A Little Bit of Happy

Hello, my friends!

I don’t often talk about my father. Not because we don’t get along, we get along just fine, but I never quite know what’s up with him. He’s rather quiet, he’s a writer, and sits in the basement writing a lot of the time. There are a few issues that I have with my mother that I’ve never been quite sure of his opinion on, but I’ve never really asked. He kinda scares me sometimes. I get my berserk-ness in part from him, though he’s a stoic and is really good at not Hulking out and getting all smashy at everything. A while ago he asked me to design a logo for one of the ships in his series. I did, I actually designed two, and he/his fans liked my original design better than what he asked for. The book it’s used in came out last Wednesday while I wasn’t looking and I’ve been reading it for most of the day.

One of those issues I mentioned is my trans-ness. It’s something my mother talks at me about often, with me listening and trying to be understanding and not get all ‘splainy about stuff with her. She’s trying to understand, I know she is, and I know she’s got her own weird collection of baggage in the gender/gender role department that needs sorting out but she’s refusing to look at, but my good gods does she ever miss the point sometimes. So I know where she stands with it. Somewhere along the lines of, “I can see why people do it but not how My Child is like that.” Which is why I try not to talk about it with her. Ever. By extension, I’ve always been a little afraid of bringing it up to my dad.

The two main characters in this most recent book commission an artist named Erik James for the design of their company logo.

That pretty much answers that question for me.

I’m actually a little surprised that I managed to read through my initials appearing on the page through the whole interaction with my Solar Clipper Universe self, and continued on for a good two or three chapters, without crying. I still haven’t cried. I’m either too tired to—having spent the last two days non-stop working on what may be my best artistic work to date, along with having Val writing his story and what he knows of mine—or I’m too happy. There’s always something gratifying about having an identity you worked hard to grasp, yourself, and work to make align with yourself, be acknowledged, reinforced, and supported by someone in public. Moreso if you’re related to that person.

So, I’m happy. Really, truly happy. I might cry later, I might not.

It is the runic half-month of Gefu/Gebo right now, so the whole gift-for-a-gift thing is strong where I’m sitting. I’ve had a lot of wyrd come to fruition in the past few days, including learning a bit more about Val, putting together an awkward “Loki’s Radio Station” playlist for shits and giggles, the Erik James thing, and going out to lunch with Bran for the first time in a while. Which leads me to this:

“Silliness at a Bar in Midgard” Featuring Bran dressed as Sherlock Holmes, me with my face scar from a couple lifetimes ago, and Loki channeling Tom Hiddleston.

I swear, this was all his idea. And Loki’s. I suspect he had a lot to do with it too. Also, Val has his first fangirl, which we both find amusing.

The story behind this is that while Bran and I were at lunch, the song “Need You Tonight” by INXS came on the radio, and we both started picturing this scene. At first it was just Loki dancing on the table, but then I added Val(they have a history, which I didn’t know until recently, although Loki has history with more people than I have ever met in my life so I probably shouldn’t have been surprised; Val has a Type and Loki fits it) and Frey, and then he suggested that Lucifer would be staring in bemusement and Hermes would be completely oblivious. There was talk about Thor and Gangr(Val’s dad and someone Bran has more than a little involvement with, and not in that way) arm-wrestling and getting drunk off their backsides, but I didn’t want to put it in the picture because it would have been too crowded. Then my writer-friend volunteered to be the “busty barwench,” in her words, and…*gestures* This masterpiece happened!

A gift for a gift. For all the happiness these guys and Sarah bring into my life, for all the crazy and wonderful ideas that Bran gives me, and for all the times I’ve provided sanctuary in the midst of the shit flying around behind the scenes. I love these guys. And I appreciate every single one of my online friends just as much as my in-person friends, so, in honor of that, I say this:

Enjoy Loki’s ass.