#missing people rock choir

[hyperions-light]

Round 2 of Veilguard (Watcher first, Crow second), going to note the little details I love (SPOILERS):

- When my rogue Rook is jogging I can hear the sound of the arrows in their quiver clinking against each other

- When you take Harding to practice her stone powers, after she moves the second one she raises her hands up in victory. Cute!!!

-The companion outfits!! They’re so detailed! The embroidery on Harding’s shirt, the intricacy of Bellara’s sleeves!! How elegantly Neve’s clothes are cut and draped! The little crow skulls on Lucanis’ buttons and fasteners!!

- The way the light glances off of Bellara’s earring. The hairs at the back of her neck that aren’t caught up in her bun

- The expressions!! They’re so good! The way Bellara’s brow wrinkles in the middle of her forehead under her Vallaslin; how she blinks rapidly when she’s talking about Cyrian (Bioware why can’t I hug her ;-;). How Neve smiles at you! Ahhhhh! Dare you not to fall for Lucanis when he looks at Harding all soft after he makes her coffee and she hates it!!!

- The way the grocery list/cooking rotation paper on the wall in the kitchen changes throughout the game

- Little notes everywhere where your companions write to each other and the people they care about! Harding’s letters to her mother! THE BOOK CLUB!

- The little references to the other games everywhere! Joining chalice, Aura’s letter, Blackwall’s commendation, Malcolm Hawke mention in Weisshaupt! Finding Thom’s little rocking griffon! Arainai’s Talon! The thing that made the Harvester in Golems of Amgarrak! The dog named Ostagar! The Arishok refusing to split from the Qun! Heir in the Diamond!

- Elgar’nan thinks Lusacan used to be bigger and Ghilan’nain still cares for her halla

-the whole Necropolis but ESPECIALLY the gardens

-the candlehops!

-How when you pet the cats the rumble feature activates on the controller because they’re purring

- THE MINRATHOUS CAT CAFE <3

- The vendor in the market in Antiva who tells you the story of how she killed her husband if you return there repeatedly

-the two novice Crows on the balcony who complain about how hard it is to correctly throw the crow graffiti thing

- when you tell those two lovers to escape antiva they show up in the necropolis

- the watchers are sooooo put out that they missed the undead dragon lol

- the necropolis moves! And if you return there sometimes it’ll spawn new rooms and you can go in them!

- there are tabletop games in Thedas and Hezenkoss was super into them

- Emmrich keeps Hezenkoss’ skull in his room to talk to lol

- How Rook is so— sometimes unexpectedly— wise and caring, so thoughtful and considerate! I love them!

- The way the choir crescendos and then cuts out right before Solas says ‘Vhenan’!!! AHHHHHHH

- The way he bends in on himself and clutches at the dagger when Mythal is talking to him; the way he says her name

- ‘I don’t know how to feel’ ‘I do. I know exactly how to feel.’ ‘Just don’t leave.’ ‘Never.’ ;;;;;;;;;;-;;;;;;;;;; FUCK!!! You can’t just say that that way!!!

More soon…

[wormdebut]

Part One | Part Two | Part Four -

Steve had been popular in high school, he never asked for it. He didn’t really want it, but he was the captain of the Swim Team and the Basketball team, he had happily coasted through the Hawkins High Show Choir Revolutionaires. (Blame Robin for that one, he didn’t know he would have to dance, which he did not like to do but he sang like a song bird thank you very much.)

Popularity just kind of came to him. He was in the GSA, which Robin had been the president of (she was also the choir president) and when he came out as bisexual his senior year, that kind of solidified his King of Hawkins throne. He and Robin had been Prom King and Queen of the class of 2019.

Robin thrived with it, but honestly? It burnt Steve out. So when he and Rob moved to Chicago to “expand their homosexual horizons”, thought courtesy of one Robin Buckley, Steve was happy to take a back seat and let her be the social butterfly she loved to be. Steve was happy just taking things a step and breath at a time. High school and the years following had moved so fast, it was nice to just listen to people and see things that he may not have had an opportunity to before.

Ever the codependent pair, they had gotten jobs together at an insurance office in the city. It was graphs, phone calls, and paper work but Steve didn’t mind it temporarily. They both had accepted the job with the intention of getting to their destination, neither Steve nor Robin were intending to keep the position with Murdock Insurance Agency.

It had been a few days since Steve had had his absolute shit rocked by the hot as fuck barista at the coffee shop he and Robin had decided to try,

“Steve, he liked you and their lattes were delicious can we please go back? You’re being just a little teensy bit irrational with this.”

“Robin he’s just so—he—oh my god, I can’t talk to him again.”

‘Talk? That’s a little generous Steve, I’m pretty sure you like, heavy breathed at him like Ghostface does on the phone in the Scream movies.”

“Oh come on Rob! He had just gotten through a super hot, sweaty, ridiculously sexy fi—“

“Steven Richard Harrington I am begging you to shut the hell up and go get us coffee on your lunch break, please. If not out of love, then due to the fact that you owe me for listening to whatever the fuck that just was.”

“Fine, okay, but if he’s there and I embarrass myself, you’re going to miss that experience, so sucks to suck.”

Robin laughed and waved as Steve made his way through the office floor, taking the elevator the few floors down to get to the exit in the lobby. It was nice weather, a little chilly, but nothing Steve wasn’t used to from Indiana. He would’ve put in effort if he knew he was potentially seeing Eddie the sexy ass barista today, but alas, all he could hope for was that his khaki pants and the olive green windbreaker on his back made him look decent enough.

The Daily Grind was surprisingly quieter than it had been the morning Steve and Robin met Eddie. He stepped inside and vaguely recognized the curly headed kid that had been with Eddie last.

The kid popped his head up from the register at the tingling sound of the bell above Steve’s head, “Welcome to—“ curly head cut himself off and his eyes doubled in size, “Oh my god you’re the guy! MAX” he yelled towards the back of the store, “Max! Eddie’s guy is here, right now! Oh my god he’s gonna be so mad.”

Eddie’s what? Steve blushed, and he wasn’t able to hide it, he was kind of overstimulated by the very loud greeting from this kid and was suddenly very confused by whatever was happening here, “Um hi?” Steve questioned more the greeted walking up to the register.

The kid smiled a toothy grin at Steve and stuck his hand out for him to shake, Steve didn't necessarily want to shake this strange little mans hand, but it was the polite thing to do, “I’m Dustin and this—MAX,” Dustin yelled again. Steve politely pulled his hand away, Dustin was so loud. Steve turned his head the direction Dustin had yelled and saw a red head pop her head out through the door.

“Christ Dustin What—“ Max turned her eyes to Steve and gave him the full once over. What was with kids these days? Were they all so loud and unapologetic? Jesus, Steve was clearly older than this girl and she was just full on ogling, “Well hello. I’m Max, it looks like you’ve met Dustin, you are?”

Steve went to speak, hoping the heat he felt on his cheeks wasn’t painfully present and showing his embarrassment on his face. He left Hawkins to get away from the spotlight, he wasn’t fond of having it forced upon him these days. “I-I’m—“

“Hes the guy that Eddie was telling you about? You know the dude he met after he cussed out Cappuccino Brenda?”

Steve really didn’t have much choice but to watch the exchange, no one had come in after him and these two seemed very distracted by Steve being here, so he just waited for them to finish talking…about him apparently.

Max’s eyes went wide “Oooh, Oh! Yes! Hi, what’s your name?”

She looked at him expectantly and Steve was so confused about this whole situation. His fairly impenetrable fortress of wall that he had built up over the King Steve of high school cracked just a little, and while King Steve loved most everybody, King Steve was also a bit of a bitch, “Oh do I get to speak now, instead of being spoken over?” He looked to the two baristas with a smirk and his hands found their way to his hips.

They both looked at him with eyes wide, out of the corner of her mouth Max said, “I thought you said he was shy?”

Dustin broke out in a goofy grin, “I like him.”

Steve huffed, “I’m seriously right here, what is even happening right now?” Steve dropped his hands from his hips and tried to rear in whatever pieces of him that had come lose, “I’m Steve, so what do I gotta do to get a couple medium lavender oat milk lattes?”

Dustin went to speak, but Max cut him off before he could, “Y’know what? They are totally on us, as long as you just give us your number for our new loyalty program.” Dustin looked at Max with an eyebrow raised.

Steve watched her wave him off toward the machines, and shrugged, “Okay? Sure.” Max tossed him a sticky note pad and a pen, he scribbled his number down, “Uh—Thanks Max, this has been great.”

She grabbed the notepad and hopped to the back with a two finger salute, “Catch ya later Pretty Boy.”

Steve gave a brief wave and shuffled over to Dustin, who smiled as he handed off the lattes, “Nice to officially meet you Steve! See you around.”

Steve offered a small smile and a brief thanks, before stepping back out onto the street, god. The Daily Grind was trip, every time.

-

Taglist - @gay-stranger-things @savory-babby @trashpocket @itsfreakingbats @steddiereid @lovelyscot @booksandsience @breealtair @nightmareglitter @misty-inferno @dazedandinked @child-of-cthulhu @bookworm0690 @martzja @exhibit-no-restraint @imzadidragonfly @live-the-fangirl-life @sidebarre @bejeweledbaby

if you wanna be added or removed just let me know ✨

[gingermintpepper]

Day 5: Orpheus

Interpretation notes and trivia under the cut!

Orfeu meu amor <333 Honestly this could be my longest ever set of notes or the shortest because unlike literally any of the other Apollonian figures in this, I have never once had to waver from what I wanted with Orpheus and that's an Orpheus without Eurydice. I know that sounds kind of strange, Orpheus and Eurydice have always been completely synonymous with each other but like, Orpheus is kind of completely batshit as a concept and I'm tired of pretending the most interesting thing about him is his love life?? His love life is cool, don't get me wrong, but we, collectively, as a group of people don't pay nearly enough attention to the fact that Orpheus was singer and musician so gifted that he made trees and rocks bow to him and he could stir even the gods to grieve from his songs. This is the guy who's song was so beautiful that not only did he outsing the Sirens, they also killed themselves upon hearing his song?? This is the man that was pulled apart but his head just?? Kept on singing??? So the Muses just???? Added his perpetually singing decapitated head to their choir??? There are depictions of Apollo using said decapitated head to help him teach people???? And we're gonna focus on him trying to get his dead wife back?????? Really?? Miss me with that nonsense, Orpheus is the witchest witch to ever witch and if no one else is gonna make him the disgustingly powerful bard he was in myth then I guess I'll have to do it myself. His femme appearance is mostly inspired by the highly ornamental raiment of kithara players and he consistently has some of the fanciest clothes of the cast apocalyptic hellscape be damned.

Some assorted trivia:

Son of Apollo and Calliope - was accidentally conceived during the period when Artemis had forbid Apollo from fraternising with mortal creatures in penance for him orchestrating Orion's death and so Calliope and the other Muses hid him away in the court of King Oeagrus. Didn't know Apollo was actually his father until quite a bit later.

Not a demigod as that would imply he's half human. Orpheus isn't exactly mortal either but he certainly cannot be harmed by most normal methods. There's no formal name for something half god, half muse and not deathless so Orpheus prefers to identify as the Son of a Muse rather identifying strongly as something strictly divine.

Older than Heracles! One of Apollo's oldest children still kicking about, actually, but he's treated like the youngest due to how fragile he'd been after Eurydice's death. Is generally better now than he used to be, but still tends to have depressive episodes every now and again.

Horrifyingly powerful. Orpheus' words are so potent that he does his best to not speak at all for fear of influencing the people around him accidentally. Has the uncanny ability to transmit his own feelings through his songs which can be both fantastic and awful. The Twelve had Apollo put a seal on his tongue when he was grieving so his song would stop completely disrupting the world. The seal's since been removed as Orpheus has had a lot of help working through his feelings. Now he paints whenever he thinks about Eurydice which is much more productive for everyone involved.

Argonaut, storied traveller, speaker of many languages, healer, teacher and storyteller. Teaches occasionally at the Parnassus Institute for Gifted Children and tends to be a favoured teacher whenever he drops by. Is responsible for a lot of very important people knowing some form signed or gestured language.

Has no set 'home' and wanders from temple to temple, sanctuary to sanctuary. His worldly belongings like his clothes and old paintings are currently with Asclepius and his family. Apollo has some of his stuff as well, but they're mostly special instruments like the holy lyre he used on his journey on the Argo.

Never keeps any money on him and is usually fed and clothed by the townspeople wherever he goes. Hasn't had to actually pay for something in decades. Has absolutely no concept of money because he'd forgotten it's a thing people need day to day.

Had a brief fling with Heracles while he was still mortal and the two remain on good terms even now. Heracles tends to visit him every now and again for a stint in some springs and good music.

Favourite colour is maple orange, favourite food is roasted pheasant with rosemary and thyme. Allergic to specifically pale yellow mead but is fine with raw honey and honeycomb. Aristaeus has been trying to figure out what causes his reactions for years now.

[pommedepersephone]

Have you watched "Jesus Christ Superstar"? If so, what did you think of it?

Jesus Christ Superstar is in my top three favorite musicals - and I lettered in theatre and choir in high school so my list of favorite musicals is hilariously long.

Setting aside any discussion of the music and lyrics first, let's talk about the narrative. The story is very much about the humanity of it all - and how society treats their heroes. The tension between Jesus, Judas and Mary is a debate about how we balance (or fail to balance) our dedication to a movement over our devotion for individuals. And it features table flipping Jesus!!

Mary is devoted to Jesus as a person. "He's a man, he's just a man" she tells us. She focuses on comforting and caring for him. But in her concern for him individually, she has little demonstrated interest in his work to better the world.

Judas is dedicated to the movement. He is (justifiably) concerned that people are losing sight of Jesus as a prophet, making him into an idol instead of a visionary leader. But in his fervor for the movement, he forgets the individual. He seems unaware just how weighed down Jesus is, and likewise disparages Mary asking why Jesus would "waste his time on women of her kind."

As for Jesus? Poor Messiah is conflicted. He is overwhelmed by what is asked of him by both his followers and his detractors. He is reduced by The People to what he can provide to them, and by The Man to how he can give them influence. And he is resigned because he knows that he has obtained a level of notoriety without authority where he has few options left - his death is pretty inevitable for the sake of the movement.

You know who NEVER makes an appearance? God. God is absolutely silent and absent. Because in the end, Jesus Christ Superstar is not about God at all. It's about how the black and white thinking - devotion to individuals OR dedication to movements - both fail to actually provide us with the society we need.

Now, is the musical itself a bit clunky and cheesey? Oh yeah, definitely. But that is the charm of it. Rock opera just has an inherent kitsch to it that I adore. But it's also clever. Outraged religious leaders so often miss the actual point of the story which is also amusing. And I love the 1973 movie version, but I have loved every live performance I've ever seen. The message remains extremely relevant. And our family watches the movie every December.

And yes, in case anyone is curious, I am certain Aziraphale and Crowley saw JCS live. I bet Crowley loved it and spent weeks afterwards humming "Damned For All Time" to himself. Aziraphale probably refused to comment on the content, just being a snide bastard about the quality of the lyrics, then went home and cried over "I Don't Know How to Love Him."

[vodika-vibes]

hellooooo!! i would like to drop a request for your follower event please!!

i’ve been seeing all the mermaid AUs and wanted to hop on that bandwagon. but the reader (gender neutral) is the mermaid instead of the clone. so gender neutral mermaid reader with human gregor please! something cute and romantic!!!<3

Up Where They Walk

Summary: It’s been years since King Neptune banned all merpeople from venturing to the surface. Contact with humans is punishable by exile. But you’ve never been very good at following the rules.

Pairing: Captain Gregor x GN!Reader

Word Count: 1740

Warnings: None

Prompt: Mermaid AU

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: So, as I wrote this, I was picturing a Little Mermaid AU, where Ariel accepted Ursula's gift and never returned to the sea. Because she was never in love with Prince Eric, so much as human culture as a whole. King Neptune, thinking that the humans stole his youngest daughter, forbade contact with the humans in his grief.

You’ve been a journalist since you were a teenager. You started with writing stories at school, cute little stories about the school sports team or the choir. 

Nice little feel-good stories that your classmates can bring home to their parents.

As you aged, your stories became much less cute.

Your first real story was about the growing drug epidemic that was going untreated in Atlantis. Your second story was about King Neptune’s growing paranoia towards the surface-dwellers.

The second story puts you squarely under the King’s microscope.

Oh, everything you wrote was completely factual. But people don’t often question the King’s decisions, and your article meant that many people started to question his rulings.

Because of this scrutiny, you really should be more careful.

You should stay within the bounds of the King’s directives. 

That would be the smart thing to do.

But, no one’s ever accused you of being overly smart.

And so tonight, just like every night, you slip out of your home and swim out of Atlantis. You swim around the ship graveyard and then swim up.

Higher, higher, and higher, until you reach the surface.

It takes you a moment to gain your bearings, and then you turn and swim to shore. You give the fishing village a wide berth and swim until you reach the pier.

Specifically one of the houseboats located at the end of the row of bobbing boats.

The ship is called The Starburst, and its Captains name is Gregor. You toss a small rock at a closed window and watch as the door opens, and Gregor steps onto the deck.

He looks around for a moment, then a bright smile crosses his face as his gaze lands on you. Gregor walks over to you and crouches on the deck, “I didn’t think you were coming tonight,” He says.

“Have I ever missed a date?” You counter with an easy grin, “It took me a bit longer to ditch my babysitter than normal.”

Gregor frowns and reaches down to take your hands. Effortlessly, as though you weigh nothing, he lifts you onto the deck and settles you next to him.

You shimmy so that your tail isn’t in the water anymore, just in case someone from Atlantis comes poking around, and you gratefully accept the blanket that he offers you.

“The King is cracking down on you?” Gregor asks concern written clearly on his face and in his voice.

“He knows I’m doing something illegal, but he has no proof. And if he exiles me, or throws me in prison, without proper proof he’ll be thrown out of the throne faster than you can blink.” You reply, “I am a journalist, after all.”

The concerned look doesn’t fade, “Maybe we should stop these dates for a while?” 

“That’s sweet, Gregor.” You turn to him and reach out to press your hands against his cheeks, “But I’m not afraid of the King.”

“I thought you said that he’s the most powerful magic user in Atlantis.”

“Oh, he is.” You agree.

“So maybe you should be afraid of him?”

“Gregor,” You lightly stroke his cheek, “You’re worth it to me.”

His dark eyes scan your face, and then Gregor sighs and presses his hands over your cheeks, his warm hands sliding across the scales that sit high on your cheekbones. “I’m flattered.” He finally says with a soft laugh.

“You should be. I’m a catch, Gregor.”

“Mm, I believe it.” One of his arms moves to wrap around your waist, and he pulls you closer until your chest is pressed flush against his. “And you went and let me catch you, I’m a lucky man.”

“Yes,” You agree with a growing grin, “You are.” You tilt your head back slightly, and Gregor immediately leans in and catches your lips with his.

Kissing Gregor is always a treat. His lips and tongue are warm, and he always tastes of something sweet. He once admitted to you that he likes to eat a piece of candy before you arrive, in the hopes that you’ll kiss him more.

Every inch of him is warm, you can’t help but press yourself closer to him as you kiss, trying to absorb all of his warmth. Not that he seems to mind, as his hands dip under the blanket he wrapped you in to slide against the smooth skin of your back, and the rougher scales of your upper tail. 

You allow your hands to slide under the hem of his shirt to rest on his stomach, and Gregor releases a noise that you’d call a mix of a moan and a groan. 

He breaks the kiss, pulling a noise of dismay from your lips, “You’re going to be the death of me, cyare.” Gregor mumbles as his lips move to settle on the skin on your neck.

“I’m not doing anything.” You counter innocently as you slide your hands higher up his stomach to settle just over his ribs.

Gregor groans again, “Would you like me to take my shirt off?” He asks, his gaze heated.

“Mm, more than anything.” You admit, “But you probably shouldn’t.”

Gregor stares at you for a moment, and then swiftly peels his shirt off and tosses it to the side, “I’ll stop you before we go too far,” He promises, and he’s rewarded with you lightly pushing him onto his back, your hands wandering across the planes of skin now exposed to you.

He laughs when you lower your head to press a kiss just over his heart, his hand coming up to caress your cheek.

You favor him with a bright smile, “I love you, Gregor.”

His smile is blinding, and then he tugs you so that you’re half laying over him and he pulls you down so that his lips are pressed against yours once more. “Love you too,” He murmurs against your lips. “If you could stay until sunrise, I’d show you just how much.”

You smile at him, “Maybe someday.” You whisper.

“Once your King gets over himself,” Gregor agrees, “But I’m a patient man, I can wait.” And then he pulls your lips down to meet his again, and any more talking becomes pointless.

After all, you both know how you feel about each other and you’d both rather spend what little free time you have together showing each other how you feel, rather than talking about it.

The following day, a little after lunchtime, you’re summoned to the Palace.

King Neptune looks smug, and you can’t help but scowl at him. “If you’re here to nag me about the article that I’m writing,” You start, “The housing crisis is just that, a crisis!”

The King inclines his head in agreement, “It is a crisis, and it’s one that I’ve been working on. Your articles about the crisis have helped a lot with my negotiations. You are here, journalist, because you’ve been breaking the law.”

Your scowl deepens.

“Traveling to the surface has been forbidden since before you were born.” The King says, “And yet, you travel to the surface every night, for hours.”

You lift your chin, “And I have for well over a year. What of it?”

“Travel to the surface is punishable by exile.” The King reminds you.

You glare at him, “They are our closest neighbors, we should be opening dialogue with them for trade.”

“That is not for you to decide.” The King says flatly, “But if you love the surface so much, then you can live with them.”

You’re about to demand to know what he means, but you don’t have the chance as golden, painful, magic swirls around you, transforming you from a mer to a human.

You have half a second to realize that you’re drowning before there’s a second golden glow wraps around you and rips you from Atlantis. 

You’re dropped, unceremoniously, on a strip of beach not far from Gregor’s ship, wrapped in a loose tunic and tattered trousers to protect you from the harsh sun.

And there, burned into your left leg, is the word EXILE written in the mer language. 

Slowly, painfully, you push to your feet and head towards Gregor’s boat. You’re a bit unsteady on your feet, partly because you’ve never had feet before and partly because the burn on your leg hurts with every step.

Eventually, you make it to Gregor’s boat, or, well, to where his boat docks at the end of every day, and you drop onto a bench nearby. He’ll come back soon enough.

Several hours later, Gregor’s ship pulls back into his place at the pier, and he almost immediately jumps off the ship and to your side, “Cyare?” His hands, rough and calloused, press against your cheek, and then just over the burn on your leg, “What happened?”

You flash a painful smile, “I was exiled.”

“Kriff, this looks like it hurts. Have you been in the sun all day?”

“It does, and I have.” He scoops you into his arms and carries you onto his ship, bringing you below deck and setting you on a plush bed.

“Hold on, I have some aloe for the sunburn,” He says, “It’ll help with the burn. As for the brand,” He glances at it, and grimaces, “I’ll call the town doctor, he’ll be able to help I’m sure.”

“I’m sorry, Gregor.”

He pauses and shoots you a look, “For what?”

“Being a burden.”

“You’re not, you could never.” He grabs the aloe, drops it on the bedside table, and then presses his hands against your cheeks, “I love you, and I’m happy to take care of you.”

“Well, you did warn me—”

“The only person at fault for this is your King, no one else.” Gregor interrupts, “I’m happy that you’re here, even if it's not how we wanted. I’ll teach you everything you need to excel on land.”

You smile at him, adoringly. “And I can finally meet your brothers?”

“And you can meet my brothers.” He agrees, leans in kisses your forehead, and then presses a chaste kiss against your lips, “Now, I need to call the doctor, are you hungry?”

“A little bit.”

“Alright, I’ll call the doctor and then make you something to eat.” He kisses you one more time, “We’re going to be fine, cyare. You’ll see.”

You squeeze his fingers and nod agreeingly.

After all, if Gregor says it, then it must be true.

[rosileeduckie]

Hark the Herald Devils Sing

Snow was going to fall anyway, don't see what the fuss is about.

A Christmas prank gets Christmessy.

Good Omens/Ineffable Husbands tickle fic. Warnings: none.

Word count: 1,914

~*~

"Crowley, darling, look! Carolers!"

"Oh, brilliant."

If Aziraphale, certainly bright with cherry cheeks and a merry smile, had turned back from the front door to look toward the couch where his partner had just been, he would have found the seat completely vacated. For as relaxed as he'd been lounging on the sofa, snuggling and reading over Aziraphale's shoulder, Crowley had been off like a flying reindeer the moment there had been a knock at the door and the dreadful sight of a gaggle of Santa hats out the front window. It's not that the golden-eyed demon didn't WANT to suffer through being sung at through a door to the polar vortex by an all too cheerful amateur choir. It's just that, well, okay, he didn't. Even if being subjected to such torture came with the blessed side effect of getting to bask in the radiance of his angel’s unabashed gleeful smile at humans doing silly human things in even subzero weather. But Crowley would have many a chance to see that smile. The chance to thwart the spirits of people banging down doors in the name of peace and cheer? That was seasonal.

Crowley took the stairs up through the bookshop and flat with enough enthusiasm that he could have been flying, and soon found himself on the roof, overlooking the a cappella band. Time was short before they would become other than sitting ducks, but, upon getting blasted with freezing night air, Crowley spared a precious few seconds to miracle himself up some gloves and a diamond patterned scarf. Gingerly, avoiding both patches of ice and lumps of snow that threatened to cling to and soak the cuffs of his pants, Crowley crouched low to the edge of the roof, perched above a bucket of water that had neither been there that morning nor frozen after the sunset. He could already feel his feet beginning to tingle with numbness. No time for dilly-dallying. One big breath, one tight grip, one good heave, and the bucket was upended over the side of the roof, an impossibly massive but precise deluge of water raining down onto the street.

“Happy Christmas, indeed,” Crowley snickered, rocking back on his heels to dodge out of view. The choir would be fine, surely. Their concert had been disrupted, yes, but they’d all find themselves miraculously immune to frostbite as well as pass a wagon that would just so happen to be offering free hot cocoa and biscuits for the holiday. Crowley was a demon, not a total asshole. To be safe, he’d made himself scarce so as not to earn more ire from people, even if said people were uninvited carolers. As such, he’d missed getting to see their faces as the torrent of water descended upon and soaked them. Still, he should have been able to HEAR their shocked shrieks and grumblings as a result of the prank. He peeked over the edge.

Rocketing up to the roof before the prank had made him miss seeing one of his angel’s sunniest expressions. Craning to look over the edge of the roof now brought him face to face with about the sourest look Crowley had ever seen from Aziraphale. The choir having ostensibly been pushed back a good ten feet, the only one to suffer as the target of Crowley’s mischief was Aziraphale himself, figuratively frozen to the newly wet snowy ground and shooting a glare burning with divine fire up into the eaves.

Crowley shrunk back but could still feel Aziraphale’s gaze singeing the tails of his scarf and melting the snowflakes from his hair. Or perhaps he mistook the sound of his own mortified hissing. “Oh, fuck.”

**

“I’m sorry,” Crowley bemoaned again, having lost count of how many times he’d done so. The carolers, scared stiff but dry, had been shooed away, and Crowley had ushered Aziraphale back inside toward the fireplace, shucking off any of the wet and cold clothing clinging to his skin, sitting him in his reading chair, and wrapping him in all the blankets Crowley could carry without losing balance. The demon had begun his apologies before even making it down from the roof, and he didn’t see himself stopping any time soon.

Aziraphale’s glare had been murderous, but he had softened considerably upon such repentant dotage from his partner. Crowley watched, with substantial relief, the way the crease in Aziraphale’s brow smoothed over and the pout in his lips faded after being dried off and bundled up in his favorite chair with a cup of steaming cocoa easily in reach.

“Angel, I really am sorry I caught you in the splash,” said Crowley, kneeling by the arm of the chair and laying a hand on Aziraphale’s knee--or where he approximated a knee to be; it was hard to tell through at least three throws and a comforter. “I didn’t mean to--”

He broke off his umpteenth apology, breath catching in his throat, when Aziraphale chuckled. “I know you didn’t, my dear.” Aziraphale wriggled one hand free from his blanket cocoon to take a sip of cocoa and then to hold Crowley’s cheek. “You would have been much more devious and proud of yourself if you’d meant it.”

Crowley smiled, half-sighing and half-chuckling and fully nuzzling into Aziraphale’s touch. “Absolutely, I would have been.”

The angel scoffed, smile growing brightly and easily as he gave a little shove against Crowley’s nuzzling with his hand. “Come give us a cuddle? Least you can do to make it up to me, really,” Aziraphale teased.

With a roll of his eyes, Crowley nodded, pretending to mutter, and rose from his knees, melting comfortably into Aziraphale’s lap when the angel spread his blanket wings to create a spot for him. Soon, they were both wrapped up, tangled up, safe together in their little nest. Crowley’s legs straddled Aziraphale’s thighs, arms around his shoulders and face buried in his neck, purring in quiet contentment as the angel’s hands rubbed slow circles over his back.

“Wouldn’t have to make it up to you,” Crowley hummed, catching a whiff of lovely sandalwood cologne from the angel’s curls that had dried and gone back to their usual white-blond fluffiness, “if you hadn’t insisted on being daft and heroic. Saving carolers from their just desserts, hgk. And when they were ASKING for their figgy pudding.”

Aziraphale giggled, pressing a kiss to Crowley’s crimson hair that brought his lips close to the demon’s ear. “And from whom did I need to save them?”

“Ggk,” replied Crowley, leaning back from Aziraphale’s chest enough to scowl and wave his hands to bat away that logic. “Are you warm yet or what? While you’re incapacitated, I could set up another bucket on the roof. Bound to be more than just one group of carolers tonight.”

“You would return to engaging in such villainy after it’s already hurt me so?” Aziraphale gaped, wiping at a nonexistent tear. “Crowley, darling, I don’t know that my heart could take the thought.”

“OKAY, okay, drama queen,” Crowley said, nestling back into Aziraphale’s neck but still well aware the angel was grinning.

“You won’t let me be heroic OR dramatic?” Aziraphale tutted. “Would it make you feel better if I was mischievous? Since you’re busy keeping me warm?”

As quickly as he’d molded back to his cuddle spot, Crowley wrenched backward, spurred by Aziraphale’s hands, once soothing, slipped beneath his jumper, and they were COLD. “Angel-!”

The grin Aziraphale had already been wearing was downright devilish. “Yes, my dear? Oh my, you don’t mind, do you? This is such a nice way to warm up my hands~”

If Crowley minded, he couldn’t exactly say so, because Aziraphale’s hands had taken up exercise to warm up all the more quickly. The angel’s fingers moved to Crowley’s ribs, plucking them as delicate and sharp and quick as if he were playing a harp. Sputtering with a shriek that dissolved embarrassingly quickly into merry chortling, Crowley tried to lean back and out of reach, only to find himself thoroughly trapped by the weighty blankets around the pair. Rather than run, since that option was out, he elected to hide, crumpling forward to bury his laughter in Aziraphale’s chest (which was easy enough since the demon hadn’t even let go of his angel in his escape attempt. Maybe he knew he deserved some recompense for drenching him. Maybe he didn’t want that badly to get away. He couldn’t say, literally.)

“Why, thank you, love,” said Aziraphale, kissing Crowley’s ear once more and taking extra care to brush the stubble of his newly growing beard against the sensitive skin of it (a style change inspired by Crowley’s historically shifting fashion sense, which Crowley wasn’t sure if he regretted or adored at the moment.) “Your laughter does always make me feel warm and happy. I know you don’t care for the sound of it, but I rather adore it.”

If Aziraphale wanted warmth, the sudden heat in Crowley’s face ought to have sufficed. “Angel,” he whined, the sound morphing into a squeal and then wild gay laughter as Aziraphale’s fingers scuttled up to tickle under Crowley’s arms.

“Come to think of it, Crowley darling, you must be quite cold, too. Yes, I didn’t appreciate being on the end of your little prank, but it must have taken you a bit of cleverness to set up and a bit of strength to deal with that cold, my lovely snake. And, seeing as tickling you gets you warm enough for both of us, I think that’s the best way for us to spend the remainder of our evening, don’t you?”

Crowley’s ecstatic squirming had all but tipped him off Aziraphale’s lap (it couldn’t be helped; he had the bad habit of forgetting he had bones when he laughed hard enough), and soon Aziraphale’s torturous hands were the only things keeping the demon from falling off the chair in a tangle of blankets. Giggling proudly, the angel had mercy, pausing his attack long enough to get Crowley comfortably lounging upon his lap once more. Gulping air and keeping his guard cautiously up, Crowley held onto the lapels of Aziraphale’s cardigan and tried to rub away the tingling beneath his arms while he could. “You’d discorporate me before the evening was over, mean as you are when you tickle,” Crowley said, sticking out a forked tongue as though that could negate the blissfully happy smile stuck to his face.

Aziraphale’s chuckle was a purr as he leaned in to kiss Crowley’s neck. “I could tease you all evening instead. We both know you’d get just as red.”

With a flustered grumble, Crowley tilted his head away from Aziraphale’s advances, able to pretend to be grumpy for maybe five seconds before Aziraphale dove back in to croon and kiss along his ear. “You’ll have to be gentle if you want to keep from getting an elbow to the face or a demon on the floor.” The angel raised his eyebrows, and Crowley smacked his arm, growing all the redder when Aziraphale laughed. “You know what I MEAN.”

“I do, darling. I do.” Aziraphale pulled Crowley close, warm and secure. “Ready then?”

Crowley nodded.

Slowly, sweetly, Aziraphale’s hands returned beneath Crowley’s sweater, tickling gently and with the occasional flurry or scribble of his nails just to make Crowley snort and squawk. Each time, without fail, Aziraphale pressed a kiss to Crowley’s cackling mouth. “You make much sweeter music than those carolers, anyway.”

[balloons-and-shadows]

* Swedish Culture *

As my exchange semester is coming to an end, I want to share with you what learned about Sweden the last 6 months

Trains drive on the left side of the tracks. On dagen H, everyone switched from driving on the left side to the right side, except for trains. Swedes will look at you funny for bringing that up.

On every product there is a detailed description of how each part of the product should be recycled. We need to do that everywhere.

Fika <33333333

There are no rules for biking here. It is chaos. As a Dutch person I'm very confused

Love to the academic quarter that allows me to be 15 minutes late to every lecture

I think Gävlebocken is a tradition we need to keep. Especially the burning part of it.

Why does everything close so early during the weekends??? What am I supposed to do??

Ikea has my heart. And a lot of my money.

Sun setting at 14.30 makes me want to eat dinner so early already

Also, the cold makes my hair literally so static? Does anyone know what to do about it?

I can never live without kanelbullar again

The amount of lactosefree options there are everywhere! Love it!

Swedes will be sitting outside of a café even when it is -2 degrees. I have the utmost respect for them.

Why do you close everything for the winter? What am I supposed to do now??

The Ikea stereotype is no joke. Everything I own is from Ikea. Everything my friends own is from Ikea.

I miss cheap alcohol :(

Where are there random loose chairs and tables in your trains? Where do they come from? Why are they there?

Affordable housing <333

Little kids in their little snowsuits with their little snowboots are the cutest thing ever

In small towns, you can find like 7 different Japanese restaurants. Nothing else tho.

Kötbullar are so cheap. I love them. I buy them all the time.

I need to know, why are you so obsessed with Thailand as a country?? I need answers.

I'm not made to withstand -15 degrees. No Swede bats an eye.

Also, choirs are a very big thing??? I wish I could sing well.

Did I already mention kanelbullar? <33333

People ask you if you've already been to the ABBA museum. You have not. You are also not planning on going. Still, people ask you.

The Vasa Museum is a very controversial topic.

The red barns you see everywhere are painted with animal blood. You like to point that out to everyone who comes to visit you.

You have not seen the sun in days. You live on vitamin D-supplements and nothing else

Icehockey looks 75% of the time like very aggressive flirting. You know, like the kdramas

You are sitting in the bus quietly. There are people checking the tickets. You have a ticket. Suddenly, there are 4 people standing over you checking your ticket. There's only 5 people in the bus.

16.00 is rush hour. That is very early.

People will not move out of the way for you. Not in the supermarket, not on the train or on the pavement. There have been many times I have had to walk on the road because people will not move for you.

What is lingonberry and why do you put it in everything?

Why do your parties start and end so early?? Why is 4.00 considered "late"?

Just like the Vasa museum, Gamla Uppsala is a very controversial topic.

Tiny rocks are strewn over the street to combat the ice and snow. They get stuck in your shoes. There is a tiny rock collection on the floor of the hallway now.

It is -20 degrees Celsius outside. You see a dude wearing kaki shorts.

Tomten has my heart. He is so tiny.

Student discounts <3333

[rawrxdinaryheroes]

Songs I Would LOVE XDH to Cover

I Need Somebody by Day6

"Among all the people surrounding me why am I alone?"

I have a list of Day6 songs that Xdh would kill tbh but this one is just super emotional I love <3

You cannot tell me that Jooyeon would not do amazing at singing Young K's parts in the choruses

And Jungsu would do so well with Sungjin's parts

All of the instrumentals are incredibly pretty as well

XDH + emotional songs = a match (into water) made in heaven

Afterlife by Avenged Sevenfold

"I don't belong here I've gotta move on dear"

Do I even need to say anything more??

It's got rap-style verses, harmonies, a kickass guitar solo, orchestral strings, drum line is drum lining, BANGING bass line, an emotional bridge UGH

You guys... they would rock this song I fear

This is genuinely my favourite song this year

Uprising by Muse

"They will not control us. We will be victorious"

Did Gunil get me into Muse? Yes.. And I've been missing out smh

The bass line is steady, the vocals are SO powerful yet soft at the same time, the drum is yummy, guitars are soloing

They would really nail the choir-like harmonies towards the ending half of the song <33

I feel like the vocalist has a similar tone to Jungsu and Jooyeon so yk- the vision is there

Rebel Love Song by Black Veil Brides

"Let us start living for today"

You guys, the guitars in this song are so pretty! I love when guitars harmonize so this song really sends me to the moon

JUNGSU WOULD DO SO WELL ON THE CHORUS

I think Seungmin singing would be a godsend <3

Also Xdh already rocked the "glam metal" kind of look sooooo.... are we seeing the vision~

A Match Into Water by Pierce The Veil

"But if we die at the same time does it still scare you?"

This song is fast paced and features down tuned guitars, distortion, loud drumming, and a strong low toned bass line

The lyrics are incredibly sad and the story behind this song is pure Alice in wonderland levels of tears

I think XDH would do really well covering this song in a more slowed down, acoustic manner

It would really bring out the sadness in this song :((

Ft. Seungmin & Jiseok rap verses UGH PLS

Twist by Korn

If you've heard this song, you'll know why I didn't put a quote for the lyrics bc.... yeah

Yk I feel like they would just sing this song to goof around bc same

It's a fun song, a very silly song with no particular meaning

Imagine warming up and just hitting a Twist... iconic

If you don't listen to any other song on this list, listen to Twist. It's a 50 second icon

Lean on Me by Day6

"Stop crying like that, lean on me"

I am not done with the Day6 Xdinary Heroes agenda

This song is one of Day6's more rock-ish type sound

There's a few rap type verses in this song as well which would go very nicely with our two rappers <3

The harmonies are also VERY pretty and would suit xdh too

There's even a part where Dowoon sings which yk- drummers singing.. Hey Gunil here's a verse!

Caffeine by Kiro Akiyama

"The strain within concealed by wrapping it in a package of joy"

This song features a repetitive guitar riff, a driving drum line, calming vocals, and an intense bass line

I think Jungsu would really sing the chorus and outro very well

This song's vibes are bit different but regardless, xdh would eat

Sunset by N.Flying

"Hold my hand wherever you go"

Guys the bass line in this song is so attractive. I am obsessed

This is also a really sweet, very cute song <3

I feel like xdh would do well with conveying how sweet this song is while also putting their unique flavour to it

N.Flying + XDH would be super cute y'all <333

Hey y'all... How y'all doing? It is I, back at it again with my wandering thoughts : 3 Can you tell my playlist is a mess? I defs have more in my noggin but yeah. Bye! Thank you for reading~

[sol-draws-sometimes]

shuffle your favorite playlist and post the first five songs that come up. then copy/paste this ask to your favorite mutuals <3

Me: Why don’t people send me asks

Also me: Takes weeks to respond cause I can’t answer a question normally

Okay here’s the thing, I don’t really listen to playlists and the only one I do is a shuffle playlist I have(tho I’m pretty proud of it). What I normally do is pick a song and go to radio, or go to my likes and press one of the genere thingys

However I think I’ll do 2 things, show off my shuffle playlist(since I actually do use it a lot), and then shuffle my liked songs NOT w/out any categories for full chaos. Actually I also have a shuffle playlist I did for Spanish music, but that one’s more recent and hasn’t gotten that much use so I won’t do the shuffle thingy.

Anyway this my oldies shuffle playlist:

It’s over a day’s worth of music, cause it’s meant to be shuffled(full disclosure started adding a shit ton of songs before the shuffle because I wanted to make sure it was accurate to my taste and there was a lot of music I added to my likes before making the playlist so they were missing(big chunks of abba,Fleetwood mac,queens, EWF, ELO, etc.) While the playlist is inspired by dad, and so is my taste in oldies music(actually a mix of him and my older sis), there’s stuff on there that I like that he doesn’t( stuff like Simon and Garfunkle and Elton John). It’s mostly 70s, but I’d say it’s 60s-80s. Also it’s English music, so no city pop or older hispanic music like Jeanette(most of my older spanish music is 90s anyway).

Anway these were the first 5 songs

1. At The Rainbows End- The Osmonds

2. Unercover Angel- Alan O’Day

3. Lady in Red- Chris Burgh

4. That’s All- Genesis

5. Wouldn’t it be Nice- Beach Boys

Also screenshotted 5 more and I think these are more indicative of my tastes in oldies(it’s missing a bit of my classic rock but it’s not like that’s what I listen to the most)

6. Roxanne- The Police

7. Oh Daddy- Fleetwood Mac

8. I’m Gonna Be(500 miles)- The Proclaimers (ngl got jumpscared with this one)

9. Wild Word- Ysuf/Cat Stevens

10. Fernando- Abba

Fun fact: Most of Rumors is on the playlist and the whole Xanadu Soundtrack is on there! I’d say may fav artists from the 70s would be ELO and ABBA, tho EWF was my fav band as a kid so that’s still nostalgic to me. Also Doobie Brothers are pretty good! Oh and Hall and Oats! On the more rock rock side of things, I’d say Aerosmith is the one know the most. Or Kansas, I think I like them more idk. I mostly listen to soft rock.

OKAY TIME FOR CHAOS SHUFFLE TIME

1. Sex w/ a Ghost—Teddy Hyde(I think this is more of my sister song?, tho it’s not bad song)

2. Esto les Digo— Kiney Lange, performed by Messiah College Concert Choir (yes this is a choir song)

3. Rata De Dos Patas—Paquita La Del Barrio

4. マイ・ボーイ(My Boy)- Lisa Ono (The title is Japanese but the song is in English)

5. Shun-ran— John (THIS IS IN JAPANESE, specifically vocaloid)

Bonus 6 incase 1 wasn’t me

6. L-O-V-E—Nat King Cole

Honestly, this is actually a good mix of the music I listen to, indie/soft, spanish, and j-pop, and oldies it’s just missing musical theater(also I listen to more early 2000s latino music). Also I don’t really listen to choir/classical music all the time but I do LOVE singing it so sometimes I will try to find new choir songs. Tbh, most playlist on Spotify lowkey suck and have very same-y repertoire, the best playlists I’ve found are Choir Classic-Spotify(a bit same-y but it is the classics™), Choir music that makes me crumb(great variety! I recommend this one the most), and I think Choir songs me that give me chills is also pretty good and it has more musical theater on it (THOUGH IT’S MISSING NORTE DAME).

Okay, I’m done yapping

[zealouskittenfox]

FANFIC. I'm thinking about posting a new short fanfic. I want to see if anyone would be interested. This is just a little of the start.

When he opened his eyes all he saw was a blinding light. Was he in the hospital? The last thing he remembered he was headed out for the night. His bodyguards were on his car’s tail, so he thought he’d have some fun and lose them. Did he wreck? His mother was going to kill him. She was always on him about the way he drove. He usually drove the speed limit and safely, especially if he had Wille in the car with him. But his little brother had found something for him to like better than spending the weekend with his brother.

Maybe it would lighten the kid up some. He knew what everyone thought about Wille. That he was some party prince and didn’t care about rules. That was true to a point. Mostly Wille just wanted to be normal. Erik loved attention, he couldn’t get enough of it. Sure, he’d rather it not be for being a prince. Maybe an actor or a rock star. Wille somehow still had a belief that just because he wasn’t crown prince people wouldn’t care about what he did. That was the furthest thing. They may not be the Brits so obsessed with propriety, but the Royal family still meant something here.

“You’re awake. I was afraid you would miss the show?” a voice said.

Erik sat up, he’s vision clearing. There was a beautiful…person. He couldn’t tell if it was a woman or man, but he guessed that didn’t matter because it was clearly an angel.

“Did I die?”

“Yes,” the voice said smoothly. “Do not worry, you died on impact.”

Somehow that didn’t make him feel any better.

“Where am I? Is this heaven?” He looked around and it reminded him of the tv room when he first went away to school after Hillerska. There was even a large tv and a comfy looking couch.

“No, this is just the in between. You have a decision to make.”

“What decision?”

“You weren’t supposed to die, that was our bad. So, for this once in a lifetime opportunity, you can choose to go into the afterlife or go back to before you died.”

“Am I going,” he said and pointed up, “or,” then he pointed down.

“That I can not tell you. You have to make the decision on your own without that information. But as a help we’ll show you the first year you’ve been gone in highlight form, of course.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sit. Watch with me. You already missed your mother finding out about your death, she fainted. She’s just about to call your little brother and let him know.”

“She fainted? Wille?”

“Come and sit, this is part is very intense,” the angel said with almost a gleeful tone.

Unable to think, he did what was told of him. He sat down and his jaw dropped as he saw his little brother. He was sitting on a windowsill at Hillerska, Erik recognized it. It looked like he was waiting for someone.

A boy with dark curls came into view. Erik recognized him too, but it took a moment to place him. It was the boy in the choir, the one that Vincent, August’s friend, was mocking. The two traded heys and Wille looked pensive.

“August is staying this weekend. I heard him talk about it, and now he’s gonna be on my ass,” Wille said. The other boy sighed looking a mix between annoyed and disappointed. “So, what do you think?”

“That I won’t be able to stay here.”

Why would he be staying there? Erik didn’t know Wille had made any close friends yet especially one that didn’t live at the school.

Wille’s phone vibrated in his pocket but after looking he dismissed the call. Was that about him? Were they telling him that he had died? He wasn’t sure he wanted to watch this.

[queerofcups]

💗😱📚 please!

💗 a fic you’ve reread again and again and why!

oh my god do you know what fic came to mind? Diplomatic Relations its a Rock Lee/Gaara fic that I couldn't even tell you when I read for the first time. It was definitely on livejournal, if not ff.net and I'm pretty sure the 2017 postdate is like, a repost. I don't know man, I've seen only a little of Naruto and have possibly never read any other Gaara/Rock Lee fic but there's something in the fic about...actually engaging with what it means to have been a child soldier, and a child leader and examining the kinds of things you miss out on when you're a. a kid who was hated by your entire village and b. a teenager who's suddenly like, mayor-president-emperor of that town. It's just really engaging, and long enough to really sink intoand its a rare older fic that still holds up pretty well. It's truly a comfort read that I return to year after year.

😱 a fav moment in a fav fic (spoilers!)

one of my favorite tropes in drarry fic (its probably all over the hp fandom) is like...the marry or die variation on the fuck or die trope. I recced Grounds for Divorce somewhat recently, so I'll point out in my other favorite fic on that genre That Old Black Magic the brief flashes we see of both Harry and Draco's families just physically wasting away because their trying to resist the curse. It makes sense in the context of the story, its a marriage curse, threatening to destroy an entire bloodline, accounts for chosen family etc etc. I just think its such a cool and smart detail.

I'm also really into the idea that there's curses and magic that are much bigger and deeper than the sort've immediate practical (or fighting) spells that we see in the book. Its just a little window into the way this series of average books somehow manages to have big enough holes to real fill in with imaginings -- totally aware I'm preaching to the choir here, tomato

📚 what makes a good fic for you? what do you look for in a reading experience?

wow well when i was reading with apologies to susie cave i kept getting one of my favorite feelings in the world, which is the sense that the person writing this story just thinks and sees and notices the world in such a different way than me and is so good at infusing that into the characters' experience and impact on the world they're creating.

most of the time, my favorite fic is going to be one where it just feels like the writer is thinking, thinking a lot about what the canon implications are, if the character has done x how would that look in y situation. if the culture or the magic (or whatever the rules of the world may be) express themselves in that way, how does my character fit into that or, in the case of IWTV and this fic in particular, if two of the worst people you've ever met in your life were in love with each other and also one of them is in part, illegible to the other, what would that look like.

[65ths]

THE QUARTER QUELL ANNOUNCEMENT.

finnick is at mags’ house, he always is for announcements like these. mags is sandwiched on the coach between bayard and one of his granddaughters— rydel, a rightfully worried seventeen year old. but hayward and estey are no calmer at 21 and 20, sitting around the table with their mother and father. even selene has showed, despite what happened after the loss of her and wade’s daughter, poisie. she hasn’t been in the village for at least a year by the time of the announcement, but she stands like no time has passed at all beside wade, who is bracing for what this means for the next class of academy graduates. his parents opted to watch at him, alone. he had no protests. finnick… finnick can’t sit, he won’t sit, and his nervous pace and constant little stretches and cracks do little to ease the room.

the district’s been in riots and revolts since the lover victors from twelve passed through. the village has received some attacks, but none at the victors themselves, more so their gates. the curfew has been strict, but rather ineffective. there’s no calming the rage of nearly 100,000 people all born knowing the force of the sea.

the only thing to calm finnick, and avoid what’s certainly going to be a choir of snapping voices at him, is the gentle hand from annie, urging him to finally join her. he does, and he squeezes her hand during the wait.

lochlan and delphine are an obvious missing pair, but at least the group knows lochlan’s contained in his own walls alongside the rest of the ridley bunch. delphine is entirely unaccounted for, approaching need for a search party should she not surface soon. the small community knows her to be like this at times, off with nyles, or making herself entirely hidden in a smaller further away fishery, but the unrest has changed their disregard into worry.

despite the lack of words said in the waiting period, the room is anything but quiet. something buzzes, everybody rocks and shifts in their seats, couch creaking, wade sighing and clicking his tongue. sometimes there's a whisper between mags and bayard, finnick stares hard, the snoop he is, but he can't make it out above the sound in his own hears: his heartbeat. whatever comes it'll just be the needle that brings down the haystack.

there’s newer secrets that have touched his skin, something far more treasonous than drawing blood from a peacekeeper’s nose or lips. whatever’s coming, whatever the card reads, the secret will change shape and burrow itself further, into his bloodstream. rebellion has always been in finnick’s blood— sleeping, lying in wait. his mother was a rebel, his father too. he didn’t get it when he sold the boat, he didn’t get it when he won the games, but watching katniss everdeen on screen… he thinks he understands it now. he wonders if she knows.

smiling, giggling, kissing. the capitol symbol takes over the screen, and finnick leans forward. annie’s hand is still in his. sitting, listening, sitting, listening. his hand hurts. he’s sitting.

he wonders why won’t they make the announcement, what the delay is as he watches president snow be moved away from the podium. his hand hurts. why won’t they read the card? “annie that hurts,” his head drops to his lap, where she’s squeezing his hand until it turns whiter than sand. following the hand and then the arm up, he sees annie’s already in the midst of breaking down. for the life of him he doesn’t understand why— the card hasn’t even been read. head turning, he tries to look to mags, to anyone really but they’re all more or less losing their holds on sanity in slow motion.

“what’s going on?” he hears nothing in response, he hears nothing at all— he sees that selene is sobbing but it doesn’t reach his ears. it dawns on finnick then, the mystery rather short lived. the card’s been read. he’s missed it. he hits head once. there’s no sound. he hits it again, and again and again until someone pries his hands away from him and the first thing to reach his ears is a gentle shushing sound.

[gatheringfiki]

The following ficlet was written by @miaulady​ based on this photoset.

Fili/Kili, Rating TBC.

You might also be able to read this story on AO3.

If you’ve enjoyed this story, please leave a comment either in replies or on AO3. :)

Angels We Heard on High / Angel’s Voice

—

Kili hummed along to Jingle Bell Rock playing on the radio and placed the plates on the table, moving the napkin a bit more to the left and smoothing it out. It had to be perfect or at least the best it could be.

He was looking forward to this evening for the whole month. Not that he didn’t miss his family and the chaos with them but the excitement about his plan was just too big. His mom had of course not given up without a fight but he had a very good argument for not coming this year. It was called “Fili never had a good Christmas before” and even his mom understood that you did not overwhelm the new boyfriend of three months with Family Christmas Holidays by the Durins. You might as well throw him to the wolves and watch him run away. It had the same result.

But if Kili spent Christmas with Fili on their own, it would be relaxing and a huge opportunity to deepen their relationship.

Fili was amazing and Kili had fallen hard for him. When winter had rolled in Kili had pounced on the opportunity to take Fili on a Christmas Market Date. Walking together between the stalls and buying some of the amazing street food had been super fun. The only damper had happened when Kili had bought a small wooden figure for his mom as a Christmas present. Fili had been a bit awkward at that and when Kili, fumbling bisexual that he was, asked if Fili wanted to look for a present for his mom, the date had ended almost in disaster.

Fili’s family, as Kili found out over a cup of hot cocoa, was broken and he had cut all contact with them years ago.

Kili had felt like an ass for bringing up something so painful for his boyfriend. And his guilt had doubled when Fili had thanked him for the wonderful date and admitted that this was the first time he had ever gone to the Christmas market.

He would make sure Fili would experience the Christmas wonder and love.

Jingle Bell Rock ended and Kili grinned when he heard FilI’s voice.

“It seems that the Winter Spirit is really not looking favourably upon us this year. Still no snow in sight, so truly no white Christmas. But let’s not dwell on what we don’t have but focus on what we do have. And what I got right here is a little retelling of a Christmas legend. Since we got several calls after the last time I read the easter story due to technical difficulties, it was decided that we would not play a recorded version and answer the demand of our listeners. Take a warm drink, your blanket and let me read you ‘The Two Angels of the Choir, a Retelling of the Legend of Christmas Angels’, written by Kilian Durin.”

Kili almost swiped off the wineglass he had just placed down in his abrupt turning around to stare in disbelief at the radio.

He had not- Oh, that was why he had told Kili to put the radio on. That sneaky bastard!

“Fili!” 

“In the heavenly choir of Angels, there was whispering going on. The news had travelled fast to them and two were especially excited. The Son was to go to earth, to be born and live under his people.”

Kili groaned and sat down on his chair.

It was his retelling of the Christmas Legend. He had written it last year, published it and it had not gotten a lot of notice. But he loved the story, his uncle had told it to him every year and he always had felt sad at how short it was. As a writer, Kili had taken it upon himself and worked with what he had, to make the story just a bit longer.

It was about two members of the angelic choir, one wearing sunset pink and the other sky blue, fast friends and singing duets so wonderful they were known to be the best combination. They were chosen to bring the message of Christ’s birth to the shepherds and were honoured to fulfil this incredibly important task. Writing the reactions of the shepherds had been his favourite part, it had been so hilarious to write how scared they were and how the two angels tried to reassure them, not knowing exactly how to do so.

Listening to Fili read his story, the words he had put on paper and worked over intensely, Kili was unable to continue with the preparations. All he could do was listen to that voice and wish that he could see Fili reading it. Somehow it felt incredibly intimate even though they were separated by several miles from each other.

“They watched the shepherds walk towards the little stable, one sheep galloping behind. And once more they sang about Joy,” Fili read the last sentence of the story.

Then the song “Angels we heard on High” started to play and Kili felt like he was about to cry. He would kiss Fili senselessly when he got to his place.

No one had the right to sound so attractive when reading a children’s story! But of course, Fili was.

He looked at the clock and noticed that he really should continue with the preparations if he wanted everything done before Fili would arrive.

—————

Fili could feel his nose starting to freeze and he was grateful for eternity that he had actually found a parking spot close to Kili’s apartment.

Snow might be missing this year in the city but the temperature sure had dropped to freezing.

He rang the bell and stomped his feet. Even with thick socks and his winter boots, his toes were starting to get cold.

The buzzer went off and Fili pushed the door quickly open.

“I am just getting the food out of the oven!” he heard Kili call down.

Fili was extremely lucky with Kili. Three months of a relationship and Kili had decided to spend Christmas with him, fully knowing that Fili wouldn’t be able to help at all with the preparations because he had agreed to cover the Christmas Evening at the Radio Station. Luckily he didn’t have to stay the whole night. But it just showed to him how generous of a person Killi was and that he really was committed to this, giving up to go to his family for Christmas and spending it with just him. And Fili wouldn’t have minded it, he would understand Kili leaving for the holidays. It wouldn’t be the first Christmas he spent alone.

“Hey,” he called into the warm apartment and closed the door behind him.

It smelled amazing. It was warm. The lights were dimmed. It just felt like a dream. All he could do was take it just in for a while.

He had been in Kili’s apartment before and it had felt warm and welcoming then. Now it just was more in a way. The difference was probably that before Kili had put no effort into it and now it was clear that he had been working. And Fili was just in the entryway, one of the most impersonal spaces of any house. The place where you took of shoes and jacket.

Kili poked his head out of the kitchen and looked at him.“Are you okay?” he asked and came towards Filis with a worried look on his face.

“What? Oh, yeah, I just-” Fili could feel his face heating up which had nothing to do with him still wearing his winter coat. “Look what you did with the place,” He gestured at the coatrack, decorated in red and green hangings.

“Glad you like it,” Kili pulled on his jacket. “Want help with that?” And without waiting for an answer unzipped it, slid it off Fili’s arms and hung it up. All in one graceful movement.

“Thanks, it was starting to get hot,” Fili kneeled down and opened his boots.

When he came back up, Kili was right there, extremely close and crowed him back against the door.

Fili could only swallow nervously before he was being kissed.

He could feel Kili pressing closer and then Fili could feel his nose starting to run. Worst. Timing. Ever.

He pushed Kili away and quickly grabbed his jacket, pulling out a tissue.

“Sorry,” he mumbled and blew his nose. “Just, not the best timing.”

Kili laughed and nodded, “God, yes, sorry. But please don’t scare me like that. I thought you pushed me away because you changed your mind or I did something wrong. I was ready to apologise for anything. A tap on the shoulder will do the trick, promise.”

Fili stared at his boyfriend in disbelief, “Come again? Never apologise for kissing me! And why would I change my mind? Kili, spending time with you is amazing on a normal day. On a holiday? Best fucking thing ever.”

“Cursing?” Kili gasped and clutched an imaginary necklace. “Oh my, Fili, you are serious.”

“Of course, I am,” Fili pocked the used tissue, stepped to Kili and pressed his still cold nose into his neck.

Kili squeaked but did not pull back.

“Didn’t you say something about food earlier?”

“Oh! Yes! I made duck a la orange. You will love it, I know you will.” Kili pulled him into the kitchen, which also was a dining room.

“Wow,” Fili whispered and took in the scene.

Candles, Roses and fir green made a beautiful contrast, the white tablecloth (last time Fili had been here there had been no tablecloth in sight) and the food. He could see dumplings, a saucer, a pot with broccoli and a plate with two duck breasts, crisp and brown.

“Kili, this is, it is amazing. I feel like I am saying that too often.”

“Please, don’t stop. I love hearing it,” he was grinning at him widely. “Come, sit and let’s eat. I did hear you reading my book earlier.”

Fili sat down and smiled at Kili, “Yeah? Did I get it across right?”

“Yes. I had no idea you even knew the book.”

“I found it on the Christmas market and thought it was a fun idea to surprise you while you were with your family. Just a little message that I am thinking of you. That was before you told me that you were going to stay. And by then I had already told the people at the station that I had a Christmas Story and,” he started to trail off at how Kili was watching him. “Are you okay?”

“How can you expect me to be normal about this?!” Kili stretched out both of his arms to gesture at him.

“Well, I,” Fili laughed. “I mean, it was just a spontaneous idea. We needed a Christmas story anyway.” He felt as if Kili was making a bigger deal out of it than it had been. He had seen the book, thought the cover cute and only then noticed the name of the author. And the decision that Fili would read a story on Christmas had fallen weeks before he even had started to date Kili. So it really had been no work for Fili, he just picked the story and bought the book. It was no grand gesture like Kili’s, preparing a whole dinner, decorating his place, not going to his family and planning the evening. All he did was read a story on the radio and show up.

“God, stop,” Kili groaned and rubbed his face. “I can’t.”

“I am sorry,” Fili grimaced. Clearly, he had stepped over some boundary. “I should have asked you if that was okay.”

Kili made a very weird sound at that and glared at him.

“Do not apologise. Not for that,” he grumbled in a deeper voice and Fili felt a shiver go down his back. “You just have to make it up to me that I couldn’t see you reading it, by reading it after dinner on the couch. Sounds good?”

Fili felt as if a rock just fell off of him. He had not messed up. He nodded happily.

————-

Kili was really happy that he had not gone home. His mother would have started the wedding plans right then and there with Fili’s explanation of why he had picked Kili’s story. It had been pure chance that Fili had found the book on the Christmas market but an absolutely deliberate choice to buy it and then make sure Kili would have some sign of Fili on the holidays since they had both agreed not to give presents this year.

It was such a romantic and thoughtful gesture of Fili, that Kili had been awfully close to just dragging him over the table. Only the thought of how much work it had been to get the dinner done and that he really wanted Fili to taste it, had stopped him from leaving his original plan of a calm evening with successful and romantic seducing of Fili to just ravishing him on the table.

He poured the self-made hot spiced wine into the new glass mugs he had bought just for this, to see the deep red colour and the fresh cut orange slice. It was perfect in his eyes.

Then he walked into the living room where Fili was already sitting on the blanket-covered ground, gazing out of the window at the giant and glowing Christmas tree outside.

“Has its perks,” Kili placed the mugs on the small table he had placed strategically right at the window, in perfect reach for them but not in danger of getting knocked over if they got more physical.

“What?”

“That,” he nodded at the tree. “I didn’t have to get a tree of my own and decorate it. The City is providing it for free. And I have no problem leeching off of it.”

“That is nice. But it must be a bit annoying when you want complete darkness in here.”

“Ready to read to me?” he sat down close to Fili and handed him the book.

Fili took it and looked at the cover with a soft smile. “You really want me to read your story to you? After you already heard it earlier?”

“Absolutely. You know I love your voice, right?”

Fili blushed and opened the book. “You might have mentioned it before, yes.”

“Once. Or twice.”

“Or basically every date you took me on and I asked if I should stop talking so you can get a word in,” he laughed and nudged Kili’s arm. “Can we light some candles here? Or-”

“Of course,” Kili refused to stand up again but he could easily just roll over and grab two candles from the coffee table.

“Mission Impossible: The Candle transportation,” Fili snorted.

“Are you going to give me a Spy name too?”

“Like, Agent Wick?”

“I am vetoing that one. It sounds lame. Isn’t Wick also a company making cough drops?” Kili rolled over again to grab the lighter. Which was of course, just in reach of his fingertips.

“And other cold remedies, yeah. What about: Agent Wax.”

“Sounds like a commercial for hair removal, so no. Come on, give me a cool one and not out of advertisements. Get creative and original.”“You are the author!”

“I believe in you.” Finally, he got a hold of the metal part and could pull it closer.

When he faced Fili again, he held up the lighter with the words “Give me a cool Spy name and I will light the candles.”

“Agent Over the top but thoughtful and cute.”

“Too long. Stick with the short ones.”

“Agent Best Boyfriend.”

“I will take it!” Kili grinned.

“If you had problems with that name, I would question if you even are Kili,” Fili opened the book to the first page and his finger ghosted over the title and then Kili’s name under it.

Kili could swear he felt the touch himself.

“The Two Angels of the Choir, a Retelling of the Legend of Christmas Angels by Kilian Durin.”

It was so much better seeing Fili read the book at the same time as listening to his voice. He normally hated his full legal name, but hearing it from Fili made it all of a sudden the best name in the world. He wouldn’t change it for any other name if it meant Fili continuing to say his name.

———-

The book wasn’t long or thick. It was a short Christmas Story for Children with illustrations. But Fili had started to interrupt his reading to point out some of the small or not-so-small details he had found cute in the pictures with Kili showing him his favourite detail of the page, and so the reading was going on already for over twenty minutes when they should have been already done. With the obligatory drink from the spiced wine, which was really good. Their positions had changed as well. They had started out sitting close to each other and by now their legs were intertwined. The only reason why they were not closer was because Kili wanted to continue watching his face for some reason.

“See, the last page the snowflake looked different,” Fili turned the book to show it to Kili. “It is your book. How do you not know that they did this incredibly cute thing with the page numbers?”

Kili leaned in closer, their heads touching and looked at the mentioned page numbers. “Are you sure it isn’t just a fluke?”

“I swear to god,” Fili sighed and flipped the pages quickly, demonstrating that the page numbers had snowflakes falling softly always a bit different. “See? Snowfall!”

“That makes no sense for the setting of the story though,” Kili whined. “Snow in the Middle East? That is super rare.”

“So is the birth of God in human form and angels. Which you wrote, but you draw the line at snowflakes?” Before Kili could answer he went on, “And anyway that is not the point of the little snowflakes at the page numbers. It is a children’s book for Christmas, be glad that it isn’t a Christmas tree.”

“You like them?”

“Yes, I find them adorable.”

“Good, that is all that matters then,” Kili whispered against his cheek and when he turned his face they were kissing.

Fili was still holding the book but turned more to the side, lowering his arm as well, to make it easier and more comfortable. Kili’s hand found its way to his cheek, cradling it as if he were something precious to be handled with awe. It was soft, warm and full of love like the rest of the evening had been. Their lips moved against each other slowly. With every passing second Fili felt more fulfilled, happier in a calm way he had never really thought was possible.

He pulled out of the kiss and pressed his forehead against Kili’s, whispering “I love you.”.

He could not think of a more perfect moment to speak these three words for the first time out loud to Kili. It didn’t matter if Kili would answer in kind or not if he was just as deep in this relationship already as Fili was or not. Fili could and would wait and love Kili with all his heart.

“I love you too.”

He could feel tears starting to build up in his eyes, thankful for having met Kili and receiving his love. To avoid actually starting to cry he pressed his face into Kili’s neck, dropped the bock completely and wrapped his arms around him.

Kili’s arms slung around him, pulling him closer and they toppled over, landing on the blankets, still holding onto the other one.

He loved Kili, and Kili loved him. What else mattered in the world?

He felt Kili’s hand going through his short hair, tugging on some of the knots that he formed over the day and detangling it.

He hummed happily and then lifted himself up slightly to look at Kili without having to stop the contact.

What he saw was breathtaking.

Kili’s hair had started to unravel from his half-up do and his face looked a lot softer with the bangs free once more. His eyes were focused on Fili and he was smiling. He looked incredibly hot.

Fili leaned forward and kissed him. A different one than the ones from before. Less sweet and a lot more intense. He swiped his tongue over Kili’s lips, which parted easily and their tongues met.

Kili’s hand in his hair was no longer combing it but gripping tight. The other one was gliding under Fili’s shirt, rubbing his skin.

Fili wished he could do something too but his hands had to stay on the ground, supporting him, so they could continue. And he wanted them to continue.

Kili was pressing further down on his back, one of his legs sliding over Fili’s hip. Both of them gasped into the kiss at the friction.

“Fee,” Kili groaned and sat up, pushing Fili to sit up as well, and then he removed his shirt in one quick move as well.

Fili looked at a wonderfully toned body and his mind struggled to keep up with how exactly it got here.

“Like what you see?” Kili grinned and leaned back on his elbows.

“Yeah,” Fili mumbled and reached out to touch Kili’s skin, finally. When no complaint came he followed with his body. His head leaned on Kili, listening to his heart and breath, smelling him, and his hands sliding gently over him, mapping out his body. He started to kiss the skin on his shoulder when he felt his own shirt being dragged over his back. To let Kili pull it off completely he had to lean back again. He missed the contact instantly and pressed back close to Kili as soon as he could.

“Please, talk,” Kili kissed his shoulders and Fili sunk into the warm affection. “Let me hear your voice?”

And Fili talked. (Later he wouldn’t remember what he said or if it even made sense. But he was hoarse the next day, so he had to have strained his voice slightly.)

The tree outside twinkled happily, the candles were burning calmly and the book was innocently on the ground, open right in the middle where the two angles were holding hands and smiling happily at each other, their mouths open to sing forever about Love in the world.

[rrcenic]

HI NIC I'M GOING TO GO WILD WITH THE QUESTIONS so feel free to skip this in case it's overwhelming or anything! favorite books? favorite music genre, song, and artists? favorite season and month? do you prefer cats or dogs (or neither, or both!) what are your hobbies? what's your favorite show? what is your least favorite show because it didn't meet your expectations? who is your favorite character in every fandom you're in? what headcanons do you have for your favorite characters? CAN I HEAR MORE ABOUT YOUR LOTF OC IF YOU HAVE MORE CONTENT OF HIM? (sorry i just adore him!)

KUNI ILY THANK YOU SO MUCH

favorite books: lord of the flies, les mis, good omens, enders game, and the house on the cerulean sea

favorite music genre: i like indie soft punk, anarchist early 2000s rock, and musical theatre!!

favorite artists: i adore green day, death cab for cutie, queen, aaron tveit, ben platt, mccafferty, marina, lincoln, cavetown, ricky montgomery, and penelope scott!

favorite songs: good old fashioned lover boy, riptide, trees, be nice to me, lotta true crime, american idiot, basket case, my heart is buried in venice, line without a hook, boys will be bugs, paul, twin size mattress, drink with me, stars, are you satisfied, i will follow you into the dark, the village, and so many more!!!

favorite season: late fall/early winter

cats or dogs: dogs i guess!! i love both but i’ve always been more of a dog guy

hobbies: art!! drawing, painting, sculpting, writing, singing, acting, etc

favorite show: GOOD OMENS!!! i also enjoy our flag means death, the umbrella academy, and the simpsons

least favorite show: not a tv show, but south pacific (the movie/musical). the ending is so wild and sudden and poorly done!

favorite characters for each fandom: aziraphale (good omens), simon (lord of the flies), grantaire (les mis), alai (enders game), lucius (ofmd), five hargreeves (umbrella academy)

character headcanons:

lotf:

simon survived his wounds on the island, and was secretly cared for by roger (not really “cared” for, just “kept alive”). however, he is left partially paralyzed in one leg and has chronic pain because of it. when they return to civilization, he uses a mobility aid

the choir doubles as their schools honorary gsa

jack is openly trans and jokingly blames transphobia whenever he doesn’t get his way. this infuriates piggy

simons guilty pleasure is fast food. he has strong opinions about what makes a good french fry

maurice makes british jokes and sam has to gently remind him that they are all in fact british

good omens:

crowley has trouble seeing because of his snake eyes. he misses the stars dearly. once, aziraphale brought him to an observatory on the top of a mountain and crowley cried because the stars were just bright enough for him to see

crowley also gets excited whenever humans discover new telescopes or ways to take pictures of other galaxies because it means people are getting closer to seeing more of his creations

aziraphale invented macadamia nuts (reasons: they’re buttery and soft and light and are really nice to bite and i like them)

les mis:

grantaire makes music. 3 am guitar recordings and random voice memos of lyric ideas. most are about enjolras

as a smart person and a victim of police brutality, valjean is a firm acab believer. he likes giving large anonymous locations to the les amis

marius is the token straight friend, even though he himself is a trans man. there’s such a lack of cishet folks in their friend group that the token straight is literally queer

enjolras is terribly allergic to cats but pets grantaires pet cat anyway. he suffers constantly

other hcs about my lotf oc: he likes swimming but hates the feeling of dried salt water on his body, he likes to paint his nails, he chews his hair and nails when he’s nervous (someone needs to introduce this boy to oral stim toys), and his favorite color is baby blue!

again, thank you so much for the asks!!! <333

[mollish-art]

I like all types of music, and I consider myself to have a good taste in music. So, I just had a idea for the themes for the Unperson characters:

U!Charlie: A theme that makes you think, "yep, he's the hero, he is the protagonist". The track has to be a reflection of U!Charlie: Apocalyptic Music (to represent the Hero Variant he is), with a subtle arrange of notes denoting sorrow/sadness, because, you know, he doesn't want to be there at all. Some notes can be missing, like his memories until he remembers them. The Showfall theme can be sprinkled about, signifing his conection to them. His leifmotif can be the tune that played when Slime Demon first appeared, to reflect his other roles, mixed with some arrange of notes that denote "hero/protagonist"

U!Sneeg: More Synth music, Post-Apocaliptic Machines Have Taked Over kind. The Showfall Theme would be more present, because he is an "NPC", so they have more influence over him.

U!Ranboo: Techno/Metal music, to denote their biomechanical limbs and their ruthlessness. The music would be more techno than metal when it begins, and in some points only a instrument would play to denote their stealthyness. When angry/hungry/hangry the music is full on metal with some techno touches. The same hero leifmotif that is in U!Charlie theme is in their track, but is this one is distorted, missing chunks. They were the Hero, yes, but not anymore. The Showfall theme is present, in equal ground of presence with Sneeg's theme.

U!Niki: Orquestra with coir with rock-metal/rock. When it first starts, only the violins and maybe a piano with the choir are heard, playing/singing a melancholic song. Little by little, the violins change their notes to that of rising tension. The good thing about violins is that their songs can be sad and also be terrifying. Then, suddenly, coir, piano and violins stop. The rock band starts playing alongside the metals of the orquestra, whilst the string instruments copy the tense drone that the violins were doing. The Showfall theme is more present in her track, even to a point were only the piano plays, orquestra and band going quiet so the piano can play the exact notes that the Showfall theme has, and it continues playing in the background even when orquestra and band continue playing.

Sorry to have written a one-shot length ask! I needed to put my thoughts in "paper". Have a nice one!

I'm a huge instrumental / video game music nerd myself, so I always love hearing people's analyses of leitmotifs and suggestions for types of music that fit a particular character's vibe! Here are some of the songs that I associate most with each of the characters (each of them can be found on the Unperson OST) The Devourer: "Stigmata" by grandson Ranboo: "Devourer" by Aidoneus Charlie: "Just a Game" by Birdy Sneeg: "Now - Connor" from Detroit: Become Human Hetch: "Your Death Will Be My Art" from The Evil Within 2 The Sightless Siren: "Medusa" from Assassin's Creed: Odyssey Niki: "Lung" by Vancouver Sleep Clinic Adam: "My Way" by Chase Holfelder ???: "Brutus" by The Buttress And of course the 'main theme' of the story as a whole is "Unperson" by Nothing But Thieves!

[ahedderick]

Church choir 80s style

   My mother was a church musician and choir director. Her favorite church, and the one she worked at longest, was “Holy Cross”. Holy Cross was forcibly integrated in the sixties, and anyone who wanted to be a shithead about that left, so by the time I came along in the 70s the choir was not only multiracial*, but very happily and solidly so. Those choir folks were a tight group. And several - most - of them had a very Robust sense of humor, the sort people who lived through the “sexual revolution” and the dawn of Rock and Roll often have.

   Every Ash Wednesday the choir would meet after the evening service (where everybody get ash from palm branches smudged on their forehead) and Richard, picking his moment, would hiss “Hey! Bertie!” When she turned to him he’d gesture at the smudge of ash on her forehead and continue, “You ash is showing!”

   Apparently, every single year that was pants-wettingly funny. And the one token Very Modest Guy would blush. Maybe you had to be there, but other than me being a teenager trying to cope with a bunch of adults with Humor, it was good times.

   Later, when I met my husband the forester, I asked him to get in on the joke. We were cutting firewood, and he cut a small section of a branch from an ash tree. He picked his moment. Then, after church one day, he approached her and handed it to her. “Now,” he told her conspiratorially, “If anyone ever asks you for a ‘piece of ash’, you can hand them this!” Bertie, and every other choir lady within earshot, absolutely lost it. Laughing, crying, gasping. Perhaps a high point for the church as a whole.

   I don’t know if any of those folks are still alive. Izzie, who lives near me, passed away last year in her mid-nineties, and is missed. The youngest of the others would be in their late seventies by now. People who live in my memory, I guess.

* One day we stopped the music for a while for the older ones to tell stories about their involvement in the Civil Rights movement. That was pretty awesome to share.