#i don't think i've ever done such consistent shading before

[coyotejone-s]

mira said she'd commission artist for mimi burger images if she had the money. i think the mental image is funny, so i'm doing it for free.

@mirakurutaimu

[cupofwyn]

beach shenanigans w/ bf!dream⠀( a series )

▬⠀content יִ،⠀mark. renjun. jeno. haechan. jaemin. chenle. jisung.

pairing/s יִ،⠀bf!mark lee × gn!reader

genre/s יִ،⠀fluff.⠀established relationship.

warning/s יִ،⠀pure fluff.⠀bulletpoints.⠀lowercaps.

wc יִ،⠀0.72k⠀

a/n יִ،⠀i've had this prompt for a few weeks already, and im proud to say im making it a series! i hope you'll enjoy the series first starting off with mark ^^

prompt יִ،⠀"having a bf is like having a misbehaved child." and you think about it a lot when you see bf!mark running towards the white sand with his shovel and bucket in hand.

as a child, mark only experienced the coldness of winter

the city that he lived in, the country, canada, boasts a cold temperature every winter season

and when he had the chance to experience summer in his country, his summer break usually consisted of him going back to seoul with his parents

a city full of skyscrapers—opposite to what he wanted to see in his summers

everywhere he looked from social media, pictures sent by his friends

and even his parent’s pictures of going to the beach without him as he was already, what they liked to call him, "a fully-fledged adult"—he would be envious of them

he only experienced summer in the confines of the pool

he wanted sand

he wanted to dig in anything that was sand

mark was getting tired of thinking of snow as sand

it was cold, it melts, and is annoying to get rid of

but sand?

sand, for him, was a privilege

it was that serious for him

so when you invited your bf!mark for a summer beach getaway this summer break

his eyes sparkled in delight

he took you in a tight embrace, carrying you and swirling you and him around the room as he repeated a bunch of thank you's

and you giggled, happy to see him in this state

as soon as he saw the view of the beach, the smell of salt air, the crashing waves, and the white sand, he wasted no time

he got his sand-digging supplies on the backseat of the car when you were done parking the car

then ran giddily barefooted on the soft and warm ground of sand

“mark! wear your sunscreen first!” you yelled at him, and he immediately ran over to you, his feet running in place as he stood in front of you

“hot! hot! hot!” he complained

the sand wasn't warm. it was scorching hot with the sun confidently glaring from the skies

“you should've worn your slippers before going out to the sand.” you nagged at him as he patiently waited for you to apply sunscreen all over his face, neck, and arms

at this point, you're already asking yourself if this was a date or if you were just treating his inner child

“go get your slippers in the car.” you said to him

“on it!” mark went back to your car parked behind you

you chuckled, finding his enthusiasm adorable, and walked to the car, applying your sunscreen on the car's side mirror

the noise on the trunk of the car filled with shuffling and displacing of things, mark humming to himself a made-up tune

“where art thou thine slippers?” the lyrics went on, and you giggled

it took a while before mark called you out

“babe?”

“yeah?” you answered, now applying sunscreen on your neck

“i think i forgot to pack my slippers…”

that's why you had an ominous feeling ever since you saw him filling up his things

he prioritized his shovel and sand bucket first, after all

“that's because you're too busy packing your shoveling supplies.” you replied

“sorry.” he apologized, a bit down that he couldn't play peacefully on sand

“just use my slippers.” you suggested, wiping evenly the white cast of the sunscreen on your neck. “i'll be staying in the shade, so i don't really need them.”

mark then ran towards you

stopped, as he stood beside you

and you're startled

you turned to look at him, seeing him smiling ear to ear

“what?” you asked with suspicion

he was saying nothing and had only been looking at you silently with a big smirk on his face for a few seconds already

he then wrapped his arms around your waist and showered kisses all over your face

you giggled at this, gently pushing him away since you had just applied your sunscreen

“i just finished wearing my sunscreen, you dummy!” you complained

but he knew you loved it

because despite you pushing him away,

you were smiling and laughing

he tightened his embrace, pulling you in closer and gave a final peck on your lips, leaving you stunned

and flushed

“i love you, babe. thank you for lending me your slippers.” he grinned

and you chuckled

as you gave him a sweet kiss on his lips

“you silly. now, go heal your inner child.”

© written by CUPOFWYN. 2024.

[dollsorwhatever]

Reroot: Sonokong 14" Sailor Moon

Think this might be my favorite reroot I've ever done and one of my favorite partial customs!

She got a full reroot including a fully corrected hairline, re-centered parting and brand new organized rooting pattern

As well as some repainting on her boots, odango shields and accessories both to add extra detailing and to switch out all of the reds and mismatched pinks to one consistent shade of magenta across the board, to make her look a little more put together than the original. I also gave her an Irwin Moon Stick because she came without a wand, and the Irwin one matches her scale better than the actual Irwin SM dolls lol This is how she looked before- still very cute, still one of the best vintage SM dolls ever made, but her hair was way too short and her rooting was awful lol 13" Sonokong Moon was one of my most coveted SM dolls growing up and while I've had her in my collection for a while now, I'm even more in love with her now that she has long hair and a more refined outfit and color scheme! Often when you buy a doll as an adult that you coveted as a child,  you'll notice (or at least I do) some aspects of the doll don't quite live up to the idealized version of her that you had in your memory as a child, as result of growing up and refining your sense of taste and standards in dolls over the years, and it feels so fulfilling to have the skills to be able to take a doll and tweak her until she matches the version I had of her in my mind.

[ablogmadebyjose]

SUPREME GEOMETRY | THE NINE ARCH BRIDGE

Topics of interest

Shadow Play | Contrast, balance, duality

Very familiar in terms of colours, theming, and potential narrative. Could have been a fun experiment to attempt at but my only fear is that it may end up looking familiar compared to my darker tones weekly explorations.

Scan Lines | Digital age, consumption, analog

Not entirely similar to the style I've been attempting for the past 7 weekly explorations yet it leans more towards a digital narrative that my past work haven't quite touched yet (aside from weekly exploration number five).

Supreme Geometry | Boundaries, abstract, simple supremacy

This was the topic I was "recommended" to attempt. As seeing that I want my final three to be strictly illustration based this would be another perfect opportunity to use perspective as I haven't used much of that in my batch of work.

CHOSEN TOPIC -> SUPREME GEOMETRY

The second final illo of the semester! This week I was tasked to attempt supreme geometry. I immediately knew that I had to attempt perspective for this one, not only would it ensure that it would look visually different but it would challenge me to attempt something new that I have never done often enough. This also marks the first weekly exploration that I can call it a proper illustration, one of the first that I actually feel satisfied with illustrating.

Creative Concept

From the start I wanted this to be really different in terms of colour and composition. Inspired by supreme geometry I played with shapes and even some more complex forms to create a sunset bridge setting inspired by the recent sunset that have been occurring lately. Despite working with what are mostly 2D shapes I added shading to create depth as I believe simple shapes can be so much more than just 2D flat objects.

Description

As mentioned before, I want to ensure that these three last illos are fully illustrative and this and this definitely suits that guideline, exceedingly too! This illo is somewhat different than my usual art style which I think helps it to differentiate it from the other 8 weekly explorations. I experimented with colours that I don't use that much such as purples and greens. Yellow and orange seemed like good highlight colours for shading and the suns in the composition.

For this one illustration I didn't use my usual overlay texture technique and instead used photoshop's grain and texture to fulfill that air spray-like texture that's seen on this week's exploration. It really helped tie in the shading and shapes as without it, it looked to artificial and lacked the retro futuristic feel I wanted to emulate.

This turned out to be one of my favourite illos in this semester's batch and I loved the process behind it. I've been wanting to attempt this sort of style ever since semester one's batch of illos but I never got around to it. This illo is inspired by the end of the semester and the weird bliss I get during the final two weeks of school. Sad that school is over and I'll have to say goodbye to my friends and not having a consistent workflow of design work that I love doing, yet happy as I get to go back home and see all my old friends once again and the usual summer activities that occur during that time.

Final illo is next week, I think I've got something good coming up!

KEYWORDS FOR INSPIRATION

Retro

Perspective

Neon

Radiate

Growth

Futuristic

ROUGH -> PROCREATE

FINAL -> PHOTOSHOP

Text version:

[nonuggetshere]

HEY IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT NOREL

Have u ever mentioned how and when exactly he gets his ass beat

Pls tell me he gets his ass beat

THAT'S GREAT BC I'VE ALSO BEEN THINKING ABOUT NOREL, YOU CAUGHT ME AT A PERFECT TIME

Sorry if this is like. Incomprehensible. I just woke up (yes it is 9 PM, don't look at me)

So if I have to be honest the exact way Flower gets kidnapped, if it even succeeds and how Norel dies haven't been set in stone yet because I keep flip flopping around on how it should happen

I really like one idea that originally was just a fun scenario but not canon, but now I might just make it canon because 1) Ghost and Flower fucking jump off a building and shield-surf, and Flower damm near strangles Ghost when they're done falling (And I really need Flower yelling "Why do I consistently forget I'm related to a maniac with a long history of violence and bad decision making" at Ghost to be canon), and 2) PK finds out he has more kids than just Flower, Ghost and Hornet, and I do love to kick a man while he's down. BUT unfortunately, that's not finished cooking yet except maybe some small scenes, so I can't talk much about it much

Originally Norel was meant to be killed, either by Ghost in blind traumatic rage (Norel has been a thorn at the vessels' side for years, plenty of them have trauma related to his bullshittery and Ghost likely had run-ins with him before joining their siblings in Hallownest, they're not handling the death of their siblings well) or quickly ended by PK when he jumps in to protect Flower and shield them from a blow with his own body

BUT now I really want Norel to instead to go into hiding so he has a chance to traumatise the new generation too (and Flower absolutely blames themself because maybe if they told Tally about this maniac they and The New Mantis Baby wouldn't have been hurt)

But it does mean that I have absolutely no idea how he should die now. But I do like the idea of Ghost killing him, nothing's more cathartic than killing a little bitch, and the fact that Norel did all of these experiments with void to reach immortality and the Shade Lord is the one to kill him feels very poetic

[candycoated-rage]

hazbin hotel review (first four episodes, spoiler free)

i literally only watched the show to see if it was any good outside of the ads and the hate on twitter and... its very hit or miss

im not gonna address ANY of the controversies in this show because it will lead to a biased opinion, but if you wanna look into the controversies, go ahead. this is only reviewing the show itself. not the producers, just the show. the cut underneath is gonna be long so be warned

the humor is either pretty good or very bad. and most of the time, most jokes are dragged down by ones before it or proceeding it. i personally find some visual gags funny, but most of the jokes revolve around swearing, sex, and violence. if you're into that, i won't judge. but i personally really don't like it.

the animation can be really beautiful at times! but i've also noticed a lot of animation errors. nothing major, but the most common one i've seen is that many charcters have a different lineart color than other characters (for example, angel dust as pink line art, while charlie has black) and it makes it look as if the characters are on completely different planes. theres a scene in the first three minutes of the show where charlie is holding onto vaggie, and it looks very unnatural to me. this isnt to mention the character design, as well. personally, i love the designs for characters like Velvette, Valentino, Nifty, and Sir Pentious, as well as a lot of the background characters. however, i don't like the designs of characters like Vox, Alastor, Angel Dust, and many more. the silhouettes of many characters end up looking extremely similar, and with the mostly red backgrounds in the show with most character's colors pallettes being shades of red, it makes it hard to distinguish the background from the character itself. the backgrounds are BEAUTIFUL, though. they're genuinely stunning, and i love the art done for them. it makes the world feel lived-in.

the show is a musical, and many of the songs are either very good or very annoying or forgettable. my favorite of the few we get is alastor and vox's song; i love the fast pace, the bickering between the two, and their general "tv and video" and "radio star" theme. on the other hand, both songs in episode three are extremely forgettable to me. i watched the episode not even an hour ago and i don't remember either of them. i also find Poison a very annoying pop song, and i really don't like that it's been stuck in my head ever since i heard the chorus. but, despite that, the music is usually the most consistently good thing throughout the show.

the voice acting is fine. some voice actors do great! alastor and husk have very unique voices, and they fit the character very well. however, my main criticism with the voice acting is angel dust. the accent is very jarring to listen to, and it feels pretty fake. again, very hit or miss.

the plot itself is what i don't like. the show often stops in its tracks to dump information on you, and it feels very shoehorned in. some episodes also have very generic plots, especially episode three. i could predict what was going to happen every step of the way. the structure makes it feel almost like it's for a younger audience, and not for adults.

overall, i personally think the show has its highlights, but i wouldn't go out of my way to watch any more. there are much better shows for mature audiences out there. if i were to rate the series, it would be around a five or a six for me. it's not atrocious, and if you enjoy the show for what it is, i completely understand. there are some great moments in the show! however, i wouldn't recommend this show for someone who likes adult animation.

tl;dr, it's a fine show, i have a very mixed opinion of it. wouldn't recommend unless you want some pretty good songs and some nice animation.

[starknightgirl]

MCC 35 Red Reindeer Sweater Skins!

I'm back to posting less than 24 hrs before the event apparently.

If this is the first post you’re seeing of mine, hi! I have made a lot of CaptainSparklez’ team’s skins, ever since MCC14 (links: MCC15, MCC16, MCC17, MCC18, MCC19, MCC21, MCC22, MCC23, MCC24, MCC25, MCC28, MCC30, MCC31, MCC32, MCC33, MCC34, MCC Party). On occasion I’ve also made skins for other teams, such as the Red Rabbits of MCC Rising. Feel free to share this, just tag this post so that it links back to me. Thank you! Ok, more below the cut.

I’m using my reddit username as the signature, don’t worry I’m not stealing from anyone.

What's this, proper shading? Yeah, I don't know why I was crazy enough to do that this time either. I may have figured out a way to make shading more consistent in the future. Only time will tell on that front.

It's pretty standard for me to do sweaters for the December MCC and by golly am I sticking to it. This time the pattern is supposed to be like a minecraft dirt block. Also, everyone gets antlers! I thought they looked cute. Reindeer heads for the back, of course, which were pretty tricky. Although yetis were still the worst. I think it worked out okay.

Okay, onto individual breakdowns.

Starting with Michaelmcchill. It's been a little while but I have actually made a skin for Michaelmcchill before. Much of the same principles from last time remain although I'm much better now. The kneepads the skin has were translated into the pants pattern and since there wasn't much visually, I added a scarf.

Next, RedVelvetCake who I don't believe I've made skins for before. This was a a hard skin to work with for a few reasons. For one thing, I'm not even sure RedVelvetCake has a standard skin. For another, balancing the amount of things going on with the head was hard! Although I suppose it's partially my fault for adding more stuff in the form of antlers.

I have also made Sapnap a skin before and that was much more recently. This was a relatively easy skin to work with, with the hardest part being that it is the sole 3 pixel arm skin of the group. Sapnap gets gloves. I also carried over the pants stripes from Sapnap's regular skin.

And finally, CaptainSparklez. As per usual there is not much to say. I kind of nailed the sweater look for CaptainSparklez two years ago (two years ago!) and so not much has changed besides the coat length and design. The pants' stripe design are somewhat carried over from CaptainSparklez's regular skin except apparently there's no stripe on the inside normally. I didn't notice that until after I was done though, so it's not changing now.

Here’s all the skins if you want them for yourself.

[golby-moon]

been forever since I've done pixel art but since the drawing app I use (@flipaclip) recently (at the time) added a pixel art feature, I decided to (or well accidentally did it) give it a shot for the @bsideminibang for this fic I kind of pinch hit for after people from all sides dropped out

this banner is kind of a mess since I didn't even try to stay consistent as far as pixel sizing went, didn't even think of it. I do like how certain things came out, like the apple skins and the spot of blood (the logo was just me tracing the original one to pixelate it so not counting that), but things like the old timey metal lunch box and the countertop with the pie on it (underneath the fic title) didn't come out very well at all imo

for the art piece, I learned from my mistakes and kept the 'brush' size the same throughout the entire thing, which I think makes it look better overall even if it loses some of the tinier details nobody would ever notice that smaller pixels allowed (which is partially why the Mars/male symbol on the pillow...isn't very clear). I actually forgot I was gonna put Dean (with the purple hair there) standing in front of the couch, so Cas (with the blue hair) has a whole body behind Dean's head. I don't always take the time to bother doing more than basic sketches in cases like those, but Cas is all fully colored and shaded and everything behind Dean's head lol

the dark spots in Dean's hair are supposed to be blood, as there's a scene in the fic where John beats Dean up. there's also transphobic language and transphobia in general in the fic, as Dean is trans and his parents don't like that very much. be aware of the tags and everything before you click on the fic

the fic this is made for is called "Unraveling Unrolled" by @bleuzombie for the bside mini bang (that I cannot stop referring to as 'rock bang' oops)

(09/07/23)

[victoriaisbored]

Life Since Spirit City (week 7)

Another week of art!

This week I mostly worked on a painting commission that I've mentioned before.

I was painting throughout the week, and it went from this-

This is where I mixed a too light version of the hair color, and an overall wrong skin tone. I spent a lot of time experimenting with the paint, kind of relearning gouache again because it's been a really long time. I was also using my most expensive gouache, so at a certain point I got really nervous about how much of the tubes I was using.

If you don't know, gouache is always in smaller tubes, usually not more than 40ml for White, and regular colors regularly don't come in tubes bigger than 20ml. It's expensive, high pigmented, and usually smooth, not slippery, more like velvety smooth and soft in texture.

For the skin I layed down the flat color, and then wet the brush once it dried a little to lift the color in spots that were around the usual T-zone of the face. (T-zone meaning a T shape from eyebrows, down the nose, and to the chin where highlights usually naturally hit.) I also lifted color on the cheeks and under the eyes on the top of the cheek bone, because I watch a lot of makeup tutorials, and I noticed that people always add highlighter in those spots.

It then became this

I mixed a new color of the brown for the hair that was thinner. I treated this more like a glaze, so you can consider the first version almost an underpainting for the hair. I used a big filbert brush to add this movement to hair, and make sure it didn't just look flat and non-dimensional.

The concept isn't realistic, but I still wanted to add some actual volume.

So then I got it to this point

I reworked the skin tone, added more dimension to the face with some light shading around the jewelry. I added some lining, eyelashes, and lip color. I think all of the changes I made to the skin tone look really pretty, but it's a little more detailed than was originally requested. So I made sure to send this pic to my client so that they can object to the dimension that I added to the face.

Tomorrow I will start adding to the painting again, I need to do her jewelry over Monday and Tuesday, and then I am planning to give her some eye makeup but I want to double-check with the client first.

I'm consistently flabbergasted at the amount of things I have managed to get done ever since downloading this productivity tool. I know I didn't talk about it here this time, but I don't think I can say much aside from that I've only got 2 more spirit colors on arachknit to unlock before I've completely unlocked all of the spirit skins :D

[just-a-draco-girly]

The Secret - Chapter Eight

Nervously, I adjust the dark green chiffon material of my dress as I look at myself in the mirror. I let Charlotte do my makeup again which consists of dark smoky eye shadow and eyeliner with the pinky-nude coloured matte lipstick that I've come to grow fond of since Draco complimented me on it in Hogsmeade at the start of the year. My hair is held back in a plaited bun with a few curly tendrils falling lazily at the side of my face. I drop my eyes to my feet which are adorned with a silver pair of ballet flats. I somehow managed to avoid Charlie making me wear heels... again. A shaky sigh leaves my mouth when I turn to face Charlie, who is wearing a long, grey gown that is covered in sparkly gems and is sifting through her trunk to find her shoes.

"Charlie?" I call over, causing her to turn to me and nod in response. "I'm scared, I don't think I can do this..." I trail off, looking at my hands that are still playing with the soft skirt of my floor length dress. She sighs and moves over to my side, gently taking hold of my shoulders. I'm spun around and made to look in the mirror once more.

"Victoria, you are the most beautiful, smart, and witty girl I've ever met. I don't get what you see in an asshole like Malfoy..." She speaks, pausing when I glare at her in the mirror. "But he'd be lucky to have you. Any guy would for that matter" She adds, smiling sweetly at me as I continue to give her the stink eye.

If I am honest, despite her not liking Draco she has supported me completely through this whole ordeal. She understands that Draco has been my closest friend for a long while, and she knows who I'd pick if she tried to come between us. Draco. It's always been Draco since he accidentally kissed me when we were five years old. A small smile etches itself upon my face as I remember his little pale face turning the shade of a tomato.

"You're right. I shouldn't be nervous, I've known him my whole life" I speak, resolutely. Charlie pats my shoulder and grabs her clutch, passing me my own. Happily, we link arms and walk out of the dorm, heading down the stairs to the common room. We find her date, Thomas Witten, a fellow Ravenclaw from the year above us, waiting in a brown armchair by the portrait hole. He stands, straightening his jacket as we unlink our arms. Greeting us both, he gently takes Charlie's hand and I can see her dying inside. Thomas is quite the catch. Tall, dark haired and he's the captain of the house's Quidditch team. Youngest Quidditch captain in almost 200 years.  Most of the girls in Ravenclaw are obsessed with him.

But he's not my type.

Our trio leaves the common room and walk down the corridor. I awkwardly follow, feeling overwhelmingly like a third wheel. The feeling soon dissipates when we reach the top of the staircase that descends into the entrance hall. My eyes immediately land on Draco, who is wearing a black shirt and tie with black trousers and dress robes. His usually messy blonde hair is slicked back, but parted slightly. In short, he looks perfect. I smile widely and slowly descend the stairs. I can feel his eyes watching me the entire time.

"Hi" I say, nervously smiling, as I come to a halt in front of him. His eyes that were staring at me blink rapidly and he slowly shakes his head.

"Um, hey" Draco mumbles, scratching the back of his neck. "You look... st-stunning" He speaks, amazement evident in his voice. My cheeks burn brightly, hopefully being hidden by the makeup Charlie put on earlier. I nervously respond with a curt thank you, before hearing a loud shriek of anger that sounded like it could only have came from one Pansy Parkinson.

"Drakey-poo!" She shouts, marching across the hall with tears streaming down her overly done makeup. She looks like a mess (well more than usual). Draco groans, rolling his ice blue eyes as she nears us. She shoves me out of the way when she stands in front of Draco, almost standing on the hem of my dress. I stumble slightly. Draco gently places his arm around my waist to steady me, instinctively pulling me into his side.

"Yes, Parkinson?" He asks, sneering almost. Pansy's pug face drops at the use of her surname. She hopefully has realised that Draco doesn't like her and sadly saunters towards the stairs that lead down to the Dungeons. I feel a slight pang of guilt as I watch her go.

"Don't you think that was a bit mean, Draco?" I question, gazing up at his tall frame.

"I've tried everything else and she still didn't leave me alone" He sighs, resignation taking over him. I softly pat his shoulder in some form of comfort. His arm still clings to my waist, restricting my movement. But I don't care.

"Malfoy!" Potter's voice booms from the stairs, causing both Draco and I to groan in disgust and turn to the source of his voice.

"What do you want, Potter?" He demands, sounding exhausted already due to Pansy and now Potter confronting him. Potter saunters down the stairs with the sense of entitled arrogance that only he, the chosen one, has. I thought Draco was entitled and arrogant until I met Potter in first year.

"So you've actually got yourself a date apart from Parkinson?" He speaks, snidely. Draco grinds his teeth together, only calming down when I place a hand on his chest to stop him from attacking the boy who lived.

"Yeah, he does and at least he didn't get his last minute unlike you, Potter" I reply, snapping at Potter's smug face. He does a double take before retreating to Weaselbee on the other side of the now crowded entrance hall, muttering nonsense angrily under his breath. A quiet chuckle escapes Draco's pink lips. I turn to him with a look of confusion on my face. "What?" Bemused, he continues to laugh at whatever joke is funny inside his head.

"I really don't get how you weren't put in Slytherin" He responds, still chortling slightly. I roll my eyes at him, pulling away from him. His other arm finds my waist and tugs me closer to him. He pulls me into a sort of embrace, leaning his chin on my shoulder. "But I wouldn't have you any other way" He whispers softly. His lips brushing against my ear, causing a shiver to run down my spine and goosebumps to appear on my skin.

Suddenly, he removes his arms from me and steps back. I frown in confusion until I see Blaise in fancy dress robes approaching us with Millicent Bulstrode clinging onto his arm happily. I wave nervously at the two, as I hardly know Blaise let alone Millicent. They come to a halt in front of us. We all greet each other and soon everyone is allowed to enter the Great Hall, which has been transformed into a winter wonderland.

The ball starts officially with the champions dancing with their partners to that stupid dance Professor Flitwick made us learn last week. I roll my eyes in disgust at Potter flouncing around with Pavarti Patil from the table that Draco and I are sat at. Noticing Draco's eyes fixed on my face, I turn my gaze to him and earn a smirk from the blonde

"Please, don't make me dance to this stupid song" I plead, locking eyes with his blue orbs. His eyes soften slightly as he stares at me with his chin perched on his hand carelessly.

"Alright" Draco chuckles. "But only if you promise to dance with me later" He adds, winking slyly. I nod in agreement, causing a goofy grin to spread across his lips. He shuffles his chair closer to mine and I instinctively rest my head on his shoulder, as his arm wraps around my torso and we watch the dancers frolicking around the Great Hall. 

.................................

"So where's my dance?" Draco asks, cheekily nudging my arm with his. I had promised him a dance two hours ago after the feast had finished, but nonetheless I roll my eyes. A light blush covers my cheeks.

"I guess I could dance with you" I sigh dramatically. "If I really have to" I add, taking hold of his hand that was held out to me and allowing him to lead me to the dance floor as a slow song starts. His right arm slinks around my waist, pulling me gently into him. Tentatively, I place my left hand on his shoulder, whilst he takes hold of my other hand and we begin to sway slowly to the music. I lazily rest my head in his shoulder, letting out a content sigh.

We sway like this until the rest of the song, contained in our own little bubble, until Professor Dumbledore announces that it is the end of the festivities and that students should return to their dormitories. A low groan leaves Draco as we reluctantly pull away from each other. I giggle helplessly at his disgruntlement. This causes Draco to stick his tongue out at me and I lightly punch him in the arm. We make our way out of the Great Hall slowly among the crowds of students, Draco's hand gripping mine. Keeping me close to him. 

"Draco!" A shout from the other side of the entrance hall causes Draco to stop abruptly and I stumble into his back clumsily. I look around in a bid to find the source of the voice, as Blaise and Millicent emerge from the throng of dithering students.

"Hey" Draco greets them, casually. Millicent timidly waves at the pair of us. 

"So, looks like you won the bet" Blaise speaks, pulls out some galleons and drops them in Draco's outstretched palm, causing me to stare at them in confusion. Draco smiles smugly before pocketing the gold coins. 

"What bet?" I ask, curiosity killed the cat but I don't care. Blaise raises an eyebrow at Draco, before turning to me.

"Oh, I bet Draco that he wouldn't be able to get you to go to the Yule Ball with him" He says, earning a hard glare from Draco's cold blue eyes. What? This was a dare? I glance up at Draco, as I feel tears threaten to spill over my lower lashes. He opens his mouth to speak, but he is suddenly cut short when my hand makes contact with the side of his pale face. The sound of my hand making contact with his skin causes eyes from the surrounding crowd of students to fall on the pair of us. 

"Don't Draco. I thought you actually cared about me!" I push him away as he makes an attempt to reason with me. Tears now flow freely down my cheeks, leaving black mascara trails.

Hurriedly, I turn away from him and sprint up the grand staircase with a tear stained face and a broken heart. 

Other Chapters

[netflxaddict]

Vandalism

Summary: You're a cop, he's the co-owner of a local locksmith shop. A sudden rash of break-ins keeps bringing you to his store.

Word count: 1,6K

Pairing: Wolfgang Bogdanow x fem!reader

Warnings: none

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic so please be kind :') feedback is welcome!

You had arrived at the crime scene fifteen minutes after the call was made. It was early in the morning and the whole rest of the city was just slowly starting to wake up.

"You said nothing was taken," Vilmar stated as he flipped through his notebook to find an empty page. He was your overly protective middle-aged partner. Short, round and balding — the manifestation of every lazy cop of every comedy ever. He loved taking notes, even though the pad mostly consisted of random doodles he made during breaks.

The owner, a lanky 20-something named Felix Berner, nodded, "That's right, officer." He was standing behind the counter, carefully watching you both as you wandered around the shop.

"What do you think, Y/L/N?" Vilmar asked. You hadn't said a word since you had entered the building.

"Vandalism."

"Vandalism?"

"There have been a few similar cases in the neighborhood," you explained, "smashed windows, graffiti on the pavement, no signs of robbery…"

Suddenly the shattered door blew open, and a man stepped inside. He was about the same height as Felix but much sturdier. Short, dirty blonde hair, a stubble lining his strong, ridiculously well-defined jaw, and eyes of that beautifully common shade of blue.

Dressed in all-black, wearing that mysteriously grim yet compelling expression, he stirred up your interest. You watched as he walked towards the counter with firm, vigorous steps, and a smell of his musky cologne mixed with sweat and tobacco floated through your nose.

"Excuse me." Vilmar's voice yanked you out of your head and you cleared your throat, embarrassed. "Who are you?"

"This is Wolfgang," Felix introduced, "he's the co-owner of this shop but most importantly, my very best friend."

"So did they take anything?" Wolfgang asked, completely ignoring you and Vilmar, making you feel invisible.

"Nothing."

Wolfgang fell quiet for a second. He looked around, his brows slightly frowning.

"Vandals," he then said.

You twitched at the word and turned your gaze at him. "How can you tell?"

"The windows were smashed but nothing was taken? Probably just some bored kids looking to get in trouble," he said, playing with his car keys. Then he raised his head and your eyes were finally met with his downturned ones. "Seems quite obvious, don't you think, officer?"

You felt your cheeks redden. What was it about this sullen man that made you feel so shamefully desperate?

"We're sorry about your windows, but there isn't really anything we can do," Vilmar interrupted your thoughts once again.

"What about us? Is there anything we can do?"

"Surveillance camera," you and Wolfgang replied simultaneously.

You glanced at each other. He smiled.

"We'll get one," Felix said, "thank you."

Vilmar bobbed his head and stuffed his notepad to his pocket. "Let's go, Y/L/N."

You waited until he had returned to the car, and dug out your business card, something you had never done before. You handed it to Felix.

"If you see or hear anything suspicious, give me a call."

Even though you were dying to, you didn't turn to give Wolfgang one final look. He didn't need to know how crazy he had made you — especially since to him you had been just another bulle.

* * *

A week later you and Vilmar were sitting in the car parked outside your favorite coffee shop when his radio crackled. There had been another attack at Felix's shop.

"Time to see your boyfriend," Vilmar smiled as you started the car.

"Don't even," you huffed. Ever since he had found out you gave Felix your number, Vilmar hadn't shut up about it. Of course you had wanted to tell him that the number wasn't really so much for Felix as it was for Wolfgang, but what difference would it have made, really? No one had called and now you had to go back there looking like a fool.

This time, the door lock had been picked open but again, nothing was taken.

You were suspicious. It seemed unrealistic that the vandal — quite possibly a rebellious youngster as Wolfgang had suggested — would’ve gone through all that trouble just for the fun of it. Or that they would’ve even had the skills to do so. Something didn’t add up.

“I see you didn’t invest in those surveillance cameras like we suggested,” you said.

“Didn’t think they’d be stupid enough to come back.” Wolfgang shrugged.

He was sitting on the counter scrupulously examining every inch of your tensed up body, biting his lower lip. You couldn't tell if he was judging you or just admiring your figure. Whatever it was, it made you uneasy. Not uncomfortable or exposed — not in the bad sense anyway.

You swallowed hard. The things you would’ve done if this had been just another one of your wildest fantasies...

“So you think the perpetrator was the same as before?” Vilmar too sounded skeptical as he read from his notes from your previous visit. “'Some bored kids looking to get in trouble'?”

Wolfgang sighed and hopped off the desk. “That’s just my opinion. You’re the detectives here.”

“Well, without the surveillance footage we’re pretty much in the same situation than the last time,” you snorted, “but if the same person really is behind this, it’s very likely they’ll strike again.”

“Copy that, officer.”

You rolled your eyes. “Where’s your friend?”

“Damsel in distress,” he grinned. “Wanna leave him a message? He loves to hear from serious, sexy women."

The compliment caught you off guard. All this time you had thought he was making fun of you, and now he was calling you sexy? Or was that just something Felix had said? Or was it just another joke? You took a deep breath. The man really was impossible to read.

"You can tell him to give us a call if this happens again. He knows the number," you said, "and get the damn cameras. I wanna catch those brats."

* * *

When you hadn't heard from either Felix or Wolfgang for another week, you thought they'd finally been left alone. A part of you was disappointed. It wasn’t as if you'd been hoping for some miraculous happy ending, but nothing? You felt betrayed. 

Then, two and a half weeks after the first attack, a phone call came.

"Y/N," you answered.

"Is this the sexy cop?" It was Wolfgang. You felt your heart somersault in your chest.

"Was there another attack?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"Come see for yourself." Then he hung up.

You stared at your phone, abashed. If any other person had been as mysterious, you would've just simply ignored them. You didn't have time for games. And more importantly, you didn't have the energy.

As you got in the car, you cursed the day you met Wolfgang Bogdanow.

You hadn't told him it was your day-off. Partly because you didn't think it was important, but mostly because you hadn't wanted him to stop you from coming. This could've been your only opportunity to show him this side of yourself; bold and sexy with a dress shorter than it had a right to be and heels higher than a cop should've been wearing — there was no way you were going to waste it.

Once you had arrived, you noticed the smashed door window. Weird, you thought, starting to wonder if the perpetrator really had been the same each time after all.

Feeling nonplussed, you walked inside, your heels clopping softly against the floor. Wolfgang was waiting for you by the door.

"Hello, officer," he said with a smirk. "That's one hell of a uniform."

You didn't want to let him know what his words really did to you, so you just looked around. You were alone.

"Let me guess, they didn't steal anything."

"You're right. But this time we caught him on tape."

"Did you recognize him?" You were surprised, to say the least. You had been waiting for some unexpected turn of events but apparently, the case was solved.

"Oh, I've known him for years."

"Mind if I see it?"

He shook his head and led you to the backroom. He sat down on the desk chair and logged in to the computer.

You leaned in — just to get a better look, you told yourself. He didn’t seem to mind so you let yourself relax. The overwhelming smell of cologne and cigarettes took over your brain like a disease, and you had to grab a hold of the desk for support.

"Here it is."

Wolfgang had rewound the tape to last night — to precisely 10.36 p.m., according to the time stamp on the bottom left corner. He pressed play.

A man in a black leather jacket approached the shop. Just outside the door he finally stopped, glanced quickly around and threw the brick in his hand through the window. You squinted your eyes, trying to memorize as many details as possible. He was blonde, average-height, robust. At least on his late 20s—

Suddenly the man turned his gaze directly to the camera. Your eyes widened. 

"I-I don't understand."

Wolfgang was staring straight at you from the computer screen with a wide grin on his face.

"Well, I had to do something to get your attention, didn't I?"

"So you... smashed the window to get my attention?"

"I thought you would've suspected something when the door was picked open, but when you didn't..."

You couldn't believe it. It was crazy. He was crazy. It was by far the stupidest, most ridiculous, sexy thing anyone had ever done for you.

"You know, I could arrest you for this," you finally said.

He looked up at you and, not missing a beat, replied, "Then cuff me, officer."

[fabdante]

Hey, I love your art!

If you're still doing the artist ask game, could I request 3, 4, 16 and 22?

Have a nice day! :)

Hello!! Thank you so much!! And I am absolutely still doing the artist ask game! (Ask game here for anyone else interested in asking, I'll answer as long as I remember the ask game!)

3) What ideas come from when you were little

This is such an interesting question I love it a lot!

In a very direct way, I feel like a lot of my Avatar and Teen Titans stuff indulges ideas from my childhood. Both shows (especially Teen Titans) were part of how I learned how to draw. Sometimes I'll remember old Avatar ideas I had and rework them into things.

In a less direct way, I feel like a lot of my approach of drawing people is influenced by growing up Arab American and giving my childhood self art I think she kind of needed. It's definitely how my noses got like this.

In a something in the middle kind of way, I always loved drawing people and clothes as a kid. I was really into space which I think started my love of cosmic/sun and moon imagery. I was really interested in trying to tell stories and make characters.

The art style I've stumbled into also I feel is the result of my childhood self boldly declaring she wanted to 'draw anime' before learning how to draw Norman Rockwell type realism. I somehow landed here.

4) Fav character/subject that’s a bitch to draw

Vergil from DmC: Devil May Cry is the worst, hands down. It's his hair, his hair is always a nightmare. I cannot figure out why, but it has not gotten easier with time. Dante's is also difficult butt it's at least black so it is just kind of one mass of hair.

I feel like I also struggle with Links hair? I have a lot of hair struggles I guess but like other Zelda characters I don't have this problem with, it's just Link asdfghj. I think it's because his hair is very characteristic to his designs over the years, so finding the sweet spot how I want to draw him and keeping him recognizable can be tricky and always very dependent on his hair.

16) Something you are good at but don’t really have fun doing

Comics, probably. Every comic I draw has this cycle of starting out excited, questioning everything I have ever done, panic, then finish. Once it's finished I'm really excited and happy with the comic and forget everything else. But it is definitely a process.

Similarly, I usually hate shading. I'm not sure I'm like...good at shading exactly but I'm also not bad at it, it works. But most importantly, I hate it asdfghj

22)  What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

This is something I need to do more consistently! I try to do hand and arm stretches before and during work, especially with my dominant hand, though I often forget because I get in the zone.

This infograph by Kaitlin Brunder shows a lot of the exercises I try to do though, especially the first three stretches. If I'm having a period where I've stressed my arm too much, I'll try to do them every hour or so.

I see some artists who do more intense and varied stretch routines and sometimes I'll shake things up and try new stretches, but I find these ones both easy to do and easy to remember so I always go back to them.

Also I hope you are having a nice day yourself!!