#plus i love jazz

[possibly-not-a-ghost]

I've been thinking about your fake cryptids real ghosts thing nonstop, rent free in my head. That's all

All according to plan! Here's another blurb because everyone in this fandom is a gift.

So, I for one can totally see the Batfamily trying to find out where Danny set up is Haunt in Gotham because Dead Ghost Child and the implications of their first meeting. Actually, let's talk about their first meeting because it's related.

Danny bringing gifts to the biggest shrine to declare his arrival. He brings Robin a cool knife he found in the GZ (Or maybe it was a gift who knows.) Point is, it's a spooky knife, and like...nice postcard of sunrises, blue skies and other Pretty places because man, the Bats don't ever leave Gotham and aren't seen in daylight hours what if they miss it or haven't seen it and some homemade (slightly ectro-contaminated cause it was made in the GZ) Bat-themed cookies. No one Knows they're bat-themed until Danny explains. (They look like those sad misshapen spider-man ice cream cones but god did Danny and Jazz Try and intentions are what matter here.)

They meet, Danny throws them into existential crisis' because Ghosts and of course they're trying to find him so they can (adopt him, make sure he's okay, ask what who's hunting him cause WHAT) And instead of the usual shenanigans of them meeting Danny as human or Phantom, the only one to ever meet Danny is Alfred.

Danny who got help from a really nice British guy when he was trying to figure out what to give as offerings to the Bats and might've been having a small crisis because 'what if they don't let us stay and we have to go to somewhere like eugh Metropolis.' and ends up latching onto the first Nice Adult he meets during said crisis.

Danny & Jazz who just so happen to bump into the the Nice Adult while grocery shopping (Alfred who has a schedule for the family shopping and Jazz who always says having a set routine is Healthy.) and the two keep trying to politely ask how to adult and do cooking because let's be real. While Jazz has done her best to feed herself and Danny a better diet the Fenton kitchen was a disaster zone and there's only so much you can do when you're food keeps trying to attack you. There's much more to your food than striking it back down after all.

Also here's another meme.

[wynandcore]

Confession time episode 13 is one of my favorite episodes

[immortal-elements]

New Ardenn lore dropped!

(Art credit goes to Commanderthalys)

Well, some Ardenn, some Daxos, eventually some of all my warband! Trying to actually be semi lore-accurate and give my characters better motivations and story. (Also, lowkey, while the storyline starts shortly after gw1, I hc a lot of settled charr civilization to be a lot more akin to gw2. Which is to say dedicated buildings for various things, (taverns, libraries, armories, etc) rather than what we see in gw1, which is mostly tents...)(also, anytime that Daxos is talking, it's in a sort of charr sign language, )(I'm also really damn rusty at writing, and I'm editing this exactly none prior to posting it, so...)

Ardenn and her brother, Daxos, were born as twins in 1103AE. While Ardenn was a more frail charr, Daxos was born blind and mute, so the two as cubs stuck together to help eachother. With the death of the Titan's still fresh in charr history, and the mistrust against the Flame Legion and the Shaman caste are ongoing, the majority of flame legion control remains. Due to the fact they disallowed females from joining warbands, the two would eventually be separated as Daxos went to train for joining the legions and Ardenn was relegated to domestic work. She worked as a tailor under the tutelage of Bathea Flamebringer.

One day, as Ardenn was stitching up a soldier's uniform, the unfairness of it all began to hit her. The two had hardly ever been separated, but now he's out training for war while she sits and sews. In her rage she tapped into something primal within herself: fire, and burnt the clothes to cinders. Ardenn tried and failed to hide this from Bathea, who understood all too well. Wanting to protect Ardenn, she forbade Ardenn from using magic, and took her to see Era Breakrazor, who trained her in secret as part of Kalla's army. Ardenn takes the name Flameweave in honor of her mentor, Bathea Flamebringer.

1113AE, Ardenn and Daxos are finally reunited, and Ardenn is exuberant about being able to fight just like her brother. Anytime that they could get away from prying eyes, the two would spar to a standstill. During a particularly rough match, Ardenn managed to land a solid blow on him with her sword, and sliced a solid gash into his side. Panicking, Ardenn taps into fire once again to cauterize the wound, and in doing so revealed that secret to her brother.

When it came time for Daxos to join a legion, he went out with Ardenn to share a drink at the tavern. It was at this tavern that they were approached by a flame legion recruiter, who had his eye on Daxos. Ardenn is unaware of Kalla's true purpose in gathering an army, and in a brash moment she urges her brother to join, this might finally be her chance to learn magic!

After much arguing back and forth, Daxos joined the Burning warband as Daxos Burningeye, having impressed the legionaire, Harkon Burningsoul with his uncanny mastery of a battlefield, willingness to follow orders, and inability to talk back, the perfect soldier. Daxos continuted to help Ardenn learn magic, sneaking her spellbooks and scrolls whenever he could, (though he was only sometimes successful. What? All books are the same when you can't see the cover! Sometimes a cookbook feels just like a spellbook, sometimes the spell you learn is how to make a bitchin jambalaya.)

Fast forward, 1116AE, Kalla Scorchrazor is gearing up for the rebellion against the flame legion, recruiting more and more charr to her cause. Ardenn and Daxos are fated to meet on the battlefield at the Plains of Golghein as foes. Harkon gave the order, and Daxos charged her, knocking Ardenn to the floor and bringing his warhammer down on her, but Ardenn only narrowly dodged out of the way. Knowing Daxos better than anyone, Ardenn stood up as silently as she could, moving about the brute stealthily, and crept up behind him. When she was within striking distance, she called out his name, "Daxos, we shouldn't fight, this isn't right! I'm sorry for what I did to you, for how I took advantage of you, but this isn't how it should turn out!"

Ardenn dropped her sword as Daxos turned to face her, his expression softened under his battle scars. He goes to embrace his sister, but his ears twitch; the subtle sound of metal sliding against leather, rushed footsteps! He grabs Ardenn by the arm and throws her to the ground, raising his hammer to catch her would-be assailant; a flame legion warrior, and threw him to the side. Now a turncoat from the flame legion, he found himself in quite the bind, with only one option saving both himself and his sister, surrender. He grabs Ardenn and runs towards the fight, towards Kalla's rebellion. The two siblings fight their way side by side, Daxos cleaving through Flame Legion while Ardenn protected her brother from the rebels, until they are cornered by Kalla and her Razor warband. The flame legion was on it's last legs, the remaining commanding officers had issued a surrender, which Kalla graciously accepted, but that still left her the problem of these two twins. Ardenn explained the whole ordeal, while Daxos corroborated her story. Kalla pondered this for a while, Ardenn had acted of her own self-interest with little regard for her brother, and Daxos had joined the oppressors at her behest. Daxos was a fiercely loyal soldier, while Ardenn was still a petulant child. She took them prisoner until a decision could be made with them.

After Kalla's assassination, Imperator Ironstrike assumed control of the situation with the two charr. A plan for punishment was made. These two couldn't serve the legions, with their loyalties as twisted as they were, but death or exile was too severe for the crime. A fool's errand, perhaps, would be perfect. Forge Ironstrike had heard of mysterious happenings to the west, and sent the two to investigate, deep into the Maguuma Jungle.

1132AE, their journey had taken them through the Shiverpeaks, through Kryta, until they finally reached the jungle. The path ahead was treacherous, it seemed like the very jungle wanted them dead, but the two persisted. Ardenn became very adept at foraging, learning that fire had more than a few uses in the wild, and learning that she was attuned to more than just fire. All the elements coursed through her, she just needed to tap into them and hone them. The two stumbled across the city of Tarir. Magical golden constructs and wellsprings of magic the likes of which never before seen! They couldn't understand the etchings, or discern the purpose of this place, nor did they want to sully it with their presence.

Continuing south, they found a cave system, as well as an asuran civilization, Rata Novus. The Asura are studying the flow of magic here, as one explains to Ardenn, but the mechanics of how or why go right over her head. They make note of this, but continue on their way. While the jungle above them was vicious, the caves they were traversing were equally dangerous, as they found out when one misstep caused the floor beneath them to crumble, and they found themselves suspended in one of the largest magical leylines they had ever seen. The effects were nauseating and immediate, hallucinations, visions of beyond the material plane, nightmares from the mists, tangled and danced behind their eyes. Ardenn felt like she was being pulled apart, soul ripped from her body before being mashed back together, only wrong. In a moment of lucidity, she grabbed hold of the cave wall, and pulled herself and Daxos to safety.

Wracked with visions and sickness, the two drifted between death and life. So much magic had driven the two of them to the brink of sanity. Out of desperation, and wanting escape, Ardenn plunged a dagger into her eye... but she missed? The dagger had struck true to where her head was a second ago, and she didn't remember moving, but sure enough she had gotten out of the way. After some more experimenting, she wanted to put her theory to the test. She asked Daxos to spar with her, for old times sake, and reluctantly he obliged. He raised his hammer to strike, and brought it down on her, it made contact, and he could hear the telltale sound of flesh and bone being crushed, but then his hammer hit the ground as though it passed right through her! Hearing a twig snap behind him, he spun around and swung, and again made contact, but his hammer went right through her? How was this possible? The thought was cut short as he felt a sword go straight through his gut. Clearly, whatever magic had affected Ardenn had not affected Daxos in the same way, and Ardenn had gone too far.

The next few days were a delirious haze, she patched Daxos up as best as she could. Every ounce of healing magic she learned was unable to help him, his wound could be healed but he was still fading fast. Pulling every ounce of magic she could, from herself and from the leylines, she channeled lightning, (enough to trip Rata Novan energy sensors), everything she could into one paw, further, into one claw. Plunging this claw into Daxos's heart, electrifying it, and after several agonizing moments, restarting it. Daxos would live, barely. Whatever magic had affected Ardenn rendered her unable to die, at least by unnatural means, but it would seem that Daxos was still quite susceptible. The two crazed charr begin their journey back to Ascalon.

Fast forward again, 1320AE, approximately 200 years after that. Separation from the leyline energy had allowed them to regain most of their lucidity, but it's effects still lingered. Ardenn and Daxos return to Ascalon, unaware of how much time has passed, unaware that by all accounts they should be dead now. They ask to see Imperator Ironstrike, to report back in, and are met with only concerned stares. "Imperator Ironstrike has been dead for 2 centuries!"

Ardenn goes and looks up the report on their mission, and what she read shocked her. "We haven't received a report from the expedition in 35 years, Ardenn Flameweave and Daxos Burningeye are presumed dead. End of report."

"Well, how about that! Guess we're supposed to be dead! Yet here I stand! We could make use of this!" said Ardenn. "I know, I'll start my own warband, but first I'd have to get the rank of Legionnaire. Shouldn't be too hard, just have to pick the right fight." Going into a tavern, spilling a drink on just the right charr, and taking the fight outside was all easy enough, but she had to utterly humiliate her mark, and make sure the right people were watching.

Legionnaire Urvan Steelbane was the perfect target. Uncaring of his warband, easily angered, and full of pride. He was at the tavern discussing battle plans with Tribune Rytlock Brimstone. Ardenn slammed a few tankards of ale, then drunkenly stumbled into Urvan, spilling a mug of elonian firewine all over him. Urvan grabbed her by the collar and threw a punch, but Ardenn caught it. He had taken the bait, and step 1 was complete. Rytlock pulled the two outside and told them to settle it there, Urvan readied his hammer while Ardenn drunkenly fumbled with her sword. She could beat Urvan easily while armed, she had over 200 years of experience fighting, but she needed to disgrace him. Urvan made the first move, striking low, Ardenn moved her sword to block, and let herself get disarmed, her sword landing in the dirt 10 meters away. Rotating around the charr, she grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back, while kicking one of his feet out from under him. Knocking him to the ground, with one foot planted squarely on his head, she reached into her boot and pulled out a dagger and held it to his throat. Rytlock laughed, having never seen a more decisive duel, he dismissed Urvan and appointed Ardenn as a legionaire.

With that, Ardenn reintegrated herself into charr society, and began to form her own warband, the Fire warband. Ardenn slightly changes her name to Fireweave while Daxos changes his to be Blindfire. Ardenn keeps the knowledge of their immortality a secret, revealing it only to her warbandmates. She had the magic to prove it, to back it up, so they believed her, and she promised to make each of them immortal too if they blindly follow her. She brainwashed most of them, ritually blinding all the males in her warband. Immortality had cursed her and her brother, and those that seek it should bear the same curse as well.

And, that's about when the personal story starts. Like, I'm retconning a bit of the first portion of personal story, cuz in the Blood legion story you do kick the shit out of Urvan and take his spot, I just think this fits better. Anyways, here's a little blurb about each of her 7 other warband members.

Musicia Firesong. She's a spacy mesmer bard. She never really seems like she's mentally present, always appearing lost in thought, humming a haunting melody. She makes up half the espionage team, infiltrating by bedeviling and beguiling. Nobody notices her sneaking in when they are all enraptured by her melodies.

Geist Banefire. She's the necromancer of the party. Always willing to break a law on magic, or dig up a corpse if need be, she specializes in interrogation. Dead men may tell no tales, but they can answer questions when asked, and the threat of "Tell me what I need to know, or I'll kill you and find out anyways" usually works wonders.

Bruscia Firefang, the ranger of the group. She's the scout for the group, often times going several days ahead of the group to surveil the area. She specializes in survival. She one time spent a month in Draconis Mons living off the land, (and totally not because A Henge Away from Home is an annoying achievement).

Narsus Ghostfire, the thief. Specializing in subterfuge, he makes up the other half of the espionage team, sneaking in and eliminating anyone he needs. He was a petty burglar, (hehe, a cat burglar), but his signature calling card made him all too easy to track down for Ardenn. A thief with a penchant for flair, but will resort to brute force if needed.

Gwyllion Gearfire, the group's engineer. From shrapnel bombs to flashbangs, Gwyllion knows how to make it all. She excels at demolition, always having the right bomb for the job. She may have lost a leg to one of her own landmines, but that just meant that she got to engineer herself a new and better one, with more knives and guns in it.

Agitus Soulfire, the revenant. Agitus wasn't recruited by Ardenn, per se, but when Kalla's spirit saw Ardenn still walking around Black Citadel, looking not a day older than when she had last saw her, she wouldn't shut up until Agitus joined the Fire warband. He is the group's archaeologist, often times having just the right spirit to ask to get the answers he needs.

Axius Tomefire, the guardian of the group. He's the groups historian. Even while blinded, he's found a way to use his firebrand powers to read books by merely touching them. Whenever he isn't poring over tomes, to become the closest thing to "all-knowing" in his soon-to-be immortal life, he is burning his way across the battlefield in righteous fire. A giant flaming juggernaut in the streets, but a bookworm in the sheets.

[roobylavender]

What’s the dynamic between scydia? I never watched Teen Wolf but from what I’ve seen it was always stydia that was popular which I never understood because it didn’t look like much to me from the gifs and stuff I’ve seen 😂

stydia was popular bc it had everything going for it. no other relationship in the show was as extensively developed as theirs save the one between scott and stiles (and you could argue that stydia got even better development than sciles did at some point bc the former didn't require throwing either party under the bus the way sciles did in later seasons). and they were a recreation of a trope that first blossomed into the modern consciousness with dwayne and whitley on a different world, and that was then subsequently revived with seth and summer on the oc (which people very often joke teen wolf ripped off bc the parallels are.. uncanny): the relationship between the uptight rich girl secretly holding back reams of vulnerability and the loser nerd who didn't remotely fit the definition of your classic macho hero but nonetheless recognized uptight rich girl was special the whole time. i haven't watched a different world myself (i want to though!) but i do happen to be the oc obsessed and i honestly believe the appeal is in the self-insert nature of it all. i am a semmer shipper til i die, they are one of my favorite relationships on tv ever, but when you think about it a little more it's no wonder people were drawn to a relationship where the girl was externally blunt and rude to shield her own vulnerability, until that shield was allowed to come down bc she found a boy who worshipped the ground she walked on. summer got to be bitchy and smart and anxious about how people perceived her bc seth took it all in stride and adored her to no end. add on to this the fact that he had had a crush on her since he was ten years old despite the fact that she had never acknowledged him until it was necessitated by chance bc they ran in completely different social circles otherwise. he was the nice guy (with caveats, as there always are), and he got the girl in the end bc he loved her more than anyone

the same logic more or less applies to stydia. in fact, as i aforementioned, the parallels between the oc and teen wolf go down to the core four ship dynamics. stiles had also always loved lydia since he was a kid. he also had always known how smart she was. he was also a nerdy, psychobabbling loser who third wheeled his bestie's relationship with lydia's best friend, which necessitated her acknowledgment of him by chance. and so on and so forth. but what stydia got even more than semmer was the agonizing slow burn. they were literally not canon until the last season of the show meanwhile semmer were together from season one. so you got to see stydia go from being strangers, to acquaintances, to friends, to best friends, and finally to lovers. in addition to all of the self-insert stuff i really think that is what did it for people who watched the show in a stydia bubble. it didn't matter how many extraneous relationships either character was put through (stiles dated two people before he dated lydia, she also dated two people and had a weirdly bordering on sexual but never consummated dynamic with a cop at one point. jeff davis is going to hell), people knew they were meant to be, and that was what made the journey worth it. for me, it had the opposite effect in that i think the slow burn went too far and they dated too many other people for the ending they got to feel completely enjoyable. bc you could tell they genuinely loved and cared for some of the other people they were in relationships with, so the fact that those relationships were more or less only used as props to stall time until stydia actually got together was a bit distasteful and annoying. teen wolf shipping was essentially like musical chairs where everyone dated everyone so a lot of ships easily lost meaning and appeal. they literally had scott date every main girl except lydia, ironically enough

speaking of. sorry for the brief history lesson, but to go back to your original question. scydia basically developed into the show's underrated besties dynamic over time. they started off with a bang bc on scott's first ever full moon he was hormonally wild and made out with lydia even though he had no actual feelings for her, but their one-on-one interactions pretty much tapered off after that bc allison was the conduit through which they co-existed. scott loved allison. lydia loved allison. it was a fact on its face more than anything to really contend with so early on in the show. but throughout the first three seasons, you had scott slowly develop into a leader for the pack, so once lydia started actually becoming cognizant of the development of her powers in season three, that's when things started to shift. they leaned on each other. scott was a good friend and he was there for lydia. lydia trusted scott bc she knew he led with courage and compassion. you finally got: lydia would never run and hide. because of stiles? because of scott. and then, allison died. this is really the big climactic moment for scydia bc yeah they would always be very supportive of each other regardless of whether or not allison was there, but it was the fact that allison died that really made their relationship with each other.. affectionate. tender. forged in steel. they were both irrevocably connected to this one person whom they loved so, so deeply, and she had suddenly been torn from their arms forever. no one, not even stiles, understood that grief the way they did each other's. and from that point on, since allison was gone (and i hate to frame it this way bc then i sound like those heteronormative found family people) lydia slipped into this sort of matriarchal role for the pack alongside scott's pre-existing patriarchal one. she was the head, he was the heart, and they functioned like well-oiled cogs in a machine. stiles was also there but he was sort of the erratic factor in that he went on all of the wild goose chases that contributed to the plot (and to be fair lydia was also critical here as well. they were their own little scooby doo duo)

but anyway, that's the set-up that basically paved the way for their relationship development in the latter half of the show. esp once the writers started to develop this rift between sciles i feel like the appeal of their relationship with each other kind of died and all that was left in its place in terms of a close friendship (bc scott was dating kira at this time. at least before she got written out of the show) was scydia. this was emphasized on even more via the following: not all monsters do monstrous things. like who? like scott. there was basically this unspoken, unbreakable trust between scydia where they were literally each other's ride-or-dies. like i think in the same season that lydia said this scott also let himself be electrocuted (bc werewolves can absorb pain better than humans) so that she wouldn't be. and there were so many little moments where they were each other's rocks, so many little hand holds and meaningful stares between them. and then season five and six are kind of big blobs to me at this point bc the show was so bad by now (like allison dying truly killed the show in terms of plot), but season five for some reason decided to acknowledge that these characters were in school and were about to graduate so they needed to take classes relevant to their career interests. scydia enrolled in ap bio together. lydia bc why wouldn't she, she was the smartest person in the school, and scott bc he wanted to be a veterinarian. except that scott's ability to do well in school had always formed the butt of a joke among his classmates and friends, with the exception of—you guessed it—lydia. she believed in his ability to do well the whole time, which sounds very trivial bc this certainly was not the most important aspect of the plot at all, but it was soooo huge for people who were sick of scott being repeatedly trampled on by the writing of the show bc the writers had recognizes stiles was more popular. for scott to have one friend who truly believed in him and his compassion and his capabilities without conditions felt like dreamland at that point. and that's the last really notable thing i remember about their dynamic before teen wolf decided its final season would be the stiles show (which did provide its fair share of scydia moments to be fair. even if it was all about how much they were trying to remember stiles). but they were really great co-leaders and arguably each other's best friends by the end and i loved it so, so much, regardless of the fact that it was never going to be what i wanted it to be. also the movie that came out this year had some really great scydia content if the gifs are anything to go by. and ironically stiles wasn't in it so like yeah i didn't win but in a way i kinda did. the end

[jesus-chain-smoking-cigarettes]

Jerma my beloved

[pianistbynight]

🎶 my day in music 🎶

morning/afternoon:

- waltz for debby, bill evans - autumn leaves album, bill evans - high energy jazz playlist - it's christmas eve and i'm all alone in the library (a dark academia playlist) - winter night jazz playlist - davidsbündlertänze, op. 6 no. 18, robert schumann

evening:

- widmung (dedication), schumann-liszt - nocturne op. 55 no. 2 in e flat major, chopin - étude op. 10 no. 11, chopin - salut d'amour (op. 12), edward elgar - rondo in d major, k. 485, mozart - humoresques (op. 101), poco lento e grazioso, dvořák

[heartbeetz]

Just thought about Anton's wedding band being kinda scuffed up and it's making me fucking ill. In a good way. Treating a ring like it's part of you to such an extent that you don't even think about trying to baby it or keep it extra safe/pristine. Letting it get little marks that change it into something totally unique. GOD that's so sweet...

[le-velo-pour-dru]

Been seeing a lot of Eurovision posts on my dash, so I feel I need to show you guys this:

[waugh-bao]

Keith discusses his current music listening habits, and the help he’s receiving from within the band to diversify his tastes (1995)

[blessyouhawkeye]

my shameful film nerd opinion is that i prefer high society to the philadelphia story

[dokitm-arch]

someone pls tell me why the fuck does re4make's ost pop so goddamn hard? why does salazar's boss theme GO SO FUCKING HARD? for that widdle stupid baby man? stinky gooey wrinkly bitch baby? deadass and genuinely steals the spot of my favorite game ost of all time

[emeraldgreaves]

HI hihihihi halcyon for beloved Moira? <3

absolutely 💕 let’s goooo

—

halcyon (adj.) - denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful.

~970 words, no plot just food

The sun sets on Westwood, turning the prairie to amber and sending rays of light through Grandmama’s crystal punch bowl in the cabinet. The one “for special occasions,” her mother had said.

“Birthdays are special occasions,” said her father, and stole another piece of carrot from the serving dish.

Today must be a one such day, because years later Triba Lari takes it down and wipes it out with a gingham cloth. “Fetch me some snow, Moira,” she says, and Moira hurries to comply, grabbing the tin bucket by the door that holds flowers in the summer. The freezing metal stings her fingers as she scoops up the cleanest patch she can find and rushes back into the kitchen, already full of women chattering as pans sizzle on every surface.

A million different smells float through the kitchen—butter and dill for the crisp golden potatoes ladled into a dish, a soft dome of cornbread steaming in a skillet, a roast crackling in the oven. A squat, round cake sits patiently in the icebox with the first of the strawberry preserves between its layers—Miss Corinne had watched the oven like a hawk yesterday, oblivious to her and Zori sneaking spoonfuls of jam behind her back.

Her father hovers uncertainly in the doorway. The hesitation is almost comical on a man his size, but he’s in charge of every piece of Westwood except for the space in this room. Triba Lari scoops in some snow and pours over something red and sweet-smelling, then takes pity on Yorick and passes him the punch bowl before loading up Moira with the potatoes and shooing them both out of the kitchen.

The mayor’s house is the only one large enough for a separate dining area. She spent all afternoon scrubbing this room before company came, dusting the baseboards and wiping down the windows out of some vague sense of obligation to the way her mother used to keep it. Someone’s spread the table with their second-best blue tablecloth, and wooden chairs from the neighbors’ house crowd at the corners. A couple of crates lie stacked by the door—supplies for her Flower Day next week, things too fragile to stay in the shed.

Golden light seeps through the windows, making the creamy white porcelain gleam. Her father follows her to the empty place in the table, setting the bowl between the empty gravy boat and a dish of orange sweet potatoes with sage and onion. Away from the bustle of the kitchen, the silence seems to settle back into place, a heavy crate sinking to the bottom of a pond.

“She used this at our wedding,” Yorick says suddenly. “Your grandma, she gave it to us. Said it was traditional.”

He’s still staring down at the punch bowl, never at her, like he’s afraid some part of Elinor will look back. But an opening’s an opening, and she tries to think of something to ask.

A peak of laughter breaks it like glass before Zori comes tearing in, flour in xeir coppery hair. “Sorry,” xe gasps, hands braced on their knees. “Turns out I can’t steal a taste after all.”

They all crowd round the table shortly afterwards. The room fills with laughter as the sun disappears, leaving a comforting quilt of blackness beyond the blue curtains. Zori sits next to her through dinner, chatting brightly about skating on the creek as Tekrom Galen sneaks another helping of stewed apples to her right. Someone proposes a toast to surviving another year. The punch must be spiked, because they grow increasingly more elaborate—a toast to Yorick, for leading their little town, to the Autarch in faraway Haven, to the moon for rising so beautifully full.

Zori’s father Thom catches the two of them just as the plates are being cleared. “You kids want to try something?” he says, grinning with the mischief of a man half his age. Brimming with the confidence of nearly being trusted adults, they follow him eagerly to the shed.

The fireworks for Wintersun had come on the caravan with the rest of her Flower Day decorations, but her Uncle Thom had winked and said they’d better test them, just to be sure. The first singing candle goes flying in an arc across the plain; the second sputters and fails to light, but the third soars high into the air, whistling merrily as it shoots out of sight. The noise draws the rest of the adults out onto the porch, the women in their colorful shawls and men in their greatcoats. Someone fetches the cake and passes around slices.

She and Zori are each handed a sparkler and promptly go tearing off together through the tall grasses behind the house, golden light hissing and spitting in their hands. It’s like holding a shooting star. She lifts it and trails it through the air, dreaming for a brief moment of flying like one of the candles, floating untethered among the constellations.

“Someday, I’m going to be a pilot,” says Zori.

“Only if you take me,” says Moira. “Someone’s got to keep you on course.”

Xe grins. “Perfect. I’ll fly, you navigate.”

“Shake on it.” And after one complicated spit-handshake, the pact is sealed.

They duel with the sparklers until their weapons finally fizzle out, leaving them to trudge home in their heavy boots and collapse on the doorstep. Far above them, the last few fireworks glitter against the first crackles of winter frost. Her father passes them the last slice of cake, patting her briefly on the shoulder before going to double-check the shed.

Later that night, watching the stars through her bedroom window, she counts them one by one, safe in the knowledge they’ll always be there for her.

[mechieonu]

listen man i'm gonna lay so much stuff on ya. life is too short to not have a queer reading of everything you engage with

[betty-burnout]

I want to get back into music but I don't really like viola anymore

Should I take up saxophone

[bigfeelingsdyke]

route 66 playlist very quickly becoming just a bunch of romantic old jazz tunes i imagine tod and buz slow dancing to in their shared motel room…

[shabby-alonso]

but do i spend nearly 20$ in shipping for an LP from the local artist whose kid i went to high school with, much to consider