#but like... don't have it at my expense either... you know?

[what-even-is-thiss]

Free or Cheap General Language Resources Because idk I Just Wanna Help

All resources either have a free tier or have a low ($10 USD/month or less) subscription fee or a one time purchase option below $100 USD. All prices I give are in USD because I live in the US and this list was already hard to put together okay I'm not also doing conversions

I have given the links in text format because tumblr has a link limit. Copy and paste into your browser to look at them.

These are generalized. Not for your specific language.

LinQ, a website for reading: https://www.lingq.com/en/

You can click on words you don't know and get a definition and save a flashcard. They provide readings for all levels from beginner to advanced and you can upload your own texts and podcast or video transcripts and there's stuff uploaded by other users to browse through. The website also has some texts with audio included. You can also purchase books through the website. This is all included in the free tier. The paid tier allows you to save an unlimited number of flashcards and includes some forum and tutoring options. It's either $15 a month or $120 for a full year.

Languages available in full: Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian

Languages partially supported or with incomplete beginner courses: Afrikaans, Armenian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Catalan, Traditional Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Georgian, Gujarati, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Khmer, Macedonian, Malay, Persian, Punjabi, Serbian, Slovenian, Swahili, Tagalog, Turkish, Vietnamese

Migaku, a web extension and app: https://migaku.com/

Paid service at $10 a month. It has beginner courses and allows for dual language subtitles on things like netflix or youtube. It also allows users to save flashcards from subtitles or articles and sync flashcards between devices

Supported languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese

Storylearning Books: https://storylearning.com/books

These are short story, dialogue, or history books by Olly Richards written for beginner to intermediate learners that in my experience at least are written to not be boring for adults. Each chapter of a book includes a key vocabulary list and comprehension questions. Storylearning also has online courses available but they're too expensive for what you get in my opinion. The books are way cheaper, though depending on the language you may have more or less books to buy. The books are usually in the $15-$20 range new but they're often available at used bookstores both online and irl for much cheaper.

Books available in: Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Arabic (MSA), Brazillian Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Korean, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish, Irish

Mango Languages, a pretty standard language app: https://mangolanguages.com/

This is actually a pretty pricey one at like $20 a month but the reason I bring it up is that a lot of people can get it free through their local library and it has a large selection of languages.

Languages supported: Armenian, Azerbaijani, Egyptian Arabic, Iraqi Arabic, Levantine Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Bengali, Cantonese, chaldean Aramaic. Cherokee, Mandarin, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, Dzongkha, English, Tagalog, Finnish, French (European and Canadian), German, Greek (modern, ancient, and kione), Hatian Creole, Hawaiian, Hebrew (modern and biblical), Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Igbo, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kazakh, Korean, Latin, Malay, Malayalam, Norwegian, Farsi, Polish, Potawatomi, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian, Shanghainese, Slovak, Spanish (castillian and latin american), Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Tuvan, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Yiddish

Comprehensible Input Wiki, a website for finding language specific comprehensible input resources: https://comprehensibleinputwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page

Comprehensible input is input in a language you understand the message of, not necessarily input you understand every word of. It's good for you to get a lot of it from day one. This website gathers resources like podcasts, kid's shows, youtube channels, books, etc. that are perfect for this sort of thing.

Languages currently on the website as I am writing this: American Sign Language, Arabic (MSA), Armenian, Basque, Biblical Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Haitian creole, Hakka, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Occitan, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Romanian, Sanskrit, Sardinian, Serbo-Croatian, Sicilian, Slovak, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Toki Pona, Tunisian Arabic, Turkish, Ukranian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yoruba, Zulu

Drops, a vocab app: https://languagedrops.com/

Drops teaches vocab through pictures and matching and spelling games, though you can also customize your settings to show translations and different alphabets or not. The free tier has ads and a daily time limit. The lifetime subscription is technically against my personal rule for this post because it's $160 but it often goes on sale for half off or $80. There's also a monthly or yearly payment option. At the paid tier you can practice for an unlimited time without ads and choose which types of vocabulary words you want to learn.

Supported Languages: Ainu, English (American and British), Arabic (MSA), Bosnian, Portuguese (Brazilian and European), Cantonese, Spanish, (Castilian and Mexican), Catalan, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, French, Galacian, German, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Igbo, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Maori, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Sanskrit for yoga, Serbian, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Yoruba

Anki, a general flashcard app: https://apps.ankiweb.net/

You can make your own flashcards on Anki or download flashcard packs that other users have made. It also allows for importing of audio and visual aids. It has a spaced repetition system that a lot of people swear by. Some companies like Refold also sell premade flashcard packs specifically for Anki. Free on desktop, I believe about a $20 one time purchase on iOS.

Muzzy In GondoLand (1986): https://archive.org/details/muzzy-in-gondoland-level-i-1986

No, really! The old Muzzy movies from the 80s made to teach kids foreign languages are fairly easy to find for free on archive.org or on youtube. The new Muzzy with workbooks and an app and whatnot requires a paid subscription to the BBC but the older ones are much easier to find. They're available in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Korean, Esperanto, and Welsh.

Easy Languages, a connected group of Youtube channels: https://www.easy-languages.org/

Easy Language channels are channels where people interview speakers of the language on the street about everyday topics like dating, tourism, and shopping for example. They have dual language subtitles in their videos in the target language and English. Many of them also have series about useful phrases for beginners and intermediate podcasts. Most also have bonus worksheets and other learning materials on their patreons but the free content available is already a lot.

Current active channels: Arabic, Catalan, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish

wordreference.com

A website that lets you look up words in another language. It's better than google translate. It has pronunciation in multiple dialects and in depth explanations that some other websites don't have.

Supported Languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Swedish, Icelandic, Russian, Polish, Romanian, Czech, Greek, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic

edX, a website for taking college courses, often for free: https://www.edx.org/learn/language

I can't tell you precisely what's available because it changes year to year but they usually offer a wide variety of courses. You can also often get real college credit through these if that's something you're interested in. Programming languages are often mixed in with spoken or signed languages though so you may have to do some digging through the lists to fins what you want.

[sl3epyaf]

Going shopping with the kings

So you decided to do some shopping in the human realm

Would the kings be helpful?

(I accidentally posted this when it wasn't done cuz my phone sucks lmfao-)

Okay ngl I feel like he'd slip into fatherly persona here-

Like he'd help you get the stuff you need- and he'd probably hold your bags aswell because he knows how heavy some bags can get thanks to shopping with his wife before.

Of course he'd also flirt with the employees to get you a discount cuz he knows stuff is expensive-

No.

Bro would not be helpful at all.

He'd 100% wander away from you and your cart because he cannot stay still and a few minutes later the shop/mall intercom says "MC, please come get uhh.. your child?"

Atleast you can enjoy the confusion on the employees faces when they realize you (probably) look younger than Beelzebub..

It didn't take you long to figure out that mf introduced himself as your child like the menace he is.

Beel might carry your bags but make sure he's with you at all times- he's likely to wander off with your bags in hand and then misplace them somewhere..

Levi would be sorta helpful?

He'd walk along with you glaring daggers at anyone who dares to look at you so atleast you won't have any unwanted advances towards you?

Leviathan is 100% going to judge what you buy, saying Hades would've provided with better stuff.

If you think he's going to carry your bags then you're more than a bit delulu. He's too good for that

Maybe if you promise to choke him later he might carry one or two.

The best person you can bring with you.

You want it? You got it.

Saw a plushie or game you like? It's yours.

Mammon will 100% carry your bags for you- and he'd carry you on his other arm if you let him.

He will insist that you only buy the best.

People will 100% stare at you at the checkout either because of your total or because of how much expensive stuff you got.. or both..

With Mammon around I can guarantee you won't get hit on- nobody wants to try with this giant man around..

10/10

The second best person you can bring with you.

He's not clueless about what to buy compared to the other kings.

Lucifer might comment on it if you buy tons of snacks but he knows it's your money your choice.

If you're buying medicine Lucifer will shake his head at you, Paradise Lost has better medicine and for you it's free so why bother spending your money on shitty painkillers

If it's prescribed Lucifer won't comment on it. Not sure Paradise Lost has medicine for anxiety/depression (this is just an example)

Honestly he'd put the other kings on a leash just to make sure they behave and won't embarrass you (They'll find a way anyway..)

The most useless mf ever.

It's a miracle you even got him with you while shopping.

You can either have him sleep in the shopping cart, on the floor or having someone carry him-

Honestly it's just better if you left him at hell-

Considering how short he is an employee might mistake him for a kid so you'll probably have to drag him out quickly..

Satan will not be able to get stuff from the high shelf so don't ask him..

If you're buying something that needs durability checking definitely don't ask him- he'll smash it into pieces and you'll have to pay for it- and you'll probably get a lifelong ban from said store..

I'd say it depends on what you're buying- you can bring him along with you but don't try to test anything with him..

[yeahponcho]

honestly, here's how it all began:

over the course of years my mom and I have just planned more and built onto it. this very spot is one of the first places shown in my video actually!

if you're tight on money like we are, just go bit by bit! expand a little here and there when you can. honestly you don't even have to use fancy pavers either, one of the coolest ways to make a flowerbed is just find some country road and pick up rocks from the ditches along the way. I've done that for a few of my beds and it's so much fun AND saves money!

I know I've got some non-native plants shown in my video, but my best advice is research what's native in your area and try to plant those wildflowers first and foremost. my mom found a site that sold tons of native flowers from my state, and ordered a lot from there. native wildflowers are a great way to diversify the types of bugs and things you see in your yard! we specifically try to look up native host plants for butterflies and such too. regarding plants it's also great to try to get a variety so that you've got pollen and nectar going for bugs in every season. for example, dandelions and clover are great for early in the year, and goldenrod is great for late summer. (at least, in my area! you'll have to research what blooms when for you)

BIG piece of advice - put cardboard or landscape fabric down when you make a flowerbed! it will cut back on how much weeding you need to do. cardboard can be found at grocery stores between the cases of water, or I bet you could ask an employee "do you have cardboard you dont need?" other things we've used as weed barrier are old rugs. you Will have to cut a hole in the rug for your plant to go in, but it is perhaps one of the best weed barriers ever if you're up for a little extra work there. make sure whatever you use extends outside your bed by a couple inches on all sides! so your rocks/pavers will sit On Top of your cardboard/fabric/rug and extend out a little. don't leave any spots for that grass to take over your bed!

if you need to use weedkiller, please skip the nasty chemical ones at the store. not only are they expensive but they're usually bad for a lot of things! you can get a sprayer bottle and mix up soap, salt, and vinegar and make your very own homemade weedkiller. I admit, it needs reapplying a little more often than the hard chemicals will, but it's a lot safer for animals and people.

there's absolutely more but this is already getting pretty long LOL. if you have the space and resources, I would absolutely encourage you to look into making a little flowerbed. it's so much fun to garden and it's rewarding to see the animals enjoy what you created.

welcome to my back yard! I've been working hard on it this year and I wanted to show it off a little. mom and I started transforming it together 7 or so years ago

[sunrisecaminus]

Before reading this: two for egg laying stuff. If that's not cool, I get it. The rules said ask about kinks so I'm shooting my shot.

I have 2 only vaguely related things to offer to your ask box and then a related request if you'll have it.

1) y do we assume seekers r birds and not bugs? All the bird qualities ppl give them also apply to most species of bugs... More ppl should do stuff with bug seekers.

2) experienced a canon event irl and have discovered that laying eggs is.... Good. 🫣

Like, inserting anything just feels like inserting anything, but laying an egg was a completely unique experience and I don't think I've ever cum like that before? Like I legitimately have a condition called Anorgasmia, so I have only been able to do it twice before in a total of 30+ years. Laying an egg did not feel like giving birth (done that, don't recommend) or like how sex normally does. I have no way to explain the weird euphoria that happened and it had me questioning my life. 10/10 recommend to try all least once in your life everyone.

Whole ass came, everything was quite, looked at the person I was doing this with, who also looked shocked and we both had a "wtf was that" moment (first time trying this for both parties, not sure what the normal reaction is).

Tl:Dr the ask:

Can I request seekers having an afab reader who has their egg(s) inside them and has to lay them?

Message - This was the fic that took me way to long to try and make good. I have never written something about the laying eggs kink and so I wanted to try and make it seem like I am not stupid in this category. Hopefully it is ok, but please have mercy on me. ;-;

Starscream x AFAB Reader NSFW

Summary - You lay eggs and Starscream is there as your emotional and physical support.

Warning - NSFW, Laying eggs

Custom dress, draped down to the floor. Made out of expensive high quality cervelt, your outfit gave you a comfortable hug around your curves as you dipped the tea bag in your mug. Making tea while giving soldiers nothing but fear when they walk past you is your new hobby. You were told to not do anything while holding Starscream's eggs. Starscream was very over protective of you and after getting impregnated, he has non stopped told everyone to not touch you or do anything to make you angry. Someone tested it before and got their head blown off. Megatron is honestly a bit surprised in Starscream's new brave emotions, but he wishes the aggression would be more targeted on the Autobots.

It looked like you were not pregnant either…or it did…but only like if you were 3 months pregnant. With a baggy shirt or hoodie, it was very easy to cover it. If you wore a cropped top though or something revealing, it was honestly quite obvious you had a bump. Knockout said something along the lines of you having two or three of them heating up inside of you. It was fascinating for him and Shockwave to check up on you, knowing you are the very first ever organic to be impregnated by a Cybertronian. There was some concerning theories about if the eggs would even make it, but thankfully the amazing care you have been given on the ship has helped the eggs stay as healthy as they could possibly get…but it comes at a cost.

Knockout had said many times that the healthier the eggs are, the harder the shells are. Yes, it will still be very wet enough to slide right out of you, but it will be just a bit uncomfortable if they get too big. This would be a sacrifice you knew would happen before Starscream even impregnated you, so you and your Conjunx had enough materials and emotional support to understand the risks that your body might be damaged. Honestly you don't understand why Starscream was so caring for you, but you weren't going to complain that the second in command caught feelings for you. Sometimes he still acts like you were the one fan-girling over him, but it was the exact opposite. He was on his knees, bowing for you to be with him. It was quite amusing, because of course you said yes. Being together for so long, Starscream hasn't told you how much he has bene wanting to give you his eggs. It was one of the many things he thought about, but he was very worried about the risks and knew he needed to study more into human anatomy before he gives the idea to you that you could have his kids.

Sipping your tea, you walk through the massive hallways of the ship. Soldiers bow their heads to you anytime they pass, making you smile, knowing Starscream has scared them half to death. Take a few more steps, you feel movement in your lower abdomen. You put your hand down to feel what was going on, feeling around to find the eggs moving from your uterus. "…Fuck…" Immediately you call Starscream's coms and kneel to the floor. Starscream picks up and sounds like he was working on something. "What is it, my pretty?" You wanted to laugh from his little weird names, but right now the eggs seem to want to leave your body so you tell him exactly the matters at hand. "They are ready, it's about to happen, dear." After that you hear things dropping as Starscream tells you he is on his way. It seemed like he just threw whatever he was doing and ran to you the second you said that the eggs were ready, because you see him just a few seconds later in your hallway. Starscream bends down to your level to scoop you up. "There you are, it's ok, I got you." He was trying to be really brave about this, but you could see through the mech that he was horrified.

Getting into the birth room, you feel yourself being placed on the pillow with a bunch of soft towels. Starscream sits down next to you and rubs his digit over your belly as a way to try and massage you. All it was doing was making the eggs push further down from the pressure he was putting. You gasp from your insides moving around, but it didn't hurt at all…surprisingly. Taking your time and getting the dress to move away from your legs, you now just have to wait for the eggs. About ten minutes pass, you and Starscream are just talking about random things to keep your mind off of it, you feel your walls stretching out. "Oh! I d-didn't know this was going to feel g-good." You blush from the embarrassment as you try to put your legs a bit closure to each other. Starscream smirks and glides his digits from your stomach, over to your legs and spreads them with two of his sharp claws. You gasp and feel the eggs moving inside you from your legs widening, feeling as thought that the round shaped objects inside you just slid closure to freeing themselves from this fleshy cage. Knockout was right though, you felt them being hard shelled and quite big, so it was making you moan from each one of them rubbing against your walls. "Starscream! Ah, they are s-so big!" You turn your head up to watch Starscream stare at your pussy, patiently observing as your entrance opens. One slides out of you slowly, to the point where you wanted to just grab it and get it out of your system already, but it was taking it's time. It was probably a safer speed anyway to land on the towels below. Thank god these things were slimy, holy crap you don't know if you could have made it if they were stuck in your tubes. You don't have to push them out yourself either, it seems the eggs were working with your own body to slide out themselves.

One egg finally slides out of your body fully in view and it looked great! It had a beautiful palish color with nothing cracked or bruised (I didn't know eggs could bruise until I looked it up. It is rare though I think. I am definitely not an expert). Your body gave you some time to breath and relax before the next egg starts to prod itself out of you. Goodness this was torture, but somehow your mind was blanking and feeling nothing but joy. You thought it would be quick, but your body seems to like this feeling and doesn't mind that they are taking their time. Starscream seems the second egg lay next to the first one and puts a digit at your entrance and widens it just a little. "He said two or three. Lets wait it out for just another hour just in case ok?" You nod at him and try to breath slow and steady. In Starscream's optics, you were taking this so well. He didn't know he would feel proud in this moment, but goodness the way you are handling this important life event was amazing.

Some time goes by and Starscream rubs your belly to check. "You feel anything?" He looks down at you to check your physical body for anything bad. "No, nothing…I feel so tired." You were, for some reason, out of it from all this. Caring those eggs took all your energy and finally having them out was a relief. This seemed a lot less painful than normal human pregnancy, so honestly you could not complain. Starscream wraps you up and puts the eggs somewhere you couldn't see at the moment. He walks back to the bed and snuggles you. "You did so well, my love. I am so proud of you~"

[medicinemane]

Ah... I've figured it out!

My brain's been treating Caucasus and Carpathian as the same word and that's why it's been so confusing why this mountain range seems to jump around by a pretty wide margin

Dyslexia did the same thing with Austria and Australia where just like here I knew they were different, but just didn't quite process it, which ended up with me thinking things like "Wow, I wonder why Falco's German is so spot on, like that's pretty impressive for an Australian"

Like my dyslexia just says "These two words are similar size and shape... I think they're probably more or less the same word, I'll file them away in the same spot, especially cause they're the same type of thing"

But I finally caught it seeing Carpathians mentioned being in Ukraine, and me being like "I really did think they were more over towards Georgia... maybe they go under the black se... wait a minute, I finally figured out why I'm confused"

Also see the Balkans and the Baltic where I 100% know the difference and know which one I'm talking about but very much may say the wrong one (and my dad's been like "oh you see, you just need to remember that..." and it's like dude it's dyslexia... also with GK Chesterton I'll often say "J" and my dad'll say similar stuff and it's like dude... there's no mnemonic here, J and G just sound and look similar enough my brain sometimes swaps them in behind my back)

Anyway, finally caught it in the act, finally understand why it seemed like these mountains jumped across a large body of water and no one ever commented on it... it's cause it was my dyslexia filing them away as both mountain ranges starting with C so... basically the same thing... yeah... yeah that's the same thing

[oceanbpm]

giving my two cents on this because i have some.

i've never read/watched the hunger games or the spin offs related to it but just based off reading emma's blog it's clear that the only thing her boyfriend has in common with his fictional counterpart here is that they share the same name, the same face and possibly (again, not a fan so this is an educated guess) the same surface level personality traits. the parallels end there. they don't have the same interests, the same ethics/morals, the same age. they don't even exist in the same setting. if you put them side by side, they would have more differences than similarities between them. so to sit here and be like "well, we should still discuss the fact that he's a terrible character here :/" as if that holds water is beyond disingenuous. that line of thinking just oozes with the sentiment of "i am clinging to whatever i can in order to have an issue with you".

your inability to make the disconnect between a fictional character and a living, breathing 18 year old boy simply because you haven't met him is a you issue. and i'm not even saying that like it's an extreme flaw of yours, because i have it too. i personally get the ick when i see people speaking fondly of voldemort/tom riddle even when i know that the version of him they're shifting to be with is either not as bad or not bad at all. but you know what i do? i block. i move on. i don't feel inclined/entitled to have discussions at the expense of these shifters and go "i always had a bad feeling about them 🫢🫢🫢". that is not valid. that is corny as shit.

[nebulations]

Fish, 7 (For your prompts! ❤️)

Hi, anon!! Thank you for the prompt, you were the very first one to send one in! 7 was, again, the wildcard, so I randomly generated a different number to land on Yue Qingyuan (from Scum Villain)! I have no choice but to dedicate this to @bytedykes, because I told her about this prompt and she said “yqy pet fish mental health speedrun” and we went, uh, a little insane about it. Enjoy some yuefang, folks!!!!

“Mu-xiong,” Yue Qingyuan says. “I’m sorry to bother you. Are you available?”

“Yue-xiong is never a bother,” Mu Qingfang says warmly. “And I am, actually, yes. Is everything okay, Yue-xiong?”

“I think I need help.” A bit dramatic, perhaps, and Yue Qingyuan hates to trouble Mu Qingfang on a rare day off, but Yue Qingyuan and impulse have never been the best combination, and he would appreciate a second opinion.

Mu Qingfang’s voice turns hard. “Where are you? I'll come right away.”

“What—?” Yue Qingyuan stares at his phone like the blank call screen will tell him why Mu Qingfang suddenly sounds so serious. “I'm at home, but—”

“I'll be right there,” Mu Qingfang says, and hangs up.

Yue Qingyuan stares at his phone for another second, then lifts his gaze to his sparkling new aquarium. His new betta, white and black and resplendent of fin, stares back. Was his crisis of faith about his viability as a fish owner really so deserving of such urgency…?

—

“So,” Mu Qingfang says. “This was your emergency?” He looks about as unimpressed by the betta as it does by the two of them.

Yue Qingyuan feels obscurely like he’s being scolded. Mu Qingfang is one of the nicest men he knows, but that just means that his censure takes the form of a blunt instrument of mass disappointment.

“In my defense,” he points out meekly, “I didn’t say there was an emergency. Mu-xiong just assumed.”

“That’ll teach me,” Mu Qingfang huffs, but at least he looks amused. “Yue-xiong should get used to asking for help more so this gege doesn’t have to panic every time he does ask.”

Yue Qingyuan’s mouth almost drops open. He can only hope his cheeks aren’t as red as they feel. “Er—well, I asked this time, didn’t I?”

“You did,” Mu Qingfang allows, looking something horribly close to fond. Yue Qingyuan swallows and tries to hurry on.

“So—not an emergency, but I do want your opinion,” he coughs out. “I’m having… doubts. About the fish.” Mu Qingfang’s eyebrows contract. Yue Qingyuan rushes it out. “Do you think I should keep it?”

“Yue-xiong…” Mu Qingfang looks politely incredulous. “Why does my opinion matter? The fish is already yours, isn’t it? If you don’t think maintaining its upkeep will be feasible, that’s one thing, but… Surely Yue-xiong did the research before getting it?”

He doesn’t sound judgemental, but Yue Qingyuan feels his cheeks warm. “I did, but I wasn’t planning on getting a fish; I was only admiring the tanks. There was a salesperson who was… very insistent.”

Mu Qingfang regards him doubtfully, which is fair. Yue Qingyuan towers over most people he meets, and his bulk only further adds to the impression of immovability. It’s only when he opens his mouth that it becomes clear how spineless he actually is.

Yue Qingyuan falters. “I had thought… I thought it might be nice.” The bettas had seemed so majestic in their tanks, iridescent monarchs of false grass and plastic coves, and Yue Qingyuan had thought, wildly, that one might be rewarding to keep, might breathe a touch of life into his immaculately sleek living room. The whole affair hadn’t even been expensive by his shiny new standards, forget difficult to physically arrange. It was only when installation and set-up for his new aquarium had finished and he was left to watch that jewel-bright being swim disaffectedly through its new home that doubt had seized him, all-consuming and black. He had, admittedly, panicked a little after that.

(Yue Qingyuan’s apartment is very large, and very clean, and very empty. It holds the barest amount of decoration and muss to qualify as lived-in rather than a snapshot from a magazine ad. The fish may, in fact, be the only thing in the entire place which really qualifies as his. No wonder Yue Qingyuan wanted to jettison it from his life as soon as he got it.)

Mu Qingfang’s expression hovers between concern and simple confusion. “I’m sure Yue-xiong will be a more than adequate caretaker,” he says, more gently than Yue Qingyuan and all his neuroses probably deserve. “What’s this really about, Yue-xiong?”

Ah. There it is. Being the mildest person of Yue Qingyuan’s admittedly sharp-tongued social circle doesn’t preclude Mu Qingfang’s wit from being as keen as the scalpels he works with.

“I don’t…” Yue Qingyuan falters. How to express to Mu Qingfang how manifestly unfit Yue Qingyuan is to care for any living creature at all? He changes tack. “I think he hates me,” he admits dolefully.

Mu Qingfang stares at him for a long time, long enough to imply that he’s reevaluating certain opinions about Yue Qingyuan’s intelligence. “Yue-xiong, with all due respect to your new pet—it’s a fish.”

“Fish have emotions!” Yue Qingyuan argues. He flushes at the volume at which it comes out, and at the way Mu Qingfang’s eyes go wide-eyed in startlement. But the salesperson had been very insistent about that, as well. “Bettas are intelligent animals. They dislike certain colors, apparently, and they’re very sensitive—ah, to environmental disruptions, that is. And—”

Mu Qingfang’s eyebrows are still high, but his face has relaxed into a smile. “It sounds to me like you like it quite a bit already. Isn’t that reason enough to keep it?” His tone curls with sudden mischief. “Have heart, Yue-xiong—you’ve hardly known each other for a day! Give it time to adjust to you, and I’m sure you’ll win it over as surely as you do everyone else.” And he grins, sure and easy in his trust that Yue Qingyuan won’t fumble and shatter something so small and monumental as a life that he could cup in his palms.

While Yue Qingyuan is still dazed by that, Mu Qingfang’s eyes alight with interest. “Ah, Yue-xiong—what have you named it?”

“...”

Mu Qingfang’s face falls as devastatingly as it had lit up. “Yue-xiong…”

“Mu-xiong is aware that I was unsure of whether or not I’d keep him!” Yue Qingyuan is terribly aware that his ears are now heating up to match his cheeks. Mu Qingfang’s ensuing laughter does not help with that matter.

Yue Qingyuan is not very good at holding onto things. More often than not, he makes a mess of whatever he’s set his clumsy hands to, lets it fall right through his scarred fingers. But Mu Qingfang’s words ring through his head: Isn’t that reason enough to keep it? And, well, isn’t it? Surely Yue Qingyuan is adult enough to follow through on this. Maybe happiness can be look like his new betta swimming up to the tank to observe the new colorful form moving in front of it, can come as easy as Mu Qingfang quipping that his knowledge about fish is clearly lacking and vowing casually to read up on bettas to be a better fish uncle.

Yue Qingyuan buries a smile and walks over to let Mu Qingfang know that bettas can be trained to follow fingers around. The betta’s clear preference for Mu Qingfang over Yue Qingyuan is as good a marker of intelligence as any fun fact the pet shop worker could have given him. Yes, Yue Qingyuan thinks with a smile—he thinks he’ll be keeping this after all.

[thenightisland]

i think there should be a secret knock or password speakeasy-style to convey to healthcare people "i am one of you i am not some rando with webmd who thinks antibiotics will treat the flu if i am requesting antibiotics i have already tried all the other measures and have read the clinical practice standards for the condition in question to determine if antibiotics are indicated" anyway a pox upon the temp doctor i dealt with last week who immediately gave me a condescending "it's viralllllll" as i'm reciting all the clinical indicators that it is not in fact viral and all the blessings on my pcp who's known me for twenty years and was like amoxicillin be upon ye!

[only-martha-knows]

I just cancelled my Prime subscription after a lot of thought and I had to go to the page linked above. Here was my message:

Hello! I just wanted to inform Amazon about why I canceled my Prime membership. I enjoy your content on Prime Video and have frequently used the service, but I was very disappointed that Amazon chose to cancel the Wheel of Time. I hope this decision will be reversed, and I want to add my voice to all of the others that I know are mourning the loss of this beloved show that has just become truly fantastic in the third season. Many, many people follow it very closely, and are very invested in seeing the adaptation continue on to the parts of the story that make Robert Jordan's work so unique. The reasons for cancellation that I have read seem disingenuous for a multibillion dollar company - I understand that Amazon is under contract to finish the story of Rings of Power, but I can only see the cancellation of a less expensive show like Wheel of Time as unnecessary. I don't doubt that Amazon can afford to produce… two shows. As a result, I don't feel comfortable supporting a company that cancels shows for either ridiculous or hidden reasons when the point of storytelling is to finish a story. I am canceling my Amazon Prime subscription. Thank you, random customer service employee who reads this. I doubt that anyone who is anyone at Amazon will see my message, but I want to contribute to the larger effort to reverse this show's cancellation. :)

I'm interested to see if I really will get a response within 24 hours, and what the employee who reads this but has no decision-making power at Amazon would say. Out of morbid curiosity.

Very rudely, I did not get a survey after I cancelled my prime membership (my mom did, though, so she was able to directly tell them why she was cancelling), so I had to go to their customer service page to send them an email about my reasons (I selected 'other services').

I figured it didn't hurt to let them know that they lost someone who did previously use their delivery service and who had watched prime for other shows as well (I watched both tLoVM & tRoP) but is now going to be avoiding their service because of the WoT cancellation -- so if anyone else was having a hard time finding their actual customer service page, here it is: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/features-and-services.html#a (the one that they have linked to in their menu is basically just an FAQ page).

[allylikethecat]

irl matty at erwhon!!!! do u think he got an $18 dollar smoothie???

-🥤

(ps i accidentally sent the first ask to my other fav fic writer betweenthings2 and i’m very embarrassed)

Hello My Dearest Smoothie Anon!

I saw the picture!! He looked so very soft even though I was like sir why are you tucking your tee shirt into your sweat pants you look silly (said with love and care) Also how did Matty Healy of all people end up with IU sweatpants?! That just feels very random but also I kinda love it for him. I hope for both of our sakes he did get one of those ultra expensive smoothies and that he enjoyed every sip of it because he deserves to treat himself!!

Also I'm dying, I'm sure @betweenthings2 doesn't mind! They are ultra talented and I am so looking forward to sitting down and reading the new fic they posted a few days go! I haven't had a chance yet, (I'm weird and like to read fic in "ideal situations" ex. on my couch, on my iPad, with my favorite fluffy blanket and a diet coke rather than frantically on my phone while doing twenty other things at once lol) but I'm sure it's absolutely brilliant as all their work is!

As always, it is so wonderful to hear from you smoothie anon and I hope you are having a fantastic Tuesday and that the rest of your week is the very best! I hope you also have a fancy expensive smoothie in YOUR future because like Matty, you very much deserve it!

❤️Ally

[perfektblau]

If 🔪 all those politicians, ceos, and those who perpetuate the nightmare American healthcare system that only exists to prey and profit off from human lives would stop it, I'd do it even if it means cutting down half of my lifespan or going to purgatory. If it means people won't have to suffer anymore, I would.

[dindjarinsbian]

you guys know that tiktok audio about homosexual audacity and thinking you can do anything with no prior experience? "no i've never done that but i'm gay so how hard could it be?" that's me right now having almost no knowledge of computers but wanting to build by own pc

[ragghhhhhwindbreakerlomldjjrkdkd]

Interesting I very much love your perspective and analysis on this and your comments like the part time thing!

I suppose a part of it might also be the city rush? Like if you go to Starbucks there's so many people you can't really stop especially not the workers at best I throw a "thank you have a nice day!" Either at the till or out the door (depending on where they're situated) but since there's so many people you can only have that slow chat and wait in smaller more neich places that are sadly dying out especially with COVID

To my above point you see Kotoha and her cafe and how she connects to the people in it, there's often only one to five people at once unless they come in groups. This allows that connection.

I live in a very small village (not like 10 houses and we've got a primary school but in comparison to other villages it's still on the smaller side, a couple hundred or so I'd say) we have one pub (used to be two but one closed) I don't really go to because I'm underage and my mum's not the sort of person who would take me to one for dinner on a tired day she'd just make a soup or something idk, a farm for Christmas trees and pumpkins with reindeer (seasonal), a community centre mostly used for voting or oldie clubs in the day, the school, the park(outside the school, the chapel and a small post office/corner/general shop.

When put together like that it sounds like a lot but since you're from a city imagine those where the only places you could go without and half an hour walk down lanes (really dangerous In the dark) there and back, and that's only to another small(but bigger) shop of a nearby town. And yes there are busses and cars but they're quite expensive and kids can't just use em that's mostly for adults.

But even with this at the most full point (barring groups of like five kids grabbing snacks after school) the most people I've seen in the shop at once is like five? Maybe and that's on a popular time, and even then most people aren't in a rush so you can stop and chat while having the parcel dealt with or your food done.

So I think the rush also plays a part in it along with the rising individualism (I'm pretty sure this isn't just America because we've talked about it in sociology and I'm not American). You talk, because there's nothing else to do and then you get sucked in and loiter for a minute usually, at least with the girl with the other three odd I just say usual small talk like "how are you" talk about the weather etc but these do play a big part of how you connect. Like I might not know their names (although some people know them a lot better) just like we don't know the names of all of Makochi townsfolk we know that Sakura's new because no one's seen him before (realistic it's either they're new or they don't go out much) and that blah blah's son's birthday or something is soon and although this is probably realistic idk for me it's very much, her daughter was sick last week or something something like that.

Also I think your version of community is enlighten because I might not know most of them very well but I'll say afternoon on the walk home from school to people and I know that that woman would (when I was In secondary school I get off at a different stop at a different time now) be out if it was a nice day with her dog often chatting to that one other woman (idk there names or much else about them but I knew that and their face) I do know my neighbours tho, as I said I don't see them very much because of my shameful dark past but I know them better than the others (I live in flats so we share yards) so especially in sunny weather I'll often see them lounging outside, I know the next door neighbour has two cats and likes outdoors, A lot of my immediate neighbours are one big family (literally, there's the grandparents one flat, the granddaughters family in another and about two houses over (not very far at all they're flats) the daughter and her 18-20 yr old daughter (sister of the granddaughter but with a large age gap) (imma stop waffling about my neighbours 😭) and stuff and this is despite almost anyone I've befriended moving away (I'm a deterrent lol 💀) but what was my point again

Oh yeah I think this smallness also means people are less afraid to talk to strangers? If that makes sense or have strangers listen in like that one argument that happened on my street and then I learnt what happened because I went to buy crisps and she was talking to the girl at the counter about what happened.

Also back to the part-time thing like I've gone months without visiting the shop and I still know that she'll probably still work there as opposed to in the city where even if she was still working there (which she could not be) her shift could have changed or something. so I think that plays a big part in it.

I guess because I don't tend to go to popular shops other than Waterstones when I do go to town unless I go with my friends in which we might go to costa or a place like Casper's (I forgot the name but it's a desert place 😭) I don't realise this as much because I'm a charity shop girl, a that one store in the market that sells the nice vegan stuff girl, or even the fabric store (which is small) one. So I do believe in some cities it is possible to find one but they tend to be a disgointed community, like not everyone in your community will be in the others too. This is in the UK too so it might be different in America, but maybe it's because I grew up in community that I do the same thing in most places it's possible? But also don't realise it?

I honestly don't know but I am very thankful about your reply and points and point of view and I'm glad you weren't too annoyed by my yap (hopefully not by this one too)

Also another thing about "small talk" (as I was writing I remembered this) people in cities definitely do it less like I was waiting for a train and I've got anxiety, I'm not naturally 'sociable' in the culture near me, but I do yap a lot once I've got going (you could probably tell lol) but I was waiting for my train to visit a friend and there (at this point some kids came later closer to the train time) was only one more person there sitting next to me, so we started talking. I think the thing with "small talk" is that you tend to ask an opening question to be polite and see how much they will talk, if they answer "fine" and put earphones in you just chill by yourself or you can start a conversation, we talked on and off (she was going to the town before the one my friend moved to the one of the area we live for laser tag with her dance group) while on the train or platform and it was just something to do to pass the time.

As I've said before I think time plays a big part of it. Because unless you're going to work or school I'd say time is a lot more relaxed in countryside places. As much as people say about 'island time' I'd say that to an effect there's also 'rural?(Idk if I'm using that word right) Time' because everything you can do is either a few minutes away or a long slow walk away often times, so you do stuff to pass the long time and while there has definitely been a shift towards technology nowadays to do so it's often just chatting meaningless or even meaningfully. So I think the lack of rush around everyday things (especially with less queues) causes this as well (as previously stated) however it's probably just also to do with minor cultural shifts from a long time ago.

People would walk and knit/crochet with their friends to other villages, especially women in the old olden days (I don't want to say medieval but about that far back) in the sort of place I live although my village is rather new (16-800 (I ain't letting THAT much info 😭)) as apposed to others the people who moved there would mostly be farmers originally (it's still surrounded by farmland) so they would have probably come from other small communities with the same mindset, and even with people moving here from other places (hell my mum moved here) a lot of the people are still probably either people whose families lived here or somewhere similar and even if not their kids are likely to be taught the culture through the others there growing up (I'm calling it culture cause idk what else to call it)

I think that's one thing I'm wondering about because there's some luxury houses (Ew just found out they weren't flats which would be bad enough) being made and I don't think anyone is happy about it, it's next to the graveyard so it's taking land for that, the drains already flood when it rains, the school can't take everyone on some years and they look fucking ugly and out of place and while we're not an 'outsider Ew' place (as I've said lots of people gave moved here) this is very extreme and annoying because the whole reason they picked it and the charm would be destroyed by it.

Also to your tag, I'm a village girl and there are things that I love and hate about it. There are things I'm scared of too. I know that I can't live with my mum forever, but I'm unlikely going to be able to afford a place like where I live so I'm afraid, I'm afraid of losing that community, I'm afraid of not hearing the wood pigeons in the morning, I'm afraid of big crowds and places where I don't know people and have to rush through the correct social interactions while being quick about it. And I hate it, I hate having to either trade these things or else I'll have to pay 7 pounds a day to go to and from work as a minimum, and maybe this is something that's killing community too. The rising worry of work and housing. I can't stay in my community as I grow up and I'm afraid that I'll lose how to be a part of one like the many people in cities today.

But yeah looking back that looks a lot like a vent and emoy like it's not that deep but still a worry yk?

So yeah I think wind breaker does amazing things about communities and my worry, yes it's unlikely that I will find a place like that but there's a chance I won't have to give up another thing to live comfortably. Also just how it shows them the casual information about the little things (or big things depends on how you look at it) they might not know their favourite food but they might know the colour they wear a lot or that they got out of hip surgery or something similar. I just love it, I think it's very much a pallet cleanser from the rising individualism in the world but that has also been in the media.

Also also note is that the village my grandma lives in she knows loads about everything and everyone and everyone else does too. Like just in general. She says I don't know much and then pulls out a three page long essay about their backstory and their dog 😭 so I think for a community ours isn't as connected especially in comparison but it's apparently still there. But she also worked in a shop so she knows a lot of gossip from there because shops are as shown before a gossip hotspot in smaller communities

a Revelation i just had from talking with my roommate is that wind breaker is uniquely a story about cultivating, developing, and protecting your *local* community, i.e. in a small town. this may be a response to a cultural climate that is increasingly remote and globalized, where the people around you, especially in a big city, becomes more and more anonymous (the bread sellers, the flowershop owners, the neighbors living next to you, etc— that we see the characters interact with).

specifically, in the shounen sphere, while community, friendships, teamworks are strongly emphasized, they are typically a secondary theme. friendships and empathy are vital to one piece, but its primary motivation and focus are on freedom and adventures. haikyuu, too, and all sports mangas that i have seen, is hinges on teamwork and connection, but the dominant context/motivation is the passion for sports and dedication/conviction towards your dreams. actually, haikyuu quite uniquely insists on teamworks and connections in ways i didnt see (as convincingly, at least) in other sports mangas. nonetheless, the primary focus is not on developing a community that you live in. so on and so forth. here is the difference: while all shounen works necessarily emphasized friendships, interpersonal connections, co-existence and teamworks, most of the time the community is something that the goal necessitates rather than being the goal itself. it’s a tool, not an endgoal.

that is not to say, i emphasize, that these stories are not good. it’s just that the premise of wind breaker is unique in the current narrative climates in a way that is quite reactive, actually, to the cultural climate today.

because the people around us are getting increasingly anonymous. in a big city you are not expected to know who your neighbors are. you are not expected to have meaningful conversations with the flowershop owners, the baristas that make you drinks every tuesday, or, hell, anyone that “serves” you. especially as the cities get larger and you never quite see the same people with any reliable frequency (yet another way in which the current economy (ehem, capitalism) configured our communities and interpersonal connections). this is a problem humanity never have before, in such unprecedented scale— but alack, social changes happen all the time, and most of them are unprecedented.

thats why the premise of a dying town — one that is explicitly ignored by law enforcement, quite literally *left behind* — is also symbolic of the smaller, more concentrated, and more *personal* social structure we are abandoning. the smallness is why bofurin knows everyone in town. the constancy is why bofurin and makochi care for one another. the premise basically necessitates the story to occur in this small town. the smallness and mundanity is the point— things that our socio-economic focus on rapid “growth” and “development” is glossing over.

do i have a solution for what i am portraying as a societal decay? no. do i expect every place in the world become makochi? would be nice, but probably not. but the narratives do invites and encourages me to notice more of the people i see day to day. maybe this will gets a lot harder once i move out of my undergrad dorms and no longer sees the same baristas, cafeteria workers, custodians, facilities workers that i know by name. but i sure hope i will know the names of the people i live with, in a community, in a new city.

anyway, wind breaker is very refreshing and yet another example of how culture and arts response to and interact with each other 😌 i can only hope that, regardless of whether people read so deeply into this or not, the narratives encourages them to be kinder and more noticing of their community. maybe nurture it too, like ume does and is inspiring everyone in bofurin to be :)

[crowned-by-thorns]

"Finally, I get to see you let loose as well. Even if it's at my own expense. I'll get you for that eventually" he flicks one of the wolf's ears " Those are bigger than mine after all, i have more workspace to get back at you, and I promise i will, you'll get a wet tongue in your ears when you least expect it. It's a threat and a promise" for now he just lightly bites the tip of a fluffy ear in retaliation.

The words that followed soon after surprised him " While I am guilty of that you can't just act purely self righteous about it. Not when I thought you hated me for the longest time.

Well I didn't make an effort to correct you either did I? However in retrospect you did kind of walk out on me in one of the most pivotal moments of my life, where I needed you the most.

I've got reminded I can only rely on myself, so truly if you want me to stop risking myself as much then you have to earn my trust again. Who knows maybe i'll even open up a bit more and you won't have to read between the lines."

He tried to have more bite to his words, but he couldn't when this guy was smiling at him like that.

It makes that calculated and ice cold heart of his beat again and oh it did flutter with each soft kiss he receives. Kisses that he reciprocates with his own, one on the forehead, one on top of the snout and one on the lips.

"I have never forgotten it, but calling you names is sometimes more appropriate or fun.Oh, as if you don't have some choice nicknames for me as well.

My favorite one must be when you called me your nemesis.

I might be dramatic, but so are you my dearest partner in crime.

But for now put aside that well rehearsed persona, I want you to be selfish with me. Show me just how much you missed me." Claim me as yours once again

Because he needs to be distracted from his own mind and any doubt it might conjure.

( @crowned-by-thorns continuation from here, time skip, at Hugo's place)

Here they were. Lycaon entered the apartament nervously, bending down a little at the doorway out of habit (being almost two meters tall does that to you). So they were going to Hugo's place... that was something new. He thought they'd just go pay 'a visit' to the stalker right away. Perhaps he should have actually listened instead of spacing out

Hugo's apartment was spacious, with a beautiful view of the city behind a large window, which took most of the living room wall. As expected, everything here was very stylish and there was plenty of art on display everywhere. The place had "Hugo" written all over it, no doubt about it.

Lycaon took a curious look around, although his habits as an attendant made him first pay attention to such things as emergency escape routes, hiding places, weak points and such.

After that, the housekeeping habits kicked in, and he started to asses how much time it would take to clean the place, which corners would be hard to reach with a duster, et cetera.

Only after that, did his thoughts wander elsewhere. So this... was where Hugo lived. Where he felt safe, where he could unwind after a long day and plan his little schemes in peace. And he let Lycaon in. That was a big display of trust from someone who otherwise loved to call him a traitor every chance he's got. Sure, things between them have improved tremendously since Port Elpis, but this... this was a new level, he was sure.

....He just stood there awkwardly at the entrance, all stiff, unsure of what to do with himself.

[sqoa]

cw stalking

☓☓☓ stalker!satoru likes exploiting his heightened senses to learn everything and anything he can about you. he doesn't even need to be in the fucking room to know that you're sitting with your thighs pressed together because you're still thinking about the letter he slipped under your door that morning.

the letter, in which he wrote the dirtiest details about yourself that not even you picked up on. like how when you're really horny you become restless and can't keep still for too long, or how when you cum your eyes squeeze shut and you almost look scared of the pleasure you're giving yourself. which he loves, because your fear is an aphrodisiac to him.

but you figure whoever it is that's stalking you is only stabbing a guess at what could be true. because there is no way he's someone you've fucked, because you don't fuck on a whim. the only other explanation you can come up with is that he's been in your home, either to install cameras or slip into the shadows late at night when you're touching yourself. which is a ridiculous thought, so he must be assuming.

until you come home from a particularly gruelling day to find a small box on your pillow.

it's black, and wrapped in a blue ribbon that looks hauntingly familiar to the shade of blue—you shake your head. with trembling hands you open the box to find three things. one of which is a baby blue vibrator, the same shade as the ribbon and a certain set of eyes you often think of when you touch yourself. you also find a smaller box with a note attached.

'a promise, until you trust me enough to replace it with the real thing, doll.' it reads, and doesn't make sense until you open the box and find a ring inside. expensive looking and glistening under the moonlight coming in through your window. it fits your ring finger perfectly when curiosity bests you and you slip it on. You should be panicked, locking your doors and calling the police but there's a horrible ache in your lower abdomen that has you awful restless, and you realise that perhaps your sweet-tongued stalker knows a little more about you than you do yourself.

weeks of gifts like this go by, from sex toys to expensive meal deliveries each night, you're starting to feel more like a sugar baby than a victim. and still, you haven't even given in to your stalker... you've been too scared to touch yourself, to put the box of toys he's gifted you to use, because each night as you fall asleep you dream of vile things done to you by a man you can't see the face of. you worry that if you give in, let him watch you fuck yourself stupid on the toys he brought you, you won't want to hate this. to hate the way he calls you his doll, like you're a toy to be played with, in a home he somehow has access to despite how many times you change the locks.

it's not until you're on a mission one day, alongside satoru gojo. you're in an awfully tight space together, stuck in an abandoned warehouse and boxed in by curses that you're sure he could handle in the blink of an eye if he wanted to. but you're here, pressed chest-to-chest and breathing in the scent of his sweat and cologne mixing together—sugar on his breath.

and you're just so needy, after weeks of denying yourself in hopes of boring your stalker away. you have to press your thighs together, satoru's hard abs against your stomach is too much: and the way he looks down at you, laboured breath and glossy lips parted... you have to look away. but when your gaze meets the ground, you catch a glimpse of something that you hadn't noticed before.

a ring on his finger, one that matches yours—hell, it even looks cut from the same gem.

and his voice is poison. "you've been hiding from me haven't you, my doll?"

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

for whom good omens is being written

Hey maggots and the rest of the fandom, it's the Good Omens Mascot here. Today I read a post about this tweet:

The accompanying video genuinely made me cry. And I've been thinking about this for a long while, as far back as February, when I saw a lot of conflicting opinions on what people wanted from the third season. It really is true that no matter what you do, some people will be dissatisfied. But what matters is that Neil is writing this for Terry.

And I was reminded of some paragraphs from the Good Omens TV Companion, which I'd read in Amazon's sample excerpt of the book. I know this is a long post, but I really truly do think you all need to read these, I've done my best to select only the most important parts. Here you go:

'His Alzheimer's started progressing harder and faster than either of us had expected,' says Neil, referring to a period in which Terry recognized that despite everything he could no longer write. 'We had been friends for over thirty years, and during that time he had never asked me for anything. Then, out of the blue, I received an email from him with a special request. It read: “Listen, I know how busy you are. I know you don't have time to do this, but I want you to write the script for Good Omens. You are the only human being on this planet who has the passion, love and understanding for the old girl that I do. You have to do this for me so that I can see it." And I thought, “OK, if you put it like that then I'll do it."

'I had adapted my own work in the past, writing scripts for Death: The High Cost of Living and Sandman, but not a lot else was seen. I'd also written two episodes of Doctor Who, and so I felt like I knew what I was doing. Usually, having written something once I'd rather start something new, but having a very sick co-author saying I had to do this?' Neil spreads his hands as if the answer is clear to see. 'I had to step up to the plate.' A pause, then: 'All this took place in autumn 2014, around the time that the BBC radio adaptation of Good Omens was happening,' he continues, referring to the production scripted and co-directed by Dirk Maggs and starring Peter Serafinowicz and Mark Heap. ‘Terry had talked me into writing the TV adaptation, and I thought OK, I have a few years. Only I didn't have a few years,' he says. 'Terry was unconscious by December and dead by March.'

He pauses again. 'His passing took all of us by surprise,' Neil remembers. 'About a week later, I started writing, and it was very sad. The moments Terry felt closest to me were the moments I would get stuck during the writing process. In the old days, when we wrote the novel, I would send him what I'd done or phone him up. And he would say, "Aahh, the problem, Grasshopper, is in the way you phrase the question," and I would reply, "Just tell me what to do!" which somehow always started a conversation. 'In writing the script, there were times I'd really want to talk to Terry, and also places where I'd figure something out and do something really clever, and I would want to share it with him. So, instead, I would text Terry's former personal assistant, Rob Wilkins, now his representative on Earth. It was the nearest thing I had.'

(...) As Neil himself recognizes, this is an adaptation built upon the confidence that comes from three decades of writing for page and screen. But for all the wisdom of experience, he found that above all one factor guided him throughout the process. 'Terry isn't here, which leaves me as the guardian of the soul of the story,' he explains. 'It's funny because sometimes I found myself defending Terry's bits harder or more passionately than I would defend my own bits. Take Agnes Nutter,' he says, referring to what has become a key scene in the adaptation in which the seventeenth-century author of the book of prophecies foretelling the coming of the Antichrist is burned at the stake. ‘It was a huge, complicated and incredibly expensive shoot, with bonfires built and primed to explode as well as huge crowds in costume. It had to feel just like an English village in the 1640s, and of course everyone asked if there was a cheap way of doing it. 'One suggestion was that we could tell the story using old-fashioned woodcuts and have the narrator take us through what happened, but I just thought, “No”. Because I had brought aspects of the story like Crowley and the baby swap along to the mix, and Terry created Agnes Nutter. So, if I had cut out Agnes then I wouldn't be doing right by the person who gave me this job. Terry would've rolled over in his grave.'

And, finally, this paragraph:

"Once again, Neil cites the absence of his co-writer as his drive to ensure that Good Omens translated to the screen and remained true to the original vision. 'Terry's last request to me was to make this something he would be proud of. And so that has been my job.'"

I think that's so heartwrenchingly beautiful, and so I wanted you all to read this, too, just in case you (like me) don't have the Good Omens TV Companion. It adds another layer of depth and emotion to this already complex and amazing story that we all know and love.

Share this post, if you can, please, so that more people can read these excerpts :")

Tagging @neil-gaiman, @fuckyeahgoodomens and @orpiknight, even if you've definitely read these before :)