#not that I have time to do Blender stuff anymore anyway

[crowcryptid]

dreaming of being able to afford to upgrade my gpu/cpu/ram and I cannot believe that I can buy 64 gb of ram now for the same price I bought 16 gb at the end of 2019. Whaddah hell. Same brand and speed too.

[keeps-ache]

been telling my siblings 'you would NOT make it in vulcan academy' when they do smth goofy recently and nobody's been able to refute lol

[lokorum]

what would you say is your favorite jonmichael fic..... im very curious and love to reread anything in that tag

oh but how can i pick only one when they all are so good??? (,,•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ ,,)?

aaaaaa can i make the several honorable mentions of the fics that made me scream and roll on the floor?????? pretty please???

scheherazade was one of the first jonmichael fics that i found while going through all of the cher's works because, evidently, they have no fics that are not worth reading!! (i'm sorry if and forty feet down only confirming it!!!)

sleep inertia has one of the best dialogues i ever read!!! the way cruelzy writes michael's lines??? aaaaaaaaa its so delicious and believable and never for a second i thought i'm reading something out of canon?? its just that good. 

carousel is the only one fic (from what i found) that i set in the last season and its adds a lot of layers to that big jonmichael onion that torments my eyes for a while now ldkfjgkdfjg also it's messy?? i mean the whole situation in the fic?? its so humanly complicated and it does not gives you the chance to experience any of the feelings clearly and i love it!! screechfox somehow captured all of the complicated stuff in one fic, blendered it together and for the whole time i just couldn't take my eyes away from it. 

five times michael saves jon's life and one time he doesn't have to - is here to sooth our pain and heal our wounds. i reread it so many times!! the dynamic between jon and michael in it is one to live for!!! sometimes you think 5+1 kind of fics can't surprise you anymore and then the coolest author like paisleycowboys enters the room and proves you wrong. 

to be like super honest, the 100 ways to say i love you series, when i first saw it, made me think im not gonna like it? i love my fanfics long and scary and bittersweet and with a bad-very-not-good-endings, so the title of this one made me go "hmmmmm HMMMMM hmmmmm hmmmm?" but ive started to read it anyway, theres not that many fics on the ao3 for jonmichael, we cant afford to be capricious and gosh GOSH i was so fucking wrong!!! its sweet AND sad AND scary AND awkward (in a best way!!!) AND it made me giggle so many times!!! NeedsCaffeineRightNow can make even the edgiest of us enjoy the soft kinds of fics (its not hard when they are written with so much care and love.)

POSSESSIVE!! MICHAEL!! COMBING!!! JON'S!! HAIR!!!!!! what else do we need from life?

transition, every time i reread it or think about it, makes me painfully aware of how many things should coincide for something to work. it's not one of those fics that completely encompass you; nor its the one that leaves you with new headcanons or in a good mood, no, i think it's the one that leaves you in dissoray, making you want to argue with author, to ask them what were they thinking about, pointing on your weak sides like this?, giving you something precious and then stealing it away? pushing your old bruises? that is to say, i have nothing but deep respect for indefensibleselfindulgence. to write fic that makes you want to engage in conversation? thats powerful 

Our 'Angel' of Static and Bone is written so inexplicably good, that more than once i wondered, how NeverwinterThistle was able to do it? and then i realised they are one of my fave bg3 and dishonored authors phpphp but really, the care, the effort that went into this fic? they are literally visible! you can feel the amount of time and brain juice that went into writing it. and the neighbor character? they appeared like two times?? and still their addition left me speechless with how clever it is, how different!! absolutely amazing work.

adjective noun has jonmichael chapter (11) that destroyed me as a person i swear i laughed so hard i dropped my phone and just kept giggling face-into-the-pillow style!!!!!! its rare for the fics to bring you this childish kind of pure joy; the little in-between moment of forgetting about everything, good and bad, and just have a good time. this chapter is definitely one of those rare things and it also made me wish there would be more jonmichael fics from cuttoth. somehow they nailed everything that should be nailed about this ship and did it in a couple of pages, what a magical work!! 

and well, now here's my fave fic, the one that took my head, shaked it like it's a soda can, and then left it open, fountaining at first and then dented and empty. 

I ask for nothing, but maybe I'm lying is the work that made me grateful for the fact that i know how to read in english. its....mmmm, you know that feeling when fic makes you go through literally everything? and then, as a bonus, through all stages of grief as well?

first you get hooked up by the beautiful writing style and so you know the fic is gonna be good and you get comfortable and you turn yourself off from the rest of the world and you read. 

you love pov, you love mood shifts, you love pacing, you love when scenes are short and you pause to think about what happened / you love when scenes are long and you get overloaded with the simple things that make you feel complicated emotions, you love it all. 

then you start to wish it would never finish; you look at the scrolling bar from time to time, a little bit too aware of how much there's left to read, a little bit too anxious about it. and at the same time, the fic starts to make you feel safe, confident, that at least it's gonna be alright, its gonna be that one work that will replace the canon events for you. it was the

“Oh. Oh, Archivist, no. That’s not right at all,” you say to yourself as you watch him march into artefact storage, both hands clamped around an axe. 

On a whim, you decide to save him."

line for me for sure uhhh it still hits as good as the first time too 

and then you get to the ending and you just stare at the screen. that hollowing feeling slowly spreading inside you. *sigh* its the best sort of inspiration im sure, but its the worse one too. i have no idea how possessedradios and authors like them are able to write something that kills you, then reanimates you and then makes you sit in front of the tablet drawing hours non stop. ''I ask for nothing, but maybe I'm lying" is so beautiful its scares and fascinates me, just like the podcast did. hell, better then the podcast did.  i know its silly but i even named my fisrt fanart of michael as the title of the fic 👉👈

ahhhh SO i rumbled again SORRY!!!!!!! every time someone asks something from me its either "i'll reply later" (replies 10 years after) or "tolstoy, hold my fucking beer". but i really hope that fic writers, not only those who are mentioned here but like in general? know how much they affect other people!! how their work creates safe spaces for others!! how they make readers smile or cry, even if those readers (im not pointing finger on myself idk what you talking about pgphpphph) are little gremlins that leaving comments once in a decade....................

have fun time reading!! <3

btw im working on a little fanart rn............. (expressing my deepest grattitude to ao3 johmichael writers 😳🔪)

[ribbonverse]

y u do dis?

Fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57162358

I feel like by the end of the Soul Society arc, the Bleach universe already had plenty of width, and what it needed going forward was more depth. Instead it kept piling powers upon powers and retcons kept accumulating on top of reveals. And for what?

To use an in-universe metaphor, Bleach lost its heart and became a Hollow long ago, and has been haunting the people who loved it ever since. That's the case for me, at least. It's very frustrating to me that a great series with a ton of potential was completely squandered because the author is apparently allergic to relationships or something.

Anyway, I think it's fair to say that along with just being Really Cool, Bleach until the end of the Soul Society arc had an emotional core that appealed to many people. It was pretty clear that Ichigo wasn't just saving Rukia because he felt it was his duty or whatever. He was saving someone who completely changed his life on multiple levels, including an emotional one, and he was saving her because he felt very passionately about it. This was clear because it was set up in the previous story arc, starting all the way in chapter 1.

But instead of what it was actually set up as, the story of Bleach until the end of the Soul Society arc became "boy meets girl, girl saves boy and his family by giving him her powers, boy and girl work together and become close, girl gets in trouble and is going to get executed, boy pushes himself to a breaking point and corrupts his soul to obtain the power to save girl, gets almost killed many times but finally saves girl (or thereabouts), boy and girl go their separate ways as friends."

A pretty ridiculous ending if you ask me, but it had to happen because it was in the script.

Hey, what's that on the ground there, is that the script? Let's have a look, shall we.

Huh? The main character doesn't get a moment's rest before being targeted by the Bad Guys and is now basically useless? And two seconds after obtaining the One Ring Hōgyoku that was supposed make his Hollow experiments a success, Aizen already has his own Budget Gotei 13, which is just the Captains and no other characters, and none of them are interesting because they're literally just self-centered and unhinged Bad Guys with no other purpose than being antagonists?

And when they're not out antagonizing the Main Character, they're just waiting for him in Budget Soul Society, a dimension that's literally just an empty desert with some simple geometric shapes passing for buildings here and there, like someone made their first 3D models in Blender and tried to create their own MMO?

And why's everyone got Spanish names all of a sudden? Where's all the cool Japanese stuff?

Wait, what's this? The girl that the boy almost destroyed his soul in order to save is back, and now she's grabbing him and shoving his face at the Budget Magical Girl and basically telling them to kiss? It's like she broke the fourth wall, saw that people were shipping her with the Main Character, and said "NOPE".

But I thought Bleach wasn't about relationships anymore, and now we're going with one of the least likely pairings in this particular universe?

Well, it's in the script, so it had to happen.

The so-called story really goes off the rails as time goes on. I don't even know how many people actually cared about Bleach past a certain point, because people don't keep reading/watching stuff they don't care about. And as a consequence, the fans that are left after a while are the ones who think the current state of the work is actually good for some reason.

Basically what I'm saying is, f the script, 'cause it's really dumb. I guess that's the essence of fanfiction a lot of the time.

In slightly less ranty terms

It seems to me that it became a less-than-generic, angsty series about endlessly fighting for some nebulous reason that everyone's long forgotten about, where Ichigo is stuck in an infinite loop of wearing a scared or desperate expression because he's failing, then getting a powerup, and either winning or losing before repeating the cycle. And the impressive part is that all of this happens without any major emotional significance or growth as a person.

It also didn't help that I found the attempts at Spanish influence that appeared post-Soul Society to be supremely uninteresting and strangely executed. It's basically just words that are entirely unconnected to the rest of the universe, making them feel really out of place.

The Japanese stuff, the characters and the exploration of certain aspects of the Shinigami world was what made things so fascinating. But then everyone put on these white Halloween masks and started playing Hollows, like someone was inspired by the least intersting parts of the first story arc and begun writing bad fanfiction (no offense).

The setting changed from an actual Society to a literal desert, the only purpose of which is to contain the Bad Guys that the Protagonist needs to defeat, like a cheaply made RPG where there's only one significant landmark in the entire game world and enemies just keep spawning on a flat field for the players to grind until they level up.

What's the point of an uninhabited place that's only populated by hostile NPCs with overinflated egos and nothing of interest to say? If I ever want to subject myself to that, I'll go play a Souls game (note: I'm not actually going to do that, so don't call the hotline. I'm not prone to self-harm).

Not that Soul Society was a masterpiece of worldbuilding either. Pac-Man, anyone? You could probably write a melancholy song titled The Walls of Seireitei in which Kenpachi laments how he can never find a worthy opponent in this endless maze, and if only he was programmed to have the ability to jump he might be able to escape this fresh hell. But the game only has quick-time events, so he can only jump at pre-determined points in the story.

I guess these days you could have an AI write and compose that song for you, and it would be pretty good.

But in any case, you can look at almost anything other than the empty environments in Soul Society and notice that at least an effort was made. Inspiration was taken, there was some really Cool Stuff in every volume, if not every chapter. And I don't mean the cosplayers-wearing-Hollow-masks kind of "cool" that things devolved into, I mean interesting things being said, characters/Zanpakutou shown, and events unfolding, putting the actions of our characters into a larger context.

In other words, worldbuilding. Now that was cool. And characters can only really be cool if the concept of "cool" is properly defined and established within the context of the fictional world they inhabit. Like the Bankai, for example. But who cares about seeing yet another one when everyone finds a Bankai under their seat and it becomes a requirement for participation?

It should also matter why someone attains a Bankai or any sort of power. Oh, what's that? The main character puts himself through training that amounts to torture and corruption of his soul, gets nearly killed in almost every subsequent fight he participates in, goes through yet more torturous training to attain the Ultimate Power, visibly ages during his journey to save a woman he has a very special relationship with, has some kind of evil demon take residence within his soul due to how far he went for her, and in the end they're Just Friends?

Sure, now tell me the one about the one-armed Shinigami and his rabbit-shaped Bankai.

All of this was probably said a million times over 15 years ago, but I don't particularly care. What I do care about is that great things were done and there was amazing potential for the future, but it was flushed down the toilet. Along with the Only Correct Ship™.

So I wrote a fic. It's an IchiRuki ship at its core, but I also added some things to the world when inspiration struck. I mostly wrote this as a form of emotional expression and to let out the ideas that came to me in the small hours of one morning.

So far there are over 70k 50k words that are mostly ready to be published, as well as some stuff for a possible follow-up series. However, some finishing touches need to be put on still, so it's not all going to come out at once.

Also, this is the first fanfiction (and really the first creative work of any kind) I've ever written. So keep that in mind.

It's also not going to be for everyone, because I've been heavily influenced by certain things (mostly David Eddings' Belgariad-verse and Harry Potter). And not everyone finds value in the same things. So if you find it long-winded, it's probably not just you.

[ouatsqincorrect]

Not sure if you’ve already answered this and I’ve missed it 🙈 but do you have any Emma and Zelena headcanons? I love their brotps in fics

oh absolutely! sorry this has taken me a minute—it’s been sitting in my drafts as i slowly add to it. anyway

i know it seems like every member of this family likes to take each other lunch/snacks while they’re at work, but that’s just how it is. sometimes, zelena will pick up two bear claws from granny’s and drop them off for emma and david

usually, this ends with her sitting in one of the office chairs for a while, most likely trying to annoy the crap out of them, but failing (with robyn in daycare and no job, zelena has a lot of time on her hands)

once, zelena breaks regina’s blender and begs emma not to tell regina, and when emma inevitably does (regina gets it out of her) zelena calls emma a traitor and gives her the cold shoulder for exactly 2 hours before she decides not talking all the time is too boring

they don’t really talk about deep things. at least, not often, but they both totally get using humor as a defense mechanism and when they do talk about the hard stuff, it usually entails a lot of jokes

zelena doesn’t have her magic anymore, so one day she tries to get emma to magic things for her. it ends with snow having green hair and an alpaca in regina’s office (emma is confused, zelena just cackles)

regina is the person zelena goes to for movie recommendations, but emma is the person she goes to when she wants to listen to some new music—she goes through this phase where she wants to learn all about pop culture in this world and emma is happy to help

when emma and regina do get together, zelena tells emma she’ll turn back into the wicked with if emma ever dares to hurt her sister, but she knows emma won’t

(zelena’s just happy she doesn’t have to watch them “helplessly pine after each other” anymore—although she outwardly wonders if seeing them “turn into “the charmings 2.0” is actually worse—she knows it’s not)

[donahdevotees]

as a precursor to what I'm about to write: Jesse Pinkman is a transfem egg

I have a enough textual/thematic support for this that I have created a whole entire video essay on the matter (in my pinned if... anyone is interested...)

BUT ANYWAY GOD I never expected to fall in love with any character when a friend of mine finally convinced me to watch Breaking Bad, and like, Jesse was my fav character right away, not fond of her bit of homophobia at the beginning but she was very funny and it was easy to pick up on her ADHD traits that made me connect w/ her as well (also when I started watching BrBa I was the exact same age as she is for the majority of her screen time) but then ep 4 rolls around and you see how good of a big sister she is and how much she does care and from then on I was like desperately trying to shove down my massive crush on her, I didn't succeed, and I just have been wholly consumed by my love for her, so many bad things happen to her and I just wanna hold her tight and tell her she's my good girl and everything will be okay

she's like if a human girl in her 20's was an abandoned puppydog

I learned blender to be able to make art of her and myself, mostly cause I mostly had experience drawing animals and I just couldn't consistently translate a human face (or most of the rest of human anatomy) to a 2D drawing, but I was fine conceptualizing stuff in 3D soooo.... blender, the following image doesn't have any of the paintover touchups I add to my finished pieces (of which I have... two) but I'm planning on doing that when I add it to a larger page of my girl in various different outfits, this particular outfit I don't think is really her style even post egg crack but.... I wanted to see her in it anyway

Sorry for such a late reply life has been hectic at the moment! I have never watched breaking bad but I am so interested in wqtching your video, it's so cool how passionate you are about her!!

F/O's that come as a surprise are some of the best, I have few like that and the connection you get with them is crazy 🥰 It's so nice when you can connect with aspects of them as well!!

The denial stage never lasts haha I'm sure she would be so happy and over the moon about you loving her and would appreciate your words of comfort so so much!! ahshdhdfhf she does Gove off those vibes, it's a good thing she has you to take care of her! 🩷

Oh my goodness???? That's incredible!!!! As someone whose struggled like hell with blender I am in awe of how awesome that looks!!! The style is so nice and the outfit you put her in is fire even if she wouldn't wear it!! some things are just to spark joy and that is absolutely valid! ☺️ I'd love to see anymore blender art you do of her and both of you together in the future!!! 🩷🩷

[cucumbermoon]

Hello! I just wanted to say, I was browsing old Indeedsir posts as is my wont, and I came across your Meet the Family fic, and I really really love it and have read it multiple times. It's still open in a tab on my phone right now. I like Rebecca, she feels like a fleshed out real person and a believable Jeeves relative. I love outsider POV fics where you have to read between the lines, and I think you did that really well in that Rebecca doesn't have the information to understand straight away what she's seeing, but we understand perfectly what's going on between J and B. The contrast between her (understandable) assumptions about how a rich employer would be expected to treat her brother and what becomes clear is the actual reality is so !!!! The way she describes the way Reginald talks about Bertie makes me feral. She thinks Bertie is an idiot but we know he's just babbling because he's nervous about meeting Reg's family!! I adore the way Bertie and Reg are clearly communicating with each other nonverbally from the moment they get there. The moment where Jeeves looks at Bertie chidingly and Rebecca assumes there's no way Bertie could have picked up on it, but then she realizes he looks contrite made me want to scream!!! BEST moment (and there were a LOT of great moments). I love love love your characterization of Bertie, the way he's brilliant in his own way and shows hints of hidden vulnerabilities and is just INCANDESCENTLY in love with Jeeves. The way he tells the swan story oh my god!! (it's funny how we were just talking about that on that tumblr post recently!) Some of the dialogue made me laugh out loud.

There's so much more I want to say but I'm actually not sure how long asks are allowed to be, and I don't know if you even check LJ anymore and I honestly can't figure out how LJ works anyway, but if you ever saw your way to posting it on AO3 I would love to comment on it. I want to write a book report on it. I want to put it in a blender and drink it. I want to boil it down to a tincture and sprinkle drops of it on everything. It's SO GOOD.

Oh, wow. First of all, I am relatively new to tumblr and I don't know how to answer asks other than publicly, so hopefully this is all right! And no, I haven't logged into LJ in over a decade and I have no idea how to do it anymore!

Thank you so much. It's incredible to get any kind of feedback at all on a story I wrote fourteen years ago, but especially getting feedback like this is just incredible. I was (obviously) a much younger and less experienced person when I wrote my little smattering of Jeeves and Wooster fics, and though I have thought of them from time to time I didn't really have the courage to go back and read them again until you wrote to me.

Thank you for reaching out, for opening that door again. I spent last night rereading my Jooster stuff from when I was in my early twenties and it felt like reconnecting with a version of myself I'd almost forgotten. I never really thought about posting my old stuff on AO3, but I'm going to consider it. I will let you know if I do. I remember at the time I intended this particular story to be a part of a series, and I actually have half a chapter each of a story from the perspective of Bertie's sister (that mysterious person!), and Jeeves' uncle Charlie that I was going to add. Maybe I'll dust those off and try to finish them! I also happen to be a huge sucker for outsider POV, so it would be a lot of fun to play around with that series again.

Finally, I am so deeply pleased that you enjoyed it. I know anyone who produces art of any kind hopes that they can make some connection with someone or bring some joy into the world, and it absolutely delights me to know that something I wrote made you happy for a while. I appreciate your generosity in writing to me. Readers like you make writing so much better. People like you make life better.

And yes, it's so funny that we were talking about the swan thing like three days ago. I had forgotten I wrote that same sentiment in a fic a decade and a half ago. I guess none of us change as much as we think we do!

Thank you again. You've made my day, maybe week, maybe month.

[spilledmilkfkdies]

I am sincerely asking you to rant under this ask about the Wizards 🥰 I would like to see it. -Jester

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Some of these things have been said before, some even by me, but I'm just gonna hGVHVhbb it all in here anyway-

The wizards were done DIRTY

And I'm not just saying that because favouritism, they were genuinely done dirty in more ways than one. I'm gonna try to avoid jumping from point to point and make it all cohesive and whatnot, but if it happens, it happens:

Their set up was good. Fairy hunting wizards who basically won and are the reason there is no magic on Earth anymore is neat.

Did there have to be a reason for that? Not really. But besides the messy 'if they thought Bloom was the last Earth fairy, why did they only come for her now?', it doesn't exactly harm anything either, at least it's not as egregious as some other things that were added over the course of the show imo-

Really, Earth basically had its own conflict kinda separate from the magical dimension, which is fine.

But this is more or less also where the problem starts? See, the conflict by itself is so very interesting and filled with potential, yet we don't get to hear a lot about it. Which honestly harms the season as a whole, but definitely the wizards as characters and villains. For when the exposition was scraped from the funky season lore blender, the majority of their motivation seems to have been left behind, stuck to the inside of the blender. And that is not good.

If we take a step back and look at the things we've been told- Not shown. Told- It seems to be a rough mix of them wanting to control nature, rule the planet, those things- But? Why? And?? Not really?

I think 'why' as a question speaks for itself, like what would make them try to achieve those rough yet basic goals. I don't feel like those goals are even what they were doing though lowkey? Because yeah, it's not 100% clear how much time has passed between them locking away the Earth fairies and them coming after Roxy, and you could argue that they were too caught up with the hunt to ever get to ruling the planet- But all of that aside. They're really just not. Ruling the planet. They are hanging out. Good for them but huh.

Y'know it's also interesting how, after mostly achieving the 'no more Earth fairies' part of their ''plan''- What, realistically, kept them from continuing their hunt on different planets? Was it Roxy? Would they have kept going after that? Would they even be able to?

Because when Bloom gets sucked into the portal and it doesn't work, Ogron tells the other wizards that "It's the universe spirits, the Circle has rejected her." Sir? The what? These are NEVER brought up again, and some might consider that basic first episode bs and it was simply written out- But in terms of reasoning why they only go after Earth fairies, it's more or less all we got. So is it safe to say there is some sort of entity connected to the Circle that rejects certain fairies? Then why would their fairy magic immunity cover fairies as a whole? Or is that not connected in any way for whatever reason?

It sucks because the scenario of the wizards not being able to drain any fairy that isn't from Earth, as well as the one where it's a conscious decision because their conflict is with Earth fairies and not anyone else, are good?? You could do stuff with either?? If the Circle does have an entity that limits them, does that mean they got their task from someone else? If the fairies of Earth are their only enemies, what's the reason for that? If the show wasn't so horrified by the idea of fleshing out the wizards as villains specifically, we could've seen more of that side of the Earth fairies that was ever so shyly hinted at when they got mad at humanity for ''abandoning them''. So really, a better season overall- But I digress.

Can we also acknowledge how there are no proper interactions between the wizards and the major fairies?? Like you can't just say "She hates us!!" then have the most normal conversation I've ever seen right after pls- Y'all have HISTORY. SHOW US. One little fight with a possessed Roxy does not count.

Moving on to the wizards as characters, in terms of personality and dynamic with each other- As much as I want to disagree with the pretty common take of them being bland and forgettable, there's a reason I've seen maybe 40 different character interpretations for each of them, and rarely having a moment of 'hey, that doesn't fit at all'. Because there is just so much room to add stuff. Pretty significant stuff. That you can just give them. And it would work. Which is fun, but I don't think it's a good sign per se.

Funnily enough!! Someone who doesn't seem to be good at doing this is Rainbow themselves!!

I cannot say with full certainty when some of these things were written, maybe they were made as the characters were created, I don't know- What I can say however, is that it was released separately from the show and some of it simply does not work. Whether it was sadly forgotten about during the writing of the season, or it was created afterwards in an attempt to add some characterization, not all of it clicks. It's a shame watching some of this stuff be reduced to fun facts that nobody who doesn't already somewhat care for the wizards would ever go looking for, when it should've just been in the season itself to begin with.

Can I also just mention how I find it funny that they took one of the few things people generally seem to like about the wizards as a group, that being how they really seem to care about each other, and decided to just write over that? Lmao?? Like you though they were friends? Wrong <3 Ogron is using them <3 And Duman hates Gantlos and Anagan so they decided to just hate him back <3

Anyway, I really would have liked some solid personality when it mattered most, but asking that when they were written to suddenly not care about the death of one of their own, and were referred to as 'Ogron and his men' so often that people don't know/want to know the other wizards' names, it's probably too big of an ask. But this ties in with the motivation point-

I want to know who they are!! Why are they hunting fairies!! What are their thoughts about the past!! Which major fairy did they struggle with most when in battle!! Why do they keep hiding in the smelliest places when Duman has sensitive animal senses!! Last one I'm extra curious about tbh, it feels cruel.

Idk how to smoothly transition to this point, I'm sleepy and not sure where to put it- But why do the wizards fight so poorly? For people with as much experience as them, of course. That's like one of the few things we are told about them all the time, they're supposed to be experienced. They got foiled by an actual dog btw. It's so obvious the Winx were written to be weaker at the start of season 4, like the issue was with them and it was bad. I know it's probably hard to make any enemy feel like a proper threat after the delicious meal that was Valtor, but surely there's a better way to do it than this? Insert situational transformation point, kinda-

Do not let their experience be a lie, is what I'm trying to say. You did it in the show, you did it in the comics, you did it in the games- Stop it. You want 4 successful war lords that have been around each other long enough to work well as a team and have become a no no topic on other planets because of how much of a threat they are? It sounded like that's what you wanted. So why didn't you commit? Cowards? Is that what you are? Are you cowards?

I'm not sure if I said everything I wanted to say but this ask has been awaiting an answer for a good while and I'm very sleepy. If I think of anything else or suddenly remember stuff I'll throw it somewhere mwah <3

[highpoly]

simply writing my thoughts on using blender to make my renders instead of MMD...feel free to scroll by

well if you ever wanted a more advanced MMD, blender is the closest you'll get LOL like it feels refreshing to be able to pose multiple bones all at once like wow...we really do have the technology...

that render was gonna be portfolio only but given that it's my first time actually using blender to render i figure i post it here as well. something i wish was better at would be the shadows but i learned that in EEVEE, the shadows are kinda bad anyways but they do plan on updating EEVEE itself Someday...

i wish i was better at node setups because i do have a very basic toon shader and i learned how to finally set it up when you have a texture thanks to this video. i think it's good and simple enough but it's not what i want to use for Every artwork i make. idk

something else i realized is that people edit their 3d renders afterwards in a separate software which makes sense i guess. i think just coming from MMD, i'm very used to doing everything in that program. at least doing this, i learned more about Clip Studio Paint.

a lot of my work in MMD typically involves loading in a shader after posing, doing some camera adjustment, then lighting. afterwards is more MME by color correcting with effects like ikClut from ikeno or some from okoneya with their o_Tonemap effects and adding filters like mashimashi's msNoise effect and sharpening from Elle's HalfBlur effect. so in terms of color correcting + effects i think that's where Clip Studio Paint comes in... but!

i think the shader thing is the biggest issue because i don't want it to Only be a simple toon effect, there's also another MMD effect where the shadows are really good and it makes it... more "realistic" looking (idk the word for it but just know it's not "toon" related anymore) and i like to combine it with ikGouache for a really nice effect. idk if there are any other shaders out there that are being distributed aside from KiryToonShader which is what i used for that render btw... i remember finding something from another blender artist but ngl there stuff was like. really horny HJASDFHJSAF idk if i wanna go and find it but interesting enough... they have their 3d models that are clearly anime/toon-like but the shader makes it look like they're a figure... idk this probably isn't a good description but it was like a perfect balance To Me... because ngl i hate it when people make 3d models that are Clearly supposed to be anime/toon-like and then give them the weirdest hyper-realistic look and it's usually never done right but the way they set it up? i kinda want to know more. literally the last thing i vaguely remember about them is that their shader wasn't very complicated and it was just the standard principled bsdf thing

well anyways here's to learning more about blender. hopefully i can make more in the future! thanks for reading :3

[sistrrrenchantress]

6 Questions Tag Game

Thanks @dwellerinroots for the tag! I haven’t actually ever done one of these so here goes nothing.

1. Last Song?

Ughgh I think Malibu by Hole. I last listened to a podcast and I only use Spotify so I’m like 98% it was Malibu. Anyways I love that song. It’s hopeful and sad and when I was in high school I really wanted someone to whisk me away and we’d go live somewhere by the beach in like a van. You know like those kinda romantic, hazy dreams of van-life before you realize that it’s not realistic.

2. Last Show?

I was gonna say The Last of Us, but actually I watched Modern Family last night. TBH my partner likes TLoU a lot more than I do, but it’s got some scenes that melt my heart a bit. Anyways Modern Family always acts like a personal pick-me-up since it’s kinda nostalgic. Plus sometimes I wish my family was more like them. It also kinda helped me realize what wasn’t healthy about my own personal relationships and know that life goes on even if your family sucks sometimes so even if it’s a mess it kinda has helped me? Idk why I’m trying to explain myself here lmao. I had a class where everyone said it was problematic and I don’t want people thinking I agree with everything in the show or whatever.

3. Currently Watching?

I just finished watching Wakanda Forever so I think it counts since I started this before it ended lmao. Anyways I thought it was okay. Not good, but not terrible. But I also think it was closer to terrible than good. It just felt confused, like it didn’t know what message or arc Shuri was supposed to have so idk idk. I’m not a movie critic so… yeah

4. Currently Reading?

I’m still reading Hyperion. I know it’s been a month, but in my defense the blues have hit me like a truck and I’ve solely been focusing on keeping my GPA. I have one more short story left, which is the Consol’s. Also, I should’ve mentioned but it’s a collection of sci-fi short stories (Canterbury Tales style) taking place eons into the future after Earth has literally imploded. It follows a group of people brought together on a pilgrimage to travel to the mysterious Time Temple on the planet of Hyperion. There’s more but I really don’t wanna spoil anything for anyone who might want to read or was already planning. Anyways the priest’s tale is my absolute favorite, because I like it’s spooky vibe and other spoiler-filled reasons. However they’re all written really well and I would recommend this to just about everyone since I think it’s just a really fun read.

5. Current Obsession?

Oof I don’t really have one because I’ve been feeling down. However Cyberpunk 2077 was it for a while, then TES again, and I’m just floating now. Anyways I’m always interested in TES, the Witcher, Dragon Age, etc. It’s just not as intense as other people though. I feel kinda boring now. Well, at least I’ve been getting back into art and blender and messing around with trying to learn my father’s language again. And I love writing and creating generally so that’s really that.

6. Unrelated Stuff I’ve Been Doing?

I already talked about this a little I guess. I’m learning Polish again and watching more shows with the dub in Spanish so I don’t lose it since I just don’t talk to my family much anymore. I’ve been messing with blender and unreal engine. I re-started this art-schedule-thing that I got from a yt video. I really want to improve my digital art. I also have like 10 billion tabs open with videos on blender and unreal so maybe I’ll post what I’m working on one day. I kinda gave up on my NaNoWriMo because I’m too moody and I don’t know what’s wrong with my executive function but we haven’t been on the same page recently. However, listening to podcasts (like Unresolved Textual Tension or You’re Wrong About and Rotten Mango) has kinda helped my mood a little. But if I’m being real here, real life kinda takes up most of my time. So school (gotta love deciding for a dual degree really late in my undergrad) and all the volunteer/internship things I have to do kinda just take up most of my life. That’s a little depressing lmao, but it is what it is.

Anyways, thanks for the tag! I don’t feel like I’m active enough to tag anyone and I’m shy so anyone who sees and wants to do it, feel free.

[veronicasanders]

I've spent the better part of yesterday afternoon convincing myself I don't need a mini wok station or a raclette grill, tell me about something you don't have any way to justify buying but you just want anyway? Either bc it sounds fun or kind of neat or bc you just always wanted it :)

First of all, you DEFINITELY need the mini wok station. The raclette grill—I guess it depends how much you love raclette. 😂

Second, the problem with me answering this is that I usually just buy stuff when I feel like it. So instead, after the jump, I’ll tell you about some of the insane, impractical purchases I’ve actually made. 🌈

I think the first one that comes to mind is a custom-painted, Drag Race-themed tea service for 10. It’s like 52 pieces, and it’s displayed in a lighted cabinet. I love it and I’m thrilled that I have it but…I mean yeah, it was objectively insane. I’ll DM you some pics if you want. (In my defense: I was on Percocet and having a bit of a bipolar meltdown.)

I used to buy literally everything I ever saw on an infomercial until I just decided that for my own sanity, I can’t watch infomercials. Those purchases included wrinkle cream when I was 16 because “it’s never too early,” a Montel Williams blender which we only ever used to crush ice, and a thing called an “egg wave” to cook eggs in the microwave. Which btw is the grossest way *possible* to cook eggs but I was living in a dorm with no kitchen at the time, just a microfridge. (And we were forbidden from having hot plates because of fire safety.) Anyway. I don’ watch infomercials anymore. 

A gym membership that I used approximately 5 times in the 3 years I had it and the only reason I canceled is because I got a new credit card so I didn’t actually have to call them. 

Dr Fluffernutter himself. The man, the legend. It started when I wrote a god like him into Galactica and then got jealous of my character's fictional dog. And I love him to pieces but it was objectively too much money to pay for a dog. Also, the way people in LA gave me SHIT for not getting a rescue from a shelter. But in fairness to me…he’s VERY cute. Like, so much cuter than any of the dogs I saw on the rescue websites. No offense to those povo dogs but...just not my style.

I ALMOST bought a new car when I was having my bipolar Percocet meltdown, but didn't. Responsible? Totes. She's learning.

Except that a year or so later, I spent about $500 on Build-a-Bear clothes for Doc. Like, there's so much that he has to have his own closet. So I guess I also bought an entire Ikea wardrobe for my dog. But look, I don't have kids!! And what's the worst that can happen from spoiling your dog? It's not like he's gonna grow up to be a douche who buys a social media company and runs it into the ground...

Lastly...when I first moved here to Sweden, it was really hard to find housing that would allow the dog, so I rented a room from this guy. And it was fine for a little bit but long-term, it was not the right situation. And it was SO hard to find something so I just bought an apartment. In cash, since I don’t have a full-time job here and so I don’t qualify for a mortgage. Which was pretty much all my money but on the plus side, now I own an apartment and I can sell it when I want to move. The only issue is that I don’t know the rules for taking money out of the country. I should have looked into that but…it was a cute apartment in a cute building in a cute neighborhood so I didn’t really have time to think too hard. 🤣

I don't think I can top "an apartment" but in terms of shit I definitely don't need but WANT, I do have my eye on a painted lady style dollhouse. Come on, LOOK HOW CUTE:

Plus you an get so much adorable stuff to put in it. Fruit and veggies, sushi, little teeny condoms so that your dolls don't get knocked up. A TINY DOLLHOUSE TO GO INSIDE YOUR DOLLHOUSE!!!

Really the question here is, how do I NOT buy this??

[kyrodo]

There have been many times me and Red decided to do soemthing and he'll be so stalled out on youtube videos and other unrelated things that we never end up going. He delays things, often for reasons he doesn't fully understand and it irritates me. I tend to like doing the things I plan to do or anticipate. Whether it's walks, a trip to the theater, some social event, or whatever if Red wasn't going I was basically dead in the water and I'd have to abandon going. I was too shy to hold my own at social gatherings and I just didn't get any value out of going if Red wasn't there with me.

But Red doesn't have the same social stamina that I do. He doesn't like noisy places. He doesn't like crowds etc. So he always had plenty of reason not to go. And I was too shy. I was shy because I couldn't strike conversations, I could barely finish a sentence without stuttering or struggling with what words to say if I was by myself around people I am unfamiliar with. I had no confidence whatsoever. I hardly even felt like I belonged in the world. I was so disconnected, so aloof if Red wasn't there to hold anchor for me. I didn't have the foundation or the experience behind me to keep me afloat when I am on my own.

But now I do. Ever since vrchat. I met so many more people without needing Red to spearhead for me all the time. I've purred at people I haven't even met to get pets and be cute and add more people. And it paid off in the end. And now I am doing stuff in blender I'm getting all too familiar with vrcfury and avatar customization, etc. and people come to me for advice or help on their avatars. I find it so much easier and so much faster to come up with things to say or how I'll say it and it feels so much more natural. And I didn't have that before. I didn't have that when I was at Peloton when I had to teach people stuff. Though I did it if only to prove myself to the people spying on me that I could do it at all. Pride kept me going more than anything.

But now when I decide to do something, when I plan to do anything I just straight up do it. I don't have to wait on anyone anymore, because I am able to get value out of whatever I plan to do even without help. I am socially independent now. I am no longer overly self conscious when I am doing basic stuff outside like going to put trash away even in the presence of people. I am not hyper focused on every little movement I'm making thinking people or catching every little mistake that I make or every little stumble. And when I want to go somewhere and people are stalling out on me, I would be able to just go anyway.

Because I feel like I belong in the world. I have the experience, I have the history, I have the friends to back it up, I have everything that I was lacking before. I respect what I want to do, I respect my own will so much more. I feel so incredibly strong and powerful now. I feel so much like I have the social right to exist in this world. That I can just do what I want to and what I need to without being overly cautious about what people think anymore. Because I know how to handle myself now. I no longer need someone to be doing all the talking for me. I can do it myself.

[soupum]

Parasocial Relationship? Sign me up!

I got tagged by @risu5waffles to participate in some ask game thing? I don't know, I'm too old for this. Seems fun, though, so I'll give it a go anyway.

Who were you named after?

Not gonna get into my actual name, because I don't feel like doxxing myself right now, but I will tell the story of my online name:

So, when I was a wee bab, My online username was basically just "Super[IRL First Name]". When I was about 14 and decided to abandon that name, I went with "Soup" because it's "Super" without the R, and because everyone like soup. I added the "'um" at the end because it sounded vaguely fantasy-esque to me.

Last time you cried?

Oof. That's a rough question. Think it was about a month ago, now? Had been having some serious issues with my body image for the past few weeks, and some hobby stuff went awry big time earlier in the day, and that just tipped me over the edge, and I broke down sobbing. I'm fine now, though. I got over it.

Do you have kids?

Nope! Not interested in having biological kids for personal reasons, but I have had idle thoughts about adoption before. Things would have to change big time for me before that's in the cards, though.

What sports do you play/did you play?

Speedrunning, I guess? I don't do it that much, because it hurts my hands, but I have contributed decently to speedrun communities before, and I do enjoy grinding a game once it has my attention.

I'd love to get into roller-skating or ice-skating one of these days, though. If you know my affinity for Sonic games, you can probably guess why, lol.

Do you use Sarcasm?

I think I use it the normal amount? Unless I seriously dislike you, I never mean to use it to hurt someone I know. Typically I use it to dunk on someone else who is already a tool, or for friendly ribbing with someone I already know.

First thing you notice about people?

Faces, I guess? I'm pretty bad with those, so I try to memorize them whenever I meet someone. After that, I guess clothes? I tend to notice tattoos, but I don't really process what they are most of the time.

Do you have any talents?

Self-deprecation is for losers, so I'm gonna go as egotistical as possible on this one. My talents are graphic design, Italian cooking, troubleshooting tech issues, and lookin' damn sexy after a shower.

Scary Movies or Happy Endings?

Happy endings, I guess? I don't really watch scary movies (although I have been meaning to), but I don't typically enjoy outright downer endings. Bittersweet endings, sure, but every downer ending I've seen goes along the lines of "life is meaningless and everyone dies". If I wanted to smoke down some of that rhetoric, I could just look at Twitter.

Where were you born?

That's for me to know and you to find out, buddy.

What are your hobbies?

The line between "hobby" and "thing I like to consume" always gets real blurry for me, so apologies if this isn't quite the answer you're looking for. With that said:

Photography

Reverse-Engineering

Phone shopping (Give it a go sometime! Pick a price range and find the best performance to cost ratio you can!)

Blender renders

Digging through the Wayback Machine

Do you have any pets?

I used to. Not anymore.

How tall are you?

167 cm, or 5'5, for all you feet fans out there. I am tiny. Bite-sized. Fit me in your pocket and lemme rummage around a bit small.

What was your favourite subject in school?

This would imply I enjoyed any part of school, lol. Off the top of my head, probably physics?

Dream Job?

Vague phrasing! Big fan.

If we're talking "what would you like to do for the rest of your life", I'm torn. Probably just making fangames and little software toys?

If we're talking "what would you least detest doing to pay the bills?", then whatever you call what John Carpenter has going on is a strong contender. Just make a bunch of genre-defining art when I'm young and then kick back and play Xbox while the royalty checks roll in.

I don't really have enough of a "network" on here to immediately tag anyone. @hirunda-maxpw, maybe? Hirunda, if you're reading this, you don't have to participate if you don't wanna. Totally chill.

Well, bye.

[ardathksheyna]

A Month Without Twitter

Weirdly enough, I don't miss it. Also, maybe it's a coincidence but my mental health started to improve enormously once I got away from Twitter. However, the timing also coincided with my decision to adjust my anti-depression meds, though so that probably had more to do with it.

Anyway, yes I'm still here. Yes, I'm still working on Silent Shadow. There's something due to post here later today—artwork from the prequels that I'm working on.

On that note, I really need to hustle my buns back to the arch-vis stuff I was doing since that's going to be just as important for the webcomic as the character designs.

What about Fate/Grand Order? I'm probably going back once the Halloween event starts, though I'm still planning on skipping Christmas this year. I think I'm going to have to distance myself from the gacha, though. The biggest reason being money. The gacha was fun when I had money to throw at it, but since I don't anymore (oh the joys of owning a house!), I really don't have the money to spare and honestly, the bit of spare money that I do have, I'd rather spend on tools for Blender or try to stash away into savings.

Fate/Samurai Remnant dropped about two weeks ago. I bought it Friday but haven't gotten around to installing it because *gasp* I'm too busy making art in Blender. The screenshots and videos I'm seeing on YouTube are getting me hyped to play it, though.

Also, there's this. STRONGLY thinking about buying it. My office could use some artwork. Hey, they also have an Instagram account: @ukiyomemes

Till next time!

[partyinthemysterymachine]

you've probably been asked this before, but what advice would you give to someone who's thinking of getting into writing? love ur stuff btw

[three months later]

hello!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!!! i super appreciate that!! it fills me with mountainous joy and it's SUCH a high honor!!!! i actually haven’t been asked that before (iirc, that is….. and my memory is a pot of fried and boiled milk steak). that means a lot that you’d ask me for advice 😭😭🥚🙏❤️❤️❤️ thank you so much for that compliment, that really means the world to me. 

this is what gets me through, what i’ve learned and what works for me; and i hope it’ll do the same for you. 

when it comes to approaching writing (and drawing), i have some rules, and they are as follows:

do whatever the fuck you want.

do it FOR YOU.  

do whatever the fuck you want - this time, with feeling!

be kind to yourself. 

be messy. write messily. be unpoetic and frivolous, use the same word 6 times in a sentence. who curr. when inspiration hits, grab it by the tit and honk. you can edit later. 

and finally: do whatever the FUCK you want, FOR YOU, and BE KIND TO YOURSELF. (and then do it once more, with EXTRA feeling!)

and of course one of the hardest things to do:

don’t give a SINGLE SHIT - not even ONE. FUCK. EVER.

(and do it with a smile!)

NOW LET'S GET INTO IT:

DEADLINES & WORD COUNT & WRITING EVERY DAY, OH MY!

in the beginning of GOOMT, i used to set a deadline for myself; get a chapter out every 7 - 10 days (my best friend and editor’s schedule permitting lmao hiiii Ren <3 she’s gonna murder me one day bless her). 

setting a deadline isn’t viable for me anymore. GOOMT will get out when it does; especially right now, while i’m in an important arc that’s setting up some plot points and future. 

i also tend to write on average 3000 - 4500 words per chapter, with a page average of about 8 - 12. (current library arc not included. Yikes. sorry everyone!!) it’s not an intentional thing either; it’s whatever the chapter comes out to be. dialogue fluffs up the page count a lot too (and dialogue is my strength lmao, but sometimes, god shut UP, Harry!!!!! i’m so with James on that one lmaooo) (jk i love u baby, u make my world go ‘round in a blender) i feel that setting a goal or bracket for x amount of words or page count per chapter is stifling for me, so i don’t do it. 

same, again, with deadlines. this arc is gonna take a hot minute and i’ve written a lot for it already and so i can’t force myself to adhere to anything. if that works for you, peachy; it’s all about trial and error, and, u guessed it - BEING KIND TO YOURSELF. 

beating yourself up for not getting something done just does harm in the end and lord have mercy it happens anyway - but that there is a muscle to build.

you won’t always be perfect, so make the most of what you do at the moment, then come back to it later. 

a popular piece of advice for writers is to write x amount of words a day, or to write ANYTHING every. single. day..... and that might be great for some, but for me, it doesn’t work so well. i don’t like to force myself to write. or edit. sometimes, i do - when i’m frustrated with a chapter or a part, i’ll pluck at it or reread it when i’m >:(((( the entire time or am impatient, or just straight up am NOT in the mood or headspace. sometimes i can power through and get inspiration!! other times, i just get more upset and frustrated. mixed bag. overall, tho, i try not to press my luck. 

figure out what works for you. what works for me in what i write, or when i write..... is vibes.

wish i was joking, but. can't make some shit up, mates.

that said.... trial and error. i don't believe in the write every day advice. i don't believe in setting a writing schedule because my brain doesn't operate like that. might work for you or someone else though and oh my god i wish that were me, LOL. i salute your shorts.

===

TAKE A BREAK ONCE IN A WHILE WOULDJA/[SALLY NMBC VOICE] BUT I DON'T WANNA BEEEE PATIENT

no seriously.

take your breaks. try not to feel guilty; cope with feeling guilty and learn how to get over those hurdles; and press on when you can.

your health and wellbeing comes first and foremost. the story will not thrive when you aren't. take your breaks; take six months to get out the next chapter. your readers will still be there when you do, and new readers will be excited to read something that just cropped up on their feeds.

this isn't a race. this isn't your job. this is fun. be patient with yourself. you'll get there when you get there.

be patient, mfer. or else 🔪

===

WRITE SIMPLY AKA OH MY GOD DON’T BE LIKE ME AND ABUSE ONLINE THESAURUSES OR KEEP 50+ GOOGLE DOCUMENTS OF WORDS I’D LIKE TO USE OH GOD BRO DON’T DO IT

WRITE SIMPLY.

this might be big talk and side-eyeing coming from me lmao and you know what?: fair.

but i mean it. purple prose can be too much of a good (or bad) thing, and never you mind my 5 google documents of words and definitions i’ve saved for future use that average about 45 pages do NOT do as i do—

however wordhippo is my favorite thesaurus site and use it - but use it well, and use it WISELY. lord knows i’ve got a few chapters where i went HAYWIRE on the thesaurus and synonyms— and god, i’ll come back to it much later when i re-edit everything!!!! but don’t be like me. be intentional; be precise. it’s a hard act to juggle and don’t get down on yourself. it takes time, and it takes a lot of work and practice. it’s a constant struggle. 

that’s the beauty of art. 

just word barf onto the page. fuckin'. stream-of-conscioussness that shit. you can fix it later. 

===

WRITING OUT OF ORDER

one of the things i like to do when i write is write out future scenes. i’ll get a bout of inspiration and just go for it, no edits - even if it’s just inane blather. get the idea out!! consider it a skeleton for beefing later. (yummy.)

GOOMT has a folder called SCENES NOTES wherein there are, you guessed it, notes for future scenes - and i’ve written a metric fuckload of these.

they're separated into categories, such as "general" and "romantic". i know i'll want to use in the future somewhere. many of them date as far back as 2019 and 2020 and haven't yet seen the light of day, while others have already been published. some are still waiting for their time.

99% of these scenes are going to need heavy editing and tweaking because they are all written without knowing where the hell they're actually going to go, or if they'll ever get used. the "prom stories" scene in ch48 was one of these random ass scenes notes that i KNEW i wanted included somewhere, but where? how?

i had no idea. i just knew i did NOT want to shoe-horn it in (and there's more about that later in this post). there's another coming after the library arc (ho ho ho!!) that has been sitting waiting for its time probably since 2020 or maybe early 2021. i do hoard a lot of random scenes and writing though i do understand i MIGHT never use it; but if anything..

consider it as character development.

===

HEHE WHAT A FUNNY LIL GUY WITH A FUNNY LIL PERSONALITY

character development.................

rubs face. what can i even say about this LOL. pull shit out of your ass.

again: no, really.

believe it or not i used to create a LOT of OCs and while i still have a pet project and OCs lurking in the background, there is one thing i learned to do in regards to creating/developing them, and this one neat trick that i'm still very good at it to this day:

pulling shit out of my ass.

whenever i get a character question (what do you think x feels about y) or response to a hc meme or w/e, there is a very, very high chance (about 80-90%, depending) that i haven't thought about this (or the character in terms of personal ideas) before. most of the time it's actual just stream of consciousness.

tbh. i recommend that as a writing exercise. taking a character question meme and answering it yourself. go into details if you can. it doesn't matter how "cringe" or whatever it is. write. cook that lil mfer in your head. spin 'em around like a salad spinner. just. write.

i can't get enough of detail. i fucking love and THRIVE on the mundane. slice of life is my entire soul. i have found that in writing, the most mundane and "boring" pieces of a character's slice of life becomes so crucial to what they become in my writing. i'm constantly picking up and deciding new tidbits/factoids. those really help set foundation and building blocks for the character (and story)'s future.

however, as with the advice above with writing out of order: it's incredible what happens in character development when just dotting down those notes.

and don't be afraid to let the characters do it themselves, too. the sentiment is super real about you as the writer having zero will sometimes over what a character does lmfao. that's just how it be.

also remember: people are extremely diverse and surprising. i dont' think it's fair to you or your writing or the characters to hold back purely because you fear something you may have discovered about them (or backlash for writing it).

for example: James "no fat chicks" Sunderland, re: ch61.

i've joked about it before; but since it's actually published GOOMT canon that James is an Actual Asshole about fat people (Harry), i was actually pretty damn worried that i could get some flack for it, LOL, despite knowing this piece about him for quite some time. it, while rather :\, is important to James's characterization and development throughout GOOMT.

not even Harry is safe from the ":\ seriously bro?" disappointment moments. and it's going to be nail biting for me to write and publish them because i of course don't want to face flack for it; but i would consider it a disservice to me and my writing and my storytelling if i didn't. people are disappointing; people are surprising. they're flawed and weird and fantastical. they progress and regress.

so let your characters do that, too.

===

PLANNING & OUTLINING & ORGANIZING LORE

this is a tough one for me. with GOOMT, its lore is in constant development and it’s massive. here’s what my organization looks like for GOOMT (with redacted folders bc Spoilers - and i’m a VERY superstitious writer lmao):

PLOT folder i have:

and within character ref:

may look like i have my shit together, but looks are deceiving LOL. it is a bit of a mess but hey at least i’ve got the heart, right? 

i recommend setting up something like this if you’re gonna be doing something even small and medium sized, and do THIS ONE NEAT TRICK (that i didn’t do in the beginning because i had no idea what i was doing, nor thinking GOOMT would get this far):

SAVE. YOUR DETAILS. AS. YOU. GO. ALONG. 

!!!!

really mate. superstition, unfortunately, doesn’t allow me to show you GOOMT’s versions exactly, but here are some examples, with [REDACTED]s in effect LOL 

PLOT:

CHARACTER REF:

MONSTERS:

it’s imperative!!! that you keep your shit together as best as possible.. and perhaps even MOREso that you actually LOOK at it more than twice a year ansishdhdjfhfjsbf good god i can forget it’s there so often and then i’m like. well WHO BETRAYED ME. WHO DID THAT. WHO FORGOT TO TELL AND/OR REMIND ME OF THAT. looking at everything else but the mirror i’m standing in front of, lmao

but remember: do only what you need to, and what works for you..... and remember too that all this is because GOOMT is ENORMOUS, and it's always, ALWAYS growing. so my apologies if this is kinda overwhelming, but... gestures.

GOOMT.

===

EDITING & EDIT HELL

a lot of what i write never makes it to see the light of day. i cannot stress how much i’ve written and cut. sometimes.. you're going to have to cut that thing you really really like about the chapter/piece. sorry. it's going to be a bummer to cut it but you're gonna have to cut it.

for example: ch60 had more than seven iterations or more in total.

no, seriously. and one of the things that sucks about it is that i cut a lot that i was very proud of, thought was important, but ultimately was not the right place or time: and very frankly, it may never have a place or time in the story. i still have them, though.

while they can definitely be discouraging, but in my mind, what they really are/were, were character development exercises. i’m not interested in shoe-horning them in either, even if they were genius, tho retooling is always a possibility. but in those moments, considering what you’ve written as character development exercises for YOU to understand them, and where you want to take the character and build their dynamic potential and future, is GREATLY beneficial in the long term for you as the writer, and those reading.  

i tend to write all i can in one go and then go back and edit and tweak. then when i say i'm in "edit hell", i'm talking about taking an entire week for purely editing. what editing means to me may not mean to you, either; so i'm not really sure how to advise.

i do recommend grabbing a friend who makes the mistake of offering to edit a chapter for you 52 chapters ago and is still editing for you to this day and very likely for the many mountains of months to follow tho :) (hi ren <3)

===

PACING & AH SHIT I REGRET PUTTING THAT THERE

shit happens! and sometimes you want shit to happen like. NOW. well..

you sure about that?

i’ve mentioned before how many times i’ve rearranged parts of GOOMT, and even regretted already revealing things. take some good keen time and CONSIDER what you’re writing; WHERE you're writing it; WHY you're writing it; and how the story is supposed to be going.

i think it’s also important to remember that not everything needs to ever be revealed, or revealed at once. you can allude to a lot of things. GOOMT and POTF have a LOT of lore stacked up (and always more being developed) and there’s a whole lot of it that’s not MEANT to see the light of day (tho, of course, that may change, and i’m willing to let that happen as needed). 

that said: ALWAYS make sure that revealing any big details or lore is necessary in what you’re writing. it’s very tempting to bring something into the chapter that you’ve been just itching to get out, but is it necessary? does it actually fit? and those questions aren't always easy to answer at the time, or simply can't be answered until 20/20 hindsight.

for example: revealing the Memory of Harry monster in GOOMT.

MoH originally was going to be debuted back in ch21, when they returned to the alley first seen in SH1. i had his whole scene written and ready to go but i cut him out just about before i handed the chapter to Ren for editing. instead, he made his appearance in Balkan in ch27.

looking back on it now, i wish i had waited until they were in Midwich.

i got a little too eager to introduce him. i didn't know where else to slap him down and at the same time too, the first Midwich arc wasn't yet much of a thought (and it began ch31). so at THAT time, i thought it was a good place to put him.

to be fair on myself: it was. it was a good place. but it would have made more sense and been more impactful, i realize in hindsight, to have dropped him into Midwich. still, it was a damn good reveal if i do say so myself, and pretty impactful too!!!

so there are always going to be regrets or even mistakes in pacing and placement. it’s a good learning experience and learning curve to take in and work on.

just.. whatever you do: DON’T. SHOEHORN. IN. if it's not time for it, it's not time. it's absolutely not worth it imo. take the piece that isn't working and set it to the side. you can use it later if the time/need arises.

pacing is super fucking hard to me and i gnaw at my hands about my arcs and how long they can take, and i have worry about things moving too slowly for readers. on the flip, i have a shitload to go through. and i'm going to make mistakes about reveals. and pacing is going to get wonky and GOOMT is going to get boring or drag on in parts and the reality is, is that that's just normal for it to happen.

i'm not sure what advice i have about pacing really. just be sure to sit down and give your story a great big think and re-read every now and then.

===

CONSISTENCY & WRITING STYLE & ACCEPTING ITS WEIRD JOURNEY

oh lord, have mercy; oh how the times do change, and ebb and flow through every fucking chapter, LOL

this is just natural. let it happen. of course your style is gonna change over time - especially if you’re writing long form. it could be disappointing; i know i look back at some chapters and go, shit, i LOVED the way i wrote here! how can i get that back?

and then you might also feel like your quality declined. i’m kind of in that phase right now; it sort of feels like my writing took a nosedive. for that, what i’m doing, and therefore i suggest it, is read back over old work you wrote and liked a lot. and even better?

read a book. read an old favorite or a new one. get some inspiration and mojo. take down notes of phrases you liked, or mark pages. just to have on hand. take a breather. remember: you're here to have fun.

===

JUST WRITE THE CRINGE, BRO

seriously: who. te fuck. cares. all the wrong people, that’s who! self-indulgence is the name of the game, babey. your world, your oyster. you don’t have to post it. just write it. remember:

if it makes you happy, then write - and draw - whatever the FUCK YOU WANT.

and if anyone tries to make you feel bad about it, just come back to me, or send the haters to my door. 🔪 i gotchu, bro. 

:3c 

===

CONSIDER A PET PROJECT

i’ve got a slew of personal work (-adjacent being one) that won’t see the light of day (ok so i’ve talked a little about it/posted one or two things, but that’ll be the extent). i love looking back at it or tinkering with new scenes bc it makes me happy and keep me sane LOL and i refuse to deny myself!!! MY HOUSE MY TRASH WE ROLL IN IT

however!! when GOOMT is being a right wanker about things, i’ve taken to writing pet projects - either working on my personal stuff, OR things i actually intend to publish. 

they aren’t always one-offs either; i’ve got two other series i work on and publish (Heya, Neighbor! and Puttin’ On The Fritz) and a few things that won’t see the light of day (.. or some pornographies..) and LIGHTLY edit. BIG STRESS ON LIGHTLY. EDIT. i go through Edit Hell enough with GOOMT; i don’t need or WANT the stress of doing that with these things i’m doing for shiggles. they’re just my palate cleansers for when GOOMT is being an asshole and so is being put in the “time-out corner”. 

the side projects are for my need to refresh myself and write freely. they’re a little cringey and maybe OOC for some, but it’s MY cringe and OOC and i LOVE IT because…… oh wait that’s right, it’s FOR ME and MY shits and giggles - but all y’all can read it too if it tickles your navel, LMAO. they get updated very, very slowly, and that’s fine. that might be a bit too much for some people to juggle and/or balance and that’s fine too. 

===

REMEMBER ALWAYS: you are writing FOR YOU. yes - absolutely you CAN write for the intent to gain popularity (and here’s a good article by @javert on how to approach that), but that’s not my style or intent. i just want to write fun stories and fling them out into the world and maybe someone will get a kick out of it, too. that’s what keeps me going. 

not giving a fuck about what you write or create is probably, definitely, at the very top of the highest peak, super hard; but not giving a fuck either about whether or not you receive validation? the HARDEST. (but today is not the day we get into that).

the moral of this story is:

if you write it, they will come.

your passion and your love will bring them in. somebody wants to read what you're writing. i promise it.

i started GOOMT, and i write it, and WILL keep writing it because i LOVE what i’m doing. i’m writing for ME, and i’m posting it so that anyone else who might be interested to share it with me can take the journey alongside. i never, EVER expected it to gain traction or the amount of attention it’s gotten and i’m truly, madly, DEEPLY grateful for everyone who has joined me and my boys through the story i have to tell. i’m straight up blown away that people like, or even love it as much as i do. i’m THRILLED. and for everyone who reads my older stuff (you nasties (loving), i see you digging around in my Batman trash, yeah you like that shit huh??? well i’ll do more….. Sometime In The Future™️), THANK YOU so MUCH. it keeps my ego inflated as well, as humble. 

all in all my advice is: write. just fuckin' write.

write cringe.

write the AU you dream about in the messiest way.

just barf out all the words as they come, let them fly through your fingers.

write shit you’ll never post.

write it because it gives you a giggle or warms the cockles of your heart (or the sub-cockle area; maybe even your kidneys; i don’t know). 

just write it. someone’s gonna fucking love it to the ends of the earth and thank you for writing it. they may never say anything, and you may never know how your work affected them - gave them confidence to create their own content; to interact with the fandom; to pursue another day, etc - but someone is always reading. someone is interested.

love yourself, love your work; they will see you, they will see how much you love what you do, and they will love you, and your creations, for it, too.

🥚🙏❤️

[strawwritesfic]

Loki Laufeyson x Female!Midgardian!Reader: A Bird in the Hand

Summary: …is surely not worth its asking price.

Rating/Warnings/Tags: All (some foul language; not Thor Ragnarok compliant)

Fic Trade Prompt: “Please, I don’t want to lose you, too.” 

A Bird in the Hand

Once upon a time in a realm known as Midgard, there lived a girl. This girl, of course, was you, and you lived as many young women at the time did during that Age of Miracles. None of these miracles ever happened to you. There were no fish oil transformations on your horizon, nor were there any divine calls to adventure. Just like all New Yorkers, you grew use to your daily commute being interrupted by superheroes, to calling insurance companies to argue over their decision to not pay for alien invasion damage to your apartment, and even to carrying an umbrella around with you even on the driest of days in case certain Asgardians decided to visit. Life went on. You had stopped looking for a real miracle years ago.

As well you should have, because there was nothing miraculous about your wedding day. Outside, a seemingly endless mass of dark gray clouds let loose bucket after bucket of rain. Thunder rolled across the sky; lightning flashed–and that, really, was all you could see through the window you had stationed yourself in front of to sulk. If you hadn’t known any better, you’d have blamed the city’s resident thunder god for the disastrous timing of this storm front. As it was, all you could blame was your string of bad luck.

Speaking of bad luck, the door to your parlor snapped open and in stepped the dripping figure of your best friend. Aliyah paused only long enough to adjust her sodden pink hijab before plopping soggily onto an overstuffed loveseat.

“Well, the gazebo is flooded,” she announced, “the food is soaked through, and the caterer won’t bring more to replace it. Your flower arrangements are in pieces, and the band already ran off. I don’t think there’s anything left of your wedding ceremony.”

You did not bother to leave the window, though you did turn just far enough to throw her a sour look. “Do you have any good news to impart?” you asked.

Aliyah grinned. “Your maid of honor hasn’t walked out yet. At least there will be one person here to witness this fiasco.”

“Gonna need a groom for anything to be witnessed.”

Most close friends would offer sympathy when their friend’s fiancé of a year and a half decided to just not show up for the actual wedding. Most acquaintances would feel bad enough when the carefully planned event got rained out. Not your Aliyah. She simply let out a sharp breath and leaned her head back against the couch cushion.

“Can’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said.

You glared at her, which of course she didn’t see, having shut her eyes to listen to the water tumble from the roof to the street outside.

“Thank you. So much,” you said.

“What?” she asked, forcing her eyes open again. “I told you Jared wasn’t good enough for you. Besides, you should keep all the gifts even if he doesn’t stop by. I saw, like, nine blenders in that pile. You’re better off this way, if you ask me.”

“You’re just saying that because you want a free blender,” you said.

“I wouldn’t say no. But, really, you should count your lucky stars. Free stuff and free of your jackass boyfriend. What better start to a weekend?”

“I’d rather be married to my jackass boyfriend.”

Aliyah’s disdain for Jared was nothing new or surprising. He’d fallen from grace in her eyes when he’d got jealous over your fondness for an injured pigeon you’d rescued only a few months after you started dating Jared. Even releasing the bird hadn’t entirely put an end to his complaints about how you spent your free time. On the other hand, you knew one thing that neither Aliyah nor Jared did: Jared’s jealousy wasn’t entirely misplaced.

But that was years ago. This was now. And that bird had always been bad news.

“Are you going to cry about it?” Aliyah asked, peering over at your perch by the parlor’s bay window. “Because, if not, I’d hate to have dragged Habib all the way to America for nothing.”

At the mention of her long-distance boyfriend, you motioned for Aliyah to go on. You preferred to do your moping alone, and Aliyah knew it. She stood and crossed the room to give you a quick hug before she left without another word. Probably you did owe your maid of honor at a least a blender for all the trouble she’d been through on your behalf.

Sighing, you lifted one hand, dug your fingers into your hair, and tore out what was holding it in its elaborate design. Who cared what you looked like now? Even if stupid Jared had shown up, the storm would have ruined your appearance before you made it down the aisle. Now Aliyah had free rein to spend the rest of her afternoon cuddling with Habib, and you had no one else to bother looking pretty for.

Outside your empty room, you could hear the indistinct muttering of your remaining guests. Family, mostly, who had already given up trying to convince you to let them in. What the rest of them were waiting for before they left, you couldn’t guess. Perhaps for you to come out and make an official announcement: The wedding has been called off. Party’s over. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. And thanks for all the blenders.

The shame of your situation suddenly threatened to crash down upon you. It would have, if you had remained sitting where you were. Instead, you got up, white dress rustling as you stalked across the room. A quiet shriek of rage was stifled only by your gloved hand pressed to your colored lips. Of all the pathetic, idiotic, insane things you had done in your life! Now you didn’t even have the courage to face your friends and family with the truth.

“Tap. Tap. Tap.”

Hail began to hit the glass behind you, soft and hesitant. Since you had no plans to leave the building any time soon, you ignored this weather development.

Jared hadn’t even called to say he’d changed his mind. You should have known when he hadn’t come home after his stag party the night before. He was probably laughing it up over your stupidity with some blonde bikini babe by the beach that you were supposed to go to for your honeymoon. The thought caused you to kick out angrily at the coffee table, and you heard a quiet rip issue from your skirt in response when it caught on a corner.

You swore.

”Tap. Tap. Tap.”

Now that you thought about it, the sound wasn’t regular enough to be hail. It wasn’t very hesitant anymore either. Still, you ignored the noise as you yanked off your veil, your gloves, and your garter. You were mentally preparing to rip them all to shreds with your fingernails when you heard it again:

“Tap. Tap. Tap.”

That time you did not suppress your shriek. As it faded into the overstuffed furniture surrounding you, you marched over to the window and shoved it open. The wind whistled through the empty space, sending anything in the room not tied down into the air and splattering your face with water. If ever there was a time to reasonably expect an Asgardian thunder god to step inside, it was then. No one was there, though, save for a single bedraggled pigeon.

“Oh, hello,” you said when it hopped onto the sill, and automatically you held out your cupped hands toward it.

The poor thing shivered once, then stepped onto your warm palms. Only when it looked up into your face did you see that it had bright green, very un-pigeon-ish eyes.

Before you could stuff the bird back outside, it lifted itself into the air to half-flutter, half-fly over to the loveseat Aliyah had been sitting on. A flash of light that had nothing to do with the lightning outside filled the room. When you had blinked and cleared your vision enough that you could see again, the pigeon was gone, and in its place reclined a tall, dark-haired, beautiful man, dressed to the nines in Asgardian fashion.

“Hello, darling,” said Loki Laufeyson. “Don’t you look ravishing?”

You were too shocked to contradict him. No mention of your torn dress, mussed hair, or smeared makeup escaped your lips. Instead, you said the only thing you could in that sort of situation: “What are you doing here?”

“Why, I’m here to offer you my congratulations, of course,” he answered, examining one perfectly manicured nail. “Or should it be my condolences?”

“Really?” Your tone dripped with enough sarcasm that it could be heard over the protesting window as you forced it shut. “You disappear for two years, never write, never visit, and then you just happen to pop by to celebrate my wedding to another man?”

“What kind of secret lover would I be if I did not?”

“We are not secret lovers.”

“Well, no, we haven’t been for quite some time. I see no reason why that should stop us from picking up right where we left off, however.”

“We were never secret lovers.”

“Really?” he said, mocking the tone of your earlier question. “That’s not what it seemed like to me. Of course, I had the brain of a pigeon most of the time, but at night when your beau had to work and leave you so very alone–”

“You can’t just show up out of the blue and expect me to want you again,” you interrupted. “And on my wedding day to boot.”

To his credit, Loki looked genuinely confused by your behavior–like he’d expected you to jump straight into his arms, marriage or no. Obviously, they did things differently in Asgard. You were not Asgardian.

“Fine,” he said. “If that’s the way you want it. I was only trying to thank you for helping me, you know.”

“All I did was take in a pigeon that got injured when Thor threw a bunch of peanuts at a flock. It didn’t really deserve that sort of thanking.”

“Ah, but you enjoyed it anyway.” That wasn’t the point. He knew it wasn’t the point just as well as you did, because once he made it, he got fluidly up to his feet to and walked over to stand in front of you. “If you are that disinclined to see me, I suppose I had better get going. If you ever grow tired of being lonely again–oh, that’s right. You don’t know how to contact me.”

You opened your mouth to remind Loki that you didn’t want to contact him, but then something about Loki’s words rang strange.

“Alone?” you echoed.

“Yes, alone. Or do you expect your Prince Charming to come riding up on a horse of white any second now? Better late than never?”

Without thinking, without warning, you slapped him straight across the face.

“Ow!” he snapped, pressing one of his hands to the mark on his face. “What was that for?”

“What did you do?” You lifted your hand for another blow. “What did you do to Jared?”

“Me? Do something to Jared? What should I have to do with that ponderous ass?”

“Did you kill him, Loki?” you asked, voice quavering. Loki could do it. Easily. He was a god, and Jared just…well, just a ponderous ass.

Loki let out a single bark of laughter. “Oh, please. I just got out of Asgardian prison. As if I’d risk going back over the murder of a petty moral such as he.”

That brought you up short. Frowning, you deigned to look at him again. “Prison?”

“Yes, prison. Did you think my absence was due to taking a pleasure cruise?”

“I thought you’d escaped prison when I found you the first time.”

“But you sent me back to Asgard when I started causing trouble,“ he reminded you. "Odin does not forget his son’s crimes easily, nor is he inclined to forgive them. Luckily my brother is far easier to manipulate.”

He had not, you noticed, made any real move to leave. Loki still stood in front of you, looking down as the pink handprint faded from his cheek.

“So…you didn’t kill my fiancé?” you asked uncertainly.

He shook his head. “If he isn’t here, it is because he is a dunce, not because I tricked him in any way.”

“Oh.” All the problems of your appearance seemed at once apparent and embarrassing. To think that this man would see you in such a state, and only because he’d wanted to see you after his release from jail. “Why did you really come, then? Since you knew he wasn’t here. To gloat?”

“The thought did occur to me,” Loki confessed. “I am not often in the position of being the more desirable choice. But,” here his voice turned oddly sincere, “I actually came to ask you to come with me.”

Your mouth fell open. Some of Loki’s usual acerbic amusement returned as he watched you flounder; you could see the faint outlines of his familiar smirk at the corners of his mouth. Finally, you managed a short, “go with you where?”

He shrugged, and started to twist the curtain in between his long, pale fingers. “I don’t know, really.”

“You want me to go somewhere with you without anywhere in mind?”

“I thought we’d figure it out as we went along,” he said. “Travel the galaxies. I cannot return to Asgard and Midgard, of course, is out of the question so long as I do not rule it.”

“You want me to follow you into outerspace?”

Only his silence could tip you off that Loki was actually nervous. He clearly had no idea how you would respond to his suggestion–which was by falling into a nearby chair to gape at him.

“You want me to leave my family?” you asked.

“They live far away and hardly talk to you.”

“And my job?”

“That you’ve never liked. We’re both aware.”

“And my best friend?”

“She spends most of her time visiting mosques in India with her boyfriend,” Loki said with a dismissive flick of his hand. “Besides, there’s no rule to say we can’t come back to visit her every so often. I have no objection. She seems a sensible enough woman.”

“And you want me to leave them all,” you went on as though you couldn’t hear him, “for you, a man I haven’t seen in years because he was in prison.”

Once more, Loki said nothing. His green eyes peered into yours with unreadable depths, just as they had the unfortunate day you had returned home after to work to find your injured pigeon friend gone and a strange man eating all of the meat out of your fridge in its place. You could remember, too, the feel of that man’s skin against yours, the heat of his lips on your neck, the sound of his low voice in your ear–and Jared complaining, always complaining, about how much time you spent with that damn bird.

You buried your face in your hands. “I can’t do it, Loki. I can’t.”

You waited to hear him leave again, to hear the glass move and the rush of the storm and the flutter of wings. None came. All that did was one soft word:

“Please.”

“Huh?”

When you looked up, Loki was right above you. His hands gripped the chair arms at your sides with enough force to make them whiter than ever–but his eyes were not on yours anymore.

“Please,” he said, “I don’t want to lose you, too.”

Another move without thinking or warning: You gently touched his other cheek.

Loki’s eyes closed for a half second before he moved one hand to hold your wrist there. “I have already lost my father, my mother, my home. My own brother has thrust me unceremoniously from both realms I sought to rule. And then to hear that I would lose you, too, to an oaf like that Jared.”

No one could say that Loki losing all of this wasn’t entirely his fault. He had decided to lead an alien invasion into Earth, to try murdering several members of his mentioned family, and to seduce young Earth women under the guise of hurt animals. But part of Loki’s charm was that he never failed to make one doubt that he could be better, maybe, if you only let him try.

“I’m sorry,” you said sincerely. A sincere apology didn’t mean your mind was changed, however, and this, also, Loki knew.

“Do you want me to beg?” he asked. “I am no longer a stranger to begging.”

With that, Loki slid to the wooden floor before you. Stranger or no, it was positive it wasn’t a position he relished being in, what with how stiff his hands were around yours when he made to hold them. He swallowed, took a deep breath, and began:

“I know I am asking a lot. But I, too, have lost a family, a job, and my closest friends. I would not ask you to come with me if I did not intend on paying you pack ten times in kind. If you will allow me to take you with me, I know I can make you happier than you would be here. Together we will find some place to call our own, and you shall be my queen. So please,” he said, “please let me keep one last thing that I love. Don’t make me leave you behind, too.”

It wasn’t the prettiest speech you had ever heard come out of his mouth, but it was probably the most honest. You gave him a tiny smile as you squeezed his hands in return. “A queen, huh?”

Loki smirked. “Or a comfortable, quiet living, depending on what we find, and how thorough Thor is in seeking me out. At least we could be comfortable and quiet for a little while.”

“Can’t imagine that’s going to last long with you around.”

“With you around to look after me, though…”

That got you to laugh. “Oh, yes, I’m sure I’d do a wonderful job making sure you didn’t get into any trouble. I did such a good job before.”

Some of the color returned to Loki’s features. He was starting to hope. Against your better judgement, so were you. A couple of things, however, remained to bother you:

“What if you came here and Jared and I were married?” you asked.

“Then I would have had to resort to kidnapping.”

“And how did you even know I was getting married today to begin with?”

He smiled his Cheshire smile, and that was when you knew you were truly lost. “You really ought to stop talking to the birds on your fire escape. You never know which one would be willing to pass information off in exchange for a couple of peanuts.”

“Oh, and you stalk me. What part of this deal doesn’t sound good?”

“None of it, I should hope.” Standing, Loki kept one hand firmly around one of yours. “We should go, you realize. Unless you want to say your goodbyes?”

You thought of your parents blustering about how you dared to invite both of them to your wedding. You thought of the forlorn apartment you shared with a man that had never really loved you for you. You thought of Aliyah and her instance that Jared would never be good enough for you. You thought of the awkward explanation that would be expected as soon you set foot outside that door–and you grinned.

“Not a chance.”

“Then I believe,” he said, and abruptly pulled you into his arms in an obvious parody of carrying a bride before pushing the window open with his boot, “we have a few errands to go on before we get on our way.”

“Like what?”

“Unless you plan to live the rest of our lives with nothing but multiple blenders,” he began, but was not able to finish over your sudden laughter and the return of the torrent outside.

You latched your hands behind his neck as he dove back into the rain. There were stars somewhere above those clouds, and you would be visiting them soon enough–them and endless other realms. Maybe eloping with a man that could turn into a pigeon wasn’t the best miracle there ever was on Midgard, but it pulled off the most important trick of them all: Against all odds, you lived happily ever after.