#I just really love Evensong

[rhapsodomancer]

Watching the Evensong livestream from Canterbury Cathedral just to feel something

[evilvillain123456789]

Bless me father, for I have sinned. I know you see me at mass every Sunday, as well as at evensong and bible studies and outreach ministries during the week. You might think that I'm a man of great faith, a virtuous, upstanding Catholic with an unflagging love for the mother church, but, well, that isn't true. I'm not even trying to convince anyone of that, either, it's just kind of something they all assumed about me. The real reason I'm in here so often is because of the water cooler in the social room. It's culturing some kind of greenish-black mold that gives me, like, an insane buzz. It started to get to the point where I'd be really pissy and irritable on Saturday night because I was in, like, withdrawal, and I just wanted to go hit the mold and feel alive again. So yeah, not really sure if that's a mortal or a venal sin, but thought I'd bring it up to be safe. By the way if you clean out the water cooler I'm probably going to immediately apostasize and dedicate myself to combining PCP analogues with Russian benzodiazepines to try to recreate whatever it is that Basilica mold is doing to my brain.

[glassrowboat]

Worthy of Vespers. Argenti.

Summary: Just a drabble about an hc I have for Argenti where he's really insecure about the eczema on his hands

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder is such a common phrase, to the point you've come to roll your eyes at it every time it so much as graces your ears. For you have heard it too often. When you're poking at acne you know not to squeeze out of your skin but your mind keeps telling you to go on and do it because at least then you could convince yourself you look pretty, when you're struggling to try on a dress, when-

There's too many examples to count.

For it's too common a phrase.

One shoved at you like hearing it will do your whirling mind any good besides adding guilt on top of your self hatred and pus covered fingers as you finally give in and squeeze the white head that had been haunting you all day with a dull ache on your forehead; blood replacing the disgusting dot.

If only you could understand what Argenti of all people saw in you.

Then again, that's the same man who looks down at his hands and hides the red, irritated blotches away with a pair of leather gloves. Covering the digits you have kissed again and again with lips reserved only for his ethereal grace as Argenti’s lips tighten, forcing themselves up into a smile. All for your sake.

So maybe your eye was tainted, unable to see something in the person staring back at you, but was he not the same? Picking at patches of skin in distaste.

“You can adulate a potted plant, but your own visage is too much of a task for you?” You whispered as he tried to pull away. To yank his hands from you as your touch fell on the flakes of dead skin, he had been trying to scrub, scrub, and scrub off.

“Ah yes, the blooming colors that glowed a sprightly green akin to the nymphs in tales of folklore. Only a painter could possibly bring such a thing to life, but it still laid before our eyes gracing us with its presence.”

“That's great, honey.”

“And you-” Argenti cut himself off as your fingers ran over the roses on his skin, blooming for all the world to see.

“Yes, and you. Can you say something like that about yourself?” You asked.

You knew he couldn't. You've asked before and Argenti had only confessed he missed his pure white hair, how it would curl under his fingers as he braided it back and out of the way before training the day away, but that was gone now, washed away like blood after a rainstorm.

And you also knew he couldn't even try. Not when his eyes were flicking back to the eczema spots that had his throat bobbing every time you brought attention to them.

“Oh my stupid Knight of Beauty, you may not see it, but to me, you are worthy of vespers and evensong.” With a wink you added: “And to be worshiped by someone on their knees before you.”

“Hardly.” Argenti whispered back.

“Verily.” You corrected him with another kiss.

“You are stubborn as ever.” Argenti pulled away from you, going to pick up the washcloth he had been using to try and scour his skin like it was a counter in need of a cleaning. It hung from his hold, dripping water as he squeezed it over the basin it had been soaking in. “Just…a little longer.”

A splash of water rang before you answered him. “Is that really what you want?”

“It is. Please, I'll be with you in a moment, my love. I promise.”

With a sigh, you nodded, stood up front the floor, and gave Argenti one last look as you caught sight of him hunched over in the mirror. All as he scrubbed and scrubbed, for as they say: beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[duckprintspress]

Meet Aether Beyond the Binary Contributor ilgaksu

Wondering what Aether Beyond the Binary is and why you should care? It’s Duck Prints Press’s latest anthology, currently crowdfunding: 17 stories, modern aetherpunk settings, outside-the-binary main characters! Help us reach our funding goals by checking out the campaign now!

About ilgaksu: Full-time fandom cryptid, Furby enthusiast, and the human embodiment of that one gif of Elmo on fire, ilgaksu was born and raised in an  undisclosed location, living in several others, and now currently residing in [REDACTED]. Their interests include collecting haunted toys, using their artistic practice as an excuse to forget to do their laundry, and playing with fictional men like Bratz dolls. They have not unclenched their jaw yet today, but they do remember to drink lots of water. 

Link: personal webpage

This is ilgaksu’s first publication with Duck Prints Press.

An Interview with ilgaksu

What is your “dream project” – the thing you’d see as the culmination of your work as a creator?

I have a list of dream projects – a big queer space opera trilogy, a series of detective serials, I want to pastiche all of the genres I adored growing up – but I think I’m never going to find the culmination of my work. I’m going to have to make do with whatever I do while I’m alive, and other people can argue about that for me or something. The work is the work. It has to speak for itself without me defending it.

When you look at your “career” as a creator, what  achievement would you most like to reach – what, if it happened or has  already happened, would/did make you go “now – now I’m a success!”?

Does any writer actually get to the point where they fully believe they’re a success, and the feeling lasts forever? This is a genuine question. Where are they hiding? I want their advice.

What are your favorite snacks and/or drinks to consume while creating?

I have to have at least three emotional support beverages, and one of those will always be a form of iced coffee, then usually bubble tea, and then usually water. These are because I clearly run on three separate hydration systems. Snack-wise, I don’t tend to eat while I’m actually making things, but I like churros and loaded fries and ramen and salmon on bagels and, listen, I just really love food.

Describe your ideal creation space.

I like writing somewhere near a window, ideally when it’s raining outside, with three emotional support beverages and my favourite headphones and the very specific song that works as white noise in that moment on repeat. Possibly for the next five hours.

Do you like having background noise when you create? What do you listen to? Does it vary depending on the project, and if so, how?

I have to have background noise or I can’t focus to write, and it’s usually music with lyrics. I tend to have a mix of current songs I’m fixated on in a huge Everything playlist, and then I often have a smaller playlist for the project itself. Like I said before, I can also easily listen to the same song on repeat for as long as it takes to finish the necessary section, even if it that takes hours, because after a while I stop hearing the music itself – it functions as white noise.

Share five of your favorite books. (You can include why, if you want!)

Wolf Hall Trilogy (Hilary Mantel, technically 3 but)

The Dream Thieves (Maggie Stiefvater) 

Evensong’s Heir (L. S. Baird)  

Daughter of Fortune (Isabel Allende)  

The Magpie Lord (KJ Charles)

Share five of your favorite (blanks). 

Five favourite current bubble tea flavours: Earl Grey, Snow White, Rose, Lavender, Honeydew

If you could give one piece of advice to a new creator who came to you for help, what would that advice be?

You don’t want to write like me. 

That probably sounds incredibly arrogant, but let me explain: the most common thing I’ve had said to me by a new creator, or a fan of my work, is “I want to write like you.” And I get where people are coming from, and I get it’s from a place of admiration – which is very very flattering, of course – because early on in my writing career that used to be a desire that consumed me to. But my point is this. I realised that it was futile to want something like that, because I would never be that creator, with their experiences in life and reading that had informed how they view the world and filter it into their own work. Even if I tried to mimic it, and maybe if I managed it on a superficial level, it wouldn’t be animated by the same mind moving through it, and so I’d be doing us both a disservice. So, I no longer want to write like other people. I want to write more and more like myself. And because of that, I try and advise people to redirect how they’re verbalising that desire. What is it about my work, or anyone’s work, that speaks to you? What parts of it don’t work for you? What is it you want that’s similar – the assurance of their authorial voice, their breadth of lexis or grammar, the themes they focus, how they make you feel as a reader in that relationship with them through the text? Identify those things. Start from there, and think about who you are and take these little ingredients from everyone you’ve read and loved, and everything you love in the world outside writing. Do that instead. Not only will it help you identify more concretely the goals you’re working towards in your craft, but you deserve a voice as a writer that’s solely your own.

What would you say to a demoralized creator to inspire them?

The same thing I said earlier but reappropriated: nobody can write like you.

ilgaksu’s Contribution to Aether Beyond the Binary

Title: chameleon trick

Tags: be gay do crimes, be gay solve crimes, established relationship, heist, manchester, non-binary, past tense, present tense, suicidal ideation (mentions of), united kingdom, third person limited pov, trans man

Excerpt:

Sasha turns on him; gleeful, sparking with it. It’s less a dropping of a mask and more of a perfect, total illumination as they ask, “How did I do?”

You would think they were an amateur at this, looking at their borderline puppyish excitement. They even tilt their face up, less in expectation of a kiss and more in certainty of one. But they are both working. Martha has read the codes of conduct at this factory: no fraternisation during work hours. And so:

“I don’t have time for your praise kink right now,” Martha says, and sidesteps them.

End-of-post reminder: check out our campaign on Kickstarter! It ends January 25th – we’re about half-way done.

[bwv572]

I play organ and plan the liturgy for each Friday evensong service here, and it always strikes me how miraculously everything appears to come together without any actual planning on my part.

To the unfamiliar, evensong begins with psalms, one reading from the old testament, followed by the canticle magnificat (the song Mary sang at the annunciation), one reading from the new testament, followed by the canticle nunc dimittis (the song Simeon sang at the presentation in the temple).

And all I do is just follow the daily lectionary, but it's amazing how all the readings fit both with each other, with the psalm, and with the canticles that follow them. The structure is so perfectly planned, or rather, preordained. That's why the Bible has always struck me as a perfect text, because of just how well each individual book and verse fits with the other surrounding books and verses.

And then to fit the themes even more, I add two hymns, one for the hour (a vesper or compline hymn) and one that ties together both readings thematically.

And when you pray the office like that, paying attention to the patterns and themes, there's this very peaceful sense that washes over you, it's like an immediate answer to a prayer, as the office itself is one long prayer.

And due to resources and lack of demand, we only do it once a week, but, really, it's supposed to be done everyday, and there are special collects for each day - but it also scales further, it's really supposed to be done seven times a day, with collects for each of the seven hours. If I didn't plan on getting married, I would love to live a monastic life, praying the office everyday seven times a day, and witnessing the patterns of the office play out hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month, season by season, year by year. That's the ultimate beauty of the liturgy.

[try-and-try-and-try-again]

26.06.24

I was on the phone to a lady from Samaritans. I’ve had a horrible evening of overwhelming thoughts and feelings of doom and wanting to unalive myself. I don’t have any means of unaliving myself in this house because the staff keep all medication and objects I could possibly use to try and end things locked away so instead I felt trapped and started unhingedly sobbing down the phone to my parents (I don’t feel like I can talk to the staff here, they talk to me like I’m an idiot and recently when I’ve broken down after trying to hold things together for too long I’ve discovered they get angry with me and shout and it’s horrible). My parents convinced me to phone Samaritans. Consequently I’m trying to think of hopeful things that are coming up and that I will miss if I cease to be.

In mid July I have an ecology field course I got a scholarship for. I was meant to go last year but was in treatment. I’m grateful they held my place.

Although nothing’s been actually organised yet (I’m waiting on a meeting to be scheduled) one of my university lecturers has asked me if I’ll volunteer at the zoology museum by producing scientific illustrations. I’ve been feeling really hopeless and scared about whether I’ll ever be in a position to study again after two attempts at uni that ended in breakdowns and hospital (or was it just life in general because I’ve had breakdowns and relapses and ended up in inpatient/day patient care every year for the past 8 years regardless of whether or not I’ve been studying?) and being scared that all the psychotropic drugs, trauma and self harm has permanently eroded my brain. The Samaritans lady said even if I don’t end up able to do a degree maybe this will be a step forward as museum work is what I think I want to do with my life anyway.

I will see the cats on Saturday (and hopefully cuddle them)!

I plan to sing Choral Evensong again on Sunday (I don’t actually know what my religious views are, I guess I’m agnostic but for some reason I love Evensong and I’ve been a chorister since I was 7. I’m glad to have gone back to choir recently).

Today I ordered a Jellycat I’ve been eyeing up for approximately two months and I’m looking forward to that arriving. I worry it’s potentially childish and materialistic but oh well, I’m still looking forward to it.

The pain clinic referral from the hospital didn’t go through. This isn’t good and hit me hard when I found out but in case I can’t get anywhere on the NHS a private clinic have said they’ll see me (I’m grateful for my parents saying they’ll help with the cost). Perhaps there is a tiny bit of hope for the chronic pain side of things after all.

I literally just found out that having done the screening test I will be referred for an ADHD assessment.

I’ve just started being monitored as part of a study into sleep in autistic people. I have to wear a monitor, document day-to-day things and will get a report of my sleep quality at the end which I am curious about. (I don’t want to get a smart watch to do this because I don’t think having the option to measure certain other things like steps and calories will be good for my ED/obsessive brain). I will try and hold on to see what the outcome of that is. And contributing to research is always a good thing so I should try and complete the period of study.

[bronanlynch]

extremely funny to me that most of this is like. yeah I'm still into the same stuff as I was last week. except I watched an entire anime don't worry about it

listening (podcasts): my usual slate of podcasts this week. still enjoying the Great Gundam Project episodes on Wing, love to hear them talk about the ways in which the ending becomes thematically incoherent because I too was uhhhh not sure how to feel about the ending of Wing

the AMCA bonus episode on their Starcruiser experience was also excellent. I'm glad they're glad they went but I think it sounds kind of miserable and like I would have hated it if hypothetically I had gone to D*sney while it was open

as usual shout out to Palisade. I'm so excited for the new Kesh princess and also I love every time we see my beloved double agent poster child Elle Evensong

also, there was a new Media Club Plus this week, and I love to hear Keith (generally disinterested in fictional romance) discover that Kurapika & Leorio are in love

listening (music): still on my Three Days Grace kick. shout out to Animal I Have Become. AMV song of all time. no AMVs to rec here because once again the lack of a Fire Emblem 3 Houses anime means there's no Dimitri AMV to that song

reading: my only reading this week was my two before-bed books, Rule of Wolves and Water Outlaws. Rule of Wolves continues to be fine I guess. today I want to complain about how this is yet another example of a fantasy world that draws from real history & has societal/governmental systems based on patrilineal inheritance and the importance of passing on your position & wealth to your biological offspring that acts like homophobia magically does not exist. there's inexplicably one (1) married lesbian couple. like. as if the author forgot to incorporate queer people into the worldbuilding and then just slapped some lesbian side characters in there without thinking about what it would be like for them in that world. got some Skyrim "you the player character can get gay married but literally no one else can" energy going on

Water Outlaws, on the other hand, continues to fucking rule. there's a politician who fucking sucks, and a lady scientist being coerced into doing unethical science-magic, and also so many women who do crime & fight with so many different cool weapons

watching: forgot to talk about the Ahsoka show last week. this is because it continues to not be a very well-made television show. at time of writing, I haven't seen the finale yet

rewatched a couple more episodes of Hunter x Hunter to keep up with Media Club Plus. really solidifying my Kurapika bias this time around <3

and now for the main thing I watched this week, the entirety of Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 (for full disclosure I had previously watched the first 11ish episodes last summer before getting distracted by LoGH, and then restarted it last week to watch from the beginning with my roommate). truly it is a fucking delight to watch something that's had so much influence on so many other stories that I'm into and find out that it's also really enjoyable on its own merits as well as being extremely cool to find out where so many genre staples come from. I love the weird synth beeps in the soundtrack, I love when the animation gets super stylized and you can see the pencil shading, I love the gorgeous painted backgrounds. I was already starting to become a Cares About Mobile Suit Designs guy after GWitch/getting into gunpla but now I fully am that kind of guy because there are some incredibly fun designs in there (shout out to the Mad Angler, the coolest fucked up whale submarine I've seen in my life). I love the White Base crew and I love all the bits about how they're being exploited by the military even though they're traumatized teenagers being forced into perpetuating the horrors of war. I love when characters in Gundam just straight-up say the themes of Gundam.

ok now that I'm done gushing. I do have mixed feelings about the last ten or so episodes. (I know the pacing gets a bit wonky because the show got cancelled, that's not what I'm talking about) the thing is, is that I really want to like the Newtype stuff. I think it fucking rules that Amuro is neurodivergent in a way that's seen as useful/profitable and therefore the military is exploiting him even harder (it sucks for Amuro obviously but like, it rules for me, the guy who likes to explore that sort of theme). however. I don't think it's necessarily a great look to have some people start to develop special abilities that make them far more powerful than ordinary humans & refer to them as more advanced/the next step for humanity in the same story where the antagonists are fascists who repeatedly invoke Nietzschean ubermensch rhetoric like. it's kind of the flipside of how oppression allegories are so often deeply flawed because they give the prejudice a basis in the objective truths of the world (legitimizing the justification for the oppression by making the oppressed group dangerous in some way, i.e. the fire powers in Promare). here it's kind of a reverse of that, in that the Newtypes are framed as superhuman rather than subhuman, but that lines up with the fascist rhetoric and makes it based in the factual reality of the worldbuilding in a way that I personally am not super comfortable with. anyway.

like I am gonna watch more UC so I'm curious to see where any of this goes and I'm sure my analysis will develop as I see more but. my initial reaction is. hmm don't love that

playing: continuing to play Ace Attorney 5. 5-4 is still fun so far! however I am a little disappointed that I only got to play as Apollo for such a short time. that's my boy and I miss him already :(

making: no pictures this week but we made chicken florentine from this recipe (with added mushrooms). sorry for being basic but butter/garlic/herbs/white wine is a good flavor combo that makes your kitchen smell very good

drinking: for once something slightly less blatantly seasonal, Pumphouse's Crafty Radler (blood orange & peach flavor). which fucks. often I find peach-flavored drinks don't have enough peach because peach is kind of a more delicate flavor. this nailed it, the peach and the blood orange both come through really nicely

in non-alcoholic drinks, shout out to mulled cider and also mulling spices in general. godtier spice combination

writing: most of my writing was for a zine fic so I can't talk about it yet. also I've been editing t4t yurivain but uhhhh less than I meant to because I can't edit and watch anime at the same time

[hardly-an-escape]

@fractalspaces tagged me to share five songs I’ve had on repeat lately! I… actually haven’t been listening to a ton of music lately. I tend to get in a rut and play the same handful of albums over and over again. but here are some recent things!

1 - Rival Sons - “Nobody Wants to Die” these guys are one of my all-time favorite bands and they have a new album coming out next year and I'm really excited. their last album Feral Roots is honestly close to a perfect rock album. tbh this single hasn't blown me away but I'm still super stoked for new music from them.

2 - Miles Davis - all of Kind of Blue, but especially “Blue in Green” this one is for fic writing purposes, thinking about all the music Dream missed while imprisoned, and what Hob would play for him to catch him up. (I definitely got this from @wordsinhaled btw, read this post and have emotions with me.)

3 - R.E.M. - “Electron Blue” look... Around the Sun is not their best album. but it's not bad — they never made a bad one. I have a soft spot for this album because they were touring in support of it the one and only time I got to see them live (in Hamburg in 2005).

4 - Franz Ferdinand - “Katherine Kiss Me” one of my favorite things is when rock bands include one soft/gentle track on a record. this is such an odd little song and I just love it for some reason.

5 - Joanna Forbes L’Estrange - “Magnificat” and “Nunc dimittis” I'm in a choir that sang these this fall for several choral Evensong services. I didn't love them at first, but they really grew on me; by the time we switched to a new setting I was humming them all the time. they were also used for fic writing purposes (this letter).

I will tag @wordsinhaled @caberneigh @bow-ties-and-daydreams @aurelia-which-means-sunrise and @calika (and anyone else who wants to do it, consider yourself tagged as well!)

[authoralexharvey]

Alex what currently used OCs is your oldest created?

Hhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I'm giving you two answers because time is soup and I legitimately am not sure which one came first.

Elrai in'Elada's origin is one day I was scribbling and thought some looked like signatures and one happened to look like it said Elrai Inelada. She originally was a woman with braided green hair and a sort of.... kind healer personality and I would play as her on Aion for a long time before I realized the cleric class on Aion is shit (it is very very hard to solo a cleric in that game--but Chanters are just fine which is what Tsurande/Lili ended up being!). Anyway speed up a few years and she turned into a girl who was taken from her island and kept by the kingdom that took over her island so she works her way up the ranks and ends up killing the king. We all deserve to kill every now and then. But the character she turned into is very different from her origins.

But I also have another contender for "oldest relevant OC"... Fuckin Tantirell. Tantirell Evensong. I wrote a story a very long time ago inspired by Aion and its two races and the premise was this girl was raised thinking she was one and was actually the other. There was something about a princess and needing to collect some magic orbs, too. Anyway, enter Tantirell. She's a thief who's an assassin or thief and I can't remember if she turned good or fooled everyone to thinking she was... Anyway unlike Elrai, she's stayed quite consistent up to present day. And she was also someone I played as in Aion (as an Assassin, even). Even in TOOD, where I made her more "noble" she still has... basically the same personality. Speaking of TOOD, she became a renowned strategist and werewolf trying to hide the fact she's a werewolf. Also she was exiled from her last city state by the tyrant that took charge. I really love her a lot tbh. Wanna write a short story about her.

Thanks for the ask, Renu!!

[teabooksandsweets]

A City of Bells

Chapter VII — Part I

In November Torminster Cathedral commemorated its patron saint and benefactors. The Cathedral was great at festivals, each Christmas and Easter and Whitsun marching by in the procession of the days in flower-decked pomp, but in after years it seemed to Henrietta and Hugh Anthony that this particular festival surpassed all the others. It of course lacked the secular excitement of Christmas and Easter, for no one hung up stockings on it or ate pink boiled eggs for breakfast on it, but it had a peaceful and rather wistful beauty that was unforgettable.

It had been led up to by a season of remembrance. In September they had commemorated St. Michael and all the angels. In the Cathedral a great brass pot of Michelmas daisies had been placed under the window in the Lady Chapel that showed the good angels, looking very strong-minded and muscular, heaving the bad angels out of heaven on the end of pitchforks, and at home they had an iced cake for tea and while they ate it Grandfather told them how busy the angels were kept looking after little children. Henrietta felt that what with one thing and another the poor angels were very overworked, and she felt so grateful for their exertions that she made garlands of autumn flowers and hung them round the necks of the cherubs in her bedroom and the seraphim in the spare room.

And then had come All Saints’ Day, a lovely, wonderful day when the choir at evensong sang, “Who are these like stars appearing?” and the figures on the west front surely swelled a little to find themselves so appreciated. At bedtime that night Grandfather told them stories about the saints. They heard about St. Francis who loved birds and animals, St. Martin who shared his cloak with the beggar, St. Cecilia who loved music, St. Elizabeth who told such a shocking lie about the roses in her apron but was forgiven because she meant well, and St. Joan whom Grandfather loved best of all because when people laughed at her for saying she had been guided she took no notice whatever but just went straight on and did it.

Henrietta listened in a dreaming silence to these stories, utterly satisfied by their beauty, but Hugh Anthony was much exercised by the various points that they raised in his mind.

“When the saints die,” he asked Grandfather, “how long does it take their souls to get to heaven?”

“Ten minutes,” said Grandfather.

“How do they get there?”

“In the arms of their angels.”

“What do the angels do with the saints when they get them there?”

“Give them a thorough cleaning. It is, I believe, painful but very necessary. Dear me, yes. Not even the saints are perfect.”

“Are you a saint, Grandfather?”

“Dear me, no!”

“Why not?”

Grandfather replied in the words of Falstaff, “I have more flesh than another man and therefore more frailty.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I am stout and therefore inclined to be lazy. I can’t help being stout, but I ought to help being lazy and I fear I do not always do so. I go to sleep in the psalms.”

“Do saints never go to sleep in the psalms?”

“Dear me, no!”

Hugh Anthony returned to the point that was really worrying him more than he cared to admit. “Are you quite sure that it takes exactly ten minutes to get from earth to heaven?”

“I am absolutely certain,” replied Grandfather, meeting Hugh Anthony’s searching eyes with a keen, steady glance that brought conviction.

“Really, Theobald!” protested Grandmother, who was sitting by knitting and clicking her tongue in annoyance at Grandfather’s flights of fancy. “The things you say! One plain. One purl.”

But Grandfather was not penitent, for he believed with St. Elizabeth that there are times when a little inaccuracy is not only advisable but right. He was convinced that if a child with a naturally sceptical mind is ever to have faith there must never be any uncertainty about the answers given to his questions. He never said, “I don’t know,” or “I’m not sure,” to his grandson, though very occasionally, when completely floored, he replied to a question in the words used by the Angel Uriel when coping with the insatiable curiosity of the prophet Esdras. “Go thy way, weigh me the weight of the fire, or measure me the blast of the wind, or call me again the day that is past … Thou canst give me no answer … Thine own things, and such as are grown up with thee, canst thou not know; how should thy vessel then be able to comprehend the way of the most Highest?”

[themculibrary]

Angel/Demon Masterlist

Better the Devil you know (ao3) - Kalee60 steve/bucky E, 19k

Summary: Attending work conferences was never Bucky’s idea of a ‘good time’ - especially when the rival company was Heaven and he happened to be a demon from Hell. Even more unbearable, he’d been tasked to present a seminar (against his will) - Bucky was more about doling out punishments, less about educating his peers.

So of course, while Bucky is already down, Steve Rogers turns up, an angel Bucky had been trying desperately to forget for the last millenia��� for an array of reasons.

Bucky now finds himself in close quarters with his feathery nemesis, and after living multiple lifetimes, was maybe finally learning that there really was a fine line between hate and lust, and an even finer one tethering it all to love?

Co-workers (ao3) - PeppaTheePig loki/mobius E, 1k

Summary: Mobius is an angel who is forced to work with a Jotun demon named Loki. They don't get along, until they do.

evensong (ao3) - MCU_Dagger, Palmarion loki/sylvie T, 7k

Summary: Loki is an angel. Sylvie is a demon.

They come together in fits and starts.

Falling for You (ao3) - AgentOfShip leo/jemma G, 1k

Summary: Fitz is an angel who's a little too wicked for heaven and Jemma's a fallen angel who's too good for hell. Maybe they were meant to be.

Falling Like Ashes (ao3) - Kellyscams steve/bucky E, 11k

Summary: Steve is an Angel. An Angel with a very specific duty.

Bucky in a Demon. A Demon with a very specific duty.

They’re not meant to be.

Maybe someone should explain the rules to them a little better.

Gentle Sins (ao3) - firefly_flickers matt/foggy E, 1k

Summary: Foggy’s a high ranking Angel. Matt’s a demon. Neither likes to stay on their side of the divide.

Gifted (ao3) - MercuryCeleste steve/tony T, 25k

Summary: Every year, Angels and Demons compete for the fate of 'chosen’, the human beings that are destined for rebirth. Whoever wins seals the fate of the future angel or demon. Steve has signed his name up for years, only to be turned down but this year proves different. Tony is a successful demon who has to face his calling but finds that’s not as terrible as he thought.

Inferno (ao3) - DarklingDarling loki/steve E, 7k

Summary: For the King of Hell, life is surprisingly boring, it's all just work and no play...

Until one day, when a sweet little Angel by the name of Loki sneaks into Hell and falls right into his waiting hands.

My oh my, what is a lonely Demon to do?

Keep Thee In All Thy Ways (ao3) - ElisabethMonroe sam/bucky M, 2k

Summary: Bucky was just about thrumming out of his skin. Not entirely figuratively.

Sam, beside him, was much more composed. But there was a ready grin on his mouth that he usually kept a little more hidden. All the promises in that grin were not helping Bucky keep himself contained. They sought these events out like a challenge, chances to be their true selves without attracting too much attention. Or, at least, the bad kind of attention. Krampus celebrations and monster conventions and horror movie events all kept them sated throughout the year, but Halloween and haunted houses were easiest. And parties like these were Bucky’s favorite.

“Can we?” he asked.

Sam nodded his permission.

Love and Sins (ao3) - Reioka steve/tony T, 1k

Summary: It's not often that Steve gets the opportunity to meet his busy lover.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker (ao3) - The_Alias (Artemis_Day) jane/loki T, 2k

Summary: Darcy Lewis may not be the best love goddess in the world, but she is the most determined.

Through Hell and High Water (ao3) - MelayneSeahawk steve/tony M, 4k

Summary: “I’m not sure anyone’s noticed, to be honest,” Katriel said, with a shiftiness to his expression that the Serpent found terribly appealing despite himself. “I guess I can say I’ve lost it, if anyone asks.”

“You are one strange angel,” Stark said, grinning broadly, and the angel grimaced. “How in Heaven did you wind up with this job?”

to be good for you (would be the end of me) (ao3) - sambambucky sam/bucky T, 5k

Summary: Bucky tempts Steve Rogers and his friends to act with selfishness and fear, impulsivity and anger, and it’s easy, satisfying work. Then the punk finds himself a guardian angel.

Toxic Love (ao3) - orphan_account erik/t'challa E, 1k

Summary: Nah baby, who do you belong to?" The demon spoke low into the now fallen angel's ear. T'Challa gasped, blinking tears, all he could do was moan.

"The devil."

When I Run Out of Road, You Bring Me Home (ao3) - Summer_Sunflower steve/bucky T, 3k

Summary: It's a pain in his back that refuses to go away, no matter what he does or tries. He doesn't think he can handle it much longer.

Bucky thinks he should have come earlier.

Wing Me Back (ao3) - buckybarnesdeservestobehappy (hutchabelle) steve/bucky T, 3k

Summary: Steve Rogers has always looked like a member of the heavenly host, while Bucky Barnes is firmly earthbound. Despite being opposites, they’re best friends, two men who love and protect each other at all costs. As far as he’s concerned, Steve’s an angel, but Bucky wrestles with demons every day. At night, he’s haunted. Thankfully, the flutter of wings soothes his soul and keeps him safe.

[katolicki]

going to a catholic mass in england was such a strange experience. I showed up early so a few people saw that I was new and came up to talk to me which was lovely, and they were all originally from ireland lol. they're big into singing here and really love their hymn books, from what I've seen both today and in the protestant evensong service I went to last week. they sing everythingg and add a lot of dramatic pauses when reading bible verses while we just rush through everything in ireland, but it's nice.

[blueberryshelves]

___________________________________________

Book Review

Title:  Evensong Author: Krista Walsh

Series: Meratis Trilogy, book #1

No. of Pages: 317

ASIN: B00I7BU09A

Synopsis:

Author Jeff Powell wakes up to find the impossible has happened. He is within his own novel—summoned into the fictional world of Feldall’s Keep by a spell he didn't write. One the House enchantress hasn't figured out how to reverse.

When the villain he's been struggling to write reveals himself, unleashing waves of terror and chaos, Jeff must use more than his imagination to save the characters he created—and the woman he loves.

Trapped within a world of his own creation, he must step outside the bounds of his narrative to help his characters defeat an evil no one anticipated, even if he must sacrifice his greatest gift. In the end, he has to ask: are novels really fiction, or windows into other worlds?

The Meratis Trilogy centers around author Jeff Powell, who wakes up in his sword-and-sorcery fantasy world. Initially an arrogant and close-minded character, Jeff has his eyes opened to a world of dragons, magic, and assassins. Faced with an evil he could never have imagined, Jeff is pushed to his limits and forced to rise to the most unusual challenges.

___________________________________________

What did I think of the book?

Evensong by Krista Walsh My rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3 of 5 stars (3.5 of 5 stars) The entire concept of this book really drew me in. Books always feel like walking into another world, and as a kid, I sometimes thought of them like that quite literally. So it was pretty exciting to find a book with an MC who is an author, and they fall into their own story and meet their own characters they've been writing about. It really gets the mind churning about the "what if's" with stories. What if there is another plane of existence where all these stories we write actually manifest, or already exist and we're just tapping into them? Walsh did a good job bringing to life this idea, and how characters might interact with their "creator". It's hilariously unique, and the writing style is satisfying to read. My only major hiccup was about 70% of the way in, when the main character risks everything, including his future as a supposedly successful author, on a girl who he really doesn't know much about. That's when I got bored with the story, and haven't touched it again until now. The ending turned out exciting enough, but it left me feeling like "oh… That's it?". However, it does make me want to continue reading the series to find out what will happen, so that earns some points from me. Favorite character/s: Personally, I really liked Jayden for his charm and bold-hearted bravery. Second would be Maggie, because she's an eccentric witch. What drew me to this book? The cover gave me The Hunger Games vibes when I saw the design, but it was the concept that got me really interested. Stars: 3.5/5 - overall a pretty interesting story and concept, and though it has its hiccups, I'd like to continue with the series when I can. View all my reviews

[princessmadafu]

Running out of tissues...

Had a bit of weepy, nostalgic day, so let me put my thoughts out there into TumblrWorld and tell you about Frank and his wife Eva, who took me in after I ran away from home for the third time. Foster parents are amazing; they deserve more credit than they get.

Mine lived in the next village; Eva was a housewife, and Frank taught art and history at a rough school in a deprived area ten miles away. He was wise and kind, tough on bullies but soft inside; he sang baritone in his church choir and adored baking - which showed in his waistline! Every Sunday his son and daughters would come round and we'd have High Tea with Frank's homemade bread, cakes and scones before walking down to Evensong together. I love the word together. Frank and Eva were the epitome of togetherness. He was a genuinely good man.

August 1992 and Frank was readying up for the new school year (his last year before retirement) and was re-wallpapering the small bedroom for his new baby grandaughter. And then he had a massive heart attack.

I wasn't there; I was 29, just a couple of months short of 30, and had moved abroad by that stage, but I got a phone call from Eva that evening. A big piece of Teenage Me  winked out like a snuffed candle. Eva is still alive but frail and lives with the now-grown-up baby grandaughter, address unknown, but that doesn't matter.

Prayers don't need postcodes.

I think of Frank and Eva often. I stayed with them on-and-off for nearly three years; they supported me while I grew from a clinically depressed and pretty angry 16-yr-old into a ready-to-face-the-world Uni student; I'd never have got a place if it hadn't been for Frank's mentoring and the stability of his life that he shared with me.

The difference between my birth father and my foster dad Frank? Let me put it like this. I got a phone call from Oxford, just before Christmas, to say I'd got a place.

Frank said, "Let's go out for dinner and celebrate."

Birth Father said, "You'd better get a job now because you didn't get a scholarship and I'm not paying for you."

I mean, that hurt. Birth Father couldn't even acknowledge all my hard work and the extra study I took on; it was just, "Get a job, I'm not paying". I wasn't lazy and didn't expect him to fund me. I had loads of jobs as a student: waitressing; working in a book shop; standing around in shopping centres for a market research company; proof-reading for a publishing company; I worked on a farm in France for six months, which was brilliant. I worked hard, I really did. But where Frank appreciated and praised, Birth Father didn't - he was a "ten-pints-a-night-in-the-pub-then-go-home-and-hit-your-wife-and-kids" sort of bully, which is why I kept running away from home when it all got too much. I tried hard to please Birth Father, as children do; I tried hard to get him to love me but nothing ever worked. I sometimes wonder if he'd have been different, had I been the first-born son that he wanted. But then I'd never have had Frank and Eva in my life.

Frank may have been "Foster Dad" in the legal sense, but Frank was my "Real Dad"; so thirty years after his death, I salute Frank and hope he's enjoying the retirement in Heaven that he didn't get to have on Earth.

[steamberrystudio]

Lance’s route and character was genuinely some of the best, if not the best, storytelling in a VN that I have ever had the pleasure to read. Truly such a well thought out character and story. So many overarching themes from all the other routes tied in so well. The CGs were so pretty and butterfly inducing. I love Lance so much, man. Great work, and I loved the rest of the routes, too. Lance was just ahhhhhhh!!! SO SO GOOD.🖤

Thank you so much! =OO That is really high praise. ;A;

I really love him as a character and though I was worried about how his route would be received because it's so different from the rest of the game in tone - but I just love him so much and I loved being able to shift gears and tell a really different story.

Plus, his route has some of my favourite background art and one of my favourite music tracks in the game.

I just love the feelings this song evokes - of something wide and vast and beautiful. It still gives me chills when I listen to it.

[bwv572]

My church is about to make a huge blunder. They're really pushing hard on this Spanish Mass, which just makes no sense. This isn't a Latino neighborhood, they're not going to get Spanish speakers to come to this, and even if they did, the Spanish speakers are most likely Catholic and would feel tricked or deceived if they came to a Missa at a protestant church.

I proposed to do Evensong on Friday. When our church used to have daily mass, Friday evening was our most popular day. We can't have eucharist since we don't have a priest for it, but we could do evensong, which could be led by laity, and which is the most popular liturgy from the Anglican tradition. Even catholics say they love evensong and wish the catholic church did it. It would be a draw for all the people that miss the Friday mass, the surrounding anglicans who only get to go to evensong once a year, and maybe for catholics who want to attend an Anglican liturgy without the sacraments. They aren't interested in this at all. They want to do the Spanish mass.

But worse of all, the only "priest" they can find for the Spanish mass is a female priest. If they let a woman behind the altar, there go all the traditionalists in our church. In our 140 year history, a woman has never been behind our altar or touched any of sacramentals. Our niche in the area is that we are the one episcopal church that has never and will never accept woman's ordination. They're about to throw that niche away to bring in maybe 3 or 4 Hispanics that know nothing about the Church of England or its worldwide communion. They're gonna lose half the congregation over this.

And their attitude is "well, it's not like we're going to be attending it. We don't speak Spanish." They don't understand that it's not about whether we go to it or not, it's about us endorsing the concept, and us allowing the altar and sacramentals to be desecrated by somebody without proper holy orders.

Right now, Rome is opening the door to having full communion with Anglican churches, and what is the ONE singular requirement that they have demanded? No female priests. These people are so stupid, allowing themselves to shoot themselves in their feet like this in such a historic moment, when our church was an "Anglo-Papalist" church, that is, the movement that sought reconciliation with Rome and tried to become as catholic as possible within the Anglican confines.

And my girlfriend is gonna lose all respect for my church if they do this. I can't have that.