#actually maybe i'd go for an alpaca

[gemwolfz]

gem's Meat Tierlist (not actually in order)

chicken: very solid. when in doubt i will probably eat chicken. WILL sometimes make me gag for no clear reason (don't know what causes it, but i will usually blame it on the chicken itself, must be bad quality or cooked weird idk) and also i won't eat bone-in chicken. you might think "well it doesnt actually sound like you like chicken all that much" but i WILL go down on some good restaurant tendies.

beef: well really similar to chicken in that "i dont like it a lot of ways but i love it the one way". i am an american i love burger. i will get weird about it if it's anything less than well-done but i do love burger. dont really eat it any other ways.

pork: im a freak. i don't like pork. no bacon no nothing. ive had a few sausages ive been partial to (presumably pork but it's not like i was able to check) but thats about it. big fan of pork rinds but thats skin not meat

fish (assorted): ehhhh? only really like it when it doesn't taste very "fishy" yknow. quite good when i do like it though. Imitation crab is great for eating straight out of the bag

shrimp: its okay if i dont focus too hard on the texture (WEIRD!!!)

crab: (pic of a blood-covered predator looking up from sticking its whole face in a carcass, but i am instead covered in garlic butter and old bay, surrounded by crapnel (crab shrapnel)) Yeag

alpaca: the way it was prepared the chance i had to try it was like steak. very high quality steak, according to my friend who does like steak. i don't like steak. too chewy. maybe i'd like alpaca in a different form (burger??????) but as it stands i did not eat it

cuy (guinea pig): tasted good? but as previously mentioned i cant really eat meat with bones in it for random esoteric reasons that my body makes up. and guinea pigs have a lot of really tiny bones. alas i may never know true andean decadence

alligator: Like if chicken was made of rubber 1/10. i was so hyped up for it too man

[amaiguri]

The WIP Questionaire

Thanks so so much from @verba-writing for the tag! I had such a fun time reading your answers too and I'm very excited for paranormal romance 😍

I feel like I wanna flag that a lot of my answers are very anime/gaming-sphere oriented and I hope I'm not totally alienating my mutuals by revealing just HOW MUCH I'm not a book person lololol But this is with what we're working:

The Questions are:

1. What was the first part of your wip that you created?

The very first thing I made was the high premise: It was synthesized from the Overly Sarcastic Productions question "What if all the Kings Under the Mountain came back...?" and then I added the context "...in a Nuclear Crisis to discuss piece?" And in my head, it was this HBO-style modern fantasy Game of Thrones meets West Wing type deal. But then... I didn't want to write the modern piece. (The modern piece should be written by people in countries from all over Europe about what it means to be a hero in various cultures.)

So I set it in 1800s fantasy world instead!

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

The first arc would be Dance in the Game by Zaq

The second arc would be Lacrimosa by Kalafina

The Gods' Arc would be Paper Boquet by Mili

3. Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

Is it to cliché to be like "my current self-insert protagonist is my favorite character I've ever made"? Her and my antagonist are just THE BEST and I love them.

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

Mmm, I think Untitled Yssaia Game's story would appeal to queer Game of Thrones fans who could FEEL the straightness in GoT, especially if they also like anime. I would hope I could get general anime fans as well as Arcane and Genshin Impact fans, but I feel like those are too mainstream and Yssaia is not. Realistically, I think I'm gonna get the Wadanohara people and the Ib people and, if I get really lucky, the To the Moon people.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

Marketing lol -- explaining what it is to people in a way that they realize they want it.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Fuafua 🥺🥺🥺

Look at her! She is a six-legged, six-eyed slug cat called a Maret. Marets fill the same role as ocelots in Yssaia, except they're more semi-aquatic like otters and their skin has a stressball-like texture.

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

They walk or ride Rumateurs (which are alpaca-like beings with ossicones) or take ships or airships or trains. I don't like writing about travel that much though so it is a background element.

8. What part of your wip are you working on rn?

I am pre-editing the first arc for my alpha readers and the third arc has another 50k to 100k words to draft. We're at like 250k words total right now and it is so unwieldy 😭😭😭

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

Oh, I have a convenient graphic for this. Hang on...

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

I was just diatribing about this earlier but the DREAM is to turn it into an RPGmaker adventure game and have it go viral and make a million bucks off it. I'd love to be the next Undertale but it'll never happen because I am not positioned to be the next Undertale, you know?

So yeah, that's what's what! Thanks again for the ask! This was so fun! I'm gonna pass this to @maiemorrae, @moonfeatherblue, @zebee-nyx, @winterandwords, @modernwritercraft, @words-after-midnight, @spideronthesun, @theprissythumbelina, @thepanplate, @thetruearchmagos, @maskedemerald, @moondust-bard, @pluttskutt and @emelkae 😍😍😍 I actually internalized Verba's WIP so well from this tag and I wanna make sure I'm updated on what all you cool people are working on! Open tag to any of my other moots too! 🥳

IMPORTANTTTTT⚠️

I will edit this to have a blank easily copy-and-pasteable question section when I get back to my computer. If I forget, @ me!

[kkulboi]

 do  you  like  memes  ? : @solseas

 ❛  i  told  myself  i'd  go  to  bed  early  tonight,  and  suddenly  it's  three  am  and  i'm  learning  about  alpaca  farming.  ❜  the  things  he  comes  to  see  on  youtube  or  even  over  other  medias.  clearly  too  busy  always  using  his  phone.  if  someone  would've  come  to  take  the  device  from  him,  he  would  end  up  crying.  ❛  it's  really  interesting  actually,  should  maybe  give  it  a  thought.  ❜

[chilei-the-hotsauce]

ALL the artist ask game questions. ALL OF THEM-

omg yes hold up

1. uuh krita, fire alpaca (i used to use fire alpaca but not after getting csp)

2. left? i think? i can draw all directions (-ish) (it wont be good but i can)

3. none?? idk bro i have bad memory (or maybe i suppress them idk)

4. anything from canon media. like i love you boo but why. also clothes and poses

5. i post very little of my art actually lmao whoops. very busy lately but might start posting art again if i remember

6. my hyperfixation at the time. or well, me. also art tutorials i see on pinterest, though that's a bit more conscious i think

7. SCULPTING TRADITIONAL PAINTING GRAFFITI all so cool amazing wow

8. there's so many that i cant even remember jesus christ-

9. everything is keysmashes. i do not name my layers. i am satan

10. mm i actually like drawing shirts i think?

11. music. fun fact i listened to paranoia on loop for over a week. thats what brain rot does to a man

12. uuuh hhand

13. i really dont know. every thing is my thing. every creator is admirable in their own way. love everyone. commit crime

14. death? eldritch horrors? blood? rot and corruption? yeag the good shit

15. my room. at school also because im studying animation and game design

16. making. sprite sheets. for 2d game.

17. i usually have a tea nearby but i always forget it. i kinda drink it halfway when it's still warm, then forget about it and then when i go back for it it's cold so i just chug it all and go get a new one

18. uuh i'd say like? 10? im very gentle and loving with my stuff uwu

19. no. i do not. ok but maybe like. cloth idk.

20. hands. idk bro i drew them so much at one point out of spite i just kinda got good at it and now i just wing it and it looks good and doesnt require much thought. and if it requires thought it's in a funky position but then i just wrangle my own hands a little, inspect it, and then continue to draw

21. lineless, painting-esque, thick lines, realistic, sketchy... yeah good shit

22. nah man i just go straight for the laptop

23. uuh sometimes

24. im satan i dont use references often. but when i do? yeah i think

25. i havent been told so idk

26. i. dont really intend anything on purpose? so when someone interprets something wild i just kinda go "yeaah sure! idk either!"

27. Dno. straight for the art. might doodle thine truly if im not in a hurry

28. nah, but i'd like to! i've made art for two 2D games in the past year and now there's a 3D one in the making. im charged with making the 3D model for our main villain thing and boy is it pain

29. bold of you to assume anything doesnt inspire me artistically (he doesnt know)

30. thats a great question i have no idea 👍

[figula]

anyway in other news

today was pretty decent - ben got a case of the sads at about 9pm but actually recovered p fast and without any crying that i saw but he was in the bath for a bunch of the evening so i cannot verify this. the sad attacks are definitely getting more spread out + (i think from an outsider perspective) less intense. i genuinely think as well that we hadn't had sex in ages (ofc the week ana was away my period started so we didnt really bother) which made us both kind of :(

we had sex :) + read to each other. ben asked if we could do more reading out loud to each other at bedtime bc he really liked our matsuo basho reading. i liked it as well - i think i focused much better on teh words than i usually do - so ben picked a shortlist of books to read next (i haven't read a book in like 10y so there's no point me picking one) + i picked one from that + anyway we're reading "this is how you lose the time war" and im reading all of red's bits + he's doing blue. ill be honest... not fully sure about teh writing style... ben used the word florid as a compliment + i would use the same word, but as an insult lol. (very very representative of our characters i think) some of the sentences i really like but so far i cant feel much of a difference btwn red + blue - like if one of them wrote very floridly + one of them wrote very starkly i feel i'd appreciate that more bc you would be getting some insight into the characters but as it stands, the entire thing feels a bit like a creative writing exercise to me. we're not that far in tho so maybe it will capture me more as we go i should send ben some of my fanfic (look it's just a hobby) + see what he thinks lol

we played chess next to each other in bed :) he's been making some tentative little steps into learning / playing the game :)

i had intended on doing more work than i ended up doing but i think sometimes just spending hours and hours with your partner doing not much is the best way to spend a saturday

ana is back now! i forgot to say yesterday but they are back :) i did miss them a lot! whenever we're apart i yearn and pine

god, also! i forgot to say the other day but i needed something to watch while i cleaned my alpaca the other day + settled on red white and royal b lue + it was the tropiest shit ive ever seen in my life. i dont know if it's bc the author (it's an adaptation) comes from fanfic or bc the fanfic style has become indistinguishable from YA style more generally these days but it was kind of nuts to me how much the film could have just been a collection of AO3 tags?? im not even bashing fanfic bc i ahve written it since i was a kid and some fanfic is better than some published work and it's all a rich tapestry. HOWEVER this film was just crazy in its ... nothingness?? it was a perfectly fine watch i guess if you're looking for a princess diaries-y gay romance + god knows there are enough sugary romance films about straight people and those cut from the rainbow cloth also deserve their fair share of merry dross but yeah i was just surprised!! idk

[mikaharuka]

☀️ (a comment that made your day?)

Heyo Alhaira!

There are four comments I wanted to shout out! The final comment is under the cut because it's long... but it's definitely the winner. Whew.

(@magma-saarebas19, @alpaca-clouds, @danceswithdarkspawn, @mrsmungus - I think y'all might be interested. It's a wild ride O.O)

Two simple and sweet ones (from Obsidian 10 and Midnight 14):

Your story is so good!!! This is literally my favorite twilight fanfiction ever!

I really like this fanfiction! I never thought I would like Mike as a character but here we go. Tbh I was looking for a little bit Carlisle action... but what I got was a whole new Twilight universe :)

One that made me think - this was left on Viridian 2 in mid-August last year, only 2 weeks after I started. It's stupidly obvious now... but I didn't know about my sensory style and this comment made it click:

Wow. I’m really in awe of your skills with scene setting and describing characters. You do it in such a way that provides a lot of lovely details but isn’t at all like your describing them consciously. It just reads really naturally while still painting a detailed picture in the readers mind.

-

And this last one... whew.

It completely freaked me out in the most flattering way possible!

...and yes, this one is on Azure. It's also the most recent chapter they've read. They haven't read Sapphire, Sangria, or Midnight yet!

So. This reader. This terrifyingly brilliant reader.

I'd call them a seer, but this goes way beyond that. Let me explain:

One - They had Mike pinned in a way no one else had. It's no big deal now, since everyone knows his color deal now... but this was written when Azure was the most recent chapter - back in September.

Back when even I didn't have his power completely nailed down yet. Before I went back to edit minor clues earlier on, about this power.

The part where both Beau *and* Mike come to school with dark bags under their eyes is quite damning. I have a strong hunch that Mike is hiding some pretty big shit from Beau. They both have a charm from Edward after all. Maybe Mike is starting to get some visions of his own? Or maybe he's had a Mandala of his own for as long as Beau, or just got one recently.

Two - They didn't just pin the future. Oh no. They also nailed my abandoned Apricity 1.0 as well! Beyond that, they even got me to reconsider using more of the original scene/intentions (still not sure how much, though)... and they have no idea about any of that:

I don't think Beau will doubt that they're vampires anymore after this dream, lol. The amount of time that Carlisle spent caressing his neck, biting his lips to the point that it breaks the skin, and finally biting into his neck to drink from him really made it clear. Carlisle was definitely showing off his possessive side with his pet names, but that last sentence was particularly chilling. "You're mine now, sweet boy," sounds like both a threat and a promise all wrapped in one. I shudder to think of what might happen if he saw someone was flirting with Beau. The other boy would be dead so fast...

I was so shocked that they nailed my original Apricity 1.0, that I actually clued them into it, in a deeper reply. I wrote this back to them - back when I was certain I wouldn't use the majority of it:

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention something earlier - bizarrely applicable to the point you made about what Carlisle might do IRL if someone tried something with Beau. So funny story - last year, when I was first writing out Cerise (the hospital chapter), I'd actually written an off-screen scene to get a feel for the characters and the actual in-chapter scenes. Mind you, that outtake and the first draft of Cerise are so far outdated now, that a good chunk of it doesn't connect to Cerise or Apricity of today... but traces of that scene still exist in both Cerise and Azure today. . In any case... in that super old Cerise outtake, after Carlisle grabs Edward and drags him out, they end up in that isolated hallway/room and Carlisle pretty much confronts Edward about... something (pretty obvious that something happened, even from today's Cerise). But within this very outdated draft, at some point, Edward starts egging Carlisle on about liking Beau, that first day at school, and Beau being his singer - just to get his straight-laced brother to react and well... Carlisle reacts... uhh... badly, to say the least. He ends up at Edward's throat on an instinct, but at some point he comes to and feels really terrible about it. Strangely enough, I was channeling a few pieces of that old outtake when I wrote Azure (and rewrote the today's Cerise from scratch)... so I'm actually kind of impressed that you somehow saw a piece of this old outdated reference I used for the dream sequence! . That being said, I'll leave it to you to decide just how outdated that outtake is relative to Cerise today. There are definitely a *lot* of major changes... but the outtake isn't totally irrelevant XD

And their cute reply to that:

Well, what are the odds of me asking what Carlisle would do in a specific situation, and that scene actually happened in an unpublished draft? Lol, that's amazing.

Three - You thought it ended there? Nope. It goes even further.

This person somehow nailed at the core of the mystic bond that those two share, as well as the elements of the dreamscape.

To be fair, they openly admitted that they read the chapter twice and noticed a ton of shit they didn't notice the first time around.

Also don't worry about spoilers. This is high-level enough that it won't give away stuff on its own... though Alhaira, I rambled about all of this in the DMs, so you should be able to see how close this person got.

The scariest part?

I think this person figured out my subconscious mind before I did:

The dream/vision was very interesting to read. Beau was able to recognize his surroundings, smell petrichor, remember to find his friends, etc. even in such a state. That he had so much control over his senses was surprising but seeing as this was more of a magical vision rather than a normal dream, it makes perfect sense. [...] The part where he felt a rush of power from the forest was intriguing. I know that he has more of the Current surrounding him than usual, but this is making me believe that maybe Beau can become a shifter or learn magic himself. [...] That Beau is enamored with him to the point that he'd let Carlisle do anything he wanted to him sounds extreme- so much so that I'm beginning to think that vampires have a lure or a siren's call or something else in your story. It's making me wonder if the actual Carlisle was present in this specific vision, and that's how Beau is being so affected by a supposed dream. [...] And boy, I'm excited to get some answers myself. The way the Mandala works is eating at me. I don't know if Beau is being affected so strongly from the Mandala because he isn't familiar with the current, he needs protection from the current, or if it's just the pull/lure of the vampire that he's connected to.

Well, I'll leave it at that for now... on its own, this isn't enough to spoil or anything, since they don't know the details for sure and are just theorizing. But this comment put a stupid amount of stuff into perspective, dragging so much stuff from my subconscious mind.

This was also the comment that made me revisit the whole thing with the Mahabhuta interlude, exploring the dreamscape and mystic stuff even further... even though this comment happened a whole three months before the vampire bingo card happened!

(I'll explain that in a post about the interlude soon, for Miranda's ask)

To say that I would pay money for their take on Midnight... wouldn't be a lie. I want to see what else they can drag from the depths of my subconscious. Heck, I'm like... 80% sure that if they read Midnight and soon, Prithvi, they'd be in striking distance of my exact plans!

Long story short... to say that this comment "made my day"... that'd be the biggest understatement of the month of last September!

[0nelittlebirdtoldme]

2022 Writerly Year Review

I was tagged for this by @frozen-fountain; I in turn tag the amazing @argyleheir, @bluecatwriter, @mikaharuka, @alpaca-clouds and @bleepbloopbotz.

Total number of completed works: 55, including the completion of Death's Sunrise (Was this really in 2022? It feels like it's been 84 years...)

Total number of WIPs worked on this year: Oof. Maybe like 5?

WIPs neglected this year: The same 5. Motivation to work on them honestly comes and goes in waves.

Fandoms I've written in: Anything Dracula-related, In the Heart of the Sea/Moby Dick, The Sandman, Interview with a Vampire.

Total word count: Published? Maybe like 120k? Chapters 42-67 of DS have been published in 2022, but I didn't note down the exact number, plus 26k and 10k for the Whumptober challenges. Written in total? Maybe 170-200k.

Looking back, did you write more than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you expected? More in terms of individual works (changing from just the one hella long fic (my first ever fic at all!) in 2021, to like 50 oneshots), rather than word count, but I am still happy with my results!

Did you take any writing risks this year? I always take writing risks lmao. The long fic was a risk - what if I am not good enough, what it it isn't well recieved, what if I don't pull through with it, what if the end doesn't pay off? But also the dark topics and whump I write at times. Speaking of whump; Trying for the Completionist title for Whumptober and Winter Whumperland was a risk, as well as trying to nail down 850 words every time.

Do you have any goals for the new year? Just the usual. Whatever I start posting (long fic, wip etc.), I finish. If I manage that, I'll be happy.

Biggest disappointment? Not getting through with the DS re-edit/re-write. Not even close.

Biggest surprise? The amazing feedback I got on my Whumptober series as well as the last few chapters of DS! Oh, and @argyleheir's surprise gift fic for my birthday and the loads of beautiful, stunning fanart I got from @mitsukatsu! (Thank you again, my dears, love you 🖤)

Most popular story of the year? Death's Sunrise will be properly my top 1 hit for another while. Apart from that, the Sandman oneshots did pretty well!

What's your own favorite story of the year? DS will always have a certain special place in my heart. But I am also currently really burning for the Dracula x Interview with the Vampire crossover The Gathered Night... which I started like 2 days before the end of the year, but still.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Honestly, I cannot really complain. I'd love to get more feedback on the Harkula Tumblr Prompts collection Touch as Soft as Ice, just to know if the promptees actually liked them. But apart from that, I have been usually pleasantly surprised by how much engagement I got (Sidenote; why are you guys reading my stuff?? It still seems surreal to me on some days)

Most fun story to write: Again, I loved writing DS, no matter its dark themes and am currently really having the time of my (un-)life with The Gathered Night.

Most unintentionally telling story: Not sure I get this question. But I swear, I am alright.

My favorite part of fandom this year: Everything going on with Dracula Daily this year! So many amazing (new) writers and stories emerging, fanart and essays being written, and I thank you all for it! What a year it's been!

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Have a bunch of really cool texts to read tomorrow. Some pertinent to work, others pertinent to my hobbies, but all of them delightfully anarchist in nature. I do truly love how many of us there are across the fields and subcultures I spend my time in. It makes me feel good about where I choose to put my energy.

Anyway, I want to do some reading this weekend, maybe formulate some theories around my Trauma Focused DBT modality I've been trying to formulate. Done right, I think it could be an entirely functional model of therapeutic care that could be taught at many levels of social learning, making it a great therapeutic mutual aid model. It's also, with more research final being done into autism from the perspective of self and community driven need these days giving me direction into the specifics, a good option for other autistic people like me. Especially if, as a functional and skills driven model I can make it accessible to my comrades with low processing, intellectual disability, etc. I know it's doable. I can build it ground up with them in mind.

So my brain's been churning obvi, between this, the food forestry stuff, the new art program for the zine (I've settled on Fire Alpaca for now because the name and logo delight my brain), the clients at work, my chats about the future with my lady (it's our 10th anniversary this year and I've been feeling nostalgic), the lot of it. Some weeks feel like months, some days feel like years. Anyway, the point is, I've had a LOT of interesting thoughts on my mind and not necessarily as much free time as I'd like to explore them. My weekend will be a great opportunity to do that. I'm definitely going to have to call my moms and do some medical notetaking tomorrow, so that means I'll want to do some reading either tonight or in the morning. Then when I wrap up with moms and medical stuff maybe I'll start doing some stuff for work on conceptualizations of stress versus trauma and why the way we as western society treat PTSD actually entrenches it rather than manages the root causes. Not to get preachy about it lmao.

[umflowers]

i'll, and i mean it literally, never forget being at wegmans (grocery store but it has like. a good restaurant in it.) and brian approaching me. i'd recognized him but was like oh pfft some other kid i went to high school with, not uncommon in my hometown and we didn't run in the same circles back then anyway brian and i had actually been next door neighbors when i was about 13, about a year after my parents' divorce and at arguably the very worst time of my life, when my mother had custody and was at her very worst brainwashing me and mentally breaking me down, and i was on such strong dosages of anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, at her insistence, that i physically couldn't cry. i was just numb, completely a shell, waiting and wanting to die. i hadn't met jack yet, i had literally no one i'd go out in the backyard sometimes and just watch their couple few alpacas, just for something to do, and we road the same bus to school but we never talked. he was popular, i wasn't. anyway that was the setup for probably two or three years, we lived right next door and rode the same bus every day but we never talked, but he also left me alone and wasn't a dick, and that was it. wouldn't expect him to remember me beyond maybe "oh yeah, she lived next door at one point" so here i am at 25ish years old, having moved away to maine for a few years before jack and i moved back down there, and brian walks up to me looking unaccountably nervous, asks if i remember him, smiles when i say yes. he not only remembers me by name, but he'd apparently been watching me for the couple of minutes before he approached me and started telling me how genuinely happy he was to see me smiling and looking happy you have to understand, i had approached my two "favorite" teachers from high school expecting them to remember me and to fondly reminisce and catch up and basically got stonewalled by indifference, and i had friends in high school but they all turned on me over telling the truth about the abuse i had endured, so i'd given up on interacting with anyone from school, let alone some guy who was like a jock and we took no real notice of each other and apparently he had had a pretty firm grasp on the fact that something was very very wrong when we were in school, had remembered me, and was so relieved to see me alive and with a reason to smile that he had to tell me

[fenlock]

Strange dream, may have been astral. Recording to look back on later.

I remember driving in the nearby city, the road and buildings along it were familiar and I know I've dreamed the exact same road. It doesn't exist in real life though.

Some sort of jump, or time skip, and I was in a shop. I distinctly remember feeling weird about it, because I knew I had just been driving and had no memory of actually parking or entering any shops. It was very fae-themed, and I again got the feeling I'd been there before, aware of the layout and knowing there were multiple rooms.

I went into a side room, to the right (I think?) of the main entry. Looked at a few items, only to get drawn into conversation with an employee, an older woman. She was sitting behind a cashier desk, which again felt strange as you'd think check-out would be done by the door and not in a side room. We made small talk, then she offered me a small glass pendant, deep blue with a horselike 'head' protruding from the front. I think it had something to do with horses as well, some type of magic or charm? I recall her saying "wild horses" anyway. Paid for it, then she offered me tea. I accepted, but was leery, the vibes of the shop felt off and taking food or drink seemed like an unwise decision.

Some more conversation. I remember socks? Long and dark gray, very thick like alpaca fur. Parted ways from the employee, only to be approached by a man. More talk about horses, this time rescuing them I believe. Aromatherapy was mentioned for sure, and herbalism for their health.

Another skip. I don't remember the end of my conversation with the man, but was in the same place, a small corner of a room with comfortable brown chairs. I got up to leave, and saw three people approaching through some type of screen or mirror. Was suddenly outdoors, in the back of a cart of some kind, while the three people stepped through a frame-type structure. First two were strange, one non-human with furry ears and an animal face (can't remember what kind. I think something small, maybe hamster or rabbit?). He was vague, I couldn't tell what exactly he was there for or what he wanted (can't remember what he said at all, now I'm awake, just that it was vague and I felt frustrated). Second one chimed in, but again why they were approaching me was unclear. Some sort of rant against another person (Fiddlesticks? Started with a F and had a sticks/styx sound at the end). Both got distracted and started tussling in the grass. Third person finally stepped forward, feminine with pale purple hair and a light southern accent. She said something about training my powers or abilities, and there was some kind of glow at her fingertips. The cart began to move, heading toward some kind of settlement.

Time skip, maybe? It was evening, instead of daylight like before, and I was still in the cart. I think there were small cottages around the path, but few and far between. A town, but definitely not crowded. Some kind of large, manufactured pool of water, extremely long and rectangular. The cart began to travel across it, not on top of the water but not fully sinking either. Water level came up roughly to the top of my chest. As the cart grew close to the opposite side, I got the feeling it was going to dive, and when it came back up it would be a new place, potentially dangerous. I know I did not want to go wherever it was heading. Had the idea of water > portal > waterhorses, and called out to some of my friends. The water got extremely dark, practically black, but I could tell something was different, and the feeling of dread went away.

Resurfaced in a new place, as expected. A huge field, still evening time, with lots of open pavilions strung with fairy lights. Festival vibes. Five of my kelpie companions were waiting a short distance away from the pool, far enough out of the way for the cart to come onto land but still close and intimidating. I hopped out of the cart, calling the kelpies my lovelies (as I do haha), felt/heard someone concerned they were glamouring me, but no one attempted to stop me. Very much an aura of confusion from the people nearby when I approached the kelpies without harm and was allowed to pet and croon over them.

Walked around a bit with my "guards", exploring the festival. Someone yelled something about why tf were there murderhorses roaming about, sounding annoyed rather than concerned, and I recognized the voice as someone I knew (not someone I know while awake, conscious, but I recognized him immediately in dream). Peered around Es so the person (a blonde man, appearing maybe in his 30s, long black coat) could see me and cheekily replied they were there for me and my comfort/protection. An immediate look of fond exasperation of the face of the man, very much an "ofc it was you" type of look.

Woke up shortly after this. I don't remember the end, but I think the blond man and I talked?

[inahc3]

How about some general advice on writing when ADHD/anxiety/etc don't want you to? That's where most of my experience is right now 😂

It's past my bedtime, so this might get a bit meander-y and disjointed.

There's a post going around about [square brackets] - they are super useful. Instead of going down an ADHD research rabbit hole and finding yourself somehow reading about alpaca farms three hours later, write [look up duck thing] and move on. Instead of being frozen by the feeling a word is wrong, write [not X but kinda] and move on. Anything that stalls you out and isn't a plot-stopper (when in doubt assume it isn't), make a note and keep writing the parts you *can* write.

If you're stuck trying to figure out where your plot is going, have your characters argue about it. Crowley and Aziraphale are great for this, they can argue about anything. :) shove them in a room, give them something to bicker over, and see where it goes. Whether it ends up being an actual scene or just a behind-the-scenes thing isn't important. They may in fact run with it and take over the plot entirely, and this is probably a good thing? :) (Crowley has more fun ideas than me, but Aziraphale is actually a little scary. I think he gazed into the abyss of my subconscious a little too long.)

If blank pages or piles of [fix this] make you freeze, wiggle out of it. Find alternatives for writing that don't trigger the freeze response, like writing into a chat app instead of your actual document (I have several discord channels just for this) or writing the word "and" over and over until something else comes out. Find ways to make editing less intimidating, like doing a pass where all you do is categorize the *type* of fix needed, so you can come back later and do a batch of check-that-episode or find-that-word. Nibble away at it. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Remember that perfect is the enemy of done. Try to find a balance of good *enough*, and if you know perfectionism is holding you back, err on the side of just posting the darn chapter. If you reread your draft too many times, your brain will melt a little and you won't be able to reason coherently about it anyways. (I'm sure there's a grammatically smoother equivalent to meander-y (yes it's still bugging me several paragraphs in), but I'm too tired to remember it and I'm pretty sure nobody but me gives a single fuck. Plus, it's funny. Rule Of Funny covereth a multitude of sins 😁)

There's at least one time when *not* writing may be better: when depression or burnout is in play, be gentle. Make it easy to come back (that chat app is good for this too), but step away a bit, don't push. Check on your feelings gently. Read just for fun. I've discovered that even when I'm trying to read for fun now, if I'm not thoroughly depressed it'll often spark ideas that I'll jot down for my own fics. Sometimes really bizarre ones - ah darnit, I regret not writing down the source of one that made me laugh at how unrelated the idea seems to the line that prompted it. I think Crowley and Aziraphale were having some argument or other, and I jumped from that to "do all angels...?" and went down a rabbithole of angel culture, then popped out at the other end of the field with "some angel is really frazzled because God keeps randomly harassing them about whales" 😂

So, uh, I guess what I'm saying is, read fanfic while ADHD; ideas will inflict themselves upon you.

Anyways, I think that's all the trick-yourself-into-writing advice I can remember tonight. :)

PS: that point about humour in canon is great, I love how Crowley can mix dark and silly. :)

PPS: the vocalizing thing always confused me, and my current theory is that since I hear everything I read in my head, maybe other people don't, and I'm basically subvocalizing by default? It might explain why I find typos so jarring and unignorable. 😅 (Trying to read 中文 when I'd remember a character's meaning but not pronunciation was super trippy too)

Hi! Love your fics so much thanks for writing and feeding us!!!

Do you have advice for writing GO fics?

(no pressure to answer)

Thanks anon! I'm happy you like my fics 💜

As for advice... Wow! Do you mean any advice at all, in general? I'm trying to think of things that would be specific to the Good Omens fandom and not just to all fanfic, but I'm having a hard time thinking of something.

So how about just some things I do when I'm writing a GO fic?

Rewatch the source material (even if it's just 5 minutes every few chapters or so, to remind myself of how the characters sound)

Vocalize dialogue to make sure it flows OK (and yes sometimes I do the accents, though not very well, heh). I try to visualize the characters saying it while vocalizing. The looks on their faces, their mannerisms. (I uh, don't do this for the sex scenes though... The vocalizing part anyway)

Use my own personal religious trauma as a jumping off point to really get into the characters' heads (haha) (*cries in ex-catholic*)

Also, if you haven't already, read the original novel! (Please do this even if you don't write fic, you will get SO much more out of the show by reading the book. Plus, you know. The book is fucking brilliant.)

Maybe my followers have some more advice too?

[zmediaoutlet]

11:11 6: The Undiscovered Country

Now doing the questions from @nomercles​, but again shan’t come up with new questions because I just did this and already bugged a bunch of you.

1. What is a non-traditional pet you’d like to have?  No dogs or cats or birds or bunnies, unless it’s a Vorpal bunny and a vulture.

Oh lord, a Vorpal bunny would be so scary. I wouldn’t mind a pygmy goat to trot around and headbutt me in the shin and keep my grass trimmed away. It would meh at me, which would be delightful. An elephant would also be good, tho I would feel bad about keeping it separate from its ele-friends, so then I would need a whole herd of elephants, and my yard’s not that big.

2. Favorite music video?

Ooh, hard one. I don’t usually like official videos because I’m not really into the hashtag aesthetic--I just like watching the actual musicians play, you know? So, I guess I will say this one, which I think sorta counts as both:

3. What is your favorite food to make?

Hm. Salsa, probably. Some days I could subsist on good yellow corn chips and a delightfully smoky salsa.

4. How efficiently do you pack for a trip?

Uh, incredibly. It takes me maybe half an hour, and that’s if I’m dawdling. How many days are going you going to be gone? Okay, n+1 underwear, n/3 bras, n+1 shirts, etc. Is it cold? Okay, skew toward sweaters. Is it warm? Okay, skew toward breezy layers. I don’t understand how it becomes such an endeavor.

5. Contacts, glasses, surgery; how’s your eyes, and do you want to change your ocular circumstances?

I wear contacts every day--right now I’m at -4.0/-3.5, if that means anything to you. Sometimes I wear my glasses, but since I don’t want to fuck with prescription sunglasses and I always need sunglasses, contacts all the way. I’ve thought about getting reparative surgery, but I’m too much of a coward. Lasers! Ack! I don’t know. There’s something too Bond Villain about it.

6. Coachella or Burning Man or something else entirely?

Ack, I’ve never been to a properly huge festival. It seems like those are more about the festival than about the music, and more power to those people, but this is also why I don’t go to cons--I like the thing, I don’t so much enjoy the spazzing about the thing. I don’t like woogirls squealing in my ear. There’s an itty-bitty music festival in Phoenix every year that I go to, though, where the proceeds all go to charity and the artists are fun and varied, and that’s a good time. I’m also going to the Chicago Blues Festival this summer (!!!) which I assume is really big, and I’m a little apprehensive, but I hope it’ll be fun. :) 7. Favorite kind of Ben & Jerry’s?  Convince me to try it.

The only kind that comes to mind is the Coffee Toffee one. If I am going to have ice cream, it’s going to be coffee flavored, and the toffee pieces are huge and vaguely salty and delightful to mine out of the ice cream strata. (If I am going to be a hipster about something, tho, it’s ice cream--so many fun local ice cream places in Tucson, why would I buy corporate flavors. Blackberry gelato from Frost, made in the next zip code over? Um, yes.)

8. Would you do a dating show, and if so, what would it look like?

Uh, I think the answer is no, I wouldn’t do a dating show. They’re too--I don’t know. Boring? Shallow? ...Actually, you know what? Fuck it. Yes, I would. A completely blindfolded date between two people sitting at a table, and they’ve been matched up because they share at least 5 traits--and then they’re required to talk about anything but those things so they learn each other more as people. Screw hiking and dancing and movies, talk about your strong opinions on umpires vs. computerized strike zones. If you can be interesting and interested through that, you’re starting out on the right foot.

9. What is a strange thing you collect?

I think my only weirdness might be this: I don’t collect anything. I don’t have that--thing in my brain. I’m not minimalistically avoiding stuff, it’s just that I like a lot of different stuff.

10. If you could afford it, what is the one big-ticket item you would walk right out the door and buy right now? Ha! Um. Retirement? Berkshire Hathaway stock? Pretty much I’m content with all the regular stuff I have, and the stuff that I want I can afford, I just don’t want to spend the money on it just yet--like, I want to get my yard landscaped, but I don’t feel like dropping the $2k or whatever it’ll be. But to be able to comfortably never work again? Yeah. That would be a treat.

11. If you redecorated your house, top to bottom, what would it look like?

It would look... roughly similar to how it looks now, it’s just that everything would be a little nicer. :)  But I like my rough hand-made saltillo tile, and I like my low cool rooms; we’d just have a bit of a rejigger with lots of dark hardwood and jeweltoned rich fabric and a nicer kitchen full of stainless steel and tile (I have got to get rid of those awful laminate countertops, oh god), and I’d pay this local guy that my boss loves to make me a giant mesquite-wood dining table, sturdy and lovely. Mm. All doable and accessible, it’s just going to take me a little bit of time. Home ownership: a very expensive hobby.

[creampuffqueen]

thinking about sashannarcy with a lil farm...

idk what au or what timeline or whatever, just sashannarcy on a farm

maybe anne joked about wanting to move to the country one too many times and sasha and marcy knew she wasn't actually joking anymore. marcy likes the cottagecore aesthetic, and sasha says 'i'd be a great cowboy' and suddenly they're moving into an old run down farmhouse that they spend months fixing up themselves. anna and sasha still have their day jobs, and sure it's a bit more of a commute to go to the city every day for work but they love their jobs. but they also love their itty bitty farm, which includes but is not limited to:

a vegetable garden that is anne's pride and joy. sasha and marcy are starting to think she loves the tomatoes more than them (she doesn't, but the tomatoes are a close second)

a large flock of laying hens for marcy, who becomes a crazy chicken lady without a second thought

a sweet little milk cow and her sweet little baby

a few chaotic milk goats because goats are the spice of life

sasha getting to live out her repressed horse girl dreams

a small herd of pigs that wreaks havoc but are too cute to get mad at

sasha getting weirdly into the fiber animal scene, which means a tiny herd of fiber sheep, goats, and alpacas, and a little flock of angora rabbits (anne and marcy cry when she gives them the first pair of socks made totally with fiber from their farm animals)

an asshole goose that was literally handraised by marcy but is still a giant asshole

sashannarcy baking bread in their little farm kitchen

soft slice of life shit but it's country and with 12x more animals bc i said so

[dreamingwithbts]

New Family - Chapter 9

Genre: Poly!AU; Hybrid!AU; Fluff; Angst

Pairing: Hybrid BTS x Female! Reader; Human!Reader, Wolf!Namjoon, Alpaca!Seokjin, Black Panther!Yoongi, Red Fox!Jhope, Corgi Dog!Jimin, Tiger!Taehyung, Bunny!Jungkook.

Summary: After receiving a promotion at work Y/N realizes that she has more free time so she decides to use this time usefully and ends up volunteering in an organization that rescues abused hybrids. What she doesn't know is that this will completely change her life!

*********************❤***********************

The weekend passed quickly with all of us helping Namjoon to recover making us all approach each other more and more, making us more and more a united family but this time joining Jin and Namjoon.

I wake up Monday morning, careful not to wake the panther and the fox, I prepared myself to go work quietly, and when I was about to leave the room, I heard Yoongi say, "Have a good day at work,come early." He says and I smiled going to the hybrids kissing their forehead and thank him leaving the room going to the kitchen.

While I was eating quietly I watched Jin enter the kitchen, cutely rubbing his eyes..... "How can someone look cute and hot at the same time!" I think to myself.

"Jin? Did I wake you? I'm sorry!" I tell him trying not to look at those broad shoulders. "Actually, Namjoon wake me up with his snoring!" Jin says laughing still half asleep. "But why are you awake at this time?" "I have to go to work." I say and Jin nods understanding. "Can you do me a favor? Can you keep an eye on the boys and the house?" I ask you. "Don't worry the house is safe with me!" Jin says laughing making me laugh. I get up to leave and say goodbye to Jin with a kiss on the forehead like I do with my hybrids and left for work leaving a Jin smiling with very red cheeks.

The day at work was normal, boring and sadly with t Mark always on my ass talking and talking just like his doing now until I heard my phone ring, it was a message from Yoongi, I open it and I see that after all it was Jin saying that everything was fine and he sent a picture with Yoongi sleeping and Namjoon and Hobi playing. I laughed excited by the interruption that I didn't notice that Mark had stopped talking. "Y/N?" he says a little angry. "Oh Mark, I'm sorry! It was a message from my ...... hm ..... boyfriend!" I say. I don't want him to know that I have hybrids he's not much of a fan of them. "Boyfriend ... I didn't know you had one." "Yes we started dating for some time now!". With this Mark says his farewell and leaves quickly, making me sigh with relief.

Ending the job today I left the company in a hurry with a desire to get home fast for my four hybrids. "My four hybrids ......." I think starting to remember Jin and Namjoon. "Do they want to stay? Maybe they want to leave for someone who doesn't have hybrids ...." I sigh knowing there's a good chance they might want to leave.

I reach the door of the house and outside I can hear them talking and laughing happily making me smile. And when I was going to open the door this one open suddenly and I'm being wrapped in a huge hug by Hobi making me relax in his arms "Y/N! I MISSED YOU!" Hoseok screams in my ear but I don't even care "I missed you too Hobi!".

I walk into the house with Hobi passing me running to get back to the game he was playing with Namjoon and surprisingly Yoongi! Happy I go to them . "Hi." Yoongi says curling his tail around my waist. "Hi Suga!" I say kissing him. "Hi Namjoon how are you feeling?" I ask the wolf greeting him with a kiss on the forehead making him smile for affection. "I'm better!How was work?" "So tired and boring! And Mark didn't leave my ass all day talking and talking!" "That asshole again! I hate that guy! Do you want me to kick his ass?" Yoongi says pretty angry and sexy with Hoseok looking at me with a scary look that I didn't even know he had.

And a very confused Namjoon asks "Who's Mark?" "His my colleague and ......" I started talking but got interrupted by Yoongi "And he got a crush on her!" Namjoon does a little sound of understanding supporting Yoongi. I roll my eyes and I leave the kitchen to see Jin doing dinner. "Hi Jin!" I say going to him looking at his broad shoulders .....again.... "Here! Thank you for looking at them and the house!" I thank him hugging him from the side and giving him a chocolate knowing it's his favorite. "Thank you! You didn't have to! I love taking care of them!" Jin says. And with that I help him make dinner after all he did.

Dinner was normal with them telling me what they did all day and with me persuading Yoongi and Hobi to do the dishes for Jin to rest.

With everyone in bed, I'm staring at the ceiling thinking of Jin and Namjoon without noticing that Yoongi and Hoseok felt my anguish and were looking at me. "What are you thinking?" Hobi asks me. "Hmmm ... Oh ... I'm thinking about Jin and Namjoon ... I'm going to talk to them about the organization ... and what they want to do ...." I say. "I want them to stay ..." Hobi says sadly. "Hm hm! I like them." Yoongi agrees. "I like them too ....only tomorrow will now if they like us back ...." I say. And with this we were all silent thinking about it until we fell asleep.

The next morning I was gently awakened by a hybrid alpaca. "Y/N wake up!" "HM?" Half asleep I look at Jin confused. "Your phone is ringing downstairs. I thought I'd wake you up!" Jin says. I still confused nod and he helps me get out of my two hybrids that unknowingly didn't want me to leave. I follow the alpaca downstairs leaving the other hybrids cuddling to each other and while I go to see who called me while Jin enters the kitchen.

After talking to work on the phone Jin and I talked in the kitchen while he was making breakfast, when Namjoon entered the kitchen looking better already able to walk alone and a few seconds later Hobi enters pulling a Yoongi that was still sleeping. With everyone at the table I decided to bring the subject that hasn't gone out of my head. "Jin, Namjoon ... I would like to talk to you about what you want to do." I say exchanging glances with Hoseok and Yoongi who seems more awake now. "What do you mean?" Namjoon asks confused. "There is an organization that brought me Yoongi, which helps hybrids find new homes. If you want, I can call for you ......" I say reluctantly of their response. Namjoon and Jin stare at each other in silence as Hobi takes Yoongi's hand impatiently. A few moments of silence then Jin replies "We would like the organization to give us a new home." With that all three of us stared at the two hybrids sad that they didn't feel the same as us.

Note: Oh no! They want a new home! What will happen ?! Sorry I haven't posted regularly! I started a course a few months ago and I've been busy! Thank you for still staying here! 😘💜💜😊

[girls-scenarios]

Ooohhh can I request something for the holiday thing??? Or is it too late? If it isn't I would like yo request a scenario with chaeyoung from twice where her and her gf go on a really fluffy date? You can decide what to do after but I'de like to ask to add some of the other members... I love what u do thank u if can do it, dont stress if you cant~~

Holiday Prompt

Idol: Chaeyoung (Twice)

Admin Kiwi

A/N: Hope this is something like you had in mind!

“Are you ready to go?” Chaeyoung was gorgeous even dressed in her bulky jacket, standing there at your door with a giant smile on her face and her hand outstretched. Her smiles were contagious, and you found yourself smiling back as you took her hand and stepped outside to stand beside her.

The two of you were going on a date, but to where, you weren’t really sure. Chaeyoung had said it would be a secret, and she still hadn’t told you, even though she was basically vibrating with excitement on the way there. The only thing she’d told you was to dress warmly, and from that, you guess that you’d be outside. But doing what, you didn’t know.

“Want to guess what we’re doing?” She asked you after she’d parked her car in one of the downtown parking garages. Honestly, you had no idea.

“Ice skating, maybe?” You guessed, looking down at your warm clothes. She laughed and shook her head.

“Nope! I’m taking you to an outdoor market! They have a bunch of cool things and lots of yummy food. It’s really cool!” It did sound cool, and she looked so excited as she opened her door and got out that you couldn’t help but feel excited as well.

It was chilly outside, but it didn’t bother you much, because she stuck close to you with her hand in yours, guiding you towards the market. It was bigger than you’d thought it would be, for sure, and your eyes widened as you took in the expanse of tents and booths.

“They really do have everything, huh?” She giggled.

“They do! Come on, let’s go get something warm to drink while we walk around.” You let you lead the way, since you didn’t know where you were going, and soon enough the two of you ended up in line for coffee and hot chocolate. “My treat,” she said as she passed it to you, and you didn’t argue with her. You’d treat her to the next thing.

With warm drinks in hand, the two of you set off again. Everything looked interesting, and you found yourself walking slower to take everything in.

“Have you bought things here before?”

“Oh, yeah. They’re all super cool. There’s this one shop that sells things made with pure alpaca fur, and everything they have is super soft.” You raised your eyebrows, interested.

The shop she was talking about sat at the end of a row, and she tugged you over to look. She hadn’t been lying when she said the items were super soft. The socks that you picked up felt incredible, and you found yourself really wanting to buy some.

“Hey, (Y/N), look this way.” You turned to look at Chaeyoung, and she reached up to tug a hat down onto your head. Immediately, you felt warmer, and she stepped back, grinning. “You look cute!” You looked at yourself in the mirror, and you had to admit that you liked the way it looked. Especially since it was something she’d picked out for you.

“I’ll take this one,” you told the lady behind the counter as you gently took the hat off and put the socks back. After you’d paid and the hat was safely in a bag, Chaeyoung took your hand again.

“Do you want to get some food now? That’s the food tent.” You followed her gaze to see a huge tent with tables inside, and an amazing smell wafting out. Suddenly, you were hungry.

“Yeah, let’s go see what they have!”

Everything with Chaeyoung was fun, but you found yourself losing track of time as the two of you looked around at the food vendors and decided what exactly you wanted to eat. You had no idea how much time the two of you had spent shopping before, so when the two of you sat down and you finally glanced at the time on your phone, you realized that the two of you had already been there for a couple of hours.

“Wow, time really flies when you’re having fun,” you said, raising your eyebrows in surprise, and she giggled, reaching across to grab your hand.

“Doesn’t it? How do you like this place?”

“I love it. I feel like I could spend all day here.” At your words, she beamed, and you could see how happy she was in her eyes. Wow, you really loved her. “I’m having a great time today.”

“Hey-.”

“Chaeyoung, (Y/N), what a coincidence.” Nayeon’s voice sounded, and the two of you jumped, looking up to find the rest of the group surrounding the table. Jeongyeon and Jihyo gave the two of you an apologetic smile, and Mina looked like she didn’t really want to be there, but everyone else looked all too excited.

“Guys, what are you doing here?” Chaeyoung’s cheeks flushed as she turned towards them, obviously embarrassed by their appearance.

“We just wanted to see the shops too, right guys?” Sana said, looking all to happy to be crashing someone’s date.

“Right! Why did you never take us here, Chaeyoung?” Dahyun asked, and Chaeyoung looked a little bit like she wanted to sink into the floor. After the original shock wore off, you found yourself grinning. This was actually pretty funny.

“Why don’t you guys get some food too?” You said, changing the subject and picking up your plate. “It’s really good.” At the mention of food, Momo perked up.

“Hey, they have all kinds of different things here! Let’s go guys!” Nayeon looked like she wanted to stay behind and keep pestering Chaeyoung, but Jeongyeon grabbed her and dragged her off with the rest of the girls. Just as fast as the two of you had been swarmed, you were alone again, and Chaeyoung let out a little sigh of relief.

“Thanks (Y/N), sorry about them.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s kind of funny.” She gave you a little smile and reached across to gently take your hand, shaking her head. “What were you going to say before we were interrupted?” Her face flushed a little once again, and she bit her lip, shy.

“Oh. Well, I was going to say that I love you.” Despite the cold, warmth bloomed in your chest, and you let out a soft laugh, squeezing her hand. She was so cute, and you were so in love. And you didn’t care if the other girls heard you say it.

“I love you too.”

[dollimusprime]

Oh God Son, I'm So Sorry (in which I cut doll hair)

So I had to resew Ara's wig (boo) and in the process decided that if possible, I'd rather be buying wigs from now on.

However, resewing was not going to save me from having to cut his hair.

Here's where we started:

Fuzzy mushroom at best. If I try to give him a part, the wig cap is visible, so I can't keep him a long, fluffy boy. He's sitting on a plastic bag to catch fluff, and I covered his face in plastic wrap to keep hair off and to avoid messing up his faceup.

Time for scissors.

whathaveidone.jpg

Blunt cut done. The shiny bit is that aforementioned plastic wrap. I also put all the trimmed hair in a small plastic bag, in case I need some short purple alpaca bits in the future. Maybe a glue wig some day?

At this point, I stand him up and cut vertically with the scissors pictured to give him something resembling layers, hopefully thin things out, and give him bangs so I can actually see his face. After a time, I actually grabbed a pair of smaller scissors I generally use for sewing, cutting thread, etc, but that have a nice pointy tip, and continued on with those.

The end result:

I'm so sorry.

Anyways, that's almost all the shorn fluff on the bag there. Some's on him, some's on me, some's on the floor.

A couple pictures closer to what I hope to get. I just need to figure out how to get his hair to lie flatter. I don't know if heat setting it will work like it does for synthetic fibers; I'll have to do my research.

Either way, I did accomplish my goal of getting his hair out of his face. Even if he's gonna end up looking like dalmatians pushed his mother off a cliff.