#Day 3: Symphony

[wishcamper]

Nessian Week Day 3 - Symphony

For the third day of @nessianweek, here's a sweet lil snip of post-canon domestic Nessian.

Photo is of Old Town in Dubrovnik, Croatia, which is how I always picture Velaris.

Read here or on ao3!

Five More Minutes

Post-ACOSF slice of life of Nesta enjoying the sounds of the morning (and avoiding getting up).

’T is you that are the music, not your song. The song is but a door which, opening wide, Lets forth the pent-up melody inside, Your spirit’s harmony, which clear and strong Sing but of you. 

- 'Listening', Amy Lowell

—-

Dawn breaks, cresting the mountains, light spilling over the world. Velaris comes alive in fits and starts, and the harbor bell clangs as sailors bring in their first catch of the day, gulls crying out their envy overhead. The world is waking around her, but Nesta keeps her eyes closed beneath the heavy coverlet. Her stubbornness refuses to entertain the day, not yet.

Cassian seems to agree, though he’ll never admit it. A groan rumbles somewhere behind her, incoherent mumblings of her mate rousing, emerging from the depths of sleep into the day. Nesta hears the slide of sheets, a rustle of wings, then a muffling as he drapes one over her, cocooned for a moment while he presses closer and noises of lazy contentment fill her ear.

He’s warm, always, a furnace in their bed. They both remember the cold too well to sleep any way but right up next to each other, especially on mornings like this, when the air inside carries the chill of late autumn.

“Morning, sweetheart,” he says, his deep voice thick and fuzzy.

She pretends to be asleep, partly because she wishes she still was, but mostly to draw this out as long as possible. To hear the sweet murmurings Cassian pours over her when he believes her most unguarded, when he tries to reach her dreams.

A broad hand strokes up her side, coming to rest across her stomach. Careful, so as not to wake her. “Fuck, you smell good. And you're so soft. I’m so lucky to wake up next to you.”

Words she’d roll her eyes at in the day, especially if someone else were to overhear, pretty declarations easy enough to toss like flower petals. But in seclusion they manage to travel the distance between his lips and her ear without losing their potency, and Nesta feels them sink in, loosening a muscle in her shoulder.

“Beautiful Nes. You’re so precious to me.”

Cassian holds her for a bit longer, and she listens to the steady tide of his breath so slow and even. It’s punctuated every now and then by his sighs of pleasure, evidence of the way she softens him too in this quiet, liminal place that’s only theirs. 

After a time he rises, the bed’s creaking followed by a thump of the House producing his training leathers. Water runs in the bathing chamber, a splash in the sink, then the scrape of a comb through unruly hair before the endless series of clasps and buckles. Nesta can picture in her mind where each one sits, the high ping of the clip at his shoulder, hard snaps at his sides where the back panel secures to accommodate his wings. Cassian hums under his breath as he dresses, some tune she can’t place, though it might’ve drifted from her symphonia sometime the evening before. The well-worn sofa groans when he sits to don his boots.

The sequence is the same most mornings, but memories still haunt Nesta in these moments of ease, phantoms skulking about in her periphery. It’s hard to forget how she used to wake all at once, like an arrow shot through the morning air, to the cacophony of her mother screeching at a house servant. Or else the horrible quiet that followed, the dense void of her absence.

She woke mustily in the summer in the hovel they called home, the drone of insects and the rank, still air, Elain’s trowel piercing the earth under the windowsill. In colder months there was nothing but the roar of the wind, whistles through the chinks, the grind of her own teeth from trying not to shiver.

All of it was better than waking in the dead of night to Feyre’s pleading, heavy thuds of the clubs and bone crunching, their father’s wretched silence. Then years later the door splintering, the growling of a great beast.

At the funeral for her old life she woke to the rip of curtains around her bed, shouts and taunts as they yanked her drowsy and disoriented from the sheets, from the manor, from her body. Then the fatal press of water in her ears, poison boiling, her own choked snarls of rage.

After that came a long series of mornings that were not actually mornings at all, afternoons when she rose sticky with sweat, a pounding headache like war drums rattling her skull. Days she prayed to stop hearing the snap of her father’s neck in the fire, the ghosts of the past wailing for retribution. Nights when solace lived only in the shuffle of cards, the glug of wine into a waiting glass. The moans of another faceless male.

Yet even in the darkness there was music. Ever since she was a girl, a tune plays at the edge of her dreams that she can’t quite catch, can never quite remember. Always the same, always soft and close, as if someone lays beside her, filling her with safety and peace.

Now the world is quiet, within and without. Nesta barely notices she’s drifted back into sleep, so she’s surprised when heavy footsteps approach her side of the bed. There’s a clink when the House places a cup and saucer on the bedside table, tea she knows will stay perfectly warm until she’s ready to rise herself. Her legs shift, whispering against the sheets as they search for the heated spot Cassian always leaves behind.

“You're so beautiful like this," he murmurs, brushing stray hairs from her forehead. "Go back to sleep, sweetheart.”

She hears the smile in his voice, the tenderness he saves just for her. The kisses he drops on her face are like the patter of spring rain, his rumbling laugh the answering thunder when she presses her cheek against his lips so she can really feel them.

Her fae ears pick up conversation in the hallway, Azriel and Gwyn either coming or going, though it’s impossible to tell which. Cassian’s leathers creak as he sits up but she feels him linger there, the rasp of a calloused hand stroking up and down her back. 

“I hope you have a good day. I love you.”

He traces the point of her ear, tugging lightly at the lobe before he stands and his footsteps retreat. Then the snick of the door, their friends greeting him on the landing, Emerie’s voice now joining the chorus.

She doesn’t ever want to stop listening to this, Nesta thinks, these sounds of home. Dawn chases away the phantoms and no one screeches or pleads or drowns in silence. All is in harmony, now the music of her life feels worth waking to hear.

In the moment before her eyes open, a tune floats by from the edge of her dreams, the same one Cassian was humming. It sounds as if someone is beside her in bed, soft, and close.

[kale-theteaqueen]

Symphonic Surprises

---

Cassian loves to spoil his wife, even if the opportunities were rare, and The Dawn Court's music conservatory seemed like the perfect place.

A simple drabble of sheer, unbridled fluff for @nessianweek 2024 Day 3: Symphony

---

Tag List: @c-e-d-dreamer @podemechamardek @talkfantasytome @moodymelanist @whyisaravenlike-awritingdesk @doriansgf @eerievixen @sweet-pea1 @thewayshedreamed @agents-assemble @jsmelodies @aelinchocolatelover @unlikelypersonalknight1 @slipknotvol3 @stylishmuser @lady-winter-sunrise @bri-loves-sunflowers @misswonderflower @acourtofladydeath @natasharomxnov @unhealthyfanobsession

[nessianweek]

✷ Day Three Round-Up: Symphony ✷

Fics:

When They Write of the Gods (What Will They Say About Us?) Chapter 1 by @unhealthyfanobsession

Five More Minutes by @wishcamper

Symphonic Surprises by @kale-theteaqueen

Safe & Sound by @sarawritestories

Nothing But Treble by @moodymelanist

Fanart:

Nessian fanart commissioned by @oristian & @eluciensversion, drawn by @flaviedub

Nessian fanart commissioned by @melphss & @/araujolujana89 drawn by @/pablochmn

Nessian fanart by @daughter-of-lethe

Nessian fanart commissioned by @c-e-d-dreamer, drawn by @/

Nessian fanart commissioned by @lovelygwyneth, drawn by @/zyulla_

Nessian mating ceremony fanart commissioned by @gwynrieldefenseatty, drawn by @/honeyypears

Nessian fanart commissioned by @podemechamardek, drawn by @/pablochmn

Nessian fanart commissioned by @oristian & @melphss, drawn by @/arda.arts

Other:

Nessian playlist by @climbthemountain2020

The Tortured Mates Department: A Nessian Playlist by @vanserrass

red + silver | a nessian playlist by @temperedink

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 3: Enveloping Feelings.

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 4)

[yellowvixen]

week 39: the sonic symphony experience

[sirbogarde]

Fumbled the bag last time (my autistic ass went for a handshake when the middle aged drummer in a local band I have a crush on went for a hug) but learned from my mistakes and went in for the hug this time 🙏👍

[wyverncult]

draculatober........

[angelparadox]

hi, i'm gonna focus on Kazimir today. like this if i can throw some memes at you. i'd like to get things going again, especially with new people or people i haven't interacted with yet. :]

[theamazingian]

at the very least, everyone will have plenty to talk about at the Sonic Symphony

[supercantaloupe]

saint saens 3 is so good i miss her

[shitty-check-please-aus]

one thing about me is that I WILL find a way to cry during every movie

[scattered-winter]

continuing my musicposting because have you ever thought abt how beethoven's 9th symphony was composed without him ever hearing a single note ?? he did the whole thing completely deaf. and especially the 4th movement ??? which is quite literally called "ode to joy" ?? and a celebration of humanity and joy that he never got to hear ??? waughghhhh

[hazzabeeforlou]

.

[all-of-the-good-ones-are-taken]

The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra | Schala's Theme (from Chrono Trigger) (2014)

[rabbitcruiser]

National Film Score Day

Melodies weaving emotions, enhancing cinematic narratives—immersing listeners in the unseen, a symphony that tells untold tales.

Recognize and show appreciation for the musical masterpieces that have accompanied some of the most amazing stories on film by celebrating National Film Score Day! 

History of National Film Score Day

Film scores are the music behind the film that doesn’t include any vocals. This musical accompaniment ushers the viewers into the story, usually before the dialogue even begins, setting the tone for the moment and then moving the story into the scenes that are to come. This is a special type of musical composition that requires a great deal of talent and incomparable skill.

Founded by Jeffrey D. Kern with the purpose of National Film Score Day is to highlight the talent and skill of the amazing composers who write scores for films. The date was set as a nod to the release of the film, The Jungle Book, on April 3, 1942. A year later the score, written by legendary composer Miklós Rózsa, became the first ever score from a non-musical film to be released as a commercially recorded soundtrack.

National Film Score Day brings to the forefront the composers of this incredible music, celebrating and honoring their notable contributions in people’s hearts and in the industry at large.

How to Celebrate National Film Score Day

Show some love and appreciation for those who create seamless transitions in films through the music they compose. Enjoy celebrating National Film Score Day with some of these ideas:

Watch a Film with an Incredible Score

One of the best ways to give heed to National Film Score Day is to begin by paying more attention to the musical compositions that accompany movies. While they contribute so much to moving the story along, they often go unnoticed. In honor of this day, however, it’s time to notice those film scores!

Consider watching one (or many) of these films from recent years with excellent scores in honor of this day:

The Social Network (2010) with composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. This film score was a first try for these band members of Nine Inch Nails and turned out to be a huge success, winning the 2011 Oscar for Best Original Score.

The Shape of Water (2017) by French Composer Alexandre Desplat. With a score that was intentionally created to create the sense of immersion and floating, this one won the 2018 Academy Award for the Best Original Score.

Titanic (1997) from composer James Horner. Reaching into the backgrounds of the story’s characters, this score brought a unique composition to the theme of this tragic story.

The Lord of the Rings (2002) by composer Howard Shore. Epic in just about all of the ways, this fantasy film is a feast for the eyes and the ears with its triple Oscar-winning score that features at least eighty different themes and motifs. [look at my pics]

Research Some Film Score Composers

Most film score composers spend a great deal of time behind the scenes. But National Film Score Day offers an ideal opportunity to bring them into the limelight. In celebration of this day, perhaps it would be fun to do a little research about a favorite film composer and then share the findings with friends or on social media.

Source

[angelparadox]

i'll actually do replies here tomorrow lmao. i've been slacking off a bit, but i'll get back into it tomorrow. expect all my drafts to be replied to then. i should sleep now tho it's almost 3am or else i'd do replies now. goodnight.