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fillyboy19 · 1 month

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Undressed to Impress

“Are you nervous, Kacchan?” Izuku’s fidgets with his thin, black tie, straightening it, and reclipping it even though he’s already done so twice.

“Tch, no.” Katsuki throws back the last of his champagne before setting the flute down and raking his gaze over the rest of the crowded room. “Why the hell would I be nervous?”

The drink leaves a sharp, dry feeling in the back of his mouth and if he’s being entirely honest, he’d much rather be at home working on his gauntlets and drinking a cold beer. Mei had been hounding him lately for a chance to help with his gear, but ever since the end of the war, he’d had trouble sleeping and fixing his own tech helped calm his nerves.

“No reason, except... Oh! Tenya!” Izuku stands suddenly, waving his arms in the air and beckoning their friend over.

Katsuki does his best to swallow a chuckle at the pale, blue monstrosity that is Iida Tenya’s borrowed suit. It’s much too small on his broad frame. Katsuki knows he shouldn’t laugh. It wasn’t his friend’s fault that the commission had sprung the, your presence is required notice, on most of them only two days ago.

Many of his classmates had found themselves scrambling to find some semblance of formal attire in time for tonight’s event. Hell, Katsuki had even lent out a few from his own closet to help them out – including the forest green one, Izuku is currently sporting. It’s a little tight on him in the shoulders, and a bit too loose around the waist, but the nerd makes it look halfway decent.

“It’s okay to be nervous, Kacchan. I am. Being up on stage is one thing, but being auctioned off? I know it’s for a good cause, and we’re only going to be doing things like menial housekeeping tasks and such… But it’s an honor to get the highest bid. What if no one wants you?” Izuku hurriedly sits back down, his eyes still searching the room for someone. “I don’t mean you, of course. People would be crazy not to want to bid on the number one hero…”

“Tch. You’re damn right they would.” Katsuki shifts in his chair, his thoughts still on all the talk he’d heard over the last two days.

Though this event wasn’t as big as the hero ranking ceremony or even broadcasted, it was still considered one of the most elite events in Musutafu. Only the top one hundred heroes were invited to come, and every year they raise hundreds of thousands of yen for the orphans and widows’ fund. Katsuki hadn’t had a chance to research a lot about the charity, but he’d seen the volunteers at the aftermath of some of the greatest disasters he’d faced as a hero.

“I’m nervous. I think Shouto is too, the way he’s been avoiding everyone…” Izuku mumbles on, stopping only to welcome Tenya to their table with a hug and exchange a quick greeting before sitting back down and rambling on. “Eijirou should have been up there too. Tradition is all of the top five, but…”

These days Katsuki can mostly handle the mumbling and constant chatter, but tonight he feels on edge for some reason that he can’t quite pin down. “Yeah… Ya know, Eiji must be bored over there. I should probably go say ‘hi’ or something.”

“Oh… yeah. Right, Kacchan. That’s probably a good idea…”

He doesn’t wait for Izuku to finish his rambling or for Tenya to add in his thoughts before getting up and heading over to Eijirou’s table. The redhead is surrounded by friends – Hanta, Denki, and Mina – who all cheer obnoxiously loud when Katsuki sits down at their table.

A flute of champagne is shoved into his hand and his hair is casually ruffled. He glares at Mina, who throws her hands up in surrender, and then straightens his hair before swallowing the champagne he’d been given in one long swig. How can people stand this stuff?

“Woah… drinking kinda heavy there. Eh, Kacchan?” Denki playfully elbows Eijirou. “Nervous about something?”

Denki’s joke draws another round of loud laughter from their friends, but Katsuki just sinks back in his chair and crosses his arms. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

“Come on, Kats.” Mina leans her head against Katsuki’s shoulder and pins him under a wide, slightly intoxicated smile. “Being up on stage. Getting auctioned off like a piece of meat–”

“It’s just for charity. Household chores and shit.” Katsuki almost wishes he hadn’t just swallowed his whole glass just so he’d have something to occupy himself with.

He’d come over here to escape talk about that stupid auction, not hear more about it. And if he’s being honest with himself, it also feels kind of shitty talking about it all in front of Eijirou. It wasn’t the redhead’s fault he’d been laid up by that asshole villain. He’s ready to say something about it when Hanta’s words cut into his thoughts.

“Well yeah, but there’s also the tradition.” Hanta teasingly wags his eyebrows at Katsuki, leans back in his chair and wraps an arm around Mina’s shoulder.

Katsuki knows he’s being baited. He knows that whatever Hanta wants to say is only going to add to his already stressful night; not that Katsuki would admit to anyone that he is feeling stressed. He lets out a resigned sigh before reaching across the table and stealing Eijirou’s glass of water just to watch the confused look the move brings to his friend’s face. “Fine. I’ll bite. What tradition?”

“Well, almost since its inception, the Heroes’ Charity Gala has a tradition where the number one hero gets the highest bid. Every single year.” Hanta steals the glass from Katsuki and gives it back to Eijirou. “I mean, if I were up there on stage – against Shouto, and Deku no less – I might be worried too.”

“Hey! What about me?” Denki purses his lips into an exaggerated pout and falls against Eijirou’s chest. “I may not have graced the top five, but I was high enough to take Eijirou’s place in his stead.”

The redhead takes the move in stride, petting blond hair and nodding in agreement. They look almost comical together, Eijirou in his well-tailored deep burgundy suit and Denki in his cheap, two-sizes-too-big monstrosity.

“Tch! ‘M not fuckin’ worried.” Katsuki’s eyes dart to the nearby table and the people who had fallen silent at his loud declaration. He shifts in his seat, making it a point to lower his voice when he speaks next. “Of course, I’ll get more bids than Icy-Hot and stupid Deku.”

“You’re not exactly – Ow! Eiji…” Mina trails off, pinning Eijirou under a sharp look while she leans over to rub her ankle.

“Not exactly what?” Katsuki narrows his eyes at Mina, but it’s Eijirou who speaks.

“You’re not– I mean…” Eijirou runs a hand along the back of his neck and sighs. “You’re intimidating, Kats. People might be a bit… hesitant to bid on you.”

“Whatever. I’m going to take a piss.” Katsuki doesn’t wait for any of them to respond before stalking off towards the restrooms.

Maybe he was a bit too loud and brash and cocky, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from rising above Shouto or Izuku. Back when they were younger, he’d told them he’d be number one and he’d done it. He’d been the first of their class to do it, despite Izuku’s heroics during the war and Shouto’s through-the-roof popularity rating. He wasn’t going to trail behind them back then and he certainly isn’t going to now. Sure, he doesn’t have the most friendly of personalities, but Endeavor didn’t either. He’d been the number one hero and still won the highest bid during his reign.

If Endeavor could do it, so can I.

He finds the restroom deserted and quiet, and Katsuki takes a moment to splash cold water on his face to try and calm his racing heart rate. He tells himself that he is most definitely not nervous, yet his palms are sweaty, and his pulse is racing like it does before a big fight. He’s still staring into his own crimson eyes when the door behind him slams open.

Katsuki turns to find Neito laughing and hanging onto Hitoshi. When the couple sees him, they straighten up. Hitoshi quickly dips into one of the stalls, but Neito saunters up to the sink next to Katsuki, undeterred by the explosive hero’s angry glare.

“Save your bark for someone who’s actually afraid of you, Katsuki.” Neito leans in close to the mirror and carefully applies his lip gloss before turning around and leaning against the sink. His eyes rake over Katsuki’s form, taking in his perfectly tailored, charcoal grey suit and burnt orange tie.

Katsuki straightens, giving him a better view and pinning him under a cocky grin. “Like what you see?”

Neito scoffs. “In your dreams.”

He seems ready to say more when Hitoshi is suddenly standing between them. “So, you ready for the show, Blasty?”

“Can it, Eye-Bags.” Katsuki bites his tongue, trying to stem the vitriol that he wants to spew their way. Tonight isn’t the night for a brawl in the bathroom and he swears that he can already see the feral gleam in Neito’s eyes. “It’s just a damn charity auction.”

“Let’s leave him to his ruminating, Hitoshi. You’re up first anyway and we both know there’s no way he’ll get more bids than Musutafu’s darling prince Shouto or cute little freckle-faced hero Deku.” Neito goes to apply his lip gloss again, but Hitoshi pulls him towards the door.

Katsuki’s hand grips the sink tightly. “Tch. I’ll get a higher bid than the rest of them combined.”

Neito’s laughter is near hysterical. “Yeah, right. You’ll be lucky if you even get past that electric idiot.”

He doesn’t get a chance to retort before the door is swinging shut. I’ll show them. Determined to be number one, he doesn’t stop and talk to anyone, not even Izuku on his way to the stage. He stands still while they adjust his already straight tie and run a lint roller over his already clean shoulders. He even lets them smudge his eye liner a bit more.

Handlers trot them all out onto the stage and line them up – Hitoshi, Denki, Shouto, Izuku, and then Katsuki. He tells himself that it’s no different than being lined up for the ranking ceremony, but if he’s being honest, he does feel like a piece of meat.

He does exactly what he’s supposed to, staying quiet when the bidding starts and ignoring the snarky smirks and pointed eyebrow raises that Neito gives him. It’s harder to ignore Eijirou’s encouraging double thumbs up from the table off to his left and the loud cheering from Hanta and Mina.

Other than his friends’ table, the whole affair is formal and muted. Boring. Next to him, Izuku is mumbling hastily learned facts about the auction and when Hitoshi’s final bid comes in at 100,000 yen, the green-haired hero begins spouting off statistics and estimations for the remaining pro heroes up for auction.

Katsuki mostly tunes him out, but when Izuku’s 200,000 yen estimate for Denki proves accurate, he can’t help himself. “Oi, Nerd. Where do you think the rest will fall?”

Izuku’s eyes light up at the challenge and he begins muttering under his breath before finally speaking. “Well, based on the trends for the last five years and factoring in popularity ratings, I’d guess Shouto will pull in about 800,000 yen and I’ll probably land somewhere around 380,000 yen. I may rank higher, but his popularity poll is through the roof.”

“And me?”

Izuku’s brow furrows at the question. He mutters a bit more before shrugging his shoulders. “Kacchan is… harder to estimate. Much like Endeavor, your popularity numbers are low. But statistics for the flame hero’s years as number one are hard to compare… He was well-established, had been a hero for many years before rising to the number one spot and… well, his bidding numbers are a bit skewed.”

“Sold!” The auctioneer’s voice rings out crystal clear across the room. “To the woman in green for 900,000. Come up and claim your hero!”

Katsuki grabs Izuku’s arm, pulling him close. “Skewed how?”

“Well… Kacchan, it’s my turn I should probably–”

“Skewed how Deku?”

Izuku looks helplessly at the auctioneer and then at Katsuki. “Todoroki Rei made the winning bids each of the years he was up here as number one hero.”

He gives an apologetic smile before tugging his arm out of Katsuki’s grip and making his way to the auctioneer. This time, Katsuki pays attention to the bidding – how it starts slow, grows frantic, and then tapers off again. The crowd shuffles around and bids, little white fans raising and falling, and people moving off toward the edge to get a drink once their limit had been passed.

Izuku’s close to the limit he’d set for himself. And when he surpasses it, Katsuki feels a small sort of pride swelling in his chest. The bidding caps out at 400,000 yen and suddenly, it’s his turn. He has only a moment to think before the auctioneer is waving him over.

She’s a petite woman with long brown hair and wide-set green eyes. He doesn’t recognize her, but her badge identifies her as Nanako. She starts the bidding like she had all the others, a simple 13,000 yen. Mei raises her fan first – no doubt she’ll use the time to hound him about his gauntlets.

There’s a slow back and forth between her and another blue-haired woman until Mei is finally outbid. The crowd gives a small cheer and Katsuki’s current bid sits at 150,000 yen. He’s feeling confident, standing tall with his arms crossed over his chest and then the bidding peters out just below 200,000.

Mei sulks to the edge of the crowd where Hitoshi gives her a pat on the shoulder as she retreats toward the hors d’oeuvres. Katsuki catches Neito’s arrogant smirk and watches as the blond silently mouths, told you so, with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

Katsuki is determined to be number one, no matter what, but what can he do? He scans the crowd hoping something will trigger an idea. Izuku has his cute, boyish charm going for him. Shouto has his good looks and well-curated air of mystery. Denki has his humor. Katsuki even has to admit that Hitoshi has a quiet, soft-spoken nature that makes him easily approachable.

He can’t help but wonder what he has other than his foul mouth and bad attitude. He can’t even think about what Endeavor may have had going for him, because his wife had bid on him every year – most likely out of some sense of obligation. Katsuki’s frustration builds as the bidding stalls once again just shy of 250,000 yen.

It’s only when Katsuki’s eyes fall on Eijirou and the redhead’s big, goofy grin that an idea begins to spark. His mind connects the dots quickly, and before he can question the sanity of the thought, Katsuki steps forward. If Nanako registers his movements, she doesn’t indicate it. She’s still trying her best to stimulate the bidding. Oh, I’ll stimulate something…

Katsuki starts with his tie, running the silky, burnt orange fabric through his fingers until he’s pulling it from around his neck. He winks at Mei before tossing it to her and then slips his jacket off. Something in the air seems to shift as the crowd gets wind of what he’s doing. Nanako’s still blind to Katsuki’s show, but she’s excitedly rattling off the next number – they’re up 400,000 yen already.

He tosses the custom-sewn jacket to some lady with long dark hair and the bid jumps to 500,000 yen in a single bid. Katsuki smirks down at the crowd and begins undoing his cufflinks and rolling up his sleeves. He flexes, drawing the thin material of his shirt tight across his chest and the crowd below him loses it. Bids start flying and before he even knows what’s happening, he’s surpassed Shouto’s high bid of 900,000.

What was once a quiet, reserved event is now filled with whooping and hollering – most of it coming from Mina, Hanta, and Eijirou. Katsuki scans the room. Even Denki and Izuku are cheering him on, and he finally feels like himself again. “Oh, come on Musutafu! Is that all you got?”

“Mr. Bakugou…” Nanako lowers the microphone and pins him under a stern gaze. “This is a charity function and–”

“And I’m about to break the record for highest bid ever recorded.” Katsuki winks at her before grabbing her hand and using it to bring the microphone to his lips. He pins the room under a cocky, self-assured grin. “Two million yen and I’ll do the chores for you, shirtless.”

Nanako is still staring up at Katsuki with a dumbfounded look on her face when the room erupts around them. He drops her wrist and turns to the bidders closest to the stage. He drags his fingers up the front of his shirt and teases open the top button, then the second. He can hear the bidding start to skyrocket – one point five million, one point seven-five – and his confidence soars. So much for their formal, black-tie affair… He has the room eating out of his hand and he doesn’t even bother to wait for them to hit the goal before stripping his shirt off and throwing it into the bidding crowd.

Katsuki takes a move out of Eijirou’s playbook, flexing his arms, and the crowd goes wild again. Nearly every gaze is raking over the tanned expanse of his broad chest, the hard plane of his abs, and every mind is thinking about what lies just below his charcoal grey dress slacks. Nanako is fielding bid after bid until Katsuki finally hears those magic words…

“Sold! For two million yen!”

He fixes his gaze on the old lady who’d placed the winning bid. He doesn’t bother seeking out his lost tie or coat. He’s pretty sure he’ll never get his shirt back either, but he doesn’t care. He’d met his goal, securing his number one spot, and raking in more than all four of the others combined. Katsuki hops off the stage and scoops the woman up into his arms.

She giggles like a schoolgirl and wraps her arms around his neck. He struts through the crowd, letting Denki and Izuku both clap him on the back as he goes. He gets a small, approving smile from Hitoshi and then shoulders past Neito. “Told you so.”

~END~

Written for @hotshotzine

Leftovers available here: hotshotzine.bigcartel.com

If you enjoyed this fic, please drop a comment or kudos on my AO3!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54831922

#fanfic #bnha #mha #bakugou katsuki

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thiswasinevitableid · 7 months

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Fall Fun (Indruck)

The runner up of the spooky creatures poll was "person indebted to a pumpkin demon."

Thanks to @bellafarallones2 for playing in this space on discord. This ended up being SFW, but if you need your horny pumpkin demon fix, I got you covered. And you can find even more plant demons here

Indrid Cold sits on the bedroom floor of his tiny studio apartment. The one that’s not up to code and he’s paying for under the table. The one he has just drawn green chalk markings all across the floor of.

In retrospect, it was always going to come to this.

Last year, the instant he turned 18, he moved out of his father’s huge, historic house and as far as his limited funds would carry him. Which turned out to be the other side of town. For awhile the combination from his pay at the Dollar General and commissions for his art were enough to keep him afloat. But now someone, he’s almost positive it’s his father, has bought the building he’s living in and jacking up the rent.

Indrid doesn’t have as many tools at his disposal as he’d like. But he’s got a strange book he found at a thrift store and a willingness to get weird, and that will have to do for now.

He finishes drawing the circles and lights the candles–orange–and reads the incantation. As the last word leaves his lips, the markings turn to vines, sprouting across the floorboards until he’s sitting in the middle of a pumpkin patch. A massive, orange pumpkin rises from the ground, nearly hits the ceiling before opening with a wet crack.

A figure steps from within, and for a moment Indrid thinks he’s in a Washington Irving story; the man’s body is topped with a green pumpkin head, its eyes flickering with fire, and he’s clad in a green cape and riding clothes.

The demon stares down at Indrid, then looks at his own feet.

“Aw fuck, thought this spell’d been wiped from the books.”

“...excuse me?”

The demon picks pumpkin guts from his sleeves, “This entrance is messy as all get out. Wrote a new one where I just kinda poof into place. Guess you must’ve found a real old book. Whelp, no point in dwellin’ on it; what can I do for you?”

Indrid cannot decide if the friendly demeanor or the southern accent is more wrong-footing, but he clears his throat and says, “I wish to make a pact, great and terrible one.”

“Okay, shoot.” The demon sets his gloved hands on his hips.

“I…I want you to make it so that no one owns this building, but that no one makes me own it and, I don’t know, pay taxes on it or something. I just want to live here and be left alone.”

The demon looks around, then makes his way to the door and flips the light switch, leaving Indrid squinting under the bare bulbs.

“Hate to say it, slim, but it kinda looks like no one owns it now.”

“Yes, it does give that impression. But right now it costs me $800 a month with the promise of climbing more.”

The demon whistles, an odd, low tone, “Damn. Yeah, I can do that. But you gotta…uh, one sec” He pulls a faded, green book from his pocket and quickly scans the pages, “lemme see…looks like the best I can do is that favor in exchange for a year's worth of service to me. Bit steep, but we got brackets for this stuff that we gotta follow.”

“Done.” It’ll take him that long to save up for a move anyway.

The demon holds out a hand, and when Indrid shakes it he feels vines and wood beneath, not skin. As carved eyes flash green flame, he’s glad he didn’t ask for more.

“Deal’s in place. I’ll be around in a day or two. Gotta figure out how to put you to work.” He winks, then sinks into the floor with a “see you around, slim.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------

“You gonna come hang out tonight?” Barclay slips an extra cookie into Indrids’ bag as he picks up his order.

“No, I don’t think so. Thank you for offering but I will be busy.”

His friend looks worried enough that Indrid almost feels bad for the fact that what he’ll be busy doing is staring at the wall and wondering what the point of it all is.

“Well if you change your mind, you know where to find me. Aubrey helped Ned clear out some Saturday Night Dead videos, so who knows what she’ll bring to watch.”

Indrid promises to think about it, then trudges home in the chilly air to a chillier apartment. Then it feels as if he’s in a late summer garden, and when he turns the demon is watching him.

“Got a job for you.”

“Alright.” Indrid tries not to flinch as the creature raises his hand. A snap like breaking branches produces nothing but a cluster of new groceries on his counter.

“You want me to bake for you?” Indrid picks up the box of pumpkin spice cake mix.

“Not quite. See, what’s gonna happen is you’re gonna make those, put ‘em all in this” a pumpkin shaped cake carrier appears “and go to your buddy’s house. You’re also gonna stop by your neighbor on the way, the nice guy with the funky metal goat statue in his yard.”

Indrid turns, can of cream cheese frosting in hand, “Apologies, dark one, but I’m not sure I see the point of this.”

The demon crosses his arms, “These last few days have been normal, right? How your days usually go?”

“Yes…”

“Yeah, see, you keep up like this, you’re just gonna shrivel up like a sapling in the sun.” The green coat rustles as he steps forward, “you’re lonely, slim. Don’t take demon powers to see that. Or that there are folks who don’t want you to feel that way. So” the demon tosses him an apron with a Death's Head Moth printed on the front, “get that oven on. And quit callin’ me ‘dark one’ and shit like that. You can just call me Duck; it’s a nickname.”

Indrid has a multitude of questions, but decides it’s better not to pester an entity that can turn his veins to vines.

For some reason, Duck hangs around while he bakes, creaking and gliding from one end of the studio to the other, not speaking but not making Indrid feel as if he has to fill the silence. When he notices that he’s running out of time before movie night, the demon returns and perchings on the kitchen table as vines emerge to help Indrid frost the cupcakes.

The demon dissipates as soon as he touches the front door. Indrid leaves a smaller container of cupcakes for his neighbor across the way, and the small burn he got from the oven is worth it a hundred times over when Barclay practically rips the door off its hinges letting him in.

It’s only when he returns home, tired and happy, that he notices the stained, white paint of the bathroom is now a light, homey orange. Like candlelight in a window.

It makes him smile.

—---------------------------------------------------------

“Duck, can I ask you something?”

“Sure” The green Jack’O Lantern by his chair replies, soft enough that only he can hear.

“Why have me do this?” He gestures to the library's fall fair, where he’s currently under a pop-up tent next to a table of face-painting supplies. The children's librarian had been very excited when he’d volunteered his services; apparently none of the other volunteers felt confident in their artistic talents.

“Are you not havin’ fun?”

“No. Nono, it’s actually rather nice. I was worried it would be overwhelming but it being outside has kept me from feeling trapped. And it’s fun to make the kids happy. I just don’t see how this benefits you.”

“It don’t. Not directly anyway. I was the god of harvest festivals once upon a time. Never cared much for the worship and such; I just liked watching people get all these little moments of joy outta things like pumpkins or turnips. Hell, even leaves. So I try’n do things to encourage that these days, too. Other demons might get all high on the fact they got power, but that’s never been my style. I’m a simple being.”

Indrid smirks, “That grazing board you made me spend three hours assembling yesterday begs to differ. I never should have let you know about Pinterest.”

“Was it or was it not the right thing to eat while watchin’ every single Halloween movie?”

“Oh it definitely was.” He raises one of his brushes, “but maybe I should paint you as a bunny or something, just to keep you humble.”

A vine sneaks through the back of the chair and playfully pinches him, “Careful, slim, hate to have to get handsy in front of all these people.”

Indrid stifles a laugh, “Alright, alright, fair enough.”

“....If you wanted to paint flames on me that’d be sick as hell.”

He dips his brush in the yellow paint, “Your wish is my command.”

—------------------------------------------------------------

Duck’s never been accidentally summoned before. Usually he always has time to at least toss on the robe and make himself look like he wasn’t just in the garden or petting his cat when they called. But tonight, he’s just come in from checking on his fall beds, still in his t-shirt and tattered jeans, when he’s yanked upward and around into the human world.

He can by smell alone that he’s in Indrid’s place, and as he wobbles he spots the bags of Halloween candy the man bought the night before (“it’s still a few days from now, but I like to make sure I have the good stuff to give away”). What he doesn’t see is his human.

“‘Drid? You home?”

A ragged gasp comes from the mattress in the far corner of the room, and a face peeks out from what he assumed was just a pile of blankets.

“Duck? What” Indrid sniffs and wipes his eyes, “what are you doing here?”

“No fuckin’ clue.” He kneels by the bed, “but I got a hunch that it’s got to do with you hiding away like a bulb waiting for spring.”

Worryingly, Indrid whimpers at that and retreats most of the way back into the blanket. Duck rests a hand on his forehead, petting his silver hair. Without his gloves, it’s obvious how much of his form is plant matter masquerading as a man. But Indrid doesn’t flinch, and so Duck uses the ends of his fingers to gently scritch his scalp.

“What happened?”

“I, my, my father turned up at the Lodge where Barclay works. A-aubrey and some of my other friends were there too and he yelled at all of them for helping me. He even threatened Barclay to his face, he, I think he was trying to goad him into a fight so he could call the cops on him. Mama threw him out but I, when Barclay called me I could tell how upset and scared he was and it, it’s all my fault.” His face scrunches up and he burrows, without hesitation, against Duck, trying not to cry.

Duck knows he’s never known a human who he thought looked cute even when he was crying, but now is not the time to bring that up. Instead he wraps his arms around him and adds some vines for extra security.

“Hey, hey slim it’s okay. It ain’t your fault.”

“But it is. He wouldn’t have done that if it weren’t for me”

“For all we know he would have because he’s a huge fuckin asshole.”

“I just…I’m bad luck. I’m always causing my friends trouble, they’d be, be better off not knowing me.” He’s clinging to Duck’s shirt, and there’s now dirt on his cheek from where it’s been pressed to him.

“That ain’t true. Know I’m better having you in my life, and I bet they feel the same.”

A final, shuddery sob leaves the human. Then he says, flatly, “I would like to go to bed now.”

“Okay” Duck releases him, “you want me to tuck you in. These are great for that.” The vines wiggle but Indrid just blinks at them.

“No. Thank you. I will see you soon.”

Duck cups his cheek and wishes him goodnight. Then he stays in the shadows, imperceptible, until he’s certain his human is sound asleep.

—--------------------------------------------------------------

Indrid is drunk on pumpkin spice BuzzBalls and practically passed out on a tombstone.

Still not the worst birthday he’s had.

Barclay had suggested he come over once trick or treating was done and join everyone for a Halloween/birthday party. He declined. It’s safer for them if he celebrates out here alone.

He’s drunk enough that it feels like the ground is floating away. And like the world smells like the singed innards of a Jack’O Lantern.

Wait

“Duck?”

“Yep. Came by to bring you some special glow in the dark pumpkins and got kinda worried when I couldn’t find you.” The demon’s voice is blossom-soft as he lowers Indrid into his bed. He didn’t know Duck could teleport him as well.

“M’fine, I promise.”

“‘Drid, it’s not even 7 pm and you’re falling down.” There’s a wooden buzz, then Duck says, “wait, it’s your birthday?”

Indrid sits up, finds the demon looking at the phone he left on the table.

“Yes. It has never been much fun to celebrate.”

There’s a flurry of vines and leaves, a burst of life, then Indrid’s apartment is full of lit pumpkins and halloween lights, making the walls orange and purple. Duck holds out a small, brown box. Indrid opens it. Inside are gauges for his ears; they’re burnished and beautifully organic looking, as if Duck made them of petrified pumpkin shell.

“Figure I can do my part to change that.”

Indrid holds the box, looking up at Duck’s strange face. If someone like Duck cares about him, wants him to be happy, even when he’s seen him so pathetic…

“I…I want to go see my friends. I don’t want to celebrate alone.”

“I can help with that.” Duck kneels, rests the cool surface of his forehead against Indrid’s own. After a moment, he feels far more sober. And much braver.

“I don’t suppose there’s a way you could come with me? I like you so much and I want the others to get to know you too…”

“Gimme one sec. Uh, this might be kinda weird.” Duck sets his fingers into his eyes and mouth and pulls. There’s a hollow crunch and crack, and then the pumpkin splits and falls away. In its place is a round, human face with dark hair, a crooked smile, and beautiful, green eyes.

“Oh” Indrid gasps.

Duck smiles, “Don’t get too used to it, slim. Takes a lot of power to do this, so I can only pull it off now and then.” He looks down at his hands and the overalls he appeared in, “guess we’ll just tell ‘em my costume was a scarecrow or something. But, uh, how do we explain how we know each other?”

Indrid cautiously leans forward and kisses him. There’s a faint taste of smoke when the demon smiles into the kiss and slips his fingers into Indrid’s hair.

“Perhaps we could introduce you as my boyfriend?”

Vines hug him close as Duck kisses him again and whispers, “Yeah, slim, let’s do that.”

#indruck #promptober #taz amnesty #indrid cold/duck newton #monster boyfriend #demon boyfriend #human/monster romance #terato

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tropigar · 6 months

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Hey millie! Do you have any advice or tips on someone who has no idea where to even begin getting commissions? I love seeing all your stream art on my dash n thought you might have some ideas

Hi! I have a few pointers. And thank you, that is very kind :)

You'll need a payment processor. Paypal is pretty defacto in the art community. I always send invoices and it helps the transaction go smoother and gives you some control over the details and is better for recordkeeping purposes. You'll also need a platform to advertise your commissions on. Ideally this is just the same place you post your art and you have established yourself with a decent amount of art and some time on the platform to build an audience. There are artist-for-hire forums and the like where commissioners can seek out artists but I find the ratio of artists to commissioners tends to be astronomical so getting commissions on there can be difficult (I've never used them for that reason, if anyone has and wants to chime in it'd be appreciated!)

You'll need some way to advertise your commissions and organize the information. I use trello, I love that I can have my prices, TOS, examples, queue and finished pieces all in one spot. When you advertise your commissions an image that leads potential customers to your information helps. Some people make an image sheet with their examples and prices and TOS all included but honestly I've found that's more work than it's worth. The less digging customers have to do to find your commissions, the better.

You'll need to know what sort of commissions you want to offer. I see a lot of artists newer to offering commissions offer options for sketched, lined, colored, and shaded pieces that are also split by headshot, half-body, and full-body, so that's already 12 potential commission options, and then throw on options for backgrounds and props and such... less is more. Excessive options can be overwhelming and generally people will gravitate to one end (sketches if they're low on funds) or the other (fully rendered if they really like your work and have the cash). I try to keep it simple, I had my sketch headshots at $10 and lined fullbodies at $50-$70. Finding a "niche" is great! I did psychedelic portrait commissions and that was my best selling commission option for awhile.

As far as pricing goes that is a personal decision with a lot of variables. With digital art material costs are hardly a consideration but time spent making the piece, your skill level, and demand all are. I always start with an estimation of how long it takes me to complete a piece and go from there, I start at $20 an hour because that's how much I need at a full-time job to get by. If I think something will take me about 3 hours that's a $60 commission. Sometimes that does bite me in the butt and I end up spending something like... 16 hours on what I estimated would take me 8. Personally I always just eat the difference because I care more about providing a good experience for my commissioners than getting every penny :P I also charge up-front so it would feel unprofessional to go back and ask for more. Your commission prices should really be more of a rough estimate than a guaranteed quote, subjects can vary greatly in complexity, you don't want to charge the same $50 for a fullbody if some characters can be drawn in 2 hours and others take 6. Personal advice... if you are struggling to sell your art for say at minimum $10 an hour, it is either your skill level or your marketing / visibility. If it's the former, I really recommend stepping away from taking commissions for the time and spending a couple months or so working on developing your art skills. You will thank yourself later!

It's also important to know where your strengths and weaknesses lie. If you struggle with drawing backgrounds it's better to find that out in practice rather than on a commission while you're suffering through trying to figure out how to make rocks look like rocks or incorporate lighting and that sort of thing not that I would know what that's like, haha no wayyy.

You'll need a terms of service and there's a lot of considerations that go into that:

will draw / won't draw (can you draw xyz species? backgrounds? technology? etc)

turnaround time, queues (how long will it take to finish, a week or two months at most? do you finish commissions in a certain order?)

slot limits (how many outstanding commissions will you take at a time? it's important not to bite off more than you can chew)

payment options (how will they send you the money? also, when? up front, 50 now, 50 later?)

refunds (how will you refund if you can't complete a commission? do you offer refunds if requested by the buyer and at what time? if so, are they partial refunds determined by progress completion?)

work in progress images and revisions (do you offer WIPs? at what stages? how many revisions will you make? do you charge for additional revisions?)

usage rights (what will you do with completed commissions? just use as portfolio pieces? what can the buyer do with commissions? can they draw over them, crop and color filter, use as icons, print off, use commercially? if commercial applications is a considerations you need additional terms on that)

contact methods (email, discord, the same platform as posted, etc. how often will you reach out to them?)

anything else you can think of that would be relevant.

Having a public queue is good so people can see how much work you've done on their commission and/or where in line they are.

When working with commissioners it's important to be clear on what they're looking for. Have a character reference if applicable, know a bit about their personality and maybe how they want them depicted. Also things like time frames and resolution might be important.

And social skills is an obvious one. Be corteous and all that. Not much advice I can offer in that area. Be transparent, don't be rude, and you'll probably be fine lol. Overtime, you get practice with some less obvious things like commissioner personality types and vision and are better able to tailor your approach to what works best for the client. Some people just want to see their character in your style, others have a specific vision in mind, that sort of thing.

There are a few other things I can think of like, I really recommend you give yourself a month minimum turnaround time as breathing room for commissions (and if you finish it faster, hooray!), also I generally recommend charging 100% upfront (or something like 50/50 on larger commissions), I could go off on a few different things but that's more personal advice and opinions and this is getting to be a long post already :)

Also, take a look at a few different artists that offer commissions and what their process looks like and go from there!

If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask and I'd be happy to help ^^

#art advice #asks #other

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apoptoses · 2 months

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For Daniel perhaps?

13. If you could draw effortlessly and as much as you wanted, what scene (s) would you draw for this character?

16. Have you ever cried when thinking about this character? Genuinely?

13. God, any and all of them?? Especially the Pompeii scene, or Armand looking at Daniel with a little lust when he asks if he likes how he turned out. Honestly though I'd prefer to be a billionaire who can just commission my favorite VC artists to draw all the things, have them be the Michaelangelo and Da Vinci's to my Medici lmao Because there's some amazing current artists I'd love to fund and some artists of the past I'd love to bribe to come back 🤣

16. Haha I cried over writing him and Armand arguing in Blood Sanation, does that count? I just tried hard to figure out what he'd been going through and how he'd felt while they were apart and it just made me so sad!! And thinking from the POV of someone who wants to love someone, but the other person has pushed them away- depressing!! I adore Armand but Daniel really put up with some shit sometimes.

#apoptoses answers

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abimee · 10 months

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i cant open up commissions yet because im in the last legs of going to a con and i try not to do this befause i make art purely for the hobbyist aspect of it and feel really weird about asking for donos purely because i ''make content'' when i sort of see that as a bit silly for me personally as someone making fanart all the time, but if you enjoy me art and would perchance like to help me out but cant afford the really expensive commissions i open up like once a year i have made one o these fuckers. i can draw you smthn in return if you send me any money just put it in the little comment box but im also still doing my july oc request month stuff so if you want FREE OC ART SEND ME YOUR REFS IN MY ASK NOW!

anyway this isnt anything drastic like im not crowd funding. i am trying to move out so ill do dog tricks for five bucks. mostly this is a ''if you like my art and wanna send me five smacks ill doodle you a guy'' itll look like one o these

request as many or as little guys as you want in the dono too. danke schoen

#working on the july oc request stuff + TWO drawings for me friend gwyn + con stuff also #so large scale commissions will be end of this year #again this isnt me like begging for donos do not feel obligated. it will simply help in the coming #months of torture because basically; i work a part time job that isnt letting me get full time and i cant get a second job #because it impairs with my current job and i cant afford to lose this job in case my second job falls throuhh #im in a precarious spot where i cant afford to ever be unemployed for even a week sadly but not in a way where #i need lots of money right now. mostly in a currently on a wire and extra money would thicken the rope kind of deal #anyway again. dont donate to me if you dont want to or if someone else needs it more. idk how to word this better sorry

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smartlions · 9 months

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I desperately want to commission someone to draw a portrait of my cat one day when I have the funds. I want to have a thousand pictures of her on the wall like some sort of obsessive freak

I mean LOOK AT HER…

#that’s the secret. I am an obsessive freak #she is my most precious little creature baby #pigeon posting

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killian-whump · 1 year

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Some Work-from-Home Ideas for Cute Peanuts:

Make Your Own Patreon A lot of us bristled at paying Josh for Game Night. That was because the price was for access to ALL of Josh’s content - a bargain if you’re interested in all of it, but a major rip-off if you’re only interested in one or two things. We also bristle at paying Allen for interviews/podcasts, because it’s a nepotistic cash grab. He’s not a journalist. He’s not a fellow celebrity. His only “claim to fame” is being someone’s brother, and I’m not willing to financially support him for that feat. I think there would be very little bristling (and likely a lot of interest) in paying Colin for Colin content. He could share just about anything on there - drawings, podcasts, video tours of his silly sock collection (please?), storytime videos of him reading children’s books... Hell, literally anything. I’d gladly pay a subscription fee for any/all of it - and I say that as someone who doesn’t even have expendable income to spend on such things. To support Colin during a rough spot in his life and get new Colin content? I’ll get someone to buy me a year’s subscription for Christmas or something. I’ll find a way.

Join Cameo Likewise, Cameo allows actors to do commissioned videos for fans. The fan pays a set fee (determined by the actor themselves) and requests a video - say, “Could you say Happy Birthday to my friend Olivia?” The celebrity then records said video in the comfort of their own home, when/where/how they see fit, and uploads it to the site. Not only do they make the paying fan happy - but if the fan decides to be magnanimous, they can choose to let the video be public on the Cameo site - providing some content for all the star’s fans to enjoy at no cost at all :)

Be Someone Else He always says he’s more comfortable in front of an audience being someone else rather than being himself. Well.. Why not do that? Do either of the above... as Captain Hook! He’s got the outfit and he looks just like the guy! Captain Hook’s storytime? Birthday messages from Killian Jones? I mean, people would definitely pay for that stuff. Heck, some of us would even pay for content from other characters, too XD

Make a Go Fund Me Look, I don’t know exactly what’s going on or anything, but if it’s something serious that is causing financial strain (medical bills, legal issues, whatever), or something that prevents him from doing any of the above due to time/health constraints, then Go Fund Me is an excellent way to let one’s past work and the fandom that work acquired assist with present hardships. It also allows a way for his colleagues and friends to financially support him, as well. The major downside, of course, is that it requires putting one’s problems out there for public consumption - something we know Colin won’t want to do. Still, it IS an option available to him, should anything come to that.

At any rate... Colin’s got a loving and supportive fandom that desperately wants to share their love and appreciation with him and support him through whatever it is that’s going on in his neck of the woods. We just need a way to do so that lets us feel secure in the fact that we’re supporting HIM and not someone looking to profit off of him. All he has to do is give us some way to do that ❤️

#colin meta

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briarcrawford · 1 year

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Free Pre-Publishing Checklist

My last post, A Free Editing Checklist, was very well liked, and so I thought I would make a series of posts that include more checklists. I make these for myself so I don’t forget anything, but if they help others then I am more than willing to share!

This posts will be on what to do in that space between when your book is edited and you are thinking about publishing.

The Basics:

Have an audience. Ideally, you should start marketing yourself at least a year before your first book launch so that you have people who will notice when your book launches. If you don’t have an audience yet, don’t worry! Any time is a good time to start. Chat with others in your community on social media, and post regularly.

Have a newsletter. Newsletters are still important in the author world, so it is a good idea to start building a following for yours before your book is out. For myself, my blog has the ability to sign up for notifications by e-mail, so it works both as my blog and my newsletter.

Network. It is time to stop considering other writers as your competition. They are not competition, they are your community. It has been proven that when two similar business’ work together rather than as competition, it helps both of them mutually. So, work together with your writing community to help build each other up. Start chatting, start sharing the work of others, and give advice. Once you gain some writing friends, they may share your book when it is published. Just make sure you do the same for them.

Research and Ready Yourself. It is really unlikely that your first book will take off. Most self-published authors seem to say that around book 8 is where they really start making steady sales, so ready yourself for that. Read or listen to podcasts on publishing so you know what to expect so you are ready for what results may come.

Advertising funds. You may need to pay for graphics, as well as promoted posts/advertising, so consider building an advertising fund.

The Content:

Cover. It is not recommended you do your own cover since there is a lot of education needed for them. It might seem easy, but even the little things right down to the font matters. Certain fonts are hard to read for many people, while other fonts are considered cliché. If you are not comfortable in this area, this is when you should hire someone to build one for you. Bonus: Book Design Blog (Blog. Free)

Formatting. People do not like books formatted in strange ways, so either hire someone or do the research. Once again, this might seem easy, but even if the text of your book has it’s margins slightly closer to the edge of the page than normal, many people will notice. If you are doing this yourself, there are many tutorials on YouTube. In your book, don’t forget to mention your cover artist, your editor, and anyone else who has helped you. Formatting Help: Calibre and Sigil (Free. To be used together), BookDown (Free), Reedsy (Free), Smashwords (Free), Vellum (Paid), Draft2Digital (Paid), Sqribble (Paid), Affinity Publisher (Paid)

Back matter. These are the pages at the very end of the book that most commonly have a sample or advertisement for the next book. Make sure you do this, and add information on how to sign up for your newsletter.

Get Graphics. You will need graphics for preorder announcements, launch date announcements, and general advertising

Building Hype

Post often. Talk about how you are feeling about your WIP and for sure let people know when you are done.

Title reveal. Announce when you will do a title reveal, then count down. This is to help build interest in your book. Many authors use their cover but crop out everything but the title for this, or do an announcement video.

Share Art. Commission or draw art of your characters and share them. Introducing your characters like this will help people know what to expect from what you are writing.

Share Quotes. Share quotes from your book. This will give your potential readers a sample of what to expect from you.

Cover reveal. Announce when you will do a cover reveal, then count down. People love a pretty cover, so help get people excited for it by counting down. Note: it is considered polite to mention your cover artist when you do a cover reveal

Map Reveal. Commission or draw yourself a map for your world (if your story needs one) and share it.

Preorder date announcement/countdown. This one you will want to make then biggest deal out of and may want to do a promoted post when preorders go up.

Media. Consider contacting your local media(newspaper?)about your release. The worst they can say is no.

Book Spots for Guest Blogs. Some blogs will let you do guest posts where you can talk about your upcoming book.

Update your headers. The headers on social media, like twitter, can be a great place for advertising. Consider putting your release date somewhere on your header.

Order marketing swag. Like bookmarks and business cards. These are essential if you plan on selling your book in person or for book signings.

Book Trailer. Book trailers do not usually gain a lot of traffic, so I don’t suggest spending a lot of money on one, but they are still useful to have. Build one and share it with the release date at the end.

ARC. Send out advanced reader copies so your book has (honest) reviews on launch. If they are not 5 star reviews, don’t worry, they will still move your book up in the algorithms.

Signed Copy Giveaways. Consider doing a giveaway for a few signed copies(perhaps with a bookmark or other goodies you ordered) on social media. Sending your book can be costly depending on how far it has to go, but these do tend to get a lot of traction.

Launch party. Consider having a virtual launch party to celebrate the release of your book.

Book Signing. Consider doing a book signing at your local library or book store.

Donate a book. Donate a book to your local library if they will take it. Consider the cost as advertising revenue.

That is it! Think I missed anything? Please let me know!

#publishing #writing advice #how to write #write #writer #writing #writers #finalstages

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ginga-snappd-offical · 1 year

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do you have any tips on how to live off as an artist professionally?

I’m still trying to figure that out myself honestly. I work a full time job and do this on the side right now, but overall the general points that I would give are:

A) have at least four separate streams of financial revenue (so when you draw something, stream and record it, sell the design on products through printers or separately, etc.) my current methods are sketches through donations, then I stream the process. I also take cuts from steams and videos and reupload them as YouTube shorts since that’s being pushed pretty hard right now, algorithmically. Clip Studio Paint has a Timelapse feature as well so that cuts down the time I would have taken to edit down a screen recording myself. For designs that can be printed, I sell the design files for a few dollars on Etsy- which is a great way to do it since it’s only a few cents per listing and you can have 999 “products” per listing. So it’s a good way to sell generic designs to third party printing shops. Just make sure your pricing it so you’re still making money off of it with that listing fee in mind. In the future I plan on selling physical products but for now this is what I can do. Another tip is that for printing designs, I sell them as a zip file with TIFFs and PNGs so if the printer is using a cricut cutter for vinyl the design will still be compatible, I’d do some research on this if that’s the route you want to go with.

And B) the other big thing is being sociable, but not overly soliciting. Reaching out to people to sell a product won’t always go well, but I won’t say don’t do it at all. Usually if i reach out directly to someone as a “cold lead” I offer a specific service for free so I can get experience doing it if I’ve never done it before (my first music video with Broekai was a free service so I could learn about timing and BPM in relation to editing and animation for example). Generally you should only directly reach out to people if they’ve shown interest in a service you can provide. Respond to people, be proactive in direct interactions, keep in mind the people who keep coming back.

Other things to keep in mind are the going union rates or general rates for people within your industry, and seeing if there are guilds, associations, etc. that you can join to expand your network and learn more about the inner workings of your trade. I have not made this effort because I’m not in a position to.

Notes on commissions: regardless of quality or time, the general rates for illustrators and freelancers are between $11-$15 an hour, and you should price it hourly rather than a flat rate so if you keep having to do revisions you get compensated for that. Commissions are different than requests in the way of effort and final product. In the past I’ve allowed clients to sit in on discord calls with me while I work so that feedback is immediate and time isn’t wasted for either of us. This also gives me and my clients the opportunity to get to know each other, so if future projects are in the works we know what to expect from one another.

Again, I’m not full time right now and I don’t anticipate myself going full time for a very long while. If you live in the US, my final tip would be to look up your individual state’s Arts Commission to see if there are any state funded programs you can apply for. They give funds for state-based art, preformance, and writing programs and may even have job openings, or business development classes if youre wanting to make a presence on your local front. I have not done this because I have an already full plate, but I do check the website from time to time to see what’s updated.

Thank you for the question, tldr: four separate streams of revenue, be social with clients, research your industry, and check to see if your government funds the arts

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