#West Coast Hounds

[galtx]

GALTx eNews: Welcome, West Coast Greyhounds!

When “greyt” minds think alike, wonderful things can happen. Six greyhound adoption groups collaborated to arrange two transports for eight greyhounds from the West Coast to Texas. GreySave, Fast Friends Greyhound Adoption, GALT Arizona, GALT, and GALT Central Texas collaborated on the logistics and Southeastern Greyhound Adoption (SEGA) provided a grant to assist with the transport expenses. We thank everyone involved for their hard work and team spirit! 

Six of the eight hounds came from the closure of the Canódromo Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico. Two of the hounds came from the closure of Hemopet near Los Angeles, California (Juniper and Azalea). On August 1, they all boarded their transport vehicle together just north of Los Angeles and traveled their first leg to Tucson where they rested a night with GALT Arizona. The next day, they drove the rest of the way to Dallas, Texas. 

Azalea, Dream, Gretel, and Raider left for Austin on Saturday, the next morning. They will stay with GALT Central Texas to find their forever homes. Juniper, Tracy, Reba, and Randy will remain in Dallas. Juniper is a black gal that is only two years old. She is not tattooed. Tracy is a black girl with 59 races to her credit. She turned three years old in June. Reba is a white and brindle girl who will celebrate her fifth birthday later this month. Randy is a fawn five year old boy who raced 271 races in Florida and Mexico. 

Watch for them to be adoptable after we get to know them better in foster homes and address any medical needs they have. At a minimum, they will each require spay/neuter, vaccinations, and a dental. It all adds up! You can help them on their journey with a gift to our Nitsche Medical Fund! Thank you!

8/8/24

[ex0skeletal-undead]

06 Moddey Dhoo, Inktober 2023 by Andréa Boloch

From the artist: The Moddey Dhoo is a phantom black hound of the Manx folklore that reputedly haunted Peel Castle on the west coast of the Isle of Man. This black dog is described as big as a calf, with long shaggy hair and with eyes like pewter plates.

[sizzlingstarlightsky]

*Let Me Entertain You

Azriel x Reader x Eris

word cound: 1800

cw: smut, porn with plot, anal, deepthroating, voyerism

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Another meeting. Another day of hiding. Azriel has been haunting the halls of the Forest House for the last few months. Avoiding being seen by anyone other than his shadows, his mates, and their hounds.

As well trained as the hounds are, they almost gave him away a few times. He'd been outside with Eris and Y/N on a walk. Blending into the silhouettes of trees and nearby foliage. Azriel would occationally let a shadow or few chase around the puppies.

Lost in the peace of it all, the spymaster was oblivious to one of the guards winnowing up to Eris. Some letter to deliver in his hands. Of course that's precisely the moment a couple pups started barking at their shadow friends. Able to reign the tendrils in, just not fast enough to avoid to color draining from the guards face. Rumors of the grounds being haunted shortly followed but nothing serious was ever done about it. Eris knew, he loved the subtle pandimonium it caused. Sometimes calling a guard or emissary to that spot for, some bullshit reason. The High Lord only wanted a chuckle.

But this wasnt one of those tranquil days of peace. No. Today Azriel is bound to the darkened walls of his mates Throne room. Forced to conceal the love between them.

Eris had no problem introducing Y/N to the court. He reveled in how contagious your laughter and joy were. How effortless it was for you to thaw out the frozen fear Beron plunged the land into. But that's exactly why you two couldnt be tangled up in the High Lords bed that day, creating music only for one anothers ears.

Today Y/N was in one of the villages. Helping them clear land and plot new crops. Making way for farm animals to flourish. Sowing seeds of compassion and hope into the hearts of who you deem 'The most important people in the kingdom'.

"Does anyone have anything INTRESTING before we end? It's been budgets, complaints, and concerns all day. Entertain me" As overlooked as he felt, Az couldn't help but let a small smirk creep into his lips. Eris might be a cocky bitch, but fuck was he beautiful. Esspecially sprawled out over his throne. One leg hanging off the armrest while he files his nails.

The image of himself kneeling before his High Lord, tongue pooling, cock stiffening, arousal heating... fuck. no.

Encasing himself into the darkness he emrges on a back patio of one of their secret cabins within the autumn mountains. The one lost in the North West Mountains being his favorite. Right below the relaxing regidity of the Winter Court and along to coast of the cooling Summer breeze. The air flow between all 3 courts create a jet stream unlike any hes flown in. Flips and spins. Twists and Dips. At the end of the flight, a clean dive into the late Autumn lake in the backyard.

Home.

At least he hoped. Finally a place he feels at peace. No expectations, just harmony. Azriel loves his brothers and sees them often. Grateful of their support towards his mating with both Y/N and Eris. Courts healing, wings spread ready to pave his own path, just to end up tangled in his shadows again.

Eris has been allowing the mask to come undone. It hasn't been an easy journey but slowly those around have been growing fond of their new High Lord. When Beron died and Eris was infused of the generational fire, many feared. They had only known of him to be cruel as his father. It was a challanging time to finally achnowladge the bond between them.

but you... when the bond reveled you as a second mate to both males, everything changed. Eris started relaxing. softening. Others started noticing smiles, laughs, even deep gratitude being clearly pointed their way. Azriel wasn't sure if the courts healing was because the High Lord of fire was settling in chaos or because there was a second flame to balance his intensity out. Help redistribute everything he's kept bottled up for centuries.

but Azriel... he stays hidden away. As if Eris were ashamed to be mated to someone so evil. So hopeless. So untrustworthy. So tainted.

Walking into the Mountainside cabin, avoiding Eris; who must have winnowed in while he was in the lake, Az headed to their bedroom for a dry change of clothes.

"Did your broody little flight not cool you down?"

"Fuck you Eris."

"Oh I know you want to shadowsigner. I could feel you during the meeting. Don't think I dont know what goes on in that pretty little brain of yours."

When Azriel doesn't give Eris the reaction he's looking for, he doubles down, eager to pick a fight with his mate.

"The dive wasn't super crisp today. I give it a 6. no, maybe a 6.9 but that's a bit too generous. Not quite sure if you can handle that." ..nothing.. "I don't know what's gotten into you recently. I know I havent been able to for a few days but I didn't think you'd be this needy while Y/N is awa-" Eris is cut short as his fully overgrown vampire bat rams into him. Pinning him to the cabin wall.

"You think I want to be your dirty secret? The one thing you keep hidden, afraid how others would react once they knew what a disgusting beast you allow into your bed?" Eris knew somethings been bothering his husband, but it's difficult getting the spymaster to open up. To talk about his deeper, darker thought and fears.

"Why are you two agruing now?" Y/N. That beautiful sweet voice breaks the tension in the room for a hot moment. "You know what, I'm not entertaining this right now. I'm going back to the Forest House to drop of paperwork, take a bath, and grab my book."

"Please, don't be fighting anymore when I get back. I'm tired and we havent had an evening to lay outside in one anothers arms in what feels like ages."

"It's been 11 days and 18 hours. 12 days too long." Az corrects. Still with his forarm pressing Eris's throat against the wall and his knee digging into his inner thigh. The High Lord only grinning. Reveling in the frustration of your mate.

"Please Az? Just talk to one another." Placing a jar down on the kitchen counter before Y/N leaves, "I got some more caramel from Marla in Maple Village. I'm gonna make cookies to drizzle it over tonight. So you better not be fighting or I'll eat them all."

A cold breeze broke through the windows once Y/N left. Leaving them alone togther, in darkness and flame.

~~~~~~~~~

Floating in the giant tub of the Forest House, the few words you caught ruminating through your tired head. Allow in your bed. Turning over leaf after leaf of meaning you overthink yourself into believing you weren't loving your husbands equally. Your mates, who have different love languages, diffrerent sleep schedules, different shared intrests. How could you possibly make sure one didnt feel slighted.

With a sigh and a clean body you step out of the draining bath. Drying off and putting on one of Eris's shirts and Azriels sweatpants, you grab your current book and winnow back to your favorite hidden cabin. Ready to make cookies and express your balanced love for both your mates.

"ERIS! Fuck you"

Great. Walking towards the bedroom, the sound of slamming furniture becomes louder. Not knowing what state of distress the bedroom will be in this time, you swing the door open. Only to find Eris balls deep in Azriel pounding the everloving fuck out of his ass.

"I.. oh.. uh sorry. I came in to check you werent throwing furniture at each other."

Eris turns towards you with a shit eating grin. "Sure you did Princess. You know our sounds. And I know by your smell that you're lying." Unshething himself from Az, Er walks over to you, grabbing the book out of your hands in favor of placing it on the table. Leading you towards the bed.

Wimpers fall from the shadowsingers mouth. Songs of desire, lust, and love. "Az here thought I was ashamed of him. That I havent officially introduced him to the court because they'd never accept him."

"What? Az baby that's-"

Tenderly grabbing your cheeks Eris shushes you. "He's fucked out Princess. I explained how I didn't want to pressure him into making his presence known and, well, you know how he gets." Heat building inbetween your legs at the two devilishly handsome males infront of you. Bare. Hung. Marked with passion.

A beat of silence broken by a deep chuckle. "I have an idea Princess. A surefire way to make sure everyone knows I'm not ashamed. Only if you're okay with it?"

"Oh, um" Blushing you remember a conversation a few weeks ago. Different things you wanted to try with one another "yeah fuck it. Now seems as good of a time as ever." Winking to Azriel who's watching you as if he's about to implode.

Before you could process what you agreed to, the three of you are winnowed into the Throne room. Only you clothed.

"Tell me Azriel" sitting on his throne naked, wrapping Azriels neck in a controlled flame collar "what is it you were thinking earlier"

"I thought you knew?" He tried to fight back. Never letting the male have it easy.

A nice tug on the fire leash brings Azriel mouth level with Eris's aching cock. On cue Az opens his mouth, tongue out, drooping all over the High Lords lap.

"Look at the mess you're making. Clean it up" Lowering his head Azriel licks up his spit from Eris's pelvis. Careful not to do anything without the High Lords permission.

"Good boy. Open for me" Placing his finger in Azriels mouth Eris begins to stroke himself. Azriel taking the opprotunity to suck on his husbands thumb.

"Fuck. So good for me. Princess, come here"

"Yes daddy?"

"Don't you agree?"

"Yes daddy." You moan. Humming into your neck Eris bring Azriel wet mouth to the tip of his leaking cock. "Earn your reward"

It's almost as if his shadows possessed him. A switch was flicked and Azriel is now the sluttiest little cock whore. Gagging gracefully around his favorite beef jerkey. "Get under him princess. Reward him." With a snap you've joined them in the skin dance. Dripping a trail of your sweet treasure in your path.

Slipping into position from the steps, laying down, you grab Azriels considerable length. Licking up the precum sliding down his vein and balls.

Mid face fuck the door to the Throne room opens, causing hesitation from your mate. "I didn't say to stop" Eris moans low and dark.

"You summoned us my Lord?"

"Cauldron bless us."

"Oh mother. My greatest apologies my Lord." There was a not so rushed scramble to leave, where many glances lingered before the doors shut them in.

Eris is the first to speak as Azriel's still bobbing up and down his cock like the good boy he is.

"You couldn't entertain me... let me entertain you"

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

I smoked a little weed, messed around with an idea and ended up here. I hope you enjoy it.

Coming up with ideas is annoyingly tricky so if you have suggestions please let me know. I can feel the writing hyperfixation building.

[captainfantasticalright]

Sir Terry Pratchett: on why he co-wrote Good Omens with Neil Gaiman, how long it took, and the loss of the first 5000 words, but saved and later recovered.

You can read more about that last bit here:

From another STP interview:

When Neil Gaiman and I were doing the Good Omens tour it was great fun because I was suffering with one other person. We were actually interviewed by a very well-known interviewer in that particular city who hadn't even read his notes, let alone the book. You may recall that the subtitle of the book was "The Nice and Accurate Predictions of Agnes Nutter." He thought that this was the real title of the book -- that it was a nonfiction book about predictions. He had no idea it was even fiction. Neil and I could see the engineer in the booth doubled over with laughter, because he happened to be a fan. We looked at one another, and the unspoken thought was, "We'd better not wipe the floor with this guy." So we had to find a way of giving answers that would be technically correct, but somehow sending the message that the host was conducting the wrong interview. We did emerge fairly unscathed. Then, there was another one where we were at a public broadcasting radio station somewhere on the West Coast. The director of protocol came out to see us before the interview. She looked us up and down and said, "You're English, aren't you? Now, you're not going to swear on the air are you?" We replied, "Well, we hadn't intended to…" But, of course, now that was all we could think about! We were passing each other notes saying, "Be sure not to say $#@!" Many public broadcasting stations are hounded by people looking for any pretext to get them off the air, so I suppose that's why this station was so worried about swearing. We did find out that Americans don't think that the word "bugger" is swearing, because they don't know what it means. I mean, it's not like the London Times or the BBC are known for the amount of swearing they allow. But to be told not to swear, well, it just made it impossible not to think of it. The words would just bubble up. But we acted like gentlemen.

[spacebarbarianweird]

Don't Go Where I Can't Follow

Summary: Astarion and Tiriel break up for a few months. Set six years post-game and fourteen years ago before Alethaine is born.

Tags: hurt\comfort, angst, reconciliation, another episode of 'killing your abusers, soft smut TW: a mild description of a rape attempt, a conversation about SA

Thanks @themadlu for beta-reading!

Read on AO3

Masterlist

Headcanons

Astarion decides he’s had enough.

Three months. Three months since he fucked up. He fucked up so bad he isn’t going to forgive himself. 

He let Tiriel go.

The past year was difficult for both of them. Astarion decided she influenced his actions and thoughts too much and he started resenting her after noticing how many traits he’d picked up from her.

Mannerisms. Words. Ways of thinking.

He used to be a white sheet and Tiriel wrote his new personality.

Astarion would lash at her. Demanded she stop influencing his every decision or action.

They would yell at each other. A few times they even got physical, much like two drunk bugbears trying to release all the anger they had within.

Tiriel started avoiding Astarion. When he wanted to hug her, to kiss, to cuddle – she would deny him the pleasure of physical touch.

Then yet another fight. Cruel, heartless, mean, and acid.

Tiriel said she’d had enough. She didn’t want to see Astarion anymore.

Neither did he her.

For the first month, Astarion was happy. No one was manipulating his actions, and no one made important decisions for him.

He could be himself.

But then, he realized how big his dark tent was. How empty and silent his days were. How he tried to spend more and more time trancing only to relive memories of Tiriel.

It’s his fault he lost her.

Tiriel did so much for him and that’s how he repaid her? Calling her all possible slurs? Telling her to get lost?

Astarion has had enough. He needs to find Tiriel.

He loves her. It’s not about her giving him blood or sharing her warmth. If anything, he can always pay someone to feed on, to have sex and cuddle with after.

It’s not about that.

No one is like Tiriel. No one.

But how is he going to look for her? She could have gone anywhere! They are far from the Sword Coast, and the wilderness is familiar to her. Tiriel could go so far that Astarion will never find her.

Idiot, he told himself. Idiot.

Maybe she has already found someone else, someone who values her as much as she deserves.

Maybe, years later, he will meet her happily married and with kids and the only thing he will be able to do is to promise he’ll look after her progeny when she is gone.

Three days last like hell. Astarion feels like a bloodhound or a bounty hunter as he sniffs the air trying to catch her familiar scent.

This is ridiculous.  

He will never find her.

.. The town of Moranay greets him with seagull squeals and the reek of farms. Astarion covers his head with his hood – without Tiriel he has no idea how  “vampiric” his looks really are. This kingdom, Implitur, is so underdeveloped in comparison with any city-state of the Sword Coast! And these small towns… They would be considered disgustingly poor in the West!

No, it can’t be…

Astarion stirs up trying to catch the scent better. 

Yes. It’s her.

Tiriel was here a mere couple hours ago.

He looks around and notices a drunk man, half-elf to be precise, puking by the tree and completely wasted.

“What are you staring at?! Get lost!”

A few other adventurers, probably celebrating a successful hunt, are also heavily drunk, but Tiriel is nowhere to be seen. The corpse of a monster lies in the dirt, guts open. After hesitating, Astarion realizes it’s a barghest, a monstrous hound known for ripping sheep's throats.

There is only one inn in the town and the closer Astarion gets, the more anxious he becomes.

What if she isn’t alone. What if she doesn’t want to see him?

He approaches the door to the tavern. The invisible threshold fades when the innkeeper notices Astarion and invites him inside. The vampire goes upstairs.

There.

Astarion touches the doorknob.

Tiriels is fast asleep under a blanket and Astarion watches her with awe. So beautiful, so precious.

He wants to get close to her, but the invisible threshold doesn’t let him in. 

“Tiriel” He starts. “Tiriel, please…”

Tiriel opens her eyes and stares at him in shock for a brief moment. 

“Tiriel, please, I am sorry! I am so sorry!”

Tiriel sits up. Astarion thinks he will go and face the sun if she casts him away.

“Come here!” She smiles. “Took you long enough!”

Before he realizes what he’s doing, Astarion is already kneeling by her bed. He wraps his arms around her waist pressing his face into her stomach. Her heart is so loud it’s the only thing Astarion can hear. 

Tiriel runs her fingers along his hair and Astairon weeps.

He could have lost her. There was a chance he would never see her again.

Ever.

But she is here, with him, warm and soft. He won’t let her go anywhere. 

“Hush, my love,” Tiriel murmurs. “That’s all right, you are with me now.”

“Please forgive me.”

“There is nothing to ask forgiveness for. We both needed a break.” She caresses his back, but the light armor he’s wearing prevents him from feeling anything. “I wanted to go looking for you, too. After… Well…Forget it.”

Astarion lets her go and sits beside her on the bed. 

“What?”

“Nothing,” Tiriel turns away.

“Hey, do you realize three months is merely nothing for elves? I haven’t forgotten your body language. What happened?”

Tiriel suddenly pulls away as if embarrassed. 

“Two days ago I met a man. Half-elf, like me.  We chatted. He was nice. Kind. Funny. He came to my tent the next day, and I let him in.”

Astarion stirs and feels a wave of anger. So, she did find someone to replace him. Someone warm and alive. 

“Wait, let me finish,” Tiriel presses her legs against her chest. “The moment I took my shirt off I felt … off… Embarrassed? Disgusting? His hands were too warm, his body too sweaty. Maybe it was ale or the desire to hurt you for leaving me. I don’t know. But I didn’t want him close to me anymore. He wasn’t you. So, I told him to fuck off. I told him I had someone. That it was a mistake.”

Tiriel bites her lower lip.

“He got angry. All his sweet words were gone. It was the fury of a man who didn’t get what he wanted. Well… I am not a good fighter when I am naked. He hit me. Five or six times. He tried to rip the rest of my clothes off but finally, the rage kicked in and I beat the shit out of him.” 

Astarion stands up. His thoughts are a mess. He left Tiriel all alone. She decided to sleep with someone else but changed her mind. The rejected half-elf tried to rape her. 

“When I finally got rid of him and found another place to spend the night, I cried. I cried because of my shame, because of my own stupidity, because someone else saw me naked. After all, I allowed him to touch me. And then I got angry at you for abandoning me after everything I did for you. And after that, I was angry at myself for even thinking about you being in debt with me. So, I… Well… Let’s say I thought I had a dream when I saw you at my door.”

They are both quiet for a moment.

“What can I do for you?” Astarion asks.

Tiriel smiles. Stands up from the bed and takes her shirt off. In a few seconds, she is naked and he sees bruises mottling her skin.

“They are not from him. I fell from a roof yesterday chasing the beast. Well, maybe some of them are from him, but I got more bruised from the fall.” 

Astarion puts his hands on her waist.

“Do you … “ Astarion’s words are stuck in his throat. Is it the right moment? She is always so understanding with his issues and she literally said she had almost been assaulted.

“I missed you,” she says. “Missed your voice. Missed your passion. Missed your face,” she gently pushes him to the bed. “And besides, I had never let any man touch me before you and I am so ready to forget that asshole’s fingers on my skin.”

Tiriel unfastens his belt and the straps of his armor. Intrusive thoughts are immediately back awoken by a few months of loneliness.

Astarion used to be undressed in the same manner. Women and men he barely knew treated him like an inferior thing, existing only for their pleasure. Drunk and dirty, they were barely capable of realizing the person they’d hooked up with wasn’t even alive.

“Are you all right?” Tiriel asks. “Do you want to stop?”

Her voice returns him to the present moment.

Her nipples have hardened due to cold air and she looks vulnerable without armor. The upper part of her body is elven – narrow shoulders and thin hands. The bottom part is human, her legs are muscular and strong and her butt cheeks are round.

She is perfect.

He kisses her lips and then traces her neck with his tongue. Tiriel finally gets rid of his trousers and Astarion moans when her fingers run along his member.

The next moment, they are already one.

Tiriel wraps herself around him, her core hell-hot. Astarion rolls his hips and the half-elf moans right in his ear, touching his earlobe with her tongue.

“I am not letting you go any more,”  he says as his movements become rougher and rougher with every thrust. “I am not letting you go.”

Tiriel moans and squirms in his hands. Her mouth is pressed against the nape of his neck and with yet another thrust her teeth pierce his cold skin as if she wanted to draw his blood.

“Imagining being a vampire, darling?” He pulls her hair forcing Tiriel to see his face. “Eyes on me.”

She nods.

Be it because of the long absence or because he got too excited to see her, orgasm comes quickly. He feels as if he was thrown in boiling water that immediately got pleasantly warm and his mind completely shut itself down.

Tiriel gently releases herself and goes to pick up a piece of clean cloth to wipe his groin and the space between her legs. Once she’s done, she lies beside Astarion pressing his head against her chest.

“Tiriel.”

“Hm? Sorry, I still need a couple hours to sleep.”

“Please don’t leave anymore.”

“Sure,” she kisses his forehead. “But mind me, I have a sensitive soul, too!”

Soon, she is fast asleep in his arms and Atsairon relaxes.

Everything is going to be all right from now on.

Everything.

**

The following night, they leave Moranay and set on their path to the south. Astarion notices the half-elf he met the day before. Suddenly Tiriel’s heart beats faster and she grabs Astarion’s hand.

“It’s him, isn't he?” He hisses.

Tiriel nods.

Astarion feels rage filling his dead veins. She is so strong and fierce, but in the presence of her potential rapist, she is no different than any other woman of any race or any age.

Before the half-elf realizes anything, Astarion has already knocked him down. The bastard is strong but there is nothing he can do against a furious vampire.

“Fuck!” The man tries to set himself free. “Please, don’t kill me!”

Astarion bares his fangs, wishing his eyes glowed in the dark.

“I care only about one person in this world and you hurt her. Why should I show mercy?” Astarion murmurs enjoying the man’s fear. “I like when my prey fights back, it makes their blood sweeter.”

Tiriel finally composes herself and approaches Astarion. He notices an evil smile lurking on her face. 

“Where did he hit you?”

“Astarion…”

“Where?”

“Mostly my chest and stomach. Also tried to suffocate me.”

“Please… Please, Tiriel,” the man begs. “Tell him! I won't tell anyone! Please!”

Astarion looks at Tiriel.

“Up to you, darling. Just leave some blood for me.”

Tiriel crouches close to them. “I asked you to stop, too. And what did you tell me? You said that I was a slut and sluts like me exist only to satisfy men’s desires. Also, you told me about what happened to other women who dared to say ‘no’ to you. Why should I have mercy on you? Besides, when you date a vampire you certainly pick up bad traits. One of them is lack of forgiveness.”

Astarion stares at Tiriel. She's never talked like that before. She has always been too kind, too merciful…

He likes it when she is so mean.

Astarion smashes the man’s chest with his fist. Bones break with a delicious sound. The rapist wheezes as his lungs collapse. The scent of blood becomes unbearable and Astarion rips his throat.

Scared victims taste the best.

Astarion thinks that maybe he can let the man live after mutilating him so much he won't be able to hurt anyone anymore. Maybe he should castrate him and stuck his own testicles in his mouth.

But before the thought morphs into anything rational, the man is already dead.

Astarion releases the corpse and stands up. Blood lets him feel alive. Warm. Satiated. 

Happy.

Tiriel kisses his stained cheek.

At dawn, they both sit in their shared tent and Astarion suddenly realizes it’s rather small.

“A question,” Tiriel finally asks.

“Hm? 

“If he had managed to take me by force, what would you have done to him?”

“I would have flayed his skin slowly and painfully,” Astarion casually says. “And I wouldn’t have killed him. I would have hung him on the tree to meet his demise.”

Tiriel puts her head on his shoulder.

“And would you still want me after that?”

“I should be offended by this question.”

“But?” Tiriel gets dark. “Astarion, I ask this because this is important to me. He didn't assault me. I protected myself. But what if I didn't?”

Astarion turns away. The thought creeps into his mind. It could happen. It can happen. 

“Tiriel,” he whispers “I was raped and abused more times than I can count and I don’t remember a good chunk of it all. You never thought of me as dirty or unworthy. Why should I?”

“I don't know, maybe, because my ‘purity’ somehow has a different meaning.”

“Purity… I was a dirty whore for two centuries. You could choose anyone else but chose me to be your first. How would I even dare to see you lesser than you are if some pathetic excuse for a male took you without your consent? I know how it feels, Tiriel. I know what it is to be used. To be assaulted. Not to be able to protect yourself. To be degraded and humiliated. To be used by a few people at once. When you are a mere sack of meat and nothing more. You never asked me, but you knew from the start that… well… that cunt used me for his own pleasure in bed for a few decades before I finally became so dirty and filthy he decided to send me to the streets.”

“Sort of easy to guess. I’ve met a lot of women who were through similar shit.”

“And still wanted me, still loved me, still cared,” Astarion caresses her cheek. “What kind of person would I be if I resented you for a minor version of what happened to me?”

Tiriel kisses his fingers.

“You know, I sort of liked what you said back there.”

“What exactly?”

“That I am the only person you care about.”

“Well look at this, I’ve spoiled you!” Astarion laughs. “Back when we met you weren't that selfish.”

“I wasn't. You taught me to be.”

Astarion tugs her onto his lap and as they sit together he watches the sun coloring the woods in its light.

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@ednaaa-04  

@dajeong

@wilteddreamsofbaldursgate

@nyx-knox

@jessaryss

[unsoundedcomic]

Ashley - can people travel by ship from Cresce to Sharteshane? I mean, regularly? Or is that a real hell of a trip? Do people go north around or south around? Could you use a neutral ship to get past Alderode? And why are Cresce's west coasts described as pirate-haunted? Cresce seems powerful enough to patrol it's waters? Lotsa questions!

We'll learn all about the western waters next series!

But yes, the shortest way for a normal citizen to get back and forth from Cresce to Sharteshane is by ship. They don't typically have access to faster, safer pymaric vehicles or even hound-drawn carriages.

Sharteshanians have been doing piracy for thousands of years, and they are experts at it. They manage to irritate even Cresce. Cresce cannot enter Aldish waters, they will be attacked, but Alderode accepts trade from Sharteshane and a few other countries, so its shipping lanes are open, if somewhat perilous. They have a lot of trouble with northern stormfolk who snipe from glaciers just outside the selvage.

Crescian privateers are employed by the government specifically to venture into Aldish waters and make them miserable. Maybe we'll meet one!

[laiosynth]

remembering i can just post about whatever i want whenever i want

KABRU AND THE BATS AU HCS !!

(for context, an AU where kabru and tim have switched places in the multiverse at birth. i'll make tim's post soon)

- kabru was convinced dick was going to kill him when he first met him as nightwing and accidentally gave away that he knew their secret identities. ever since, dick has been unbelievably gentle with kabru while also being SO relentless in his teasing. kabru will always be known as "the crazy one" to dick and it confuses everyone else.

- kabru and bruce are literally exactly the same. kabru acts like a tiny version of bruce to everyone (in reality, he's just paranoid-- and also knows exactly how bruce's paranoia works, as well.)

- when kabru first arrives at wayne manor, dragged there LITERALLY carried by the scruff by dick, he still puts on his absolute best manners when greeting alfred at the door. alfred was ready to keep him right then and there.

- kabru freaks out, panics, and starts biting people whenever he accidentally acts like a real boy in front of the bats for the first month he knows them. real of him

- kabru has an entire complex view of the world and the people in it and himself-- he sees himself as a fox, wearing a mask to fit in with the world of hounds. a mask, to him, is a tool to survive.

- when kabru goes to save batman and nightwing from scarecrow, he doesn't take the robin suit. he just takes a domino. kabru doesn't take the title of robin like tim did.

- when jason attacks the titan tower, kabru survivors by using EXTENSIVE psychological warfare and then forcing the guy on a 5-day road trip from the west coast back to the east with him. this somehow works.

- jason hates kabru and also would kill and die for him. calls him "foxface" ever since kabru told him about the fox in a mask thing.

- kabru hates jason but also relies on him for literally all of his emotional needs and also would drop everything at any moment if jason asked

- jason has forced kabru to watch star wars and read the hobbit. kabru forced jason to read PJO

- when damian arrived, kabru was instructed "absolutely NO psychoanalysis". he did not listen

- damian, surprisingly, did not see kabru as that much of a threat. kabru took advantage of this big time

- they bonded surprisingly quickly. kabru showed damian how to use kohl, and they bonded over a shared interest in fashion and clothing as a tool

- kabru quickly became damian's favorite, to everyone's dismay

- when cass first arrived, she didn't like kabru that much. he had a lot to hide, and she didn't like that. she could sense the apprehension and careful precision in every movement of his, and she didn't trust it in the slightest.

- until she realized that he was just a weirdo, and resolved to fix his caution with Extreme Prejudice (lots and lots of love)

- kabru doesn't know what to think of cass at first, because she's... almost entirely unmasked. the only mask she wears is one that's entirely blank.

- she grows on him. aggressively.

- steph didn't like him very much for a long, long time. kabru could tell why- his mask was working too well. and she didn't like his mask at all. "mr perfect goody two-shoes" was her go-to nickname for him.

- the only thing that fixes the disconnect (because kabru's too scared to take OFF his mask, that's too far) is dick telling the story of the time kabru bit him. kabru is mortified. steph is delighted. and a bit disappointed she hadn't realized he was just a Freak earlier.

- duke figures out his act quickly and harshly. kabru is a bit worried, actually, until he realizes that people have just started chalking his entire mask and persona up to "bat weirdness"

- duke gives him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder when kabru realizes this crisis

- bruce is trying SO HARD at this point to bond with kabru any further than "batman and protege"-- pulls out all the stops! calls him chum, literally OFFERS TO ADOPT HIM. kabru is fucking oblivious to bruce's attempts.

- (he's in denial. everyone in the batfam has to get on their case to shake some sense into him)

uhhhh thatd all right now. yay

[bearw-me]

Could you do a Loona x Monster Hunter Reader? (Think like Supernatural type Hunter of demons and such) that's enemies to lovers?

No problem if you can't! Hope something good happens to you today :)

ty for blessing me anon 🫶 i hope something good happens to you too!

𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 — 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐚

𐐒 includes : loona x monsterhunter!reader 𐐒 cw : fluff, mentions of killing/blood/guns, angst, enemies to lovers, slow burn 𐐒 summary : stories of werewolves and vampires were just legends to most folk these days, but you knew better than to think myths were just scary stories told to children. And one night, you finally encounter an infamous Hell Hound and her grimoire. 𐐒 word count : 1.2 k 𐐒 note : whew, longest post i made and i tried to shorten it! (lowkey feels like a part two is needed. . .)

You bit at your nails in thought, the old parchment papers scattered across the desk in front of you. Images of ancient evils and eldritch horrors documented by generations of hunters, accumulated throughout the centuries . . . and now it all came down to you.

You sighed, leaning back in your seat, the creak of the antique wood shuddering under your weight.

With calculated precision, your eyes scanned the torn pages for information. Darting across the scribbled madness of ink and water damage.

Wolves standing on their hind legs, ripping the flesh from livestock, horned creatures of the night jumping through candlelight, their red skin unnatural for this world.

Sounds. . . familiar.

Old wives tales from a time where witches burned at the stake, now resurfacing into the modern era.

But why was this all happening now?

"Who cares," you mumbled, arguing with your own thoughts. You righted yourself on your chair, the wood screaming in agony once more.

All that mattered is that it stopped, whatever this- epidemic of hell spawn involved. It had to be dealt with.

You had to deal with it.

Weren't much people nowadays who dealt with supernatural enemies. . . creatures of legend. . . and lets face it- the boogeyman.

You had tracked down the demon activity to a region along the west coast. Under the darkness of night, you kept on the trail. Showing up on peoples doorsteps, cloaked in shadows with a revolver tucked behind your back, asking the innocent people of the town what they knew. . . and what exactly they had seen.

Most people had the same story no matter how many times they fumbled over their words "trying not to sound crazy," begging you to hear them out.

They all described the same thing to you:

A wolf, white and grey and larger than any man, appearing down alleyways and skulking in the night. Sometimes they described a tiny horned man with red skin and a spiked tail. Referring them as omen's of bad things to come.

You thanked them all; the ones who would talk to you anyway, and picked up your work the following day.

This is what you knew:

Every attack was on someone who had done something particularly questionable in their life, sometimes affecting the family or their loved ones in the process.

The process was scouted first, which is why the Lycan or Demon were spotted before the 'accidents' happened.

Then, they would leave and do it all over again.

You ran your fingers through your hair, glancing out the window of your room, watching for a few moments as the daylight began to lose its luster.

Night would come again, and you'd hunt them down before things got worse and someone innocent got hurt.

It was that very night that you first encountered her.

You had heard whispers of white flashes of fur peeking through windows, the sounds of dogs barking and being silenced in fear of something stalking through the night.

The unease in the neighborhood was palpable, but like the first demon you had killed, you promised to those who came before you that you'd protect people from things like this.

That's when you had heard a clattering in the back alley, a muttered hiss accompanying the sound.

You stuck to the shadows, watching to see what would emerge from the other side of the cobbled back lane.

At first, the patch of fur shuffled, hissing again as it dug threw the spilt trashcan. Then, like a slideshow of revelation, the monster stood, rising up inch by inch until it reached its full height, its bones crunching from the movement.

You gasped, realizing in horror as its ears perked up, picking you right out of your hiding spot.

"Who's there!?" She called out, a voice so clear you remained speechless.

In no texts. No tomes or documented encounters. . . had they ever mentioned they were capable of speaking.

You stepped out into the light, your eyes adjusting to the new sensation and watching as the shadowy figure seemed to cower at the sight of you.

"Fuck," it whispered.

Before you could get a word out, she bounded from the alley towards you, the flashes of silver fangs forever engrained into your minds eye.

You had seen her three times in the last month, sometimes accompanied by the Imp (as you suspected the creature was).

She would take the stand against you, her body slithering protectively to fend you off.

A white wolf, marred with dark grey, almost black markings within her fur. Eyes as red as the devils and long silvery hair. More interesting yet, she wore clothes. Curious, you thought to yourself as you fired three bullets of silver at her in warning.

"Lycan!" You called out, the automatic gun in your hand pointed towards the wall she had ducked under her "You're a beautiful creature," you called out honestly, almost pained to have to stand between the beasts path of destruction. . . but it could be no more. No more killing.

"Lycan?" you heard her respond.

She was quiet for a long moment before her voice came back to you with venom. "I've never seen a fucking demon hunter on Earth. What are you? Some kind of modern-day-van-fucking-helsing? Aren't you all supposed to be dead?!"

She jumped out from behind the wall, taking aim with her own gun, firing a round at you this time.

You took cover all too late, laughing at her words and wincing at the sharp pain that suddenly bloomed across the skin of your shoulder.

"What kind of fucking demon hunter uses an automatic rifle!?" She growled out.

"Modern times call for modern weapons, sweetheart!"

"Fuck YOU!"

You ducked your head, laughing as another full magazine shot off just above your head.

"You've got a bad mouth hell hound," you figured, standing up and taking aim at her.

Down the sight of the guns barrel, your eyes widened, watching as she waved her hand, summoning a portal right in front of your eyes. A dark book laid between her fingers.

You sucked a cold breath in, finger hovering over the trigger.

The hell hound glanced back at you.

Her face was full of worry, scrunched up and barring her teeth like an animal cornered in the woods. Her soft white fur shining against the red light spilling from the portal behind her.

Without another second passing, she stepped through the portal, disappearing into thin air.

"God dammit," you sighed with defeat.

And this time, something was off. . .

It was easy enough for you to follow them now.

Follow her.

But something about this night made your stomach churn with unease.

You heard cries into the night, a shadow, something darker than the shadows slithered and lingered like fog along the floor. Kicking it up like smoke, you walked toward the sound of gentle sobs, unable to pinpoint the exact sound in a forest so dense.

"Lycan!" You whispered wearily, eyes darting back and forth between the black bodies of the woods surrounding you.

Then you heard it:

"Dad," she cried, a tiny bark echoing through the trees "someone help me," she begged, a choked sound.

The shadow on the floor shifted, humming almost angrily before a scream rang out. The shriek shattered your ear drums.

And in a blink, the shadow disappeared, receding like the tide and unveiling the limp body of the white wolf.

Your body reacted immediately, pointing your weapon down at her and stopping the moment you caught the glint of tears in her closed eyes.

Who knows what it was. . . maybe a spell the Hell Hound had placed on you, or your genuine sadness as you laid witness to the innocent creature you really saw her for.

A young wolf, unconscious and calling for help not a moment earlier. Attacked by whatever created that thick smog.

Whatever battle you had in your head, you tucked your gun into its holster, crouching down and scooping her into your arms, ignoring all the wounds she had undertaken and bringing her to safety.

That night, against everything you believed in, you carried her home, lifting her weak body with a tenderness you didn't know you possessed.

[ranticore]

I thought I'd post the sketched out map of the city before I take it in for redrawing (which will take a very long time and it's definitely a backburner project) in a decent resolution so that people can actually see what's going on. The full size version is 4800px wide so too big to actually have full res on tumblr anyway

Invergorken is your basic city built in the armpit of a bay. Although its original medieval castle still stands as the Sharps ranger barracks, the citadel north of the grand canal is where the palace sits. The main reason it was all built here, slammed up against the Ruad, an inhospitable forest, is because it was a trade hub for goods passing through the Ruad. If you look at the whole country map you can see that Invergorken is built right where the Ruad is narrowest from west to east, and also that the forest cuts off overland travel in a massive part of its range. Farmland to the north and south of the city serves it though the farms are more extensive in the west, both north and south of the bay.

Before the railways were built, goods were ferried through the forest overland (the grand canal & river on which it was built goes sharply north out of frame and does not connect with the lough). A huge amount of Invergorken's infrastructure was built to directly facilitate ease of travel between sea and lough; the canals connect major points of interest. with a pretty robust lock system, ships from the sea are able to travel right on through the city to the train station, the industrial areas, and the lumberyards lining the edge of the Ruad.

The four quarters (five if you count the citadel) are named for the ring roads that originally surrounded them, but over centuries the built-up area has expanded to all but bury their original shapes. The east ring is where most of the usual city business takes place, mixed housing and shops and markets and everything else you could imagine. It's the oldest part of the city outside the citadel. This includes the city's singular Suzette hospital which is inconveniently located as far from everyone as possible. the north ring is the heart of industry in Inver, with hundreds of smokestacks, brick yards, furnaces, and foundries all in relatively close range of their own dock system (not drawn.. i forgor). Although it's a greatly productive area, it's also the poorest; extremely crowded tenements, poor facilities, housing built rapidly and without much care to provide for the mainly immigrant workers at the factories. Although the buildings are newer than the average east ring tenement, they are not pleasant.

The south ring is the rich-but-not-noble district, it consists of relatively new buildings, as the new rich of Invergorken have only recently come about as a separate phenomenon to the gentry of the citadel. These capitalists are responsible for much of the north ring & its development. The buildings in the south ring are deceptive; they look old, built to ape the style of the ancient buildings in the citadel, as clout-chasing upper class citizens struggle to elevate themselves on the same level as the nobility. Here you will find the Stagsons' black market as well as the Barnyard opera house and its adjoining brothel. The businesses are relatively fancy and cater to upper class tastes, like the Fernery which is for anybody who wants to take in the healing properties of nature without actually having to go outside.

The west ring is another new area, mainly built up by slightly richer immigrants from the western duchy of Moya, as this is the area of Invergorken you must travel through to get to Moya in the west, as well as all of the west-coast towns. It has a new train station and the beginnings of a new railway, though no trains run on it yet. The majority of iron from the north ring foundries is transported here to facilitate the building of the railway, which stretches all the way to Aberharain.

The citadel (or, in common parlance, the Hound's Den) is where the king and nobility go. It consists of a hexagonal wall with watch towers at each point, with portcullis gates opening out to several main thoroughfares. Many of the canals in the city actually arise from the citadel; the limestone bedrock is riddled with underground caverns and rivers, and these emerge at the surface within the citadel. The citadel contains the townhouses of the nobility, to be used on a seasonal basis as the main family residences are usually far out in the countryside, as well as the largest of the monarchy's three palaces. The citadel palace tower is the tallest building in Invergorken (not counting the smokestacks). The palace has its own walls blocking it off from the rest of the citadel, and its grounds are divided into four gardens, one for each season. The citadel has every stupid luxury you could possibly imagine; marked on the map are the important family houses but also the dressage arena, north of which is an extensive golf course with an arboretum. Although the noble families often only live in their townhouses during seasonal events hosted by the king (solstice and equinox hunting events in particular), the citadel is mainly home to an army of staff year-round, vastly outnumbering the nobility but hidden away in back streets and purpose-built corridors. this gives the odd impression of a ghost town, servants making things perfect for absentee landlords, heating and lighting their empty houses.

[falloutboylyricss]

Fall Out Boy and Night

Evening Out With Your Girlfriend

"Last night, I saw my world explode" - Switchblades and Infidelity

"Walking off that stage tonight, I know what you're thinking" - Pretty In Punk

"Forget it, I'll go out tonight and piss on her doorstep" - Growing Up

"Start the van, get me out of this one horse town, waste this night" - The World's Not Waiting (For Five Tired Boys In A Broken Down Van)

"Last night, I saw a movie, and I thought about many movies I've seen at your house" - Moving Pictures

Take This to Your Grave

"Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman" - Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy

"Tonight the headphones will deliver you the words that i can't say / Tonight I'm writing you a million miles away / Tonight is all about 'We miss you'" - Homesick at Space Camp

"Another night alone in the city" - Sending Postcards From a Plane Crash (Wish You Were Here)

"And the sun burnt out tonight" - Calm Before the Storm

From Under The Cork Tree

"Tonight it's 'It can't get much worse' versus 'No one should ever feel like...'" - Dance, Dance

"I spent most of last night dragging this lake for the corpses of all my past mistakes" - My Heart Is The Worst Kind Of Weapon

Infinity On High

"At night, we're painting your trash gold while you sleep" - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race

"A teenage vow in a parking lot, 'til tonight do us part" - Hum Hallelujah

"One night and one more time" - Thnks fr th Mmrs

"One night stand, one night stand off" - Thnks fr th Mmrs

"And the full moon pills got me out on the street at night" - The (After) Life Of The Party

"Everybody wants to drive on through the night if it's a drive back home / Things aren't the same anymore, some nights, they get so bad you almost pick up the phone" - GI.N.A.S.F.S.

"You saved my life that night on the roof of your hotel" - G.I.N.A.S.F.S.

Folie à Deux

"Lot lizards scales cool my nightlife moods" - Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes

"Does he know the way of the crickets that would convince me to call it a night?" - Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet

"Doing lines of dust and sweat off last night's stage just to feel like you" - 27

"The P.A. system keeps my heart, heart beating tonight" - West Coast Smoker

Save Rock And Roll

"I'm on deck, I'm up next, tonight, I'm high as a private jet" - Alone Together

"Maybe I'll burn a little brighter tonight" - Miss Missing You

"'Cause tonight is just fire alarms and losing you" - Death Valley

"Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds, it's all over now" - Young Volcanoes

PAX AM Days

"Now I've got love flowing in my nightmare girl" - Caffeine Cold

American Beauty/American Psycho

"And I slept in last night's clothes and tomorrow's dreams, but they're not quite what they seem" - Uma Thurman

"She's in a long black coat tonight, waiting for me in the downpour outside" - Jet Pack Blues

"Fight off the light tonight and just stay with me, honey, don't you leave" - Jet Pack Blues

"I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare" - Novocaine

"In between being young and being right, you were my Versailles at night" - Fourth Of July

"Do you, do, do you remember when we drove, we drove, drove through the night and we danced, we danced to Rancid?" - Favorite Record

"I just need enough of you to dull the pain, just to get me through the night 'til we're twins again" - Twin Skeleton's (Hotel In NYC)

MANIA

"And I'm stuck, night vision, so stuck, night vision, but I come to life, come to life" - Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea

So Much (For) Stardust

"Who am I dialing tonight? That's a bummer" - Hold Me Like a Grudge

"I'm just a cherub riding comets through the night sky, screaming at the stars like night lights" - Hold Me Like a Grudge

"Late at night in my room, lie awake, think of you and all your little dooms / Last night, I dreamt I still knew you" - Flu Game

"Oh, I'm going neon in the night time" - What a Time To Be Alive

"I need the sound of crowds, or I can't fall asleep at night" - So Much (For) Stardust

Misc.

"Forget your night time, summer love on a gurney with a squeaky wheel" - Lake Effect Kid

"I just wanna come back to life, spark my crazy head to keep you warm at night" - Lake Effect Kid

"Call it a night when the booze hits (Sorry) / That'll never happen again 'til tonight (I'm so sorry)" - Super Fade

[camojacketfag]

i spent ages 12-18 in Appalachian PA, closeted as gay and trans. ive been back on the west coast, mostly in the city, for nearly a decade now but there's something about me and the queers here that will never quite click all the way. your photos remind me of the peace and solitude i could sometimes find in a place that hurt me so much i thought i could never return, and somehow miss. thanks for sharing and letting us scroll through these photos.

Fuck. After the last few weeks I’ve had… this really made me emotional. I completely agree with every single sentiment you wrote. I used to want to leave this place. Like a feral hound with no home I was viciously eager to run like hell the first chance I got and never look back. Yet, no matter how hard I tried to remove myself from the Midwest, I could never escape it. It calls to me like I wish my mother would. It tells me that it’s flatlands and muddy fields were always observant as I grew up. It taught me to wait before striking and to learn to watch instead of do. So I did just that. I watched and kept my head down, always so despondent and obedient. Eventually I realized the land felt exactly as I did. As I have. Out here in the middle of nowhere we’re easy to forget. We’re easily dismissible and easily misaligned. Particularly if you belong to a minority group. I guess I created this tumblr to record my observations as I discover the secrets of my home. Growing up in the Midwest taught me everything I know. And no matter how isolating and vicious and painful it might seem to live here, I now know there are many like myself out here who long to love and learn and are slowly creating a home out of the mutual felt pain. I hope you’re being kind to yourself because you deserve it. Thank you so fucking much for your sweet words. 💜

[doodloos]

I know it's been a while, but here are Felix's siblings! In the top left is Felix's twin sister, Elise. The two of them were very close before his disappearance. She worked her whole life to be an upper class Southern Belle an is now married to the son of a railroad tycoon. To the bottom right is Felix's baby brother John. Their mom died shortly before he turned 13, so for the majority of his teen years, John was taken care of by Felix and his wife. John "works" as a traveling musician, wandering the west and singing in bars anytime he needs money.

Infodump under the cut

Being twins, Felix and Elise have always been incredibly close. Their younger brother is significantly younger than them, so for the longest time, it was just the 2 of them. As they became teenagers, they started associating more with separate friend groups, but they remained very protective of one another. 

While they never grew up considerably poor, Felix and Elise both knew what it was like to not have a lot and grew up striving for success in life. After the death of their father, Felix wanted to get a good job that would allow him to support a family while also being able to provide for his mother if needed. Elise, on the other hand, dreamed of marrying rich and moving to New England. She was an incredibly intelligent young girl who had no interest in marrying for love or having children. All she wanted was to marry into money so that she could become a proper lady, and this would be exactly what she would accomplish.

Elise was married for the first time when she was 19 to a man 30 years her senior, but he was wealthy and owned a prominent whaling company on the east coast. 7 years later, he died, and since he had no children, he would end up leaving everything to her. After this, Elise was married twice more, again to older, wealthier men, and each time they would die leaving all or a good portion of their fortune to her. Over the coming years, she slowly climbed her way up the social ladder, marrying men older than her with the full intention of inheriting their wealth and companies when they died. While she never married for love and never had children, she was perfectly content in her life of luxury…. For the most part.

At this point Felix had been married for nearly 2 decades. Elise had been single and widowed (again) for a couple years, and while she was very wealthy and content in her solitude, there were many men eager to trick her out of or marry her for her fortune. While she wasn’t particularly worried for herself, Felix was and encouraged her to settle down and marry someone closer to her age, if anything just for security. 

Eventually she found a man a few years younger than her (groundbreaking) whose (very wealthy) family had been hounding him to get married. Neither of them were particularly interested in one another. In truth, they kinda hated each other, but in getting married, Elise would be taken care of and allowed to do basically whatever she wanted, and her new husband would get his family off his back. A few months later the two are married and they still hate each other but they just try to avoid each other when they can and try their best to act like a happy married couple in public.

Less than a year after her current marriage, Felix and his family “died” (Felix is obviously alive but she doesn’t know that). This absolutely destroyed Elise, but ultimately is also what finally brings her closer to her husband. Her husband is able to put aside their differences in order to tend to her and help her out of her depression, and over the several months after Felix’s “death” the two are finally able to bond. About a year later, Elise gives birth to their daughter who they name Felicity after her deceased brother.

Felix and Elise’s other sibling is their baby brother John. John was born 10 years after Felix and Elise and only a couple months after the death of their father. John has always been the baby of the family and was therefore able to get away with a lot of things his older siblings could never hope to. Growing up, John was an absolute menace. While his siblings strived for higher places in society, John was constantly causing problems and getting into trouble yet somehow almost always managed to not get caught. In the rare cases that he was caught, Felix was usually the one to either pull him out of it or take the fall himself. This would become a recurring pattern in their relationship.

As soon as he was old enough, Felix took a job in their home town's police department, slowly working his way up to being trained as a deputy by the time he was 20. This would later prove to hinder John in his shenanigans (or more so just cause problems for Felix). 

By the time John was a teenager, Felix was married and had a kid. His wife would be the one to introduce John to his love of music, teaching him to play guitar. John excelled at guitar and singing. He also wrote music, and though it was mediocre at best, we continued writing. The majority of his teenage years were spent playing for tips anywhere that would let him. 

Unfortunately for Felix, the other half of his teen years were spent getting into trouble. Their mom died a little under a year after Felix's wedding, and her death hit them both pretty hard. John was a troublemaker before, but after his mom's death, Felix was constantly taking him in and bailing him out of trouble.

Finally, on his 17th birthday, John has saved enough money and decided he would roam the west in search of adventure, playing his guitar for money. For the first few years, he stayed pretty close by and frequently visited Felix and his family, but as they went on, he was able to visit them less and less. Eventually when he was around 30, John came back home and lived with Felix for a few months claiming he just wanted to settle down and rest for a bit. This however was a lie. 

John has recently run up a debt with a werewolf gang further out west and had been doing very illegal favors for them in order to fulfill it. However, the more favors he did, the worse they got, so he made a run for it. When Felix found out about this, he and John got into a big fight that ended in John being kicked out. He was gone for a few months but decided he needed to go back and apologize. However, by the time he came back, it was too late. When he returned, his brother and his family had (to his knowledge) been slaughtered and the house that he had grown up in was burnt to the ground. Soon after the funeral, his niece’s fiancé, a kid named Martín Fierro, came to him begging for help finding whoever was responsible for this. Stricken with guilt and not wanting this kid to die as well, John agrees to help him and is currently moving westward in hopes of tracking down the people responsible for the murder of his family.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 8.7

Holidays

Aged Care Employee Day (Australia)

Assyrian Martyrs Day

Banana Day (Japan)

Bank Holiday Act Day (1871; UK)

Battle of Boyacá Day (Colombia)

Beach Party Day

DeviantArt Day

Dodge 807 Day

807 Giving Day

Freberg Day

Gaia Consciousness Day

Gallia Asteroid Day

Guru Rimpoche's Thungkar Tshechu (Sikkim, India)

Lock Day (French Republic)

Martyrs Day (Assyrian Community)

National Armed Forces Day (Bolivia)

National Day of Recognition for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health Workers & Practitioners (Australia)

National Handloom Day (India)

National Javelin Day (India)

National Lighthouse Day

National Marriage Equality Day

National NFT Day

National Psychiatric Technician Appreciation Day

National Report Health Care Fraud Day

Particularly Preposterous Packaging Day

Patient Appreciation Day

Postal Inspector Service Day

Professional Speakers Day

Purple Heart Day

Republic Day (Ivory Coast)

Say ‘Cheese’ Day

Sea Serpent Day

Take Last Winter's Snowballs Out of the Freezer and Have a Fight Day

Tasoua Hosseini (Iran)

Tightrope Walking Day

Tisha b'Av Bank Holiday (Israel)

Viking Pilgrimage (Spain)

Web Developer Appreciation Day

World Alternatives Games Day

World Lighthouse Day

World PVNH Disorder Awareness Day

Youth Day (Kiribati)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Pork Burger Day

Raspberries ’n Cream Day

Independence & Related Days

Cote d'Ivoire (a.k.a. Ivory Coast, from France, 1960)

Irish Reform Act (Passed; UK; 1832)

Ottawa (Became Capital; Canada; 1858)

Paperis (Declared; 2018) [unrecognized]

1st Wednesday in August

International Play Day (UK) [1st Wednesday]

IPA (International Play Association) Canada National PlayDay (Canada) [1st Wednesday]

National Professional Engineers Day [1st Wednesday]

National Psychiatric Technician Appreciation Day [Wednesday of 1st Full Week]

Regatta Day (Canada) [1st Wednesday]

Festivals Beginning August 7, 2024

Brown County Free Fair (New Ulm, Minnesota) [thru 8.11]

DeLeon Peach & Melon Festival & Tractor Pull (DeLeon, Texas) [thru 8.10]

Pea Harvest Festival (Palmer, Alaska) [Historically; 1920]

Lakefest (Eastnor, United Kingdom) [thru 8.11]

Locarno Film Festival (Locarno, Switzerland) [thru 8.17]

Medusa Festival (València, Spain) [thru 8.11]

Nevada County Fair (Nevada City, California) [thru 8.11]

Southdown Sheep Fair (Lewes, Sussex, England) [Historically]

Sziget Festival (Budapest, Hungary) [thru 8.12]

Taste of Andersonville (Andersonville, Chicago, Illinois)

West Point Sweet Corn Festival (West Point, Iowa) [thru 8.11]

Wikimania (Katowice, Poland) [thru 8.10]

Feast Days

Adonia (Honoring Adonis; Ancient Greece; Everyday Wicca)

Afra (Christian; Virgin Martyr)

Albert Kotin (Artology)

Albert of Trapani (Christian; Saint)

Betsy Byars (Writerism)

Breaking the Nile (Festival Honoring Hathor & All River Goddesses; Ancient Egypt)

Builth, the Footprint of Arthur’s Hound (Celtic Book of Days)

Cajetan of Thienna (Christian; Saint)

Carpophorus and companions (Christian; Saint)

Claudia (Christian; Matron)

Dometius of Persia (Christian; Saint)

Donatus of Arezzo (Christian; Saint)

Donatus of Besançon (Christian; Saint)

Donatus of Muenstereifel (Christian; Saint)

Emil Nolde (Artology)

Eugene the Hunting Dog (Muppetism)

Feast of 'Aut-Yeb (Personification of Female Joy; Egypt)

Feast of Cromn Dubh (Pre-Celtic God of the Harvest & the Underworld; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Feast of the Name of Jesus (Christian, excluding Roman Catholic) [also 1.2]

Filseta (Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church)

Garrison Keillor (Writerism)

Harvest Holiday (Slavic Pagan)

Henri Le Sidaner (Artology)

Idi Amin Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Intergalactic Intercourse Day (Pastafarian)

International Beer Day (Pastafarian) [also 7.29]

John Mason Neale and Catherine Winkworth (Episcopal Church (USA))

Nantovinus (Christian; Saint)

Neith’s Day (Breaking of the Nile; Pagan)

Nikolai Triik (Artology)

Peter, Julian, and companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Rien Poortvliet (Artology)

Sixtus II, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Smartest Leprechaun Eisteddford (Shamanism)

Stan Freberg Day (Humorism)

Thomas à Kempis (Positivist; Saint)

Togrul Narimanbekov (Artology)

Victricius (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [30 of 53]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 36 of 60)

Premieres

All Out For ‘V’ (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1942)

Beach Party (Film; 1963)

Billy the Mountain, by Frank Zappa recorded live (Song; 1971)

Condorman (Film; 1981)

Dreamworks’ Dragons (Animated TV Series; 2012)

8701, by Usher (Album; 2001)

Fantastic Four (Film; 2015)

Farmer Al Falfa’s Ape Girl (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1932)

A Feather in His Collar (Disney Cartoon; 1946)

The Gallopin’ Gaucho (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1928)

Half-Pint Pygmy (MGM Cartoon; 1948)

Heavy Metal (Animated Film; 1981)

I Can’t Get Started, recorded by Bunny Berigan (Song; 1937)

I Cover the Waterfront, recorded by Billie Holiday & Teddy Wilson (Song; 1941)

It Ain’t Me Babe, by The Turtles (Song; 1965)

Janie Get Your Gun (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1965)

Jesus Christ Superstar (Film; 1973)

Julie & Julia (Film; 2009)

Just Another Band From L.A., by Frank Zappa and the Mothers if Invention (Album; 1970)

Lighthouse Keeping Blues (Chilly Willy Cartoon; 1964)

Lud-in-the-Mist, by Hope Mirrlees (Novel; 1926)

Lumpy Gravy, by Frank Zappa (Album; 1967)

New England Courant (Daily Newspaper; Boston, Massachusetts; 1721)

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (Film; 2013)

Porky’s Railroad (WB LT Cartoon; 1937)

Prehistoric Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1968)

Satan’s Waitin’ (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Snuffy’s Party (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1939)

3:10 to Yuma (Film; 1957)

Til Tok, by Kesha (Song; 2009)

Unforgiven (Film; 1992)

Wanted For Murder (a.k.a. Paging the Saint), by Leslie Charteris (Short Stories; 1931) [Saint #7]

Weeds (TV Series; 2005)

We’re the Millers (Film; 2013)

Who’s That Girl (Film; 1987)

Yan Tan Tethera, by Harrison Birtwistle (Opera; 1986)

You’re a Sap, Mr. Jap (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1942)

Today’s Name Days

Afra, Albert, Cajetan (Austria)

Albert, Donat, Kajetan, Siksto (Croatia)

Lada (Czech Republic)

Donatus (Denmark)

Hiljar, Hiljo, Vaido, Vaigo, Vaiko (Estonia)

Lahja (Finland)

Gaétan (France)

Afra, Albert, Cajetan, Dominikus (Germany)

Asterios, Astero, Astini, Nikanor (Greece)

Ibolya (Hungary)

Donato, Gaetano (Italy)

Alfrēds, Helara, Madars (Latvia)

Drąsutis, Jogilė, Kajetonas, Klaudija, Sikstas (Lithuania)

Didrik, Doris (Norway)

Albert, Alberta, Albertyna, Anna, Dobiemir, Donat, Donata, Doris, Dorota, Kajetan (Poland)

Štefánia (Slovakia)

Cayetano, Jordán, Sixto (Spain)

Denise, Dennis (Sweden)

Claude, Claudette, Claudia, Claudine, Donata, Donato, Donica, Donzel, Gladys (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 220 of 2024; 146 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of Week 32 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 5 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Ren-Shen), Day 4 (Guy-Mao)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 3 Av 5784

Islamic: 1 Safar 1446

J Cal: 10 Purple; Threesday [10 of 30]

Julian: 25 July 2024

Moon: 9%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 23 Dante (8th Month) [Thomas à Kempis]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 15 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 49 of 94)

Week: 1st Full Week of August

Zodiac: Leo (Day 17 of 31)

Calendar Changes

Ṣafar [صَفَر] (Islamic Calendar) [Month 2 of 12] (Void Month)

[feldspar-thethief]

-> @alwaysthesitter

There wasn't much to do in Hawkins, Indiana; Craig had learned. Other than going to, like– the pool. The weather had hit the point in the season where crisp breezes and waning daylight hours made getting wet outside a difficult endeavor to justify, though. Hitting up the mall used to be a thing, until that closed down, too. His family had lived here just long enough for Craig to figure out that if he didn't force himself into a hobby, he would die of boredom. The fact became especially poignant when he thought about his friends back home. His parents had moved them just after he graduated high school, eliminating a vital opportunity for him to make new friends in Hawkins. He remained a loner, living with his parents and biding his time until his college acceptance letters started to roll in. He hoped that would put an end to his podunk-town-hopping. At least his prospects looked better on this half of the map than all the West Coast schools he had researched.

With a sigh, he threw a jacket around his sharp shoulders and stepped out onto his front porch.

Moments later, the faint tinkling of the welcome bell rang lightly in his ears as he pushed his way past the threshold of the Family Video. Craig had ventured to the store for probably the… third…? week in a row. He walked in without so much as glancing at the surroundings. The tall, lanky youth knew exactly where he was going. He had the path to his destination memorized . His battered, black Chuck Taylor's hurried him along so he could snag the same movie he had been renting over and over again, ever since the VHS hit the shelves. Top Gun. Yeah… The Tom Cruise flick. He understood that, as a ❛red-blooded, American male❜, he should have been hounding after the female lead, ❛Charlie❜. The main love interest. The blonde bombshell. But there was something about Maverick and Goose. Craig liked the planes and other shit, too, but… Anyway. At that point, he probably should have purchased a copy of it for his personal collection. 

But, for the time being– he continued to visit the home video store at the behest of his parents, and little sister. He inadvertently adopted the task of picking the weekly movie selection. Plus, he liked chatting with the brunette girl that worked the front counter every so often. Robin, he remembered her name. They had one thing in common that not a lot of people from either small town he had lived shared. He clung to the unspoken solidarity, even if they only interacted during the brief exchange of a rental transaction. And sometimes– there was this guy, with phenomenal hair. He would be ❛working❜, too. That was always a little incentive to entice Craig's business. Although, Craig never actually interacted with him. By coincidence or avoidance, he wasn't ever sure... He even tended to keep his eyes to ground when the other guy was around, and waited for him to wander away and leave Robin solo at the counter.

Craig stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and plodded across the worn carpet. He made his way up and down the rows and rows of tapes, searching the New Releases for something the rest of his family would enjoy watching, too. Plus, he needed to diversify his selection a bit. He was sure that if he walked up to the counter with a single copy of Top Gun again, that Robin-girl would bully the hell out of him, affectionately of course. He grabbed a copy of that new, cool-looking, sci-fi horror film, as well. He and Robin could joke about how hot Ellen Ripley was. 

With a faint smile at the thought, he continued his little, mundane excursion. He finally picked out a couple other titles. Ones that his parents and sister might like, too. Then, he made his way to the front of the store. Craig grinned harder to himself while flipping through his selection. Assuming Robin would be behind the counter, he prepared for a bout of witty repartee. He had failed to examine who was on duty today upon his entry. Craig opened his mouth to say something smart-alecky as he looked up. However, his unexpected vision stopped him short. Behind the till was not the face he had grown accustomed to seeing, but instead there stood another man. The other man. The guy that was around his age. The guy with the great hair. Shit. Craig bit his lip; he could get through this. His stomach flipped like a pancake before sinking like a rock in his guts. He looked down at the movies in his hand and never felt more self-conscious about his decisions.

Little Shop of Horrors, for Tricia–his baby sister. Big Trouble in Little China, for his parents. Alien, and once again, Top Gun, for himself. He hoped Sigourney Weaver would still get him a pass.

❝Uh, hey,❞ he said coolly as he placed his movies down on the painted, pressed wood countertop. His fingers rapped across the boxes nervously, before he slid them in, uh, Steve's–according to his nametag–direction. ❝Where's Robin?❞ he asked, attempting to make casual conversation with the Hair Guy.

[galtx]

GALTx eNews: Why Is GALT Going Green For The Irish?

Most of you are probably already aware that Greyhound racing has declined dramatically in the United States in recent years. Only two tracks remain operational and they are both in West Virginia. With the decline of racing, fewer American Greyhounds are now available for adoption and the available retirees are finding homes on the East Coast. We simply do not have enough American Greyhounds available now to meet the adoption demand.

Meanwhile, Greyhound racing remains popular in Ireland with 17 stadiums still holding races. In the neighboring United Kingdom, more than 20 tracks still hold races. While some of the Irish and UK retirees find homes in Europe, they have to compete with the Spanish Galgos also seeking adoptive homes in the region. The Irish Greyhounds need access to more potential adoptive homes than are available to them regionally. 

We saw both an opportunity and a solution in these circumstances. GALT has long had the infrastructure needed to help find homes for retired racers and Ireland has the retired racers needing to find adoptive homes. We hope our ongoing deliveries of hounds from Ireland will prove to be a perfect match leading to many happy hounds and families!

1/12/23