes, and learn. It's not a place to conform to the industry to make a living. If I wanna do that I would not be here and start working for a company already!

I understand it when they said that it would be a huge advantage if you can get published, but then again, that route is not for everyone, and it's not the only way to be an illustrator like they said. I have my own path to walk on, and I don't think they are aware that we even have those paths, because they are from a different generation. I mean, that's why I was struggling so much before to find a footing, because virtually no one here knows there are other paths! I had to dig things up myself through sweat, blood and tear.

Anyway I rant but i will keep trying to fight and do it on my own terms. They can't make me anyway. There's gonna be sticks and stones, but I mean, I can't physically make myself do something I do not wanna do. There's another option which is to drop it because I don't need the certificate anyway, but I wanna finish a big project of my own too.

[blackstarchanx3new]

Sorry for spamming your notifs I was just wondering if you have any lineart/ coloring tips!

Im trying to improve my art and your style is perfect!!!

A joy you'd ask such an extensive question: I recorded a quick timelapse (Sorry I don't control the speed on Clip Studio)

I draw with vector layers for line art, meaning I can erase overlapping lines SUPER easy with a Vector eraser:

To make them not highlighted in orange btw (For CSP specifically) I believe you gotta go into "View" and "turn off vector paths".

I usually have a layer behind the characters that is "Grey" so I know where I've colored until I change it to black with protect Alpha.

In GENREAL advice I'd give: Do "Figure drawings" I think they're called. VERY QUICK rough sketches to get a figure/pose down. I draw like a speed demon because I don't focus on "Getting lines perfect" either. Paper is a less forgiving medium, when I was a kid (And even now) i sketch on paper with Pen. NO MISTAKES. WE DIE LIKE MEN. It makes you think a lot more about "How am I gonna do this right the first time" Basically: Your boy is quick, he likes to do it in 1 go and art style is pretty simple. Affective for making comics FAST. Which is what I care about since my stories/dialogue are kinda the highlight not the pictures, they just take my stuff to THE NEXT LEVEL. :)

Lately I've been trying to "Care less" about getting perfect clean line art (Tbh I think I've always cared a little less because SOME PEOPLE SPEND 8 HOURS ON A DRAWING AND HALF THE TIME THEY SPENT WAS ERASING SHIT. I COULD NOT. O.O)

The need for speed is because I need to make so many pages for all my comics in a timely manor.

Looking at AOT's butt ugly art and Chainsaw man's beautiful scratchy lines made me realize I was being way to uptight about my own shit looking "Perfect". So I've tried to be more fluid with it.

Speaking of: I recommend anyone who likes manga to try to mimic some art styles to learn stuff. "Why'd they do xy or z" "How'd they achieve x" ya know? Here's two of my avatars from my zelda videos (OOT is still in progress)

But it also depends on what you're TRYING to go for:

I don't WANT/NEED a consistent art style. I mostly just do whatever I feel fits whatever I'm working on. "On model" isn't in my vocabulary. X'D

I recommend studying anatomy because it REALLY amped up my abilities to draw the human body better. Full figure drawings, don't run away from things you might be bad at. X'D (Or work with what you do, I am shit at drawing hands, so they'll turn into weird monstrosities but nobody's said anything yet! XD)

People are seemingly willing to forgive a lot of mistakes: If it's funny. X'D I gotta try harder in serious scenes hahaha. Also having weird as fuck/abstract character design like my boys Ball and Bat

You're not gonna question anatomy choices for a thing that looks like THAT.

Simple character design is my passion~

For coloring: Outside of me understanding basic color theory I just do what makes my brain go BRRR so I can't really DESCRIBE why I like what I like? X'D

But here's some of my color palettes! I implore anyone to use them if they like them. They're not some trade secret, they're just colors.

Anyways that's all I got hope it helps. XD

[the-bad-batch-baroness]

I’m like, actually able to wrap my head around more peoples ocs after my Arcane high of the day soooo

💥💤🍁🌎🎁🎵 for may absolute favorite boi Gloss plsssss 💙

KENZIE, BABE, I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I got it Sunday night, but I flew out to Atlanta Monday morning and didn't have time to answer them all. But I have them done for OC Sunday 💚💚💚

💥 What emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

Gloss has trouble dealing with anger. He doesn't understand it because he's a naturally docile and passive person. It's one of the few emotions that he doesn't express. If someone is yelling at him he will just stand there and not know what he is supposed to do. On the flip side, if, and only if, he becomes mildly angry, he'll probably combust because he doesn't know how to express it properly.

💤 Do they fall asleep easily? What helps them fall asleep?

Gloss falls asleep wicked quick and stays asleep. He does need his sketchbook nearby in order to fall asleep, but once he knows it's there, he's out like a light. He is a very deep sleeper. Even a grenade going off next to his bunk could not wake him. However, a single physical touch and he's up immediately. Tungst usually just kicks him if he needs him up.

🍁 What is their favorite season?

Gloss loves the summertime because it's when the world is at it's most vivid colors for him to draw. Trees, flowers, animals, people, scenery, it's all available to him. He also doesn't have to worry too much about the weather getting in the way of his art. He can easily sit under the shade of a tree and draw whatever he sees. Usually animals will come up to him since he's so still. He enjoys their silent company and showing them what he's drawn.

🌎 Will they give up the world for someone they love? Is this decision easy for them?

Gloss's world consists of his art and his brothers. If he was asked to give up both for someone he loved, he would struggle, HARD. His art is his identity. It's who he is, and anyone who would take it away from him would be more of a threat than someone he loved. Would he give up his life as a clone and soldier in the GAR for someone he loved? In a heartbeat. You wouldn't have to ask him twice. But, he would never give up his art or leave his brothers for anyone.

🎁 What types of presents would they be most happy to receive? Are they good at gift giving?

Gloss would love to receive anything art related, whether that's art materials or things that you want him to draw. If you came up to him and said, "This <object> is pretty, can you draw it for me?" He would melt and draw the best version of it that he could for you. He would probably sketch it in multiple styles just to make sure you like it. Gloss is the best gift giver. Most people think he's so caught up in his own little world that he doesn't pay attention to anything around him, but in reality he has selective attention. If his partner mentions something they want, just off-hand, in a conversation with someone else, or even flipping through a magazine, they'll find it on their bed the next day.

🎵 What is their playlist like? Their favorite artists? Do you associate a particular song with them?

Gloss's playlist is full of classical music from Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, and Debussy. The classical music helps him think clearly and inspires his art. I associate Gloss with Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata No. 14 in C minor, first movement.

OC Emoji ask

[scorchedhearth]

for the drabbles can i request kyle drawing/painting jason

you sure can! this was fun :>

get your own drabble

This is wildly underwhelming. Given, Jason’s interactions with art have been few and far between, his knowledge comes mostly from movies and books which isn’t the most reliable source, yes. To say he wasn’t prepared would be one way to put it. Still. This is underwhelming and now he has to temper down his expectations.

Because posing for Kyle is nothing like he imagined. He may have kept himself from saying ‘Draw me like one of your french girls.’ out loud but he thought about it anyway, who wouldn’t have when asked to model? But whatever he imagined didn’t include Kyle making him keep a position that cramped at least two muscles at a time for twenty minutes before moving him into another one that he finds interesting enough and starting the clock again, over and over. Quick studies he told him, just to warm up before starting on a real piece.

So now Jason is in Kyle’s living room turned studio, naked and sitting down on a sheet spread over a few boxes with his limbs twisted in a way that provides excellent shadows and contrasts Kyle told him. He believes him, elbows aren’t meant to lay like that on knees, the strain in his joint attests to that. And sure he could leave, he could stand up and go do something more exciting, easy as that. But the soft smile Kyle made when he sat down behind his easel with his pencils and charcoal made something tug in Jason’s chest.

It had been weeks since he could draw, even longer since he managed to sneak studies and real-life drawing, Lantern duties keeping him busy along with the League and Earth troubles. The happy thrum in his fingers and satisfied hums he sighs every so often are too good for Jason to rip them out of his hands. So he sits as he’s told, listens to the city noises and lead scrapping paper as Kyle is lost in his own head.

When he’s not making him face away, Jason seizes the opportunity to study him in return. They’ve been growing closer and closer these past few months, and Jason does his fair share of staring of course but Kyle always catches up to it and shoot him a smile or a wink, breaking the spell of watching unseen. But here, with Kyle lost in his piece, too busy focusing on working the right shade or getting an angle perfectly, he doesn’t register Jason’s gaze. That leaves him to drink in the sight, the lines of his face, the swoop of dark hair right above his eyes, the muscles straining in his forearms with each flick of his wrist, the tapping of his foot when he’s getting frustrated on a particular spot. It’s nice, to take his time in studying him for once.

It’s interesting to see Kyle treating him like a model and not the friend slash somewhat boyfriend they’ve become. He doesn’t look at him with his usual mirth and spark of life, instead his gaze is highly analytical, looking at flesh and skin and the way light plays over those, thinking over the mechanics and how-to of his body instead of the esthetics. It does something to his head, to have Kyle’s gaze glance over him and take him as nothing but a sum of details to decipher and sketch. He doesn’t touch him either as Jason had expected, he only instructs him from afar, shows him what he wants him to do with various limbs and body parts, how to ruffle his hair in a more interesting way. But he keeps his distance, looking at him from his easel positioned a few feet away from him, detailing his body as he might with any other subject.

He likes it, somehow. It’s another side of Kyle he doesn’t get to see. That not many people get to see, really, because as open as he is about his career and work, Kyle is rather guarded about his process. He doodles when out and will show off from time to time a more complex drawing but any more serious pieces are created behind closed doors. Be it his commercial work or more personal ones, he will shutter himself away and come out days and weeks later with the final piece to show. Jason tries not to think too hard about what it means that he’s part of the tight circle of people who Kyle allowed near him as he works.

His eyes catch the clock sitting on the table nearby and Jason allows the hand another run full circle before he speaks up.

“Time’s up.” His voice sounds incredibly loud in the quiet of his studio.

“Uh?” Kyle’s head shoots up, a frown between his eyebrow.

“I said, time’s up. Pens down, you’re done.”

“Right.” Kyle looks at his easel, then Jason, then back at it and before he can fidget with it anymore Jason stands up and take away his scene, gets his knees under himself and slowly unrolls his spine, stretching his sore shoulders.

“You’re done. You told me twenty minutes no more.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kyle huffs and set his charcoal down, wiping his fingers on a rag sitting next to his stool. He tilts his head to the right, then left, and sighs. “Think I’m done with those for now. I wanna move on to paint.” He glances at Jason who’s busy pulling on his arm to work out a crank. “You alright with that?”

“Sure.” He shrugs. “Give me ten, I need a break, and then we can do whatever you want.” He doesn’t forget to grin at the slight pink that brushes Kyle’s cheek at the innuendo.

“Shut up.” He tries to grunt but it comes out amused so Jason considers it a scored point for him. “Want anything to drink?” He asks as he picks up the robe from the nearby chair and hands it to Jason. “I think I need a break too, my wrist’s getting tight.”

“Lead the way,” Jason gestures toward the kitchen and follows Kyle, eager to share a conversation with him instead of only standing around looking hot and handsome. He says so out loud and Kyle’s laugh is almost worth the shot at his ego.