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gaysimpsstuff · 3 years

Note

Could I get a Hawks in his rut headcanon?

No problem, Anon! I’m sorry this took so long, I wanted it to be perfect since I really like thinking about Hawks’ avian traits, and I know people really like it too. I hope it’s good!

Hawks Rut Headcannons

Genre: fluff, smut

Type: headcannons (so... many... headcannons)

Warnings: animal traits, Keigo being possessive af, the commission being assholes, sickness, food, breeding kink, lots of horny times

Other: most of this is based off of real research, but some of it also comes from personal preference. @keilemlucent and their fic Best Nest very much inspired many other headcannons, check them outI They’re one of my favorite creators, and the linked fanfic is one of my favorites! Hope it’s okay I tagged you here lmao

NSFW Taglist: @smolchildfangirl @combat-wombatus @mandalorian-baby-bird @waffleareniceandfluffy (Lemme know if you wanna be added to or removed from the Taglist)

Remember to check if requests are open before sending in a request. This was made while requests were still open.

Pre-Rut Behaviors

Grooming and Preening

Before his rut, Keigo starts to feel dirty. He just seems to accumulate more dust and dirt during hero work than usual. He’ll come back home grumbling about blood in his hair and little bits of concrete in/on his skin.

He will insist you clean him off. So you get to brush his hair, put creams on his face, and wash him off in the shower.

Finally, there’s the preening. If he lets you preen his wings, then you know he’s in it for life. He loves and trusts you with everything he has.

Expect him to press his nose against yours a lot.

Possessiveness and Protection

You’ll notice he gets more clingy, more possessive of you. He gets really controlling in the days leading up to his rut, so you’ll be annoyed a l o t.

Just text all your friends and family that you’ve been swamped at work, it’d be a little weird to say “hey guys, sorry I can’t hang out, my boyfriend’s horomones are crazy right now and he gets really insecure if I so much as exist near anyone but him.”

You would come home from work and he’s already on you, sniffing your body to see who you’ve been around, and to see if any of them were attracted to you at all.

If he had any kind of sneaking suspicion that anyone posed a threat, he’s literally laying on you and rolling on top of you to try and get his scent on you. Even if no one will smell it except him, he’s gonna do it.

He’s so protective of you, and if something tiny hurts you or makes you upset...

He.

Is.

Angry.

Someone was rude to you? He’s screaming at them.

Someone tries to hurt or touch you? You’ve got to hold him back to stop him from ripping that person apart limb from limb.

All that x100 when he’s approaching his rut.

One person accidentally bumps into you? He takes it as passive aggressiveness even if they’re very apologetic about it.

You stub your toe on a table? He’s smashed the table and burnt it then thrown the ashes in the ocean.

If you’re sad about something he can’t beat up, he feels horrible. He’s not the best at comforting people, so he’s just grabbing onto you and not letting go, telling you how much he loves and cares for you, and just how amazing you make his life feel.

If you don’t give him enough attention, he gets really huffy, and it gets worse leading up to his rut.

You lifted your hands from his head to reach for your buzzing phone? He’s already whining and pouting and begging you to give him more head-pats again.

Nesting

He’ll leave hints asking for you to make a nest, usually saying things like “Our bed needs some changing, don’t you think?” “Don’t you wish our space was more personalized?”

If you don’t get the hint, he’ll be very sad, and he thinks you’re rejecting him. So you’d better be good at reading into things and realizing he’s approaching mating season and wants you to build a nest.

He comes home one day and sees you piled blankets, pillows, and dirty clothes in the living room, sprayed with his cologne and you’re cologne and/or perfume. He pulls you into his arms and spins around with you, giggling and laughing.

He’s so happy you made a nest for the two of you.

He starts putting pretty shiny things he likes around the nest. Your toothbrush went missing and you found it in the mountain that was your nest.

Once, you were in desperate need of a clean shirt, and the only clean shirt you could find was in the nest. So you picked it up to put it on, and two seconds later, Keigo was in front of you, hands in your shirt, staring at you with such a fierce intensity, you felt almost like a villain.

He was very mad at you for taking things from your shared nest.

He leaves feathers all around the penthouse, but they’re all piled mostly around the nest, they’re for your protection so don’t try and throw them away.

Noises

He also gets really noisy, so he’ll be ‘singing’ and squawking and cooing constantly. He feels really bad about it so he might get you some noise-blocking headphones for when he’s screeching into the sky in the dead of night about how “THIS IS MY FUCKING TERRITORY Y’ALL MOTHERFUCKERS STAY AWAYYYY!”

You really think bird’s springtime songs are about love? Nah he’s mostly screaming about how he’s gonna fuck his partner and how the neighborhood practically belongs to him.

Someone called the police once, tired of all the shouting, but the officers backed off when they saw who was doing all the shouting. Most of your neighbors are used to the screaming during early spring.

Rut End-game

On the third and second to last day before his rut, he gets a sudden burst of energy and an increased appetite. He refuses to eat anything unless you’ve made it though, so let’s best hope you can cook at least a little.

When he was younger, his hungry times before his rut were spent either eating anything and everything he can get his hands on. The commission broke that behavior very quickly though, so he’d starve himself before his rut, which would result in him getting very sick from a lack of energy and sustenance. That plus the extreme arousal was a recipe for pain and suffering.

So when you noticed he suddenly stopped eating, you insisted on making food for him, telling him that you wouldn’t let him go hungry ever. That was the first rut in years that didn’t feel like torture.

You’re cooking almost all the time, and he’s constantly eating everything you give him, running around from room to room while he waits for his next meal. He’s basically a hobbit.

In the last day or two before his rut, he suddenly has no energy, and starts getting hot and cold flashes. He’s sniffling, curled up in your shared nest, dirty tissues surrounding him. He comes in and out of consciosness, and when he’s awake, he’s whining and complaining about exhaustion and aches.

Physical Changes

Most of these happen in the last few days leading up to his rut, so it’ll be very sudden. These physical changes is what causes the extreme hunger and sickness.

His feathers darken several shades, and they become super sensitive. They also seem to grow in size, so when you cuddle, you’re smothered by them more than usual.

He also gains an extra couple inches in height, so expect some teasing now that he’s just that little bit taller. His hair also gets thicker and stronger, that’s so you can pull on it when he fucks you.

His nails get longer and darker, and they’re impossible to file or cut. So when he holds you and touches you, he often scratches you on accident. He’s really apologetic about it, but honestly you could totally paint his nails and pretend they’re acrylics if you’re into that.

His teeth get sharper, and he starts biting you just for fun. Bites your finger, hand, wrist, neck, even your nose. He underestimated just how strong his teeth are, and he made you bleed first time he bit you.

His whole body is very sensitive, so head-pats, back rubs, wings, and even his touching his feet can get him to the verge of cumming.

his tongue is longer, and it’s a whole lot stronger. He could probably carry a full plastic water bottle with his tongue (which isn’t a lot, but for a tongue it’s very much a lot).

His voice drops a whole octave and a half- mans is sounding almost like Corpse now. Maybe Markiplier? Anyways, if you’ve got a voice kink, you’re in luck

His dick changes too, it gets bigger, and he grows a lump at the base of it, between his shaft and balls. His balls get smaller until they’re barely noticable beneath what he calls him ‘knot.’

His eyes become sharper too, so don’t try and hide anything from him.

Rut (MAJOR NSFW)

Everyone already knows Keigo has a breeding kink, but he hasn’t brought it up with you until now. It just kind of- happens. As he’s drilling into you, he suddenly starts blabbering about fucking a kid into you, and how hot you’d look all round with his kids. Might be a little weird for those of you who physically cannot give birth to children (my lovely AMABS and infertile AFABS).

He can’t control it, so it’s especially weird if you don’t even want kids. If you can get pregnant, you’d better double check that you’re taking your birth control. And get to know some good clinics just in case.

However, if you do want kids, if you want to start a biological family woth Keigo, fuck. You will not be able to handle his happiness and horniness in that moment when you beg him to get you pregnant.

He is going to mark you up. Hickies, bruises, hand prints, bite marks, plus his scent. He needs everyone to know that you are his. He wants to claim you, make sure you know you belong to him. No one else can have you but him.

Halfway through your fuckfest, he starts making animalistic noises. He’s growling, roaring, whining, chirping, etc. This is around the time when he stops thinking about you, so he’ll really rough you up during this phase.

This man was a virgin before you, so this is also the first rut he’s ever going to have with another person, so he’ll hold himself back a lot. He needs you to reassure him at every step, tell him how good you feel, how you want him to fuck you, how not only are you okay with him going all out, you want him too.

Did he just cum? You think you’re finished? HA! No way in fucking hell is he finished after one, two, five, ten... so many rounds. He just keeps going and going and going and how the fuck is he still hard? He cums so fucking quickly, so much, and then keeps going.

When he finally does go soft, his whole personality changes. it’s like he didn’t just fuck you stupid. He immediately goes into ‘protect’ mode, which includes cuddles, him spoon-feeding you, petting you like a dog, and singing to you.

He puts the nest near a window so he can keep an eye out for possible threats. Just like “gotta keep mate safe. Is that the mailman? NO FUCK NO GET OUT OF HEREEEE!”

One moment, he’s fucking you, and the next he’s leaning halfway out the window, screaming at some poor dude walking his dog. Remember, he’s still naked. You learned your lesson after that and kept the windows locked, and warned the neighbors to stay out of sight of the window, at least for the time being.

You’re going to feel very dirty, because he does not want you cleaning off the sweat, cum, and tears from your body. He likes that you smell like him, and you washing it off makes him feel rejected.

He’s going to break a lot of things, so move pictures and vases into another room and lock the fuck out of that room. Or else he will break all of it.

He thinks any clothes you’re wearing are mocking him, so wear clothes you hate when his rut starts, then get used to being naked for a couple days.

Oh yeah, his whole rut lasts one to five days. He’s fucking you for about three days on average.

He fucks you until you faint, and then keeps going until he’s out of ‘fuck’ mode and into ‘protect’ mode. A few times, he fucked you unconscious in the middle of the afternoon and then kept fucking you until the sun rose.

Yeah, he’s got that much energy.

Don’t worry, during the whole time, he lets out pheromones with a strong vanilla-chocolaty scent that keeps your body and mind relaxed.

There’ve been times when he’s just fucking into you and your water bottle is just out of reach.

During his rut, he has no shame. Let’s hope your walls are soundproofed, or else your neighbors will all know how he fucks you.

He will not restrain you or hurt you in any way during his rut. So no degredation, no collars or chains, the only thing keeping you in the nest is his weight on top of you.

He gets upset if you try to touch yourself, things it’s you trying to tell him that he’s not satisfying you enough.

He wants you to cum as many times as him, which is difficult because of his increased sensitivity, so he’s using every skill he knows to get you cumming again and again and again.

Most of the time, he’s going hard, rough, and spilling absolute filth from his cock and mouth, but in the last few hours of his rut, he suddenly gets emotional.

He’s rocking up against you, holding you close to his body and blabbering about you

How much he loves you

How good you make him feel

How he wouldn’t want anyone else by his side for his rut

How you’re his mate for life

How he’ll protect you and keep you safe.

Please be gentle with him, he’s very vulnerable near the end of his rut, and he’ll cry very easily.

When he’s nearing his last load, he makes out with you sloppily, trying to talk as he shoves his tongue down your throat.

He finishes off by pushing his knot all the way inside you, and stays there for an hour.

This is the softest moment, and he’s covering your body in kisses.

His knot pushes these small eggs inside you, and you have the lovely job of pushing them all out the next day.

Post Rut

When his knot deflates, he finally pulls out and starts cleaning you off.

He’ll carry you around and finally gives you a bath, constantly making sure you’re okay.

He’ll give you lots of massages and he’ll cook for you. He’s constantly thanking you for helping him, telling you he didn’t deserve it.

Just kiss him on the cheek, tell him you had fun, and that you love him so very very much.

He needs the most reassurance now than ever before.

He’s also very tired, so you’ll be taking care of each other.

Then his ‘post-rut’ resets, and he sleeps for hours.

Then he gets super hungry, and the two of you make huge meals and just kinda binge eat for a day or two.

Then his physical changes go back to normal, and you have a happy lil bird boy who simps for you so hard

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bbwithaknife · 2 years

Text

Lessons in Calligraphy Part One: Dot Your I's ... (Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader)

First off, hello. I come back from my years-long hiatus of writing due to this quirked-up white boy busting it down sexual style. I wrote this to indulge myself but I hope y’all like it too <3 feedback is definitely welcome but also be nice I am sensitive.

Warnings: Minors DNI. I don’t know if I can even write anymore but other than that a few mildly sexual moments, mentions of alcohol, blood etc. Please note reader goes by she/her, has a v*gina and b*reasts. If I am missing anything please let me know!

Word Count: 3K+

You were just the type of person to write things down and store hard copies. The guessing game of names to faces was something you had no knack for, like your Father before you who every semester had a whole set of new students, everyone for the next month would hereby be known as Bob. So files were a given, containing mugshots, notes, personal information, previous “work history” and whatever else you could deem important.

It wasn’t like you had just left the files out in the open either. Confidentiality is key and you had a whole system; lock the cabinet, lock the door. Granted it was a very simple system and you should have known better. Of course, something would happen since you worked with two of the most violent knuckleheads you’d ever met with bad social skills and impulse control, but maybe you were choosing to be blissfully ignorant. Maybe you wanted the man of your affections to stumble upon it, look you in the eyes and then kiss you like a man starved, returning from war.

So when the door to your office was ajar, you peered inside heart racing. What would you do? What would you say? You combed your fingers through your hair, hoping to get rid of any tangles and look calm and collected. Unfortunately, your heart sank when your eyes revealed to you that it was actually Chris Smith, Evergreen’s very own Peacemaker who broke into your office. The red, white, and blue was splayed across the office couch, file held like a newspaper within his hands. You could see the name written largely in your flowing calligraphy, the black sharpie swirling elegantly. For each I there was, the hovering dot was replaced with a simple heart.

It read “Adrian Chase, Vigilante.” You were fucked.

Shit.

It started almost immediately, that giddiness you got from crushes. It was that silly feeling like you were a girl in high school savouring every “moment” the two of you shared. A simple smile or a laugh from something you said made your heart swell. You’d replay them in your mind just as you would when you were younger, except this time no one would be asking anyone to prom. You thought you could play it off and get over it but one fateful day he placed a hand on your shoulder and you felt those butterflies in your stomach. It was then that you came to terms with your doom. He was charming in his own way. A boyish next-door neighbour type of guy with perfect curls and a delightful smile at first glance. He looked like the guy you wanted to bring home to your parents until he opened his mouth, the words that would follow typically containing comments of murders of the first degree or something that could only be summarized as classic Adrian. Considering the line of work you’ve done and the past you overcame, you were overlooking his “for the greater good” homicidal tendencies.

Before you could even think of the best way to handle the situation with Chris, the words were already slipping from your mouth, speech rushed.

“I dot all my I’s with hearts.”

You could see Chris’ eyebrows furrow. He was just a few seconds faster than you but before you could even reach out to stop him, he had thrown the file to the floor and reached for his own. It was labelled with chunky printing, no hearts over any I’s and no graceful writing to be found anywhere. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. Adrian’s file was made with tender loving care while all the others were just that; files. As Chris flipped through the pages his shit-eating grin got bigger and bigger.

“I thought you would have read yours already.” You were kicking yourself for speaking too soon.

Chris continued to read his file, scoffing to himself. “Where did you even get this information, that’s not true at all.”

You couldn’t give a damn about what he was referring to, snatching the file from his hands and giving him a taste of his own medicine. “I got it from Google.”

“Touchy.”

“It’s touché, you meathead.” Insulting the “hero” who currently held what could be considered your most embarrassing secret probably wasn’t the best idea. You grabbed Adrian’s file from the floor and placed it back in the cabinet along with Chris’s.“Look, this needs to stay between us” you began, locking the cabinet. “Please don’t tell Adrian about this-”

“Tell me about what?”

Double shit.

He stood in the doorway with a genuine curiosity on his face. Sans mask, Adrian was still in his Vigilante garb. Now that time and missions have passed it started looking a bit worse for wear. The chest piece had chips and scratches along the front, something you would offer to take a look at and fix if you weren’t overworking the gears in your head to think of something, anything to say.

“Are you having a party or something?”

Sure. That should work. “Yup! A party!”

His demeanour quickly changed and he began to look like a kicked puppy.

“It’s a surprise party for you.” You quickly improvised. “You weren’t supposed to find out about it.”

It was like watching a rubber band snapping back into place. His dorky grin returned and you felt your shoulders relax. You could work with this. A surprise party for Adrian, as a thank you from the 11th Street Kids for voluntarily joining the team to save the country from an alien invasion of overrated moths. In typical Adrian fashion, he began to walk backwards and imitate a VHS rewinding. He reset the scene.

“Hey guys, what’s up? Just chillin’ after killin’? Not talking about any surprise parties for a certain hero that rhymes with-”

“Panty.” Chris added. You elbowed him in the stomach. Hard.

You finally met Adrian’s eyes. His gorgeous, green eyes. “Nope, no parties.” You gave him an awkward wink and he offered finger guns in return as he slowly walked backwards out the door, slightly hitting the frame but trying oh so hard to play it cool on the way out.

The hard smack of Chris’s hand on the top of your back snapped you out of your fog. “Saturday works best for me. I’ll bring my own booze.” before he walks out, he turns. “Actually you should

supply the booze I’m pretty broke right now unless you want to spot me a twenty-”

“Get out Chris!”

____________________________________________________________

There was no going back now, seeing how happy this party made him. You shifted into full party planner mode. Nothing compared to your Mother’s, nothing could shine a candle to that but you tried and that’s what counts. You made sure to avoid buying anything that someone else was allergic to, you brought the booze down from the top shelf, and you dusted the fan in the bathroom.

It was never a dull moment with Adrian leading up to the party. Every time he was in the building he stopped by your little dinky office and knocked on your door. Most of these times it was him stopping by testing to see if you would slip up.

“Hey, do you know if anyone is having any cool parties this weekend?”

“Sorry Vij, none that I’ve been invited to.”

But the night before the party was different. You had thought everyone had gone home by this point considering the beating they all took, so you were taking advantage of the quiet air to write out tonight’s report. What intel was found, what they got wrong, what they got right, etc. so it could be sent out and played back to Waller as soon as possible. You attempted to focus but were worried about the team, of course, you cared for them. But you were really worried about Vigilante. You had briefly caught sight of him when they arrived and saw the small flicks of red that stood out on the white stripe of his suit, no doubt the whole thing soaked in the substance.

From what Murn reported back to you, Adrian had taken home a few face lacerations, a fury of punches to the chest, and a nasty but treatable gash to the side of his abdomen. As Harcourt saw your expression change when you heard this news, she assured you despite the condescending tone that he was fine. You knew logically that he would survive, but that scratchy voice of irrational fear had a way of creeping up.

You looked back to the moment of Adrian grunting and climbing up the stairs with Chris and Economos not far behind him for medical attention. You wondered what would have happened if you had gone up there instead. Peeling off his armour as carefully as you could, facing him head-on as he stripped. His bare chest touching feather-light on your ghosting hands, he would look down to you, whisper a “thank you” right above your lips before tenderly placing the back of his hand on the base of your neck, pulling you forward to meet him. Lips plush, moving at an agonizingly slow pace. Realistically, you knew a moment like that wouldn’t occur, let alone a moment like that with Adrian but a girl could dream.

His trademark knock brought you out of your trance, startling you causing a small jump.

“Christ, you scared the shit out of me!” You held your hand to your chest. Be still, beating heart! He was still in uniform and your eyes met his visor.

“Sorry, I saw the light on. What’re you still doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

The pregnant pause in the room sounded like a blaring train in your ears. He made his way to your desk. You stood up to meet him, legs still clenched due to your trip to la-la land.

“I’m gonna pack up for the night-”

“Can I drive you home?-”

You short-circuited. You’re a grown woman, stop acting like this!

“Um, yeah of course.” Rushing to grab your briefcase and forgetting it was still open, all your notes flew out spewing across the room. “Shit.”

You bent down, frantically trying to grab them and shove them back into the case. You couldn’t care less what order they needed to be in, you could sort that out later. Your mission right now was to make sure Adrian’s gaze didn’t notice those stupid hearts over that stupid vowel. This mission almost failed instantly when his gloved hand touched yours. He handed the page to you so gently and to pay him back for his kindness you ripped it out of his hands.

“Sorry.” You coughed. “It’s confidential.”

The two of you stood up in unison, his frame looming over you. Adrian cleared his throat, taking a step towards you. With nowhere else to go, you backed up into the desk. Ass hitting the edge, your arms lifted in reflex and landed on his shoulders. He grimaced. You opened your mouth to speak, ask him if he was alright but he beat you to it leaving your mouth agape for a short second, a blink in time.

“Can I ask you something?” His voice was hushed but raspy. Almost a certain hunger to it. The space between you was close to caving in.

“Of course, anything.”

“Why are you throwing this party? What are you hiding?” His adam's apple bobbed. “Y’know if you’re actively participating in criminal activity-”

“This whole task force is technically criminal-”

“Criminal activity outside of this task force” He enunciated. “I’d have to kill you.”

You couldn’t fight the smile forming. “I promise I am the most law-abiding citizen outside of this team. Cross my heart.” Actions spoke louder than words and the braver part of you had control of your motor functions. You took his forefinger and brushed it against your chest in an “X” where your beating heart lay, pumping at overtime. You held his hand there for a moment, revelling in the contact before releasing him.

“Well, that’s a relief. You’re one of the last people I would ever want to kill.”

Any sane person hearing this statement would think it was the biggest and boldest red flag of the century and run packing. But this easy you hearing it from Adrian Chase. Coming from him this was the highest of praises. With his slipped confession being some sort of confirmation that he did think about you, you took the leap off the edge. Reaching one hand out to caress his masked cheek, thumb brushing just underneath while the other slid up on the opposite side pulling the fabric up. Eventually, you stopped just above his cupid's bow.

“I’d like to kiss you.” It was a whisper in the wind, your voice. And a gamble. “If you’d let me-”

“Could I kiss you back?”

“Yes, of cou-.”

As foolish as it was, you had thought of this moment many times before. You had thought about sharing the types of kisses with Adrian that the main heroine would with her lover. The kiss that expressed relief knowing each other was safe, or the “in wine there is truth” kiss. A smooch so full of intoxication and lust, once and for all ending the will-they-won’t-they. Maybe even the kiss that was so desperate it pained them not to have their lips meet. But every time you had these thoughts, these wishes, you told yourself that’s just not who he was. But you were grateful to be proven wrong.

This kiss you hadn’t expected was the one you received. It was mid-response when his lips captured yours in what could only be described as the first bite of a warm apple pie made from scratch. The kind of pie with such a buttery crust that melted in your mouth and the glaze of apple comp, brown sugar and cinnamon sticking to your lips.

He was sweet to taste and his lips melded perfectly with yours. His hands found your waist and fingertips gripped your sides to leave grape-like bruises along your skin. He lifted you to sit on your desk so that he stood between your legs. Paperclips and pens dug into your backend but at this point, you were too love drunk to care. You wrapped your arms around him and snaked a hand underneath the back of his mask, fingertips running along with the wisps of hair at the nape of his neck. This action caught him off guard. In an instant, your wrists were in a tight lock.

“I’m sorry I . . . I just wanted to see you.” His lips were cherry red from your back and forth. He paused, your wrists still in his vice. You could barely make out his eyes from behind the mask but you could sense he was thinking. It was the next word you spoke breathlessly that solidified his decision. The hopeless “please” that left your lips sounded so orgasmic to Adrian that he yanked his own mask off and placed it neatly in the desk drawer. Slamming it closed, Adrian’s emerald eyes met yours in almost a coy look of endearment and you melted.

“There he is.” You smiled up to him, your thoughts heavy with affection. He pulled you in to meet his lips and held you flush against him. Either he was happy to see you or was still carrying. Hell, there was a good possibility it was both.

Each break for air felt like a chore. You thought about kissing him forever and wondered if he would let you but the rough touch of a weathered glove brought you somewhat back to earth. Adrian’s hands were slowly making their way up to cop a feel. He was just above his target when he hesitated and pulled away, stretching your shirt in the process.

“Is the party a prank? Like a Punk’d kind of thing?” His expression so genuine you could see he really couldn’t understand the gesture of a party unless it was something that would impact him negatively.

“No, not a prank. It is actually happening,” Your breath hitched on your last word as Adrian peppered a chain of kisses from your jaw to your collarbone. “The plan w-was to pick you up tomorrow night and bring you to my place where everyone would surprise you. So far only Chris has RSVP’d but I just . . . wanted to do something nice for you I guess.”

At this point, Adrian was on his knees. Somewhere down the line, he had placed his glasses atop the crook of his nose. They gave off a small shine when he adjusted them and looked up at you. “Yeah, but why be nice to me?”

You were mentally flipping through various flashcards of different responses trying to find the one that would dig out of this hole that you made yourself. Maybe you’ve finally dug yourself too deep. But had you really? He was here on his knees seemingly for you. Your mouth had gone dry and parting your lips to speak was a struggle for multiple reasons.

“I like you. A lot.” You averted his gaze revealing what you tried so hard to hide. Hiding this is what got you into this mess but it also got you the moment in time that you yearned for. The sound of realization from Adrian is what brought you back to look at him. “That’s why you write my name with hearts!”

A paramedic would deem you unresponsive and dead for at least a minute like one of those miracle cases you would see on Grey’s Anatomy. He knew?

“What?” you chuckled nervously. If life was a cartoon you would be pulling at your collar to let the steam out of your shirt. Adrian stood up from his position and reached into his back pocket. Unlocking his phone, he shoved the bright screen in your face. It was a text chat with Chris. A blurry but readable photo was sent to Adrian just a few days ago. In the photo, blue gloved hands shaped a heart over the file reading Adrian’s name. How did Chris even get that shot?

He was grabbing his mask from the drawer now. You stood there unresponsive. Adrian waved his hands in front of your face searching for a reaction. He called out your name as he handed you your briefcase. You were too stunned to speak. The delay lead to his favour when he asked politely “Could I eat you out?”

“Here?!” Your brain wanted to tap out. Just turn off. You grabbed the briefcase and covered your centre with it.

“No, that’s public indecency! That’s a misdemeanour. You should know me better than that!” He knew his stuff. “I mean after I drive you home. At your place? Or we could go to mine, it’s closer but I kind of have to go boxes everywhere.”

He began to leave your office and make his way to the parking lot. You followed along like a lamb to slaughter.

Locking up the office and turning to face him under the night sky, the lights of the “Vigilante Mobile” flickered twice along with a high-pitched horn. You couldn’t help but wonder what brought this on if he truly had no idea how you felt until minutes ago. In gentlemanly fashion, he opened the side door for you. As you slipped in, you inquired. With a gloved hand he cupped your cheek.

“I’ve been wanting to do this since I met you.”

#adrian chase #vigilante x reader #adrian chase x reader #adrian chase x female reader #freddie stroma #hbo peacemaker #peacemaker vigilante #vigilante #adrian chase fanfiction #vigilante fanfiction

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babyboiboyega · 3 years

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I can explain (Shangqi x f!reader)

Shangqi x f!reader

Prompt: “When everything’s going wrong, the mere thought of you makes it right.” + never wanting to pull away kiss

Content: a little angst, but more fluff

Word Count: 1.6k

Babyboiboyega’s Marvel Masterlist

A/N: this is my first ever time writing for Shangqi (or Shang-Chi), and I already have a lot of other ideas for this incredibly loveable character.

I hope you all enjoyed this!

A heavy sigh left Y/N’s mouth as she unceremoniously dropped onto her couch. The feeling of her limbs relaxing into the cushions almost prompted a moan of relief to follow the heavy sigh. It did, however, make her eyes flutter closed as she leaned her head back.

Y/N had been thinking of this moment the entire day. The moment when her week ended and her weekend began; a weekend of not having to deal with rude, angry-at-the-world customers who decide to yell at her because a privately owned publishing warehouse doesn’t print the book that they want. Or the customers who don’t check their emails for their tracking information and then get mad at her, for some absurd reason.

Another sigh leaves her mouth, and this time with the sigh goes her thoughts of work, entering the empty air for the weekend.

But being off on the weekend didn’t exactly mean being absolved of texts and calls from fellow coworkers, ranting about customers, or even management. So when her phone’s ringer went off, signaling a new incoming text, she simply kept her eyes closed. She certainly had enough time to read and reply...but maybe later.

The text had already migrated to the back of her mind in the span of a few seconds...and then her phone went off again. This time, two quick “dings” sounded through her apartment.

Her eyes opened before she slowly sat up, her phone coming into view. Before she could spare another though about her phone and it’s notifications, her hand quickly reached for the remote and pressed the power button.

She managed to flip through a few channels before her phone rang once more, and this time it was accompanied by a few knocks on her door.

Completely disregarding the fact that it was almost 11 at night and she hadn’t been expecting anyone, and being fueled by her now very obvious annoyance, it only took her a few strides to reach her door. In all honesty, she’d had no idea what she was going to say to whoever was on the other side of her door; but whatever had been ready to leave her lips died as soon as she opened the door.

“Shaun?”

She hadn’t been able to control the volume and surprise in her voice, and she saw his grimace in response. She couldn’t find it in herself to care if he didn’t like the volume in her voice; the very next emotions she felt surge through her body was...well, it was a cross between worry and anger.

“Y/N...hey.” He had a sheepish smile on his face; one that showed off his dimple. One that she had to restrain from returning. But then she remembered the last time she had seen that same smile and the last time she had even heard from him. Her eyebrows raised incredulously.

“‘Hey?’ ‘Hey’?? That’s all...that’s all you have to say to me after being gone for...a month? And some weeks?”

She could hear the hurt in her own voice, and it made her want to cringe at herself.

‘He could have been doing more important things than worrying about you’ is all that went through her mind.

Her arms crossed self-consciously in front of her.

“Please, let me explain. It’s… it’s actually crazier than you think.”

The hesitance on her part came from her nagging thoughts that flipped between “he was genuinely busy” and “he’s about to make up some absurd excuse for why he hasn’t spoken to you while also letting you down gently”.

“May I come in?” His eyebrows were raised as he gently asked for her permission. Y/N quickly nodded and stepped to the side before her thoughts could scare her too much.

His eyes stayed on her as he stepped past her, entering her apartment. She took a second to take a deep breath before closing the door behind him.

She briefly wondered how her face looked as she turned to face him. Did she look as hurt and worried as she felt? Could he see her feelings on her face?

“I’m sorry for disappearing for...as long as I did. And I’m sorry for not reaching out at all during that time. But I can explain why.”

His eyes followed her figure as she walked slowly around her kitchen counter. He made no effort to hide the pleading look in his eyes, and he only began talking when Y/N raised her eyebrows from across the counter.

“Okay. Just...bare with me.” Y/N’s eyes narrowed and more questions filled her mind as she watched him take a breath as if he were bracing himself.

Y/N hadn’t known what to expect when he had started talking, but she definitely wasn’t expecting a story filled with martial arts, trained assassins, ancient organizations, soul-sucking demons, and dragons.

Even after he had explained everything, his eyes watching and waiting for her reaction, she still couldn’t find the words to express herself.

Her body was frozen in its same position, and her eyes were wide and staring right at him. As the silence stretched between them, he couldn’t help grimacing slightly once again.

“Also, my name isn’t really Shaun. It’s Shangqi.”

That last piece of information seemed to finally shake Y/N out of her stupor, as she blinked quickly and let out a quick breath.

“I...I don’t know what to say.” In all honesty, all of this was kind of making her head spin, and it was evident in the way her breathing picked in just the slightest.

“W-What exactly do you say to someone who’s just saved the world? ‘Thank you’? ‘I owe you my life’- because, I guess, technically, I do owe you my life. Because of you, I still have my life- or my soul.”

At her rambling, Shangqi’s expression shifted from one of wariness to relief to a little worried. It had only just crossed his mind that he was worried that she wouldn’t believe him, and not worried about how she would receive the information.

She believed every word that had just come from his mouth, simply because she knew that he wouldn’t lie about something like this. She knew that he wouldn’t lie to her… at least she hoped he wouldn’t.

“You don’t have to say anything. I...I just needed you to know why I was gone. The thought of letting you go one more second thinking I just...left you was driving me crazy.”

A humorless laugh forced its way through Y/N’s lips.

“Yeah, thinking I had driven you away was driving me crazy too.”

Before she could even regret her words, her eyes were drawn to Shangqi, whose head was shaking quickly. In a few steps, he had walked around the counter, coming to a stop a few feet from her.

“That was never the case, I swear. You could never drive me away, not even if you tried.”

At the minuscule smile that appeared on her face, he risked taking another step forward.

From where he stood, he could smell faint traces of her favorite perfume that had slowly worn off during her day. Her favorite perfume had quickly become his favorite scent, simply because it reminded him of her.

From where she stood, she could easily see the faint signs of exhaustion on his face. No doubt from the strains of the last month and a half. It made her want to reach out to him.

“Every second, from the moment we left, all I could think about was coming back to you. Even while staring into the face of a-”

“A mega soul-sucking demon?”

The quiet laugh that left his mouth seemed to weigh on her body, but not with pressure. Instead, all she felt was warmth, and it coursed through her veins with the power of 11 suns.

“Yes,” there was laughter in his voice as he responded, “even while staring into the face of a mega soul-sucking demon.”

As he spoke, he had gradually moved forward until taking a deep breath would easily have their chests brushing against each other.

Y/N couldn’t keep the tremor out of her voice as she spoke, her eyes flickering between Shangqi’s.

“You...you really thought of me when you were saving the world?”

Her eyes fluttered closed as his hand raised and gently cupped her cheek. Soon after, she felt pressure from his forehead connecting with hers. Without hesitation, her own hands lifted, coming to grasp at his sides, desperate to pull him closer.

His breath fanned across her face as he spoke, and it made her hands tighten.

“When everything’s going wrong, the mere thought of you always makes it right.”

His words were quickly swallowed by Y/N’s lips pressing against his with fervor. The hand that was on her cheek gently titled her head back as he kissed her back with just as much passion, while his other hand wound around her waist. They both pulled at the other, as if they couldn’t get close enough.

The warmth that had been coursing through her veins quickly turned into leg-numbing electricity the longer their lips were connected. Her eyes were closed, and so were his, but they could both see the other’s face behind their lids, surrounded by the stars their presence created.

The only thing that could pull them apart was the need for air, and even then, as their foreheads connected and their lips stayed hovering over each other’s, they breathed the same air.

Shangqi’s words were shaky as he spoke, his thumb rubbing circles into her skin.

“You make everything right.”

**********

Once again, I hope you all enjoyed this! I would take requests for this character, but I still have a ton of requests for LOK....

But maybe sometime in the near future!

In the meantime, I would appreciate it if y’all would interact in any way with this! Comments, criticism, questions, etc would be amazing, as would reblogs, but even just liking this helps!

Stay safe, y’all!

#shangqi #shangqi x reader #shang chi x reader #shang chi #shang-chi imagines #shang-chi fanfic #shang-chi drabble #shang-chi oneshot #shangqi imagine #shangqi oneshot #shangqi drabble

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lavenderdaisyhoney · 2 years

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Dad! Jean

Okay so here is a brief collection of some random headcanons that I pulled from my membrane during a conversation with @tomurastrashpanda 🥰🥰 (also gon shamelessly tag @sparklekitteh because ily)

Okay so you don’t know any of this as you’ve both only briefly discussed the idea of having kids so you naturally just assumed neither of you were quite ready but YOU WERE WRONG. JEAN BEEN READY.

He has a Pinterest board at the ready for nursery inspo and lowkey has already started saving for a baby

He’s been reading all the safety reviews for popular baby items and has a list full of the best ones (car seats, cribs, playpens)

He also has a list of educational picture books that parents recommend so he has a point of reference. Him and his lists I swear 😭

Bought popular parenting books and secretly reads them on his e-reader

Has never been able to stop thinking about that time you held your nephew at a family barbecue. You don’t know this but he took a picture and looks back at it every now and then

Mans cannot WAIT to take off work for special occasions or just plain ol Dad things

He often daydreams about taking your kid to the park and playing on the swings with them or the slide

I feel like he would kind of be a helicopter Dad 👀 always hovering around, paranoid af, wanting to spend time with them etc (he does it out of love though 🥺)

That being said, you already know he would be SO supportive of your kid. He gon win the most supportive dad ever award 🥇

Family photo shoots! I repeat family photoshoots. This mans gon make sure y’all colour coordinated and everything. He’s gonna order a big print for the living room and some small ones for his office and wallet sized ones pls he’s gonna buy out the whole print shop

Taglist: @porcoqalliard @coffeeforday @lue-arlert @sinnerofthewalls @fierydiamond @reiner69er @daichisbunny @pockcock @fairyfuyu @maddieschai @usernamehere91 @sashatanaka @therealbisexualjesus

#jean kirschtein #jean kirstein #jean x reader #jean kirschtein x reader #jean kirstein x reader #jean fluff #aot jean #jean headcanons

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duckprintspress · 3 years

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Ten Quick Tips to Help Writers Edit Their Own Work

Learning to edit your own writing effectively and thoroughly is a difficult skill to learn. It can be especially hard to spot small errors when you, as the author, know what you meant to say - your eye will often gloss over what your document actually says. To learn to edit your work well requires practice and careful reading of work you admire and want to emulate - we could give advice on how to do that level, certainly, but no amount of advice will negate the need to work at it until you get the hang of it and experiment with different strategies until you find one that works for you. However, spotting small errors that are easy to overlook in your own work is a much more solvable problem. Here’s some suggestions to help you look at familiar words with fresh eyes!

Write a first draft in a font you’re comfortable with (most of us here at Duck Prints Press use either Times New Roman or Arial), and then when it’s time to edit, switch to a radically different font - like Comic Sans, or, if you struggle with sans serif fonts, Courier. (Yes, they're obnoxious fonts. The obnoxiousness is the point.)

Change the background color of your document. Do you usually write in day mode? Try editing in night mode! Do you usually write with a colored background to reduce eye strain? Try a different color, or white!

Change the font color in your document. If you default to writing in black, try red, or, if doing this in tandem with a background color change, try switching the font color to one that looks just awful with your chosen background color.

Change the font size in your document. This can be especially helpful because it’ll radically change where in any given line your words fall - it’s often harder to spot issues at the very end of lines, because our brain fills in the end when we move to the next line, so adjusting where things fall on the page can help.

Switch what medium you’re working in - if you typed your first draft, print it out or re-write it by hand. If you hand wrote your first draft, edit it as you type it up!

Read it out loud. Yes, the whole thing. Yes, every single word. This will help spot typos, missing words, weird commas, etc., and can also help identify sentences that are off, repetitive, or otherwise wonky.

Alternatively, find someone else to read it outloud to you! You can take notes and make changes as you listen to them.

If you use an outline, go back and compare your draft to the outline. This can help make sure you didn’t miss anything, and also doing a side-by-side reading can help find small things.

Change the characters names using a simple find-and-replace, it can help it feel like you’re reading something different.

Put it aside for a few weeks and work on other things, then come back and read it through straight, making no changes - read it like you’re a reader, rather than reading it like you’re the author, and try to spot what you may have left out or been unclear about.

Getting a story “clean” from a SPAG (spelling and grammar) point of view is hard, and even for an experienced copyeditor, it usually takes multiple read-throughs. If you’ve found it’s something you struggle with, one of the perks of the above suggestions is that nearly all can be tried with minimal effort - you’ll quickly be able to tell whether, for example, changing the font helps you or not. If it does help - great, you’ve found a new tool to help you edit! If it doesn’t help - there’s plenty more things on the list for you to try!

Do y’all have any different tricks you use to help you edit? Let us know, we’d love to expand our list!

@licieoic and @nottesilhouette contributed ideas to this list!

Have a question about writing? Drop us an ask!

Like our posts and want to support us? We have a Patreon, or you can buy us a ko-fi!

#duck prints press #original content #writing advice #editing advice

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shijiujun · 3 years

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Ooooh yeah okay barely a day later and I’m back with a new rec, I just finished this yesterday (if y’all are wondering if I do anything else but read, I have my binge-reading periods not gonna lie, especially when China bookstores REFUSE to give me a break and keep coming up with new shit)

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary:

Shen Qiao is the elusive sect leader of Xuandu Shan (Mt. Xuandu) who is known for his legendary sword skills, not that many have seen him before. He battles Kun Xie, the powerful leader of another sect one day, and is sent crashing down the mountain where they had their battle at. Against all odds, he lives, but is saved by leading demonic sect leader Yan Wushi, who happened to be passing by.

Yan Wushi is the opposite of Shen Qiao - he does not believe that there are truly good people in the world and any individual, in the face of self-interest or fear, will turn selfish and resentful. To him, there are only two kinds of people in the world - worthy opponents, or scum not even worth looking at. He is arrogant, borders on the side of insanity, and cares for and trusts in no one.

Having heard of Shen Qiao’s personality, Yan Wushi first saves him out of fun and games. Shen Qiao has lost his memory, and Yan Wushi is curious to see how he will deal with hardship and challenges, including the loss of his martial arts skills, the loss of his sight, and faced with a shidi, shixiong and other elders in his sect who may have sabotaged his battle with Kun Xie, leading to his fall. Yan Wushi actively does things that drives Shen Qiao into despair, and one incident almost causes Shen Qiao’s death.

Shen Qiao treats every person he meets very well, even those who returned his kindness with cruelty, and even after being betrayed, the seeds of resentment do not emerge in him. No matter how Yan Wushi betrays him and dismisses his offer of friendship, Shen Qiao was still willing to go find him when he was in danger. In the end, Yan Wushi finally realizes that this is the one person who has exceeded all his expectations, who is truly good because he can be, and falls in love with him.

Cue Yan Wushi having to chase an oblivious Shen Qiao back who no longer believes in a single word Yan Wushi says.

This is a story of two people with entirely different and mutually exclusive world views that somehow come to understand and love each other, while still retain their own views. Yan Wushi thinks that Shen Qiao’s kindness is weakness and that he is gullible, but Shen Qiao is not so much as gullible as he is just willing to give someone else the benefit of the doubt first, and he does learn to look at things with a more critical eye after spending time with Yan Wushi. Is Shen Qiao still kind and gorgeous and everything? Hell yes. Does Yan Wushi still tease him for it? Of course. Similarly, Shen Qiao is unable and also unwilling to change how Yan Wushi approaches things and people, but for Shen Qiao, Yan Wushi is willing to make compromises in action, even if he doesn’t agree with what Shen Qiao thinks.

*Not as angsty as I made it out to be but the subtext is quite amazing - BUT!!!! You get like a lot of vague kissing for most of the novel. Shen Qiao remains firstly oblivious, then secondly goes straight into denial, while Yan Wushi looks on adoringly. The romance starts... for real... from the epilogues onwards HAHAHA I cannot even!!!!

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available Now | Novel Translations | Upcoming Donghua - 山河剑心 | Audio Drama - S1 & S2

Characters:

1. 沈峤 Shen Qiao (Right) - He's described as one of the most beautiful/handsome men the wuxia world has ever seen, and is his deceased shifu’s second disciple. He was chosen as the successor to the sect leader position of Mt. Xuandu, which has stayed neutral for decades (in a world where sects can ally themselves with emperors/kingdoms etc.). He is poisoned on his fated battle day with Kun Xie by someone he trusted, falls off the mountain and is rescued by Yan Wushi.

For the first part of the novel he’s visually impaired but this helps him to train his hearing. Wanted to be friends with Yan Wushi because he believed they could be, but is betrayed by him shortly after and loses all his power to fight his enemy. Instead of dying, he is saved by his to-be disciple Shi Wu and realizes the secret to cultivating his powers because of that.

He’s kind but not gullible, he gives everyone the benefit of the doubt, but he’s definitely not weak or soft. Despite losing his martial arts and skills twice, he comes back stronger than before. He doesn’t understand if Yan Wushi is toying with him or is being real especially after he loses trust in the man, but their fates are intertwined together (or Yan Wushi is actually that shameless and a stalker lmao).

He faints a lot, throws up blood a lot, is carried by Yan Wushi A LOT.

2. 晏无师 Yan Wushi (Left) - A little insane, a little sadistic, takes joy in seeing someone despair. He’s very good looking, has a streak of white in his hair and ranks second (or first) in terms of martial arts and skills. He also has an official role in the palace and is advisor to the Zhou emperor. Every other demonic and good sect in the world fears him. Is also kind of a hoe.

He told Shen Qiao once that he does not need friends, only worthy opponents, before he surrendered Shen Qiao to an enemy of his. He also plants a demon heart seed into Shen Qiao (so that he can go through demonic cultivation), much to Shen Qiao’s fury and devastation, but Shen Qiao manages to survive that. After he recovers, he hears of plans to get rid of Yan Wushi and goes to save him instead, not because he trusts/thinks of Yan Wushi as a friend at this point but wanting to prove to Yan Wushi that even though he pushed Shen Qiao to the brink of no return, Shen Qiao survived, under his own terms, and stayed true to himself.

Because of that, Yan Wushi does a 180 on Shen Qiao, starts believing in him, starts thinking he’s cute and everything. Starts shamelessly flirting (and getting rejected by Shen Qiao) and finally gets his man when he’s in utmost danger at the end.

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

Shen Qiao is so damn cute?!!! And so skilled?! Like because everyone looked down on him after he failed the battle with Kun Xie not knowing that he was poisoned and sabotaged, and the next moment he flashes his sword out in a fight and they’re all like damnnnnnn

Yan Wushi is hurt severely once and as he recovers, his consciousness is split into four parts, and two of those personalities come out to cling on to Shen Qiao, and Yan Wushi gets jealous of himself

Shen Qiao’s two disciples are super cute!!! And then he picks up another cute boy along the way closer to the end

He faints a lot and throws up blood A LOT if they were doing a live-action for this I’d vote for Zhu Yilong for the role, and he also keeps getting kidnapped?! It’s hilarious

Whenever Yan Wushi tries to be nice to him (feed him, kiss him) Shen Qiao will flush and tell him to please be respectful and then they’ll exchange parries and blows as Yan Wushi DOES NOT GIVE UP on feeding him and Shen Qiao is TRYING TO AVOID THE SPOON

Yan Wushi knows that Shen Qiao has feelings for him in the end but is just too prideful and embarrassed to admit it, and so he pretends to be cold to him and Shen Qiao panics and is confused, then goes and asks random strangers on how to woo a “crazy, stubborn, more skilled” significant other - In the end he initiates his first kiss with Yan Wushi and Yan Wushi forgives him LOL

They go to an inn the first time they sleep with each other and then the help at the inn hears like noise coming from upstairs right, and asks the innkeeper “oh my god are they okay” and innkeeper says “they’re doing things that deities do” ????!!

Yan Wushi likes to squash Shen Qiao’s face when he’s not awake so that his lips form like an unglam pout, then he laughs at it - Ownself amuse ownself

#qian qiu #thousand autumns #千秋 #梦溪石 #danmei recs #meng xi shi #danmei #min's why you should read

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nim-lock · 3 years

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Art Career Tips, 2021 Edition

Here’s an edited version of my 2019 answered ask, because... this feels relevant.

It is a problem of capitalism that folks equate their income as a judgement of their value as people; and let me preface. You are worth so much. You have inherent value in this world. Your income is not a judgement on who you are (plenty of billionaires are actively making the world worse). LARPing self-confidence will go a long way to helping you get paid more for your work, because clients will believe that you know what you are doing, and are a professional.

& real quick—my own background is that I’ve been living off my art since 2018. I went to art school (Pratt Institute). I work in a publishing/educational materials sphere, and a quarter of my income is my shop. Not all of this information may apply to you, so it is up to you to look through everything with a critical eye, and spot pick what is relevant.

So there are multiple ways of getting income as an artist;

Working freelance or full-time on projects

Selling your stuff on a shop

Licensing (charging other companies to use your designs)

This post primarily covers the freelance part; if you’re interested in the other bits there is absolutely info out there on the internet.

IF you are just starting (skip to next section if not applicable) dream big, draw often (practice helps you get better/more efficient), do your best to take "a bad piece” lightly. You’re gonna RNG this shit. At some point your rate of “good” works will get higher. Watch tutorial videos & read books. A base understanding of “the rules”; anatomy, perspective, composition, color helps you know what the rules are to break them. This adds sophistication to your work. One way you can learn this stuff is by doing “studies”—you’re picking apart things from life, or things other people have done, to see what works, and how it works.

Trying to turn your interests into a viable career means that you are now a SMALL BUSINESS; it really helps to learn some basic marketing, graphic design, figure out how to write polite customer service emails; etc. You can learn some of this by looking it up, or taking skillshare (not sponsored) classes by qualified folks. Eventually some people may get agents to take care of this for them—however, I do recommend y’all get a basic understanding of what it takes to do it on your own, just so you can know if your agent is doing a good job.

Making sure your portfolio fits the work you want to get

Here is a beginner portfolio post.

Research the field you’d like to get into. The amount people work, the time commitment, the process of making the thing, the companies & people who work for them.

Create work that could fit in to the industry you’re breaking into. For example, if you want to do book cover illustration, you draw a bunch of mockup book covers, that can either be stuff you make up, or redesigns of existing books. If you’re not 100% sure what sort of work is needed for the industry, loop back into the portfolios of artists in a similar line of work as whatever you’re interested in, and analyze the things they have in common. If something looks to be a common project (like a sequence of action images for storyboard artists), then it’s probably something useful for the job.

CLIENTS HIRE BASED ON HOW WELL THEY THINK YOUR WORK FITS WHAT THEY WANT. If they’re hiring for picture books, they’re gonna want to see picture book art in your portfolio, otherwise they may not want to risk hiring you. Doesn’t have to be 100% the project, but stuff similar enough. If you aren’t hired, it doesn’t mean your work is bad, it just wasn’t the right fit for that specific client.

If you have many interests, make a different section of your portfolio for each!

Making sure you’re relevant

Have a social media that’s a little more public-facing, and follow people in the career field you’re interested in. Fellow artists, art directors, editors, social media managers; whoever. Post on your own schedule.

Interact with their posts every so often, in a non-creepy way.

If you’ve made any contacts, great! Email these artists, art directors, editors, former professors, etc occasional updates on your work to stay in touch AND make sure that they think about you every so often.

Show up to general art events every once in a while! If you keep showing up to ones in your area (when... not dying from a sneeze is a thing), folks will eventually start to remember you.

Industry events & conferences can be pricey, so attend/save up for what makes sense for you. Industry meetups are important for networking in person! In addition to meeting people with hiring power, you also connect with your peers in the community. Always bring a portfolio & hand out business cards like candy.

Active job hunting

Apply to job postings online.

If interested in working with specific people at specific companies, you could send an email “I’d love to work with you, here’s my portfolio/relevant experience”, even if they aren’t actively looking for new hires. Be concise, and include a link to your work AND attached images so the person reading the email can get a quick preview before clicking for more.

Twitter job postings can be pretty underpaid! Get a copy of the Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines to know your rate. I once had a twitter post job listing email me back saying that other illustrators were charging less, and I quote, “primarily because they’re less experienced and looking for their first commission”. This was not okay! For reference, this was a 64-illustration book. The industry rate of a children’s book (~36 pages) is $10k+, and this company’s budget was apparently $1k. For all of it.

Congrats you got a job! Now what?

Ask for like, 10% more than they initially offer and see if they say yes. If they do, great! If not, and the price is still OK, great! Often company budgets are slightly higher than they first tell you, and if you get this extra secret money, all the better for you.

Make sure you sign a contract and the terms aren’t terrible (re: GO GET THE Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines)

Be pleasant and easy to work with (Think ‘do no harm but take no shit’)

Communicate with them as much as needed! If something’s going to be late, tell them as soon as you know so they aren’t left wondering or worse, reaching out to ask what’s up.

And if all goes well, they’ll contact you about more jobs down the line, or refer you to other folks who may need an artist, etc.

Quick note about online shops/licensing and why they’re so good

It’s work that you do once, that you continuously make money off of. Different products do well in different situations (conventions vs. online, and then further, based on how you market/the specific groups you are marketing to), so products that may not do well initially may get a surge later on.

Start with things that have low minimum order quantity and are relatively cheap to produce, like prints and stickers.

If you are not breaking even, go back to some of the earlier portions of this and think about how you could tweak things as a small business. Ease of access is also very important with this; for example, if you only take orders through direct messages, that immediately shuts off all customers who don’t like talking to strangers.

Quick resource that you could look through; it’s the spreadsheet of project organizing that I made a while back

Licensing is when people pay you for the right to use your work on stuff they need to make, like textbooks or greeting cards. This is generally work you’ve already made that they are paying the right to use for a specified time or limited run of products. This is great because you’ve already done the work. I am not the expert on this. Go find someone else’s info.

“I am not physically capable of working much”/ “I need to pay the bills”

Guess who got a hand injury Sept 2020 that messed me up that entire month! I had a couple jobs going at the time that I was terrified of losing, but they were quite understanding when I told them I needed to heal. So: Express your needs as early as you know you need them. Also do lots of stretches and rest your hands whenever you feel anything off; this will save your health later. Like, the potential of a couple months of no income was preferable over losing use of my hands for the rest of my life.

This continues to apply if you have any other life situation. Ask for extra time. Ask for clarification. If you tell people ahead of time, folks are often quite understanding. Know how much you are capable of working and do your best not to overdo it. (I am.. bad at this)

Do what MAKES SENSE for your situation. If doing art currently earns you less money than organizing spreadsheets, then do that for now, and whenever you have the energy, break down some of the tips above into actionable tiny chunks, and slowly work at em.

The original ask I got in 2019 mentioned ‘knowing you’re not good enough yet’. Most artists experience imposter syndrome & self-doubt—the important thing is to do your best, and if anything, attempt to channel the confidence of a mediocre white man. If he can apply to this job/charge hella money for Not Much, then so can you!

Check out this Art Director tumblr for more advice!

Danichuatico’s Literary Agent guide

Kikidoodle’s Shop Shipping Tutorial

Best of luck!

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Once again disclaimer this post is just the ramblings of a man procrastinating on other things that need to be done. I’ve Long Posted my own post so that it turns into mush in my brain if I try to read it, but I wrote this so I should know this content. If you got down here, congrats. Here’s a shrimp drawing.

Yee Ha.

My reference post tag My tip jar

#reference #artist information #UHHHHH I don't know man

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