#devout anthology

[quintonli]

You did absolutely amazing on Devout. Editing and curating was just *mwah* chef's kiss. How did you manage to get in contact with everyone and collect everything? What was it like working with everyone? I've spoken with Rafael and Freydis before and they seem like lovely people, Rafael has even helped me with my own book, but how were everyone else? Was there a specific interaction you thought was really nice? Sorry this is so much, I've been trying to hunt you down since I got the book. Much love ❤️🙏

I'm so sorry for such a late answer!!! I've been bad at keeping up to date with Tumblr but I'm going to really try now

Thank you so much for enjoying Devout!

How did I get in contact with everyone?

I'm in a discord server with all the contributors of Devout Anthology! @nicosraf made the server ages ago which he randomly threw into the twitter void to collect fellow angel lovers

This server has become a really friendly writing space (tho private now!!) And I was fortunate enough that a fair few of the members wanted to do an anthology and I decided to make it real

Collecting Everything

Most communication was on discord, otherwise I used email for big announcements and updates, organised with Google drive and Google sheets

What was it like working with everyone?

Really great actually! Like for things like this I value honesty and it's true that everyone was great. I'm lucky to have worked with the contributors that I did. They were respectful of me and my time and expertise and I was flexible and reliable for them too

Fav interactions!

- Doing a cover vote with @swordvampire and the utter chaos that came from it

- Realising that I loved doing anthology work and with that realising I wanted a career in Arts Management (now I have accepted an offer for my master's of arts management tho deferred to have some rest time between degrees)

- Just the happiness that we all got to and get to experience because of this

Very proud of everyone involved. And I'm so grateful for every reader. Please feel free to ask anything else

[airic-fenn]

Four stories into the Devout Anthology ARC and holy shittt how am I supposed to work today with all these fucked up (endearingly) angels on my mind

[nicosraf]

hello !!! Devout: An Anthology of Angels is finally out! You can get it here! It's been a bit since I talked about it but, in case you don't know, Devout is a collection of angel-themed stories, poems, and art! My lovely friend Quinton Li organized it, and the beautiful cover and formatting you see was done by @swordvampire :')

Inside, I have a poem and a short story. The poem, AN ANGEL SONG FROM THE ETHER, is about Michael and Lucifer rekindling their love in the circle of hell for the lustful. The short story, PARADISES, is about a romantic encounter between angel Gabriel and the Mesoamerican god Tlāloc.

These are two little pieces that are close to my heart! I'm really happy to have the chance to share them! All the other contributors are brilliant, and I'm really lucky to have had the chance to work with them :)

[givemebishies]

Got my copy of Devout: An Anthology of Angels (edited and featuring @quintonli) last week! I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it so far, I’m not very far in just yet but it’s already been so fun seeing all the different writing styles and creative choices between each of the authors ^^ I especially can’t wait to get to the parts @nicosraf wrote! I’m a huge ABM fan tho so I suppose I’m a bit biased lol

Also, I got my bookmark from @meastudios at a con a year or so back, if anyone is curious ✨

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Devout: An Anthology of Angels edited by Quinton Li

goodreads

A collection of stories, poetry, and art dedicated to the angelic.

Here you will find the strange, the creepy, the funky, slightly silly, pieces with feeling. An experience buried deep inside, it might be from another dimension. Something questionable that makes you wonder if your first impression of the world is accurate enough to trust.

Or maybe something human — too human.

How about a feeling between a feeling? Longing, yearning. Conflict between moral and love. World between worlds.

Above all — angelic.

Are we what angels make of us, or are angels what we make of them?

Mod opinion: I haven't read this anthology yet, but I heard there's a lot of trans angels in there and that's very interesting to me.

[tearsoftheseraphim]

Gay Angel Mail! I finally ordered myself the physical copies of Angels Before Man (by the amazing @nicosraf) and the Devout anthology. Yes, I will be emotionally unwell once I finish rereading Angels Before Man and no, I’m not prepared for Angels and Man

[andromedaexists]

Devout: An Anthology of Angels || ed. Quinton Li

★★★★☆

TW: MENTIONED AT THE START OF EACH SHORT STORY

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okay, let’s get the important information out of the way first: I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this lovely anthology in exchange for an honest review.

Dope! Now to my thoughts. I think the scream really encompasses my thoughts on it! Devout is an amazing anthology full of stories that push the boundaries of what we consider holy. 

It has a really strong start with a piece by Freydís Moon that really makes the trans body holy. Honestly, a good majority of these stories make what is considered heretical in today’s society into something that is so much more. 

There are also quite a few stories that push the divine, the pure, into Desecration. I love those stories, it makes me think and makes me confront my own beliefs and what I consider to be holy. 

Then, it ends with five star hit after five star hit! They really stacked the beginning and end of this anthology and I LOVE THAT!

I fully expected this to be amazing with names like Freydís Moon, Morgan Dante, Tyler Battaglia, and Rafael Nicolás being thrown around, and I was not disappointed. I am so honored to be selected to read this early and tell you all to read it.

I don’t have much more to say here, I broke down my thoughts on each story as I read it. I have those thoughts down below in order of how they appear in the anthology

I know it’s tempting, authors of Devout, to want to see what I individually rated your stories. But please, if you do look at it, remember that my rating is not a reflection on you as an author. Sometimes stories just don’t line up with everyone, and that is okay. I love all of you and you are all amazing, no matter what I thought of your story. (also reviews are for readers, not for authors. Please keep that in mind).

The Angels at Harvest Church - Freydís Moon

TW: EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT, MENTION OF SNAKES/SNAKE BITES, OFF-PAGE TRANSPHOBIA

“I am made to be yours, my King on Earth, my Morning Star. Have mercy, please”

“You look at him and see fire in his eyes. Brimstone. Chaos. Rebirth.

This short story is one hell of a way to open this anthology, holy shit. Quite literally holy shit, too!

This story makes the trans body holy. That is the best way I can describe it. It is the closest thing I’ve had to a religious experience since I left the church. Sure, it is smut, but it is also so much more than that (not that smut is bad or lesser in any way, as we all know I love a good smut story)

10/10, I haven't read the other stories yet but I know this is going to be one of my favorites.

★★★★★

I Know My Father - Dorian Yosef Webber

The next entry in the anthology is a poem, or, I am assuming it is a poem since my kindle said “fuck you” to the formatting. I’m not gonna lie, this issue with my kindle made me put down Devout for a moment. I imagine it’s beautiful on literally any other reader and on paper, but my little kindle paperwhite just cannot handle it.

Actually, I do have the kindle app on my phone, let me see how it looks there. Yeah, okay, it definitely makes more sense and comes across as a poem on my phone. I ordered the paperback copy of Devout as well so I will be able to fully see it in its beauty then!

As for the content of the poem, maybe it’s because I’m just not a poetry person but I didn’t understand it at first. I do now, and I love the story! There is something in my little heart that is drawn to names that are not the one you are born with, and this story renames its protag so effortlessly that I had to do a double take to make sure we were still talking about the same person!

Some quotes that I absolutely love are: (only two because this is a short poem and I don’t wanna give away too much)

Bless me the way you bless your Father

Your name is now Israel, he breathes against sweat-slick skin, for you have conquered both man and divine

Like, this poem (now that I understand it) is so… filling? I’m not sure how I would describe it. It feels to me the same as sitting in a pew at church before mass when there’s only you and the Father there, doing your own things and not interacting with each other. Y’know? (is my roman catholic upbringing shining through, yet? lmao)

★★★★☆

Seasons of God - Angela Sun

This short story came with content warnings that I will also put here. TW: SUICIDE, GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, BODY HORROR, UNDERTONES OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND GROOMING, MENTIONS OF RAPE, MISOGYNY

Now that we’ve got those down, let's talk about the story! I… didn’t like it. It feels very rushed to me, like the author is trying to fit a novel into a short story.

The premise is definitely there! I said it once with Sugar People and I will say it again: I fucking love stories about abuse in the Church and the victim winning. 

But where it really lacks is just that. Sure, Rui got as good of an ending as she could have, but it’s all so rushed. I have no idea what’s going on because it’s just thing after thing after thing, we don’t get to learn about any of the characters or where they are or anything. There is no atmosphere to this story and it desperately needs some.

Like, I don’t think I can sum this up in a better way than just: I don’t understand. I haven’t even talked about the body horror because honestly there wasn’t any. There are moments that are supposed to be body horror, but they are like one or two lines here and there and they are not described. At all.

That being said, I really think this would make an amazing premise for a novel. I think the extended format would do wonders for this story and I greatly look forward to what this author has lined up for the future

★★☆☆☆

Resta Con Me - Ian Haramaki

TW: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF DEAD BODIES, MENTIONS OF ALCOHOLIC/ABUSIVE PARENT, VIOLENCE, OPEN DOOR SMUT

I am SCREAMING omg this short story, y’all. 

This short story is what I wish the last one was. Not in content, I love that the stories don’t resemble each other. But this one had the backstory and the length but also the atmosphere. I hate comparing two artists' work to each other though, so that is all I will say.

This story is AMAZING I am absolutely living for Dani omg, like he is the most laid back and unconcerned person in existence I’m SCREAMING

Some quotes that just made me fucking cackle (both said by Dani because ofc they were):

“Do you two mind? This is a library.”

“Anyway, be not afraid or whatever.”

I’m actually finding it really hard to talk about this story without spoiling it, since everything else about the story is just incoherent screaming. But yeah, I loved it!

★★★★★

Seraphim - Ian Haramaki

Stunning, beautiful. I really don’t have much to say on this, art is a soft spot of mine and I love seeing it in this collection.

With Wings Like Madeleines - Dorian Yosef Weber

TW: REFERENCES TO EATING DISORDERS, SEXUAL ASSAULT/ABUSE

I mean, this story isn’t the worst. It’s kind of meh in my opinion, I’m just not quite sure what the point of it is. It’s very… I’m not an angel, but I’m not not an angel, and I can’t see angels, but I choose not to see demons, and I’m human and dirty. Which, I mean, mood.

I guess this story just confused me more than I normally care for in a story, it feels like it’s not going anywhere. I do really like the mention of a prophet having a hot coal put in his mouth, though. That was fun and a really cool play to get us to try and understand what’s going on with the protagonist!

★★★☆☆

And the Mountains Melt Like Wax - Tyler Battaglia

TW: FIRE, DEATH, PANIC ATTACKS, BODY HORROR

Oh this story trips the same part of my brain that The Binding of Bloom Mountain did! It’s nature, it’s horror, it’s not Appalachia this time but I mean it’s on a mountain all the same. 

The inclusion of body horror and things that just aren’t right in natural and peaceful scenes such as hiking up a mountain will always hold the world for me. Especially with the tender show of love and care, like I am actually crying after reading this story. Sure, the angel in here is all kinds of fucked up and bug-like, but it’s also so loving and caring. It genuinely cares for Abel (the main character). 

I mean, this line perfectly describes it:

It was awful. It was beautiful. It was Godly. It was Hellish. It was the most ordinary miracle of all.

I also quite love the play on Cain and Abel, twisting the story so that (SPOILERS) Abel is the one to kill, and Cain is the one to take care of his brother. I love that.

★★★★★

The Mountains, The Mountains, The Mountains - Tyler Battaglia

Stunning, gorgeous, we all know I love art. It fits so perfectly after the last story, too, with the mountains. I love this piece.

We Suffer In Fire - Tyler Battaglia

TW: FIRE, DEATH, MURDER, RELIGIOUS FANATICISM, MONSTER/BODY HORROR

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA holy shit??????? I’m screaming, this short story is the perspective of the firesetter from the first Tyler short story AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

This short story is the mental ramblings of a clinically insane person who believes himself to be the Hand of God, the person to call forward something by sacrificing people through fire. Omg, I love this so much.

I love that we get to see both sides of the story, first in And The Mountains Melt Like Wax from the perspective of a firefighter and then from the perspective of the person who set the fire.

This story is very short, and while I am sad about that I think it was the perfect length for what it is. 

This story is amazing, my God.

★★★★★

Divine Body - Daniel Marie James

This poem is beautiful. It is a lot shorter than the poems we’ve seen thus far, but no less impactful. It gets its point across very plainly and clearly, and I really appreciate it for that!

★★★★☆

halfway to heaven - Freydís Moon

Right off the bat with this poem, the font is different. It is smaller. This is fine on my kindle paperwhite since I can always just change the font size, but I anticipate having a hard time with it once my paperback arrives. I am not terribly visually impaired, but it is still rather hard to make out some of the words without making the text much, much larger (and that’s already making it larger than my previously too-large setting). I normally read on a 7 or 8 on the kindle paperwhite, but I read this story with a size 10 font.

Other than that, I really like this poem. I think this is my favorite poem so far, I would even say my favorite poem in the whole anthology (sorry, rafa). It is downright lyrical, and boy am I a sucker for music. Even the formatting of this poem with its strange spacing screams SING ME.

I really don’t have much else to say on this poem, it is genuinely a lovely piece that speaks to the more musical part of my soul and I love it for that!

★★★★★

Fade To Black - Morgan Dante

TW: MENTIONS OF HEAVENLY VIOLENCE (ANGEL FACE MELTING), MENTIONS OF NB TRANSMASC CHARACTER DEALING WITH DEADNAMING AND TRANSPHOBIA AND MISGENDERING, EMETOPHOBIA

This story is not for me. It has a lot of the same issues I found with Seasons of God, it’s fast paced with no real time to take in anything. All in all, the tone of the story, the way it was told, and the style it was told in are just not for me.

★★☆☆☆

Misery in Company - Morgan Dante

TW: DEATH, MENTION OF OFFSCREEN VIOLENCE

Now this story, this is one that I can get behind. It feels very fleshed out, and though there are a few plot inconsistencies (in my opinion), I think it’s really great!

The pace is much slower in this piece as compared to the first one, which I greatly appreciate. I feel like we got to actually experience the story and the characters, got to truly know them. 

This is a continuation of the first piece, or, well, a bigger part of a brief mention in the earlier story. It really pulled at my heart strings for a bit. The story started to fall apart towards the end, it seems like it shifts from a love narrative to an abusive  acceptance. This is not a tone I like to read, and I really would have preferred if we stayed with the loving overtone of the first half of the story.

Overall, I like it! I probably wouldn’t read it again, but I am a chronic single reader anyways. It takes a lot to get me to re-read anything lol

★★★★☆

Enfleshed - Cas Trudeau

TW: INTERNALIZED GENDER DYSPHORIA, DISCUSSIONS OF GENDER SELF-ACTUALIZATION

I mean this in the best way possible but this poem reads like a medieval translation of an ancient latin or greek poem. Reading this felt like I was reading something for class, and though I struggle with poetry and struggle to understand its nuance even I can tell that the words hold deep meaning.

★★★★☆

Swarm Behavior - Aurélio Loren

TW: SEX, BODY HORROR, VAGUE MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT, GORE, INSECTS

Not gonna lie, I have no idea what I just read. Timeline, who? It seems to jump between two different time frames with no distinction between them other than just knowing that something new was happening in a different place.

That’s not to say I didn’t like it, no no. I really enjoyed this piece once I understood that and was able to go back and mentally jigsaw the timeline together. This piece has some real thick and heavy body horror, like I’m talking it made me a bit queasy type of body horror. Maybe that was the bugs, though. I am really not a fan of bugs.

Speaking of! I added insects to the list of TWs for this short, it wasn’t originally included I think because the name implies but but! Better safe than sorry and hoo boy was that a lot of bug stuff, my god.

★★★☆☆

Recovered Contents From an Angel’s Stomach - Rae Novotny

TW: MENTIONED ANIMAL DEATH & CRUELTY, BODILY FLUIDS, BODY HORROR, CANNIBALISM, DEATH, GORE, STRONG LANGUAGE

Hooooo boy this story. This story feels so different from the rest in this anthology and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In this story, the confusion is key. I feel like I just read a fever dream, and I quite liked it. I had no idea who we were following at any time but I don’t think that’s necessary, just that the being we were following was Angel. 

This story also has some banger lines, I mean:

God, he thinks, is a pervert.

Heaven, at last: to be utterly devout, and devoured.

So yeah, quite a good story. Confusing, but using that confusion to its advantage.

★★★★☆

An angel song from the ether - Rafael Nicolás

TW: SEXUAL CONTENT, SOME VIOLENCE

I am SCREAMING. Rafa, as always, delivered devastation in this poem. It reads almost like Catullus. Like, the homoerotic overtone (not an undertone, never an undertone) with the blatant hatred and pessimism. Like, it’s not over the top like Catullus often is with that, but you can feel the underlying hatred in this line:

Angel, I waited long enough for you, there is no love left in me, now, but lust I’ve never known to live without

It’s giving a more graphic Catullus 5, it’s giving Catullus 8. Hell, it might even give Ovid! I’m not as familiar with the Ars Amatoria or the Amores as I am Catullus, but Ovid definitely has a more sensual vibe like this poem does. All in all, an amazing addition.

★★★★★

Hashem yireh - Dorian Yosef Weber

TW: GENDER DYSPHORIA, RESTRAINTS, A FATHER NEARLY MURDERING HIS CHILD

Ooooooh this story is great too! I love how seamlessly the gendered terms switch, it was instantaneous and effective. 

I also had no issue with following this story, and I genuinely think that I would read a full length novel with this concept. I love it! I don’t want to give too much away, but I also quite enjoyed that the POV character found angels, which had been described as horrific and terrifying to him earlier, beautiful Again, I am a sucker for finding beauty in the monstrous and this story did just that!

★★★★★

Pieces - Emily Hoffman

TW: GORE

 Oh goodness this is the story with an uncomfy name in it for me. This will be fun!

Oh boy this story has it all! My legal name, Costco, the butchering of human bodies, Ken Dolls, a character who was judged for wanting to go into the arts and chose science instead, body modification, religious trauma, gosh it’s like I was written into this story. 

Needless to say, I quite enjoyed it! The existential horror and question of faith is written so well, I could practically feel it!

★★★★★

Paradises - Rafael Nicolás

TW: GRAPHIC SEX, REFERENCED ABUSE

I have to compose myself for this, this is the short story that made me want to read Devout and become an ARC reader. I have to compose myself. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okay, okay I can do this. This story is stunning, beautiful, amazing. It feels like love, it feels like finding your home in someone else. It feels like what Gabriel is experiencing. 

I was expecting the sex to be much more graphic than it was, like I was ready for a full cock and balls but we didn’t get that. It def wasn’t like fade to black, but it wasn’t graphic. I could feasibly have my mother read this (i won’t) and not be uncomfy. 

I just, I love it, this story is one of love and doing what you need to do for yourself. I’m so glad that Gabriel found his home with Tlāloc, I’m so happy.

★★★★★

I am planning on writing little things like this every time I read a book just to help me keep track of them. If I don’t write down my opinions and thoughts right away I am liable to forget them. I am hesitant to call these a review because i’m really just not comfy with that lol I will do my best to make sure I appropriately tag and warn about topics. If I miss any please let me know!

[queerbookdirectory]

NEW BOOK SUBMISSION

DEVOUT || ed. Quinton Li

Today the QBD spit a very special book back at me; Devout: An Anthology of Angels!!

This anthology is chock full with amazing writers and even more amazing stories! It was one of the first ARC reads I ever did, and I'm very happy to say that I loved it!

This anthology has a little bit of everything:

making the trans body holy

horror

the mundane

romance and most of all it has Angels! So many angels!!!

I genuinely hope that y'all get a chance to pick this one up, it's amazing and you will not be disappointed

SUMMARY

Featuring work by Freydís Moon, Dorian Yosef Weber, Angela Sun, Ian Haramaki, Tyler Battaglia, Daniel Marie James, Morgan Dante, Cas Trudeau, Aurélio Loren, Rae Novotny, Rafael Nicolás & Emily Hoffman.

A collection of stories, poetry, and art dedicated to the angelic.

Here you will find the strange, the creepy, the funky, slightly silly, pieces with feeling. An experience buried deep inside, it might be from another dimension. Something questionable that makes you wonder if your first impression of the world is accurate enough to trust.

Or maybe something human — too human.

How about a feeling between a feeling? Longing, yearning. Conflict between moral and love. World between worlds.

Above all — angelic.

Are we what angels make of us, or are angels what we make of them?

This anthology is for mature audiences due to themes and explicit content. Our genres include, but are not limited to: Contemporary Fantasy Romance, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Horror, Historical Fantasy Romance, Mythological, Gothic Fiction, Science Fiction, Horror Drama

CONTENT WARNINGS

each short story has it’s TW’s listed beneath the title, but major ones are body horror and sex

REPRESENTATION

Various, depending on the story, but mostly M/M, trans (incl. non-binary)

GOODREADS LINK LINK TO PURCHASE THE BOOK

[satansspikeybutthole]

reading devout is like "hhmm yes, finding beauty in the monstrous. hhhmm hm good body horror. hmm OH HI LEGAL NAME (but spelled different) didn't expect to see you here..."

[sempersirens]

iuvenalis

part one of strangers in the night

a joel miller au

main masterlist

author's note: welcome to part one of strangers in the night! this is going to be a six part anthology of joel x reader meeting throughout different lifetimes. expect a lot of angst, pining, and yearning. i'm so excited for each and every era i have planned. they will all be different kind of stories but will pretty much be heartbreaking across the board. thank you for reading and don't forget to follow my updates blog @sempersirenswrites as i don't have a taglist!

warnings etc (spoilers): [historical fantasy au] no outbreak (yet...), ancient rome, reader is a vestal virgin, implied misogyny/sexism/patriarchal society, angst, punishment for sexual transgression is being buried alive (not graphic), historically accurate, no smut, no use of y/n, this has not been beta read pls forgive any errors!

Rome, 216 BCE

The door creaks as it opens. 

You know this dance by now. You should’ve anticipated the wooden shrill beneath your toes alerting the entire household of your deviltry one final time.

The walls hold their breath as you descend to the floor below, the warmth from the hypocaust crawling up your shins.

Yet, all remains still. Not even the feral cats who roam the cobbled streets stir from their slumber. 

Tomorrow they will march you down this road; praetorian guards brushing your bare shoulders with no fear of corruption.

But dawn is yet to break and your palms yet to dampen with fear.

“Iuvenalis?” The muggy air clamps around your throat as you speak for the first time in days.

You know his footsteps as intimately as you know the beat of his chest. Months moving in darkness, knowing one another only under the veil of the night. You’d recognise the weight of his step if you were robbed of each and every sense.

“Mea columba.” 

You shut your eyes as his sweet, misplaced worry fills your ears.

“Iuvenalis.” You breathe his name, surrendering to his hands desperately finding their way from your waist to your cheeks.

“You are too trusting of these streets, mea columba.” My dove. You hadn’t seen him the first time he saw you. It had been the day of your inauguration; he says he mistook your hair for a dove in flight. Wild, white, and too soft for the wind tangled within it.

“These are streets I played in as a girl. They have treated me well.” 

“But, tomorrow-,”

“Tomorrow is a far-off thought, corculum. Be with me as I am now. That is all I ask.”

He nods. You know he disagrees, but tonight he swallows any indication of contention as he silently takes your hand in his and leads you toward the walls of the city.

You can see the Colosseum from here. You always hated the wretched thing. Slaves and beasts banished to Tartarus simply to divert the eyes of Rome far away from treaties signed in the stands.

You hated how as a daughter of Vesta, your presence was expected at each game. As a girl, your father had once caught you squeezing your eyes shut as two lean slaves delivered their final blows to one another's pink flesh.

“You think me naive to have taken up the post, do you not?”

His brows pierce into his forehead as he considers your question.

“I think your family cruel to sentence you to death from girlhood. I think the Gods merciless for requiring such sacrifice.”

"You are brave to speak of the Gods so recklessly." You scoff. Part of you feels guilty; he was devout when he found you. All soldiers must be; how could you believe in nothing as the enemy charges toward you?

It didn't take long for you to become his temple. You replaced his exaltation; the ripples of your thighs his temple; your stifled moans his prayer.

You had corrupted him just as much as he had you.

"Let them hear me. I would sooner accompany you to Elysium than press my head to the altar of these false prophets."

"You don't know what you speak, Iuvenalis."

His grip finds your arm, turning you to feel his breath against your forehead.

"You are dimidium animae meae, there is no punishment I would not endure to remain by your side in this life and the next."

"What a wretched soul you must have for that to be so."

His fingertips find your cheek before you even notice the tears falling.

"We could still flee. I would grow old in the slums of Carthage if it meant I could watch your hair turn grey."

"Traders would recognise a Vestal Virgin as far as Babylonia."

"Then we will go farther."

His beard scratches beneath your palm.

"I will not lament any longer, corculum. Tomorrow, you will walk beside me, and then I beg you turn and do not look back. I can't bear to think of you watching."

For the first time this night, a smile creeps across his cheeks.

"You forget the man with whom you speak. I will be at your side until they drag me from you."

The crowds in the street do not look at you as you walk.

Your mother wails somewhere behind you, but she is blocked by a procession of praetorian guards. She does not weep in sorrow, but in shame that her only daughter approaches the grave unchaste.

He is there, beside you. The guards that encircle you owed their lives to his leadership in a battle on foreign soil.

Your fingertips brush against one another as you walk. You are already ruined, you think, what more could they punish you with?

You think that if not for his presence, you would fall to your knees in the street. You would claw at your skin and the cobbles beneath you, leave scratches in the road and beg to be forgiven.

But he is there, and you will not leave the world as you came into it.

The priest waits at the end of the procession. Iuvenalis' fingers weave between your own, and he squeezes three times as the water is brought forth. Enough to last you a day; their hands are clean if they keep you alive for a little while.

A final prayer is read, and the crowds turn their backs. His hand squeezes tighter; you fear he will not release you.

"No," you mutter, loud enough for only him to hear.

The guards herd you both forth like cattle, the marble descent to your tomb the only viable path for you now.

But he is still here.

Your palms grow damp as the men flock closer.

"No!" You shake your head, searching the faces of the praetorian for an answer.

"It's okay, mea columba. It's going to be okay."

The realisation sinks into your skin like a tick; he never intended for you to enter your grave alone.

The light grows dim as you both are forced into the chamber, and silence rings out above you. Soon, everything goes dark.

You weep and beat into his chest, engulfed almost entirely by darkness. Slim arrows of light beat across his face, and he is here, smiling down at you.

"Why condemn yourself?" You choke between gulps of grief.

"You think I would wait to walk the fields of Elysium by your side? There is nothing for me on this plain of existence without you. Dimidium animae meae. You are half of my soul, I will follow you anywhere. Even into death."

Under the darkness you began, in the darkness, you would end.

[floralmusings]

Hi hello, and welcome to my little writing corner!

You can call me Flora (she/her), and I’m hoping to carve out a place for myself in the writing community here on tumblr and follow along with new writing projects, as well as hopefully garner some interest in my own!

I hate the idea of creating this thing and asking for interaction without doing so myself; I am a huge believer of the idea of community, of bettering and bolstering other content creators, and participating in something bigger than myself. So, tag games, asks, challenges, and so on and so forth, are all welcomed and encouraged - additionally, I LOVE hearing about other people’s works, with a particular weak spot for high/dark fantasy, as well as urban fantasy.

Thank you for your time in reading this, if you are a writeblr, interact with this post and I’ll check out your blog! In the meantime, if you’re interested in learning about my wips, they’re below the cut - I am a predominantly adventure fantasy writer, taking inspiration from D&D and real world mythos.

UNDECIDED : Unbound By The Light

Dark Fantasy - Found Family - Hurt/Comfort

Ashaveth, a once devout woman, finds themselves dragged back into the throes of their old beliefs when they stumble upon a creature spoken of only in aeon old hymns and textbooks lost to dust; a creature that bears the symbol of a Goddess they had abandoned so long ago.

Donning a mask that burns with a holy light, all consuming, all radiating - this, was a Faceless One.

If legend was to be believed, they were servants of Vigil, molded and shaped by Her to be the perfect protectors of peace and divine will - they had no name for they had no identity, they had no tongue for they had no voice, they had no blood for they did not bleed.

Had the Goddess she fled finally tracked her down?

UNDECIDED : Parcels & Papercuts

High Fantasy - Cosy - Found Family

The Couriers are a ragtag group who are the proud owners of the delivery service Parcels & Papercuts - a wandering delivery service who will deliver anything to anyone.

This is going to be an anthology series following the characters of this group and their various escapades - from delivering baked goods to a homesick grandaughter, to handing over a love letter to a scorned god. No job is too big and certainly never too small.

This is the type of series that you can jump in whenever, and you won't miss any major plot beats or anything like that.

[quintonli]

tell me how it ends x

devout: an anthology of angels x

chrysalis and requiem x

[natrogersfics]

The Anthology - Prologue

Artwork by @faith2nyc Read on AO3 He really should be paying more attention. The thought crosses Steve’s mind as he listens to the directors take a question from the vast crowd gathered before them. What the question is about, though, he couldn’t say. By all accounts, he’s very much aware of what a privilege it is to be teasing an upcoming project at, of all places, the legendary Hall H of Comic Con. And while he’s grateful for the opportunity, and even more so for the palpable enthusiasm of the fans in the room, with this being their third promotional engagement of the day, the banal inquiries have grown cumbersome.

They couldn’t even really talk about the project, anyway. Not with the studio’s policy of devout secrecy when it comes to the plot. What details he and his colleagues could divulge about the scope of the movie have been so extremely limited that he’s surprised that not only have they been able to keep this panel going for the last hour, but also that the crowd hasn’t tired of the non-answers they’re being given.

It's with that fact that he’s able to extinguish what guilt he’s feeling about his lack of interest at the moment. With another glance at the crowd before him, he carefully slides the napkin that was once underneath his coffee cup to his left, and from the corner of his eye, he catches the way his costar takes her bottom lip between her teeth, trying to suppress a smile as she looks down at the table to see the grid he’d hastily drawn. Natasha clicks down on the top of the pen she’s been twirling between her fingers, scribbling an X on the centermost square before pushing the napkin back towards him.

“This question is for Natasha,” the panel’s mediator announces. “What do you think of Captain America and Black Widow being paired together for this film? Doesn’t it seem like an odd partnership considering that morally, these characters exist on opposite ends of the spectrum?” “I guess you’ll just have to see the movie to find out,” Natasha quips without missing a beat, eliciting a laugh from both the crowd and their castmates. He rolls his lips to keep from beaming. Such a professional. “But in all seriousness,” she continues, “I think these characters have a lot to learn from each other. Cap very much lives in black and white and Widow is highly comfortable operating in the gray, but as you'll see in the film, with the challenges they face, they’re both going to have to learn to be comfortable in each other’s moral spheres. So, yeah, an interesting dynamic to see play out for sure.” “Now that we’re on the topic of dynamics,” the mediator says. “In the teaser that was played exclusively for us today, we find Cap and Widow looking like they’re on an undercover mission. Widow is doing her thing, Cap is looking uncomfortable but also really… entranced by her, maybe?” He pauses as the crowd voices their agreement. “What do you think, Steve? Is this where Cap finally finds his perfect partner?” “Well… our Executive Producer, Kevin, looks just about ready to tranq dart me, so I’m going to pass on that last question,” he says as another fit of laughter echoes throughout the room. “But one thing I will say is, this is a whole new world for Cap. It hasn’t been that long since he was in the ice, so to see someone like Widow who’s so quick on her feet and razor-sharp in her environment, yeah, I think you could say he’s entranced, if not completely in awe.” “Interesting that you say that because even with what little we saw, it’s obvious that Cap and Widow have sizzling chemistry…” The crowd begins to hoot, and the mediator smiles like a cat that’s caught the canary. Here we go. “Could that have anything to do with your chemistry with Natasha in real life? I mean, I think I speak for everyone here today when we say that we’ve noticed.” The crowd cheers, cajoling him for an answer, and when he steals a glance at Natasha, he finds that she’s turned his way as well, an amused expression on her face. “It’s true, you guys are noticing something…” he begins as he turns back to the crowd. “And that’s Natasha being absolutely tremendous at her job.” A chorus of laughter reverberates in the hall before the mediator turns to Natasha. “Is that true, Natasha? Is movie magic all this is?” “Oh, for sure,” Natasha says, her tone serious even as her smile says she’s anything but. “Have you seen him? Who wants to be close to this�� – she gestures towards him – “all damn day?” She scoffs. “It’s a chore.” He tips his head back, one hand flying to his chest as he laughs along with the entire room. Next to him, Natasha just shakes her head. “But no, Steve and I are great friends. That’s all you’re seeing there.”

“Great job out there, both of you,” Kevin says when they finally make it backstage after signing autographs at the end of the panel. “You had them eating out of the palm of your hands! You guys are total pros and I’m so glad you’re friends. Makes my job a lot easier, that’s for damn sure.” “We aim to please, boss,” Natasha says with a two-fingered salute. “And please you do,” Kevin says. “And as a show of my gratitude for soldiering through a full day of promo, why don’t you two take the rest of the day off? Grab dinner or something. On me.” He turns to Natasha. “I’m game if you are.” “I think I can free up my evening,” she confirms. “But I do have to grab my purse in the back.” “I’ll leave you two to it then,” Kevin says. With a final nod at their producer, they begin to head back towards the green room where the cast was gathered prior to the beginning of the panel. The walk takes longer than usual as they stop to greet familiar faces and pause for conversations and pictures with excited fans, but he doesn’t mind. He didn’t hold any love for extended press conferences, but this part of the job – meeting the people who his work resonated deeply with – is one he holds dear. “Where do you want to go?” Natasha asks once they make it back to the room and she walks over to the corner to retrieve her purse. He looks around the empty room before following close behind her. “Don’t care,” he mutters, causing her to turn. His hands find her waist then, and she gasps in surprise when he pulls her close and slants his lips over hers in a kiss that’s nothing short of a claim. Her purse falls to the ground with a thud, but neither of them pay it any mind as she snakes her arms around his neck. There’s an amused smile on Natasha’s lips when they eventually pull away, the both of them heaving for air. “What was that for?” “This…” he says, his fingers toying with the hem of the colorful chiffon blouse she has on underneath her blazer, giving him just a glimpse of her skin through the material. “Has been driving me crazy all day.” “That was kind of the point,” she says, a devious smirk painting her lips. He narrows his eyes at her. “And here I was about to make it up to you,” he says, watching as she raises a brow up in question. He grins. “You know, seeing how working with me is such a chore.” “It really is,” she laments jokingly, causing them both to chuckle. She trails her hands up his arms, feeling his biceps through his sweater as she looks up at him from underneath the fan of her lashes. “And it’s going to take a lot more than dinner to convince me otherwise.” “Is that right?” he asks, watching a glint spark in her eyes. “In that case, your place or mine?”

The Anthology Masterlist | Chapter 1

[nicosraf]

Friend, I’ll have you know I finished reading Devout last night and i haven’t stopped thinking about Paradises. You made me feral for something I hadn’t even considered before. Asdfghjkl haunting.

Angel Gabriel x god Tlaloc is something that consumes every fiber of my being my brain is Swiss cheese and they (them two) fill the holes I sleep every night thinking of them and wake up every morning remembering them

Thank you for reading

[olderthannetfic]

I just saw that Tor is publishing an anthology of Greek myth retellings that's being billed as "inclusive" but there's not a single Greek author included. When Greek authors who would've loved to participate called it out, people claimed they weren't the true inheritors of their own ancient culture because they're too Christian, too Eastern, too tax-evading, too whatever. Like, someone literally said that Greeks have little to contribute to SFF because they're too busy making cheese and not paying taxes.

Let me be clear: there's nothing wrong with anyone doing a Greek myth retelling. Classical antiquity is the foundation of Western cultural values, for better or worse (often worse). Doing mythology retellings also gives you instant brand recognition as a writer and increases your chances of finding readers. But this is exactly why it's important to let the inheritors of the culture benefit and not gatekeep them out in the name of some cliquey idea of inclusivity.

As a Balkan Slav with connections to Greece and its diaspora, I have experienced discrimination in the Anglophone world and have seen Greek people face something similar. A lot of the same stereotypes exist about us. The Anglo stereotypes about us are arguably worse because of the civil war, and we're more orientalized because of a longer period of Ottoman occupation and a substantial Muslim presence. Slavic people also get to see our pagan mythologies coopted by American fantasists with no ties to that part of the world, and the stories are usually kitschified into, like, a monocultural/monoethnic airport-souvenir-nesting-doll or baba-yaga-cottagecore version of the folktales ready for Western consumption.

Anyway, why is there so little room in the publishing industry for the people who grew up with this cultural heritage even if they might hold beliefs or practice traditions that emerged later? Many Greeks today are devout Orthodox Christians, but that doesn't mean that a random WASP who identifies as a neo-Hellenist has a greater claim on THEIR ancient heritage. And the contributors to the Tor anthology probably just see ancient Greece as a dead culture with the added benefit of being white and thus cultural appropriation-proof. But it's all kind of giving Never on Sunday and not in a good way.

--

[icehearts]

— MUTUAL CATCH UP ✨ tagged by: @aethergazing & @sealrock thank you both 🫶 tagging: @tsunael @viiioca @wind-up-nhaama @chadhunkler @ishgard @sasslett if you feel like it/haven't already done this! LAST SONG: City Ruins (Rays of Light) from the NieR Automata ost because I convinced yet another friend to play it for the very first time >:)

CURRENTLY WATCHING: Dungeon Meshi

THREE SHIPS: SuleMio, AkiAngel, Esca/Theralt 👉👈

FAVORITE COLOR: Leafy greens, peachy pinks

CURRENTLY CONSUMING: Jack Jeanne, Witch Hat Atelier, Devout: An Anthology of Angels and of course ffxiv

FIRST SHIP: Heero/Duo from Gundam Wing lmao don't look at me

PLACE OF BIRTH: USA

CURRENT LOCATION: TX

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: no

LAST MOVIE: Dune (2021)

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Attempting to frankenstein some vanilla mashups for Esca. Writing a few self-indulgent wolcred drabbles that may never see the light of day. Chipping away at some RP campaign ideas and procrastinating on original projects ehehe oops