#Kittywritesthings

[kittyknowsthings]

Fandom: Lord of the Rings - J. R. R Tolkien

Title: The Naming of Sons Chapter 2/3 Fic Summary:

In Lothlórien, Pippin and Boromir forge a pact. Only one of them will live to honor it.

[kittyknowsthings]

While I absolutely agree with the "how about we not go to the writers/Voice Actors for this?", and not needing their approval, and that seeking it is actively harmful, I do disagree with canon being a useless term. (Not to mention you're conflating the concept of Word of God (Creator confirmation) with Canon (what is in the text), though that's not uncommon in some corners of fandom) Language is as much a collaborative, often transformative effort as fandom is, and we stole canon fair and square Canon as a fandom term is intensely useful for categorization, as reader and creator both. Asking yourself as a creator if you are working off what is in the text/on the screen only, or if you draw from auxiliary (apocryphal? I straight up think we should steal that too) sources like interviews or tie-in books as well, and if so which ones, is useful for you as a creator, but also, say, when discussing your vision for a fic with a beta reader. Is a Fanwork canon-compliant, canon-divergent, or even canon-defiant? Which Fanons do you consider equal to, or even superior to, the canons they drew from or replaced? Are you working off a cobbled-together FrankenCanon (Different "Official" variants on the source material, i.e. books and movies and animated tv shows)? Have you decided to pick canon's corpse over for shiny bits?

While yes, whether something is canon-compliant or not should not ever be a *value* judgement, and the trend for trying to get headcanons to "ascend" to formal canon is not only an unhealthy view of looking at them but actually makes things harder on the original creators as well (See Seanan MacGuire's plea that anything someone mentioned to her will in fact have to be scrapped from her ideas even if it was already on there for reasons of legal liability), saying "we should get rid of the concept of canon" is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

[biotickitty]

Coming Back Down.

I FINALLY WROTE SOMETHING. YAY~. Also yeah, this is kinda what happen after Running in Circle. If you haven't read it, do it xD ALSO THIS IS HIGHY INSPIRED BY THE SONG COMING BACK DOWN BY HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD. It's been a month now. A month since you left this world. At first I couldn't understand why you did what you did. But now, I think I get it. You were so tired and I couldn't do a thing to help you... I'm sorry I wasn't much help. But now I do understand, That you were too good, For this world so you left it. Everything turned red, And then you made an exit. I knew you were... Sick. I think I just didn't want to see it. I became blind, blind to the fact that you wanted to leave this world. Blind to the fact that no matter how hard I tried, you never were truly happy. Hopefully you're happier where you are now. So I guess you had to leave, You were born with wings. But you were never happy, 'Til the angels sing. At first, I was devastated. The fact that everything in this house reminded me of you didn't really help... It felt like you were just gone somewhere and you would come back soon... Your things were still at their place, your smell lingered on the pillow next to mine, the dogs were waiting for you next to the door, just like they used to do when you were coming back from work. I just can't escape It's like you're here with me now But the words you say They always seem to fade out But I'm feeling better now. I went on with my life. I know that I have to go on and forget about you, but how could I? I know it's bad for me to keep holding on on those feeling, to keep wishing for you to still be alive, but I can't stop. So I'm becoming a ghost in a faceless crowd, half alive. Since you been away I'm just a face in the crowd Someday, Someday I know you're coming back down Sometimes I think about following you. It's so much pain to live without you. Maybe it would all go away if I was with you again... It's not like anything was holding me back here. But then again, I don't think that's what you'd like me to do, right? Come lay down beside me, What could one life mean? It's only what I've seen, It's only just one dream. I'll go on Snake, don't worry. I just need some time to heal. It was hard to lose you but... I know you don't want me to cry, so I'll move on and live, for both of us. I guess we'll meet again when my time will come, so wait for me, okay? It's hard to say goodbye, When you know that it's over... I love you, you motherfucker.. Scott.

[kittyknowsthings]

The last Chapter of Pining and Posturing on the same day as the new Season releases!

[kittyknowsthings]

New Fic! Rediscovering my love of Drabbles, lately. Fandom: Lord of the Rings - J. R. R Tolkien

Title: The Naming of Sons Chapter 1/3 Fic Summary:

In Lothlórien, Pippin and Boromir forge a pact. Only one of them will live to honor it.

[kittyknowsthings]

“Well, that explains why he was so certain I’d find him interesting,” Will concludes – erroneously so, as about fifty miles northeast of him his soulmate is stunned, if delighted, to find proof of their connection sitting on his chest

"My apologies for imposing upon you in this manner," the spirit says, cementing Lan Qiren's suspicion that this is clearly not Wei Wuxian into certainty.

If he is discovered, he will flee to Bajor and lay flowers at every funeral arch he comes across, until his illness – or, more likely, a Bajoran – kills him.

WHEN YOU SEE THIS, SHARE 3 RANDOM LINES FROM 3 WIPS

“Your planet is dead, you can’t possibly have that many relatives."

Billy is definitely committing fifty-two floors’ worth of arson.

“I’m a vigilante, Doctor,” Clark reminds him patiently. “We don’t really do ‘red tape’.” 

[kittyknowsthings]

Numbers 5 and 7 for the fic writer asks, please :)

Number 5 the first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP – that one was pretty hard because most of my current WIPs are in the ideation stage, i.e. complete wreck of summarizing bits, dialogue snippets and descriptive sentences between brackets and notes, so finding a "fifth paragraph" in any of them is hard! (Exception: Combating Experience which had a lot of prose already written, but most of it from several years ago, so I would have the immediate urge to edit most of it before trying to share so much as a paragraph) Finally settled on this one from a star wars ficlet:

Trials, said something that was maybe a memory and maybe the Force and maybe both.  

Number 7 - I don't think I have much of a preference? I use Montserrat on 4thewords, apparently, which is where I do most of my initial writing. I can't tell you if that is the absolute default, or just the default option I liked best. I can't even figure out what the standard font on Typora *is*, which I use on my computer for storing offline, formatting footnotes if applicable, and other further fiddlage. The files i have where I printed stuff to fiddle on paper are all in Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, or Arial which are also all very Default.

[kittyknowsthings]

Would you ever write a story involving a self-insert?

I'm a writer *and* a maladaptive daydreamer - I have written several very blatant self-inserts.

I just don't publish that sort of thing because to me it feels too personal to share.

Particularly satisfying scenes and dialogue bits do tend to make it into other works, afterwards.

[kittyknowsthings]

A Nice and Accurate Timeline of the Apocalypse (and its Aftermath)

As shown on the Good Omens TV show

Happy birthday to me, a gift for myself and the entire Good Omens fandom.

MONDAY

Hastur and Ligur check on the Hellhound

Warlock and his mother argue about his birthday party while Aziraphale and Crowley watch.

Crowley suggests Aziraphale could kill Warlock. Aziraphale suggests they go to the birthday party instead.

WEDNESDAY

Warlock's (and Adam's) 11th birthday

3 pm - Hastur and Ligur let out the Hellhound

Sufficient time later for a thorough cake fight:

Aziraphale and Crowley have to admit they've got the wrong boy since the Hellhound, who should be there by now, is not showing up.

(The Hellhound had to get to Tadfield instead of London, it's a bit of a trip, I suppose, since it must be some time later when:) The Hellhound arrives in Hogback Wood between 3pm and 5:00pm, assuming Agnes Nutter and Deirdre Young define teatime the same, but with definitely enough time for

Crowley (back in his usual outfit) and Aziraphale (who had time to get changed and wash the cake off) to have decided to have a drink over their failure at Aziraphale's bookshop (where they have returned, presumably by car, though to be fair, the Ambassador's residence to Soho, which is about 3 miles, at Crowley's typical speed is a matter of a couple of minutes, really) when Crowley announces the Hellhound has been named

Newton is fired, meets Shadwell, is told to show up at his place at 11 o'clock the day after

Anathema is implied to arrive in the UK either Wednesday or Thursday, but a bit difficult to nail down - did they show it chronologically, in which case Anathema arrived before Newton meets Shadwell, or did they alternate the scenes to juxtapose Anathema and Newton more clearly, but Anathema's outfit, make-up and hairstyle are still the same when we see her move into the cottage on Thursday

THURSDAY

Gabriel and Sandalphon show up on Aziraphale's shop to corner him

(The scriptbook implies Crowley stayed at the shop through the night and is only now sneaking out, nearly caught by the Archangels, but it wasn't shown, so follow your bliss.)

Hastur and Ligur check in with Crowley and say their "operatives in the State Department" have arranged for the boy to be flown to the Middle East

The Postman delivers the Sword

Anathema moves into Jasmine Cottage in Tadfield and gets to work

Crowley threatens his plants

Aziraphale is on the phone with someone who wants to buy the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter

Newton comes to Shadwell's and is initiated so we can assume it is now 11 o'clock

Aziraphale calls Crowley with the idea to check the convent, they take the Bentley together 

(If we're assuming 90 mph is Crowley's standard speed, and Tadfield is in about the middle of Oxfordshire, we can assume it took them about 40 minutes. So, either they left later, or Crowley actually bothered to slow down on occassion.)

Anathema meets the Them while scrying for the Antichrist

Aziraphale and Crowley meet Mary Hodges, interrogate her, and ignore the police blockade to leave the former convent at sunset

Shortly after, Anathema is scrying by yet a third method (poor girl)

Anathema's bike and Crowley's Bentley collide, they give her a ride

by the time they arrive at Jasmine cottage, it is fully dark

Anathema has a video chat with her mom

Aziraphale and crowley discuss the possibility of asking a human for help with locating the antichrist over cake

Adam is starting to be reached out to when asleep by infernal forces

Back in front of the bookshop, Aziraphale finds the book and blows off Crowley to read it

FRIDAY Crowley calls Aziraphale to check in

If we are assuming Aziraphale's office clock is correct, it is about 6:45 am when he calls the Young's home phone, the Young parents are having breakfast, and Adam is training Dog

Aziraphale attempts to script an explanation to Gabriel

Anathema invites Adam in

Crowley meets with Shadwell

Aziraphale meets with the Archangels and realizes they have no intention of averting the war, Michael states "The other side are currently transporting [Warlock] to the plains of Megiddo"

Aziraphale claims, to the Archangels, not to be sure about the Antichrist's location even though we saw his notes on the matter include his address

Aziraphale calls in Shadwell, who ignores Newton's quite accurate recognition of the oddness of Oxfordshire's weather

The scales are delivered to Famine

At about 7pm, Crowley calls Aziraphale and suggests the meeting at the Bandstand in "15 minutes"

(When they are actually meeting, it's sunset, but given filming schedules and stuff, I will leave it to you if you decide Aziraphale is really late or the sunset is just early)

During the night, Adam starts actively affecting reality

SATURDAY

Aziraphale intercepts Gabriel jogging at Battersea Park

Michael presents pictures and gets Gabriel's tacit permission to check in downstairs about Aziraphale and Crowley and calls Ligur

Crowley goes over possible escape locations 

Lesley delivers the crown to Pollution (the sun is still rising) and the message that it's time to Death

Newton gets sworn in by Shadwell and sent off to Tadfield, he has the accident Ligur talks to Hastur who is supposed to be leaving for Megiddo about his suspicions of Crowley, they decide to find proof

Hastur gets to Megiddo

Anathema is well-prepared for Newton's arrival

5 hours and 48 minutes to the end of the World

Newton wakes up

The Them separate for lunch, agreeing to meet up again after

Warlock is at Megiddo Hastur confronts Crowley, who was having  a pity party at a cinema

Anathema catches Newt up, it's about 13:15, and "about 4 hours and 15 minutes" to the apocalypse

Crowley tries again to convince Aziraphale to come with him, fails 

Sets up the holy water booby trap

Crowley melts Ligur

Aziraphale appears to have taken a short walk to clear his head, as he is on his way back to the bookshop when he is accosted by the Archangels and the horn is sounded

Adam is starting to really scare his friends

13:30

Anathema and Newton are about to leave, but are stopped by a storm

They start making out under the bed

When the pin in the map starts sizzling, Shadwell realizes he may have sent Newton into danger, and Tracey convinces him to go after him, but Shadwell refuses her money and instead resolves to ask Aziraphale for an Advance

Newton has scruples and asks if he shouldn't buy anathema dinner first, but she quickly dissuades him

Aziraphale contacts Heaven in a last-ditch attempt to ask Her for help, the Metatron quashes his last hopes of Heaven's assistance

Shadwell goes to Aziraphale's shop, sees the late end of the Metatron bit through the letter flap,

Aziraphale calls Crowley but Crowley hangs up on him to deal with Hastur.

Shadwell picks the lock

and Aziraphale, trying to keep Shadwell safe, accidentally steps into the circle, discorporating himself.

Shadwell slams the door on his hasty way out, shaking the ground hard enough to kick over one of the candles in the communication circle setting the shop on fire.

Parallel to this, Crowley finished dealing with Hastur and makes his way to Aziraphale

14:30

Crowley, on his way to Aziraphale's shop, tries to call Aziraphale,

the store is already very on fire

Crowley goes in and tries to find Aziraphale, rescues the book

Adam announces his "new" friends - the horsemen - will be together soon and are on their way

Shadwell arrives back home and is put to bed by Madam Tracey

Aziraphale argues with the Quartermaster and decides to go back to Earth without a body if he has to

4 pm -

Anathema is getting dressed again

Crowley has gotten really quite drunk, having downed an entire bottle of Talisker and asking the bartender for a second by this point

Aziraphale finds him at the bar

The Seance starts

The Horsemen meet up at the café

Aziraphale crashes the Séance and quickly wraps it up so he can get Tracey up to speed

1 hour and 43 minutes to the apocalypse

Crowley is stuck in the traffic jam due to the M25

Shadwell wakes up, Madame Tracey and Aziraphale make him tea

The M25 lights up with Crowley still inside

Lisa from the call center accidentally frees Hastur, who thanks her by eating her and her colleagues

Aziraphale recruits Shadwell, who packs the Thunder Gun

Hastur appears in the car, prompting him to brave the fire out of sheer spite

Adam chases away Dog and the Them, whose rejection makes him snap back to himself. They resolve to stop what Adam started, and to "meet back in 5 minutes"

Anathema and Newt figure out they have to go to the airbase

Aziraphale makes the scooter fly

The Horsemen arrive through the official entrance, pretending to be a surprise inspection

Anathema and Newt sneak in through a hole in the fence a fallen tree has made

Adam and the Them meet up again

31 minutes to the end of the world

RP Tyler delays the Them 

The Horsemen take over the base, starting ... everything, basically

17 minutes to the Apocalypse

after asking RP Tyler for directions, Crowley hurries

The Scooter reaches the airbase

Aziraphale argues with the airbase

Crowley arrives making his heroic entrance

(of course Adam and his friends do the real work)

The Bentley explodes

Aziraphale sends off the guard off while Crowley is having a moment

Crowley takes care of the next load of soldiers

When the Sergeant chickens out, Aziraphale attempts to use the gun on Adam, but Tracey stops him

Pepper, Brian and Wensleydale take out War, Pollution and Famine

Newt breaks the system by trying to fix it 

Adam confronts Death

Anathema and Newt walk on

Crowley returns the book

Aziraphale receives the prophecy

Gabriel and Beelzebub arrive

Aziraphale and Crowley rules-lawyer them into cancelling the war

Satan shows up

Aziraphale threatens Crowley to never talk to him again, so Crowley stops time, giving Adam enough time to think

Adam rejects Satan, declaring that that is not his father, so Arthur Young appears

After Nightfall, Aziraphale and Crowley wait for the bus, sharing a bottle of wine

Lesley picks up the horsemen's items

Aziraphale and Crowley take each other's hand as they sit down in the bus

SUNDAY

Crowley, already in Aziraphale's body, investigates the restored bookshop

Aziraphale, in Crowley's appearance, is happy to find the Bentley restored

Anathema and Newton wake up together

Crowley and Aziraphale meet at the park and are abducted for each other's trials.

Madame Tracey and Sergeant Shadwell agree to retire together

Agnes has the next book delivered

Anathema decides to burn it

The Them check in on Adam, who is sure he'll be grounded for "years and years", but his parents will have forgotten by tomorrow - his powers to affect reality do not seem entirely gone.

Summer is ending.

Crowley and Aziraphale are sitting on a park bank, they swap back and agree to go to Lunch

They dine at the Ritz to romantic music and toast To the World.

[kittyknowsthings]

@amarguerite​ You could just ask! ;-) 

Even to the Edge of Doom (Darcy/Lizzie/Richard) and Love alters not (Lizzie/Richard/Wellington) ARE indeed still on the to write list, there’s outlines and stuff, but very much hibernating, since at the moment my brain is very Good Omens-obsessed (though it is slowly starting to make room for other fandoms again), but I have yet to finish a single multichapter since dying (I’m sitting on a currently 30k-ish likely eventually 55k-ish Good Omens WIP because I don’t feel secure in posting yet) so I feel very hesitant to make any declarations, at this point.

(There are some vague notes on ideas how to make at least a fun oneshot of Wellington/Darcy/Lizzie work.)

So the answer to “Is this still happening?” boils down to “Hopefully, but probably not this year”

But that should not stop anyone else from taking a stab at it in the meantime - in doubt, more cakes!

Hi! I love love love your fics. I also don't know if this is impertinent or if you're taking prompts but have you ever considered how a thruple would work for an ever fixed mark? Either darcy/colonel Fitzwilliam/Lizzy or sksksksksksk Wellington/darcy/Lizzy which I can't even imagine!!

Thank you, that’s so sweet!

Actually this is a question I get a lot and I’m afraid I must always give the same disappointing answer! I honestly don’t think that any of those throuples would work, at least given the way that I have set up the characters. Their insecurities about relationships, sexuality, and soulmarks would all converge in a way that makes polyamory not a great solution to their problems.

Col Fitz has internalized some damaging messages about bisexuality that would make him ill-inclined to consider polyamory an option even if he was honestly interested in it, and a committed monogomous partnership with someone who accepts his sexual orientation is really all he wants, and is the kind of romantic relationship that’s best going to soothe his insecurities about being wrong just for who he is, and make him happy. There would have to be either some really big mental shift or... idk he’d have a pre-existing sexual or romantic relationship with Darcy and just be like, “yeah, obviously my wife should also engage in this normative thing I’ve been doing if she’d also enjoy it! Firzwilliam clearly refers to both of us.”

Darcy I read as pretty straight and slightly inclined to demi -sexuality if not significantly sexually inhibited by anxiety, so I’m not sure how he’d be into it, unless he and Col Fitz are both just dating Lizzy at the same time. And since Darcy is so fastidious and deeply paranoid about finding the exact right match his match having two matches would automatically exclude Lizzy unless, again, there was some major shift in his thinking that I can’t quite come up with right now, or there was a major shift in society. I also think given the nature of his responsibilities, and all he has to do as Master of Pemberley, Great Man etc any atypical or scandalous relationships would just send him into an anxiety free-fall from which he would find it tough to recover.

I think you could make a case for Lizzy being the most open to polyamory. She’s already inclined to struggle with the societal messaging of a One True Match and her morality is based very much on how people treat each other, not What Sociey Says, which would mean ethical nonmonogomy would probably be fine with her as long as everyone’s consenting and having a good time. But I don’t know how you’d get Darcy and Col Fitz on board. I could see Wellington getting on board? Though I think historically he said stuff about not being a cad enough to sleep with a friend’s wife, if the friend was there and taking part, he would probably be fine with it, especially if you tweaked his soulmark meaning so that he and Ned Packenham were romantically involved. But Darcy’s pretty perplexing, especially since I wrote it so that Wellington and Darcy don’t like each other. Wellington/ Col Fitz/ Lizzy would be more likely, though who the hell would bring it up and how stumps me entirely.

I’ve seen a couple of Lizzy/ Darcy/ Col Fitz fics on Ao3 that work quite well so it can be done! But I’m not sure how I could do it logistically speaking, in the Soulmark AU.

Anyone who would like to give it a shot is welcome to it— I think @kittyknowsthings wanted to do something a while ago, but I’m not sure if that’s still happening.

[kittyknowsthings]

Finding the Word(s): A Collection of Resources for Writers

http://thesaurus.com The classic. Finds synonyms and definitions. https://www.wordhippo.com/ Word Finder, defaults to synonyms. Sorts synonyms of words by which nuanced meaning of it it is using. A lot more expansive and precise than thesaurus, but the huge results collection can become overwhelming I mostly use the synonym and antonym function, but it can apparently find definitions, and apparently also rhymes and lots more - the true egg-laying Wool milk pig?   Also has a friendly pink hippo.

https://visuwords.com/ Calling itself a "visual" thesaurus, you give it a central word, and it gives you synonyms, roots, related words, opposites etc in a mind map where the connections are color and symbol-coded. You can expand further by doubleclicking a word ball You can also rearrange by pulling the words around. I find it more useful for brainstorming and collecting and collating themes and words than to use while writing.

Danger: Bouncing the words around is fun and has a lot of procrastination potential.

http://chir.ag/projects/tip-of-my-tongue/ For when you're looking for a SPECIFIC word, or want to find a bunch of words that fit a specific pattern (Say, start with Com- and end with -ing)

https://www.rhymezone.com/ Extensive Rhyme finder. Sorts rhymes by numbers of syllables or letters, bolds stronger rhymes vs weaker rhymes, and also adds phrases/word combinations - (which is responsible for pointing out to me that "bitchy" and "which he" rhyme which I am totally going to use in that poet!Crowley fic) It apparently now has an advanced version for song writers, which gives you rhyme scores and metre/stress marks, but shows you a lot less at a glance. Also has a function of finding a word in Shakespeare's works if it's there.

[kittyknowsthings]

Another ficlet in my “Crowley falls out of chairs”- thematic series.

[kittyknowsthings]

Trying to plan a fic

EVERY DAMN TIME

[kittyknowsthings]

The traveler had been cruel enough to ensure no one, in the castle, would still be able to both comfortably hold a book and read it, either their eyes or limbs (or both)

Crowley, of course, didn’t let that stop him from trying - he learned how to use his fangs to gently drag a book off the shelves without damaging it, taught the tip of his tail to turn the pages, read even though he had to climb onto the page to get close enough to the letters, and his eyes, meant for tracking the quick motion of prey animals, not still letters on a page. He learns that he reads best by flickering candle light, to convince his eyes the words are moving.

He tires quickly.

He has been working on the same chapter for a decade, the same book for a century.

Sometimes he reads until he falls asleep right there on the page, sometimes he slinks off, frustrated, before finishing a single sentence and goes yell at his roses some more.

The first time he tries to visit his prisoner, only a few hours after his servants had locked him up, he finds the man asleep, obviously caught in a dream.

With his creamy clothes, his bright curls, his long, pale, fluttering eyelashes gently fanning out over those cherubic cheeks - damn his vision, drawn to this bit of motion - he looks like an angel from a storybook.

Like a ray of light in the darkness that is his castle.

Crowley flees before he can be noticed, though he makes sure to order his servants to ensure the man’s needs are met. 

The next time, he has braced himself, and still feels skewered by the man’s eyes.

“How are you finding your accommodations?” he drawls.

“Surprisingly peaceful,” the man says, polite.

“Peaceful?” That, Crowley had not expected. Who in their right mind would call a demonic castle peaceful? Lonely, of course. Quiet, he might have allowed. But peaceful?

“The food is good, my pillow soft, I need not launder my clothes by myself.”

Then he lowers his voice before he continues.

“And there are no customers,” he admits, a little sheepishly. “If I had a book, I might find myself quite content, here.” 

“You ... read?”

Crowley realizes, suddenly, that he has long stopped keeping track of the passing years.

The man’s clothes, while of good quality, are not fine enough as to denote nobility, and speaking of customers indeed hints at a position in trade - since when did such a man read for leisure?

Has he truly missed a further spread of literacy?

What else has he missed? 

He finds himself so lost in the implications of this - and the fury at both the traveller and himself - he nearly misses the man’s answer.

“Whenever I can.”

He leaves lost in his own thoughts, without bothering to say goodbye.

The next time he visits, he brings down the book. It takes him some time, especially since he wishes to keep the bookmark in place.

He wishes he trusted a servant with them, but the ones who still have hands also are somewhat permanently slimy or grimy.

The door, fortunately, knows better than to refuse him admittance, and opens on its own. 

The man blinks, stares at a giant snake dragging a book in his fangs, then laying it on the floor, retreating a bit.

“What are you waiting for, pick it up!,” Crowley says, making an impatient motion with his tail.  

The man obeys, picks the book up with reverent care.

“How long will it take you to read up to the bookmark?”

“Up to the bookmark?” 

“Once you have caught up, you will read it to me.”

“I will?” The man has the gall to look amused.

“Do recall you are a prissssoner,” Crowley hisses. 

“Might I know my captor’s name, then?”

“Crowley.”  

“I’m Aziraphale,” the man responds,

Of course he’s named after a bloody angel.

“The bookmark is where you left off?” Aziraphale asks, his fingers - fingers! - running over the pages as if caressing a lover.

“Obviousssssly,” Crowley drawls.

Aziraphale gently flips through the pages, examines the size of the print, looks out the small window. “Two days, less if I have enough light to read in the dark.”

Days, it echoes through Crowley’s head, Days, Days!

“You will have all the light you ask for,” he promises. “I will be back in two dayssss.”

And so their reading sessions begin.

For the relief, the joy, the sheer ecstasy of finally learning at a faster speed again, he would hardly have minded if Aziraphale was a terrible reader. He could be sounding out half the words and still be faster than Crowley’s serpent’s pace. 

But his reading voice is practically ambrosia, the words slow and measured without being monotonous, his pronunciation sure for all but the most specialised terms, and even on those, Crowley only has to correct him once before he commits them to memory.

Crowley is enchanted, hanging onto every word. When Aziraphale licks his lips with increasing frequency, he bids him to pause and has a glass of water brought which Aziraphale sips from occasionally.

By the time the servants bring in Aziraphale’s dinner does he notice that it’s been hours since they have begun, and that his voice, while still lovely, has been gradually gaining a certain hoarseness for some time.

“Why didn’t you suggest to stop earlier?” Crowley asks.

“Well, I figured, it must be hard to read ... as a snake.”

“It is,” Crowley says, then admits: “I have been working through this book for decades now.”

“D-decades?” Aziraphale’s eyes widen in horror. “I can keep going after dinner, if you’d like,” he offers, and Crowley is floored at the Angel’s compassion. He uses his last measure of self control to decline - he has glutted himself on more new knowledge today than he has gained in months, he can wait.

Before he leaves to find his own dinner, he bids the servants to bring some tea sweetened with honey - “Wouldn’t want you to lossse your voice, Angel.”

He forces himself to wait a day before returning, too - looks through the shelves of the library and starts to seriously consider which book he might enjoy next.

Aziraphale greets him with a smile, when he returns. 

“Enough, Angel,” he says earlier this time, and Aziraphale puts down the book.

“Why Angel?” He asks, tilts his head in question. “You called me that last time, too.”

“Your name has too many ssssyllables,” Crowley claims.

Aziraphale is kind enough not to call him on the obvious lie.

He refuses to admit - even to himself - that he does not want to hear that name marred by the hiss of his form. 

“How do you like the book?” he asks instead, to change the topic, forgetting that he was supposed to encourage Aziraphale to rest his voice instead.

The ensuing conversation is delightful - it has been so long since Crowley had anyone to discuss his interests with. 

“Will you be back tomorrow?” Aziraphale finally asks, when Crowley reluctantly makes to leave.

“Will your voice be up for it?”

“I believe so,” Aziraphale says. “Then I’ll Ssseee you tomorrow, Angel.”

The servants, in their foresight, are bringing the tea without him having to request it. He gives them an approving nod.

“Oh, you will love this part,” Aziraphale says cheerfully as he opens the book the next day and stops Crowley short.

“You’ve been reading ahead, Angel?”

“Well, I do have a lot of leisure time,” Aziraphale says. “I must have read the book the whole way through three times by now.”

First, Crowley is struck by envy - then by guilt. He hadn’t even thought to offer to bring down another, for him.

He only half listens to the Angel’s words, this time.

They reach the end of the book that very day.

“What will I be reading you next, then?” Aziraphale asks.

“I’ll let you pick, Angel.”

Crowley watches as Aziraphale opens the thick, velvety curtains, dust motes dancing through the air.

Aziraphale has never looked more angelic than in the streams of afternoon sunlight falling through the tall windows, his eyes shining as he takes in the number of books.

Crowley has never felt more monstrous.

to be continued (?)

Hear me out:

A Good Omens... Beauty and the Beast AU.

That is all.

[kittyknowsthings]

More fic!

[kittyknowsthings]

Oh my god, I just read your Good Omens Beauty and the beast AU ficlet and it was SO GOOD. If you were to write more of it I’d read the fuck out of that

Thank you so much! It is on my list of stories to expand on, if you’ll be patient with me =) there’s other stories further along that need finishing first, this one was more of an accident, but there are notes and ideas and even a potential title in the works, so it’s definitely up there.