#do i know what i'm doing?

[shrikeclangen]

[what-eats-owls]

Occasionally I get asked about my outlining process, which is probably more than a little overwrought, but certainly easier to explain with visuals. I've shared this guide on twitter and insta, so I'm adding it here too, and hopefully there's something useful in it for you!

[gumnut-logic]

Óen (Part 3)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Thunderbirds Are Go and HTTYD crossover.

Here is the next bit. sorry we haven't gotten to the meat of this fic yet, but we are nearly there :D

Again, thank you to @onereyofstarlight and @idontknowreallywhy for all their support on this project ::hugs them both tight::

Have a little foot :D

-o-o-o-

“Hey, are you awake?”

The voice was a young one.

“Máthair, he’s waking up!”

There was a scuttle of feet beside him and Hiccup pushed his eyes open just in time to see a young boy grabbing an elderly woman and dragging her towards Hiccup.

Wha-?

The room was dark, but warm. A central fire snaked smoke out through a chimney in the roof and oil lamps decorated the walls, bathing the large room in yellow light. Beyond the old woman and the boy, there were beds laid out like the spokes on a wagon wheel around the central fire. Some had people in them.

Hiccup was in one of them.

“So you’ve decided to wake up, young man.”

Hiccup blinked up at her. “Where am I?”

“O’Treasaigh Isle, some would call it. You can call it a safe place.”

It took him a moment. “Toothless!” He sat up, ready to jump out of bed…

If only the lamps would stop spinning.

A small hand landed on his shoulder. “Now let that be a lesson to you. You can’t expect your body to appreciate what you’ve done to it. Give it some time to heal.”

“But Toothless-“

“You need not worry about your dragon. Virgil is giving him the care he needs.” She tilted her head just a little. “Though I do find it interesting that I know the name of your dragon and not you.”

His brain must be slow. “You ride dragons!”

“Interesting name, I must say.”

“No. No, no, my name is Hiccup.” He drew in a breath. “It’s true? You care for dragons.”

“A young Viking, then. You are far from home.” She began touching him. A finger on his wrist, his throat. She peered into both of his eyes, opened his mouth and stared down his throat. “You were as exhausted as your dragon. But I’m happy that the elements haven’t taken too much from you. Drink up and you will be well soon.” She pointed at a wooden cup on a table beside the bed.

“What is it?”

“Health. Drink it.” She reached over and handed it to him.

The young boy beside her screwed up his face.

Not particularly encouraging.

He sipped the drink, cautiously.

By Thor, it was worse than Astrid’s yak nog.

The woman’s blue eyes stared at him unblinking until he was able to force that sip down his throat.

His stomach immediately started a rebellion.

“I know it doesn’t taste the best, dear, but it will help.”

Make death look more promising maybe.

“Uh, thank you.”

“Your getting well will be my thanks.”

“When can I see Toothless?” As if they could stop him.

“Once you drink all of that, Alan here can take you to Virgil.”

What’s left of him maybe. He looked down at the brown muck in the cup and started building strategies to hide its demise.

Máthair stood up. “Alan will stay with you. Let him know if you feel ill and he will alert me.” She smiled. “Be well, Hiccup. While I go and chase your saviour and get him off that leg. Take note, young one, treat your body with respect and it will treat you well. Don’t work it to death like an idiot.”

She gathered her skirts and hurried off, muttering to herself.

Someone was in trouble.

Hiccup was glad it wasn’t him.

“Are you really a Viking?”

He turned to…Alan? The boy seemed just a little younger than Hiccup himself. Blue eyes were definitely a thing here, though.

“Yes, from Berk.”

“Wow. Never heard of it. How did you get a night fury?”

“Uh…”

“Scott has taken me up on Óen. He’s soooo fast. Do you think yours is as fast as Óen? It would be interesting to find out. They could have a race!”

“Uh…”

“Once he gets better, of course.”

“Toothless? How is he? Where is he?” Hiccup dumped the cup of gross on the side table and dragged his legs off the bed and onto the floor.

“Um, Máthair Chriona said you needed to drink that.”

“I need to see Toothless.”

Alan sighed. “Listen, I know it tastes like foot, but honestly? Máthair is a very good healer. She trained at the Temple. You need this. Drink it and we can go to your dragon.”

Hiccup eyed him. Young and eager, but there was something in the boy’s eyes that spoke of experience.

There was no naivety there.

Hiccup picked up the cup. Goethi had given him concoctions in the past. Especially after losing his leg. All sorts of foul smelling and gross things.

But this one?

He straightened his shoulders. He was a Viking with Thor at his back.

He sculled the drink.

His eyes crossed several times and his stomach lit on fire, but he got it down. There were several moments where it threatened to revisit all over the blanket covering his legs, but…

He sagged just a little as the tension left his shoulders and a wave of wellbeing washed over him.

By the time he put the empty cup back on the side table, he felt so much better.

“See?”

“What is that?”

“Good stuff. Total secret, of course. Máthair keeps the lore. I just wish we could mix it with something to hide the foot.”

Hiccup pushed himself to his feet and was happy to find the world not spinning and nothing aching more than it should. “Can you take me to Toothless?”

“Sure. Follow me.”

-o-o-o-

Next

[fuzzysocksstuff]

[sunshinebingo]

Even Lovers Drown -

Chapter 8

Synopsis: Sirens are known to be merciless creatures who lure their prey with their ethereal voices.

But what happens when Gwyneth, a half Fae half siren, meets someone who is immune to her song? Maybe she doesn't need it for him to want her.

Read on Ao3

Snippet:

The shadows sighed in contentment as they lazily floated between them. Azriel did know if he had ever heard them do that for anything or anyone but her. They understood as much as him how different this situation was from everything he had ever experienced before. The only times he had ever been this close to a female had either been as a deception for his work or for sex. Yet even with the latter, it had never been like this. More than that, nothing had ever made him feel like this. He wondered for a second if he was still asleep.

Tag list (let me of you want to be added/removed): @shadowsxgwynriel @iambutmortal @trashforazriel @hlizr50 @headcanonheadcase @hiimheresworld @freyjas-musings @starfall-spirit @captain-of-the-gwynriel-ship @sv0430

[ghostfartooo]

[bookwyrminspiration]

“What’s on your mind, Foster?” “Pockets.” “We seriously need to get you some real hobbies.”

and other serious scenes from the build up to the final confrontation of my wings au :)

[ploncc]

you can nalbind/loop a square, but the question is why.

I thought I had answered this by wanting to make a sweater out of squares, but you know, with nalbinding instead of knitting or crochet, because that's the only needlework of this kind my monkey of a brain has ever been able to grasp since i was fuckin thirteen and trying to work out how you do this when the only proper instructions available to me online assumed i already understood the basics of nalbinding and notation, etc.

but no.

no, you don't understand

it took me between three and four hours to finish off one fuckin square yesterday. it is ridiculous. an incredibly loose oslo stitch too!! one to one connections!! but that fucker took hours to get done!!

and yeah, nalbinding does take an approximate forever, that's what happens when you're nalbinding, especially if you're working with shit acrylic yarn that you have to do russian joins with every ten minutes, and especially if you have, again, an absolute monkey brain like i do, and can and will lose focus at the drop of a hat.

anyways, the squares are now officially going to be pockets, and i am going to do a mammen stitch with proper tension and just make a sweater the usual way, which might also take an approximate forever, but at least i'm not going to have to deal with the sudden realization that i dropped a stitch at the edge and now have to go back, or realize i didn't twist the edge stitch properly and yup, you guessed it, its time to unpick that work too!!!

no no no, now i get to deal with trying to math out how many stitches to take in at the shoulders. yippe ki yay! ough.

[laughingcatwrites]

As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.

For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.

But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.

Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.

[artkaninchenbau]

A h-heartfelt reunion..?

Bonus

[seven-oh-four]

I'm still pretty new to chess, can anyone tell me what I'm supposed to do if my opponent plays the Eight Fucking Bears opening? I'm really having trouble.

[iamanartichoke]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but as a creator -

I am fine with "the audience" -

downloading my fics

printing my fics

copy/pasting or screenshotting my fics

sharing your saved copy of my fics with anyone else who might want them in the unlikely but never impossible case that my fics are no longer available on ao3

making a book of my fic(s) and running your fingers across the pages while lovingly whispering my precioussss

doing these things with anything I create for fandom, such as meta, headcanons, au nonsense like 'texts from the brodinsons,' etc

I am not fine with "the audience"

doing any of the above with the purpose/intent of plagiarizing my work or passing it off as their own in any capacity

feeding my work into ai for any reason whatsoever

Save the fandom things. Preserve the fandom things. Respect the fandom things.

Enjoy the fandom things.

[lazylittledragon]

if i had a nickel for every au spawned from twitter that i SWORE i was going to be normal about

[purplesound]

Neuv with different hairstyles💧

[bixels]

Learning that fans hated Applejack and called her "boring" is crazyyy to me because I genuinely, unironically believe AJ's the most complex character in the main six.

Backstory-wise, she was born into a family of famers/blue collar workers who helped found the town she lives in. She grew up a habitual liar until she had the bad habit traumatized outta her. She lost both her parents and was orphaned at a young age, having to step up as her baby sister's mother figure. She's the only person in the main gang who's experienced this level of loss and grief (A Royal Problem reveals that AJ dreams about memories of being held by her parents as a baby). She moved to Manhattan to live with her wealthy family members, only to realize she'll never fit in or be accepted, even amongst her own family. The earlier seasons imply she and her family had money problems too (In The Ticket Master, AJ wants to go to the gala to earn money to buy new farm equipment and afford hip surgery for her grandma).

Personality-wise, she's a total people-pleaser/steamroller (with an occasional savior complex) who places her self worth on her independence and usefulness for other people, causing her to become a complete workaholic. In Applebuck Season, AJ stops taking care of herself because of her obsessive responsibilities for others and becomes completely dysfunctional. In Apple Family Reunion, AJ has a tearful breakdown because in she thinks she dishonored her family and tarnished her reputation as a potential leader –– an expectation and anxiety that's directly tied to her deceased parents, as shown in the episode's ending scene. In The Last Roundup, AJ abandons her family and friends out of shame because believes she failed them by not earning 1st place in a rodeo competition. She completely spirals emotionally when she isn't able to fulfill her duties toward others. Her need to be the best manifests in intense pride and competitiveness when others challenge her. And when her pride's broken, she cowers and physically hides herself.

Moreover, it's strongly implied that AJ has a deep-seated anger. The comics explore her ranting outbursts more. EQG also obviously has AJ yelling at and insulting Rarity in a jealous fit just to hurt her feelings (with a line that I could write a whole dissection on). And I'm certain I read in a post somewhere that in a Gameloft event, AJ's negative traits are listed as anger.

Subtextually, a lot of these flaws and anxieties can be (retroactively) linked to her parents' death, forcing her to grow up too quickly to become the adult/caregiver of the family (especially after her big brother becomes semiverbal). Notice how throughout the series, she's constantly acting as the "mom friend" of the group (despite everything, she manages to be the most emotionally mature of the bunch). Notice how AJ'll switch to a quieter, calmer tone when her friends are panicking and use soothing prompts and questions to talk them through their emotions/problems; something she'd definitely pick up while raising a child. Same with her stoicism and reluctance at crying or releasing emotions (something Pinkie explicitly points out). She also had a childhood relationship with Rara (which, if you were to give a queer reading, could easy be interpreted as her first 'aha' crush), who eventually left her life. (Interestingly enough, AJ also has an angry outburst with Rara for the same exact reasons as with EQG Rarity; jealous, upset that someone else is using and changing her). It's not hard to imagine an AJ with separation anxiety stemming from her mother and childhood friend/crush leaving. I'm also not above reading into AJ's relationship with her little sister (Y'all ever think about how AB never got to know her parents, even though she shares her father's colors and her mother's curly hair?).

AJ's stubbornness is a symptom of growing up too quickly as well. Who else to play with your baby sister when your brother goes nonverbal (not to discount Big Mac's role in raising AB)? Who else to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your crying baby sister when your grandma needs her rest? When you need to be 100% all the time for your family, you tend to become hard-stuck with a sense of moral superiority. You know what's best because you have to be your best because if you're aren't your best, then everything'll inevitably fall apart and it'll be your fault. And if you don't know what's best –– if you've been wrong the whole time –– that means you haven't been your best, which means you've failed the people who rely on you, which means you can't fulfill your role in the family/society, which makes you worthless . We've seen time and time again how this compulsive need to be right for the sake of others becomes self-destructive (Apple Family Reunion, Sound of Silence, all competitions against RD). We've seen in The Last Roundup how, when no longer at her best, AJ would rather remove herself from her community than confront them because she no longer feels of use to them.

But I guess it is kinda weird that AJ has "masculine" traits and isn't interested in men at all. It's totally justified that an aggressively straight, misogynistic male fandom would characterize her as a "boring background character." /s

At the time of writing this, it's 4:46AM.

[tiny--cryptid]

OK this question has been bugging me all morning so y'all please let me know

bc ours did nd I never thought much of it as a kid but know I'm thinking about it and it feels kinda gross? so pls tell me if this experience was universal or not it will haunt me forever otherwise