#His wing design is wip in just lazy

[quigzahhutt]

Hi! Again

I have been rereading the lialex/lawbon royalty au and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. It has altered my brain chemistry because it’s just 👨‍🍳🤌❤️

They way you wrote their outfits and them ofc, has me consider to trow all my WIPs aside and draw them at the ball.

Lialex royalty au you’ll always be famous :,)

HI!! AHH I'm SO happy that u enjoy it so much bcuz I seriously also love that little au even tho it's like. so underdeveloped

ALSO. YES. OUTFITS TEEHEE. this ask may or may not have motivated me to go on Pinterest and find some inspo.... :) (fair warning, i have NEVER made a Pinterest board before so this may be shit BUT. we ball)

so, i personally imagine that they both wear very simplistic crowns (which their families absolutely Do Not appreciate but hey, they're princes what does it matter)

I imagine Liam would wear a circlet, which yeah may be a traditionally more feminine option, but what can I say, I am always pushing the Liam feminization agenda :) very pretty and very regal

(like this) I like to think that his crown would be designed to look sort of leafy/feathery as an homage to the leaf design on the back of his helmet!

(and also cuz. red bull... gives you wings .... so like... feathers...)

and then I imagine Alex has a more typical crown, y'know, big and clunky, very non-personalized, because Alex probably has less freedoms considering he is the eldest son (as opposed to Liam, who is the youngest in his family aka the red bull team) so he has more of an impactful role with a lot more responsibilities

so something sorta like this just with a bit more weight on the base and generally more, like, gaudy. but Alex never wears it (and his family HATES that) bcuz he thinks it's UGLY and HEAVY and UNCOMFORTABLE, SO

he is often seen wearing something more like this :) smaller and dainty, probably worn less on the crown of his head and more like, near the back (kinda like how you wear a beanie, i guess? idk what that area is called but yeah). this crown is more his style (not as chunky, less regal, green and more toned down accent colors to sorta emulate his actual AA23 branding :3)

and then actual outfits is harder. generally I think they would wear more lazy stuff as often as they can (at least, as lazy as you can be when you're a literal PRINCE), but for this specific formal, the outfits I described would be more like this :)

(Alex on left, Liam on the right)

so first, the left-hand one. this is basically EXACTLY how I envisioned Alex's outfit, just maybe with a bit more embellishments and brown pants instead of black (and also less of a glossy fabric if that makes sense?). the brown and sorta gold-y vest is literally PERFECT, like, exactly how I imagined. I think Alex's formal outfits would be very comfortable but definitely classy, and people are usually impressed (which is a major relief to his parents + like, his ENTIRE Kingdom 😭😭 because usually Alex doesn't really care about appearances)

and then Liam's outfit :) idk why but i just love the idea of him always wearing super flowy, loose fitting blouses idk I just think they're so fitting. and then the waistcoat I think would be a little less flowery, more simple but DEFINITELY regal. I think Liam secretly kind of enjoys dressing up and making himself handsome for these kinds of things despite how often he complains about it teehee

and then a little extra detail!! so while it may just look like they're both just wearing vests, Alex's (left) is a vest, while Liam's (right) is a waistcoat. there isn't too much difference between them, but vests are generally more informal and casual, where waistcoats are typically for ultra-fancy events, and I just think that little extra detail that Alex's is just a bit more informal than Liam's is special and very indicative of their characters :)

and then extra pictures that I like and are just very. yeah. them :)

[basedonconjecture]

Last Line(s) / WIP Wednesday

A fair few of you lovely gems have tagged me in some variation of this in the past several days and I love you all dearly for it (please keep doing it) I've just lost track of all the tags while I've been in a vicious love/hate/love again/hate again cycle with my WIPs. But I was recently reminded, this is, in fact, Normal™

So thank you to @biowaredisasterbisexual & @dymme for the most recent tags <3 and I am (gently) tagging @introvertedfangrl, @complikatedd, @propenseverbosity if there's anything you'd like to share!! Anyway, here are. some words :')

---

Soft thunks across the hall drew her attention as Lucanis traded one weapon for another. Her eyes tracked his movements thoughtfully as she considered. A voice of warning told her she ought to let him be, leave him to see to his work in peace. The pantry had to be stifling enough, and she couldn’t imagine such a cramped space made for a practical work area, but using a communal space was hardly an invitation for company. 

After the other night, Rook couldn’t help wondering if there wasn’t something just a little bit wrong with her that the man’s demon hardly figured at all in her calculations as to whether or not to bother him. The dedicated concentration with which he polished the blade of a rapier, however, did offer clear evidence that he was, perhaps, in need of some bothering. 

She’d already concocted several excuses to do so, should she need them, by the time she ambled up to the table. Lucanis’ gaze flicked up to hers briefly as she approached from the opposite side, a sudden tension around his mouth, but he said nothing. Sighing through her nose, she looked over the spread of weapons between them. It really was an impressive collection, even for an assassin, and she suspected it was barely a fraction of what it would have been had he more space to keep them. 

Pressing her lips together, she suppressed a frown. 

The offer for other rooms had been made several times over to him by now—there was the empty guest house near the dining hall and the other rooms surrounding the library—but in the pantry, he remained. And she couldn’t recall seeing them the last time she’d been in there.  Where did he keep them all—tucked in between the onions and potatoes? The vision of a dozen hilts sticking out of a basket of root vegetables in some sort of tuber massacre was an amusing, if unlikely, scenario. She would have asked if she thought he would answer; if he’d chosen the pantry for its choke points as he claimed—a strategy she questioned each time she recalled it—she doubted he’d be willing to reveal his hiding spots. 

She reached out to run a lazy finger over the wing-shaped guard of another of his rapiers, the design distinctly Antivan thought she assumed the weapon was custom-made. It was a beautiful piece, the purple stones set into the tectrices—tourmaline, maybe, or spinel though she wasn’t sure which—glimmered in the firelight, the grip a smooth black leather that begged to be touched. Without thinking, she caressed the handle, openly envious. She’d never handled a weapon so fine—wasn’t likely to, either—but she could appreciate the craftsmanship. Her own blades, for all they were well-crafted were simple in design, and each bore the marks of hard wear after more than a year on the road with Varric and Harding. Lucanis’ rapier easily put them all to shame, to say nothing of the rest of his weapons, and she told him as much. 

“As long as it works as it’s supposed to,” he replied with a shrug, using a cloth to buff a spot from the blade that was invisible to her. “Style comes second.”

“Blasphemer,” she replied with a mock gasp. There were few Crows she knew who’d admit to being so practical—at least, out loud. When he looked up at her sharply, the corner of her mouth kicked up. “I don’t think you believe that at all.” 

“No?” 

She shook her head. “Not even a little bit.”

“Eh,” he shrugged, “I do believe it a little.” His mouth remained pressed into a serious line, but she saw his lips twitch a little as he turned the rapier over in his hands. The movements of his hands slowed from the practical application of cloth and oil to something almost contemplative, a shadow crossing across his eyes. “What use is a weapon if it cannot do what it was made for?”

There was a smart response on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. Studying him, she chewed on the question as if it were a riddle. It didn’t require an answer. Yet, she sensed there was a right one all the same. 

[celtrist]

Do you like redesign characters?? I was curious of how the hazbin hotel and helluva boss characters would look like in your style

Nooo, I took a class concerning the subject but I'm by no means an expert and haven't redesigned any characters before. I have, however, a BOATLOAD of characters both fan and original, most of which tend to be designed by me. Not all, but I think most of them are. Most of them are also in my wips because I am very lazy in getting around to doing bios and such. I also have some designs on my website.

I have thought about doing some hazbin redesigns, but it just never panned out. I don't actually know how well I'd do as I don't think I'm crazy astonishing at designing. I have moments, but I'm not usually churning anything out like the hellaverse characters. Because for all my gripes with them, I do admit they are relatively strong in different aspects. I do like the official designs well enough, but I've also liked a lot of redesigns I've seen. The only thing with a lot of redesigns, and this was sorta the "spin" I was going to take with it, is that they're not always animator-friendly. Another "spin" I was planning to take with the redesigns is to have them work within the show as "next season" designs. That would mean nothing TOO drastic could be changed (like Husk's wings would remain), but things like clothes, colors, and maybe some smaller features could be changed. Generally just something where it could be plausible for the characters to have that changed look.

If you know Batman the Animated Series a bit, they had a huge design change between seasons. While I wouldn't be looking to change up the whole art style of the show, I would be open to possibly doing some bigger design changes like that show did (like changing Husk's body shape to be more portly or adding a radio embedded into Alastor's chest). Their approach was that it was the continuation from the previous seasons and no one commented on the new looks all the characters had. I think the idea was that no one actually changed their style or anything, but I've never watched the show so maybe they do comment on new attire and faces.

I was planning to more or less act like the designs were going to be what the characters looked like for that next season. So they'd have to be animator-friendly and still work, for the most part, with the pre-established designs. Again, this means that Husk's wings wouldn't just disappear randomly and I couldn't go crazy and give Charlie like snakes in her hair in the first episode of that next season when the last episode of the last season she didn't have any. I never laid out the rules perfectly as I know with Niffty, I'd definitely want to bend that rule by giving her another pair of arms, but I also didn't go through with doing any redesigns.

Two similar routes I'd kiiiinda go with probably involve my two favorite redesigns of the cast: I've mentioned @/cholvoq but they really nailed a lot of the characters down and I love all the little details the characters had (Vox's old TV head being his chest is such a killer design choice for him). @/kaledya has some good redesigns too! You might have to look on their Twitter to see the full lineup, but they actually were rewriting Hazbin Hotel to their own version which uses those redesigns! Alastor in particular looks much closer to a man in his mid-30s to 40s than he does in canon. Same with Husk, he's actually super old but he looks around the same age as Angel within the official series when he's in fact in his 60s-70s. They also have some fun fan characters (I love Serenity, she's so fucking cool in design and I love how she relates to Alastor story-wise ;3;)

And then there's just a bunch of other redesigns I've seen that I've loved as well, but those are the two that came into my head and would be what I'd take some inspiration for my own designs. Granted, would I like these designs canon? Mmm, I'm so used to what we have that although cholvoq has one of my favorite Alastor redesigns, I don't know if I'd want that to be canon (I honestly don't think he'd work as well as a full deer anthro! It's not as unique as him being a kemonomimi. Hell has a lot of anthro characters, so him only being part animal makes him stand out and might relate to his death better I think). It's fun to imagine. Maybe someday I'll get around to it but I have lots of other stuff to worry about before stressing over whether I should keep Alastor red or put him in sepia tones lol I will critique, but I know between Viv and myself she probably can pump out a more appealing character design than I ever could. I wouldn't say designing is a strength of mine. Not a weakness, but not a strength either.

EDIT: Adding on these designs, I really like them too. I've seen the Vaggie one before (Vaggie's official design is boring to me, but I gotta acknowledge that HAS to be a personal thing. Not an actual critique because everyone else says she's relatively fine), but never saw the other ones and I like these ones! This goes with a lot about what I was saying about "next season" redesigns. Again, there's a lot of redesigns I like, but I can't point them all out or we'll be here all day.

[itslouisan]

WE GOT FIRST OFFICIAL C!LOUIS DRAWING LETSGOOOOO

it's a wip and pls ignore that idk how to draw bird feet or hands yet (I'm training!!) ok so I'mma drop some info and descriptions and details I couldn't quite draw:

- Louis kimono is in the colors green and black having white feathers all over it as a pattern especially in the sleeves, all lace, bows and etc are in the color green.

- Louis has 6 pair of wings in total

2 on the side of his head as mini wings on his cheek

2 that are the main ones in the hip/back/bust zone that are bigger but full of scars and rips due to war injuries

2 smaller ones in his hips/thighs that can barely fly and need some preening

- Louis hair is a shade of faded navy blue, when he was younger it was deeper and almost purple/black (for anyone curious for the color code it's: 3B3E79 and 242B64 the ones I usually use)

- Louis has a halo in his head, this halo is deeply rooted to his lore + his character meaning, I plan on exploring it deeply in my novel when his backstory time comes but for now just know the halo shines in a black light, has some light yellow stars floating around it and is dripping with a gold liquid

- Louis wears a necklace/choker in his neck that is the hardcore heart (yes from Minecraft, it's a reference that I'm a hardcore Minecraft streamer) and this heart changes from crimson to purple in certain times to indicate Louis power and forms

- In avianthropy terms Louis is like 50/50 between a Pegarety and a siren, but leans more to siren.

- Louis carries a white fan with him everywhere, it's his lil gimmick, Louis official weapon being an Umbrella called "Enyo" maybe I'll do a post all about this or use Louis introduction post to talk abt her.

- the stars in Louis hair are stuck there, all tangled deep into his hair, they were originally white and now turned black, sometimes his halo drops some white and black dust in shapes of tiny sparkles too that Louis is too lazy to clean off

- birb feet. Has gets made to be comfortable for his feet. But almost all the time is barefoot and scrapping his talons everywhere

- shit tons of tattoos and scars from his time in war, doesn't regret a single one.

- his eyes are a golden color but can also be seen as dark purple sometimes

- his kimono is designed to be 100% adapted to carry weapons.

[prodigyxprosecutor]

Y’all I made Animal Crossing villagers out of Ace Attorney pets!! Tried to put some of their owners in their designs too ;v; 

Left to right, top to bottom: 

Mekiko = sisterly 

Chocolate calico, no breed. I drew them genderfluid to accommodate differing headcanons (even tho the male hcs are Klinefelter’s and not boy the gender bc irl cats dont have gender........ who gives a fuck). They’ve got Apollo’s hair thingies kinda 

• pose referenced/stolen from Kitty 

Shoe = smug

Black-golden tabby, probably Siberian. I’m happy with his shirt being a mix of Matt’s actual clothing and clothing that...makes sense. Also his stripes are Matt’s eye scars. 

• pose referenced/stolen from Monique

Anubis = jock 

Tosa. B055/BOSS on the shirt and bell necklace. His eyes are closed bc Dogen’s blind and not because I just didn’t know what eyes to draw for him hahaha no it’s totally symbolic......... 

• pose referenced/stolen from Butch 

Money = smug

After much frustration I decided he’s a rhesus monkey (not that he looks like one). Had way too much fun drawing Keyes’s weird shirt thing. He just wants his owners to stop killing people. 

• pose referenced/stolen from Flip 

Missile = lazy 

Shiba Inu. No Gumshoe in this design bc I wanted to try my hand at copying the AC cop uniform. His colors are ripped directly from his in-game icon. 

• pose referenced/stolen from Daisy

Pess = lazy 

Golden Retriever. Also genderfluid to accommodate headcanon (though I can’t do anything about other breed headcanons...) Cravat, duh. I picture them and Missile solving cases together. 

• pose referenced/stolen from Biskit

Polly = peppy 

Scarlet Macaw probably? I gave her Yogi’s scarf and I was gonna color-pick off of him for the dress, but all his colors are gross and sad. So I just went with a generic, as my gf calls it, “bright gray” (it’s pink). 

• pose referenced/stolen from Twiggy

Taka = jock

Bar-tailed hawk. Not a red-tailed hawk. Have you LOOKED at his tail?? Fellas. His WIP sketch has the bandana but hhhhh it was too much w/the wings also there. I just made his feet the same colors/stripes. I gave him Simon’s weird sleeveless overcoat and eye-tats tho! Also his lower feathers look like underwear lol. 

• pose referenced/stolen from Lucha

I didn’t draw Vongole bc 1) she’s also a golden retriever and 2) there was already an even number. I do wanna come back for her one day tho... 

[thewritblrofejbelle]

Friday Night Fights - 3/27

Prompt fill for @promptsforthestrugglingauthor ‘s Friday Night Fights prompt for the week of 3/27 ft. character’s from my WIP.

link to prompt Here.

_________

FABLE-

“Do you think I asked to answer prayers? Do you think I wanted to spend my immortality having to listen to you mortals drone on and on and on about your silly little trifles?” The goddess snorted with indignation. “Please, leave me alone unless you have something worth my time.”

“Please.” I begged, dropping to my knees, eyes hurting from the bright light glaring through the broken glass windows of the ruins, “You’re the only one I know has been alive long enough to answer my questions. I want to know about the forgotten histories."

She laughed a cold, humorless laugh. A massive, gold-feathered wing stretched outward with what could only be described as a practiced laziness, flakes of dried muck and mud cracking off and falling to the ground around her as if she hadn’t bothered to preen them in years. "Forgotten things are forgotten because they’re better that way. You want my advice, kid? You’re looking for answers where there are none. Go home.”

I had been afraid of that. ‘Go home’, as if I could have brought myself to do that. 'Go home’? When home was nothing but a barely disguised cage designed to hold me and me alone from experiencing anything beyond its confines? 'Go home’? Now that I had met someone as fascinating and wonderful as Thaddeus Valiant? How could I ever 'go home’ when home had brought me nothing but pain? How could I possibly 'go home’ knowing how much worse things would be after having left at all?

THADDEUS-

Deeper in, the cave was cold and dimly lit and filled with an assortment of things from Before the world death. Thaddeus was frozen in awe. So much of history was preserved in this place.

'Fable would love it here,’ a tiny part of his mind thought, before he could suppress it. Fable had made their choice. He couldn’t change that Fable had decided to part ways, so what was the point in missing him? What point was there in imagining Fable taking off their protective visor in the dark of the only known surviving underground, imagining as pale eyes widen in awe taking in the lost histories that they so desperately sought after?

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Thaddeus jumped, startled by the sudden arrival of another person. “My life’s work."

Thaddeus turned towards the voice, coming face to face with a pale young man, eyes so vibrant and glowing they would have made even Fable’s seem dull in comparison. Long black hair framed a strong jaw and sharp features.

"Name’s Sage,” the stranger said, placing his hand towards Thaddeus’.

Thaddeus simply stared at it until the stranger pulled it away again, thrusting it into his pocket.

“You mortals and your lack of respect for history and traditions.” Sage sighed, talking under his breath as if he didn’t actually mean to be speaking out loud. Though Thaddeus couldn’t help but pick up on the way he said 'you mortals’ as if he himself weren’t one. “Can’t believe no one remembers what a damned handshake is anymore. Society’s evolved so damn much it’s gone right back around to being medieval again."

"I’m sorry?” Thaddeus had meant to say it as an apology of sorts, but it had come out as more of a question.

Sage sighed again, a small section of his hair falling into his eyes as he shakes his head, “not important, c'mon I’ll show you around. ’S been awhile since I’ve had company."

Thaddeus has a feeling 'awhile’ is more than a slight understatement.

FABLE-

"Why are you like this?” I hadn’t meant to speak these words out loud…

…then again I hadn’t gone in with expectations for what Riyud, the Goddess of Death, Rebirth and the Sun would be like, but I can’t imagine I would have ever considered that she would be half as cynical as the person that was perched before me. So really, verbalizing my inner monologue was just par for the course by that point.

“Why?” she asked, her laughter had become less cold and more unhinged, “Why?! Kid, I’ve been alive so long I’ve managed to watch the world end twice! Two times the world has turned into one of these desolate wastelands of ruin just to try and pull civilization back out of it’s ass. Do you know how long I would have to be alive to witness two different apocalypses? I’m tired! I don’t have the energy left to care about your petty little mortal problems! Everyone I’ve ever loved died thousands of years ago, my desire to help you mortals died when the world did.”

She pulled her wings closer around herself, and in that moment, she didn’t look much like a Goddess, she just looked like a person who had seen far more pain and suffering than any living thing should. She looked small and broken.

In that moment I looked at Riyud, the Goddess of Rebirth, the Goddess of the Sun, the Goddess of the One-Thing-She-Herself-Can-Never-Do, and the embodiment of tragedy looked back at me.

-end(?)

[pineau-noir]

So I was tagged by @coriesocks twice and I'm finally trying to get my shit together. Lolsob

20 facts for 2020

1. Do you make your bed?

Ha! No. But I am very particular about the sheets, they can't be lumpy under me and they have to be tucked in at the foot of the bed. So we adjust our sheets a lot

2. Favourite number?

8 since I was 8?

3. What’s your job?

I had twins so I stayed home for 4 years with them, then I got my current job as the inventory manager at a salon. Wow. My phone wanted that to be saloon. I wish I was that cool

4. If I could would I go back to school?

No, there lies anxiety and depression.

5. Can you parallel park?

Again. Ha! No

6. A job people would be surprised I had

In my early 20s I worked at a gas station/fried chicken place, giving out samples of chicken wings. At the time I didn't eat chicken. Later I worked at a fireworks store that had, no joke, since burned down. The American south is wild, y'all

7. Do you think aliens are real?

Yeah, duh

8. Can you drive a standard car?

In theory? I have in the past, i know the basics, but i haven't driven anything besides automatic in probably 10 years

9. What’s your guilty pleasure?

Honestly I'm too old for that. Almost everybody I know, knows I write fanfic. My bestie/GM at my job, told our salon owner that I write fanfic. I'm pretty surface level

10. Tattoos

Three, a crescent moon and star made out of Celtic knots, Bad Wolf in Gallifreyan, and Accio Wonder

11. Favourite colour?

Purple, esp the darker shades

12. Things people do that drive you crazy

Entitled people. My time is just as valuable as yours, I don't care if you're wearing designer clothes.

13. Any phobias?

Heights? But only like heights that wouldn't kill me straight away?

14. Favourite childhood sport?

I was a swimmer. I'm always extra when the Olympics occur. My husband always gets tickled by my hatred of the breast stroke

15. Do you talk to yourself?

All the fucking time

16. What movie do you adore?

I'm a big Marvel fan, even if I 100% ignore canon. Spider-verse!!! A lot of Pixar

17. Do you like doing puzzles?

No

18. Favourite type of music

Like old stuff? Mostly 70s to 90s, but like also female pop like Lizzo, Carly Rae Jepsen, Taylor Swift

19. Tea or coffee?

Omg both. I cannot choose

20. The first thing you remember you wanted to be when you grew up?

A veterinarian. Of course that was before I realized how much I faint around needles/blood/surgery type things

Rule: Post a sentence from one of your WIP’s and tag as many people as words.

This technically isn't a WIP anymore because I posted it today, but when I was tagged it was. And I'm really excited about it, so have an offering from my 2019 Spideypool Big Bang fic, You Can't Spell Awesome Without Me

Wade to Peter: “How old are you, anyway? Your clothes say 90, but your face says 23.”

Because my hc is that Peter doesn't know how to dress as a professor so he takes his cues from Indiana Jones

I'm 100% too lazy to tag as many people as there are words, sorry, but I'll tag people I haven't tagged in a while. So, @fantom-ftnoise @halbereth @lazystrawberrymilkshakes @badcop-mod @samstevebuckyhq @bangyababy @plumbuck @prose-aplenty @thetimidturnip feel free to pick one. Or none! Or if you're not tagged, feel free to do this too!

[dotshiiki]

FIC: Fantastic Breads (Jacob/Queenie)

Jacob Kowalski doesn't know how he ever lived before the bakery. It feels like the turning point in his life, a clear line that separates the grey fog of yesterday from the colourful delight that is today.

Although perhaps, technically speaking, the real turning point was when some stranger dropping a suitcase full of silver—honest-to-god solid silver eggs, of all things—at his feet with the note to use them as collateral for his bakery. Jacob never did learn who his mysterious benefactor was, nor how they knew about his secret ambition to start a bakery. He figures it must have been someone at the bank, though it's hard to imagine any of those fuddy-duddy sticks in the mud believing in his extravagant dreams of fresh bread and cleverly-designed pastries. The only dream New York County Bank seems to understand involves cold, hard cash. 

Then again, perhaps that's why his backer did it in secret.

Either way, once the bakery became real, so did the world around him. +++ Jacob doesn't know where he gets his ideas from. They must come to him in dreams—he always wakes up knowing that he has been to some vivid, amazing land in his sleep, only if you asked him, he wouldn't be able to report a single detail of it. But when he mixes and shapes his dough, the outlines form perfectly between his fingers: creatures unlike anything in this world, but that have leapt fully-formed from his hands without conscious thought. He makes chrust—a well-aerated crisp cake—that grow from a beaked head like a massive eagle, albeit one with magnificent multi-winged plumage that no real eagle could hope to possess. He cloaks his grandmother’s kołacz with a dough so light and flaky that it hinted at something ethereal, a pastry that might wink out of sight if you just blinked. A traditional babka becomes a muskrat curled up around a shiny centrepiece (with some less-traditional culinary treasures baked into the loaf that nonetheless delight his customers, who return to rave about the sweet surprises they found within). Unlike ordinary muskrats, though, his bread-rodent has a long pecan snout peeking out under its beady chocolate-button eyes. His customers love them, from the monkey-like dumplings swing from a rack on a high shelf by their long, doughy arms, to the tiny gingerbread cookies coloured by fruit preserves that adorn the counter, batting their light, almond-flake wings. They praise his creativity and call him a genius. Jacob downplays it every time. He doesn't know where inspiration for his doughy creations are coming from after all—accepting the compliments would be like taking credit for the extra sales he gets on a rainy day from people wanting to step in to stay dry for a bit. Not that he needs the traffic to stay afloat: Jacob Kowalski's Fantastic Breads was a hit with the neighbourhood from its opening day. +++ He doesn't see the woman come in through the door, but Jacob figures her entrance was just lost in the crowd of schoolchildren who just left. When he looks up from his last customer, she is standing, with a coy smile on her face, by a tray of roly-poly buns that glow pink and orange with cherry glaze and sit in contented laziness like rhinos at a watering hole. For some reason, Jacob thinks of England, of his time in the forces when he was marching in London before Buckingham Palace and Queen Elizabeth. He can't think why that memory's floated into his head. Like all his other pre-bakery memories, it's dim and fuzzy, and the only word that really sticks in his head as he looks at this blond bombshell is queen. Jacob opens his mouth to greet her with the usual customer spiel, except his jaw has already dropped and what comes out is a jumbled, 'Whacangetf'youtday?' He can feel his face heating up and he clears his throat awkwardly. But rather than turning away with a titter, the woman actually beams at him. Her eyes meet his and there is a glint of familiarity in them, as though they know each other from somewhere. Except that can't be right. His life before the bakery may seem like a fog, but he can't that he'd forget encountering a woman like this. 'The Erumpents buns?' The term she uses is new but familiar at the same time, like a long-forgotten name. It fits the plump, round loaves that are heavily infused with spices, down to the cinnamon stick, a whimsical addition of sugary magic. For a moment he imagines he smells a sweet, musky scent as well, that puts him in mind of springtime and mating animals (oh god, don't think about that now, he tells himself). Jacob shakes his head quickly, trying to clear it. The woman looks crestfallen and he realises she thinks he is refusing her. 'Oh no, no, I don't mean—er, here.' He quickly selects a loaf—Erumpent, that name’s gonna stick now—and wraps it up in paper for her. 'I like that name. I oughta change my labels.' He indicates the rather drab name of 'cherry spice rolls' marked on the tray. The woman smiles again as her hands close around the Erumpent bun. 'No, don't,' she says. 'I just—the idea just popped into my head.' She frowns like this isn't quite right, and Jacob wonders if she's like him, just a little, the way ideas appear from some mysterious provenance. He likes thinking that they might have something in common. 'That's how I got the ideas for all these guys, you know.' Jacob spreads his arms to indicate the array of creature-shaped buns and pastries. 'Everyone asks me where I got the inspiration, but I can't ever rightly say, you know?' 'They're fantastic,' says the woman. Her eyes twinkle and Jacob imagines that names for all the other bread-creatures are swirling around in her head as if her dreams and his have connected somehow and she holds the key to the world of his own imagination. 'What would you call these?' he asks, pointing to the basket of krowki he lays out for the kids—a fudge-y milk toffee that he’d initially thought to shape into little cows in honour of their Polish name, only the four-legged creature his fingers moulded ended up with a scaled mane and tentacles over its muzzle. (The fudge holds the detail beautifully, he has to admit.) She opens her mouth to answer, but cocks her head to one side before she lets the words out. 'Graphorns,' she says, another fanciful but befitting name, and once Jacob hears it, it’s as if his toffees have never been called anything else. He wants to take her to every one of his shelves and have her name them each in turn. The chimes above the bakery door remind him that he has more customers to attend to. 'Can I get you anything else?' he asks. He tries to shroud the reluctance in his voice with politeness. She shakes her head, but there’s a sparkle in her eyes that suggests she can sense his urge to pick her brains, or just listen to her mesmerising voice christening his imagined beasts. (He has a feeling he’ll be hearing that voice narrate his dreams tonight.) 'Thank you, Jacob,' she says, which stuns him for a second—she knows his name; she must know him then—until he remembers that he has his name-tag on. 'You're welcome …' 'Queenie,' she says. 'Come again, Queenie.' She smiles. 'I will.' The doors chime again as she walks out, clutching the bread to her heart as though it is a precious gift rather than an ordinary loaf purchased from your average bakery. Then again, Jacob thinks, his bakery is anything but average. It's nice that someone else seems to get that, too. The bakery was the major turning point in his life. But Jacob thinks that maybe, just maybe, he is on the cusp of a second one. 

Yes, I’m still working on my PJO stuff! And I meant to have a chapter of TGF up last weekend, but I was running late to catch my train and then I forgot to load that WIP into my USB to bring with me on holiday, but this little document was, and so I dusted it off.