#this was specifically linked to me and i am SO DELIGHTED BY THAT

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Good Omens graphic novel update: December 2024

We promised a graphic novel treat for December to send off 2024, which we have at the end of the update, so let's dive in!

Colleen has been working diligently ahead of the graphic novel going to print next month, which she discussed over on Patreon. For those looking for more behind the scenes on both Good Omens and Colleen's work more broadly, we recommend either following her Substack, or subscribing via Patreon, as she approaches the finish line.

A snapshot from our production HQ where dummy books of the graphic novel, slipcase and other editions of Good Omens have been arriving thick and fast. The graphic novel (slipcased version shown) has quite the heft to it. It's going to be such a magnificent object inside and out.

Here, we're testing out the various papers, finishes, embellishments and more – everything is falling into place!

Merch-wise, some more delights. The A.Z. Fell & Co tote bag design is in, one side in celebration of our favourite angelic bookseller, the other as if it's been purchased from the bookshop itself, so you can take your pick.

We've got more pins that will be available in the 3-pin set add ons. While the full list will be available in 2025, we're happy to share a few more to get excited about:

On the trading card front, have a look at some of the base deck designs by Steve Gregson and Kirsty Hunter in situ as this all comes together rather nicely, and causes a heated game or two behind the scenes.

And, a quick admin note to wrap up that we always recommend checking the FAQ page as a first port of call for any queries. If you have questions tied to specific tiers, we'd suggest checking the last few updates if your answer can't be found on the FAQ. If there is any information required for your pledge, we will be in touch. We will be back at full steam in the New Year!

Thank you.

So, to wrap up this year's updates, we give you the draft of the full first scene of the graphic novel, artwork by Colleen Doran and lettering by Lois Buhalis. If you'd like to wait until the graphic novel publishes in Spring, skip everything after the ducks!

To 2025 🥂

Until next time.

+ post from Colleen Doran:

Good Omens: You Get...Stuff Like This

In the most recent Good Omens update at the Kickstarter, a few people got upset at the suggestion that you have to get past my paywall here to see Good Omens updates.

Except you really don't, and the post doesn't actually say you do. You get a bit more, like pics of my studio, a discussion of tools and process - but not all of that is exclusively about Good Omens.

I think the Dunmanifestin team just wanted to draw a little attention to my blogs and other works, for which I am very grateful.

As my Patreon supporters already know, Good Omens info posted here gets to the Substack and Kickstarter eventually. And since most of my posts here aren't just about Good Omens, but my other projects and personal stuff, as well as links to our weekly Virtual Art Studio sessions, I think I'm justified in keeping that material behind a paywall.

In fact, I don't think I've posted much stuff about Good Omens since the summer: pages of flats like the one you see above, a few studio photos, and color tweaks.

Also, me boo-hooing about my nerves and health.

But for those who feel left out missing even this small amount of stuff, then the screen shot above is for you.

That's called a flat.

It's a prelim color before adding final color.

Here's what the final color looks like.

So I've posted a handful of this sort of thing since this summer, but frankly, there's even more of my sketches and so on posted at my Instagram that aren't here at all.

For those who don't know, I am doing most of the color myself on the book, but I am working with assistants. I'm not sure how much the Dunmanifestin team wants out there before the big reveals, but here's a snippet of a sky.

In the first image, my flat color.

And after my assistant worked on it.

Here, I've done a repaint. Sometimes I do very extensive repaints after the assistant works on a page. Sometimes not so much. I didn't use assistants on many pages at all. About 80% of the labor on the color of the book is my work.

However, the assistants have been a big help, and I am very appreciative of them.

I will make a point to go through all my prior posts and get every single bit of art that you haven't seen and make it public for all of you in the coming weeks. I need to excise it from previous posts. As I respect the privacy of all my readers, I never make prior posts public without their permission as they may not want their comments or identities to be public.

Thanks so much for everything!

[buckysegan]

With all my heart, my love and my unfiltered adoration - Part three.

Summary: The letters back and forth between our loves through the rest of the war. Word Count: 2.1K A/N: we are def rolling with some historical inaccuracies in regards to letters here but sue me, do i know how long the letters took? not a clue. but google gave us a good guess. john egan how i miss you, i need your love so here i give you mine. Part two link.

Dear Major Egan,

I'm delighted to hear I'm with you. I hope you know, that you've been with me too. It's rather insane to me if I think about it too much, just how much I've thought about you in the time that I've waited for your letters. Part of me was worried that you would think I was a little crazy righting to a man I didn't know and an even bigger part of me was worried my letters would reach you too late, but I'm glad you were happy to hear from me.

I don't mind that you're a simple guy, in fact I think I like that, then I won't have to worry about impressing you whilst we write back and forth I can just say what comes to mind. I like to think that I laugh quite easily myself, laughter is free right? And right now I think we could all use a little laughter in the world. I'll tell you my favorite song next and then you can tell me yours, I love you are my sunshine, it warms something in my chest whenever it comes on, I just can't help but smile you know? Your turn John!

I wish I could know exactly where you are, then I could know if you were some place safe but I'll settle for knowing you're still out there. As for me, I'm in Washington, Redmond to be more precise, is that anywhere near where you're from? I'd like to meet you very much Major.

With all my anticipation, excitement and continued adoration,

A friend from home x

Dear Darling,

That's what the boys have been calling you ever since your second letter arrived and given I don't know your name, that's what I decided to roll with. I hope that's alright.

I have no idea how your letters keep finding me at the exact right time, it's like fate keeps leaving it till it knows I need to hear from you. You should also know, it wouldn't matter to me if you were a little crazy, I know I'm crazy so you'd just fit right in. I don't think anyone that thinks laughter is free could be considered crazy though. You seem to good for such a thing.

I've had you are my sunshine stuck in my head for the past few days whilst I tried to find paper to write you. I think the boys were grateful at first because I wasn't sinking Blue Skies my old favorite, now I think they're ready to kill us both darling. Next question, do you like cats or dogs more? I'm not telling you my answer till I know you can be trusted.

I am with you. Know that much, and I guess Washington will be my first stop when I'm back home.

Please never stop writing.

With all my wondering, respect and ever growing adoration

John Egan

Dear John,

I could have given you my name. But I've decided that darling will do quite nicely for now. If you want to know my name you're going to have to make it home and come and get it yourself.

Is it sad of me to confess that every day I don't get your letter I get a little bit sadder until one comes through? I just hate the wait each time even though I know that these things take time. Writing you might just be the most stressful thing I decided to be. How does anyone's heart survive doing this?

You'll be pleased to know, I've been annoying the girls plenty in return with Blue Skies since learning that it's your favourite. I feel like it tells me a lot about you Major. Sing it for me sometime? I also feel like your question is a trick, a cat and a dog have very different purposes in life so I'll just chose both if that's ok?

I wanted to tell you I joined the war efforts myself since I last wrote. I'm in the factories now and I have to admit, I've never enjoyed having dirty hands so much. I'm helping to build the planes. The wings specifically, I think they put me here because I wouldn't stop talking about my pilot John.

I wonder if anything I ever build will make it across to you? My letters won't stop as long as yours don't John.

With all my curiosity, joy and bursting adoration.

Your darling from home x

Dear Darling,

I'm in a terrible mood. Buck said I can't start my letter like that but I told him you'd be alright. You don't mind do you? I have to tell someone or I think I might actually start going a little crazy. I might already be crazy if I didn't get just as excited as you do when the mail call comes through.

I wish I knew you before the war. I wish you knew me before the war, I fear I might not be the John that came to England. I don't even know if I'm the John that start writing you all those months ago. I'm just sort of hoping you won't give up on me anyway even if my letters ain't always sunshine.

And I'm glad darling, I'm so god damn glad that waiting on my letters is the most stressful part of your day. Reminds me why we're doing this, what we're over here for. To keep you all safe at that side.

I suppose I can give you cats and dogs though. I wouldn't want to pick either if we really had to come down to it. My girls smart though huh? Making those planes for us to fly? I gotta say the idea of that does something to me and my bad mood in a good way.

What I wouldn't give to be home with you right now and I never even met you.

My longing, wishing and steady adoration

John Egan

Dear John

You can write to me, come rain or shine, bad moods or good. I don't want to just be here for the fun parts Major. I may not have known you before the war, and I may only just be learning who you are now but I don't doubt for a second, every part of you is worth knowing so tell Buck that I'll take it all and he can keep his opinions to himself.

I'm sorry, it was thoughtless of me to say writing letters were stressful when you're over there doing what needs to be done. More news keeps reaching us and each day I am terrified that your name is going to appear on a list somewhere.

I know that you can't be here, and I can't be there, but I wanted you to have some small piece of me with you so I sent you something with this letter. Keep smiling with me John, through the good and the bad, just keep smiling if you can.

I hope to see you so soon.

All my determination, strength and adoration

Darling x

Dear Darling,

Buck said he's sorry. He won't ever doubt you again. I think you two would really like each other you know.

He's my voice of reason these days, or rather he always has been. One of my two favorite people, him here, and you all the way over there. How is home? Does it still smell as sweet as I remember it?

I'm a little convinced that you're too good to be true darling. Your picture caused more whistles and taunts that I've seen from the boys in forever and I would have knocked them all on their ass if Buck didn't strike and tell me to sit down again. How do you not have a solider of your own to be writing too?

Sometimes when I get down time. I like to day dream about what you're up to over there. How many planes you fixed up for us, imagine taking you dancing on a Friday night, do you have siblings? Your folks still around? I've been trying to picture it all.

I dream of that soon more than I care to admit.

With all my promises, thoughts and adoration

John Egan

Dear John,

I'm glad you have a voice of reason. We wouldn't want you getting up to any trouble now would we? Are you the sort to be in trouble a lot? I get the impression you could be Major Egan.

How are your moods holding up these days? I can't help but worry about you over here even when I'm meant to be busy.

If you could see the blush that you have all caused you would all be ashamed of yourself. I promise I'm real. I tried to get my friend Meg to let me send a picture of her but she claimed you were really going to show up here one day and then you'd be looking for the wrong girl.

I like the idea of you imagining things. It means I'm not the only one. I do have siblings, an older sister who works in the factories with me, and a little brother who is out fighting with you somewhere but his own girl writes him. My folks are both still here with me too. What's your family like?

I do have a solider of my own to be writing John, I have you.

Tell me a secret if you can?

Your darling x

Dear Darling,

Forgive me because this letter will be short, but I needed to send it out before we move. If you don't hear from me in a while, don't worry, I'll write back as soon as I'm able. I want that name, I want the dancing, I want you to meet my mom when I'm back.

You want to know a secret darling? I think it's taken me ten letters to fall in love with you after all you've given me.

With my heart, my love and my unfiltered adoration

John Egan

Dear John,

I'm writing even if you might not get this because I refuse to believe anything else other than you're busy for a while. I'll be over here waiting for you remember. I'm with you even when I'm not.

I have so much more to tell you and things I want to learn before I am satisfied.

In fact, no I may never be satisfied and then I never have to let you go.

You'll be in each of my thoughts till I hear from you again John, I think loving you took me one letter.

With all my heart, my love and my unfiltered adoration

Your darling x

Dear John

I don't think I've taken a real breath in weeks. I figured I would write you again, just in case the first one didn't reach you and you thought I hadn't wrote back.

Your name hasn't appeared on any lists so I refuse to believe that you're not still out there waiting to come home to me.

In case you missed it in the first letter, I love you too.

I am still expecting you home John Egan, I'd be with you till you were. That was the deal right?

With all my heart, my love and my unfiltered adoration

Your darling x

Dear John

If my letters and love don't reach you where do they go?

Tell me more secrets please? Tell me anything? Tell me you'll sing for me like I asked? What do I do if I never get to meet you?

I've checked each list I've found twice every day for months now. Meg said I'm a mess but I don't really care, I just want to know that you're alright. Even if you're not coming here. Please just tell me you're safe John.

With all my heart, my love and my unfiltered adoration

Your darling x

Dear Darling,

Sorry, I didn't think a little while would be that long but I've thought of you every damn day I couldn't write to you. I got your letters, all three of them made it to my base some how.

I'm hoping I beat this letter home so that I can tell you in person that I love you.

I hope you like what arrives in Washington darling, but please bare with me if it takes me a second to adjust. I'll tell you everything, all of it, anything you want to know about me. I feel like I have very little to offer you but it's all for you now. I'll be home so soon.

With all my heart, my love and my unfiltered adoration

Yours,

John Egan

[lordprettyflackotara]

hitchhiker || chapter four || the proxies

tw: stalker hoodie, hoodies a bit gross in this one ngl, i think this is a fair warning, paranoia, blood, some fluffy shit w tim

i am proud to announce that hitchhiker now has a masterlist with a link to wattpad! find it here!! thank you to everyone who has helped me navigate using other platforms <3

<— previous chapter

Hoodie could understand your appeal.

What he couldn’t understand, was why Tim and Toby had picked you specifically.

Sure, your skin was soft and glowy. Your big innocent doe eyes were doll like. Hoodie’s darker urges craving to see them weep tears under his hand. Although you had overlooked their original odd behavior, was that enough? Were your looks and obliviousness enough to keep you alive?

Hoodie couldn’t understand Toby and Tim’s infatuation with you. It was becoming truly nauseating, sitting through them yapping about you all day long. You were the hottest topic of conversation, the rants about Jeff’s sloppy murders long discarded. Since he couldn’t figure it out, he figured he’d have to do his research.

And every good research session begins the same way: observation.

Hoodie had no issue watching you. He watched as you scrambled to get ready for work, showering so quickly he hardly had time to watch you dry off. He sat perched in an old oak tree across from your building, the overgrown branches and leafs concealing his presence. He noted you truly were oblivious, all of your curtains wide open. Maybe you thought being on the fourth floor saved you from having a peeping tom. In which case, you were terribly wrong.

He watched as you chatted with (who he assumed to be) Nova while running around, his eyes narrowing. Your friend seemed put together, a navy blazer and slacks dressing her thin frame. His eyes flickered back over to you, watching you get ready for work. You did have a nice figure. Your apron only emphasizing the fact. Hoodie had watched Nova slide on the blazer, her upper arms toned with muscle. Huh. So much for a lazy overweight detective. Those targets were easy to get rid of. Toby, in the mist of his yapping about his delightful walk home with you, mentioned Nova. He mentioned the vanilla folder and the case she was working on. Hoodie believed he was the first of the three to have the suspicion she took Winston’s place.

Usually task forces would lay off of the investigation once their colleagues began getting killed. But every so often, there would be a feisty motherfucker who only wanted to indulge in the case deeper. He watched as you darted out of your apartment, Nova grabbing her things and following you. His eyes searched for the vanilla folder. He watched her pack her beat up satchel, random white papers and pens being thrown inside. Yet, no vanilla folder. He grinned devilishly as Nova exited your apartment. Toby would be keeping a close eye on her investigation as she studied the Winston case. They had eyes everywhere, your date with Tim proving to be useful. It gave Hoodie enough time to truly snoop around.

His mind circled back to the vanilla folder, the bane of his existence in your best friends possession. Nova hadn’t left with the documents, the vanilla folder not on her person. Her not leaving with the folder meant one thing and one thing only: it was in your apartment. What did that mean? That Hoodie was going to be able to steal it with ease.

\/

You felt like you were becoming paranoid. Your shift at Olive Garden was the same stressful experience it always was. Screaming children. Argumentative customers. Loud laughter. However, you felt like you were watched. You couldn’t figure out how or why. Your paranoia made you check on your tables faster. Your eyes constantly flickered around the restaurant, searching for the culprit. But all you found were families or couples eating their pasta and bread. By the end of your shift you were beat, shuffling into the bathroom to change clothes.

Davidson park was practically a straight shot from your work, there was no sense in dropping by your apartment. You briefly glanced at yourself in the mirror, not wanting to acknowledge how terrible you felt you looked. You were sure your lips were cracked and your eyes had dark circles decorating them. You shuffled into a bathroom stall, slipping out of your work uniform. You wondered if your perfume could truly mask the nauseating smell of pasta sauce. You began to put on deodorant, the light in the bathroom flickering.

You blinked a few times, trying to ensure you weren’t just sleep deprived. You looked up, a large bug caught in the ceiling light. It was bouncing between the light stick and the glass, creating the smallest sound of movement. You could see its shell, as well as its leggings thrashing around. You shoved it off, resuming changing into your normal clothes. You shoved on your boots, the unsettling feeling of you being watched falling over you again. This time you looked at the bottom gap of the stall door and the floor, a large set of black business shoes standing outside of your stall door. You blinked a few times, as if to double check what you were seeing was really there. “Hello?” You croaked, your mouth seemingly running dry. When was the last time you had drank water?

A gust of wind rushed past you, your head snapping behind you. You were in a tiny bathroom stall, what the actual fuck was creating wind? You turned back to the front of the stall, the pair of shoes now disappeared. Shoving your shirt over your head you exited the stall, looking around the bathroom. All of the stalls were empty, an eerie silence ensuing. Looking up you noticing the bug was no longer moving. Logically you should’ve been fine with it, the small creatures demise caused by the electricity. But the sight of the smallest pool of blood from the bugs corpse made your stomach churn, your face growing pale. How was that possible? The bug was a beetle, not a mosquito or anything with a handfuls worth of blood.

You ripped away your horrified gaze, forcing yourself to look at the floor instead. You shuffled out of the bathroom in a rush, the door hitting the wall as you flung it open. Ignoring the weird looks and questions from your coworkers you left the restaurant. You felt unsteady as you got in the car, your hands planting themselves firmly on the steering wheel. You felt like you had just seen a ghost, the crimson paint staining your mind. You swallowed and attempted to even out your breathing as you put the key into your ignition. You needed to get your shit together. You took a deep breath, putting your car in reverse and heading to see Tim.

\/

Hoodie took his time inspecting your apartment, trying to see what he could find out about you. His curiosity as to what made you so interesting nagging him mid mission. With his partners not around, it gave him the freewill to be as nosy as he wanted to be without repercussions. Your apartment was tiny and cluttered, but he determined your clutteredness was from the lack of space more than being messy. Hoodie’s opinion shifted slightly at the sight of your last outfit on the bathroom floor. Your red lacey underwear caught his eye, the blonde smirking under his mask.

How long had it been since he had been with a woman? He squatted down, picking up the fabric with his ring finger. Hoodie could just imagine your round ass in these, the red complementing your skin tone. He lifted his ski mask just above his nose, inhaling the crotch material of your dirty panties. His face flushed red with lust. His cock was slowly beginning to grow in his jeans, the proxy pulling himself away from the fabric. He took a deep breath, imagining his tongue in between your folds as you pleaded for more.

Ahh yes, Hoodie would do anything to see you beg.

Regaining his focus he wadded up the panties, shoving them in his back pocket. He needed to focus. He left your bathroom, rounding over to your bedroom. Your dresser was covered in various perfumes and jewelry. Did you have more money than you were letting on? He picked up a large necklace, the fake jewels shining back at him in the moonlight. Thankfully you left your lamp on, the blonde beginning to rummage through your belongings more unhinged. He lifted up your mattress, looked under your bed, in your pillow cases, in your nightstands. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There wasn’t even a trace that it was here.

Hoodie gritted his teeth as he pulled open your dresser drawers. His anger temporarily subsided as he eyed the first drawers contents. Rows of undergarments and bras nearly made his eyes pop out of his head. He shook his head, forcing himself to focus. He rummaged through your drawers, the folder no where in sight. He stomped into the kitchen, the living room empty besides a couch, old wooden coffee table, matching with a the same wooden TV stand, and an ancient television. His eyes wondered around your kitchen, landing on a stack of bills with large red OVERDUE stamps plastered on the front. Hoodie picked up the one on top, examining it.

Huh. Not necessarily poor, just poor spending habits. He tossed the envelope aside, continuing his search for the vanilla bane of his existence. And he wouldn’t be leaving until he found it.

\/

You walked beside Tim down the sidewalk path, cool breezes rushing past the two of you. “So how was work?” He asked, starting conversation. Your shift was unnotable, if you took away the feeling of being watched and blood bug. “The usual. My table five had a lot of screaming children but it ended up being fine,” You answer as honestly as you could. You didn’t want to sound crazy, your paranoia getting the best of you. “What about you?” You added. You shoved your hands in your army green jacket, Tim’s hands shoved in his own mustard coat. For a brief second you saw a look of shock flash across Tim’s face, before he resumed his usual expression.

“The usual,” He answered truthfully. He shoved off the uncanny feeling of the Operators static depriving his senses. It wasn’t a usual punishment, the Operator more angry he had to send Kate than anything else. He always had a soft spot for the girl. “We both hate our jobs huh? You look like you just had a ptsd episode,” You chuckled, playfully elbowing him. Your innocence made Tim’s heart flutter, even with the deeper meaning your words unknowingly had. “You’re one to talk about ptsd episodes. You looked scarred when talking about screaming children,” Tim teased. He playfully poked your side, causing you to giggle. The moon hung in the sky, in seemingly a creepy smile. You made Tim feel normal, even if his life was no where near it.

“Oh please anything involving children provokes that face. I can’t imagine having them,” You say. The two of you strolled in unison, the street lights illuminating your path. “Really? Not even down the line?” Tim asked curiously. Of course it was impossible for him to have kids. He would never allow you to get pregnant, not from him or Brian or Toby. There was always the chance the Operator would be interested in the child. He couldn’t risk it. “Maybe. I’d always be afraid I let the wrong guy get me pregnant though,” You admitted. You felt your face go pale with embarrassment. “Oh fuck I said too much huh?” You laughed nervously. Tim couldn’t help but smile at your nervousness. You had no idea how cute you were.

“Not at all. You don’t have to worry around me. I’ve seen and i’ve done weirder things,” Tim told you. You both walked to the towns lake, the watery murky black as the moonlight reflected off of the glassy surface. “I’m really glad I met you Tim. I feel like you get it,” You say honestly. Tim raised an eyebrow, an owl hooting in the distance. “Get what?” He asked curiously. You flashed a nervous smile, tucking some hair behind your ears. “Like you get me. I’ve spent my whole life trying to fit in everywhere I went. Yet I feel at home with you three. It’s such an odd comforting feeling,” You explain softly. Tim took a step towards you, gently grasping your neck. Your eyes fluttered close, your breath hitching as his hot breath danced across your cool skin.

His chapped lips pressed a long kiss to your forehead, his touch soft and sweet. And most importantly, purposefully gentle. Tim pulled away slowly, holding your face in his gloved hands. You looked up at him, mesmerized by his chocolate orbs. He swiped his thumb across your cheek, soaking in your touch. You wanted to kiss him, his lips just out of reach. Tim wanted nothing more than to kiss you, his core yearning to taste your sweet plump lips. But he was trying to restrain himself. He knew he couldn’t have you. None of them could.

Slowly he pulled away from you, turning his gaze back to the black lake. You could feel the heat still dancing across your cheeks. Dumbfounded you turned towards the lake as well, standing side by side with the man you yearned for. There was an unsettling silence, one you decided to break.

“Hey Tim?”

“Hmm?”

Your mouth ran dry, your nerves getting the best of you. “Nothing never mind,” You babbled. You wanted to tell him about the bug. The shoes. The paranoia. But you didn’t want to scare him away. Tim raised an eyebrow, digging in his jeans pocket. He pulled out a beat up box of cigarettes, the red and white box shining in the moonlight. “Cig? It would help you loosen up a bit,” He offered. You had never considered touching a cigarette a day in your life. But the box sitting in Tim’s hand couldn’t look more intriguing even if it tried. Slowly you pulled one out of the box, looking at it. Tim did the same, immediately putting the stick to his lips. “You’ve never smoked before huh?” He asked. Shooting him an anxious smile you chuckled. His bluntness relaxed your nerves, your shoulders relaxing.

“What gave it away?” You asked him. Tim began digging around in his pocket, searching for a lighter. “You mean besides the fact that you’re eyeing it like it’s poison?” Tim chuckled. You rolled your eyes, the brunette flicking the lighter. He gave it a few flicks, the lighter finally producing a small flame. He inhaled sharply, the end of the cigarette lighting. “Haha very funny,” You replied dryly. Tim grinned as he exhaled the tobacco smoke out of his nose. You blinked, your morals seemingly nose diving out of the window at the sight of him. “You’re holding it like a nerd, go ahead and place it in between your lips for me pretty girl,” Tim instructed. Your cheeks turned pink as you placed the cigarette in between your lips. “Great now keep it there. When I tell you to, inhale for me,” He said. His words were getting to you, from his praise to referring to do things for him.

It made your core throb with an ache you had ignored for a long time.

He brought the lighter to the end of your cigarette, sparks flying as he tried to ignite it. The lighter refused to ignite, Tim’s eyes narrowing. “While I figure this out, you wanna tell me what you were going to a moment ago?” He asked. He took a step closer to you, attempting to block the wind from extinguishing the flame. “I uh, it’s hard to explain,” You said, your cigarette still dangling from your lips. Tim shook the lighter, growing increasingly annoyed. “I have terrible insomnia, nothing you can say will scare me away,” Tim told you. He said it so nonchalantly.

“You have-?”

“Yes, now it’s your turn.”

You stood dumbfounded. Another fast breeze blew past the two of you, your hair flying in the wind. “Well I just, um, I feel like i’m being watched. All the time,” You explain slowly. Tim tried to ignite your cigarette again, the lighter very clearly out of fluid. “Considering you’re the prettiest girl i’ve ever laid eyes on, I can believe that,” Tim chuckled. He took another large inhale of his cigarette, the foul stench flooding your nostrils. You felt like a ball of warmth, your mouth running dry. “You don’t mean that,” You say quietly. Tim raised an eyebrow, tossing the empty lighter aside. “I’m a lot of things, but i’m not a liar,” He whispered. Tim easily towered over you, your eyes meeting his, cigarette dangling from your lips.

Tim’s large hand guided you to hold your cigarette in between your index and middle finger, the orange end still on the edge of your lips. Quietly he moved closer to you, the two of you watching as the end of his cigarette hit the end of yours. With each passing second you grew more flustered, his face an inch away from yours. Despite the freezing cold weather outside, Tim made you feel an indescribable warmth. The kind that blossomed from inside of your chest and made your heart throb. “Inhale for me,” Tim murmured. You did as instructed, ignoring the feeling of flames engulfing your throat. You wanted to stay this close to him forever.

You felt the tobacco swirl around your lungs, your gaze landing on Tim’s. You removed the cigarette from your lips, allowing the wind to guide the smoke out of your mouth. “Feel better?” Tim asked. You began to cough, giving him a thumbs up as you looked away from him. Tim grinned as you bent over slightly, trying to clear your lungs and inhale oxygen. As his large hand patted your back you realized that you’d willingly throw yourself into his warm flames. No matter how much they threatened to burn you.

—> next chapter

[euniexenoblade]

Choose Your Own Smutty Halloween Adventure - Round Three (Final Round)

"Hello everyone! Before getting started with our final round today, if you're new to this smut series, I recommend you go back and read The Prologue, Round One, and Round Two!"

"How did you do that?"

Mordred squints at Delilah. "Do what?"

"You just spoke links. How did you do that? Is this an online story....is this even real?"

"No, no, no, that's too much unnecessary sentience for you."

A hooded figure appears and shocks Delilah with their stun baton once again. Delilah falls to the ground groaning.

Mordred looks back into the camera with a smile. "And with that handled, welcome back to The Fucking Game! We're in the final round! Soon a winner will be crowned! Who will win? Lilith the Demon Queen?!" The camera pans to Lilith, who waves to the crowd while everyone cheers. "Or will it be Priscilla the Ghost Girl?!" The camera pans to Priscilla, which acts bashful and hides her face while everyone cheers.

"At the end of our next vote, we'll know who wins the delightful Delilah, sex toy extraordinaire!" The camera pans to Delilah, who is still groaning unconscious on the ground.

"And, now last week you voted how the contestants will will your hearts and your votes, let's see how that vote turned out!"

"Pffffft" Mordred looks into the camera with a smirk. "Of course you'd vote for the trans woman to top. How typical." The crowd laughs. "Well, no more waiting, let's get to it!" The crowd cheers.

A curtain falls, blocking your view of the set. Shuffling is heard from behind it. When the curtain finally rises again, the game show set is gone. In it’s place is….an ordinary bedroom. The walls are a similar color to the droll white of Delilah’s home, there’s no furniture except for a giant bed and a couch on the opposite side of the room. On the couch sits Priscilla and Mordred (who waves at the camera), but on the bed is the real sight to behold. Lilith, The Demon Queen herself lays there in black lingerie, the straps of the bra making a pentagram shape. And, in the middle of the room, between the bed and the couch, stands Delilah.

Delilah looks around the room, taking it all in. It’s very bare, just the couch and the bed. And a door. Delilah bolts to the door to escape, no one chases her. She tries the knob, but it doesn’t turn. She twists and twists and hits and kicks the door, but it doesn’t budge. “It’s not a real door, ya dork. It’s a set.” Mordred says mockingly from the couch.

Delilah refuses to believe it, she had so much hope, she needs to escape now, so she keeps banging on it and twisting the knob, despite knowing the truth. On and on she goes, that is until Lilith walks up behind her, wrapping one of her muscular arms around Delilah’s midsection and sweetly says to her, “Am I really that scary? Do you really fear me so much you can’t reciprocate my love?”

The line about love shocks Delilah so much that she stops wrestling with the fake door. Her hand shaking on the knob, she slowly turns her head to look Lilith in the face, directly into her black and red eyes. “You….you love me?”

“Of course I do...why would I do all this to be with you if I didn’t?”

Delilah is taken aback by the Demon’s sincerity. “I just...I uh...I…” she can’t bring proper words to the surface. How does she respond to a love confession from a demon? Looking to avoid awkward eye contact, Delilah tries to look down, now noticing what Lilith is wearing, more specifically noticing her demonic cleavage and the outline of Lilith’s giant cock in her panties. Delilah’s cheeks flush red.

“Come back to bed with me. You’re in control this time. You’ve been put through so much, why not have an enjoyable time?” Delilah looks up into Lilith’s eyes, showing the demon the tears building in her own eyes. “You control this, so you can actually cum instead of being left frustrated now~” Lilith giggles.

Delilah nods. Lilith guides her back to the bed, only gently tugging her by the hand. When Lilith lets go of Delilah, she crawls across the bed slowly, making sure Delilah can see her ass in the sexy lingerie as much as possible. The tease is effective, Delilah is rock hard, and she crawls into the bed after Lilith. When she reaches the Demon Queen, she gets ready to pull her panties down, but hesitates. “Is it...is this really ok….”

Lilith laughs, “I want you to do it.” Now having permission, Delilah pulls her panties down and tries to mount Lilith. However, Lilith is just too big for Delilah to get a proper hold on to penetrate. She shifts from being on her knees to a squat to having on leg on her knee all until Lilith laughs and says “We can just frot.” With this Lilith flips over, her legs spread, her giant cock erect and waiting.

Delilah is a tad disappointed, she wanted to try penetrating Lilith still, but she was aching to cum and was ready to go at it any way possible. Delilah crawls on top of Lilith until their cocks touch, her head only coming up to Lilith’s tits. Lilith laughs and pops her tits out of her bra, putting her hand onto the back of Delilah’s head and lightly pushing Delilah’s head into one of her breasts. Delilah accepts this push and grabs Lilith’s left tit with one hand and starts to suck on it. Lilith takes a deep breath in, “Good girl….now thrust your hips” Delilah listens to what she’s told and thrusts, rubbing her cock against Lilith’s, leaving her in pure ecstasy.

And Delilah thrusts again. And again. And again. Moving fast and faster. She’s getting into it. She’s controlling the situation. She switches which tit she’s sucking on. Delilah is enjoying herself so much, the pleasure feels otherworldly. But, she’s not the only one enjoying herself, Lilith is moaning just as loud and enjoying herself tremendously. Delilah’s body is dripping sweat all over Lilith and the bed, but neither notice, they’re both preoccupied with the moment they share.

It’s finally time. Delilah can feel the pressure building. She’s finally going to cum. After everything shes been through in the last round, she’s finally getting there. She speeds up her humping, while breathing heavily in between Lilith’s breasts. She’s so close. Almost there. Almost. It’s going to pop.

“Stop.”

Delilah’s body stops moving, or rather it refuses to move. She needed one more thrust to cum, but now Lilith’s claws were in her head again, possessing her body.

“I….I-I-I thought I was in c-control?”

“You believed that? Cute.”

“Wh-wh-what”

“I had you wrapped around my finger the whole time! I can’t believe you thought I’d let you cum, HA! Now stand up.”

Delilah’s body does as it’s told, she stands up next to the bed, nice and still waiting for the next command. Lilith crawls off the bed and walks over to the couch. Mordred and Priscilla are clapping and cheering. “Encore! Encore!” Mordred yells. Lilith plops onto the couch next to Mordred (Mordred now in the middle).

Lilith sinks into the couch, “Ugh, it actually felt really good.”

“Well, rest now Lilith, cuz it’s Priscilla’s turn now!” And with this statement, Priscilla disappears from the couch and appears on the bed. Her ghostly, see through body now in equally ghostly, see through lingerie.

Priscilla lays on her side, one leg up while the other lies flat, her head resting on her hand, “So are you going to fuck me or what you silly thing~”

Delilah stands there. “N-no!”

“No?” Priscilla says it like she’s genuinely hurt.

“W-we did this once before! I won’t feel anything! I’ll just be humping air and all of you are going to make fun of me! I’m sick of it!”

The outburst is passionate. But, when Delilah finishes, Priscilla starts to cry. Her moans and wails loud and unearthly.

“With crying like that you’d think she’s a banshee.” Mordred jokes to herself. “Say, Lilith, wanna help out?”

Lilith snaps her fingers. Delilah feels herself losing control of her body again, still under Lilith’s possession. “Fuck that ghost.”

Delilah starts to bend down and crawl across the bed against her will, the sight of this makes Priscilla stop crying and get excited – she had clearly been fake crying. Once Delilah gets to Priscilla she tries to loop her fingers around the sides of Priscilla’s panties to pull them down, but her hands just go through her. Delilah tries again and nothing. “Oh, you silly girl, let me help you.” Priscilla slides her own underwear off, her legs going through Delilah as she lifts them to do so. “This is what I get for hooking up with someone three hundred years younger than me, brash and inexperienced!” Priscilla giggles like a school girl after her joke.

Delilah doesn’t laugh however, instead her body just moves to fuck the ghost. She tries to put her hand on Priscilla’s shoulder, but her hand just goes through the ghost. Despite this, Delilah doesn’t readjust, she just makes sure she has good support for her body and shoves her erect cock into Priscilla’s ghastly ghost pussy. “Be careful, it’s still pretty new~” Priscilla brags.

Mindlessly Delilah thrusts into Priscilla. Priscilla let’s out loud moans and gets very into it, trying to move her hips into Delilah as Delilah retracts during her thrusts. Delilah, however, doesn’t have the same experience. She feels nothing. For her it’s like humping the air. No pleasure, just exerting energy for nothing. Her body moves on its own, controlled by the Demon Queen, Delilah trapped in her own brain watching herself be humiliated.

“If I could get even a little control, I could hump the bed under her at least” Delilah thinks to herself. But aloud all Delilah does is breathe heavy from all the humping. Shoving her cock into the ghastly gash again and again. Priscilla moans and moans and moans, enjoying her time. She looks Delilah directly in the eyes and reaches her hands out, going inside of Delilah, once again grabbing her lungs like in their last meeting, turning off Delilah’s ability to breathe. Despite a lack of air, Delilah’s body doesn’t stop humping.

“You’re such a good girl, you know that? Despite getting nothing out of this, you just keep going to make sure I have a good time.” Delilah starts letting out pained gasps for air, but her body doesn’t stop moving. “You are such a great toy, and if I were to have you, this would be your life. Humping for eternity, no climax, doesn’t that sound fun?” Delilah’s consciousness starts to fade, but her body keeps going. Priscilla laughs and lets go of Delilah’s lungs. Delilah gasps for air, taking in giant breaths now that she can. “I’ll give you special permission to cum as long as it’s inside me sweetie. If you don’t cum inside me, you’re never allowed to cum. I want all of my toy’s cum, you understand?” Delilah does understand. She’ll never cum again. There’s nothing to feel, nothing to get Delilah off, she’ll just spend her whole life humping the air.

After what feels like an eternity to Delilah, Priscilla let’s out dramatic, long moans as the viscous, light colored ectoplasm starts squirting out of Priscilla all over the bed and all over Delilah. Lilith snaps her fingers, giving Delilah control back, but after all the movement and lack of air, Delilah has no energy to hump and just falls flat into the bed. “Oh sweetheart, you’re not done yet.” Priscilla pushes Delilah’s head down, her hands actually affecting Delilah, until she’s face level with Priscilla’s goo covered slit. Priscilla grabs Delilah by the hair and pushes her head into her, forcing Delilah to lick her ectoplasm covered cunt. Even though the possession has been released, Delilah does as instructed, her will beaten down so much that she just doesn’t care. She breathes in the sweet smell and licks Priscilla clean – or as clean as she can get a ghost covered in ectoplasm anyways.

And it’s on this scene that we finally see the curtain fall again. Shuffling can be heard behind the curtain. When the curtain finally rises, the game show stage has reappeared, but there’s no chairs and no wall. Now Delilah sits on her hands and knees, a metal collar around her neck attached to a chain that’s in Mordred’s hand. On either side of Mordred are the two contestants.

“Wasn’t that fun readers? You got to see what happens when a pathetic sex toy tries to top!”

The crowd cheers.

“Now, we’re reaching our end! One final vote readers! Who gets to own our delicious Delilah forever?!"

[suzukiblu]

If we are highlighting specific characters (re:the bart asks) I just want to say as far as less-popular characters, I love love love your portrayal of Bernard! Not sure if he's in anything other than think pink, the very most recent update of interdimensional kidnapping (which I was SO overjoyed about), and the timberkon soulmate au of yours. If there's any I've missed, I'd love to know!! I just think his perspective is so silly and fun the way you write him!! His character has the potential to be a very cool non-hero/vigilante perspective that is relatively moldable given that there's not a whole lot canon-wise on him, and I think you have really done a great job at making him a delight to read!

Ty! 💛💛 I find Bernard very enjoyable to write, hah, I try my best to balance him between his OG "weirdest dude in Tim's civilian life" characterization and current "most normal dude in Tim's vigilante life" characterization, YES I fully consider him that despite the pain cult and also his taste in men, lol.

ummmmm lemme see what I've got besides those three, I don't think there's a TON of others but one sec while I double-check my WIP list, haha, OKAY:

Kon is not a virgin (( chrono || non-chrono )) - Kon asks Bernard if it's okay to have sex with Tim for reasons that are definitely not trauma-based whatsoever. Definitely not! [ past rape/sexual assault; will eventually be nsfw ]

weird amnesia Timberkon (( chrono || non-chrono )) - This one I suspect is the one you will most enjoy of the WIPs I am currently linking you, given it's specifically from Bernard's perspective and also leans into the silly/fun/genre-savvy version of his perspective ( and also, like, people seem to like it probably the most of these WIPs ). Though also it contains some Emotional Doom(tm), definitely, hah. Bernard does not know why Superboy is so bad at secret identities and Tim does not know who "Superboy" is. And neither does anyone else. :)

honorable mentions for "so far Tim has just internal-monologued about Bernard but this AU is eventually gonna be some flavor of polyam and also smutty, yes that IS a very specific category, thank you for noticing, it isn't a lot but it IS weird that it's happened twice!":

stray cat strut (( chrono || non-chrono )) - Tim goes to a totally normal charity event for a pet rescue center and everything is totally normal. Especially the pets. All the pets are SO normal. [ eventual nsfw ]

Timkon xeno (( chrono || non-chrono )) - Tim has a fight with Bernard, finds out Kon has a very inconvenient alien breeding cycle to deal with, gets safeworded and cockwarmed, and cannot get his boyfriend to text him back or his best friend to talk to him, not necessarily all in that order. Text-resistant boyfriends may ( eventually ) be closer than they appear. ( also, for clarification purposes because infidelity is a personal dealbreaker for me and I haaaaate to read it, no cheating occurs in this fic: this is a "pre-established hall pass meets Pon Farr" situation, Tim just feels kinda shitty about it due to the timing. ) [ nsfw ]

Also Bernard will likely cameo/get namedropped in a couple of the longfics I'm working on and I do have at least one more WIP that he is def gonna show up and get some dedicated screentime in, but that specific development is both a ways off and a lil' bit spoilery so we're not gonna clarify which one it is just yet, haha. And eventually I might write "Tim gets a(nother) Pocket", as another installment in the "[ CHARACTER ] gets a Pocket" series that I've got.

[koobiie]

a list of one piece art/artists i love in no particular order

no one asked for this but you know what. i love a lot of one piece fanartists and artists could always use more love <3

ford-owner's band au

amazing and perfect band au. everyone is perfectly designed and characterized. merry as the van is so inspired and their style has so much life !!!! and fun expressions!!!

kimboltart's furry/mink au

never have i seen a more incredible and perfect furry au. the species choices are IMPECCABLE and every design is PERFECT and feels so soso right !!!!! ! !! !

jakkenpoy/99kahoy

you know when someone draws a character so much it becomes theirs? thats what happened with jakkenpoy and iceburg. congratulations on becoming the CEO of iceburg. i mean just look at this lovingly crafted painting. their sense of stylized anatomy is AMAZINGGGG too!!! so shapes!!! like okay welcome back leyendecker!!!!! !!

cranity

i mean what else can be said abt cranitys i assume we all know and love them by now. absolute MASTER of lines and texture and composition and funky colors and ! !! !!!! every new post of theirs blows me out of the water fr

toboldlymuppet

personally i know toboldlymuppet as "artist who draws angry one piece women getting their retribution and it fucking rules." i love this one especially as a water 7 stan, like the absolute raw emotion and feeling it evokes?!?? AAAAAAAAAH ITS SO FIRE

saishoguu

oh my god the way saishoguu draws anatomy is just so., um. uits. i kind of lack the words to describe how it makes me feel except for i LOVE IT!!!!! so so shapes!!!! everyone looks so simple but ALIVE at the same time its so so so gso good.

wellfine/wellship

personally i am not very much into shipping anymore. but one BIG exception is wellfine's ship art. every time they post a ship comic it drags me kicking and screaming into loving it and theyre so wonderfully characterized. i think about this specific comic ALL THE DAMN TIME. such wonderful lineart and interpretations of character designs too!! same face syndrome is afraid of them!!!!! congrats on being the CEO of sanji as well!!!

elekilokal

absolutely DELIGHTFUL so CARTOONY and full of WHIMSY!!!!!! i love their art style so so much, its really so saturday morning cartoon and it fills me with such joy <3

this one specific post

unfortunately it seems that op deactivated and i'm not sure how to find them but this one specific post drives me crazy. i remember that at my height of high school one piece obsession i literally shoved this in everyones faces and reblogged it so much. the shape language for them is seriously perfect and idk what itch it scratches in my brain but it makes me feel CRAZY!!!!!!

anyways thats all. please do go check the original post versions of those links especially cause they only show the first image. of course theres so much more amazing stuff that i didnt include..... thank you artists i love you artists

[etz-ashashiyot]

About Me/FAQs

You can call me Avital. I am a non-binary traditional egalitarian Jew living in the US. Any pronouns except they/them are fine. (!היא/את בעברית, בבקשה. תודה)

I really appreciate human interaction. That being the case, if you follow me and I don't already follow you, please send me a DM with the following:

What you want me to call you (internet name, username, nickname, whatever)

What brought you here and made you want to follow me

Something random about you that you feel comfortable sharing (pet pics are always welcome too <3)

I had a whole lot of other rules on my previous blog to weed out the faint of heart, but I genuinely don't know how well that worked, so instead I will simply put roughly the same information below as resources and recommended reading. Fair warning: I will operate from a baseline assumption that you've done the reading and therefore will not be explaining anything in them.

I also had a listing of my firm opinions and other miscellaneous information. That got long and unwieldy, but a lot of people seemed to appreciate it, so I will post roughly the same list under the cut.

The current username refers to my current symbol of a tree of lanterns in the starlight. This is related to my desire to create self-symbolism, old school style (like I really want to create a family crest, a flag, a seal, and other heraldic nonsense. Why? Because it delights me, of course.)

This page is under construction and subject to change at any time.

B'vracha,

Avital

Recommend Reading

For followers who are Christian, were Christian, are non-Jews who grew up in a Christian culture and/or have only learned about Judaism through Christianity, these links are very helpful in unpacking some of the antisemitism you were taught:

Better Parables (specifically the article about Pharisees, but read the rest of the site too, it's great)

Antisemitic readings of the Temple table-flipping incident in the New Testament

The current Israel-Hamas war and just המצב discourse in general require a lot of background knowledge to discuss intelligently, and not just propaganda. There is a LOT of antisemitism in the public around this topic and it is having serious real-world consequences for Jews all over the world. The mis- and disinformation is causing problems for everyone involved. Islamophobia in the West has increased as well. If you're going to engage in this discussion, I am respectfully but forcefully asking you to read the following sources. They are useful regardless of where you fall on that political scale.

There Is No Magic Peace Fairy

Ways to help: [1], [2], [3]

Muslim organizations advocating for peace, education, positive interfaith relations, and fighting antisemitism

This is perhaps my best summary of my own feelings on the whole thing

Is your pro-Palestine activism hurting innocent people? Here's how to avoid that

Please learn what Kahanism is, because it actually is what people think Zionism is. Zionism is simply a desire for Jewish self-determination in our ancestral homeland of eretz Yisrael. Kahanism is a type of racism that cloaks itself in Zionism but is fundamentally bigoted.

A non-exhaustive list of antisemitic incidents, attacks, and pogroms during [OP's] lifetime

An exceptionally long and thorough explanation of antisemitism and antisemitic violence throughout history

Why The Most Educated People in America Fall for Antisemitic Lies by Dara Horn (tumblr link in case the article link gets broken)

This explanation of the atrocities endured by Soviet Jews and how the legacy of Soviet antisemitism undergirds western "antizionism-not-antisemitism." If you call yourself an anti-Zionist, this is required reading.

An excellent overview of the basics

This is nowhere near complete information, but it's an important start. I will very likely continue to add resources as they become available and would love to create a primer on this topic more generally.

If you don't believe that October 7th happened or wasn't that bad, or really any atrocity denial please read this article from a reporter who was shown the actual footage, as well as this article documenting its effects on him.

If you are still in denial about the pattern of gender based violence, sexualized torture, and widespread rape as a war tactic committed by Hamas on 10/7, you are legally required to read this article.

About the blog:

I’m going to try my best to keep this blog to primarily Judaism, comparative religion and theology, with the occasional side sprinkling of queer & trans stuff, BUT it is absolutely a personal blog at the end of the day.

I talked about Israel and המצב stuff a lot on my previous blog and will likely continue a bit over here too. I welcome a broad swath of opinions, so long as they objectively treat all parties involved as human and deserving of safety, stability, freedom, dignity, and peace. That is apparently a large ask these days, and a not-small part of why I keep talking about this issue. Please be part of the voices that give me hope for the future, okay?

Minors can follow and interact but please keep in mind that I’m probably closer to your parents' age than yours if you do want to interact with me directly.

Interactions:

Rude asks will be deleted. Harassing blogs will be blocked and probably reported.

I consider anything even remotely in the vicinity of trying to proselytize to me to be “harassing,” or at a minimum, rude. Just FYI.

Otherwise, nice interactions are welcomed.

Banter is encouraged; trolling will be ignored

If you are a goy and want to argue with me about Jewish theology, you have to match my perfect score on this popquiz, no cheating by looking things up during the quiz. I learned Judaism as an adult mostly through self-study so you have no excuse. If you're invested enough to argue with me you're invested enough to do the reading homework. (To clarify: I'm happy to explain Jewish stuff to anyone who is sincerely asking or just have a friendly comparative theology discussion or whatever. But I have zero patience for those who want to argue with me about basic shit claiming they know more than me, especially if what they're claiming they "know" is not only wrong but antisemitic and wrong.)

If I don't respond to your interaction, there's a strong chance that I (a) have no idea what to say and am thinking about it, (2) totally meant to respond and just forgot after the notif disappeared, and/or (3) got incredibly busy. It's not personal! Please don't be shy about following up with me if you like. I promise that if we have a problem that is fixable, you'll know. If we have a problem that is not fixable, you'll be blocked.

I am currently learning Ivrit and am delighted to have interactions in Hebrew. Please feel free to message me, reply to posts or reblog, submit asks, etc. in Hebrew and I will do my best to read and respond to it. (Responses will be slower, but not for lack of appreciation of your thoughts!)

Anything else, just ask.

Hard stances:

You're not going to change my mind on these things; I've looked at the evidence, my personal experiences, and thought about them long and hard, and I am not going to be swayed by an internet rando. I can (often, but not always) co-exist just fine with people who I disagree with, but if seeing my posts about this is going to upset you, just do us both a favor and block me now please.

I am deeply distressed at how many people are choosing to live in a "post-factual society" where the truth is based on truthiness vibes and the politics are based on the quippiest of slogans. I don't care who's doing it, misinfo, disinfo, propaganda, atrocity denial, and gaslighting are BAD. There is no nuance here; these are bad things. They are bad if they go against your cause and they are bad if they "support" your cause. No cause is better than the truth.

If we cannot have a discussion where we are operating from the same baseline reality of verifiable facts, we cannot have a productive conversation and I will not engage with you. We can agree or disagree on a lot and that is fine, but facts matter.

If you cannot be reasoned with in accepting verifiable facts as reality, you need help. I'm serious. That is cult behavior. Get off tumblr and get help.

I don't know how to tell you that you should care about other people. If you don't see the inherent worth in other human beings' lives, I can't fix that. Go take that struggle to G-d and heal your soul.

I support the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in our ancestral homeland of Israel, the same way that I support other indigenous groups' right to self-determination in their ancestral homelands. If you don't, I'm going to need you to examine why Jews should be singled out of every other group to be denied this right or denied support in seeking it. That said, I definitely do not agree with many of the decisions made by the Israeli government, especially (but far from exclusively) regarding their treatment of Palestinians. I think both Jews and Palestinians deserve to live in peace, safety, freedom, dignity, and self-determination for both. No one is going anywhere; any real solution must recognize that. I tend to favor this proposal by A Land for All as an ideal (and given the grassroots nature of this idea, I think it could work pragmatically too, if the political will exists on both sides.)

I reject the Zionist/anti-Zionist dichotomy altogether for a number of reasons: 1) It impedes conversation because too many people agree but will never know it because they refuse to talk about what they actually mean by those labels and instead make assumptions about the other group. 2) It inherently puts the validity of an existing state up for debate rather than looking at real solutions for the future. You cannot unmake the state of Israel without widespread atrocities, but you can figure out options for everyone to live together in peace and heal from the collective trauma. 3) It also makes it way too easy to play Good Jew/Bad Jew and "Zionist" has basically become the slur de jour for "Jew." It sucks that people took a Jewish word for an important Jewish concept and made it synonymous with "bloodthirsty racist," but personally I don't think arguing over that at this exact juncture in time is helpful.

Bottom line: I'm a humanitarian and a pragmatist, and I care about all the people who call that part of the world home.

Update: for real, if you have trouble seeing Israelis and Palestinians both as human and deserving of safety, dignity, freedom, and inherent worth as living human beings, I don't want to know you. I don't want to talk to you. Go fix yourself.

🌻 I stand with Ukraine 🇺🇦

Free Iran from the Islamic Republic // Women Life Freedom

Abortion is a human right and should be safe, legal, available on demand, and shameless. It's a necessary medical procedure and it's completely barbaric that we're still talking about it as anything else.

Birth control, abortion, and no-fault divorce are actively positive parts of society and building healthy families.

Transition care is healthcare and also a human right. Allowing people to transition prevents self-harm and suicide, and has an extremely high efficacy rate with an exceptionally low level of risk or regret. We now have well over a century of data on this.

That said, detransitioners who are still supportive of trans people/aren't transphobic are more than welcome here, as any exploratory process deserves the right to say, "Interesting! But nope!"

Transunity, ace/aro positivity, and just inclusionism in general, 100%. Fuck off with anything else.

Queer might be a slur in the mouths of some people, but my identity isn't. Don't reblog my posts if you're going to tag it with "q slur" or "q word" or censored in some way. I'm not Gay as in "I prioritize cis men over the entire rest of the community" but Queer as in "my personal labels are none of your business but my political stance on queer liberation sure as fuck will be."

If you don't vaccinate yourself and your kids for any reason other than medical necessity, and especially if you promote anti-vaxxer views and the associated pseudoscience, you are actively harming the most vulnerable members of society for entirely selfish reasons and that makes you a bad person. I hope your kids bypass you to get vaccinated.

Wear a mask 😷

[taldigi]

hi!!!! hi I've been loving ur Aus and kickass takes/discussions with each and every character (primarily Morgana and Teddie from what I can scroll down so far)

and I am !!!! absolutely normal about personas being gay or albeit the persona interacting with their little heroes cos like!! finally!!! SOMEONE MENTIONED IT and I can't thank you enough so here's - my take on that specific headcanon if you won't mind -

I actually do highly agree that each personas have a unique signature sound/calling noise if they don't speak verbally! (Jiraiya croaking like a frog,, very true and whistling tuney sound. Izanagi sounding like clashed metal and swishes of swords primarily, reverberated deep echoey hums, yukiko with flowery yet - also sounding like their turning into crisp. Sing-songy like uhhh a flute.)

but I also fuck with the fact they have their own personalities too; Izanagi and Yu having an apprentice/master dynamic... that's just me tho. Yosuke and Jiraiya on the other hand is a fun uncle who takes their kid somewhere fun - a gun range!

mix and match we have a polyamorous situation and I find that very very funny and delightful 😭😭😭 I do wish more fics explore this side of persona! like c'mon I want my other self talk and whisper me secrets -

but that's. all I have to say primarily cos I love your comics, they're funny and equally adorable 🔥

thank!!!!! I love being silly about my favorites and my brain is fulll of comics and ideas.

I've seeen a aloooooot of takes on personas, both in canon and non-canon and I'm def cut between a few different interpretations.

Ultimately, they are weapons, or- extensions of the self-- but p4 and 5 do push a little more into their independence. I like the latter idea, because it lends better to storytelling and situations.

I love personas talking and acting as guides, but only within your "self " (holds up the high priestess tarot card: The persona is your gut intuition, begging you to be true to yourself. holds up the magician tarot: the tools to success are within you and you must manifest them!) Like.. they may know a bit more than their user in terms of their own nature, but they aren't any more or less intelligent than their user. What gives them an edge is that they can express those subconscious desires directly-- stuff that you don't even know about yourself --and use that information to guide their selves. So yeah, the master/apprentice vibe from Yu? Yu's a natural leader, and an empathetic listener- of course Izanagi is going to be that too. And with Yu as drawn in as he is, who else is he going to listen to?

Persona noises? I'm all for it. I think it's a mix of.. what situation the personas are in specifically. They always have a link to their user, and can speak directly.. be it words or emotions. (i am NOT immune to the occasional scathing comment from Jiraiya on Yosuke's stupidity or loud mouth) On the field, however- it's different. Squeaks and clanks and hums and beeps. Others understand your persona based on how well they know you (example would be.. Yukiko understanding Tomoe more intuitively than she would understand Take-Mikazuchi.. "Whats that Tomoe? Teddie's stuck in the well??") plus plus plus PLUS close bonds being comforted by those real world equivalents... Chie loving birdsong... Yu comforted by frog chirps.. grapsy hands....

As tamed shadows: I also like to see them as "a version of you that is not tamed by societal expectations." and that does include shit like.. manners, gender performances, and familial expectations. So yeah, Izanagi likes herds his friends like a shepherd with his sheep, Tomoe craves stimulation, and Konohana Sakuya wants to bite things.

... and indulgently, I feel like that extends to expressing affection and bonds that would normally be like.. frowned at? as well as expressing relationships that pride seems to tamp down. Teddie and Yosuke have a cain instinct/ w/ Yosuke's "boys must be emotionally constipated about other boys or you will be EXILED TO THE FUCKED UP WEIRDO BIN" thing going on, but Jiraiya and Kintoki-Douji are far more openly affectionate b/c they are both naturally affectionate people. Get my vibe?

Also.. just.. personas seeing a loved one and go OH! MY FAVORITE ONE! and being drawn to them by default is.. aaahhh.

ANYWAY YOU GOT ME MONOLOGUING AGAIN YOU SLY DOG I hope this is as fun to read as it was to talk about LOL!

[dhampling]

"Hugging the other from behind" from this list of prompts with Astarion hugging his very tall, very pregnant wife from behind because I think the image of it is so cute. :3

this made me WEEP. i love this prompt. i would gladly write for any from the linked list honestly they're all so soft. i got carried away and it became a thing. thank you for sending this my way i love you MWAH.

“Darling, I have a bounty of treats and an evening of tales hopefully dull enough to finally send you to sleep.” 

Astarion clatters through the door, kicking his shoes off and dropping two armfuls of brimming paper bags onto the table.

“You need to stop kicking your shoes when you take them off. It’s scuffing the wall.” You frown. He rolls his eyes and scoffs.

“Stop being pedantic. I’ll paint over it or something.”

“That means I have to look at it until you do. Which could be avoided, if you didn’t do it in the first place.”

“Do you spend a lot of time looking at our entryway wall specifically?’

He sighs.

‘Gods, my love; get a life.” 

If looks could kill.

His shoulders sag and he moves behind you with soft-socked steps, shuffling to where you stand chopping vegetables for some kind of soup. 

You exhale deeply. Roll your head back.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I am. I’ll stop it. I know it’s a poor habit.” He grimaces, head dipped.

“I shouldn’t have snapped. I’m just tired.”

One of your hands moves to your back while the other wipes your moist forehead. Astarion looks over you with a small, reverent smile.

“I know, love. Still nothing?”

You shake your head, mindlessly now running a hand over your heavily swollen belly and allowing your sleepy eyelids to fall closed for a brief moment.

“No respite from this, I’m afraid. Not ‘til she’s here.”

Astarion still can’t quite believe you’ve reached this point at all. You and the dhampling are both in good health and no major issues have arisen so far. It’s been - relatively speaking - smooth sailing. His only wish is that you were shorter so that he’d be able to fully wrap his arms around the both of you; all three in a snug cocoon.

He’d expected, prepared for issues. Read up on every possible complication he could and how to mitigate any damage to both parties. 

And yet at the final stretch you’ve found yourself wholly unable to rest. 

“Right. I picked up some fennel, lemon balm and chamomile from the Night Market and I’m going to make you the world’s best pot of sleepy tea.’

He looks about the kitchen and spots a cookbook open beside the chopping board.

‘Leave the soup, I’ll finish that. Nope. Don’t argue with me, darling. It’s unbecoming.’

He grins as you look at him, dazed.

‘And lastly, your treats!’

From the paper bags he retrieves a punnet of plump raspberries, a pound of almond cake and a pint of fresh cream. He scrambles in the cupboard and finds a large stoneware bowl, adding plentiful amounts of each component and flourishing the top with a spoon.

‘Now eat, sweetling.”

You pore over the bowl of raspberries and almond cake still sitting on the counter, shovelling a heaped spoonful into your mouth and groaning in delight.

“Gods. I didn’t realise how hungry I was.’

Your husband watches you fondly from behind.

‘Thank you.”

He comes up from behind you and wraps you in the softest hug, arms still unable to reach entirely around the bump but he gives it his best shot.

You rock side to side like this together for a minute, his head buried snug into your shoulder in a loving silence.

“No. Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

[clouds-of-wings]

Because Spotify doesn't really know that much about my listening habits and because I enjoyed writing this kind of post last year I'll once more make a post about my ACTUAL musical favourites this year. So here goes! Album time!

Grendels Sÿster: Abstieg in die Traumkammer (2024, heavy/folk metal) -- This was by far my favourite album of the year. It came out this August. First album by the band, and what a debut! The album has an English version too (which you can also find if you click the link), but I vastly prefer the German one. The lyrics are really excellent and they fit so, so well with the character of the German language. Musically I would say they sound like "early Týr with a female punk singer", the lyrics feature retellings and re-imaginings of various mythologies and mythological themes of the world, ranging from Norse to Greek to (on their EP) Hinduism or even Tolkien's Valar. They once called their genre NWONOEM (New Wave of Nerd-Oriented Epic Metal).

Other albums I liked, in no specific order:

Kornalyn: Intemporel III (2024, folk) -- Kornalyn has been at this for a few years. He's a French anarchist and folk musician who records modernized versions of traditional leftist & worker songs. He's versatile, he's talented, he's got spirit and a great voice. Worth checking out whether you're a comrade, a history enthusiast or a folk fan.

Alice Longyu Gao: Let's Hope Heteros Fail, Learn and Retire (2023, hyperpop) -- Okay, I'm versatile too. Or at least not so set in my ways that I can't appreciate different genres than I normally listen to. Alice's hyperpop songs have a chaotic artistic spirit that I find charming. In a way, some of her songs are pretty metal-ish too - they remind me a little of old SOAD songs. She's funny, she's innovative, she's a delight.

Stonefield: The Light of Lies (1990, prog rock) -- Some awesome prog rock from the 90s. The singer sounds like DIO. If you like the hammond organ, CLIK TEH LINK! If not, click it anyway, you may start to! When I tried to find out which year the album was from, I found their EP The Eyes of the Dawn (1989), which is also so fun.

Alvader: Hereniging (2024, folk metal) -- Hey you! Do you like Heidevolk? If you found this post through the folk metal tag I bet you do. In this case definitely listen to this band. It's made up of ex-members of Heidevolk and sounds a lot like the "original".

HammerFall: Avenge the Fallen (2024, power/heavy metal) -- What can I say about this one. It's HammerFall. It rules by default. It sounds like all their other albums. HammerFall are one of the few bands where that's a compliment.

molllust: In Deep Waters (2015, symphonic metal) -- There is no music I like better than symphonic metal that takes the "symphonic" part really, really seriously. molllust are one of the few bands that do. Between Janika Groß's gorgeous orchestrations and her operatic voice, this is one of the bands that give me hope for the genre. At first I actually found their older stuff too inaccessible, but after I listened to the newer and more straight-forward Mother Universe album a lot last year, In Deep Waters became a lot more approachable to me.

Wintersun: TIME II (2024, Extremely Delayed Technically Complete Symphonic Death Wish Metal) -- I still can't believe my eyes, or ears. Am I dreaming? Is this the real life? It's really out! And Nuclear Blast didn't even give it a digibook edition (I have the one of TIME I and thought I might have a matched set one day). Is this because their corporate overlords don't care about physical media or are they just so DONE with the album, and Jari in general, that they didn't make more of an effort out of spite?

Norrsinnt: Djupt inni skoga (2024, folk metal) -- Somewhere between heavy folk and very folky metal. A collection of songs the artist released individually over the past years, but the album only came out a short while ago. He fortunately seems to have decided against using an AI image as cover art in the end, so I don't feel bad listing this album here. Oh, there are albums that I found this year and liked musically which I'm not listing for this reason, definitely! I'm glad this one isn't among them, because I've known all these songs for years and I'm quite fond of them, and of the power and originality of the vision behind this project.

Nightwish: Yesterwynde (2024, symphonic metal) -- I didn't expect too much from this album, but ended up really liking it! My favourite parts are, of course, the orchestral passages. I like how Nightwish are still capable of evolution, new paths, instead of being stuck in the 2000s. And, after all, what could be a more fitting topic for music that's as larger than life as symphonic metal than just the totality of existence, the universe, the human equation, the meaning of it all?

Romuvos: Spirits (2024, folk) -- Pagan Folk, immersive, meditative, dark. I don't have much to say about this, other than that I have listened to it a lot this year.

KAMIJO: ??? (????, symphonic power metal) -- I usually only have albums on this list because I'm old-fashioned like that, but that's really unfair to Kamijo, who's my top artist of the year on Spotify and whose greatest songs are spread out across a multitude of single bonus tracks and short EPs. So I will link his song TEMPLE and say doumo arigato gozaimasu, vampire prince rockstar-san, nay, -sama!

---

I also continued my exploration of the world of opera. Since I think I'm beginning to know my taste, there were a lot of works I started and didn't finish, but some I liked very much. My favourite was L'elisir d'amore (1832), which I watched in two different versions and listened to all summer. It's a rather light-hearted one, but the music is nevertheless dramatic, it's fast, it's powerful and... somehow rich. And it's just pretty, I'm not immune to the charms of the easily lovable Italian opera, or of Rolando Villazon and his musical and comedic talent. I'd definitely recommend this recording even to people who have never watched an opera before.

I also really liked Eugene Onegin (1879, can't find the recording now) - much more tragic than the one above, few operas I've watched had a better plot, I read the novel it's based on afterwards - as well as a whimsical 1979 recording of L'incoronazione di Poppea (1643) and a gorgeous staging of Atys (1676, only French subs here, sry). Baroque opera is superior to the later stuff according to me. The beautiful music, the melancholic observations on life in the libretto, the way the operas always seem to reach for the divine, beyond the limits of mundane human existence - it strives for perfection, and my ears think it comes close.

And that's my musical breakdown of the year :)

[localplaguenurse]

Falling Head over Heels (Pantalone X Male Reader) pt 9

More fic! More fanart! A meme! Thank you once again @your-local-furby, yes I AM going to link back to your art every time. Get appreciated loser (affectionate).

Also, all future chapters are going to link back to the masterlist for this fic! You'll also find the ao3 link there, and I'm going to link the art made for the fic there as well once I've got everything posted.

@thedeimoshimself @eli-chris

“You’re honest to god hopeless,” Alik says, “I hate to say it, but you are.”

You hear Tartaglia, number Eleven, laugh at your attempt to hide your embarrassment in your hands. “Twice, twice, how did I do this twice?”

“Didn’t you almost trip on Pulcinella forever ago?”

“That was Pavel, and he was drunk at the time.”

“So you haven’t tripped over him yet, gotcha.”

You groan in irritation before finally lifting your head up out of your hands. Straight ahead is Alik, who is taking delight in your newfound tendency to trip into members of the Fatui. In the corner of your vision, you can make out a partial profile of Tartaglia, your latest victim, sitting next to you. In front of him is the drink you bought him as an apology. You cannot see his face fully, and you are so embarrassed that you’re actually very thankful for that fact.

“Does your friend do that a lot?” Tartaglia asks.

“Running into people, or specifically Harbingers?” Alik asks in turn.

“Harbingers.”

“More than the average person should, I think.”

Tartaglia laughs. “You said twice, right? I would say it’s more than average for sure, especially if you’re still alive to tell the tale!” 

“Oh come on, the others can’t be that bad, can they?” Alik jests.

“Depends on the Harbinger,” Tartaglia says, “and depends more on their mood. I would say the Knave, the Captain, and Mayor Pulcinella would be the most forgiving, though honestly, it feels like Arlecchino can be fifty-fifty some days.”

You catch Alik’s sly smirk. “What about the Regrator? Is he forgiving at all?”

“Well, yes and no,” Tartaglia answers. “He’ll forgive you if you can make it up to him in some way.”

Alik turns their smile to you. “Lucky you.”

You see the Harbinger turn his head towards you, and you turn your head so you can see his face. “Wait, you…?” Suddenly, his dull blue eyes widen in recognition, and he grins. “It was you! You’re the one who spilled wine all over his new suit!”

“... I see my reputation precedes me,” is all you can muster.

Tartaglia continues. “It was all he talked about for the next week, how he hadn’t even owned it that long and already it was ruined, how much of a pain getting the stains out would be, and a lot of figuring out how much he should bill you for it. I was surprised he didn’t bill you for the whole suit!”

“The shirt was fairly expensive,” you say.

“Still, with how annoyed he was all week, I thought making you pay the entire dry cleaning bill was the least he would do. He’ll also tack on what some of the lower ranking agents have dubbed ‘the asshole tax,’ or the ‘inconvenience fee,’ as he would rather people call it.”

That actually gets a bit of a chuckle out of you.

Tartaglia leans props his head up in his gloved hands, giving you an inquisitive look and a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “So, do tell, what made him take pity on you?”

“It was an accident.”

This makes the Harbinger laugh. “No, no seriously, why?”

“... It was an accident.”

He shakes his head. “Pantalone doesn’t believe in accidents, he says they’re the result of negligence from people who should know better.”

“Just tell him you’re blind already,” Alik blurts out.

Tartaglia blinks. “What?”

“I’m legally blind,” you explain, “I have no peripheral vision, so I bumped into Pantalone and spilled wine on him because he wasn’t in my direct line of sight. I think he only made me pay for the shirt because he went on a rant about how foolish I am before my mother explained my condition to him.”

“Well, that’s certainly a new one,” Tartaglia comments, “he rarely takes pity on people, save for extreme cases.”

You take a swig of your beer instead of replying.

“Say, Tartaglia,” Alik says, prompting the young man to turn his attention away from you, “what else can you tell us about Pantalone?”

You shoot Alik a look. Tartaglia doesn’t see it, and you can hear the smile in his voice. “While I’m enjoying this little chat with you two, I’m afraid I can’t disclose too much about my more high ranking coworkers to anyone.”

“I’m not asking about his big plans for the bank or anything,” Alik says, “we just want to, I don’t know, learn some general information? Like what are some of his hobbies, or his favourite foods. Things to know if you want to get closer to him.”

“And why do you want to get to know him?”

“Oh, I don’t.” Alik points at you. “He does.”

You feel heat spread across your face, and it gets worse when Tartaglia looks your way, very intrigued. “Is that so?”

“I-I think I’m okay,” you state, “he and I, I mean I don’t know if we’re friends, b-but we get along fairly well! He’s partnered w-with my father, so I tend to run into him a lot, and we actually had tea the other day. Or, we were supposed to, but my parents decided to show up, so then after they left h-he and I had dinner so–”

“Pause,” Alik says, “you did not mention having dinner with him.”

“I didn’t?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I told you we still spent time after the ruined tea party,” you say, “does it matter if it was over dinner?”

“Pantalone doesn’t usually invite people to stay for dinner,” Tartaglia states, “I of all people should know.”

“He only did it because he wanted to discuss my book with me,” you explain, “but my parents’ intrusion hindered that. So he invited me to stay later.”

When Alik and Tartaglia look at you, they are both equally skeptical. You feel your face get hotter, and take another swig of your cold drink to cool yourself down. Then you remember it’s alcohol, so if anything it’s going to warm your face up even more. You stand up. “I’m going to the washroom,” you state, intending to splash water on your face and get out of the awkward situation you’ve put yourself in.

“Try not to bump into anyone else,” Tartaglia jokes, making your face burn hotter. When you walk away, you bump into a table, but that could just be the alcohol. When you disappear into the men’s washroom, Tartaglia turns back to Alik. “Pantalone certainly keeps interesting company when he wants to.”

Alik shrugs their shoulders. “I’ve only met him once, but I’ve known my poor sighted friend for years now, so I believe that.”

Tartaglia hums. He glances over his shoulder, seeing who and who isn’t listening. Most of the patrons are minding their business, and some are currently leaving the bar. Seeing the coast is clear, he turns back to Alik and lowers his voice to a whisper. “I assume your friend is happy about that, isn’t he?”

Alik chuckles. “What, ah, what gives you that impression?” 

“He’s not that subtle,” Tartaglia says, “and I might have overheard a little bit of your conversation before he ran into me.”

Alik lowers their voice so only the Harbinger can hear them. “Look, I’m not going to confirm anything, but true or not, it’s really important that we not let that sort of talk get around. As far as I’m aware, the Regrator might be fine with it, but his business partner, my friend’s father, is not.”

“Ah, I see.” Tartaglia takes a drink. “I can understand that. Rest assured, his secret is safe with me.”

Alik raises their brow. “That’s it? No blackmail or anything?”

Tartaglia chuckles. “No, that’s not how I do things. Ironically, that’s more the Regrator’s style, but he clearly likes your little friend.”

“Wait, do you mean ‘likes him’ in a friendly way, or…?”

Tartaglia smirks. “Who’s to say?” He takes another swig. “In all honesty, for someone who tends to drone on and on, he’s careful about his life outside the Fatui, or the bank. Though, I will say that even if I knew, Pantalone could and would have bought my silence.”

“Eh, it was worth a shot. You’d at least barter for a higher price, right?”

“I think he’d give me a satisfying amount on his first offer,” Tartaglia replies, “enough that I’d be smart enough not to push it.”

Alik tips their head back and pours the last bit of their drink into their mouth. They glance back at the bathroom, wondering when you’re going to come back. They jump a bit when Tartaglia places a hand on their shoulder, and motions for them to move in closer. Curious, they lean over a bit. Tartaglia cups his hands over their ear, and Alik shivers uncomfortably at the warmth of his breath.

“I’m not going to confirm anything,” he whispers, “but if your friend likes how things are progressing with Pantalone, I think you should let him keep doing whatever it is he’s doing.”

Alik pulls back a bit so Tartaglia isn’t whispering right in their ear. “Is that so?”

“Yeah. From what I hear, your friend is a ‘refreshing change’ compared to most,” Tartaglia continues, “so if he’s trying to get closer, he’s already on the way there if you catch my drift.”

The sound of a thud, a chair scraping, and a hissed curse is all Alik needs to hear to know you’re out of the bathroom. They look up and see you rubbing your knee, before you straighten up and begin making your way back to the table. Before you sit down, you look at the two and give them an odd look at their suspicious proximity.

“What’s all this?” you ask.

“Gossiping about your book,” Alik says.

“All the raunchy, lewd details,” Tartaglia adds.

You blush. “I told you I’m not adding that scene in.”

Tartaglia laughs. “I was just messing with you! You’re actually a smut writer?”

“No! Romance! Romance does not mean smut!”

“Not that he could write it, anyways,” Alik teases.

You sit down. “I wish I was blind already so I wouldn’t have to look at you.”

“Isn’t that a bit harsh?” Tartaglia comments.

“No, that’s pretty normal when he’s grouchy,” Alik says.

You throw back the rest of your drink, your now empty glass clacking on the table. “Well, this has been… one of the outings of all time. I think I’d better get going soon.”

“We haven’t been out that long,” Alik says.

“No, but if I stay out later, I’m probably going to have a couple more drinks,” you say, “and I don’t want to be writing hungover tomorrow. Plus, my mother will have a conniption if I’m out later than ten and the more I avoid that headache, the better.”

Alik sighs. “Fair enough. I have an afternoon meeting tomorrow. It won’t do me any favours if I’m groggy during it.”

“I suppose this is goodbye, then,” Tartaglia remarks. He offers you a hand, and you awkwardly take it. His grip is firm when he shakes your hand. “Thanks again for the drink, comrade! And for keeping me entertained for the evening.”

“M-My pleasure,” you say, “and, on that note, sorry again for bumping into you.”

Tartaglia watches as you and Alik put your coats back on and pay for your drinks. Alik trails behind you, and waves at him before stepping through the door and disappearing into the night. In the quiet bar, he takes his time finishing his drink before he bids the bartender a warm goodbye.

His cheeks and nose are a warm red, contrasting his white foggy breath. Soft snow crunches under his boot, the clusters of flakes falling around him glowing in the moonlight. Eventually, his feet bring him to a building he is all too familiar with by now. The doors are locked now, but he has been given a key to the back door, which he has been told time and time again to only use in case of emergencies. He knocks the snow off his boots as best as he can before he enters the bank properly.

With one of the only other people in the building being a heavily armed guard, Tartaglia’s movements are practically broadcasted throughout the bank as he makes his way upstairs. He’s loud enough that he doesn’t need to0 knock on the Regrator’s door. He makes it to the door and lifts his hand up and is told to “come in.”

He’s polite enough to shut the door behind him when he enters. He gives his superior Harbinger a smile. “Good evening, Regrator.”

“You’re late,” Pantalone states, keeping his eyes on the paperwork he’s scribbling away at.

“My apologies,” Tartaglia states, “I had a little run in earlier.”

“And that’s the third time I’ve heard you use that as an excuse for being late.”

“You make it sound like I’ve made tardiness a habit!”

“I can also smell the alcohol on you.”

Tartaglia takes a seat. “Now you’re making it sound like I’m a drunk. Besides, it’s not as if this is an official meeting.”

Finally, the Regrator sets his pen down and looks up at Tartaglia, shimmering stony eyes meeting dull baby blues. “I don’t care if this is a casual outing or a serious business deal, you know my expectations, Eleven.”

“I wish you were as forgiving to me as you are with that writer fellow,” Tartaglia comments, watching Pantalone’s reactions like a hawk.

Pantalone stills for a moment, and though his expression remains mostly unchanged, the inquisitive tilt and slight arch of an eyebrow is enough to satiate Tartaglia. “The writer? Why are you bringing him up?”

“Who do you think I had a run in with?”

Pantalone’s lips finally curl, and he just chuckles. “Ah, you’d think he’d learn after our first encounter. You’ve met him now?”

Tartaglia nods. “He bought me a drink as an apology, and we talked a little bit about you.”

“Good things, I hope?” Pantalone remarks, and while it’s easy to tell when he’s fishing for information, his intentions are currently hard to read.

“His friend and I were mostly teasing him about the suit,” Tartaglia replies, “but other than that, it was just small talk.”

“I see, I see…”

“Better than he does.”

“Mm, it’s funnier when he makes the joke.” Pantalone opens a drawer and pulls out couple documents stapled together, reading them as he shuts the drawer. “I received your latest proposal, and after doing the math, I found that for once you actually deserve more mora as opposed to less. Not as much as you would have gotten before your time in Liyue, but I think you’re wise enough to be happy about that.” With his eyes still on the paper, he reaches into another drawer and pulls out a jingling pouch. Without looking up, he hands it to Tartaglia, who accepts it graciously. “Don’t let this get to your head, and please don’t mention it to Dottore. Specifically Segment Kappa, he’s still upset I only gave him half the funding for his latest project, but I told him I needed a functional prototype by the end of the month if he wanted the rest of it.”

“I know the drill,” Tartaglia replies, “and isn’t Kappa in Fontaine right now?”

“Something about studying scuba gear, I don’t know, all I know is he’s not bothering me right now and quite frankly, it’s all I really care about. Now, do you have anything else to say or ask before I send you on your way?”

“I take it your four-thirty meeting went poorly?”

“Why do you ask?”

“There’s some blood splatter still above your left eyebrow.”

Pantalone stops and lifts his hand up to his forehead. He rubs at the spot above his eyebrow, and when he pulls his fingers back, he can see his finger tips have slightly tacky red residue on them. 

He clears his throat. “Goodnight, Eleven.”

“Goodnight, Regrator.”

[raevenlyreads]

What happens when you ask for a reading?

People have been asking: What is it like to get a reading from you, Raev? A lot of you are just as new to being read for as I am to having a shop front, so I wanted to pull back the curtain a little bit and let yall know what the process of requesting a reading is like. Many thanks to my lovely volunteers for allowing me to share snippets of our conversations.

Preliminary Chats

When a querent reaches out for a reading, we start with a little Q&A, as I help guide my querents to the right spread for them. Doesn’t have to be in real time, though the process does tend to go quicker when we’re both available to chat at the same time. Often, these exchanges involve me helping the querent narrow down what it is they want to know, since they usually come to me with a general idea but not much in the way of specifics. For example:

Querent: My question would be "What is the best way for me to love them", what do you recommend? Me: I think it depends on what kind of love you're trying to give. I think this might be an interesting one for me to read the Revealing Prism for, as it will show 1) something about them 2) something about you 3) something you don't know and 4) a truth you can act on Querent: Mm, love in a general sense I guess? Like, what is the best way for me to show this person I hold them in high regard / care for them etc. not particularly romantic or familial just.. love? Hard to articulate And yeah, okay! Revealing Prism it is then Me: Sounds good! What deck would you like? Querent: The shadowscapes one? Me: shadowscapes was a good choice for this one, it's a very patient and gentle deck. Very loving and nurturing. It will really understand the vibe you're going for, I think. Querent: That's what I'm hoping for yeah <3

Into the Queue

Once we have the question narrowed down, and the spread and deck decided upon, the appropriate commission is purchased and the querent is added to my queue. Usually the turn around is within a few days, no more than a week. I like to try to do my reading as close to the prelim chats as possible, so that the connection is still fresh in my mind.

The Reading Itself

I will spend some time with the chosen deck, asking it the question on behalf of the querent (“[Name] is seeking actionable advice on how to show them they love them. “They” will be the external card, [Name] will be the internal card, help me show [Name] what is Hidden and reveal to us they can act on.”). While I ask, I shuffle. With some decks, this involves rifling the deck like common playing cards. With others (like the oversized Nameless One), I will spread the whole thing out on the table and just shuffle it all around flat. Circle spreads get arranged in a circle (go figure :P), and Above and Below gets shuffled then turned face up as I search for the signifier card. Oftentimes, I’ll know it's time to stop shuffling and begin reading when a card jumps out of my hand, or the deck splits itself neatly in two in my grip, or the cards start sticking to themselves. I lay out the reading, sit with them for a bit to absorb the interpretation, then start snapping pictures.

The Final Product

Once I’m done with the reading it's time for the write up. Each card is interpreted individually, and in the case of multi-card spreads, a synthesis of what they all say together is also written up. For single cards, I tend to drop the image and the interpretation right into our chat. For longer reads, I send a link to your own personalized doc with all the pictures and write ups. You can see samples of those in my kofi Gallery or on my tumblr under the tag #raevs sample reads.

Follow Up

This is my favorite part. I always love to hear what my querents think of their readings, how it impacts the way they think about things, how it opens up their perceptions, the clarity my readings bring. It especially delights me when they come back after some time later, telling me about the ways they saw the factors described in my readings coming to life before their eyes. I love hearing from my querents and would love to hear from you, too! Come talk tarot with me and let's see what the cards hold for you.

Ready to commission a reading of your very own? Check out my ko-fi page!

[emperor-restaurant]

this is my offering to the powers that be. i ask little in exchange. i read on the archive that there's a discord server for those who imagine twin emperors caracalla and geta in love. an invite link to said server in my inbox or messages receptacle would be delightful. assuming, of course, said powers are comfortable with myself joining the server, and i fully understand if not.

under the cut is 444 words of geta's thoughts as he (literally) sleeps with his lovely caracalla. i saw gladiator ii less than 24 hours ago, so please forgive me if it's unpolished. i warn you, dear reader, it contains mentions of unsavory things. particularly: canon-typical incest, mention of necrophilia, and implied chronic illness (specifically advanced syphilis)

enjoy, dear reader. and do not hesitate to send criticism- i am unashamed of human error. it's what separates us from animals. ave res republica.

Geta didn’t mind Caracalla’s novel interest in sharing a bed. It was nice to have a warm body with him. (Of course, he’d let concubines into his bed, but it wasn’t the same. They were only warm in touch, not in sentiment.) He would go so far, in the safety of his own mind, to say he liked sleeping with Caracalla. However, he did not like sleeping with the monkey. 

Dondas was curled up in the crook of Caracalla’s neck and Geta was locked in a staring match with the creature. He wondered what Dondas was thinking of. Geta was thinking of how easy it would be to accidentally roll over and crush her tiny body. He grimaced- he could think of little less appealing than primate innards in his quarters. Well, he appended to the thought, I would readily accept Acacius’ disemboweled corpse dumped in my bed, if only to deflower his traitorous body. 

Frankly, he worried just as much about injuring his fragile brother with his weight as he did Dondas. Caracalla was delicate, and only more so as he became sicker. Geta was cautious when Caracalla insisted nightly on Geta lying over him like a heavy blanket in bed. Caracalla’s bones had too much give for Geta to feel comfortable putting his weight over him, no matter how much he insisted the warm pressure helped calm his mind and body. 

Geta still couldn’t shake the image of their soirée last market day. Caracalla’s favorite party trick was to hook a finger under his lowest rib and wiggle it like a loose tooth. It was never amusing to anyone but himself, but even less as of late. Whenever he pulled his robes aside, it revealed the necrotic blemishes on his torso, and it was all others could do to smile politely as his stubby fingers disappeared behind his ribcage. 

Geta was brought out of the memory when he heard Caracalla quietly snore. Geta slowly raised himself up from Caracalla, hovering above him on all fours like a hungry predator. Caracalla stirred slightly. Geta held his breath for a moment, but slowly released it in relief as Caracalla curled into himself. Geta carefully eased himself into the bed, lying adjacent to Caracalla.

Now that Geta had moved off Caracalla, Dondas moved to lap at a sore on Caracalla’s newly exposed chest. She suckled the leaking serous fluid, blood, and pus from the granuloma like milk from a teat. Caracalla mumbled something in a dream and brought his hand to cradle Dondas. He would let Dondas suckle his milk if he could, Geta thought idly as he watched his twin and his pet. 

[faejilly]

Tangential 2.0

Or something like that? In the interests of beginning as one would like to go on, I am trying to get back into writing and fandom and remembering to talk to my friends online rather than doomscrolling, so!

#Tangential Tuesday: Semi-organized prompt requests a la @alexanderlightweight's "Writing Wednesday", with the caveat that whatever I come up with may bear very little resemblance to whatever you thought you had in mind, and/or I may refuse a prompt if I don't think I can do it justice. (I will let you know if that happens.)

I am accepting:

Writing Prompts: You may cruise my #prompt requests tag for ideas if you'd like, just be sure to tell me which meme if applicable.

Meta Questions: Unfortunately I do not have a specific tag for anything except Shadowhunters, but I am delighted to flail about lore/worldbuilding questions/headcanons for just about anything you've ever seen me mention. I have lots of thoughts about all sorts of nonsense, promise.

Podfic requests! (one-shots/short!fic please)

Would you like a fanmix? Companion to a specific fic or character/fandom feels are fine; I'll absolutely include a terrible cheesy canva cover and track-list to go with it🎵

If you would like a podfic/fanmix/sequel-fic/etc. for someone else as a surprise/present, I can only do that if they've got a blanket/fanworks permission statement. If you don't care about the surprise part, I will ask and let you know. (For an example, my permission statement is on my AO3 profile.)

Primary Fandoms:

Shadowhunters (TV): I tend to write Malec, but I enjoy the entire extended cast so anything goes.

BioWare: Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Jade Empire

Dimension20: Especially The Unsleeping City & Ricky/Esther

I have done the occasional meta/fic/podfic/fanmix for everything from Heyer Regency Novels to Stranger Things to 7kpp... so if you've got an idea for something else, especially if you've seen me reblog a gifset or ten, feel free to ask!

That is honestly the real goal here, to remind people they can ask, and I'm absolutely including myself in that, I have gotten terrible at it, for which I am very sorry and maybe we can all work on that together?

Reference Links Because I Am A Nerd:

Writing: AO3 / #jilly writes / #not on AO3 / #wip posting Other: Spotify / AO3 pseud / #jilly is bad at music / #jilly talks

[campgender]

i was scrolling your “life is in your home too” tag, which I love btw, and saw a post about how you learned to be a good dom from experienced expert doms by reading how they dom and some of their best scenes, do you think you could point me in the direction of some resources for me to study that too? thanks in advance, if not, thanks anyway!

(post referenced is here - link 1)

first of all tysm for this ask (+ your incredibly kind follow-up), it was a delight to receive + i’ve been wanting an excuse to talk about a lot of this for a while so i very much appreciate the interest!

as always please keep in mind that i am Just Some Fem, nothing is universal including when it comes to D/s & i can only speak to what works for me. i try to focus on starting points rather than specifics but ultimately my advice will always be limited by what i needed to hear & wasn’t told, which may not be what’s helpful for a different person. with that being said, here’s some suggestions!

i’ve posted a previous reading list (link 2) with relevant recs; particularly the practicality + sex writing sections have the kind of thing you’re looking for. specifically, The New Topping Book (2003) is a solid starting point; i definitely have my issues with it (haven’t read it recently enough to recall many specifics but i have the sense of general pervasive racism & ableism) but it did a good job at making me think & i appreciate the supportive tone they were going for

another book added to my tbr since then is Coming to Power (link 3), released by SAMOIS in 1983

other authors whose sex writing has been influential in my life: Sandra Cisneros, Natalie Diaz, Joan Nestle, Judy Grahn

the fic At The End of His Rope by Letterblade (link 4) is genuinely some of my favorite sex writing of all time & accomplishes the incredibly impressive feat of representing a broad array of dom styles & changes over time in the same piece

my “impurity culture” tag (link 5) houses the building blocks of my sexual ethic

i’ve found many of those foundations by poking around the incredible bodies of work original & archived @newsmutproject @woman-loving @gatheringbones

for me, studying sex is the same as studying poetry – reading for craft is a different process than for pleasure (not that there isn’t a great deal of pleasure to be found in such practice, especially for sadists – perhaps that’s why as a child i never resonated with Billy Collins’ “Introduction to Poetry,” like i love tying poems to chairs & beating them idk what to tell you). so, keeping in mind that these are suggestions not requirements, here’s how i read for + work on craft:

there is no such thing as too much journaling. this can take whatever form you prefer – voice memo, discord message to yourself, the noble notes app, your own personal sexy red string corkboard, a vast & stunning array of other approaches i can’t even begin to imagine. i personally have an elaborate web of spreadsheets & google docs lmao. what matters is developing a collection of ideas you want to play with + a practice of continually reflecting on past experiences.

pay attention to structure, not just content. find a scene you think is disjointed and pick at the seams, brainstorm better transitions. then find a scene that flows so smoothly it carries you with it and figure out what makes it work.

rewrite a scene you’re drawn to or affected by to suit your own preferences. i first did this when i couldn’t shake “Interlude 3” (link 6) from my head after reading The New Topping Book; you can read my variation on the theme here (link 7) if you’re interested.

write or think through a scene fantasy you have from negotiation to aftercare. obviously it’s very difficult if not impossible to fully script a scene in advance; the purpose isn’t planning something you’ll later do but rather getting used to coming up with ideas to get from one disparate moment / act to the next.

revisit a scene you’ve read, written, thought about, etc and list the physical & mental acts that are required / expected of the sub (eg, kneeling for 10 minutes; making eye contact; counting to 30, etc). then rework the scene for a sub who has the same interests & goals who cannot do 20% (or 50%, or any) of these acts.

revisit a previous scene and list the places where you think a sub might safeword & why. then rework it with the sub safewording somewhere that isn’t any of these places.

i also recommend keeping in mind that like… for me, reading about ethical sex can often be a very distressing process for the same reason that it’s liberating: because it proves that things i’ve experienced are not the way sex has to be. i’ll tell this story in its fullness one day but the first time i read S/HE by Minnie Bruce Pratt i literally had a flashback to events i’d repressed for years, it was devastating, i’m so grateful for it. hell, in the process of compiling resources for this post i cried twice editing this quote (link 8) because between reading that book the first time & now someone did “respond with scorn or ridicule” when i safeworded. so i would really encourage folks to approach this kind of work with as much grace & comfort for yourself as you can muster or borrow – if it’s really fucking hard, you’re not alone in that, & it’s okay to take your time + pace yourself + seek support.

your + others’ interest is definitely motivating me to actually write posts i’ve been tossing around for months so thank you again & feel free to keep an eye out for more shut-in sex tips in my new “tomorrow sexting will be good again” tag. would love to hear your thoughts on any of this post / these or other books / whatever really lol. wishing you all the best & i hope today is kind to you! 💓

[suzukiblu]

info post!!

Hello, friends, making a new pinned post to do double-duty as an intro/FAQ for people! My name is Rin, and I am a queer nonbinary they/them in their thirties who writes a lot and occasionally draws a thing or two too. I mostly post WIP excerpts of my writing, links to my finished fics, and writing-related chatter, meta, and "what should I write?" polls on here, but every now and then we'll get some art or some general IRL updates going.

I sometimes post things that aren't sfw or are straight-up porn or include either rape/noncon or dubious consent, and I write a fair amount of omegaverse if that's not your cup of tea. I do my best to tag all of the above, though, so there shouldn't be any unpleasant surprises.

I also have a Ko-fi, and I'll write thank-you sentences for anyone who tips and requests something from a specific WIP, minimum one sentence per dollar. Monthly subs are also available for various rewards, including WIP updates and discounted mini-commissions. The 3USD original serial level is currently on hiatus, but the other levels are all active.

relevant links:

AO3 - where the finished stuff and actively updating fics go

WIPs tag list - where the works in progress are sorted for easy-access

related works - where delightful people have taken advantage of my blanket permission for art/fics/podfics and the like!

Ko-fi - where I live in a capitalist society and also you can make me write stuff

I dabble in various fandoms at various times, but current hyperfixation is definitely a ridiculous superclone and everyone he hangs out with.