#Planetarium records

[watashinohikari-8]

𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 & 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐆𝐚𝐡𝐨!

[dailygaho]

It's my 2 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

[mainlycl]

plt need to comeback as a group I can't do this anymore

[obae-me]

Happy Birthday to my favorite boy who I love with my whole soul!

He's ostentatious, yes. It's hard to think otherwise with his title of Pride, his extravagant clothes, his dramatic entrances, and his peacock-like aura; always strutting about with his head held high and his metaphorical and oftentimes literal wings held out fluttering behind him.

So, it's easy to forget how much he loves simplicity. How he craves normalcy.

You'll fully admit you had misjudged him when his first birthday with you rolled around. Rumors forced visions of Diavolo putting a screeching halt over the whole kingdom, making everyone come out of their homes and business in droves just to celebrate. He'd have a limo or flying carriage take him to an exclusive five-star restaurant, drinking millennia old Demonus so expensive, one drop could have Mammon rolling in money for months. All the while decked up to the nines- the tens, even.

But, you quickly learned that those symbols of opulence were not what he wanted.

However, this year, you still found doubt clawing at your insides. Was this enough? His brothers assured you that what you all had planned was more than adequate, but it was still difficult to think so. You wanted to give him the world... Now you knew Diavolo's struggles firsthand when it came to the fallen angel.

After he had fallen asleep, you'd rolled over and disabled the timer on his phone. Mammon had already somehow snuck in and stolen Lucifer's alarm clock, eliminating his backup (which might already be sold at this point). He could sleep in now. Diavolo had already given Lucifer the day off, but old habits died hard, and everyone assumed he'd be up before he needed to.

The plan was set. He'd wake up to already-made coffee he could sip in bed before lumbering down to breakfast in his pajamas. There would be no arguing, the house would be clean, and everyone was ready to participate in a historical museum tour that was showcasing demon adaptations of human technologies. One of which was the first magical rendition of an assembly line.

Then you'd head out to have tea and snacks in the Royal Gardens. It would be just you, him, and Diavolo (with Barbatos serving of course) while the others set up a party at the House. The only ones attending would be family and close friends. It would be then that he opened presents, ate his favorite homemade dinner, and drank a little in the company of others while playing different games. Then while the night was fairly young, you'd offer to take him away.

As you rolled over in bed, listening to his light breathing as he slept soundly, you couldn't help but feel both nervous and excited for what you had planned for him. For months, you had tried scouting for the perfect gift. Was this...enough? It deviated from what you would normally plan to get him. It wasn't a cursed record or a set of cufflinks or a tie or anything like that. This year, you'd managed to find a music box. It played a lovely little tune that had the sort of melody that forced you to go quiet, chills running down your spine. But this wasn't just any music box. No. Under certain conditions, it would show the listener the memory that would make them the happiest in that moment. And the conditions were easy, one only needed to turn the winding key exactly six times.

Thinking about presenting it to him made you all giddy inside, knowing that he could use it whenever he felt particularly stressed...but also more anxiety allowed itself to flood your nerves. What if it had somehow broken in the spot you'd hidden the gift in?! Did you check it twice last night? Yes. But stranger things had happened in this house, broken things were actually quite common. So, you'd check on it again...just to be sure.

You eyed Lucifer as you slipped out of bed, keeping the mattress from bobbing too much as you tip-toed your way out of his room. Straight to the planetarium you went, assured by the youngest sibling that he'd keep it safe by shooing Lucifer out of the area if he got too close, which was so common already the eldest shouldn't get suspicious. Slipping your way into the room, you rushed over to the specific chair you had hid it behind. The ground was cold as you sat down on it, your legs crossed over each other as you sighed in relief as the intact music box was pulled into your lap.

"Might as well give it a test run," you muttered to no one but yourself as the key clicked six times. Music poured out into the room as you opened the lid. Mist seemed to shimmer a little in the air, a scene projected into the magic. Faint voices played into your mind, syllables almost twinkling in time with the notes.

"You worry too much." A familiar voice had you smile a bit sheepishly, an old memory of Lucifer shaking his head at you being the music box's memory of choice. "I've told you time and time again that you don't need to fret over impressing me, or whatever that silly word you said was." Ah, yes...you remembered this now...it was some time ago, worrying over some kind of RAD gala. Even now you weren't exactly sure what the specific thing you had panicked so grievously over was, but you had been so anxious over letting everyone down, especially the one who you held so close to your heart. In the image, Lucifer grabbed your face, looking so deeply into your eyes, it was as if he were reaching through the haze to assure you all over again. "And if I must, I will continue to tell you time and time and time again, even if my jaw must break from the strain. So take a breath, relax your shoulders, and remember that--"

"I love you," something echoed. You jumped, your arms pulling the music box close to your body instead of launching it in the air. You shut the lid as you glanced over your shoulder.

"L-Luci..."

The demon chuckled a bit as he tucked the fabric of his robe tighter against his body as he came up behind you, getting on his knees and resting his chin sleepily on your shoulder. "Should I be offended or pleased that you're sneaking off in the middle of the night to meet up with another me?"

You audibly sighed. So he saw... "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Answering a question with a question are we?" As he mused he wrapped his arms around your torso.

"Answering my question to your question with another question?" you quipped right back.

Even without fully seeing him you could feel his eyes roll. He gave you a squeeze and pressed his cheek right next to yours. "Am I to assume...perhaps rather selfishly...if all the secrecy is to imply that this interesting little thing is mine?"

A long pause settled between you. Was this...a bit of disappointment bubbling inside you? "It was supposed to be a surprise..."

If anyone knew the tragedy of derailed plans, it would be him. He hummed in apologetic understanding. "I can pretend like I didn't see it."

That actually had you chuckle a bit, shaking your head. You scooted on the floor to turn around to face him. Grabbing one of his hands, you placed the gift inside his palm. "Happy birthday, Lucifer. May this uplift you in those darker moments when I can't be there. May your birthday this year add to the pool of happy memories to choose from. May I be by your side for another birthday, and the birthday after that, and so many more to come." You leaned forward and kissed his cheek, chuckling at his slightly wild bed-hair that you were just now getting a good look at.

He went a bit silent, and you could've sworn as his eyes shut for a moment, a little bit of color came to his cheeks. He set your gift off to the side of himself as his arms wrapped around you once more, pulling you into a tight embrace. "And may I get to tell you time and time and time and time again...how much I love you."

[strawberry-cowmilk]

the brothers when they realise mc will die one day

-> brothers x mc

a/n: it's been a good minute since I wrote actual ultimate painful angst so here you go while I wait for my hot makeup sponge soap soup to help me clean the things

mc's gender is not mentioned, not proof read

content warnings: angst, death, crying, sports injury

-----

Lucifer

he was peacefully listening to a new record he got with you next to him

lucifer was a great fan of this certain composer so he started to talk a little about the music and the meaning behind it

'the composer wrote this piece for their deceased partner-' he suddenly went quiet once he realised he will be like the composer one day

you had already fallen asleep to hear what he said, lucifer carefully pressed you close, afraid of waking you up and afraid of the day you'll leave him

Mammon

mammon was very bored since lucifer took away his card as a punishment, so he decided to watch tv

he was just browsing the channels and ended up watching the news

mammon was already upset about not having his card, and all the depressing stuff on the news made him more sad, and one certain report hit him with the reality that humans die way before demons

tears stung at his eyes as he instantly called you, asking where you are and if you're willing to cuddle him

Leviathan

he got a new game off of akuzon and you're playing it together

it just happens that you're absolutely terrible at this game so you keep dying every two minutes

it was funny at first, you and levi were laughing about it until he suddenly went quiet and started crying

before you could ask him what happened he hugged you and started begging you to not die for real

it took some while for him to calm down a little, you're his (only) friend, how will he live without you?

Satan

he was working on a group rad project with solomon, eventually he started talking about how he accidentally made himself immortal

eventually satan demanded to know how he did it, and he was pretty angrily asking too, during the conversation he realised you are not immortal (unlike solomon)

the prof literally had to separate them because satan was getting too angry

satan wasted no time, he went to look for you so he can spend time with you and forget his awful thoughts

Asmodeus

there was some fashion week event in the devildom and some high fashion brand asked asmo to model for them (he accepted)

but on the day of the event, it got cancelled

asmo was not pleased with this, but you told him it's ok and you can watch him on the catwalk next time he gets invited, but the thing is that probably won't be until another 500 years-

he realised there's a very good chance you won't be alive for the next time, he cried and clung to you, denying reality

Beelzebub

beel was playing the finals of his fangol game and things were getting very serious, there were players getting tackled left and right pretty badly

his mind started to drift away from the game for a while, and remembered that time you asked him to play with you

but if you, a human, were on this field, you'd probably get badly injured, or worse

the coach had to get a time out because the team's got beel literally crying his eyes out on the bench

the team won, but beel is not in the mood for celebrating

Belphegor

it just randomly hit him

he was looking at the stars next to you in the planetarium and something about the stars today made him think about everything, and eventually the fact that humans don't live long compared to demons

he turned to you, said something along the lines of 'don't go' and curled up against you, falling asleep

belphie needed to give himself a good dream right now otherwise he feels like he won't be able to handle it now

[devildomwriter]

Lucifer Birthday Fun Fact Special 100 Facts

1. In the Celestial realm, Lucifer was a seraph

2. When Lilith went to earth to meet her boyfriend, Lucifer would secretly follow and spy on them

3. Lucifer is the reason Leviathan is obsessed with anime

4. When asked if he prefers cats or dogs, Lucifer simply stated Cerberus

5. Lucifer is the one who originally tamed Cerberus and was forced by Diavolo to adopt him

6. Lucifer sometimes compares himself to Barbatos

7. Lucifer cannot make Diavolo’s favorite food, last time he tried, Diavolo texted MC pleading with them not to allow Lucifer to make it again

8. In the celestial realm, Lucifer had a friendly rivalry with Michael, his co-leader

9. Simply out of spite, Lucifer visited the celestial realm’s first planetarium before Michael had a chance because he knew Michael would want to do so first

10. Lucifer and Simeon sometimes took naps together in the celestial realm

11. Lucifer considered Simeon his brother before the great celestial war

12. Lucifer didn’t realize he’d become a demon after being cast out of heaven until Barbatos pointed it out

13. The first time Lucifer visited the Devildom he critiqued the low quality soil

14. Lucifer loves flowers, specifically roses, he sometimes cross breeds them and takes such good care of them that Mammon feared for his life when he accidentally sat on one

15. Mammon is Lucifer’s favorite

16. Out of his brothers, Lucifer trusts Mammon the most

17. Lucifer sees techno pop as “cacophonous bleep-bloop music”

18. Lucifer has a big collection of cursed records

19. Lucifer had six wings until he ripped off two of them in anger, these wings combined with his overwhelming hatred became Satan

20. In Nightbringer it is revealed Lucifer actually had twelve wings from his father but never displayed all of them because they got in the way

21. Lucifer originally only intended to leave the celestial realm but after Lilith was sentenced to be erased from existence he escalated to a war

22. Lucifer went to meet Diavolo for the first time because Michael tricked him into it

23. Even in the Celestial realm, Lucifer’s punishments were physical and extremely harsh

24. Lucifer is skilled with multiple musical instruments. He’s most mentioned playing the piano but he’s also seen playing the violin, the drums, and a guitar

25. Lucifer loves classical music

26. Lucifer regularly goes to music shops to buy cursed records

27. Lucifer loves the theatre and after seeing a good play will ramble on about them and quote his favorite parts

28. Lucifer prefers his tea to be on the stronger side

29. Lucifer let his brothers believe Lilith died in the war so they wouldn’t have to suffer knowing they couldn’t ever see her again

30. Lucifer lied to Diavolo and trapped Belphegor in the attack to protect him from Diavolo’s wrath as Belphegor was considered treasonous

31. Lucifer once got so mad at Diavolo that he strung him up from the ceiling along with Solomon who plotted his murder

32. Lucifer is the only one who has attempted to attack MC more than once

33. Lucifer is the reason Luke is called a chihuahua

34. The first thing Lucifer does every morning is check for messages from MC

35. Lucifer supports Levi going to karaoke but only because he is constantly woken up in the middle of the night by his singing

36. Lucifer is ambidextrous

37. The painting in Lucifer’s is room is an artistic interpretation of his fall from grace

38. Lucifer works to the point of passing out. Diavolo bribes him to sleep by threatening to make a picture of him sleeping his lock screen

39. At the end of season one after forming a pact with MC, one of the player’s options leads to a sequence strongly suggesting the two have sex

40. Lucifer kept Asmodeus around him in the celestial realm because he wanted to be surrounded by the most beautiful angels

41. Lucifer recommended Beelzebub to become a seraph

42. Lucifer is not a morning demon

43. Lucifer think Beelzebub binging food is cute so he indulges him sometimes by buying lots of food

44. Lucifer watches horror movies with Mammon when Mammon is too scared to watch it by himself

45. Lucifer is the second tallest of his brothers, just slightly shorter than Beelzebub

46. When Lucifer accidentally forgot to save Diavolo in a virtual reality game the only reason Diavolo forgave him so quickly is because MC convinced Lucifer to meow cutely

47. Lucifer has frequent headaches caused by the intense stress his brothers give him

48. During Christmas, Lucifer stays up all night to deliver his brothers’ gifts

49. Lucifer had a Devil tube channel where he hid his identity as he told stories. He stopped after a week when Belphegor and Satan found out.

50. Lucifer holds onto items for sentimental value but hides this. Simeon sees through the lies.

51. Lucifer has secretly kept the portraits his brothers made of him in art class

52. There are many large portraits of Lucifer across the Devildom including one in the RAD Library

53. When Lucifer fell he landed where the RAD colosseum would eventually be built

54. Lucifer asked Diavolo to pull some strings to get Mammon the car he worked hard to afford

55. In the celestial realm Lucifer was more blunt and rude because he was already seen as perfect, in the Devildom he is calm and composed so others will see him as perfect since this is no longer the obvious assumption

56. Lucifer can read other people’s memories

57. Lucifer once took Simeon’s phone to text Luke asking his opinion on the brothers. Luke was angry when he found out and insisted Simeon get a lock which confused Simeon

58. When Mammon was put under an angelic spell he gave away everything he loved. He was depressed after being freed from the spell. Lucifer let Mammon use his credit card to buy everything he wanted to cheer him up again.

59. The only existing picture of Lucifer shirtless is owned by Diavolo who does everything in his power to keep it away from Lucifer

60. Lucifer puts spells on his brothers and himself to prevent photos being taken of him when he doesn’t want any

61. Lucifer once threw Levi into the ocean when Levi disguised himself as an octopus to try and take photos of Lucifer

62. Lucifer was the only one to believe in Mammon in the celestial realm and the only one who could control him so he kept Mammon by his side as his personal assistant

63. When Levi’s game affected the real world causing every doorway to lead somewhere different, Lucifer kept running into Mephistopheles who wouldn’t stop complaining to him

64. Lucifer helps the brothers kidnap MC in season 2 to prevent them from returning to the human world

65. Lucifer often has tea parties with Barbatos where they discuss and try new teas

66. Lucifer, Michael, and Raphael used to drink heavily together in the celestial realm.

67. One of the first things Raphael and Lucifer did after reuniting was get drunk together

68. When one of Solomon’s dishes backfired as usual, Satan actually managed to cast all his pain to Lucifer who had to then endure the side effects two times as much as everyone else

69. When his brothers acted up, Lucifer actually turned them in Test Name Sheets

70. Lucifer and MC once pretended to be a couple to scare off Lucifer’s fan club

71. Lucifer is uncomfortable around Solomon because he feels like he actually needs to use a lot of his strength to defeat Solomon

72. Lucifer is constantly avoiding Solomon trying to make a pact with him by casting spells on food and gifts that will persuade Lucifer to want to make a pact

73. Whenever Lucifer leaves the house overnight he puts a ward on his room to prevent his brother from getting in

74. Lucifer ring of light is inscribed with “Blessed be the bringer of light”

75. Lucifer’s nickname in the celestial realm was the morning star. He now uses this as his last name.

76. One of Lucifer’s favorite shows is The Tarot Games. He and Diavolo are working together to convince Barbatos to watch it too

77. Lucifer used to play the piano to help Belphegor fall asleep

78. Lucifer and Simeon were once so close that they sometimes can still tell what the other is thinking

79. Lucifer is shown to really enjoy camping to the point he isn’t bothered when a serial killer shows up

80. Satan is considered by Lucifer to be the safest option for MC to date in season one

81. Once as an angel Lucifer accidentally ate all the chocolates he and his brothers’ had and blamed it on Beelzebub

82. Not even Lucifer can resist the affect of Asmodeus’s eyes for long

83. Lucifer got upset when Diavolo released an interview in which he sung Lucifer’s praises most of the interview and what was released was still considered the abridged version

84. Lucifers greatest fear is dying and ascending back to the Celestial Realm

85. Lucifer was once shrunk to the size of MC’s hand by Solomon

86. Lucifer refuses to say anything under duress

87. When Lucifer lost a matching bracelet he had with MC he got extremely annoyed very easily to the point he even blew up the bathroom and sent Cerberus after Mammon

88. When Lucifer was shrunk, Satan and his brothers began dressing him up like a doll with magic

89. Lucifer liked demonus so much it’s what changed his mind about the Devildom and he began to like it

90. Lucifer will not hesitate to eliminate anything he sees as a threat to his brothers

91. To stop Satan from cursing anyone, Lucifer cast a spell to make it impossible for Satan to leave his side. He changed his mind when Satan kept growling at him from the corner of the room and he wasn’t able to get any sleep

92. Lucifer has said that whenever he tried to picture life without Mammon it felt as if something was missing

93. Lucifer finds his hectic schedule (thanks to his brothers) to be enjoyable

94. When a curse binding Lucifer and MC together was placed, Lucifer pretended to not be able to break it until he got called out by Diavolo

95. When Lucifer lost his memories, he immediately became close to his brothers again, choosing them as his family for a second time

96. Lucifer continues to try to get Diavolo to delete all his photos of him but always fails

97. Lucifer’s brothers joke that his “type” is Diavolo

98. Lucifer does not understand the point of night pool parties

99. Lucifer took two days to make a complete schedule for a trip for Diavolo and Barbatos, most of the time was spent writing notes making sure they wouldn’t get in trouble

100. Lucifer in Nightbringer (which takes place an unknown amount of time in the past) is already over ten million years in age

[kats4you]

KREL TARRON/reader

fem reader

scenario (500 words)

takes place during the series of 3BELOW

——— ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ———

The first thing I thought when Eli came to me in a frenzy, flailing around and rambling about aliens, was that I befriended an insane person.

To be fair, Eli had a track record of all things "conspiracy" and finding oddities occurring in Arcadia.

I just wasn't a fan, per-say.

I just might have believed in ghosts for a bit. And, on the occasional am, when I was half asleep, I could swear I would see UFO's.

But I was sleep deprived.

"(Y/n), you HAVE to believe me! I saw in their window, and they were aliens. Aliens!" He rambled, practically begging me to believe him.

"...Krel and Aja aren't aliens. Sure... maybe they can be a bit odd. But I find that endearing in a boring town like this." I shrugged, turning away and heading to the bus for our trip.

As I walked, I could hear Eli grumble nervously behind me.

We were heading to the planetarium as sort of a field trip. Considering Arcadia was a small town with low income, this was our equivalent to going to a different state.

I was seated alone (thankfully). The two seat to the side of me was inhabited by Krel and Aja.

Could they really be aliens? That would be crazy, right?

I mean... they are twins, but look completely different.

They can say some pretty odd things as well.

...and do.

I sighed, linking my headphones and starting to play music.

Once we arrived, we all gathered around the steps of the front entrance, listening to Ms. Janeth.

"Do aliens exist, or are we alone in the universe?" She announced with a smile, "I'll let you decide. Your projects for the school science fair are due next week. Explore and find inspiration!"

We began walking inside. Most students went with their friends and walked around, looking at interesting displays.

Then she groans, "...because if I have to grade one more baking soda volcano, I'll explode!"

I stood at the edge of the planetary display, watching it spin. I always thought museums were great.

Arcadia doesn't have the best options, but once, I went out of town on vacation, and went to a huge museum. It was amazing!

While I was watching the display, I noticed Krel and Aja walking around. If they were aliens, I would know. Right?

Did he always have those glasses?

Krel grins as he looks at me, "No, I did not! But they suit me well, no?"

I stare at him in slight shock.

Mind reading... that's an alien thing right?

He began walking away with a proud smile, Aja at his side.

You look cute in them.

He stopped walking, turning around with a surprised expression.

I just smile, and walk away.

Okay, so I can confirm: Krel was reading my mind.

Weird? Yes.

Concerning? Maybe a little...

Alien?...

...No?

bonus;

As I continued walking around, my mind kept going back to that girl.

Did she mean what she said? Or was she just playing with me?

She wasn’t freaked out like all the others… is that a good or a bad thing?

I’m not sure why I’m so obsessed with it.

With her.

Kleb.

[gayforanthonyjcrowley]

So, I have this writing idea, but I might need some help from you guys.

I have this idea where Crowley and Aziraphale go on abc dates, but I need some ideas. This is the list I have so far:

A: alpha Centauri, amusement park, arcade, aquarium, …

B: baking, boat ride, botanical garden, berry picking, backyard camping, bowling, …

C: cooking, circus, concert, craft night, chocolate fondue, …

D: dinner order, drag show, drive-in movie, …

E: eventing, eating escargo, Everest, estate sales, escape room ( no miracles ), enchilada date, elephant back riding, Easter egg hunt, Eden garden, …

F: fishing, filharmony, fruit picking, firework show, …

G: gaming, getting matching tattoos, goat yoga, …

H: hair tutorial remaking, hiking, horseback riding, historical museum, …

I: ice cream, ice skating, ikea shopping, …

J: jazz club, jogging, jacuzzi, jigsaw puzzle, …

K: kayaking, Karaoke, …

L: live music, Lego building, …

M: movie night, museum, mini golf, magic show, …

N: national park, Nintendo game night, …

O: oven baked cookies, opera, open mic night, origami class, …

P: pancakes, planetarium, pottery, painting, picnic, …

Q: Queen concert, quiz night ( triple date ), … 

R: roller skating, Ritz, …

S: swimming, sushi, stargazing, …

T:  tour with the Bentley, thrifting, trampoline park, train ride, …

U: ugly sweater party ( triple date ), …

V: vintage car rally, vinyl record shopping, vineyard experience, volunteering, Venice trip, Venus, …

W: wildlife sanctuary, wine tasting, waltz lesson, …

X: Xylophone concert, Xylophone lessons, Xerox, X-Rays, Xbox gaming, xtreme sports, xylophone, …

Y: yacht ride, YouTube marathon, yoga, …

Z: zurich mini break, zero-proof cocktail making class, Zumba class, Z A Rob Zombie concert, zen garden, zoo, …

So let me know if you have another fun idea! I’ll post a poll on my tumblr, so you guys can decide what they are going to do on their date! ( If no one votes, I’ll choose myself, but I hope I’ll get at least some votes )

I’ll be posting this story on my AO3 account, same as my tumblr, GayForAnthonyJCrowley.

[spacetime1969]

Danny Fenton’s Field Trip to the Ghost Zone!

I have had the wonderful opportunity to write a fic inspired by the art of the wonderful @arisu-artnfics as part of @ecto-implosion. I ended up thinking it would be fun to bring in a trope from a completely different fandom, and write a Peter Parker Field Trip fic for Danny Fenton. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: The Field Trip

Ao3 | First | Previous | Next

Dash Baxter hadn’t expected that his class field trip would end up like this. He had been expecting a boring day at the planetarium, but instead they had found themselves in the Ghost Zone!

A lot of things had happened all at once. First they had fallen through a portal and landed in the Ghost Zone. Then their bus driver had abandoned them to dive through the portal as it closed, trapping them all behind him. And then, while the rest of the group was grappling with the fact that they had somehow ended up in another dimension, Fenton and his friends had gone and recruited a ghost to fly them home, somehow!

Honestly, Dash could deal with all of that. It was a lot, but he was an Amity Parker, born and raised! What was weirding him out was how relaxed the nerds were about all of this!

Dash wanted it on the record that he wasn’t scared (definitely not). He was just a little nervous, okay? Don’t judge him! They were in the Ghost Zone! How could he not be at least a little nervous? This is where the ghosts lived! Everyone should be nervous!

Not the nerds though. They only seemed to be mildly annoyed by the fact they were stuck in the afterlife another dimension. He could understand Manson and Valerie, they were both pretty scary themselves. He could even sort of understand Foley, but Fenton was infamous for hiding from even the most tame ghosts, disappearing to some hidey-hole until Phantom took care of them. Heck, he even abandoned his friends a lot of the time, leaving them to be saved by Phantom. So why the heck was Fenton so chill now that they were literally flying through the Ghost Zone?

Dash wasn’t gonna be stuck wondering for long, Mr. Lancer had the same question. “Mr. Fenton, How are you so calm!”

Danny stared at him. “Mr. Lancer, the portal to the Zone is in my parents lab. Did you really think that me and my friends wouldn’t have tried going through?”

Mr. Lancer spluttered at Fenton’s dry response. “I had assumed that your parents at least had enough lab safety in place that you wouldn’t have succeeded!”

Dash may have been a jock, but he wasn’t stupid okay. He had seen enough movies to tell the difference between a laugh and a cackle, and the way that Fenton’s laughter threw his head back and shook his whole body was absolutely a mad scientist’s cackle. The sound almost scared him more than the fact they were stuck in the Ghost Zone.

“Mr. Lancer, we’re Fentons. If my parents go too long without blowing something up, me and Jazz will do something ourselves just to make sure it’s not too quiet.”

Fenton’s friends were nodding along. “Yeah, the first time Danny slept over at my house it was too quiet for him to fall asleep. So he went down to the kitchen, modified the toaster oven to reach 3000°, and poured molten salt into the bathtub. Gave my parent’s a heart attack.”

Lancer’s eye twitched. “How old were you when you did this?”

Fenton shrugged. “Like six I think? I’m not sure. I did learn to get permission first after that though.”

Dash and Paulina shared a look. Holy shit, Fenton was a mad scientist. Like, it was common knowledge that the Fenton parents were, but apparently they had all missed the fact that Danny Fenton was just as crazy as them.

They both jumped when a mechanical hand popped out from a panel in the ceiling and the voice of their ghostly driver echoed through the speakers. “That's science, baby!”

Fenton gave the mechanical hand a high five and chuckled. “Well I didn’t write it down, but I did learn something, so it probably still counts.”

Manson laughed. “Hypothesis, everyone likes explosions before bed. Conclusion, hypothesis incorrect.”

The nerds (and Technus) laughed while the rest of the bus stared at them. Dash didn’t know whether to be terrified of them or just glad that they were still nerds. Then Fenton made eye contact with him and grinned. Definitely terrified of them.

“Well, in the meantime, we have reached our first stop!” Technus said, as the bus made a bumpy landing.

Fenton frowned. “Wait what? Why are we stopping? I thought we were headed to the Far Frozen?”

“That’s the destination, but, since your parent’s shut down the portal, things in the Zone have been shifting around even more than they usually do. So we will have to go from stop to stop and get directions as we travel,” the ghost replied.

“So where have we stopped now?” Valerie asked.

“Jonny and Kitty’s place!”

Fenton looked out the window. “Oh yeah I recognize it! There’s their track.”

“Go see if they know where Dora’s castle is right now. That should be in the right direction.”

“Yeah alright, I’ll go ask,” Fenton said.

The rest of the class pressed their faces to the windows and watched as he walked out of the bus and over to the dirt track. He held his hands to his mouth and yelled.

“Kitty! Johnny! You here?”

There was a moment of silence, and it seemed like there wasn’t gonna be a reply. Then there was the sound of a revving motorcycle. It appeared from behind one of the embankments, with two people riding it. They rode towards Fenton, not slowing down as they got closer and closer.

Fenton just stood there, not even moving as they barreled straight towards him. Dash glanced over at the nerds to see their reaction, only to see them all looking entirely uninterested. Foley wasn’t even watching, messing with his PDA instead. Dash looked back out the window as his other classmates gasped. Just as they thought that Fenton was gonna get turned into a pavement smear the bikers slid into a skid, kcking up enough dust to temporarily block Fenton and the bike from view.

Dash and his classmates watched as the dust cleared, wondering if Fenton had just gotten run over, but when the dust cleared Fenton hadn’t moved an inch. The bike on the other hand, had stopped barely an inch in front of him.

The couple on the bike and Fenton stared each other down.

“Boo! 3/10 try harder next time.”

Dash flinched at the loud voice next to him. He turned to see Manson giving a thumbs down and heckling the ghosts outside. The guy rolled his eyes and the girl in the red jacket blew a sarcastic kiss towards her. Manson laughed and her friends rolled their eyes. The rest of the class was just staring at her, baffled.

With Manson seeming to have broken the staring contest, Fenton and the two ghosts relaxed and started talking, but whatever they were saying was too quiet for Dash to hear. They seemed to argue for a bit, before Fenton shrugged and randomly tackled the guy off his motorcycle.

The class watched in shock as they tussled in the dirt. The other ghost hopped off the motorcycle and went to join them, but Valerie cackled and jumped out the window of the bus. Lancer tried to reach out and grab her but Manson and Tucker blocked him. Not that it mattered, she was already out the window by the time he’d moved.

“Not on my watch Kitty!” Valerie yelled as she tackled the second ghost from behind.

Manson and Foley cheered as the four wrestled in the dirt.

Fenton managed to pin the ghost he was fighting quickly and he tapped out. The two then sat and watched as the others wrestled. It wasn’t long before Valerie also managed a pin, and they all helped each other up. They brushed their clothes off and shook hands, speaking for a moment more before Valerie and Fenton walked back to the bus.

“Okay, Johnny said that Dora’s is about 10° up with a 30° azimuth.” Danny said as he and Valerie climbed back into the bus.

“Alright!” Technus yelled. “Next stop, Dora's Castle!”

Dash fell back into his seat as the bus jumped and they were once again flying through the ghost zone.

For a long moment all the students just sat there, but eventually Paulina broke the silence with the question everyone was wondering. “What was that?” she screeched.

Fenton just looked at her in confusion. “What was what?”

“What do you mean ‘what was what?’ The fighting and stuff! You went from a perfectly civil conversation to fighting in the dirt! Valerie jumped out the window!”

“Oh that! Well Johnny said he wouldn’t tell me unless I fought him. So I did.”

Paulina spluttered at his relaxed statement before turning to their other classmate.

Their classmate who had literally jumped out a window less than ten seconds ago just shrugged. “I wasn’t about to turn down a fight.” Valerie said.

“Why?” Paulina cried.

Valerie just shrugged again. “It’s fun.”

Dash... had no idea how to respond to that. Apparently, neither did Paulina, because she just slumped into her chair.

Dash had no idea how to react to everything he was learning about Fenton and his friends today.

[watashinohikari-8]

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞! 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 & 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞, 𝐆𝐚𝐡𝐨!

[putschki1969]

すき / DREAMS COME TRUE covered by Hikaru

Hello, this is Hikaru. Thank you for watching! This is the 6th installment of my "Singing & Playing Challenge"🎹 I don't have the proper equipment, so I recorded it on my iPhone😅 The song is "Suki" by DREAMS COME TRUE, a single released in 1994. I fell in love with this song after discovering "DREAMS COME TRUE GREATEST HITS "THE SOUL"" released in 2000. I have a lot of favourite songs by Dreams Come True, but I remember being deeply moved by the words woven together on top of of such a simple melody. I'll read everyone's suggestions in the comment section and think about whether to release another part in the series!

Hikaru Wednesday Music Champ Broadcast

Following her short broadcast last Saturday, Hikaru went back to her regular Wednesday live streams. She had been made aware that lots of people missed the first half of that broadcast so she was kind enough to explain the situation one more time. She didn't really go into much detail, just repeated what she had already shared with us. With too many people involved in the project, things just didn't go according to plan and in their position as singers, they couldn't really do anything about it except accept the less than ideal circumstances. Hikaru then made sure to emphasise that everything she's currently talking about is her position only and it doesn't necessarily reflect Wakana's or Keiko's opinion on the matter. In fact, she says that even if she is able to talk about certain things, that doesn't mean that Wakana and Keiko have the same freedom. They are all operating under different conditions so they can't handle the situation in the same manner. We should also be aware that if there are things she doesn't mention it is not because she is purposefully leaving us in the dark about certain details. It is simply because she isn't able/allowed to talk about those things. She has shared as much with us as she is able to.

KEIKO LIVE in the DARK -Sagittarius- K021🏹 in Fukuoka

Keiko held another Planetarium Live today at the Fukuoka City Science Museum Dome Theater. She was once again accompanied by her guitarist Yas Nakajima to allow for a very simple arrangement highlighting Keiko’s singing and the beautiful starry sky.

Tweet by Keiko | Tweet by Yas Nakajima | Instagram post by Keiko

Title: 『KEIKO LIVE in the DARK -Sagittarius- K021』 Date: 2024/10/26; 19:30 Start (19:00 Open) Venue: Fukuoka City Science Museum Dome Theater Tickets (Ticket Board): Regular Seat: 8,000円 | Regular Seat B (obstructed view): 6,000円 KEIKO Official Fan Club Ticket Lottery: 24/8/21 ～ 24/8/26 General Ticket Sale: 2024/9/7~ Event Homepage: https://planetarium.konicaminolta.jp/livedark/keiko2024_fukuoka/

During one of the MCs, Keiko mentioned Wakana because of course, she can't perform in Fukuoka without talking about Wakana. The final MC must have been something very moving. From what I have seen, Keiko must have cried at some point. Naturally, everyone who attended the event was moved to tears. Unfortunately, they are not sharing any details other than the fact that Yuki must have told Keiko that she wanted her to continue singing in the steadfast manner we are all used to so with these words in mind, Keiko doesn't plan to stop singing any time soon. Setlist-wise, I'm just so shocked to see "Kimi ga Hikari ni Kaete Iku" on there. *sobs* Forever sad that I missed this. Damn it, sometimes I really hate that I live so far away.

Setlist (Source)

Alcohol 　MC 1

Yuuyami no Uta

KIMI GA NEMURU KARA

Close to you

Yoru no Uso to 　MC 2

Burn In The Wind

Te to Te to Me to Me

Mune no Yukue 　MC 3

Kaze no Machi e

Latte

Kimi ga Hikari ni Kaete Iku 　MC 4

YOUR

[mimisempai]

I started missing you the moment you said goodbye

Summary

Aziraphale calls Crowley every hour on his phone even though he knows the demon can't answer just to hear his voice on the answering machine.

Because a few hours away is worse than centuries when you know you love each other.

Notes

A minute or a hundred years, the absence is sometimes unbearable...

On Ao3

Rating G -  942 words

"You have 10 missed calls and 1 new message.

Ten missed calls. 

All from Aziraphale.

He'd only left a voicemail for the last call.

Crowley glanced at his phone several times, a little confused.

If it had been urgent, he would have known one way or another, and Aziraphale wouldn't have used this means to reach him.

But Aziraphale had called him ten times.

Once an hour.

The length of Crowley's absence.

The planetarium had organized an out-of-town event, a lecture series culminating in a night of stargazing, and Crowley had been invited by the board to contribute. Encouraged by Aziraphale, he'd accepted, which meant that the angel knew it would be impossible for him to take the calls, so Crowley wondered why he'd called him in the first place. To find out, he waited no longer and dialed the code to listen to Aziraphale's message.

"Um... Crowley, it's me, Aziraphale. Yes, of course it's me."

Crowley couldn't help but chuckle as Aziraphale's voice continued. 

"You're probably wondering why all these missed calls, right? Why am I calling you when I know you can't answer? But here we are, you've been gone for ten hours today. I've been calling you every hour just because I miss your voice, because I miss hearing you talk. Just to hear the sound of your voice on that recorded message.  And now you must think I'm an idiot, right?"

Crowley stopped the message.

The Angel was so wrong, for Crowley actually found it rather endearing and far from idiotic.

Aziraphale missed him so much that he called his phone once an hour just to hear the sound of his voice.

If only Aziraphale knew how much Crowley understood and felt the same way.

In the past, they'd been separated for long periods of time, and of course he missed the angel and was thrilled at every opportunity to meet him. But now that they were together, the slightest separation, even if it was only for a few hours, was agonizing.

Now, eager to hear the next part, he pressed play to continue listening to Aziraphale's message. 

"And today, even though you'll be back in a few hours, I wanted to tell you again that more than your voice, I really miss talking to you. About everything. About my day. About the last book I'm reading. About Muriel's latest discovery. About the latest gossip on the street. I miss listening to you talk passionately about ducks and stars or whatever you fancy. About anything and everything. The silence is killing me. (sigh) I'll stop before I get so maudlin that you hang up, so to sum up, just know that I miss you, that's all. Come home soon. I love you."

Crowley hadn't felt like making fun of Aziraphale before, and he felt even less like it now. 

He restrained himself from telling the Bentley to go any faster when he was already well over the speed limit.

He was even more eager now.

He couldn't wait to tell Aziraphale himself that he missed his voice, too. 

To tell him about his day. 

To listen to him tell what he'd been up to while Crowley had been gone.

To tell him how he missed his smile. 

That he missed everything that made up their daily lives. 

That he missed Aziraphale, even though they had only been a few hours apart.

As he parked in front of the bookshop, he noticed that there was very little light coming from inside, which was not surprising given the time of day he was returning.

It took him only three steps to get to the door, and he was in such a hurry that it took him three tries to get the key into the lock. 

He refrained from calling out, trying not to make any noise in case Aziraphale was asleep.

He saw that the faint light was coming from Aziraphale's desk and, barely taking the time to put down his bag and jacket, quickly made his way there.

He couldn't help but smile fondly at the sight of Aziraphale asleep in his armchair, his reading glasses perched at an angle on his nose, the book he was reading threatening to fall out of his hands.

Crowley approached, knelt in front of the angel and carefully took the book from his hands before placing it on the small table behind him. Then he gently removed the glasses from Aziraphale's nose before running his knuckle delicately across the angel's cheek, trying to wake him up without startling him.

The demon watched in silence as the angel's eyes blinked several times before opening fully, then watched as his lips curled into a happy smile as his gaze met Crowley's.

Aziraphale murmured in a still sleepy voice, "Welcome home."

Crowley brought his face close and kissed him softly on the lips before saying, his throat tight with emotion, "It's so good to be home."

When he pulled away, Aziraphale rubbed his eyes and straightened up, making room on the armchair for Crowley to sit next to him on the armrest.

Once seated, Crowley wrapped his arm around Aziraphale's shoulder as the angel did the same around his waist. Then, resting his head on the demon's chest, he said softly, "I've missed this, too. I've missed you. I missed you so much."

Crowley hummed, kissed Aziraphale's hair, and replied, "I know. Because I missed you just as much, Angel."

They stayed like that for a long time, in each other's arms, basking in the bliss of this reunion in silence.

They would have time to talk.

Later.

For now, they had said the essential.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story  🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

Ineffable Growing Love series : (After season 2) 

Part 1 Story 1-99

Part 2 Story 100-?

Ineffable Husbands masterlist : here (Before season 2)

[shipandrunforit]

Dropping some Heartsteel head cannons I have bc these thoughts won’t leave me alone and I’m curious how much they are going to tie in magic with this (bc Kayn and Ezreal still have their powers)

Kayn and Rhaast

Was a street kid growing, something happened that lead to him being orphaned and living on the streets for a few years

Accidentally released rhaast while trying to steal things from a museum, Rhaasf was not happy about having the situation and tried to leave but Kayn didn’t let him go out of spite.

Two slowly grew to be friends but aren’t the healthiest of friends with Kayns ego feeding into Rhaast, especially when their on stage, and Rhaast has a tendency to voice and pressure kayn to follow through on intrusive thoughts or actions.

Rhaaat was the one who thought of them entering the music industry (wanted everyone’s eyes on him) and so they worked their ass off to get into the industry.

Rhaast also enjoys the dramatics, got very board sitting in the weapon for years and enjoys putting on a show and being a show off.

Ezreal

Was sort of like those Disney kids from the Mickey Mouse club, was how he got into the industry at such a young age. (Also could be why kayn calls him the pop star Prince, is bc he was everywhere for a while).

Is an orphan and is being raised by his uncle

Not sure how he got teleportation when he doesn’t seem to have the gauntlet but he very much loves using his abilities to jump around the city and do parkour.

Would probably also use it to sneak out at times either to hide from his old manager when he was in trouble

First time he did this in front of the boys was bc he was too lazy to walk to the kitchen and he scared the crap out of K’Sante, still make jokes about it.

The dog sleeps in his room, was also the one to name the dog.

Good af editing, especially on computers

Yone

Started out as a dj and went to music school and even taught his brother a few basics of being a dj as well.

Still had a falling out with his brother bc he saw how bad the industry was and didn’t want Yasuo to get involved. Led to them having a fight and haven’t really talked since

Is very into mythology and folklore (is why for his section of music video we see the azukana spirt. Is also partially bc I have no fucking clue how else to tie that part of his backstory into this).

Boys played a prank on him by switching his coffee once, long story short they all (including Rhaast) collectively agreed never to do this again bc of how terrifying the results of this prank where

Yone is one of the best drawers in the group besides Sett and the two talk about animations sometimes (Yone animated the fox in his section)

Has made the boys Dino nuggets at one point

Sett

Is a big fan of comics, animation, and pfp fighting games

Did the drawings for his section as well as the animations for the background (am referring to that scene in the end of the music video)

Dad was a boxer who left when Sett was young

Sett also knows how to box and worked as a boxer for a bit as well as a bouncer maybe. Rap was more of a hobby but when he got signed onto a record label he switched to doing it full time

Punched the paparazzi bc they were harassing his mom

Favorite anime’s include jojo’s bizar adventures and one punch man

Meet Apjelious before Heartsteel at a meuseum that showcasing a new planetarium exhibit. Two hit it off and are now dating.

Aphelios and Alune

He and his sister were involved in choir when they were younger

Alune went off to college to get her degree in business in management and aphelios went stayed home and did his music.

Aphelios lost his voice either due to medical reasons or because of an accident, Alune transferred to a closer college to be with her brother when the news broke out.

Aphelios had a hard time getting further in the industry, was often discredited or people wouldn’t want to work with him bc it was “too much of a hassle”.

Was nervous for his sister to meet Sett only to realize the two get along great and would 100% commit crimes together

Is also a gamer and will do dates with Sett that’s just them playing video games or Sett listening to him ramble on about movie or video game scores.

Aline was very chill with the boys breaking into the studio bjt did tell them not to break anything (spoilers, they did and she was not happy about it).

Alune is the older sibling and will tease her brother and the other boys and is not afraid to fight them if push comes to shove.

K’Sante

Has written and preformed a lot of songs before Heartsteel

Used to work on songs with his ex boyfriend but the two spit up due to the strain working together put on their relationship

Is the relationship expert in the group and will give the others advise or flirting or planning dates or anything else they need help with if they ask.

Loves going to the gym with Sett, might have been how the two of them meet in the first place. They got to talking about music at one point and when they found out the other was looking for someone to collaborate with they decided to work together.

Spot for one another when in the gym

Is the other mom friend of the group but a lot more chill, let’s them get away with more things then Yone would

Is good at filming and old school editing. He and Ezrael did most of the did for the music video and let the others scribble one what they compiled then approved it.

Was against the coffee incident and straight up left the building when it happened.

[extraordinaryhistories]

#21 - 'Woman at the Well' (non-album track, 2000)

Beware, traveller: here we enter the most uncharted territories of Sufjan’s catalogue. All sorts of terror in these parts. But all sorts of beauty, too.

Sufjan Stevens’ output, when fully collated, is just staggering. To think that he by all accounts leaves the overwhelming majority of his songs unreleased. By my count, he has upwards of 300 released tracks across all sorts of albums, collaborations, soundtracks and modern classical cycles. He is so prolific that you can stratify his output into multiple, accessibility-based tiers:

Tier One: the heavyweight albums. Illinois, Carrie and Lowell, Age of Adz and Javelin, plus ‘Mystery of Love’ and ‘Visions of Gideon’.

Tier Two: the other mainline albums ­– Michigan, Seven Swans, The Ascension and A Beginner’s Mind, plus All Delighted People.

Tier Three: the most obscure full-length albums and collaborations. A Sun Came, Planetarium, the Sisyphus project, Aporia, Convocations and similar material.

Tier Four: where we start to get deep under the surface. His Christmas material goes here, as do projects like The Decalogue, Reflections and The BQE. Some of his one-off track collaborations, like Moses Sumney’s ‘Make Out in My Car’, are here too. Things that you can probably find on streaming, but that only the most dedicated of fans would care about.

Tier Five: the bottom of the trench. These are songs that many of those most dedicated fans will have never heard unless they are in way too deep. Piecemeal inclusions on no-name compilations, surprise Tumblr releases of demos made twenty years prior, one-off live songs like ‘Wild Horses’. The Wild West of Sufjanilia, where oddities abound.

There are few artists for which anybody could say this: Tier Five contains some of Sufjan’s absolute finest material. Without a shadow of a doubt.

This is especially the case in the very early days. I get the impression that we have only seen a miniscule fraction of the music that Sufjan wrote from the mid 1990s up through Michigan – this was a feverishly experimental period for him, catalogued in all its scattershot glory on A Sun Came but extending its reach far beyond that album. It seems that Sufjan made enough connections and was subject to enough blog-centred hype around the turn of the millennium to get featured on a swathe of multi-artist compilations, as well as other obscure releases. These are remarkably hard to track down these days, but enough internet scouring will lead you to an underbelly of Sufjan’s catalogue that most people don’t even know exists. Thus we get a series of isolated songs, many of which are barely above demo quality, scattered across CDs and mp3s and placed next to artists who have never been heard from since.

B-sides and non-album tracks of artists quite often have that status for a reason. Most artists have the same recording method: enter the studio, build up a series of tracks from loose ideas, select the cream of the crop for the album release, and discard of the chaff. Some of that chaff will be saved for bonus tracks, b-sides to physical releases, or ‘outtakes’ on deluxe editions released decades from now – filler that will appeal to big fans and few others. There is a very strong correlation between distance from the main release and a lack of quality, is my point here. This is the case for the majority of acts. There is a reason that most people don’t consider there to be many exquisite Beatles outtakes, for instance – likewise for Pink Floyd, or The Smiths, or the bulk of other classic bands.

For Sufjan, however, the recording method has always been different. Sufjan is fiercely varied and fiercely focused at the same time – his albums differ wildly in style, but each individual project coalesces around a very particular sound. And because he so insistently curates his albums, nothing on them feels out of place stylistically.

As with other artists, there are a lot of Sufjan songs that don’t make the big leagues. What makes them different is this: their exclusion would have been based less on quality and more on style. Sufjan was just relentless around the period following A Sun Came, and it shows – for every one song that found its way onto a compilation or Tumblr drop, we must imagine ten that didn’t, forever confined to a dusty four-track in a closet or a file on some buried hard drive. He eventually settled on the creative direction of Enjoy Your Rabbit, but this did not stop him writing a plethora of folk, rock and electronic music around this time too, and these songs show the rapidly maturing songwriting of a genius in the making. There are some truly astonishing songs in this creative nether region – they are not quite as mature as the ones that would be found on Michigan, but they are approaching that point with an unstoppable inertia.

And so we go to ‘Woman at the Well’, an unassuming classic of early Sufjan and a song in which we can see clear progression from the A Sun Came days. The steps forward in sophistication are palpable here – ‘Woman at the Well’ is many things that A Sun Came’s songs are not. It is well-recorded, for starters; we are not yet at the hi-fi perfection of Illinois, but there is none of that cassette-derived background noise that dominates the softer songs on Sufjan’s debut. The acoustic guitar sparkles, the drums (lightly) punch, the vocals feel immediate and alive, and all of it comes together to make a song of relieving clarity, like stepping out of a log cabin and getting a breath of the mountain air.

The whole song feels that way, in fact. This one is easy, expansive, effortless, three terms that do not apply to much of A Sun Came. We can put this partially at the feet of the arrangement, which strikes a comfortable balance between layered and intimate: guitars and banjo are supplemented by a cosy array of instruments, among them glockenspiel, organ, drums and recorder, all Sufjan staples that hadn’t been applied with this sort of subtlety up to this point. This is a strum-heavy singer-songwriter tune at its heart; a maturing Sufjan understands this, and uses the additional instruments not to overwhelm the song but to make it richer. Compare with a song like ‘Wordsworth’s Ridge’, where the various elements seem to fight for attention in the arrangement. ‘Woman at the Well’ has a similar palette, but the individual instruments mesh together in service of the chord progression – many components, one machine. How refreshing.

‘Woman at the Well’ bucks trends in nearly every sense but lyrically. This is still an early Sufjan song, and its lyrics are very typical of early Sufjan in that they are unambiguously Christian in sentiment. The song provides a poetic account of an event that transpires in John, in which Jesus encounters and converses with a Samaritan woman. Samaritans and Jews, per tradition, met each other with hostility; the power of the story lies in how Jesus offers redemption to a woman that many other Jews would spurn (a common theme in the Gospels, with echoes in other anecdotes and parables.)

Many great artists, especially during the Italian Renaissance, took artistic inspiration from the story of the Samaritan woman. Sufjan does so too in ‘Woman at the Well’, but in a typically wry manner. Sufjan seems fascinated particularly with the image given in John 4 of Jesus as a giver of living water:

‘those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life’ (John 4:14).

Thus the lines in the second verse about how ‘she supposes he is wet / She was a fountain then’, the message being that Jesus’ eternal capacity for salvation and grace invigorates all those who love him. He is a fountain, so she is a fountain, and she overflows now with goodness. It feels as if this continues the shift in Sufjan’s religious songwriting that we first see in ‘Joy! Joy! Joy!’, and in a lot of the other flotsam recorded between A Sun Came and Michigan. Very early songs like ‘We Are What You Say’ features God as a terror, in the wrathful, apocalyptic Old Testament sense. Here we see a more inviting New Testament sense of God that focuses on love and salvation, just as Jesus preached. There is a hint of Yahweh in the chorus (‘In fire, in fire, down to the last liar’, a very Revelations image), but ‘Woman at the Well’ is otherwise a song of Jesus through and through.

A song of Jesus in a quirky way, though. Sufjan can’t help himself. The Samaritan woman is described in this song not as a fountain but as a ‘fountain pen’ for the majority of its sections. What significance? Little, or everything, depending on your point of view. This is likely just a piece of free-associative wordplay that has the additional effect of making the song’s rhymes less laboured, but I could imagine how Sufjan might enjoy the connotations of ‘fountain pen’. Fountain pens are sophisticated devices; they are refined vehicles of creation out of which culture pours. The quality of Jesus as a refiner of the soul is central to Christian dogma (albeit expressed differently), and may be central to this song too. We have all heard the ‘is this Sufjan song Christian or gay?’ joke in the past (the answer is always both), but for pre-Michigan lyrics, we can just as easily ask ‘is this line complex or just there because it rhymes nice?’

A piece on ‘Woman at the Well’ wouldn’t be complete without at least mentioning the melody. It’s a beautiful one, and it’s notable insofar as it feels like the Sufjan we know and love, down to its smallest rhythms and intervals. Even the best stuff on A Sun Came, like ‘Happy Birthday’, feels a bit like the Sufjan Stevens of an uncanny valley that lies somewhere between Illinois and Either/Or. Not so here. The contour of the main ‘she was a fountain pen’ motif is absolutely classic Sufjan, the ‘pen’ (the 2nd of the scale) lending it a perfect wistfulness that suggests the relative minor. There is still a loose adherence to pentatonic major here, but like so many of the best Sufjan songs, the melodic quality of ‘Woman at the Well’ is that sort of forward-looking happiness mixed with occasional glances over one’s shoulder at the life you’ll never return to. That right there is precisely the reason I started a project like this. Nobody else is capable of such balance. Nobody.

And it’s the reason why we dredge through this early, dusty stuff at all. For many artists it would not be worth it. But for Sufjan, all the same magic and majesty that you’ll find in his mainline releases can be found (on occasion) here. Sometimes it might even be exactly the same magic. Listen to the section of ‘Woman at the Well’ that immediately follows the first chorus (starting with ‘he has her hand...’). If the melody there sounds familiar, that’s because it is. A few years later, Sufjan would repurpose that melody for one of his first true masterpieces, a song about new VCRs and long car trips and taking one last glimpse at your mother knowing that next time you see her she might be an entirely different person. Here it is, the best melody in all of ‘Romulus’, just sitting there on a no-name compilation throwaway that nobody with a safe grip on their mental health has ever heard, years before Michigan was even dreamt of.

That, to a Sufjan tragic like me, is really fucking cool.

[zeke-in-devildom]

Dissonance - Chapter 19: Revenge Best Served

Zeke found himself humming softly to himself in the kitchen. A cookbook he borrowed from Satan was propped open in front of him. It was his turn to make dinner and he was attempting Babylon Curry. So far following the recipes and some minor assistance from one of the brothers had served him well enough to make it through cooking duties. He even found that he enjoyed cooking for the brothers, who always praised him for making the Devildom dishes well despite never using the ingredients before. 

Beel and Belphie were sitting at the island counter - Belphie with his head down napping, and Beel munching on a large pile of snacks. Zeke had learned quickly that if he wanted to actually cook he had to make a lot of easy snacks to occupy the Avatar of Gluttony or risk losing all his ingredients before he could cook them. With Beel preoccupied he could let his mind wander a bit as he prepared the curry.

Following the incident in Lilith’s replica room he had noticed several things. First and foremost, the twins who had already been fairly attached to him, were even more so now. It wasn’t just Belphie sneaking into his bed almost every night, now Beel was doing it too. If he wasn’t in his bed, they would join him in Levi’s room for games and anime, in the library while he and Satan studied, or they would look at stars together in the planetarium - whichever activity Zeke was doing that night. Beel and Belphie were his near constant companions when they weren’t in separate classes or he wasn’t with another of the brothers. Zeke found himself attending Beel’s fangol practices, supporting him from the bleachers, usually with a sleeping Belphie using his lap as a pillow.

It wasn’t just the twins, though. Asmo somehow became even clingier than before. The Avatar of Lust was always touching him when they were together, even if it was just linking their arms. Mammon invited him out to watch his modeling shoots, and Zeke went to be supportive - it seemed fair since he was showing his support to Beel’s sports practices, plus he was genuinely impressed and proud of the Avatar of Greed. All of the brothers were devastatingly handsome, but Mammon was an actual model and seemed to take it seriously and he knew there were few things that the demon actually took seriously.

The café outings with Satan were almost a daily occurrence now, and sometimes Solomon would also tag along. Zeke enjoyed spending time with them both. Even when they weren’t having a full-on lesson, Solomon always seemed to be teaching him something. Zeke still preferred his solo not-dates with Satan, though.

Levi bombarded him with texts about games and anime that they should enjoy together, and Zeke spent more nights in Levi’s room hanging out with the otaku than in his own room sleeping. Sometimes the twins dragged him back to his own bed so that Belphie could coax Zeke to sleep magically, but sometimes they simply cuddled up in a bean bag right there in Levi’s room to doze off together.

His evening visits with Lucifer changed as well, with the eldest actually stopping work to ask him about his day and engaging in full conversations. Zeke could tell that the firstborn truly enjoyed hearing about whatever he had gotten up to with the other brothers each day - even if they had just been studying or reading. Sometimes Lucifer would put a record on, one that was safe for him to listen to, since most of them were dangerously cursed.

Life in the Devildom became more comfortable and appealing by the day. He had never really missed the human world before, but now he almost hated when he was reminded of it. Zeke would one day, not terribly far from now, have to return to that place. He would be alone again, and now that he had experienced what it was like to be accepted and loved he knew that familiar loneliness would be utterly unbearable.

Zeke felt like a whole new person since coming to live in the House of Lamentation, and desperately did not want to lose these new feelings. Despite the visions being a horrific experience, the aftermath left him with a renewed sense of purpose. The outpouring of support from his demon hosts had been overwhelmingly therapeutic. A lifetime of feeling unwanted couldn’t simply be erased, but for the first time he felt like he was actually healing. 

The hole in his heart, once filled with a barely contained storm of rage at the world, was channeled into a much more productive, well-controlled furnace of smoldering embers, ready to forge the way to his own desired form of justice. He could attribute that in large part to Belphie and Satan.

He thought the idea of destroying another human being’s life would make him more squeamish, but surprisingly he felt almost nothing but a soft, preening satisfaction as they researched and made their plans. Satan and Belphie seemed to be enjoying their scheming together with him, both in general and because they were the ones helping him with this momentous task. It also meant they both got to spend even more time with him, which seemed to be something all of the brothers coveted, so they got to gloat even more over that.

Now instead of mystery novels, Satan and Zeke spent their free time pouring over books on advanced curses and torture methods. Zeke learned a lot about various interrogation techniques, both ancient and modern over the weeks following the incident in Lilith’s replica room. Satan was vastly knowledgeable on both curses and torture, and Zeke found it was all rather fascinating. It was a convenient excuse to spend more time with the blond demon.

The other brothers seemed various degrees of concerned or curious about these developments, but thankfully made no comment on their current reading choices. Even Lucifer seemed to leave it well enough alone, even though he had to have at least some idea of what they were planning. Lucifer had seemed reluctant to give his brothers information on the man that had caused the deaths of Zeke’s family. Did he simply not care now that Zeke was involved in the retribution? Was his silence and inaction a signal of his approval?

Whatever the case, Zeke was mostly just glad that Lucifer was not trying to dissuade him or get in his way. The same went for the others. None of them were trying to stop him or talk him out of whatever he was up to, but only Satan and Belphie were actively helping him. More than once he wondered if the other would assist in his plan if he asked, but decided against it. He wanted to be the one orchestrating this particular tragedy. 

Zeke didn’t want too many cooks in the kitchen and all that. An apt metaphor given his current task.

It did occur to him that his therapists would have a field day if they knew he was actively plotting the ruination of a living, breathing human being. They had lectured him endlessly about finding forgiveness for people that he perceived had wronged him. Of course that was years ago now. He had learned to lie very well. Zeke knew better than to mention that he stilled burned with resentment and hatred when he thought of that man walking free and enjoying his life without an ounce of remorse…

“Shit!” Zeke yelped as the knife he’d been using to cut the vegetables a little too aggressively slipped and cut his finger. The two demons were beside him in almost an instant.

“That looks deep.” Belphie frowned while Beel grabbed a hand towel and took Zeke’s hand, putting pressure on the cut, which had begun dripping blood.

“I smell human blood.” Satan mused with a scowl as he entered the kitchen, a stack of file folders tucked under his arm.

“Guess dinner has extra flavoring tonight.” Zeke joked, gesturing with his free hand to the one Beel was still holding. “Knife slipped, I let myself get distracted.”

“And angry. I could feel it as I was coming down the hall.” Satan sighed, setting the folders down and walking over to take Zeke’s hand from Beel, humming as he looked over the wound. “It’s a pretty nasty cut.”

“I’ll be more careful.” Zeke sighed, before he recited a healing incantation that he’d studied on his own. The cut slowly closed and he flexed his fingers experimentally. “Not a big deal, see?”

“Hm. You’re improving very fast. I’m impressed.” Satan smiled as he wiped the blood from Zeke’s hand. “Let me help with dinner. I wanted to talk to you anyway.”

The twins had still been hovering, but Zeke shooed them away, so they shuffled back to their seats, still watching carefully, as if afraid he might hurt himself again if they took their eyes off him. He rolled his eyes.

“Well I’ll let you handle the rest of the cutting, I guess. Honestly there isn’t a lot left to do. What did you want to talk about?” Zeke had an idea and was practically buzzing with anticipation as he measured spices to stir into the curry pot.

“My contacts in the human world sent me all the information I could want.” Satan inclined his head towards the folders. “Some of my many acquaintances were able to dig up everything you asked for on the target. We’ve researched all the necessary curses, and gathered all the reagents we need. I have to say, your plan is positively diabolical. If I didn’t know better I’d have thought a demon came up with it.”

“I honestly thought you’d need more help coming up with ways to torment this guy, but we barely had to do anything.” Belphie added, looking very smug.

“Why thank you, I’m pretty proud of myself. I probably shouldn’t be, but I don’t care. When can we start the next phase?” Zeke was physically bouncing as he turned to Satan, eyes sparkling with a sinister glee. Twenty years he had held this grudge, and at long last he could practically taste his revenge. He did not care if that made him a bad person, or even an evil person, he figured he was going to Hell anyway, might as well give a real good reason for his eventual eternal punishment.

“We can start tonight.” Satan smirked, his eyes flashing with a matching delight at the idea of beginning their little game.

[hlficlibrary]

HL FIC LIBRARY ✤ AUTHOR REC

AO3: nonsensedarling

Tumblr: @absoloutenonsense

STATS:

✤ Number of fics: 24

✤ Posting Since: 2019

TOP 5 FICS:

1️⃣ Nothing But You On My Mind {E, 83k}

Louis Tomlinson is a PR manager hired to improve the image of royal bad-boy Prince Harry Styles. Unfortunately for him, that means being faced with the Prince's constant innuendos, incessant dirty jokes, and relentless flirting. Louis just wants to make it to Princess Gemma's coronation; once she's crowned Queen, his contract is up and he never has to see the Prince again.

2️⃣ thinking about the t-shirt you sleep in {E, 52k}

Harry's alpha fraternity donates to a local thrift shop (because of Liam's latent crush on a cute beta in his lecture). Louis' financial situation (and confusing omega instincts) lead him to make some interesting fashion purchases. Lots of pizza, feelings, and not-really-lying.

3️⃣ Party Lines {E, 25k}

Louis works for a phone-sex operating company, collecting credit card information and transferring calls to different operators. On a particularly busy night, everyone is booked up, and one caller has been patiently waiting for more than a few minutes. In a split second decision –one he’s probably going to regret– Louis picks up the call himself.

Or Louis accidentally becomes a phone sex operator.

4️⃣ Little by Little {E, 65k}

Harry Styles is an omega who works at the London Planetarium, has lived in the same flat for ages, and is happy enough on his own. When he gets home from his first (horrible) attempt at dating in years, a new pregnant neighbor knocks on his door after smelling his cooking. He and Louis quickly become close, but their friendship gets complicated when Harry begins questioning who he is and what he likes.

Or Harry discovers figuring out who you are is more complicated than a potato metaphor.

5️⃣ Gimme Some Sugar {M, 13k}

Louis is scheduled to work an overnight shift with Harry, the hot new pastry chef, to complete a special order. Into the late hours of the night, they bond over music and the ability to make each other laugh like no one else... which makes it harder and harder for Louis to hide his crush. Maybe it won't be so bad if he can't.

Or an AU inspired entirely by a manip of Harry with highlights.

HIDDEN GEM:

💎 Somethin' Old and Red {NR, 5k}

There was a ritual with these things. He’d pour a splash into a wine glass —his favourite little joke was telling humans he loved a nice glass of red every now and again— then sat down in his living room and listened to music while he drank. Every time he changed the record —or, what was it they called them nowadays? 8tracks? MP3s? Playlists? It was difficult for Harry to keep up with the technology, especially as much as things had changed over the last few decades— he would change the music before refilling the glass. He liked to savour his meals. He could get at least two evenings out of a bag that way, which worked very well for Harry’s schedule. His wine glass was in front of him on the counter, and he was ready to pour.