#The common nightingale

[uziraphale]

Luscinia megarhynchos

@bil-daddy

[starry-bi-sky]

i need to get this out of my head before i continue clone^2 but danny being the first batkid. Like, standard procedure stuff: his parents and sister die, danny ends up with Vlad Masters. He drags him along to stereotypical galas and stuff; Danny is not having a good time.

He ends up going to one of the Wayne Galas being hosted ever since elusive Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. Vlad is crowing about having this opportunity as he's been wanting to sink his claws into the company for a long while now. Danny is too busy grieving to care what he wants.

And like most Galas, once Vlad is done showing him off to the other socialites and the like, he disappears. Off to a dark corner, or to one of the many balconies; doesn't matter. There he runs into said star of the show, Bruce who is still young, has been Batman for at least a year at this point, but still getting used to all these damn people and socializing. He's stepped off to hide for a few minutes before stepping back into the shark tank.

And he runs into a kid with circles under his eyes and a dull gleam in them. Familiar, like looking into a mirror.

Danny tries to excuse himself, he hasn't stopped crying since his parents died and it's been months. He rubs his eyes and stands up, and stumbles over a half-hearted apology to Mister Wayne. Some of Vlad's etiquette lessons kicking in.

Bruce is awkward, but he softens. "That's alright, lad," he says, pulling up some of that Brucie Wayne confidence, "I was just coming out here to get some fresh air."

There's a little pressing; Bruce asks who he's here with, Danny says, voice quiet and grief-stricken, that he's with his godfather Vlad Masters. Bruce asks him if he knows where he is, and Danny tells him he does. Bruce offers to leave, Danny tells him to do whatever he wants.

It ends with Bruce staying, standing off to the side with Danny in silence. Neither of them say a word, and Danny eventually leaves first in that same silence.

Bruce looks into Vlad Masters after everything is over, his interest piqued. He finds news about him taking in Danny Fenton: he looks into Danny Fenton. He finds news articles about his parents' deaths, their occupations, everything he can get his hands on.

At the next gala, he sees Danny again. And he looks the same as ever: quiet like a ghost, just as pale, and full of grief. Bruce sits in silence with him again for nearly ten minutes before he strikes a conversation.

"Do you like to do anything?"

Nothing. Just silence.

Bruce isn't quite sure what to do: comfort is not his forte, and Danny doesn't know him. He's smart enough to know that. So he starts talking about other things; anything he can think of that Brucie Wayne might say, that also wasn't inappropriate for a kid to hear.

Danny says nothing the entire time, and is again the first to leave.

Bruce watches from a distance as he intercts with Vlad Masters; how Vlad Masters interacts with him. He doesn't like what he sees: Vlad Masters keeps a hand on Danny's shoulder like one would hold onto the collar of a dog. He parades him around like a trophy he won.

And there are moments, when someone gets too close or when someone tries to shake Danny's hand, of deep possessiveness that flints over Vlad Masters' eyes. Like a dragon guarding a horde.

He plays the act of doting godfather well: but Bruce knows a liar when he sees one. Like recognizes like.

Danny is dull-eyed and blank faced the entire time; he looks miserable.

So Bruce tries to host more parties; if only so that he can talk to Danny alone. Vlad seems all too happy to attend, toting Danny along like a ribbon, and on the dot every hour, Danny slips away to somewhere to hide. Bruce appears twenty minutes later.

"I was looking into your godfather's company," he says one night, trying to think of more things to say. Some nights all they do is sit in silence. "Some of my shareholders were thinking of partnering up--"

"Don't."

He stops. Danny hardly says a word to him, he doesn't even look at him -- he's sitting on the ground, his head in his knees. Like he's trying to hide from the world. But he's looking, blue eyes piercing up at Bruce.

Bruce tilts his head, practiced puppy-like. "Pardon?"

"Don't." Danny says, strongly. "Don't make any deals with Vlad."

It's the most words Danny's spoken to him, and there's a look in his eyes like a candle finding its spark. Something hard. Bruce presses further, "And why is that?"

The spark flutters, and flushes out. Danny blinks like he's coming out of a trance, and slumps back into himself. "Just don't."

Bruce stares at him, thoughtful, before looking away. "Alright. I won't."

And they fall back into silence.

Danny, when he leaves, turns to look at Bruce, "I mean it." He says; soft like he's telling a secret, "Don't make any deals with him. Don't be alone with him. Don't work with him."

He's scampered away before Bruce can question him further.

(He never planned on working with Vlad Masters and his company; he's done his research. He's seen the misfortune. But nothing ever leads back to him. There's no evidence of anything. But Danny knows something.)

At their next meeting, Danny starts the conversation. It's new, and it's welcomed. He says, cutting through their five minute quiet, that he likes stars. And he doesn't like that he can't see them in Gotham.

Bruce hums in interest, and Danny continues talking. It's as if floodgates had been opened, and as Bruce takes a sip of his wine, it tastes like victory.

("Tucker told me once--") ("Tucker?") ("Oh-- uh, one of my best friends. He's a tech geek. We haven't talked in a while.")

(Danny shut down in his grief -- his friends are worried, but can't reach him. When he goes back to the manor with Vlad, he fishes out his phone and sends them a message.)

(They are ecstatic to hear from him.)

It all culminates until one day, when Danny is leaving to go back inside, that Bruce speaks up. "You know," He says, leaning against the railing. "The manor has many rooms; plenty of space for a guest."

The implication there, hidden between the lines. And Danny is smart, he looks at Bruce with a sharp glean in his eyes, and he nods. "Good to know."

The next time they see each other, Danny has something in his hands. "Can you hold onto something for me?" He asks.

When Bruce agrees, Danny places a pearl into his palm. or, at least, it's something that looks like a pearl. Because it's cold to the touch; sinking into Bruce's white silk gloves with ease and shimmering like an opal. It moves a little as it settles into his hand, and the moves like its full of liquid.

Bruce has never seen anything like it before, but he does know this; it's not human. "What is it?" He asks, and Danny looks uncomfortable.

"I can't tell you that." He says, shifting on his foot like he's scared of someone seeing it. "But please be careful with it. Treat it like it's extremely fragile."

When Bruce gets home, he puts it in an empty ring box and hides the box in the cave. He tries researching into what it is. he can't find anything concrete.

Everything comes to a head one day when Danny appears at the manor's doorstep one evening, soaking wet in the rain, and bleeding from the side.

[thelongestwalk]

Another entry in the Sam Nightingale-verse for the T7 x Shoujo zine! Magical Girl Sam in the style of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Hugely grateful to the mods for giving me a space to experiment with style here 💙

[vultures-and-scavengers]

there's so many ~rules~ around fancy dinners, the courses, the silver you use, names for foods you might never have heard, and i imagine its far worse in orlais, where everything is over the top and meant to be seen and judged.

and josephine and leliana can navigate that fine, and depending on the inquisitor (especially trevelyans), i imagine they can handle themselves.

which leaves the last member of the leadership quartet, who spent the first 13 years of his life eating rural ferelden fare and then spent the next 16-17 years likely eating in mess halls between duties.

and how do you then represent the inquisition in a world where you are the outsider and everything about the world you are stepping foot in is meant to keep you and other commoners out? when this world is the one that plays with the lives of commoners like toys?

[alonglistofbirds]

[2620/11080] Common nightingale - Luscinia megarhynchos

Order: Passeriformes Suborder: Passeri Superfamily: Muscicapoidea Family: Muscicapidae (old world flycatchers)

Photo credit: Valia Pavlou via Macaulay Library

[zahri-melitor]

Finished The Masquerades of Spring.

This was very much the 'Ben Aaronovitch wants to try his hand at Jeeves and Wooster' story, but pitching it for the jazz scene in 1920s New York. It was very very in conversation with topics that Aaronovitch is clearly already interested in throughout the series.

I enjoyed it! The character voice was very heavy in his Bertie analogue, but also Aaronovitch had fun with it in terms of leaning into all of the long term associated queerness to the narrative set up by...making it explicitly queer.

He's very aware of exactly how his fandom slashes characters, let us say.

Delighted we finally got a canonical read on Nightingale's particular brand of queerness. David Mellenby appears in references multiple times in terms of reinforcing exactly how important he is to Thomas.

In terms of storylines, this definitely picked up on Aaronovitch's longrunning intersections with the 'treatment of race', 'jazz music' and 'Fae and specifically how Molly is treated' angles.

[aretakh]

Common Nightingale🐦🎶

[snototter]

A common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) in the UK

by roger collorick

[theamberplumbob]

The date ended up going really well, and Bernard even left her flowers the next morning ❤️

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Birds That Sing at Night

Common Nightingale - Luscinia megarhynchos

mauribo / Getty Images

[caged-nights]

✨- Your memories may have faded, but the past still beats inside you like a second heart.

Nightingale and a new OC for a Pokémon RP I'm doing in an OC server! Nightingale has lost a large chunk of her memories in this AU, having to rely on Vlassis to make her way through this world she knows she doesn't belong in. Right now, these two are at a festival in order to get Nightingale used to other people since she has been hiding amongst the... well, the cliff sides and trees.

[diabolicallykoen]

The birds of all

[thomastanker02]

To show my support for Ukraine, I drew their national animal, the Common Nighingale. To Ukrainians out there, you have my support. Please stay safe, never lose hope, things do get better❤️

[thagomizersshow]

Birds really use sound in the craziest ways.

King penguin chicks can hear a quarter of a second of their parents' call and know it is them. While surrounded by hundreds of other screaming birds.

White bellbirds produce a call that hits 125.4 decibels — the same volume as a whole-ass rock concert.

Common nightingales have between 150 and 200 distinct song types. Mostly used for seduction (who's surprised tbh?)

Parts of male zebra finch brains are 3-6 times larger than females to accommodate the complexity of their songs.

The cassowary head casque might have evolved primarily to act as a microphone to broadcast calls so low, us humans can't hear them. They even tilt their head down and forward to make the broadcast more effective.

Superb lyrebirds are probably the best mimics on Earth, and tailor their courtship dances to particular sounds they've "collected." They literally have a dance for the "song" of a chainsaw.

Truly bonkers shit these birds be doing with sound.

[vroomvroomwee]

Yes, yes, the "i forgive you," the "no nightingales," and the "nothing lasts forever" are all great lines. But to me, the most heartbreaking was this one

And not enough people are talking about it.

This is the moment where Aziraphale breaks. This is the moment he realises the severity of their conversation. The horrible consequences that could follow.

This is the moment where Aziraphale, for the first time in probably all 2 seasons, spoke from his feelings instead of his logic.

Accompanied by Michael's breathtaking acting, where in just 2 seconds, he managed to convey all the excruciating and tragic feelings that Aziraphale has been going through all this time. His eyes, relaying the utter pain Aziraphale is, and has been, feeling for a long time, that he's finally unable to control anymore.

This is the moment where we and Crowley understand that Aziraphale has been lying this whole time.

"He's not my friend. We've never met before we dont know each other." Yes, he is. Yes, we have. Yes, we do.

"Were not friends." Yes, we are.

"We have nothing whatsoever in common, I don't even like you." Yes, we do. Yes, I do.

This is the moment he admits that every time he's called Crowley a fiend, an enemy, evil, not his friend, he has been lying through and through in an attempt to hide what he really feels, what he really thinks, should by chance Heaven or Hell get a word of it. He has been lying every single time.

This is the moment where he lets his true feelings out. Prompted by sheer desperation and panic, he finally said what he's been denying for millennia.

"I need you"

[hirkyy]

my friend told me this story about going to italy, getting hopelessly lost and accidentally stumbling upon some guys absolutely Guzzling beer on a bench near some type of ancient ruin and talking to each other in a mixture of ukrainian and russian, so she goes to them to ask for directions and one of them after being interrupted by the other dude holds up his finger, shushes him and goes "Циц. коли соловей співає...даже ішак мовчить." (when the nightingale sings.. even the donkey is silent).

This is NOT any common idiom. he just spoke from his heart. i think about him