#ITS QUICKER AND EASIER TO EAT YOUR YOUNG ?:!:??/?:!

[illbecreativelater]

I’m having a normal one

[aria-bun]

It's crazy what you'd do for a friend

In which Corvus comes in swinging. Co-written and edited by the lovely lovely @sorinethemastermind I write the Corvus POV's, they write the Soren POVs. Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

It wasn’t until close to sunset that Corvus had heard anything that warranted him changing his pace on the trail.

The faint sound of a Banther roaring up ahead put things into perspective quite quickly.

The trail he was following was fresher, possibly from within the hour, which left three possibilities:

1. They hadn’t reached the Banther yet 

2. They had just passed the Banther

3. They were currently engaging with the Banther.

And by the sound of it, Corvus thought it was safe to assume that it was number three.

He dismounted from Buckeye, quickly tying her to a tree before bolting down the trail of padded-down grass. It was faster on foot since Buckeye didn’t have enough space between the trees to run. Corvus, however, did.

As he got closer to the sound, he pulled his chain out of his bag, looping it around his hand loosely and gripping the hook part with his other hand. 

Through the trees, he could see the flash of metal and caught glimpses of the Banther.

Creeping up closer to the edge of the treeline, he saw the scene fully. Rayla was trying to slash at the creature with her swords, Soren doing the same with his own. Callum was flipping through his spellbook, with the other elf standing next to him, looking between the Banther and the book.

Corvus swung the hook a few times before throwing it out. The chain flew between the front legs of the Banther and wrapped around one of its hind legs a few times, the hook anchoring itself into the animal’s skin, causing it to roar loudly. 

He gripped the chain tight with both hands and yanked on it hard, digging his heels into the ground. The force of the chain pulled the Banther’s hind leg out from under itself, causing it to fall over.

“Might want to work on that spell a bit faster, Callum!” He grunted, keeping a tight grip on the chain.

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there!” Callum responded, still frantically flipping through the pages. “Y’know what, forget it.” He closed the book before drawing a rune in the air “Aspiro!”

The Banther was blown back into a large tree and, by extension, Corvus. He heard a loud pop and a fiery pain shot through his wrist before hitting the ground hard.

He scrambled into a crouch, gently trying to unwind the chain from his arm, wincing heavily at every small shift to his wrist.

Soren hoisted him up by his bicep, getting him to his feet after a moment. “Wow. You caught up a lot faster than I thought.”

“I’m sorry what?” Rayla’s eyebrows shot up. “What’re you on about?”

“Soren made it easier for your tracker friend to find us.” The elf said. “Quite smart, actually.

“I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” Corvus asked him.

“Runaan.”

“Right. Thanks. And yes, it was.” He looked back at Soren.

“Why, thank you.” He gave a dramatic bow, before straightening. “Is your wrist alright?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fine.” He lied through his teeth. It was starting to throb. “I need to head back a bit, I left Buckeye tied to a tree.”

“Who?” Callum raised an eyebrow.

“My horse. Buckeye.”

“How are we getting a horse across a river?”

Corvus looked at the calm river next to them. “It’s not that big. Probably not too deep, either. Buckeye knows how to walk through water, I think he’ll be fine. Also,” Corvus dug through his bag with his good hand, pulling out Soren’s bag. “You left this.”

“I knew I was forgetting something!” Soren gratefully accepted it from him, putting it on so the strap went across his chest.

Not that Corvus was staring.

He definitely wasn’t staring. He was making sure that Soren hadn’t gotten hurt. He looked fine.

He looked great. Better than great.

“Yeah, I’ll be back in a bit with Buckeye,” Corvus said, looking at Soren again before disappearing back into the treeline. His face felt hot, and he was suddenly glad Soren was wearing his scarf and not him.

Soren was wearing his scarf. 

He shook his head. Now was not the time. He just needed to get Buckeye.

A few minutes later, he found Buckeye butting his snout against the tree branches. He untied the horse’s reins from the tree, which earned him a soft nudge from the horse.

“Are you up for some swimming?” He asked Buckeye, who snorted in response, giving him a look.

“Yeah, I thought so.”

[sorinethemastermind]

It is traditional, it is inherited, predispositional

In which Soren isn't as sneaky as he thought. Co-written and edited by the amazingly talented @honeii-puff. I write the Soren POVs, they write the Corvus POVs Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

Soren’s feet hurt. Not that he was complaining. He wasn’t. Soren didn’t complain. He was just thinking how it sure would be nice to know where they were going, especially after all this walking. Everybody else seemed to. But it had reached that point where asking where they were going would make it really obvious that he hadn’t any clue this entire time. And that would just be embarrassing.

So he didn’t ask. And he didn’t mention that his feet hurt. (Callum did. Callum mentioned that his feet hurt quite a lot, actually.)

But they were making good progress towards, wherever it was they were going. Rayla definitely knew. Runaan seemed to. Callum… probably did. But it was also possible that he was just blindly following Rayla and had as little of a clue as Soren did.

The lovebirds had fallen into step side-by-side almost as soon as they set out, whispering and giggling to one and other. Rayla kept reaching out to play with Callum’s scarf. Soren tugged at his own, pulling it tighter around his neck. It was nice to have a little piece of Corvus with him, even out here. 

“Are they always like that?” Runaan asked, pulling Soren back to the present. 

“Yup.” Soren nodded, glancing over at the elf. He’d fallen back from the front to walk beside him. “Pretty much.”

Runaan sighed. “I suppose I’ll just have to get used to it.” 

“After a while, it fades into the background.” Soren lied. 

“Hm.” Runaan seemed unconvinced. After a moment, he cleared his throat. “I’ll admit I was surprised when you assisted in my rescue. I understand my daughter’s motivations, of course. And those of your High Mage. But last you and I met…”

He trailed off, as if he didn’t want to relive that night any more than Soren did. 

“Yeah, well.” Soren tried to search for a simple explanation but pulled a blank. Very little seemed simple these days.

“Yeah.” He just said again lamely. 

They walked in silence for a moment, Soren’s footfalls feeling loud to his own ears despite the muffling moss and leaves underfoot. Especially when Runaan kept glancing back the way they’d come, eyes scanning the ground. 

“You and the tracker seem close.” He said suddenly. Soren felt his step falter for a moment. He couldn’t know, could he? Soren had been so careful. 

“How did you know he was a tracker?” 

“In my line of work, it pays to be observant.” The elf said. 

Soren’s fingers twitched towards the back of his neck, pulling the scarf higher. Runaan’s gaze lingered. 

“We’re on the Crownguard together,” Soren explained. “And he’s one of King Ezran’s most trusted advisors. We’ve spent a lot of time together over the last few years.” 

“You seem to trust him, and he seems to trust you. He did about me, anyway.”

“Well… yeah,” Soren said, realizing that the words were true even as he spoke them. “We’ve been through a lot together.”

“I’m sure you feel you could tell him most anything, and he you,” Runaan said sagely. 

“Yeah.” Soren paused. “I hope he knows he can tell me stuff.” 

“As I’m sure my daughter and your mage hope you know about them. They seem to think rather highly of you.”

Soren turned to him in surprise. “They… did?”

“Did you not expect them to?” 

“I don’t really know what I was expecting,” Soren admitted. 

“Well, they trust you. And I’m sure they would be receptive to anything you had to tell them. I doubt anything would change what they think of you.” 

Soren wondered for a moment why he cared, and then it dawned on him. Oh. 

“It’s hard, sometimes.” Soren told the elf. “To tell people stuff when you think they might not look at you the same after. But what’s important is staying true to yourself.”

He held a finger up before him as he finished the little speech, feeling rather pleased with himself. It was Runaan’s turn to look surprised. 

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“I’m sure the same is true for you.” Soren added. “Rayla cares about you a lot. And she really respects you.”

“Ah. Yes.” Runaan had paused for a moment, but now he fell back into step beside Soren. “I am grateful for her patience. And open heart. She reminds me of my husband in that way.” 

Soren’s eyes widened. “Your-“

“Yes,” Runaan said dryly, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “I look forward to seeing him again.”

“So that’s where we’re going,” Soren said, finally piecing it together.

“I… suppose it is.” The elf said. “I’m glad that you and I are finally on the same pa-“

“The Shinygrove!” Soren exclaimed, pointing at him. 

“Silvergrove,” Runaan corrected. 

“Uh, yeah.” Soren shrugged. “That’s what I said.”

Runaan sighed. Just then, Rayla called out from up ahead, glancing back towards the pair of them. 

“Either of you know a way across this river?” 

Runaan quickened his step, catching up to them. But before he did, he threw one last look back at Soren. 

“I’m sure you’ll like the Silvergrove. Expect a warm reception.” Runaan said, turning back towards Rayla and Callum. “And I’d suggest fixing your scarf. The others might see.”

Soren stared at the elf, dumbfounded. Then, he quickly twitched the scarf up higher, practically swallowing his entire face with it. This… this was not good. 

Or was it?

[st-whalefall]

@bobauthorman

“I put myself in the tower there’s no way Salem could misunderstand my desperate but fatally cryptic call for help.” - Ozma when he finished building Beacon tower and put his office at its apex

[cleolinda]

(For our purposes, listen to it without the visuals first.)

I wasn't going to keep posting about Unreal Unearth, but something happened yesterday.

It's been five months since I first heard this song, and I'm still astonished by it. You know the tiktok skit about the Star Wars wedding music, and the guy is grooving along until the Imperial Death March filters in, and then he's kind of alarmed, like, wha—? And then he realizes it slaps anyway and he keeps dancing? That is "Eat Your Young."

It's the morning of March 17th. The EP with the first three singles from the new album has dropped. I've got my phone blasting the song on the bathroom counter, I don't understand half what the man is saying nor did I expect to, I'm cheerfully mumbling along in the shower, grooving along,

wait they did what for a war drum

Get some Pull up the ladder when the flood comes Throw enough rope until the legs have swung Seven new ways that you can eat your young Come and get some Skinning the children for a war drum Putting food on the table selling bombs and guns It's quicker and easier to eat your young

What the fuck, this song goes so hard. That's the chorus. The conceit of the whole album is that it loosely follows Dante's Inferno, so this is the third circle of hell, gluttony. Hozier himself says that he wasn't specifically thinking of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal—

“I don’t know how intentional the reference to Jonathan Swift was in this. That essay [Swift’s 1729 satirical essay A Modest Proposal in which he suggests the Irish poor sell their children as food] is such a cultural landmark that it’s just hanging in the air. I was more reflecting on what I felt now in this spirit of the times of perpetual short-term gain and a long-term blindness. The increasing levels of precarious living, poverty, job insecurity, rental crisis, property crisis, climate crisis, and a generation that’s inheriting all of that and one generation that’s enjoyed the spoils of it. The lyrics are direct, but the voice is playful. There’s this unreliable narrator who relishes in this thing which was fun to write.” [Apple Music album notes]

—and I believe him. The song's not a suggestion, a proposal; it's an invitation to atrocity in progress. I also believe he probably wasn't thinking of Greta Thunberg's iconic speech at the UN Climate Action Summit, not specifically, but that's what I hear in the song, like the flip side of a coin:

You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you! [...] You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil.

I feel like on some level, even coincidentally, "Eat Your Young" is the answer to the question, what would you sound like if you were that evil? Who would you be? I can think of a dozen possibilities just off the top of my head or looking around my blog, from something as petty as studio executives mangling trees to deprive striking workers of shade (while hoping they lose their homes), all the way up to the US school-to-prison pipeline. The National Rifle Association keeps politicians in its pocket while the US has more mass shootings than days in a year, Nestlé fucks shit up around the world as a way of life, even ChatGPT sucks up water while threatening jobs—and for what? And yet, I promise you most of these things weren't the inspiration for an Irishman’s song—some of them hadn't even happened yet. There's just that much fresh You Would Be Evil to go around. I am certain that Hozier wrote the song partly about (as one article puts it) "Ireland's housing crisis: Millennials, a generation sacrificed," given that time back in the day when he helped occupy a building—a housing crisis happening in multiple countries. There's so much of the world I'm not touching on. I can stuff a paragraph with links and it's utterly inadequate.

I haven't even mentioned war.

There's an overwhelming sense this decade of the future being fed into a meat grinder. That sense is in this song. What would it sound like to be in the head of someone who didn't give a shit about anything but profit? Well, it might sound like this.

And if you haven't heard it, well—I'm going to sound absolutely out of my mind after saying all that, but "Eat Your Young" has a beat and you can dance to it. It's sexy. And I'm certain that's on purpose. You get seduced into the sound of it, as if by something demonic, something that enjoys sucking down the future and is not going to stop. And the sheer fucking catchiness of the song keeps you listening to it—thinking about it—when maybe you push away the dry headlines we get everyday. If you let this song stay in your head, it becomes a lens. Five months later, I still think about it when I read the news. Maui was on fire and tourists stayed. Within days, the prospect of developers swooping in to buy up land reared its head. If there's something still to take, there is ground to break, whatever's still to come. Get some.

I was born in 1978 —I'm late Gen X. In my forties, I'm young enough to worry about the future still; I’m neither so rich that I can just plan to retire to Mars, nor so old that I can know I'll be safely gone before the world might go up in flames. But I'm also not my nephew, whose school year just started back up, or the neighborhood kids who race him home down the sidewalk in the afternoons. Yesterday, he had his very first mass-shooter lockdown drill. He’s six.

I think music can put the feeling back into numb fingers, and I think that's why "Eat Your Young" works so well—Hozier calls the song fun and playful, and I think you have to have that, something you can live with rather than just switch off for your own mental survival. We need music to feed spirit at protests; we need something to keep our feet moving. Don’t give up, don't close your eyes and slip away. Those kids, they have dreams we could try to steal back for them.

Since I mentioned Maui:

Why Hawaiian sovereignty has undeniable context for the Maui fires

The Climate Crisis and Colonialism Destroyed My Maui Home. Where We Must Go From Here

How You Can Donate and Help Support Maui Communities Right Now

The Maui Strong Fund

[the-stars-in-heaven]

sharing this here even tho nobody’s gonna really care but it’s my blog and i can do what i want

the hozier brainrot has been mingling side by side with the TMA brainrot and this playlist is the idiot baby of that.

explanation of why i chose each song under the cut :p

The Eye 👁️ - Take Me To Church: despite being first on the playlist i actually struggled a bit to find a song that would fit, but i felt like TMTC had some really good lyrics for the Eye (“I’ll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife,” “let me give you my life,” etc)

The Lonely 🌫️ - To Be Alone: i feel like this one is pretty self-explanatory. even though it’s technically about being with another person, it really emphasizes the “no one else is around” vibe. also…like, the title. yknow?

The Desolation 🔥 - Arsonist’s Lullaby: again, even more self-explanatory. the theme and lyrics of burning and fire and destruction. very Agnes Montague coded.

The Buried ⚰️ - Work Song: this one was mainly chosen for the chorus lyrics. “when my time comes around, lay me gently in the cold dark earth. no grave could hold my body down, i’d crawl home to her.” it feels very reminiscent of Daisy and Jon crawling out of the coffin.

The Vast ✈️ - I, Carrion (Icarian): for me it was either this or Sunlight, since both have references to Icarus and falling from the sky into the ocean, which all scream Vast. but I, Carrion places more emphasis on the actual fall, the wind rushing by and watching the sky expand, so i felt it was a better fit.

The Dark 🌑 - Son of Nyx: this one was hard. all the songs that i felt like could fit the Dark better I had already assigned to other fears, so this one is really off vibes and the title alone since SON doesn’t actually have lyrics. i still think it fits though, as the song does have a very “dark” feel to it.

The End 🪦 - Abstract (Psychopomp): originally i was going to assign the End to All Things End, but i actually feel like this song fits better. it feels so close and zoomed into the actual theme of death. “the fear in its eyes, gone out in an instant.” yeah…very End vibes.

The Corruption 🪱- It Will Come Back: this one too is based very much on the over all vibes as well as the literal lyrics. the idea of showing something kindness (being a host) until it will not leave feels very much like an infestation of sorts. where do we draw the line between a lover and a parasite? yeah this is Jane’s song.

The Flesh 🥩 - Eat Your Young: do i even have to explain? i can see this one also working for the Slaughter, but the Flesh is all about meat, eating, cannibalism, etc. “it’s quicker and easier to eat your young,” “i’m starving, darling,” “old and young are welcome to the meal.” it also touches on how people just want to consume, to own, and to have.

The Slaughter 🪖 - Nobody’s Solider: another one which is pretty self-explanatory. the fear of being seen as nothing but a tool for violence, the disdain for fighting. it’s an anti-war song, ofc it’s perfect for the Slaughter.

The Hunt 🐺 - In The Woods Somewhere: fun fact this song is actually the reason i decided to make this playlist. i just felt like it reminded me so much of when Basira had to hunt down Daisy in s5, putting her out of her misery. it just radiates Hunt vibes as well with its lyrics, both the pov of the hunter and the prey. “i turned and ran, to save a life i didn’t have.”

The Spiral 🌀- To Noise Making (Sing): this one was also a bit tricky but i actually think it fits pretty well, though it does lack the sense of fear that a lot of the others capture better. the idea of singing without a rhythm or purpose but just to make noise feels very Spiral-esque. also the obligatory “how would a melody describe itself?”

The Stranger 🎭 - Foreigner’s God: it was a tough choice between this and Someone New, but i think FG has a lot more of that fear and heartbreak that the Stranger stresses. A few of the lines are just so Stranger it’s ridiculous. “always a well-dressed fraud,” “wondering who i copy,” “all that i’ve been taught, and every word i’ve got, it foreign to me.”

The Web 🕷️- Swan Upon Leda: the Web was also a bit hard for me to pick because i was so caught up in the mindset of the Web being arachnophobia, but then i realized that such a big part of it manipulation and the loss of control over your own body. That control and loss of bodily autonomy is obviously a theme in this song, so i think it fits.

The Extinction ☢️ - All Things End: i actually wasn’t going to include the Extinction in the playlist, but i just felt like ATE fit it so well, i threw it in there anyways. the idea that all things are finite, everything will end, and we will all return to dust we were made from can feel pretty End (like i said, i was originally going to assign it to that one) but it just feels so much bigger than one person, and much closer to the Extinction imo.

[daddymortfest]

Daddymort MasterList 2023

Here are the submissions that made it for the Daddymort fest this year! I had so much fun plotting and chatting with you all. Hopefully we will see you all next year <3

In no particular order....

Mary Magdalene

vash (hanamichi)

For youknowmevj.

Based on a prompt for the Daddymort fest: when Harry tries to destroy four of Voldemort's seven Horcruxes they turn into babies instead and latch on to Harry like ducklings. or: SCANDAL! Young Mother Of Four Claims Dark Lord Hasn't Been Paying Child Support

How I Met Your Mother

apocalypseWallflower

These are all the times that Harry Potter met Voldemort but hated him, and the time they fell in love. OR Set to the backdrop of someone who has never seen nor interacted with the show/or otherwise “How I Met Your Mother” but still took very light inspiration from the memes.

For a War Drum

Saeva

Get some Pull up the ladder when the flood comes Throw enough rope until the legs have swung Seven new ways that you can eat your young Come and get some Skinning the children for a war drum Putting food on the table selling bombs and guns It's quicker and easier to eat your young - 'Eat Your Young', Hozier Discovering that Harry Potter has been left to the pitilessness of the Muggle world and its hate for magic, Voldemort decides there might be another way to deny Albus Dumbledore his child weapon. After all, killing the boy would be such a waste of powerful potential.

what he truly wanted

acydpop

For greenmegsnoham.

When Voldemort adopted Harry, he was given everything he could ever want or need, so imagine Harry's surprise when his adopted father kept him from dating. After his 7th date running out of the manor crying, Harry confronted his father. The confrontation became heated in more ways than one. ;)

(You) Set Me Aflame

rgemma

For greenmegsnoham.

When snakes emerge from brumation, they mate. Parselmouths are much the same.

His Brave Boy

LiquidLuckandStuff

Harry should have died when Voldemort came to his house all those years ago. He should have died under his relatives care, but now there was a voice in his head guiding him and teaching him. Sometimes, he even gets bedtime stores about heroes who befriend giant snakes and save the things they care about the most. Harry loves his father until he is forced to forget him for their own safety. Now, years later when he should have died by Lord Voldemort's hand yet again, Harry sees the broken form of the horcrux at Kings Cross station and remembers. ______ Scarcrux raises Harry. Hurt/comfort and a happy ending as promised.

He Will Slay You with His Tongue

evaleon70

Prompt fill for Daddymort Fest 2023: "Harry distracts Voldemort (without thinking) by calling him "Daddy" in the middle of the battle in Parseltounge. It works and Voldemort loses his mind. People ask him what he said but he is too ashamed to admit it, only that "hey it worked." Harry's comments keep getting filthier and filthier when they fight until Voldemort can't take it anymore."

[pinkcannibal]

i was reading its quicker and easier to eat your young and was wondering.. do you think reader would get a tattoo for marilyn? i could definitely picture her getting “property of Marilyn” or smth like on her inner thigh. i jus know marilyn would go CRAZY at the fact that she marked her body with her name or initials.

she soooo would oh my goddd. it would be a little 'm' behind her ear, or a plant marilyn dearly loves. maybe something SO insanely bold like "princess" or "baby" as a tramp stamp <33 i dont think reader could hide it from marilyn for long, so she tells her what shes planning and marilyn literally stops dead in her tracks with hearts in her eyes and does NOT shut up abt it for the entire week before reader gets it :')))

[fyreflys]

My Everlark playlist, a full list and analysis (that no one asked for but I’m going to offer anyways). All songs linked in their title!

1) Swan Upon Leda (Hozier)

“One more sweet boy butchered by men”

“The gateway to the world / Was still outside the reach of him / Would never belong to angels / Had never belonged to men”

This song is on this playlist for a whole host of reasons, and I could write an entire paper analyzing its application to the THG & the reason for why I chose it as the title of my everlark fic, but I’ll try to keep this short & succinct

The Capitol controls Panem through fear, and they do this by “sacrificing” children in the name of a “game”. In this song, Hozier makes it clear that creation of life, and thus life itself, is not something man can control. That’s a major point in Katniss’s fight against the capitol- is to remove its tyranny and use of children as a tool to instill fear.

2) Eat Your Young (Hozier)

“Skinnin’ the children for a war drum / Put in front of the table, sellin’ bombs and guns / It’s quicker and easier to eat your young”

This song exhibits the greed of the Capital, and more particularly Snow, and the use of children’s lives as a way to control people.

Also- the imagery that Hozier creates reminds me that a lot of the people fighting in the Revolution are also children - Peeta and Katniss and Gale and Prim are children, fighting in a war for freedom.

3) My Lagan Love (Hozier’s Cover)

“She has my heart in thrall / Nor life I owe, or liberty / For love is lord of all”

Can we all just agree that Irish songs are great? This just sounds majestic and pretty and exactly like something I’d imagine Katniss would sing as a lullaby

4) In a Week (Hozier, ft Karen Cowley)

“We lay here for years or for hours / Your hand in my hand / So still and discreet / So long, we’d become the flowers”

This song is about two lovers dying and their bodies decaying side by side, for them to exist in both life and death together. Idk about you, but Everlark has the kind of love where they would both die if one of them died, and this song feels even more fitting if you consider how many times both of them were willing to die for the other.

5) Where’s My Love (SYML)

Rather than explain this one, I will simply direct you to this AMAZING fan edit

6) favorite crime (Olivia Rodrigo)

Yet another instance where I will redirect you to a fan edit

7) It All Comes Down To This (Aquilo)

“Let you play with my heart like it's nothing but water / Falling down down, down down”

I would say this reminds me of Peeta falling for Katniss, but in fact it reminds me of the way Katniss falls so fast for Peeta, without even realizing that it’s happening. Everything feels so sudden and serious and grave, like everything comes down to just the two of them.

8) I Found (Amber Run)

“Oh, and I found love where it wasn’t supposed to be, oh / right in front of me”

The Hunger Games are, arguably, a odd place to find love. And yet that’s where Katniss finds it, right in front of her.

The other lyrics are just, spot on, with how they bounce off of each other as they try to navigate the life they live

9) Overcome (Skott)

“I'm trying to make sense of it all / Trying to understand”

“Fading stars echo / Reminding us they know / We've come too far to let go / Don't let go”

This song makes me think of post mockingjay, or even during mockingjay, as they fight to overcome everything they’ve done and seen. They are just trying to live and overcome all their grief and trauma and move on and heal.

10) Body (SYML)

“I fought the world for your hand / Give my new body a chance / It’s all I have”

After the hijacking, Peeta is stuck in a body and mind that no longer feels like his own. And at first, Katniss cannot see him, she thinks he’s gone. This is him trying to make it back to her, begging her to let him come back.

11) village song (Paris Paloma)

“And the blackberry juice drips like blood on the leaves / And the blood on the fox drips like dew from its teeth”

This song is eerie in a way that makes me think of Katniss. I don’t know how to describe it, but the image that this song paints, or rather makes me feel, makes me think of Katniss. Of maybe a life she would have lived in a different time.

12) Funeral (Phoebe Bridgers)

“I’m singin’ at a funeral tomorrow / For a kid a year older than me”

While this song has several mentions of modern-day stuff, I can’t help but be struck with this line. We know Katniss sings, and I can’t help but imagine this is a scenario she’s fallen into; singing at funerals for district 12’s fallen tributes. And all the heaviness that comes with that.

13) Sparks (Coldplay)

“My heart is yours / It’s you that I hold on to”

Peeta definitely knows Katniss is his everything, and Katniss might be in denial, but Peeta is also (a big part of) her everything.

14) Silhouette (Aquilo)

“Devil’s on your shoulder / Strangers in your head / As if you don’t remember / As if you can’t forget”

“‘Cause these city walls never knew / That we’d make it this far / We’ve become echos / But echos are fadin’ away”

“So let’s dance like two shadows / Burning out the glory days”

This song, I imagine, is them growing old. Perhaps Peeta has a bad hijack episode for the first time in a long time. And they sway together in the living room with brittle bones and grey hair, just silhouettes of something that once was. He is momentarily a stranger, Katniss is forgotten, but their love still remains. They are echos of Panem’s freedom, that are slowly fading away.

15) Time Comes in Roses (Bess Atwell)

“I’m scared of sleeping, and I don’t know why / how it dances you into a lonely night”

“And I’ve been slower than I thought / At getting my life off the rocks ”

After the war, Katniss falls into a depression. She feels like time is zipping by, and yet there’s nothing she can do, and the world is too much and too heavy and too hard to handle with all that she’s lost. This is the in between, the between Prim’s death, and between Peeta returning home.

17) The Archer (Adam Melchor)

“This is how you turned me / To the archer from the arch / This is where you turned me / To the the marksman from the marked”

“But how they all just circle back / And meet me at the start / And how they hit me hard enough / To question who you are”

While this song has imagery and metaphors that align more with Katniss, I actually think the meaning of the song resonates more with Peeta’s story. When Peeta gets hijacked, all his memories are turned against Katniss. Suddenly Katniss is the villain of his story. And this is how things got twisted, and how he wrestles with his new reality and tries to make things make more sense. And he needs time.

18) Evergreen (Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners)

“Locked in a stalemate / With a man who bars no holds”

This song doesn’t have many lyrics, but what it does have gives me an image of Katniss, trying to figure out what she’s going to do with her situation.

19) If the World Falls to Pieces (Young Summer)

“Oh, at least we can say we tried / Never gave up / Didn’t go down without a fight”

In an alternate set of events, where the rebellion doesn’t win. And Katniss and Peeta have to reconcile with themselves.

20) You Could Start a Cult (Niall Horan)

“Anywhere you go, I’ll be / You are so much more than beautiful to me”

“Swear you, you could start a war or two / Kingdoms fighting over you / To wake up at your side is all I wanna do”

If Katniss or Peeta started a cult, the other would most definitely be in the cult and no one can convince me otherwise. These two tried to die for each other. Multiple times.

Also, can I just say that I LOVE this song, SO much. If this isn’t the most poetic love piece I don’t know what is.

21) Nobody (Bess Atwell)

“If I don’t believe in us / Nobody is meant for me”

Katniss doesn’t realize it, but when Peeta comes back hijacked and doesn’t see her as her anymore, suddenly it’s like her life is over. She’s kind of like “well fuck, I guess I’ll be alone huh”

22) Human (Aquilo)

“But these things they’ll all get better / And even if it’s tough”

“Feet on ground, you’ll come round / And be human again”

This is everlark healing, together. They are just human. And they have to remind each other of that fact.

23) Science (Niall Horan)

“So, when you feel there’s nothin’ left / Oh, there’s still a heart beatin’ in your chest”

If I could send a message to these two battered and bruised fictional characters, it would be this one. That in the end, they will be okay.

24) I Could Fight On a Wall (Aquilo)

“And I could fight in a war / It’s not something I would choose / But it’s something I could do for you”

These two would do anything for each other. Like fight in a war. Which they do.

25) I Wish I Was The Moon (Ewan J Phillips)

“Oh I wish I was the moon / So that I might be with you”

I’m pretty sure this song is actually about a break up and wishing to see that person one more time, but I feel like this might be fitting for everlark as well. They are the “star crossed lovers”, and as much as we may resent the title and all it stands for, it’s true. When they are apart, like when Peeta is stuck in the capitol and Katniss is in 13, I’d imagine they did wish to be the moon.

26) Hurts Like Hell (Fleurie)

“I loved, and I loved, and I lost you / And it hurts like hell”

Grief is hard. After Prim’s death (and really like, everyone else), Katniss takes it hard. Understandably. She fought so hard for her sister, volunteered in her place, fought hard to make a world where her sister wouldn’t have to ever face the possibility of stepping into an arena. And she still lost her, so quickly. And yeah, that does hurt like hell.

27) You Say (Lauren Daigle)

“When I don’t belong, oh you say I am yours”

Something Katniss struggles with is knowing her self worth. And I like to imagine, after Mockingjay, Peeta helps with that. And she helps him.

But ALSO - this song reminds me of post-hijacked Peeta, when he’s dropped into the capital with Katniss, fighting to come back to her. And the scene in the subway/sewer, where he’s convinced he’s nothing (“I’m a mutt”) and she tells him no, she needs him. (“Stay with me”)

28) Once in a Dream (In the City)

“Once in a dream I thought I could be anyone I wanted”

“Once in a dream I thought I could keep you safe forever”

This song makes me think of the lost innocence of young girl, who’s father died in the mines, who was forced to take care of her family, who nearly starved to death, who was sent into an arena expected to fight and kill and die for entertainment as a political pawn, who’s home was turned to rubble, and who had to fight to stop more than one dictator. This song makes me think of the lost innocence of a young boy who’s mother beat him, who fell in love with a little girl who barely noticed he existed, who was sent into an arena expected to fight and kill and die for entertainment as a political pawn, who’s home was turned to rubble, who was brainwashed into thinking he was someone he wasn’t, and who had to fight to stop more than one dictator.

29) Sparrow for a Heart (Abigail Lapell)

“When I was young, I had a sparrow for a heart / And a redwing’s eyes”

“When I am old, would you carry my bones / To the blood-red sea”

A sparrow and a mocking bird are by no means the same thing, but this song reminds me of the pin, and the spirit. And the courage and bravery and fear that Katniss had. And the pain.

- - - - - - - - - - - Soundtrack Songs - - - - - - - - - -

Most of these I don’t have to explain. Because. They are the songs for the movies themselves. But I still have a notes for a few. :)

30) Tomorrow Will Be Kinder (The Secret Sisters)

“Sorrow weighs my shoulders down / And trouble haunts my mind / But I know the present will not last / And tomorrow will be kinder”

This song pulls me out of depression. & I wish it could be played for both of them. To help them both know, that better days are ahead of them.

31) Safe & Sound (Taylor Swift)

“Just close your eyes / The sun is going down / You’ll be alright / No one can hurt you now”

32) Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Lorde)

“Of freedom and of pleasure / Nothing ever lasts forever”

33) Yellow Flicker Beat (Lorde)

“This is the start of how it ends / They used to shout my name, now they whisper it”

34) Ladder Song (Lorde)

“You’re not alone in anything / You’re not unique in dying”

35) District 12 Ruins (James Newton Howard)

This plays at such a pivotal and gut wrenching moment. As Katniss returns to a completely devastated 12. Everything she knows turned to rubble.

36) They’re Back (James Newton Howard)

37) The Hanging Tree (Jennifer Lawrence)

“Where I told you to run, so we’d both be free”

38) Your Favorite Color is Green (James Newton Howard)

39) Primrose (James Newton Howard)

I hear this song & I can vividly see the scene of them sitting in the doorway in 12 watching as it rains outside. I can see her walking down the hallway, candle in hand, curling into bed with him. I can hear the “You love me, real or not real” and the “Real”. And it makes me cry.

40) There Are Worse Games to Play / Deep In the Meadow (James Newton Howard & Jennifer Lawrence)

“Lay down your head / And close your eyes / And when they open / The sun will rise”

The last scene, where Katniss comforts Rye, and Peeta and Willow are playing in the background - FUCK it gets me. And so does the meadow song.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

oooof ask for hozier recs and i shall deliver!! i've been obsessed with him i fear...

my personal rn is probably Too Sweet, but my most played song of 2023 was All Things End. beautifully moving (as in i was sobbing for the entire song the first time i heard it), i just adore the way he describes love.

more personal favorites: Through Me (this song is insane actually!! can't describe it with words.), From Eden (one of the best love songs i've ever heard), Angel of Small Death (soo insanely addictive, his voice in this one ugh) and Movement (soft and beautiful and the very first song of his that I heard). The Eat Your Young EP is a wonder in itself but tbh so is everything else,,,,

now for some specifically sugu coded songs: Through Me and All Things End, Who We Are from his last album (the lyrics... my days the lyrics are so beautiful), Blood Upon the Snow!! (written for God of War Ragnarok, it's so good ??), Almost (Sweet Music) (be still my foolish heart, don't ruin this on me ✊😔)

but like i said, every time i hear a Hozier song it's sugu coded in my head... the lyrics always make sense to me. the way they're always so poetically romantic, yet in many of them there's a lingering pain underneath, wether it's because the love is already gone or because the love is simply way too much for just one heart to handle... i'm not okay.

fun fact, i once fell asleep listening to him and dreamt that it was suguru singing... and you know what it makes so much sense, i'll take it.

this got kinda long i'm sorry :(( anyways i hope you have a great day/night

(perhaps i shall write a lil' sugu thing inspired by too sweet)

NOE !!!! finally getting to this……. thank you so much for the recs!!! 🥺🥺 i appreciate it sm…… putting some of my thoughts under the cut hehe

I LOVE TOO SWEET . SO MUCH. it was the first song of his i listened to and wowwwwwww does it go hard….. so catchy and good and just. augh. IT’S SO SUGUCODED TO ME…. esp depression era sugu….. the lyrics are just gorgeous and so him. “but while in this world // i think i’ll take my whiskey neat // my coffee black and my bed at three // you’re too sweet for me”…. :’3 my baby

FROM EDEN IS SUCH A BOP . i loveee the instrumental ……. AND THE LYRICS . ”honey you’re familiar like my mirror years ago // idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword” <- BANGERRRR I CRIED . i am thinking many knight sugu thoughts ngl…. “i slithered here from eden just to sit outside your door” THINKING MORE SUGU THOUGHTS but specifically cult leader sugu …. aughhh 😔😔

angel of small death & the codeine scene……… tell me why this one made me so insane . such a tasty title and instrumental and lyrics i’m just????? i feel this way abt all of these but this one is so sugucoded too 😭 “freshly disowned in some frozen devotion”…. that’s our guy <333

EAT YOUR YOUNG IS SO CRAZY GOOD OUGHH….. i love love loveeee the “seven new ways that you can eat your young” part 😵‍💫😵‍💫 soso addicting. the lyrics are great and his voice is just soooo……. i don’t even know . i’m a little obsessed . “it’s quicker and easier to eat your young”…….. hhhhhhhhHH very sugucoded too ofc . any mention of eating is automatically a sugu reference 🙏

movement is super catchy !!!!! kinda relaxing too…… very soft. i rlly like the chorus :33 gives me waltz vibes…… kinda haunting…….

all things end + through me are soso pretty!!!! goshhhh his voice is nice……. i love the final part of all things end!!! w the synchronized clapping!!!!! so good …. and the lyrics for through me are so tasty . “with each grave, i think of loss // and i can only think of you // and i couldn’t measure it”…….. nomnom

ohhhhhh who we are is so beautiful :(((( his voice sounds so tender ….. i def get the sugu vibes here too!!!!! the feeling of something important slipping through your fingers …. “this phantom life, it sharpens like an image // but it sharpens like a knife” 😵‍💫😵‍💫 vert tasty . very sugu.

I’VE HEARD BLOOD UPON THE SNOW BEFORE BC OF RAGNAROK….. godddd it’s so. chillingly beautiful. the instrumental scratches my brain just right …… and the LYRICS . “too all things housed in her silence // nature offers a violence”….. “the parent forced to eat its young before i grows”…… it’s very . Raw . i like it a lot :3

AND FINALLY….. almost (sweet music). SO GOOD. i adore this instrumental and vibe so much + the lyrics are obv super pretty….. “i laugh like me again — she laughs like you”…… i love how light this one sounds in comparison to some of the other ones!!! a summer song for sure… a lil bittersweet….. and the chorus is literally SO addicting i can’t stand it……. BUT YES THIS ONE IS SO VERY SUGU. NOE. IM TEARING UP 😭😭 “be still my foolish heart // don’t ruin this on me”…. the idea of sugu thinking this…. maybe an au where he slowly recovers after his almost-defection….. or a childhood friends to lovers au…… i dunno. but my brain is spinning. i love him :(((((((

PHEWWW THOSE WERE GOOD . i love his voice sm….. i think my favs out of these options are too sweet, almost (sweet song), from eden and maybeeee angel of sweet death/eat your young…. but they were all super catchy :’3 thank you sm for these recs noe… sugu has invaded my brain

[hobbitsetal]

Three Tasks

Part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/hobbitsetal/773214415784919040/the-nature-of-true-love

Part 2: https://www.tumblr.com/hobbitsetal/773398415602221056/the-woes-of-prince-osric

Part 3:

For many days, Prince Osric wandered, seeking who might be his True Love. He fought dragons and basilisks, he stayed at castles both mysterious and known, he journeyed through forests and plains. But though he met many, old and young, he found no maiden to wed. They giggled over his Conversation Tablet or they looked gravely upon him when he told his tale between nine and ten in the evening. Most of them would have married him, certainly. But Osric could not bring himself to propose and to live with the chance of those pitying looks and his stilled tongue for his life, for he knew they did not love him nor he they.

When the moon had changed her face and form half a dozen times, he found that he had begun to avoid castles and large towns, for he tired of repeating his story and he wearied of sparking hopes only to see them wink out again. The first snows were beginning to fall one day when he heard the sound of an axe ringing in the woods, and he turned his horse toward the sound in hope of shelter.

In a clearing stood a little cottage, its thatch dusted with snow and its ground swept clean. It was a tidy place. The garden had been cleared, the shed was whitewashed, the thatch was snug and well kept. A young woman stood in the front yard, splitting wood with an axe in one hand. Curiously, she used only the one hand to work. She split the log, then tucked the axe under her other arm to free her hand to lift the next log onto her block.

Osric saw why when she turned as he rode into her yard: her left arm ended at the elbow in a little round nub. She rested that nub on her hip as she looked him over, then dropped him a little curtsy, for his clothes were far finer than hers.

"Good afternoon, my lord," she said. "Do you need some aid?"

He swung down from his horse and nodded graciously to her, then wrote upon his Conversation Tablet, I would like a bed for the night.

But she looked at the Tablet without understanding and said, "Forgive me, my lord, but I don't read."

This was vexing and quite surprising, for he was not used to meeting common people who had not learned to read. He pondered a moment, then drew a little sketch of a bed and a moon in the sky and looked at her inquiringly.

"A bed for the night, sir?"

He nodded.

The young woman looked him over. With great politeness, she said, "Ah, I would, my lord, but I am not the mistress of this place. I am only its caretaker, and I have duties to fulfill each day. I must split this cord of wood and have not time to make up a bed. Unless you'd care to split it in exchange for a place to sleep?"

Vexing her request was--imagine, a peasant girl setting a prince to chores!--but Osric had no wish to continue riding through the woods. So he took the axe from her and centered a log. Logs were easier to split than a dragon's head from its neck, for they did not try to dodge his blade, and he split them with precision and stacked them as she showed. The woman watched for a little, and then went inside.

When the cord was split and stacked, he stabled his horse in the little shed to keep the goats company and went into the cottage. There he found the young woman draping a heavy wool blanket over a fine four poster bed, with godmothers and dragons and mermaids and many other creatures carved into the wood.

"Excellent," said she when she saw the prince. "You have earned your bed. Now if you wish to earn supper, I shall set you to hauling water."

The prince had no desire to haul water, but he did wish to eat, for he had grown hungry and was furthermore weary of the food he carried in his packs. So she showed him the well, and she drew water by pinning the rope against her side with her stump arm and pulling the rope with her hand. Osric with his two hands was much quicker with the bucket, and he had carried all the water she could need before she had finished cooking. They sat down to a homely meal of roasted rabbit with parsnips and potatoes, golden bread, and preserved fruits for dessert, and though it was plainer fare than princes usually ate, Osric ate his share with good and grateful appetite.

When they had eaten all there was to eat and washed it down with ale that frothed just the right amount, the woman stood at the door and looked out at the snow as it fell. "It is three days to the town," said she, "and they will all be cold days. Do you journey to a particular place?"

He shook his head, for True Love might be anywhere except the places he had already checked.

"Then," said she, "if you will wash the dishes and help me keep the cottage clean, you may stay until the winter is done. Does that suit you?"

Osric considered. He did not care to be a servant, but he was already as dull as any serving lad, or indeed as a block of wood. Besides, he had no place in mind to go and no mind to go out into snow. So he nodded his head and began to carry the dishes from the table to the kitchen.

"I am Lenore," said the woman, "and I shall call you Rascal, for you come from nowhere."

And that was when the clock chimed nine and Osric felt his tongue loosen. "I am no rascal," he said indignantly. "I am a prince cursed by a godmother, and I will thank you to be respectful."

How Lenore jumped to hear him speak! "Why!" she cried. "You are a rascal indeed to pretend to be silent!"

"I have pretended nothing! I am cursed, I tell you, and I can only speak between nine and ten of night."

"You are cursed to bless the rest of us," Lenore returned pertly, but she laughed to take the sting from her words. "What have you done, prince, to be silenced?"

So he told her the tale and he stretched only a very little to be kind to himself in the telling, and Lenore listened gravely and did not poke more fun at him. When he had finished, she said, "You are wise to stay the winter here, for I am in service to a fairy myself, and I may be able to discover some magic to undo this curse for you, or at least to stretch your speaking time a little."

Osric was well pleased to hear this. "Then I shall split your wood and fetch your water and wash your dishes," quoth he, "and moreover I will hunt the wild animals so that you shall eat like a queen through the winter, if only you will break my curse."

"Done!" said Lenore, and done was their deal.

[aria-bun]

Can't the future just wait?

Soren and Corvus finally have a morning to themselves Co-written and edited by the wonderful wonderful @sorinethemastermind. I write the Corvus POVs, they write the Soren POVs Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

The lead ended up being a dud—Karim and his army may have been there at some point, but by the time the patrol had gotten there, they were already gone. 

By the time the patrols had gotten back, it was the middle of the night, which warranted another last-minute war meeting, and Corvus just wanted to sleep for 6, uninterrupted hours.

His own head wouldn’t even let that happen.

He woke up to a brighter tent, the sun not well-blocked by the canvas. It wasn’t as bright as it usually was, and Corvus’ internal clock figured it was around dawn.

Of course.

Soren seemed to not have the same issues as he did when it came to sleeping, the man softly snoring beside him, his arms wrapped around Corvus’ chest and his face nestled into the crook of his shoulder.

Soren when he was asleep was very… peaceful. He was always a relaxed person, but it was a different type of relaxed. Less forced.

And also very cute.

Corvus found comfort next to Soren, wrapped in his embrace. He was warm and familiar and safe.

For now, they were safe.

For now.

Soren shifted slightly, nuzzling his face into the side of Corvus’ neck sleepily. “You’re up early.”

“Unfortunately.” he took one of Soren’s hands, kissing his knuckles. “How’d you sleep?”

“Beside’s getting interrupted in the middle of the night for a war meeting?” he pressed a kiss to Corvus’ shoulder. “It was alright, if I’m being honest.”

“Well, I appreciate your honesty.”

“How did you sleep?” Soren asked him, unwrapping one of his arms from around Corvus to stretch.

“It was okay. Wish I was able to sleep a bit more.” Corvus blew out a breath, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“I mean, there’s nothing that needs us right now.” Soren sat up next to him, arms snaking back around his waist. “We could stay here a while.”

He was right; they could. It was early enough that they probably wouldn’t be bothered…

“We could,” he agreed, shifting to face Soren, reaching up to cup his face with one hand.

He leaned into the touch, kissing his palm before leaning closer and kissing him.

Corvus kissed back, his other hand threading into Soren’s white hair.

Soren’s hands slid up his back, one of them slipping under his tunic.

The kiss was short, followed by a second small peck before he started peppering kisses on the side of Soren’s face.

Soren smothered a small laugh, pulling Corvus closer. He could feel Soren’s fingertips brush against his spine, sending a small shiver through him.

The kisses trailed down the side of his neck as Corvus felt one of Soren’s arms slip away from his back, bracing on the ground before lowering both of them back onto the thin cot in the tent.

Corvus propped himself up on one of his elbows, kissing Soren again with his other hand cupping the side of his face.

Soren’s hand slid up his side, dragging the hem of his tunic up slightly.

Corvus’ fingers gently brushed against the smooth blue marks underneath Soren’s eyes before trailing down his throat, finding where the marks continued at the base of his neck.

Soren pulled away from the kiss, ducking down to nip at the side of Corvus’ neck, near his jaw. He bit back a groan, a small noise still escaping him despite his efforts.

He could feel Soren’s grin against his neck, nipping at the spot again before nuzzling his face into the crook of his shoulder. “Ugh, you’re right. We should’ve slept in more.”

“Told you.” he murmured, shifting to lay down fully.

Soren’s arms wrapped around him, hugging him tightly. “I missed you.”

Corvus cupped the side of Soren’s face with his hand, looking at him. “I missed you, too.”

He paused, sitting up slightly “Hold on, I have something for you, actually.”

Soren raised an eyebrow at him, still laying down. “You do?”

“Yeah, hold on.” he quickly got up and grabbed his bag before retreating back to the cot, sitting criss-cross.

Soren’s arms wrapped around his waist, his chin resting on Corvus’s shoulder. A comforting weight and a welcome warmth.

Out of his bag, he pulled out the glowing red and white flower that he had found on his way out of the Silvergrove. The glow had dimmed slightly, but it still provided a shimmery light.

“I saw it when I was leaving the Silvergrove with Buckeye, and it made me think of you.” Corvus turned his head to look at Soren, whose gaze was fully set on the flower.

“It’s beautiful…” he murmured, gently taking the flower from Corvus and cradling it in his hands. “Thank you, Corv, I-”

The flap of their tent busted open, revealing a red faced Gren, who quickly covered his eyes. “Oh shit uh- Karim’s here, get dressed, there’s a siege.” he hesitated in the doorway, uncovering his eyes. “Uh, congrats.” he added before rushing out of the tent.

Oh shit.

[sorinethemastermind]

Maybe we should runaway to an exhilarating place

In which Soren and Corvus have fun despite the situation. Co-written and edited by the amazingly talented @honeii-puff. I write the Soren POVs, they write the Corvus POVs Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

Soren woke up with Corvus lying beside him. Soren woke up with Corvus lying beside him. 

He grinned, rolling over to watch the gentle rise and fall of the other man’s chest. He could get used to this.

Corvus looked very peaceful when he slept. But, he always looked very peaceful. If Soren was a rushing river - always moving forward, rarely looking back - then Corvus was a tree; sun filtering between it’s leaves, branches swaying in the breeze. Calm and quiet. The kind of place where you could sit back and relax. The kind of place you could always count on to stay the same, no matter what was happening in the forest around it.

That was pretty poetic, actually.

Soren shifted, carefully lifting his arm from where it had been resting across Corvus’ chest, and crept across the tent to fetch his satchel. He pulled out his notebook and pen, tapping it gently against his lower lip as he watched Corvus sleep.

The Tree and The River

Rushing - the river

It flows by the tree. Through it

The tree stills it’s sound.

“Soren?” 

Soren jumped at the sound of Corvus’ voice, turning to stare at him with a flush creeping up his cheeks.

“Are you okay?” Corvus gave him a worried look, sitting up and rubbing the sleep quickly from his eyes.

“Yeah! Yeah. I just… wanted to remember this.”

Corvus’ cheeks tinted a shade deeper and he cleared his throat, getting up. “Alright. So long as you’re okay.”

“Better than okay,” Soren assured him. “I’m great. The greatest. Actually, I uh was thinking, maybe now today we could just-”

The front of the tent was thrown abruptly (and Soren thought rather rudely) open by a disgruntled Callum.

“Ezran is having a war meeting in-” the mage trailed, catching sight of the pair of them. He turned a bright shade of red. “As you were,” he managed, dropping the flap of the tent back down.

For a moment the pair of them just watched the flap of canvas where he had been, then they both burst out laughing, Soren’s boisterous snicker probably loud enough to wake half the camp.

“We should probably get to that war meeting, though.” Corvus said, finally, letting out a breathy final chuckle.

“I know, I know,” Soren agreed. “But the look on his face.” He laughed again, pushing himself to his feet and reaching for his sword. “You go on ahead, I’ll catch up to you in a second.”

Corvus nodded and went to go, but paused at the exit, one hand on the tent flap to turn back to him. “And then, after the meeting, perhaps we could… come back here? Or go someplace else? Someplace… quieter.”

Soren grinned at him and winked. “My thoughts exactly.”

Corvus left in a hurry, cheeks flushing, and Soren stifled another laugh. He set down his notebook,  reattached his armor, and strapped the sword to his side before slipping out of the tent and following Corvus to the makeshift war room (war tent?).

Ducking inside, Soren glanced around, eyes landing on his boyfriend. Corvus gave him a little smile, which Soren returned with an even wider one, slipping into his place beside him as everyone else filed into the room. Janai and Amaya were already there, hunched over a map of the surrounding area, discussing… well Soren wasn’t really sure.

“What’s she saying?” Soren asked, leaning over to whisper in Corvus’ ear. He also took the opportunity of increased proximity to loop an arm over the other man’s shoulders.

After a moment, Corvus’ hand tucked around his waist. “They’re trying to decide where Karim would have retreated to.”

“He’s a piece of shit probably a- a-” Soren searched for the right adjective, “a crap pile.”

He didn’t need to turn and look to know that Corvus was raising an eyebrow at him. Before either of them could say anything more Ezran arrived, followed by Rayla and Callum. With everyone gathered, the meeting convened.

Janai laid the map out on the table before them, guiding them all through the various locations Karim could have sequestered what remained of his army. There weren’t many, not close enough to be of any concern, anyway.

Soren tried to pay attention, he really did. But Corvus was right there and it was a lot more fun to randomly lean over and whisper things into his ear, then watch the other - usually rather serious - man try not to laugh in the middle of an important meeting. They didn’t break contact through the entire conference, and once it adjourned simply switched to holding hands as they strode out. Soren felt like this must be what heaven felt like - like he was floating on a cloud. 

He may have skipped a tiny bit as they walked out of the tent.

Corvus glanced over at him out of the corner of his eye, a bemused smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “We’re at war, Soren.”

“Precisely,” Soren tapped the side of his head. “Which is all about mindset. Morale.”

“Well maybe you should try and be a little more subtle about your… morale.”

“That’s a great idea,” Soren agreed, tugging Corvus into the crevice between two tents. The other man flushed and Soren beamed. “I thought you wanted me to be subtle?”

“This isn’t quite what I-” Soren interrupted him with a kiss, which seemed to change Corvus’ mind rather quickly.

Corvus' hand dropped to his waist, pulling him closer. Soren went to brace himself against the wall before remembering it was canvas and  instead wrapping his arms around the other man, taking a slight step backwards and taking Corvus with him.

There was a faint thumping sound from nearby and Soren wondered distantly if he had knocked something over. When it came again, Corvus pulled away from him abruptly.

“Wait, where’re you-” Soren cut off mid sentence at the sight of Corvus’ red cheeks, turning to find Amaya standing a few steps away, foot tapping slowly against the hard packed earth.

She signed something that Soren couldn’t quite make out and Corvus’ face turned a deeper shade of maroon. He doubted it was anything bad, though. Not when Amaya was wearing that smile. 

“Yes. We’ll- We’ll be there in a moment.”

Amaya gave them a quick nod, then threw a glance to Soren. He grinned at her, and she snorted, signing something else to Corvus before she walked away.

“What’d she say?” Soren asked, leaning over to his boyfriend, whose face was still more reminiscent of a tomato than anything else.

“She said that they may have found signs of Karim’s army and are sending out a patrol in ten minutes. And, uh-” Corvus cleared his throat, “she also said good job.”

Soren laughed. “To who?”

“I… am not sure.”

“Probably you,” Soren decided, bumping Corvus with his shoulder. “I’m quite the catch.”

“Mhm.”

“What, I am!”

Corvus reached down, twining their fingers together again and tugging Soren out into the open. “I didn’t say you weren’t.”

Soren followed his boyfriend towards where the patrol was supposed to be gathering, lips pursed as he thought. All of a sudden his eyes widened. “You’re messing with me!” Soren exclaimed.

Corvus glanced back at him with a little smile. “Yes, Soren. I’m messing with you.”

“I knew it.”

“Mhm.”

“Are you doing it again?”

“What do you think?”

“Yes,” Soren mused after a moment. “Yes, you are.”

“Very perceptive.”

“Thank you,” Soren beamed. “Wait. Wait, are you still doing it? Corvus? Corvus, are you still doing it?”

[clownhunterbebop]

Unreal Unearth postcards

track list + lyrics compiled

1. De Selby (part 1): (here)

At last,

When all of the world is asleep

You take in the blackness of air;

The likes of a darkness so deep

That God at the start couldn’t bear

2. De Selby (part 2): (here)

What you’re given

What you live in

Darling it finds a way to live in you

And your heart, love

Has such darkness

I feel it in the corners of the room

3. First Time: (here)

Remember once I told you about

How before I heard it from your mouth

My name would always hit my ears

As such an awful sound

And the soul, if that’s what you’d call it

Uneasy ally of the body

It felt nameless as a river

Undiscovered underground

4. Francesca: (here)

If I could hold you for a minute

Darling, I would do it again

I would not change it each time,

Heaven is not fit to house a love

Like you and I

5. I, Carrion (Icarian): (here)

I’ve reached a rarer height now

That I can confirm

All our weight is just a burden

Offered to us by the world

And though I burn

How could I fall?

I am lifted by every word you say to me

If anything could fall at all

It’s the world that falls away from me

6. Eat Your Young: (here)

Come and get some

Skinning the children for a war drum

Putting food on the table selling bombs and guns

It's quicker and easier to eat your young

7. Damage Gets Done: (here)

You and I had nothing to show

But the best of the world

In the palm of our hand and darling

I haven't felt it since then

I don't know how the feeling ended

But I know being reckless and young

Is not how the damage gets done

8. Who We Are: (here)

Darling, we sacrificed

We gave our time to something undefined

This phantom life sharpens like an image

But it sharpens like a knife

We’re born at night

So much of our life

Is just carving through the dark

To get so far,

And the hardest part

Is who we are

It’s who we are

9. Son of Nyx: (here)

...

...

...

10. All Things End: (here)

All things end

All that we intend is scrawled in sand

It slips right through our hands

And just knowing

That everything will end

Should not change our plans

When we begin again

11. To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe): (here)

'Uiscefhuarithe'

The feel of coldness only water brings

There are some things that no-one

Teaches you, love

That come natural as a dream

You didn't know you were in

And darling, all my dreaming

Is only put to shame

And darling, all my dreaming

Has only been given a name

12. Butchered Tongue: (here)

So far from home

To have a stranger call you ‘darling’

And have your guarded heart

Be lifted like a child up by the hand

In some town that just means

‘Home’ to them

With no translator left to sound

A butchered tongue

Still singing here above the ground

13. Anything But: (here)

In a shot I’d swap my body for a body of water

Worry the cliffside top as a wave crashing over

I’d lower the world in a flood

Or better yet I’d cause a drought

If I was a riptide,

I wouldn’t take you out

14. Abstract (psychopomp): (here)

The poor thing in the road

Its eye still glistening

The cold wet of your nose

The Earth from a distance

See how it shines

See how it shines

15. Unknown (Nth): (here)

You know the distance never made

A difference to me

I swam a lake of fire, I’d have walked

Across the floor of any sea,

Ignored the vastness between

All that can be seen

And all that we believe

So I thought you were like an angel to me

16. First Light (here)

The sky set to burst

The gold and the rust

The colour erupts

You filling my cup

The sun coming up

Like I lived my whole life

Before the first light

[hopskippen]

Its quicker and easier to eat your young

Reblogs greatly appreciated! Please reblog if you're going to like, it helps more people see my art kre-eeeee-ar ^w^

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Skinning The Children For A War Drum

by QueerDisabledMess Talon has finished its final task; dismantling the Court of Owls. All that's left is to turn itself over to the Batman to be safely disposed of, allowing Gotham to be free of Owls and Talons, forever. Except there's suddenly a child where there is not supposed to be, staring at Talon with wide eyes. AKA Talon-Dick takes care of the final members of the Court of Owls only to be discovered by their eight-year-old son, Tim Drake, who then walks them over to the Batman's house? And instead of a swift death, he ends up with a family??? Words: 2853, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 1 of (It's Quicker and Easier To) Eat Your Young Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Dick Grayson, Tim Drake (DCU), Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne Relationships: Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Alfred Pennyworth, Tim Drake & Alfred Pennyworth Additional Tags: Court of Owls, Dick Grayson is a Talon, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Accidental Child Acquisition, Non-graphic Murder, Its okay it's just COO members they deserve it, Young Tim Drake, Young Dick Grayson, Autistic Tim Drake (DCU), Autistic Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson Has ADHD, Dick Grayson Has PTSD, Autistic Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Dehumanization, Psychological Trauma, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Soon to be parent Bruce Wayne via https://ift.tt/MXkHeut