#but also it might not be

[softquietsteadylove]

Love your stories. Was wondering about a story where Thena and Gil get a pet.

"No."

"But-"

"We have enough at home," Gil sighed, pulling Thena's hand into his in an attempt to lure her away from the lizard display. "Why did we even come here if you were only going to look at the lizards? We could've just walked into the garden at home."

"But this one is different," Thena countered, pointing over her shoulder to the bearded dragon who seemed just as distraught to be separated from her.

"I have enough lizard peelings to sweep up already, thank you," Gil chuckled, smiling as Thena at least matched his pace to walk beside him. "Isn't there anything else you'd consider?"

Thena stayed quiet, looking around at the various displays.

"What about a dog?" Gil suggested, pointing to the Australian Shepherds garnering by far the most attention. "You could take it hunting with you."

"An animal will only slow me down," Thena countered easily, and of course, she did have a point. She was faster and stronger than any mortal animal, and a mid size dog was probably not meant to be out hunting ostriches with the Goddess of War.

"We could get a bird," Gil tried again, pointing out the conures perched prettily in their cage. "They live a really long time."

"Gil," Thena sighed, but gave up her next argument at the look on his face.

He had suggested getting them a pet because he worried about having to leave her alone when he went to the market, and especially since he'd started going out further to other trading posts. They'd been in Australia long enough now that people were starting to recognise and get suspicious of Gil's completely unchanged appearance (handsomeness).

Thena could concede that perhaps some company wouldn't be the worst thing for her when he was travelling to other towns. Gil was mostly worried about her being lonely.

"You are only ever gone a day, Gilgamesh," she would chide him and his sensitivity.

"I still miss you," he would pout his lips at her cutely. "Don't you miss me when I'm gone?"

Like she could rip open her chest and hand him her heart to take with him. But she wasn't going to let that stop him.

"What about a guinea pig?--they come in two's!" Gil beamed at the squeaking little monsters. He pointed out specifically two cuddling together, one with a black coat of fur and the other so lightly blonde it was almost sheer white. "They're like us!"

"No."

"Thena," he chuckled, moving his hand from hers so he could pull her closer by the waist. He nestled his lips next to her ear, "I'm not leaving here empty handed, so find something, Sweetheart."

Thena nodded with a sigh. This was more for Gilgamesh than for her--if she thought about it that way it would be easier. She ran through the animals she would consider, although admittedly even if they weren't lizards they were still mostly reptilian. "Gil?"

"Gilgamesh?"

He was slowing to a stop, craning his neck to look at the kittens in their little enclosure.

"Stars above, help me," Thena sighed as she followed him over to the display of feline abominations. She glared down at the little mongrels. "Why are you so enchanted by these quadrupeds?"

"Oh, come on," he dismissed her grouching easily, looking down at the little cuties. "They're sweet."

Thena disagreed. She thought they were far too smart a creature to be as domesticated as they let humans believe. And they demanded the same attention as canines did, if not more so, only without the obedience to be sent away.

Gil had ooey-gooey eyes.

Thena sighed again, leaning over his shoulder as he held his hand out. The tiniest of all the kittens scrambled up into his palm, pressing low as Gil lifted it up. "You really want a feline?"

Gil said nothing, holding the kitten up for Thena to examine for herself. The kitten was white, fluffy, had massive ears ears it would have to grow into and big green eyes.

Thena had to admit, it was not as unpleasant as some cats she had encountered. She looked past those eyes at Gilgamesh, "this one?"

Gil's big, ooey-gooey eyes glittered at her. "He looks like you!"

Thena tried not to be insulted by that. She looked at the cat again, who took a cautious step towards her. She leaned in closer, hearing the soft purring it began emanating from its body. "Fine."

Gil lit up. "Really?"

Thena blushed, unable to look directly at him as if the sun were in her eyes. "Yes, but I will not tolerate having to compete with this thing for run of my own home."

Gil just chuckled. Thena didn't like that cats weren't afraid of her. He held out his hand, "you should hold him on the way home."

"Gil-" Thena blinked as he deposited the cat into her - very dangerous - hands without a second thought. The kitten attempted to balance itself in its newer and smaller platform of dwelling. She turned her hands to look at it. "Hello."

"Mew!"

Gil held back his laughter at the sight of the Goddess of War with ooey-gooey eyes.

[falseficus]

everybody’s always on writing prompts like “what if there was a world where everyone had a timer ticking down to their death… but you met someone whose timer said infinity!” or “what if everyone had their cause of death tattooed across their forehead… but you met someone whose forehead said THE CREATURE!” Enough -

enough. stop with the shock value. there is no need to insert THE CREATURE; the benign concept of such a world is horrifying enough. not even in urgency, but just in banal, everyday interaction. imagine you meet someone and their timer says two years. not tomorrow, not urgently soon, but two years. enough to do quite a lot. they could fall in love in that time - could they get engaged? have a baby? you might otherwise get to know them, befriend them, but perhaps you opt not to, make a conscious choice not to invest in your own grief. what balancing act would every individual person have to participate in - I have ten years, is that long enough to be a good mother to children? is that long enough to secure a caretaker for my own mother? my wife will die a few months before me. my newborn’s timer reads nineteen years.

and cause of death. you interview for a job and emblazoned across the healthy, smiling face of the HR lady is MALNUTRITION. your country is prospering, safe, but every person you meet on the street from the babies to the old women read BOMB. BOMB. what kind of havoc would fate wreak on the world? what about the loss of privacy? how would that shape our notions of hope? idk man I think a lot of those ancient poems were right, and the fates are monsters. I’m interested by the framing of these ideas as trite horror tales when the premises themselves are so much more disturbing if simply taken to their logical ends

[stil-lindigo]

lead balloon (the tumblr post that saved me)

if this comic resonated with you, it would mean the world to me if you donated to this palestinian family's escape fund.

--

no creative notes because this isn't that kind of comic.

I know I don’t owe any of you anything but I still felt compelled to write about my long term absence. And I feel far enough away from the dangerous spot I was in to be able to make this comic. I have a therapist now, and she agreed that making this could be a very cathartic gesture, and the start of properly leaving these thoughts behind me. I am still, at seemingly random times, blindsided by fleeting desires to kill myself. They’re always passing urges, but it’s disarming, and uncomfortable. I worry sometimes that my brain’s spent so long thinking only about suicide that it’s forgotten how to think about anything else. Like, now that I've opened that door for myself, I'll never be able to fully shut it again. But I’m trying my best to encourage my mind in other directions. We'll see how that goes.

I am still donating all proceeds from my store to Palestinian causes. So far, I've donated over $15K, not including donations coming from my own pocket or the fundraising streams which jointly raised around $10K. In the time since I made my initial post about where this money would be going, the focus has shifted from aid organisations to directly donating to escape funds.

If you'd like to do the same, you can look at Operation Olive Branch, which hosts hundreds of Palestinian escape funds or donate to Safebow, which has helped facilitate the safe crossing and securing of important medical procedures for over 150 at-risk palestinians since the beginning of the genocide.

[heritageposts]

Translation: What a shitshow. This years Eurovision has gone to hell. And it's first and foremost the EBU's fault.

Also, excerpt from the same article:

Throughout the course of the Eurovision Song Contest, the EBU has acted as if they live in a parallel universe. Eurovision is one thing, the world outside something else. The EBU has stuck its head in the sand. Shoved the problem under the rug. Held their hands over their ears and shouted LALALALALA. They appear to have done everything they can to pretend it's possible to hold an apolitical event in a world that's on fire. We have come together to be "united by music", they say, but the sharpshooters on Malmö's rooftops have nothing to do with us! In its struggle to remain apolitical, the EBU has become like a small fascist state in itself, where the artists' space for expression and action has been reduced as much as the undergarments of the Spanish dancers. It is reprehensible.

Reminder again to BOYCOTT EUROVISION 🇵🇸

Don't watch, don't vote.

[shesmore-shoebill]

"I had choice paralysis :(" is a KILLER line.

He's such a comedic powerhouse, I'm glad more people are getting exposed to him :'D

[hinamie]

10 years later

[ruushes]

sleeping arrangements (not sure tara would ever actually deign to sleep in the same 20ft radius as shovel but who can resist those big shiny insectoid black eyes 🥺)

plus:

[pbnmj]

THE NOIR-HOBIE INTERACTIONS THAT I MADE UP IN MY MIND ARE VERY REAL TO ME. SONY PLEASE PICK UP WHAT I’M PUTTING DOWN!!!

[exilley]

I do sort of wish western anime fans would analyze anime and manga from a framework of japanese historical and cultural context. Specifically a lot of works from the 90s being influenced by the general aimlessness and ennui that a lot of people were experiencing due to the burst in the bubble economy and the national trauma caused by the sarin terrorist attack. I think in interacting with media that’s not local to our sociocultural/sociopolitical sphere it’s easy to forget that it’s influenced and shaped by the same kinds of factors that influence media within our own cultural dome and there ends up being this baseline misalignment of perception between the causative elements of a narrative and viewer interpretation of those elements. It’s a form of death of the author that i think, in some measure, hinders our ability to fully understand/come to terms with creator intent and the full scope of a work’s merits

[shopcat]

the baby has one parent's little face marking thing and the other's coat because they're a little horse family the world is a beautiful place

[buddieinmybeddie]

LGBTQ+ folk what was your gender/sexuality pipeline?

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Dog Meshi.

[annluvazzel]

[AU in which neither of them becomes a pro-hero part 2]

•

Someone needs to say this to Deku but in the meantime I'll do it myself ♡♡

[gravitycoill]

lil comic i’ve had in my head for a bit

[dapper-lil-arts]

Last one I swear... Unless?

[novaneondream]

it’s our turn to make you smile