#(chasing the sun by sara bareilles)

[larissa-the-scribe]

Terrarium Lights, Pt. 2.5

Last time on Terrarium Lights: the boi is struggling with the reality of having a hole in his memories. Gail is struggling about whether or not she should tell him that he is, in fact, a ghost. (Next part >>here)

The ghost agreed to go with Gail to the cemetery the next afternoon.

"I think it might be good," he said. "I can see more places, and maybe something new will help. Somehow."

"And a good walk can be just the thing to clear your head," Gail offered as further reasoning.

It was the anniversary of her parents' death, and she was going to leave flowers on their graves, her uncle’s grave, and David’s grave.

When she had been younger, cemeteries had fascinated her. Now, with more sadness associated with them, her enthusiasm was tempered somewhat—and yet, despite that, she still quite liked them. They had character, and history, and she had friends there. Sometimes, she told Michael that she was scouting the place out, so she could be familiar with it when she ended up there herself.

She gathered an assortment of flowers from her garden (daffodils, drift roses, and gerbera daisies) and arranged them in bundles in a basket. There was no direct path to the cemetery, but she didn't mind. It was a lovely spring day, the sun was shining, and the wind brought hints of seasalt with it.

The lad followed along behind her, in one of his quieter moods. His hands were in his pockets, and he mutely observed the world around him with attentive eyes. Those didn't seem fully brown today, but he still seemed aware of what was going on around him.

As they went down the road, they passed an open space where, looking seaward, one could see the lighthouse lifted against the sky. The lad stopped. Noticing his absence from her side, Gail turned to find him focused on it intently.

"Is that the one you've been telling me about?"

"Yes. The coastline hereabouts has a lot of shoals and shallows and salt marshes, and pokes out into the sea some, so the lighthouse is there to guide the ships into harbor without them running foul of those, at the mouth of the bay. Some good spots for oysters, though. Not as good as further South or East, but you get a decent harvest."

He took the information in without comment, standing and staring with his hands in his pockets.

"Does it… perhaps remind you of anything?" Gail hazarded when he didn't move for another minute or so.

"I… I can't quite tell." He looked away, down at the ground, kicking a shoe against the ground. "There's something about it, that feels closer than the memories, but I don't know what that might be. Newer and older than all of it. And try as I might to make something of it, the piece that would make it make sense is missing."

Gail hummed sympathetically. "Maybe it will come to you as we walk? If not, we can visit it sometime later. If you're up to it, maybe today, after our visit to the church."

"I don't know if today," he said, squaring his shoulders. “I…I’m really still not sure about going new places. But I think… I might like to try going there. I don’t know when. But… I think I should. Someday."

"Very well then," Gail patted his shoulder as she led the way onward. "We should plan for it. Maybe in a couple of weeks. We can see how you’re feeling then."

He murmured something in agreement and trudged after her.

Past the salt marsh, up the road, into a forest of oaks and Spanish moss, then the church.

It was a small chapel, of wood, and whitewashed. Its steeple rose up to bear its cross, but not higher than the trees surrounding it. Gail had always found it charming—large enough for those who met there, with rooms to spend time together in fellowship, a carved cross on the wall behind the pulpit, a smell of wood and polish and old books, and simple but lovely stained glass windows. Certainly there were larger, grander chapels and churches deeper into Santa Juliana, but those were far away, and—to her mind—less pleasant. Besides, this was where her friends were, and Pastor Jeremiah was a good shepherd to his flock.

Before heading to the graveyard, Gail went inside the church to pray, sitting on one of the back pews. It was quiet, soothing, and cool after the trek through the woods. She prayed over her family—alive and dead—and their works in all their different places, for Mrs. Oberson and her growing sickness, for the lad, for wisdom in helping him, for her congregation and pastor.

It all took longer than she had planned, a calm, unhurried peace seeping into her as she sat and laid her people and her concerns before the Lord.

The lad sat beside her.

She didn't know if he was praying, too, or just waiting for her to finish. He seemed to sense something of her mood and the silence that lay unbroken in the sanctuary, and made no attempt to interrupt or hurry her, or even question her. Gail supposed he was likely to do so on the return journey.

On the seat beside them was a hymnbook, open to the beginning of "Rock of Ages." He seemed to be reading that. To Gail's surprise, when she looked back at him after her prayer time, she found that he had turned the page, and turned it back again, holding it gently as if prepared to scour both sides of it.

It was, as far as she could remember, the first time he had directly interacted with the physical world in a way that moved it.

He noticed her watching, and put the page back. "Is it time?" His voice was hushed, little more than a whisper.

She nodded, and picked up her basket of flowers.

Previous

Next

[chaotic-theatrical-weaver]

On living life to the fullest:

“Chasing the Sun,” Sara Bareilles / “Heavydirtysoul,” twenty one pilots / Ecclesiastes 5:18 / “Man with ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ Tattoo Suddenly Realizes God Can Judge Him,” The Babylon Bee / Martin Luther’s morning prayer / “The World Was Wide Enough,” Hamilton / Hobby Lobby sign reading “Always remember to fall asleep with a dream and wake up with a purpose” / “The Mad Ones,” Krystina Alabado and Emma Hunton / “Your Life in Weeks,” Tim Urban

[shegoestoeleven]

it’s always sara bareilles for me -

there’s something about the combo of “Send Me the Moon” (the set up) into “Chasing the Sun” (the gut punch) that gets me every. damn. time.

and “She Used to Be Mine” is so magical, i will also cry during the french version

(if you haven’t yet heard”Cachée au fond de moi,” you absolutely should. you can thank me later.)

If yes, tell me what it is in the tags!

[andiinaraethtash]

Okay, I might--and don't freak out--I might be going to publish a one-shot from a fandom I've never published before for on AO3 (and here, obviously) sometime later today. I just need to finish the second part, but I've hammered out the first in like. Thirty minutes.

[whispers-soundtrack-project]

Rise Of The TMNT: The Movie

Complete Fanmix

Link to the Spotify Playlist is at the bottom of the post

Our Time (Hidden Citizens, ft. Aloe Blacc)

Ready for War (Liv Ash)

Invincible (All Good Things)

The Future Is Now (STARSET)

Kill Or Be Killed (Twisted Sister)

Champion (Fall Out Boy)

How Far We’ve Come (Matchbox Twenty)

No Escape (Sam Tinnesz)

Rise (League of Legends, The Glitch Mob, Mako, & The World Alive)

Traveller in Time (Uriah Heep)

By My Side (3 Doors Down)

United (Hidden Citizens, ft. Ranya)

Wolves (acoustic) (Aviators)

Point of No Return (UNSECRET)

The Way It Ends (Landon Pigg)

Live To Rise (Soundgarden)

It Has Begun (STARSET)

A Storm Is Comin (Liv Ash)

This Is War (Thirty Seconds to Mars)

Rise Up (TheFatRat)

Louder Than Words (Les Friction)

Nuclear (Mike Oldfield)

Heroes Fall (Hidden Citizens, ft. ESSA)

Aftermath (Muse)

Chasing The Sun (Sara Bareilles)

Fight For Survival (Klergy)

Legendary (Welshly Arms)

Is This The End (Hidden Citizens, ft. Young Summer & Sam Tinnesz)

Silhouette (Aquilo)

Goodbye (Ramsey)

Never Surrender (Liv Ash)

Down With The Fallen (STARSET)

Nothing Else Matters (Metallica)

End Transmission (Fire From The Gods)

Run Boy Run (Woodkid)

Claim Your Weapons (Christian Reindl & Atrel)

Knights Of Cydonia (Muse)

Don’t Look Down (Hidden Citizens)

War (Poets Of The Fall)

This Is A Call (Les Friction)

[whispering-about-the-tmnt]

Alas! Although I said I was going to get back to working on Something Wicked and Second Time Around, I have been bitten by another plot bunny...

It's a one-shot little fella that leaped into my mind when I thought maybe I might write something from this prompt list, and so on a whim hit a random number generator and ended up with this:

Which corresponds with this: 🪦 - We'll just take a quick shortcut through the graveyard

And I started thinking about the Calvary Cemetery in Queens... which made me think of the song "Chasing The Sun" by Sara Bareilles... which made me think of the ROTTMNT movie...

And not only have I never written anything for Rise, I haven't watched any of it beyond the movie... although I have absorbed a lot through Tumblr diving.

So, what I am trying to say is I am not sure if I could do the plot bunny justice.

Should I try, anyway?

[jelly-tyson]

Rules: Shuffle your 'on repeat' playlist and post the 10 first tracks, then tag friends to do the same.

thank youuu @commander0fmyheart for the tag!!

Vienna - Billy Joel

Power of Two - Indigo Girls

Chasing the Sun - Sara Bareilles

Rome - Dermot Kennedy

Galileo - Indigo Girls

Red Wine Supernova - Chappell Roan

Is What It Is - Judah & The Lion

Closer to Fine - Indigo Girls

Hold My Heart - Sara Bareilles

Tattoos Together - Lauv

tagging: @beesarthur @kitxvoss @janeleeves @bruce-greenwood and whomever else wants to play :)

[daynascullys]

hi!! it's ur pscentral secret santa again. i was perusing your blog and your about page and i just wanted to say i am also a rory/logan truther, he was totally her best boyfriend. as i said before, i love timeless too, and agree fully with your ship choices. i wanted to know if u liked luke/lorelai or rory/logan better. also! what are some of your favorite songs/singers? (by the way i did see wicked and i liked it a lot! def more than i thought i would.)

hi friend!! this made me smile so much ahhh

I'm team logan forever (and we have the queen kelly bishop on our side here, which is just so correct) and I'll die on that hill — I think people have valid reasons to dislike him, but to me, he's the only boyfriend that grew with Rory, and that's why he's my favorite. Also because he IS charming!! lol I just really enjoy him. and the timeless ships too?? sounds like you just have great taste ;)

I'm not actually sure which ship I like better! my gut instinct is luke/lorelai but I think that's because I've always been a lorelai girl and now that you've asked, I'm actually wondering if the answer is rory/logan 👀 I'd have to think on it more! if you're asking for the sake of an edit, though, I'd say that there's truly no wrong answer, both would make me happy - i naturally lean toward luke/lorelai but get so excited about rory/logan edits because they're less popular, you know?

let me know if you're looking for a certain type of song (e.g., ones that are more shippy). but here are some favorite artists/selections from them:

Taylor Swift: there are too many to name but my all-time favorite will always be All Too Well. Favorite albums are folklore and red. just A FEW SONGS would be All Too Well, Clean, Cornelia Street, august, happiness, I Almost Do, Enchanted, Last Kiss (nobody @ me there are way more I love I promise)

Sara Bareilles: Satellite Call, Orpheus, Someone Who Loves Me, Let the Rain, I Choose You, Chasing the Sun

literally the entire Waitress OBCR

Idina Menzel: You Learn to Live Without, River (cover), I Know the Truth (on Youtube - from Aida), Show Me, Show Yourself, Brave, Follow if You Lead, Here, No Day But Today (specifically the one from Barefoot at the Symphony), Both Sides Now (cover), Asleep on the Wind

Maisie Peters: There It Goes, Wendy, History of Man, Glowing Review, Lost the Breakup,

Rosi Golan: Flicker, Come Around, Give Up the Ghost, Everything is Brilliant

A Fine Frenzy/Alison Sudol: Ashes & Wine, Last of Days, Elements, It's Lonely Love, Now is the Start, You Picked Me, Think of You, Rangers

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Brave • Chasing The Sun • Hercules • Manhattan • Satellite Call • Little Black Dress • Cassiopeia • 1000 Times • I Choose You • Eden • Islands • December

Spotify ♪ YouTube

[haledamage]

15, 23, 25 for the DBDA ask game! (I have not seen the show but you've sure got me considering it 😛)

if you do decide to watch it (which I hope you do!) please feel free to come yell at me in dms about it 🥰

15. Favourite line in the show?

answered here, but since you asked I'll pick another one 😁 and since that one was a more serious line, I'll go with something silly

I quote "We have the same left!" all the time now and not enough people get the reference

23. Song that reminds you of the show.

"Chasing the Sun" by Sara Bareilles. especially the line "all we can do is try / and live like we're still alive" makes me a little bit feral and George and Jayden both put "Lost Boy" by Ruth B on their playlists for Edwin and Charles respectively, so now I have a pretty heavy association with it and Dead Boys. "Neverland is home to lost boys like me / and lost boys like me are free"

25. Why do you recommend the show?

it is so genuine. like, you can really tell that everyone involved cared about the story they were telling, from the actors and writers to costuming, set design, all of it. I compare it to Lord of the Rings in that way; you can feel the love that went into it. it strikes a good balance between silly and sweet and serious, and is both heart-breaking and heart-warming. sometimes simultaneously it's also unapologetically and joyfully queer, which I know may not matter to everyone but it matters to me, dammit. it's nice to watch a show with queer characters that isn't a tragedy for a change I recommend to anyone that's on the fence about if they want to watch it or not to just watch the first 10-15 minutes of the first episode. I bet you'll be hooked by then

[justaboymadeofhoneyandglass]

Can I paint with you while we list to some music?

yess always!!

for the paras, I feel like you would get along very well with Nya and Jonathan, I think they sum up (at least part of) your personality very well!

and for the song, I'd say these fit you very well!

enjoyy<333

[thebirdandhersong]

Sara Bareilles Chasing the Sun and Lockwood and Co

[portokali]

playlist: i’m going to experience life and joy if it kills me

anon im kkssing you full on the mouth

songs that help me feel hope and joy and vitality:

ease up kid - hippo campus say a little prayer - aretha franklin get better - frank turner chasing the sun - sara bareilles i wanna get better - bleachers harmony hall - vampire weekend o-o-h child - nina simone και του χρόνου - φοίβος δεληβοριάς square - mitski watch me while i bloom - hayley williams

[andiinaraethtash]

Rating:

General Audiences

Archive Warning:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category:

Gen

Fandoms:

Batman - All Media Types

Batman: Death in the Family (Movie 2020)

Relationships:

Dick Grayson & Jason Todd

Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne (mentioned)

Characters:

Dick Grayson

Jason Todd

Bruce Wayne (Mentioned)

Alfred Pennyworth (mentioned) - Character

Additional Tags:

Fluff

Angst

Fluff and Angst

in that order

Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating

Dick Grayson is Nightwing

Jason Todd is Robin

look I heard a song and it gave me feelings so now I'm giving you all feelings

Song: Chasing the Sun (Sara Bareilles)

Language: English

Summary:

"You said, remember that life is Not meant to be wasted We can always be chasing the sun!" --Chasing the Sun, by Sara Bareilles Dick Grayson contemplates graveyards, cities, and the weight of living in a world above others

Notes:

For @itsybitsybatsyspider

So I've never published in this fandom before. So this is fun. Also I don't know if I've done an independent one-shot before. So that is also fun. Enjoy! PS also hi Itsy! This one's for you!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

“My earth is somebody’s ceiling,” the song rang out, and Nightwing laughs as the Batmobile roars so loud it almost drowns out the music, which is already turned up obscenely loud. Next to him in the passenger seat, Robin shrieks, and Nightwing has to glance over to make sure he’s alright, because with Jay, it could go either way, but he’s grinning right now, so he’s probably enjoying himself.

That’s good. Dick doesn’t hang out with just him nearly enough, and when they do get to, he wants it to be a good time. After all, the rest of the time it’s the two of them and Bruce, which is never a good time. Quite the opposite, in fact. Just the thought of the man makes Dick’s blood boil, so of course he quickly forces those thoughts out of his mind, choosing to start belting along with Sara Bareilles.

“More than that, it’s to dare us to move!” he sings, purposely hitting the notes just ever-so-slightly off-key, making Jason swat him and shriek at him.

“Dickhead, you’re ruining it!”

“You said, that life is, not meant to be wasted!” He sings teasingly looking over at Jason, who rolls his eyes.

“My hearing’s being wasted, that’s what’s happening.” He’s nearly shouting to be heard over the music, but he’s not scowling.

Dick laughs long and loud as the chorus blares loudly for the last time, then as the music dies, he pauses it and pulls over, pulling out the McDonald’s bag as he pops the doors. “C’mon, Robin, let’s get some altitude!”

Robin rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t manage to hide the smile. In a matter of seconds, they’re on the roof of the high-rise apartment building, where Nightwing plops down on the edge of the roof and offers Robin his share of the fries they’d gotten before their little joyride.

As Robin joins him, kicking his feet in the empty air between the buildings, Dick sighs and relaxes, letting himself droop somewhat as he looks out over the city. They’d left early to beat Batman to the Batmobile, and with it being the middle of summer, sunset was absurdly late, a series of circumstances that left the skyscrapers’ silhouettes standing in sharp relief against the greying evening sky.

“Dude, this is freakin’ awesome!” Robin exclaims around a mouthful of fries, making Nightwing look over at him in amusement.

“‘Freakin?’ What happened to the kid who drops f-bombs every few words?”

Robin rolls his eyes. “I got made ta put five bucks in a actual swear jar, that’s what happened. Which is a stupid-ass rule, but whatever.”

He doesn’t say it, but there’s an unsaid, ‘it’s worth the food and shelter to go along with it,’ and Nightwing lets a small sympathetic smile play across his lips.

“Yeah. Can’t say I had one of those. Instead it was one dollar for every piece of furniture, art, or wall I damaged, and ten for the chandeliers.”

Robin smirks, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. “Wow, that’s what, a couple hundred thousand dollars?”

“Brat,” Nightwing says, swatting him upside the head.

“Am I wrong?”

Technically, no. It had only been a few hundred bucks, but… “Maybe not entirely,” he admits, and Robin laughs, the sound echoing across the city-scape. There was something about the way it bounced around that could have been eerie, but instead it was… comforting. Light-hearted. Care-free, the way Robin should be.

On an impulse, Nightwing shoves the rest of his fries into his mouth, waits a beat for Robin to finish his off, then grabs the boy’s arm and tugs him to his feet. “C’mon, race you to the Clocktower?”

Robin’s eyes seem to light up, even hidden by his mask, and Nightwing takes that as the answer it is.

“Go!” They shout almost at the same time as they take off across the rooftops, grappling across the larger gaps but throwing themselves across the smaller ones.

Nightwing is trying so hard not to laugh, his lungs too busy with the effort of running to waste his breath, but he wants to, by God does he want to. It was exhilarating, leaping through the maze of buildings, each different and unique and yet somehow so recognizably Gotham that he knew he would know each building individually as a part of his home city. There were apartment buildings from the eighties, office buildings from the last few years, stores and hotels and restaurants, all making up a bustling city that thrived despite the chaos.

Beneath his feet, he can almost imagine the lives of the ordinary civilians, thrumming along to hte rhythm of his heartbeat. It’s a heavy realization, to realize that they’re dancing over what the rest of the world would consider their ceiling, to know how much bigger and crazier their worlds are. But that weight is worth it, for the freedom to fly across the city like they are.

Tumbling across a gravel roof, he spots Robin somewhere to his left, vaulting over an air vent, and for the split second their eyes meet and Dick recognizes the look on Jason’s face. It’s the look of wonder he had when he landed his first trick on the trapeze in Haly’s. It’s the pride he’d taken in being able to do what so few others could. It’s the joy in being able to go out there and make a difference in others’ lives, in landing a punch, in outsmarting one of the ‘intellectual’ Rogues.

Yeah, okay. This kid was definitely a Robin.

There’s been a part of him, since he’d stumbled home to Wayne Manor to find another boy in his family’s colors, that had denied that Jason could—or should—have any part in that legacy, but right now, he didn’t know why he’d ever doubted it.

In the end, it doesn’t matter who reaches the Clocktower first, because the moment they get there, Jason looks up at Nightwing, grinning, and Nightwing grins right back reaching out to ruffle Jason’s hair.

“You did good, Robin.”

Live like we’re still alive

____________

From the ground beneath my feet…

He’s not quite sure why he’s here, other than that Alfred suggested it. The cemetery is quiet, but not silent. He can hear the light traffic from the nearest road, and of course the birds singing their overly cheery summer tunes. Even from here, he can almost hear the heartbeat of the city across the river, Gotham still alive despite the loss he’s only recently discovered.

The landscape is… nice, Dick supposes. He’s seen worse graveyards. Definitely destroyed creepier ones in fights against Scarecrow and Ivy. There’s not much tree cover, leaving the area sunny and vaguely warm, cooled mostly by the summer breeze.

He’s trying so hard not to look at the grave markers, the plinths and tombstones and occasional mausoleum, instead keeping his gaze fixed firmly on the city in the distance. It’s almost uncanny, how much the far-off buildings look like the stones surrounding him. They’re larger, obviously, but that tower looks like that plinth, and that tombstone is almost identical to that apartment building he can just make out—

The resemblance isn’t entirely inaccurate or superficial, he thinks. That this cemetery is a small city, its occupants as ignorant of the world above them as the people of the city are of Dick’s world at above them.

He’s walking through the paths between the markers, absentmindedly noting how each one is different and unique and so identifiable he’d know them anywhere, different in age and shape but united by what they represent.

His footsteps are heavy, a weight hanging on his shoulders as he walks to the area Alfred had shown him all those years ago. He knows intellectually, of course, that Bruce had insisted on burying Jason with Bruce’s parents, and the generations of Waynes that came before them, but that doesn’t stop the snag of irritation that Jason’s nowhere near his mom, or the city he’d protected.

Stuck between the dead and the living…

He’d swear every footfall is landing further into the ground, the familiar weight of grief pushing him down until finally he has to bow his head under the weight. He’s no stranger to grief, of course. He’s lost friends, teammates… family—but never someone so young and innocent and good. It’s anathema, almost, that Robin, brave, resilient, magic Robin is gone, but as Dick comes up on the newest tombstone, he knows he has to accept it.

Idly, he wonders if Jason’s at peace, if he’s happy wherever he is, if he could ever forgive Dick for leaving him alone with Bruce, stubborn, paranoid, doubting Bruce, who Dick knew wasn’t going to let Jason spread his wings when he needed to and yet had left him there anyway. Damn him for his unshakeable belief that Batman was good and infallible. There’s no way of knowing how things might have happened if Dick had stayed or if he’d taken Jason with him, but he wants to think he could have saved him.

The crunch of the grass under his heels as he crouches in front of the white marble rings out with his heartbeat like a symphony across the graveyard, and he almost sighs at the sound, a sound that means life, except he knows that the sound couldn’t reach below him to where Jason is now resting.

“Come on, Dickhead, don’t tell me your old-man joints are giving out on you,” he could almost hear Jason’s mocking, and shakes his head to clear it away when he almost reaches out to tussle Jason’s hair, only to stop when his fingers hit cold marble instead of a warm person.

Glancing over at the nearest tombstone, one shared by Bruce’s parents, he notes distantly how different and yet similar the dates on there are to the ones on Jason’s gravestone. Jason was born roughly a decade later, yes, but their lives were all cut too short, the dates too close together.

A deep breath fills his lungs, but catches on the way out as he tries to find words that say something, anything, about the boy who should have been his brother, if he’d just gotten his head out of his ass and had paid attention to the boy and the way he’d looked up to Dick.

So instead of trying to say anything about Jason, he just tells him one simple phrase, hoping it tells him exactly what Dick had never said to him in life.

“You did good, Jason. You did good.”

—Always be chasing the sun—

Notes:

Look, I was having feelings, okay, so any tears produced are entirely not my fault. Comments feed the soul, so let me know what you guys think--but please no criticism. I'm in a good mood for once, I really don't want that ruined. If you see a grammatical error, lemme know, but no hate. Here or anywhere, preferably.

[filet-o-feelings]

Shuffle your ‘On Repeat’ playlist and list the first 10 songs that play, then tag 10 people

Thanks for the tags @saraminia @ramonaflow @a-noble-dragon @hippolotamus and @jesuisici33

Beside Myself - Lights

Jessie's Girl - Mary Lambert

Hang Out With You - Mary Lambert

Blackstone - Clerel

I'd Be Your Wife - Mary Lambert

There She Is - Frank Turner

Two Weeks In Hawaii - Hellogoodbye

Loud - Eva Westphal

Like Wine - Eva Westphal

Chasing the Sun - Sara Bareilles

Tagging @flowertrigger @swearphil @stereopticons @stargazer56 @characterassassination-at-9am @queenmabcreates @alienajackson @oldfarmwitch @lemonlyman-dotcom and anyone else that wants to play!