Time for a fresh new introduction! I have exactly one banner which I repeatedly alter to suit my needs, so please enjoy it. I've really stepped into this modern era.

I have many names, but here, you can call me Harrowben.

30's. They/them and he/hymn. Biracial. Nonbinary transgender. Polyamorous. Skeleton. BA English Language and Literature. Professional Dungeon Master. Probably not but possibly two-time Academy Award Winner Guillermo del Toro. (I wrote a text post that got remarkably out of hand one time.)

Formerly a bookseller, I now work as a professional Dungeon Master with a local theatre company to make a living. I’m also (slowly) learning to bind books. Sometimes, I even try to write them. Occasionally, when the mood takes me, I also write fanfiction. I like to make digital layouts for books, and of course I love to read! Books are my whole life. I'm a trained editor, and like most everyone these days, I am for hire. Feel free to inquire if you're looking for some fiction. Words are what I do. Catch me ramblings about original work and characters, skeletons (of course!), bookbinding, and book arts, spooky nonsense, nature being its beautiful terrible self, monsters and the people who love them, that sort of thing. I do reblog fandom things from time to time, chiefly when the aesthetic vibes well with mine, or when the brainrot becomes too severe to contain.

If you need anything tagged, feel free to reach out, anon or otherwise. It’s important to me that my blog is as safe and comfy as it can be.

BIGOTED SHIT. I CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH HOW MUCH YOU SHOULD FUCK OFF IF YOU'RE A FASCIST PIECE OF SHIT. This was initially a placeholder so I would remember what I wanted to make so abundantly clear, but I stand by it. TERFs and Nazi Punks fuck off. Zionist assholes can also kick rocks. There's no place for you with me. Better yourself and stop being soulless fucking shit-lickers.

The Bishop of Black

Honestly, my pride and joy. The Bishop of Black is an ongoing and deeply queer high-fantasy light novel that I'm writing together with my husband @alexanderflowerbird who does all of the incredible art.

Check out our reading guide, if you like.

RAVENOT

My most developed WIP. A dark fantasy novel about a skeleton knight who ventures into places where the living can never go, to safeguard the balance between life and death.

You can read the first chapter for free here!

AO3 | Ko-fi | Bluesky | Patreon (coming... when it gets here)

Write Time: Day 15

I'm still quite far behind, and this weekend is pretty jam packed. Admittedly, I've also been out frolicking and watching 80's science fiction movies with some pals. Great for me, terrible for my word count. No excerpt today, but rest assured my work remains ongoing.

Until next time!

Taglist: @alexanderflowerbird @void-botanist @carmillasboywife @ceph-the-ghost-writer @wintherlywords

As always, let me know if you’d like to join or leave the taglist, and I’ll act accordingly. You can reply right on this post, if you’d like. Divider by @/strangergraphics, from this set: here. Thank you!

Write Time: Day 14

Not much to report, yet today. I made a major milestone, and I'll just keep going. I have a character I'm about to introduce that I'm so excited for, which feels pretty good. Let's see... Ellipsus continues to treat me well, and its load times are not as egregious as Google Docs tends to get when my document breaks the 10k mark. I have some travelling to do today so I'm not sure what that will mean for my count, and a busy weekend ahead, but I do know one thing: I'm determined to keep going. And now, this.

"I can incite you to remember what befell you in this place. To do so, may help me find the one who hath used you so evilly… But it will be painful. Will you remember for me, even so?" For all of their whimsy, there were few amongst the fey who would not trade for revenge. This one was no exception. His gaze flared bright with lichlight. "When you find them… What will you do?" he asked. "Will you kill them?" "If I must. I will strip them of their power to do again what was done to you." "Say you will kill them." The freshly blossoming impulse grew strong, then. Almost enough to become dangerous. Ravenot laid their fingerbones on the fey's brow. "Settle." The body stirred, weak, but as if he might sit up. Ravenot held him still. "I do not make promises," he said. "And I kill only when I am left with no choice." "I leave you no choice. Say you will kill them." "You are a poorer bargainer than once you were, I wager," said Ravenot. "I will bring you out into the light. Be still." The Risen fey grumbled, but he hadn't the strength to do much else, even with such a burgeoning impulse. It would be risky to plumb this poor soul for what he remembered. His impulse might grow stronger, then, and there was potential that his fury might burn his body away, leaving only a shade. Ravenot considered this, and lifted the fey up into his arms, bearing him out of the cavern and into the daylight. It was summer, still, when they emerged, and Ravenot stood still for a moment, to let his passenger adjust, before he set him down at the foot of a nearby tree. "I have some things to prepare, if I am to help you," he said. "Rest, 'til then." "Rest…"

Until next time!

Taglist: @alexanderflowerbird @void-botanist @carmillasboywife @ceph-the-ghost-writer @wintherlywords

As always, let me know if you’d like to join or leave the taglist, and I’ll act accordingly. You can reply right on this post, if you’d like. Divider by @/strangergraphics, from this set: here. Thank you!

I've reached a major milestone in my Write Time endeavors! A whole 10k consecutive words written. I'm behind by 3 000, but this is still a win!

Write Time: Day Thirteen

I'm playing catch-up today with something of a vengeance because I know that my beloved husband will be reading my work later today while waiting for their mother to have a doctor's appointment. So I'd like there to be something to pass the time. I'm very excited about this new structure for RAVENOT, I think approaching it as a number of episodic novellas is really right for the character and for the story. I also get to learn so much about the world I'm writing in, just through what I discover in these novellas. I was also quite heartened to learn that Hideyuki Kikuchi was my age when he began writing his Vampire Hunter: D novels, and he's still writing them quite happily, and successfully today. So who knows what the future holds for Ravenot and I? An excerpt, for today!

When the attack finally came, Ravenot evaded it without looking, canting his head to one side to avoid the sudden thrust of a long, sharp beak. Had he been less wary, it would have pierced him through like a spear. "Rats! I thought I had you." The fey giggled, dancing back from Ravenot as they turned, one hand resting on the hilt of their longsword. This fey was not afflicted with the rot that Ravenot had seen on the others, and stood towering over him. She had the head of a heron, but her torso was humanoid, long arms crossed over her chest. Nestled in her hollow ribcage was a human head, and it was with this that she spoke. She had a mantis' raptorials, long serrated limbs, ready to grasp and ensnare, and he had heard the fluttering of her wings when she retreated from him. The wisps jingled around him, scattering in their panic, and cursing the end of their entertainment. "I will not quarrel with thee," said Ravenot. "I have come to help. There is—" "A rot, in the woods," the fey interrupted. "I know. I've seen it. Shall I tell you where?" "I need no favors." That made the fey snap at him again, and he was swift enough in ducking that her beak did not catch so much as a hair from his head. That sharp point had surely snatched up eyes and tongues, had punched holes through unwary throats. "Rats!" As she drew nearer, Ravenot could see the chitinous quality of her skin, even where it had at first seemed like feathers. Not so tough that his blade could not sunder it, if need be. The fey were not as precious about such things as mortals were. "'Tis summer," said Ravenot, though they did not yet draw their weapon. "Art thou certain 'twould be wise to play with me?" "I know you," said the fey, her long heron's neck retracting sullenly, "and I know the perils of the season." "I know thee too," said Ravenot. "But I would fainly leave thy name unuttered. Do not offer at me again." That made the fey suck in her breath, the teeth of the head in her belly chattering with displeasure. "I don't believe you," she said. But she did not strike at him a third time.

Until next time!

Taglist: @alexanderflowerbird @void-botanist @carmillasboywife @ceph-the-ghost-writer @wintherlywords

As always, let me know if you’d like to join or leave the taglist, and I’ll act accordingly. You can reply right on this post, if you'd like. Divider by @/strangergraphics, from this set: here. Thank you!

Write Time: Day Twelve

I'm behind! The past couple days I've found myself incredibly exhausted, though I'm not sure what it is that has me so worn out. Overall, I've just been slower to bounce back from work this week, and I must admit that this time of year sucks the energy right out of me. I'll have to pick up some vitamin supplements and see if that helps. As usual, the end of the week is going to pose some challenges to my word count, but even if I don't make the final count I was hoping for, I have made considerable progress. I'm not about to turn my nose up at what I have accomplished so far. I'm almost 30% of the way there, and if I can just get the words out over the next couple of days, I'll be back on track in no time. This has been helping, generally, with how slowly my words come. I think I had been a little damaged by the horrors, and this had interfered with my ability to write freely. I've taken some steps to repair that damage though, and I think that it shows, even if I'm not right on top of the target I've set. Anyway, please behold my excerpt for today.

For the moment, the summer persisted, the young trees growing wild, bearing fruit that no wise person would ever set against their teeth. Ravenot had no desire for such things, but when stray blossoms fluttered and landed in his hair, he let them linger for awhile, until the motion of his stride shook them free again. The wisps came, drawn forth by the Unmade's presence, jingling softly and swirling about their ankles, but he knew better than to follow the lights. And so, instead, the wisps went after him, laughing softly amongst themselves at the change of pace.

We thought you might be coming. And here you are!

Here you are.

Ravenot did not answer them, following only the trail left behind by the beast before it had crossed the arch.

Uh-oh.

Careful!

He's going to step in it.

Step in it.

Still, Ravenot paid no mind to the banter. It was only in the fey lands that wisps were so audible, which was a tremendous relief, but he knew it was among their favorite mischiefs to sew uncertainty in the mind of a traveller. Distraction, too, was one of the great talents of these wisps, and so Ravenot paid particular attention to their surroundings. The fey folk tended to be so at one with the natural world that it was, at times, difficult to discern between the two, and given that the fey had a preference for dangerous fun, Ravenot had to take care. When something moved in the canopy above him, he continued on, pretending as though he hadn't seen it, feigning some attention to the wisps. But he could hear the creaking in the branches, the soft scraping of claws against worn bark.

Until next time!

Taglist: @alexanderflowerbird @void-botanist @carmillasboywife @ceph-the-ghost-writer @wintherlywords

As always, let me know if you’d like to join or leave the taglist, and I’ll act accordingly. You can reply right on this post, if you'd like. Divider by @/strangergraphics, from this set: here. Thank you!