Final Author's Note

*Okay, I had some issues finding inspiration for writing a normal author's note for you guys. And then this happened. It contains all of my final words and concerns about the end of the story, along with being… fun, I think. So… here we are. My Final Author's Note.

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I sit at a desk, hands folded on the wood before me as I stare at two empty chairs across from me. They're late. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. It's not like they follow anyone's rules. Not even their author's.

I look up as I hear footsteps, and someone walks in.

"About smegging time," I hiss at Loki as he gives me a disinterested look. He makes no response to my smoldering glare as he saunters in and sinks into one of the unoccupied chairs across from me. I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him. He offers only a smirk in response to my obvious frustration. "Well, where were you?" I demand.

He sighs. "Why, avoiding this little get-together, of course. What else?"

I sigh and rub my forehead. "Brilliant. Both of you are late. Where's Emmie, anyway?"

"I don't know. I don't care," he says flippantly, leaning his head on his hand boredly.

I shake my head and put a hand to my forehead. "Why do I have to deal with such impossible characters? I told you to be here directly after the epilogue. And are you? No. You have to freaking make the readers wait to find out what it's all about here."

"Well, you are the author here…" Loki rolls his eyes.

We both look up at the sound of more footsteps outside, and another figure enters.

"There you are," I spit at Emmie as she flounces in like she owns the place. She just grins deviously and flips her hair over her shoulder before dropping into the chair next to Loki.

"Hey," she mutters to him with a devilish smirk.

He barely spares her a glance as he replies, "Mmh. Hello, Emmie."

Then both of them look at me. My face is blank, but my jaw is clenched, and my eyes spark with irritation.

"So… what exactly are we here for?" Emmie sighs as she picks up a pen from the desk and begins flipping it over and under each finger lazily.

"My final author's note," I hiss. "I told you to be here right after the epilogue, didn't I?"

Loki and Emmie glance at each other and just shrug.

I roll my eyes. "Well, we're already almost four hundred words into this, and we haven't gotten down to the point."

"Which would be…?" Loki raises a single eyebrow at me in question.

"The end of Twisted Minds Think Alike," I huff. "And the final author's note. We're supposed to be telling everyone how much we appreciate the support and encouragement and stuff, right?"

Emmie looks unimpressed at the idea. "Eh… gratitude and appreciation isn't really our—" she cuts herself off with a furtive glance at Loki. "Ahem. My style."

Loki smirks at her slip-up. "Mmhmm. Not my style, either. We can go with sarcasm, if you like… You know." He clears his throat, and in a grand voice dripping with disdain, condescension, and arrogance, he says, "I wish to thank all the absolutely stupendous readers of this story. It's simply a privilege to do this for you, and I'm so humbled that you condescend to read about my minute glory."

By this point, I am fuming as I glare at him, but Emmie is covering her mouth to hide a snicker.

"Well-spoken, Loki," Emmie comments in an overly-dignified manner. She then clears her throat and speaks with mock-solemnity. "I beg the indulgence of the brilliant people reading this… and I offer my deepest and most sincere appreciation to you."

I scowl at the two of them as they continue snobbishly "thanking" the readers of the story. "You guys are not being funny," I snap. "I'm serious. Without the readers, I wouldn't have finished the story… in fact, I probably would have just left it halfway through, abandoned, and you two would have been forever stuck in angsty desire!" I slap my palm on the table and glare daggers at them.

Loki looks unconvinced. "Uh huh. Aren't we forever stuck in angsty desire? I mean, you left us in kind of an ambiguous position, didn't you?"

Emmie slaps her palm to her forehead and groans. "Oh, my freaking god… Loki, don't you see what this means?"

Loki glances at her. "What?"

"This means she's probably planning a sequel," Emmie moans like a fifteen-year-old who's just been told she can't go out to the movies on Friday.

Loki crinkles his nose. "Oh, bloody fantastic…" he glances at me. "Is that true?"

I smirk deviously. "Yeah. There's probably going to be a sequel to Twisted Minds Think Alike."

They both sigh in unison.

"Great. Just one more thing to look forward to," Emmie mutters.

"When's it going to be posted?" Loki asks, sounding resigned.

I clear my throat and twiddle my fingers. "Not sure yet. I've got other stuff I need to be working on in the meantime."

Loki grumbles something about "stupid teenage American, defiling my story in multiple alternate universes…"

Emmie just snickers at his reaction. "At least I'm only stuck in one…"

"About that!" I say in triumph, brightening up again.

Loki and Emmie both snap their attention to me.

"So, I was thinking about posting a collection of random oneshots involving you guys," I say conversationally.

"Oneshots," they say flatly in unison.

"Yes, oneshots," I proclaim. "A bunch of random little stories, just for entertainment's sake? I was going to have one with Thor and Odin and Frigga and Hill and the rest of the Avengers and Fury finding out about your guys' scars… and then Fairyfinder left a review saying she wanted to see how Emmie would have reacted to seeing the Hulk smash you, Loki, and—"

"The Hulk smashed him?!" Emmie shrieks with laughter. "That's it. You've got to write it. I am dying to see that. I give you full permission to write a collection of Loki and me in oneshots."

Loki blushes brightly and frowns at Emmie, muttering something about "terrible idea" and "stupid author" and "not funny."

I smile. "Well. I'll think about it. I've got to see what the readers think of the idea of a collection of oneshots. If I post it, though, I'll probably be calling it 'Scarred for Life.'"

Loki rolls his eyes. "Oh, you're pun-ny. Hilarious."

"I thought so," I say haughtily. "Anyways. Back to the idea of a sequel."

"Any idea what it's gonna be called?" Emmie asks in a business-like tone.

"Actually, yeah. Sort of," I say slowly. "I wanted to sort of leave it up to the readers… but I want to stay with a twisting a common proverb theme. You guys have any ideas?"

They both look thoughtful.

"All's Twisted in Love and War?" Emmie suggests. "From all's fair in love and war?"

"How about Absence Makes the Heart Grow Twisted?" Loki adds. "From absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Soon ideas are being flung at me like Emmie flings daggers.

"No Rest for the Twisted!"

"That's lame, Loki. How 'bout What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Twisted?"

"And you think my idea was lame? Honestly. Let's see… A Twisted Beginning Makes a Twisted End."

"Screw you, Loki. Uh… Twisted Things Please Twisted Minds."

"One Twisted Turn Deserves Another."

"No Honor Among the Twisted!"

"What about simply Twisting the Truth?"

I blink at them blankly. "Uhm…"

They muse for a moment more, but don't seem to have any more brilliant ideas.

"Well, then. I've given you some fantastic title options," Loki says arrogantly. "And Emmie's given you some mediocre ones. So which are you going to use?"

I rub my chin in thought. "Well… I think I'll ask the readers. They can just leave a review, and I'll go off of what they think the title should be. Cool?"

They look shocked.

"How can you put so much faith in the readers, anyway?" Emmie asks scornfully.

I sigh and shake my head. "You guys don't get it.. my readers are actually really awesome. Heck, wait a second. Your readers are really awesome. They're reading your story. You should show them a little more respect."

Both Loki and Emmie scoff and snort at the suggestion.

My eyes narrow at them. "You two are impossible. You haven't even really interacted much with the readers, have you?"

Emmie and Loki glance at each other.

"No… that'd be breaking the fourth wall. You've made it very clear we're not supposed to do that," Emmie reminds me.

I shrug. "Okay, you're not supposed to break the fourth wall, I'll admit, but I think the whole idea of this author's note has, like… taken a sledgehammer to the fourth wall. So I think for once it's okay. So…" I hesitate for a second. "You guys really don't have any kind of appreciation for the readers, do you?"

Loki and Emmie glance at each other again and slowly shake their heads.

"Aren't they a bunch of… imbeciles?" Loki asks slowly.

My mouth drops open, "Heck no! They're awesome!"

Both of them jump a little at my outburst.

"I'm not sure I believe you," Emmie asserts boldly. "How do you even know they're awesome?"

I open my mouth to respond, and then just shake my head. "Here… give me just a second." I open up my laptop and quickly log onto the site, pulling up Reviews for Twisted Minds Think Alike. "Just… here. I'm putting it all the way to the back, so you can start at the reviews people left when the story first started, and then see what people said as the story progressed."

I push the laptop towards them, and they both lean forward, giving each other awkward glares as the god of mischief and Mastermind Murderess have to scoot a little closer to look.

"Holy crap," Emmie mutters as she looks at the screen. "A hundred twenty-nine reviews?"

I nod. "And that's before I post the last few chapters… there's a hundred twenty-nine reviews while the first nineteen chapters are up. There's probably gonna be more once I post the last chapter, epilogue, author's note, and the soundtrack. But read them."

Emmie takes control of the touchpad mouse and scrolls through the reviews as she and Loki scan the reviews.

Emmie smirks. "Aww… this one said I'm such a badass character…"

Loki grins. "Someone else called you a little shit, Emmie."

Emmie snickered. "That's cuz I am, genius. Actually, not a bad observation… Yeah, I'm okay with being called a little shit."

Loki smiles faintly. "That one says she appreciates how I don't go soft… and my character development is amazing…"

Emmie's eyebrows rise. "Hey, here it says that someone thinks your development in this fic is even better than in the movie!"

Loki scoffs. "Not possible. But I appreciate the compliment, I suppose. This one says our relationship and the story as a whole is really dynamic… that's a good one. And this one said that we take emotions to a deeper level…"

"Hey, here are the reviews people left when the story got discontinued!" Emmie peers at the screen. Her green eyes sparkle with mischief. "Ha! Someone said they were in tears!"

"Another person said they were in tears with happiness when you announced you'd be continuing it again," Loki observes with a crooked smile.

I smile with pride in my readers as I see Loki and Emmie's aloof and hardhearted expressions soften as they read the praise of their story. I sit silently for several minutes as they read through all one hundred twenty-nine reviews.

Then they sit silently for a few minutes, staring at the screen even though they've run out of reviews to read. Emmie lets out a shuddering breath and turns the laptop back towards me, pushing it across the desk for me to take.

"Still think the readers are imbeciles?" I challenge haughtily.

They say nothing..

I smile triumphantly. "See? They're awesome people. I really, really, really love them. They're… great."

Emmie bites her lip, and Loki rubs the back of his neck half-embarrassedly.

I smile softly now. "They love you guys. They've been wondering about the idea of a sequel since, like… halfway through the story. That's why I wanna do more. So you guys had better quit complaining about it. And yes, we're going to listen to the readers about whether we're going to post Emoki oneshots, and what they think the sequel title should be. Fair enough?"

Loki sniffs once, then quickly clears his throat to cover it up. Emmie runs her hand over her eyes as inconspicuously as she can manage. Their voices are slightly choked as they mutter out their assent.

I blink slowly as a smile creeps across my face. "Are you guys… crying…? Were the reviews so touching to you guys that you're crying?"

"No!" they shout in unison, though their eyes are still filled with water and color stains their cheeks.

"What's going on in here?" another figure pokes his head into the room.

I turn and give Tony Stark a warning look. "Hey. You're not supposed to be here at the moment. We're finishing up the final author's—"

"Oh, my god, is Emoki crying?!" Stark fangirls, leaping the rest of the way into the room.

"I just made them read the reviews," I explain. "Because they didn't believe me when I said the readers are great and deserve a sequel."

"Ooh! Have you told them what's happening in the sequel?" Stark asks excitedly. "Cuz I'm actually pretty impressed with the whole part with Emmie—"

I jump out of my chair and tackle Tony. "Hush thyself, Man of Iron!" I shout, slapping my hand over the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist's mouth. "No spoilers! Everyone else is finding out just as the characters, readers, and I find out!" I scramble up and give Tony a dark look.

He stands up and straightens his clothes. "Jeez… okay, got it."

Emmie and Loki's interest is piqued, though, and they look at Tony with wide eyes.

"What's impressive?" Emmie demands, leaning over the armrest of the chair and narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

Tony glances at me and mimes zipping his lips. "Evidently I can't tell you. But I'm telling you…" he winks at Emmie and Loki both. "You guys are soooo in for it…"

"What?! What happens?! Why? What are we in for?! Is it bad?!" Emmie and Loki start shouting in panic and worry.

"Everyone shut up!" I shout, waving my arms. They fall silent and look at me. "Okay, honestly. You guys…" I shake my head.. "Okay. Emmie, Loki, you're going to have to wait to see what happens. And Tony, you're not even supposed to know about the sequel yet! How do you-?"

He interrupts me with a snort and a wave of his hand. "I'm a genius, right? I was just trolling around through your laptop file folders, you know, cruising through Battle of Wits stuff, and the Naoki oneshots, and zooming around through Banditry, and checking out the Misadventures of the Avengers you've got lined up—"

"Is that why my next chapter of April's Fools went AWOL and I couldn't update it Wednesday?" I interrupt suspiciously.

"Mebbe. Point being I hopped from your Road to Asgard files over to the Twisted Minds Think Alike documents, and I stumbled upon your tidbits for the sequel," Tony grins. "I don't know about you two…" he points at a still-slightly-frightened Emmie and Loki. "But I can't wait."

I roll my eyes. "Smeghead… anyways. What are you even doing here, Stark?"

He smiles brightly. "Ah, yeah. Just wanted to tell you I finished up the Emoki Soundtrack, so that's ready to post as soon as you wrap it up here." He gestures again to Emmie and Loki.

I sigh and nod. "Right. So… where were we?"

"Sequel and appreciation and oneshots and soundtrack?" Loki suggests.

I nod and seat myself again, folding my hands on the desk with as much aplomb as I can muster. "Right… okay. God, I don't know what came over me to make my final author's note like this…"

"I thought it was pretty genius," Tony puts in brightly.

"I think it's weird," Emmie observes.

"I think all of you are weird," Loki says disdainfully.

"Point being," I interrupt. "That we need to get this very odd excuse for an author's note back on track. So… yeah. We've already hit the main points, I think… we've made our announcement about the possibility of a oneshot collection… everyone who reviews is gonna have to put in their two cents on that…"

"They've got to support it," Emmie grins wickedly. "I wanna see Loki get smashed by the Hulk…"

"And then we made the notice about the sequel…" I continue, ignoring Emmie. "And the reviewers can leave their thoughts as to which of the ones you guys listed off would be a good title…"

"I still like Absence Makes the Heart Grow Twisted. And Twisting the Truth."

"No one cares what you like, Loki," Emmie sniffs scornfully. "I still like All's Twisted in Love and War, and What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Twisted."

"Twisted proverbs?" Tony asks. "Did you think of No Rest for the Twisted? And Twisted Things Please Twisted Minds? What about-?"

"They already thought of them, Tony," I cut him off abruptly. "Anyways. Yeah. What else did we need to cover? Ah, yeah. Soundtrack… I guess I'll post that right after we're done here. You didn't sneak any AC/DC on there, did you, Tony?" I ask suspiciously.

"No," Stark pouts. "You wouldn't let me."

"Couldn't find any of their songs to really fit any specific chapters," I dismiss. "Hmm." I rub my chin. "Was there anything else…?"

"Were you going to tell everyone where you got the inspiration for me?" Emmie asks curiously.

"What was the inspiration for you?" Loki and Tony ask in unison.

Emmie and I share a wry look.

"Uh… here," I say slowly, grabbing my laptop again and tapping a few buttons. "It's the fic 'Guideline To Living With The Avengers,' by szynka2496. Here. You guys can read it. It's… Rule # 103."

Loki and Tony lean in to read Rule # 103 of Guideline To Living With The Avengers, the inspiration for Emmie's entire character, and basically the basis for Twisted Minds Think Alike…

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Rule #103

I'm not allowed to bake ginger bread men anymore

(While the ginger bread men were still in the oven, I turned around and said: "The little men like to be on fire)

(And then proceed to laugh manically)

(Even Loki was slightly creep out)

(Needless to say my mentality was tested)

(I passed)

(Tony couldn't believe it)

(The others enjoyed some ginger bread men)

00000

The two men draw away from the screen and blink blankly.

"That's… the inspiration for Emmie?" Loki asks slowly. "That right there… is the inspiration for…" he points a finger at Emmie. "That?!"

I smile. "Yeah… that is directly from the Guideline. By szynka2496. And my mind turned a rule from the point of view of a really funny and good OC into my very differently funny and considerably less good OC. But… yeah. That's what Emmie came from."

Tony and Loki exchange disbelieving looks.

Emmie just smirks. "Yeah. And somehow people can appreciate me. It's… kind of cool. And… I appreciate all the support they gave throughout the story." She gives me a small sheepish smile. "Since we still need to properly… thank the readers for the fantastic support," Emmie says in an almost-shy voice as she ducks her head.

Loki shifts awkwardly in his chair, avoiding my eyes. "Yes… I think that's a little important," he mumbles softly.

I grin in triumph again. Tony opens his mouth to make some snide remark at their displays of appreciation, but I give him a warning look and draw a finger across my throat to signify my killing him if he says a word.

I clear my throat. "So… anything in particular you guys wanna say…?"

Loki glances up at me briefly before sighing and looking up at the ceiling. "Well… after reading all the reviews… I would like to say that, indeed, I have some respect for the people who have supported this story through to the end… and I suppose… I appreciate it all… And…" he clears his throat. "Thank you," he says under his breath as he fidgets slightly. "Because I don't think we would have made it this far without you." As soon as he finishes speaking, he straightens and shoots death glares at the rest of us in the room. I hide my smile behind my hand, Tony pretends to wipe a tear from his eye, and Emmie just pointedly looks away.

"Emmie?" I prompt with a slight smile, though I discreetly hold it back.

"Um… yeah. I just would like to… ah… ahem. Thank everyone for accepting me here. You know, I kinda thought…" she pauses again and sighs. "Well, I'm not the typical OC, so I kinda… well, was afraid I wouldn't be really all that… hmm… liked? I know it's kind of stupid," she adds quickly, looking up to glare at us. "But then, the actual inspiration for me was really stupid, too…"

"But funny," I add.

Emmie shrugs. "Yeah…. But still. The readers were a lot of help for encouragement and some inspiration…" she sighs and shrugs. "So… yeah. Thanks," she mumbles.

I nod approvingly. "Good job, guys. I'm proud of you."

"Shut up," they say together.

"So… is that all?" I ask, peering around at them. "So… oneshots collection, thanks a lot, sequel title, soundtrack up next, and the really weird inspiration for Emmie?"

"What about that other review about fan art?" Tony asks. "if-inconvenient-come-anyways was wondering if there was any fan art for the story, right?"

I nod approvingly. "Right… well, there isn't any fan art as of now, but it there's anyone who'd be interested in doing fan art, or in making a cover image for the story, then they're free to PM me or something." I smile and look around. "So… I think we're done here."

They nod in assent.

"Good. Then…" I close my laptop and give them a friendly smile. "I suppose I'll be seeing you three in the sequel… and the oneshots, if the readers support that."

"Well, you'll be seeing them a lot sooner," Emmie observes, pointing at Tony and Loki. "What with all the other stories you write with them in it…"

I shrug helplessly. "Yeah. But… well, I'll see all three of you together in the sequel or the oneshots. Cool? Good. Thank you all for being here for the final author's note, and I'll see you soon enough."

I stand up, and Loki and Emmie stand, too. Both of them hold out their hands for me to shake, but instead of shaking their hands, I go around the desk and pull them into a hug for all three of us. Loki and Emmie mutter something under their breath and don't hug me back, barely even tolerating my affection.

"Group hug!" Tony announces mischievously, joining in and wrapping his arms around me, Emmie, and Loki.

"Tony! Seriously! Leave us alone! Go away! No one loves you!" Loki and Emmie protest loudly.

"Hey! Be nice!" I order. "But come on, we've got to end the author's note."

Tony lets go, releasing us from the hug.

"Good," I mutter. "Any last words for the readers?"

"Smiling cats riding elephants while yaks open umbrellas?" Emmie suggests.

"Rude," I scold. "How about just a quick little goodbye?"

"Fine. Bye," Emmie rolls her eyes. "See you when this idiot makes a sequel," she jabs her thumb at me.

"Yes…" Loki sighs. "See you all then, I suppose."

We look to Tony and see that he is blowing kisses and waving. "Goodbye! I'll never forget you! And you there! Yes, I'm talking to you! I love you with all of my… arc reactor!"

"Okay, that's enough," I shake my head. "See you all soon. And we'd appreciate reviews… and all that good stuff. Thanks to you all for the support and encouragement, and let me know about all the stuff addressed in the strangest author's note I've ever concocted… and do you think making an author's note this way is even a good idea…? I don't know… but thanks to everyone."

00000

*The following is added on to the above author's note about seven months after it was originally posted.

I drum my fingers on the desk and look morosely at Loki and Emmie, who sit across from me, looking sullen.

"Well, get on with it," I urge.

"You're the author," Emmie complains. "Can't you make the announcements of the advancements of Emoki?"

"No," I say petulantly. "It's your guys' story. Tell the readers what's happened since we first finished the story. Then any new readers can know what's going on in Emoki."

Loki and Emmie huff in unison.

"Fine," Loki grumbles. "Since the above author's note was posted…" He pauses and looks at the cue cards I had given to him and Emmie before we started this. "Emoki has been up to quite a lot." He hands the cards to Emmie so she can take a turn.

Emmie rolls her eyes and reads out flatly and expressionlessly. "We're happy to tell any new readers that the collection of oneshots starring us has been posted, and new oneshots are still being added upon request and inspiration." She pulls a face. "Oh, yeah, Loqi with a Q. Inspirational stuff we get."

I sigh and yank the cards out of her hands, handing them to Loki again.

"The oneshot collection is titled Scarred for Life, and you should check it out for more Emoki."

Emmie yanks the cards out of Loki's hands again and reads out, "Also, a title has been selected by democratic votes tallied from the reviews of this story. Absence Makes the Heart Grow Twisted will be the sequel for Twisted Minds Think Alike…"

"And if a third story is added to the series after Absence is published, it will be called No Rest for the Twisted," Loki finishes. "But Absence Makes the Heart Grow Twisted is still in the works, and the first chapter has yet to be published."

"And on a less business-like tone," I smile and say. "Emoki is now also being referred to as Cold-Blooded Murder by some fans—check out Scarred for Life to see why. We're also up to 176 reviews as I publish the edited version of Twisted Minds, and we all appreciate the support. Right?" I look pointedly at my main characters.

"Yes…" Emmie and Loki groan reluctantly.

"Good," I smile. "Now then, the next chapter is still the soundtrack, and you are still encouraged to check out my other stories, and especially Scarred for Life if you're still hungry for more Emoki."

"Cole-Blooded Murder," the two correct me immediately.

I snicker. "Alright, you guys. Thank you all again, and I'll see you around!"