#songs and words

[starry-night-author]

Take Me to Church

My submission for @thepenultimateword's Song-Story Writing Challenge Extravaganza! I got @save-the-villainous-cat's submitted song, 'Take Me to Church' by Hozier!

Villain would always say that they were annoyed beyond all reason that they’d wound up in a forbidden romantic relationship. Not because they had to hide it- but because of course they would fall into the most overused trope of all time. 

“My very life is the same annoying cliche story that’s been told throughout history,” they’d grumble. “All for loving you.” 

Hero would barely pay attention to their forbidden partner’s complaining, only noticing that Villain had admitted to loving them. Their stern, grumpy, difficult to read, gorgeous, funny, wonderful Villain loved them.

So they let Villain complain, if only to hear those words again. 

That was part of what made it worth it. Knowing Villain loved them, was in this for them, made it easy for Hero to face every horrible thing about a forbidden relationship. The running out of alibis for where they’d been when they’d really been seeing Villain. The juggling they needed for their schedule to find time to spend with their beloved in the first place. The secrets, the hiding, the lying, the inability to talk about their love life with their fellow heroes because if anyone found out about this they were both dead. 

It was all so unfair, and being around anyone at the agency made it harder. With every passing day, it was harder and harder to go back to them.

There were always constant reminders there of just how wrong Hero’s relationship was with Villain. There was always talk of how nasty all villains were, how vile, how horrible. The rhetoric drilled into all of their minds that spilled easily from their throats without thinking. Without considering that it truly hurt Hero to hear it. Made them sad, made them angry. How dare they talk about Villian that way. Hero’s Villain wasn’t like that, if only they knew!

But again, Villain always made it worth it. It was worth it just to see them. Their smile, their movements, their stunning eyes, their gorgeous hair. It was worth it just to feel them- their touch, their hands surprisingly soft without their rough gloves, their warm skin, their arms around Hero. And their voice, the way they grumbled, the way they spoke softly when it was just the two of them alone, the way they laughed. 

Hero couldn’t get enough of it. If they were going to be hated for liking a villain, for this worship of a false, fallen idol, then so be it. Nothing would be able to tear them away from their love. 

It was the nights when Hero’s hurt, their anger, their guilt got the strongest. With or without Villain, it always crept up on them. 

But Villain always made it better. They would’ve drowned in it if not for Villain. Lying next to them in the dark, awake long after they’d gone to sleep. Watching their lover’s relaxed face, their body rising and falling from their gentle breathing. The way the moon outside outlined their features in a gorgeous silver, a halo lit behind their head.

They were irresistible. 

Hero could never stop themself from reaching out to touch them, ghosting their fingers down their skin, sometimes leaning in to kiss their forehead. Moving close enough to feel Villain’s exhales against their neck, their warm body pressed close to Hero’s. There was always the need to touch them, to feel them close, to know they were here and they were safe. They were loved. 

Tonight, Villain stirred. Shifting partly onto their back, adjusting the blanket. Accidentally revealing more of their stunning figure Hero could gaze at for hours. “Hm?” 

“You’re pretty,” Hero breathed into the room. 

“Y’woke me up jus’ta tell me that?” Villain’s brows furrowed, though their eyes stayed closed. Their voice was thick with sleep, their words sliding together. 

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Hero moved close once more, tucking their face into Villain’s neck. “I’m sorry.” 

“Y’should be,” despite their annoyed words, Villain’s hand came up to gently hold the side of Hero’s face. Hero turned their head, kissing their palm. “What time is it?” 

“I’m not sure,” Hero murmured. “Late.” 

“You’re still up?” “Couldn’t sleep.” 

The hand on Hero’s face gently patted their cheek. “You okay?” 

“Yes,” Hero wrapped their arms around them. “I don’t want tomorrow to come. I don’t want to go back to the heroes, where they’re just going to keep telling me how wrong it is that I want to stay here with you forever.” 

Villain turned their head, kissing Hero’s forehead. “If this is so wrong,” Hero could feel their lips against their forehead as they spoke, “then why does it feel so right?” 

“That’s what I want to tell them.” Hero hugged them tighter. “But they’ll never listen. They’ll never change. They’ll throw me out.” 

“Hmm,” Villain’s hum was sympathetic, yet sleepy. Hero knew they were barely awake. They felt the criminal swallow, felt their head sag further against Hero’s, their soft breathing slow. Already back to sleep. 

Hero lifted their head, kissing Villain’s forehead. “G’night, love.” 

If only Hero could find it so easy. They pulled away, only to gaze at them once more. Admiring. Idolizing. Worshiping. 

God, they were everything to Hero. Hero knew they would go back tomorrow, they would face the agency. All to be safe enough to go another day seeing Villain again, without the agency getting suspicious. It was better this way. The safest place to swim was right beneath the shark. 

Closing their eyes, Hero took a deep breath, then opened them again, not wanting to look away from Villain for a moment. Memorizing their features in the darkness, the way the moonlight spilled over their face, their hair, their neck, their shoulders. Taking a mental snapshot, never wanting to let the image go. 

They let themself truly sink into the feeling of being with Villain, holding them close and taking another deep breath. They could have this, just for now. Tomorrow would be hard and the days after would get worse, but right now it was alright. 

With Villain, they were okay.

That assurance was enough to let them finally sleep.

#songsandwords #songs and words #hero x villain #villain x hero #hero #villain #writing #hero x villain community #heroes and villains #starry-night-author #uagh we did a whole discussion about this song and its meaning once in class #so hopefully ik what im talking about ssldkjfdl #yeah the religion allegory was probably too strong but I was having fun ssldkfjdslkj

[thepenultimateword]

Keep the King

For my song-story writing challenge! This story is based on the song "King" by "The Amazing Devil", which was submitted by @lqmie! I'll be honest, I secretly really wanted this one, so when the randomizer gave it to me I was ecstatic.

Sorry it’s a day late, I’m mad at myself for not meeting the deadline in time when I’m the one who made it, I also meant this to be MUCH longer, but realized I was getting over ambitious , but I hope everyone still enjoys.

***

Chimera ignored the water’s wailing. Phantom hands dragged on the oars while luminescent waves rocking the rowboat to and fro, threatening to leave the vessel stranded and stagnant enough to flip, but she kept her eyes fixed on the shore, lit in a blue, spectral glow that made the shadows of the trees stretch long. 

“Not long now, your highness.”

“You’ll hang for this!” King Idris shouted in return. He looked a bit like trussed bird on the boat’s floor, hair mussed, cheek to the boards, fine bell sleeves crumpled in scarlet tatters behind his back. He’d been a bit scrappier than she’d imagined such a slender, pampered thing to be. She’d barely managed to drag him past the forestline and into the glammer before his guards caught up. Pinning him long enough to tie and blindfold him had been a whole other mess. The scratches on the backs of her hands prickled like stinging nettle.

 “My soldiers are some of the best trackers in the kingdom; they will hunt you down! You’ll be on the noose faster than you can plead mercy, that is if they don’t tear you apart first!”

“Last I saw, your soldiers were having quite the problem with glammer, sooo…” Chimera heaved against an especially violent pull from the lake’s occupants. An oar almost slipped from her paw side, but she managed to sink her claws into the grooves. “Besides, you’re going back soon anyway. Just wait.”

“Take me back now!”

“No can do.” 

King Idris cranked, his cloth-swathed face in her direction. “I’m giving you an order!”

Chimera clicked their tongue in feigned disappointed. “Sorry, not human.”

“What do you want then? Gold? Food? Do you have a grudge on my father?”

“Nope. I only came for you.”

The boat knocked hard against the head of the dock, and Chimera shook off any lingering fingers from the oars. The king yelped as a couple glowing droplets speckled his cheek though they quickly dulled against his skin. 

“The water won’t hurt you, silly.” She scooped up the rope from the floor and leaped over his head to the dock, tethering the boat fast to the post. “It’s what’s in the water that wants to hurt you.”

Idris only had the chance to make a small strangled sound before Chimera grabbed him under the arms and hoisted him up after her.

“Don’t touch me! Monster!”

Chimera dropped him. She probably shouldn’t have. Adler would ask if he had a giant bruise on his face. Besides, this was a king, not only a human king, her king. Or he would be.Of a sort. Anyway, she’d been charged with keeping him safe here, not with dropping him face first on s hard, splintery dock. But…that word. Monster. It made her insides burn, and her hands moved on impulse. 

“Suit yourself.” A quick flick of her knife and both the blindfold and the bonds around his ankles fluttered to the ground. She kept the hands tied for good measure. “I dont care if you walk.”

Idris rolled onto his side and blinked rapdily at his new surroundings. His eyes widened like silver pieces at the Dead Lake, then like saucers at the sight of dark looming trees and the pitch black spaces in between the trunks. She wondered if he caught the dark’s barely perceptible writhing? Like something alive. But the biggest reaction came when he looked at Chimera. His pale eyes became like twin moons. He’d called her monster based off a glimpse, she must seem truly inhuman now. She was a sight, alright, even among other fae. A lion paw on the top, a goat leg on the bottom, a tufted tail in between. Plus one devilish horn.

“We’re going up there.” Chimera pointed up the cliff face to the rickety house at the top; blessedly, the king’s gaze followed. “I really wouldn’t recommend running off. Especially not at night. The lake will drown you and the wood will eat you.”

Idris leaned his forehead against the planks and slowly shoved himself up onto his knees. He glared up at her. “My soldiers are coming.”

Chimera shrugged. “Then let’s wait for them inside.” She hooked her claws into the knot of his bonds and yanked him upright. “Come on.”

Maybe Idris realized the stupidity of staying out on this rock because he walked forward without argument. Every once in a while his muscles went rigid like he wanted to bolt or jump or turn on her, and Chimera prodded him in the back with the hilt of her knife, but halfway up he was wheezing to much for defiance. By the time they reached the top of the cliff’s stone steps, he seemed to be choking on his own breath.

"Hey." Chimera slapped him a couple times on the back, but it only sent him into a fit of coughing. "Hey, hey, hey."

She pulled him to the dining table and rushed to fill one of their wooden cups with cold tea from the kettle. She only remembered his bound hands as she held out the cup.

"Right." She moved the cup up to his mouth. He drew his lips together into a tight line, though a few spluttering coughs broke threw, sending ripples across the drink's surface. "It's just honey and blackberry. The normal kind. Not fae food. On my honor."

Idris slowly loosened his mouth and took a tentative drag. HIs face unwrinkled a fraction.

After a couple sips, Chimera placed the cup on the table and crouched behind the king to cut ropes on his wrists. He slowly drew his arms in front of himself, flexing his hands and wrists a couple times before folding them in his lap, the shredded ends of his sleeves swathing his knuckles less elegantly than this morning.

"Did they ever make you do anything in that castle?" Chimera said before she could think better of it.

"I tire out easily," Idris snapped with the defensiveness of one already hyperaware of his own limitations and others' thoughts on the matter. "I always have. There are more important things than traipsing up mountains and hitting people with swords."

Maybe so. As far as she knew King Hyacinthe didn't do much of either. News from the deep wood only brought word of sweet torture and cruel revelries, the fae court's specialties.

"Do you want something to eat?" Chimera said.

Idris went even stiffer than he already was. "Why?"

"Becaaaause we've been traveling since this morning?"

"When you kidnapped me?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it kidnapping." Chimera plopped into the seat next to him.

"Oh? Pray tell then. What would you call it?"

"A temporary retrieval. It's not like I just snatched you to snatch you; we've been expecting you, see?" She motioned to the thick pile of skins in the corner. "That's your bed there in the corner. And there is food for 3 stockpiled in the cellar. We even scrounged you up some clothes for the stay."

"Oh, how magnanimous, that fixes absolutely everything because what I've really been concerned about is what I'm going to wear."

"Well, obviously I couldn't come to you, so I was sent to bring you here."

Idris stared at her incredulously. "Sent? By who?"

"King Hyacinthe." Idris continued to stare. No recognition. "The king. The other king. Fae king. My brother and I were specifically assigned. It's a very important job, you know, and not easily acquired."

Idris held up his hands, trembling a little with the rising register of his voice. "Job? Assigned? Is this a political abduction? Are the fae planning a siege on my kingdom? Are there going to be peace negotiations?"

So he didn't know. Chimera had wondered. When a changeling was planted as an infant it often wouldn't know its true identity. But usually, they figured it out. There were only so many unexplainable things that could happen--accidental glammering, elemental phenomenons, new appendages--before someone took notice. But Idris...the way he spoke. It was like a human.

"No, nothing like that," Chimera said.

The human kingdom was already covered 25 years ago. Time for him to know.

"This is an individual issue. You're late."

Idris furrowed his brow.

"You should have manifested years ago, maybe it's best that you didn't, but now you're king. And obviously, you've been doing an awful job on your own, so if you're ever going to change, you're going to need a mentor."

Idris folded his hands tightly together and rolled back his shoulders, staring Chimera down with a cold regality that couldn’t counterfeited. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Chimera’s stomach dropped a little. She’d known their situations weren’t the same, but she’d still stupidly thought… Nevermind. None of this was about her. Alder would be depending on her to get their plans in motion.

"Haven’t you felt anything? It's like an itch. An itch so bad you want to claw out of your own skin.”

“I don’t have dealings with magic or magic folk. I have nothing to do with your witchcraft.”

Chimera snorted. “You might want to bend that person ideal.”

“I do not and will not. I demand an immediate explanation of the fae monarchy’s intentions for my kingdom and myself. I will not be cooperating until you do so.”

How did such a pale, and fragile thing pull off such commanding airs? Like he shrugged away his very body and exposed the core of his being. Well, she had to say it straight out sooner or later.

She took a deep breath and then locked eyes with the changeling king. “King Idris, the entire fae court, has been waiting for your ascension. Because only you, a changling raised as human royalty and crowned their king, can make the human kingdom ours.”

#fantasy #fantasci #pen's song-story writing challenge extravaganza #creative writing #short story #fiction #songs and words #songsandwords #fantasci writing #fantasy writing #fae #changeling #monster #royalty #I can't believe I missed the deadline for my own challenge #I just am such a procrastinator #and then i got busy #and then i fell asleep while writing trying to get it done on time #and so now I've spent all day working on it #but the words were not coming out as smoothly as the story is in my head #I've literally had this idea planned for over a week

[lesbian-disaster-academic]

i used to be so good at writing strong, thoroughly-researched, thoroughly-edited essays.

as a kid in hs, my teacher literally came up to me, holding my 40 page essay on the intersection of the European witch hunts and capitalism/exploitation/gender roles (it was supposed to be 7 pages...whoops) and went like "this is literally a master's-degree level thesis. what are you doing?? you could literally use this as your final dissertation in a master's program, what the fuck."

NOW??? NOW?? you'd think I'd be oh so skilled. but alas. i can barely piece together two ideas. adhd skill-regression is so so real. im SOBBING

#this is just me ranting sorry #im very tired and hungry #and i want to sleep but brain go brrrrr #well i used to be nice and smart and now im neither of those or however the song goes #pretty sure he was exaggerating cause looking back. it was good. but some of the wording was a lil wonky #adhd #actually adhd #executive dysfunction #actually neurodiverse #adhd paralysis #adult adhd #attention deficit hyperactivity disorder #adhd hacks #academia #neurodivergent #adhd skill regression #confessions of a burnt out gifted kid #<< i guess #former gifted kid #burnt out gifted kid #gifted kid burnout #realizing i sound rly pretentious here sorry -- formal speech patterns i picked up as an autistic child and never put down again haha

[mournfulroses]

Sara Teasdale, from The Collected Poems of Sara Teasdale; "Song,"

#lit #sara teasdale #poetry #quote #words #writings #fragments #typography #song #quotes #p

[words-at-night]

#quotes #dark academia #wordsnquotes #beautiful quote #dark academism #beautiful words #dark aesthetic #quoteoftheday #book quote #aestethic #academia #spilled poem #spilled poetry #poetry spilled ink #spilled words #spilled thoughts #spilled ink #self love #sad songs #moon poetry #midnight musings #moodboard #musings #live #lit #literature #life #love #music #art

[lucidloving]

Girlpool—Before the World Was Big // memorial bench quoting Toni Morrison's Sula // @inanotherunivrse // Iain S. Thomas, I Wrote This For You // Zadie Smith, Swing Time // Fall Out Boy—The Kids Aren't Alright // Audrey Emmett // Mikko Harvey, "For M" // Mahmoud Darwish, Memory for Forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982 (tr. Ibrahim Muhawi) // Langston Hughes, "Poem"

#theme: old friends #web weaving #webs #web weave #poetry #prose #aesthetic #prose poetry #literature #art #book quotes #novels #novel quotes #books #quotes #words #reading #friendship #on friendship #writing #inspo #parallels #compilation #song lyrics #poems and poetry #poems #langston hughes #on love #nostalgia

[whendidmythoughtsgocrazy]

One day I will stop falling in love with you. Until I do, I'll be thinking of you.

k.b. // laufey, philharmonia orchestra - let you break my heart again

#k.b. #quotes #poets on tumblr #writers on tumblr #love #love quotes #quote #words #love quote #cute #laufey #song #singer #songwriter #lyrics #love song #heartbreak song #heartbreak #heartbreak quotes #i love you #i like you #poets #poetry #poem #love poem #writers #writing #lit #literature #poet

[oof-i-did-it-agaaiiin]

Beautiful from Ordinary Days

#EDIT: I added links to the post’s caption go click them. #I did this because people were mistaking the words as a poem. I love poems. it’s not a poem. #it’s a song from a musical that deserves more attention. go listen to the song. if you like it go listen to the musical. it’s fantastic #it’ll make you laugh and it’ll make you cry. could not recommend enough. #okay edit over. back to my og tags #long post #and I'm talking LONG like do you love the color of the sky long #today I am a nuisance to your dash #but it's in the name of art and beauty #ordinary days #musicals #paintings #art museum #post i made #i love lyrics #greatest hits

[cashmeresglimmer]

The survivors of District 12 singing and dancing at Finnick and Annie's wedding hits so different after reading/watching tbosas. Can you imagine Snow's reaction to that propo? No matter how hard he tried to erase Lucy Gray and to obliterate District 12, she lived on in her music, music which is kept alive by the people of the place she once called home.

#hunger games #the hunger games #tbosbas #tbosas #lucy gray baird #katniss everdeen #district 12 #finnick odair #annie cresta #mockingjay #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #music being the voice of the oppressed #he could make lucy gray disappear #he could bomb District 12 into oblivion #but he couldn't erase her words or her songs #he couldn't kill all of 12

[dreamaboutwhathappens]

i love the…. almost horror aspects of this album. all the references to ghosts and death…. and sonically, the unexpected shrieking in WAOLOM and the banging and screaming during “old habits die screaming” and even the way the tension subtly builds across the sixteen tracks and by the end you’re so stressed and shaken it’s like! losing your sense of self and feeling like you’ve become a monster is horror. and i’m sooooo glad she leaned into it

#the first time i listened to the album i was so SPOOKED by the end. and it was AWESOME #the first five songs i was like okay word heartbreak album! and then WAOLOM came on and i was like HOLY SHIT?????? #and everything got INSANE from tbere #and just kept building and building!!!!!!!! #literally just like a horror movie. it was fucking fantastic #ttpd #random thoughts with grace

[sisaloofafump]

PLEASE let him take off his head it’d be so funny I’ll give you a whole five bucks for it please dc

#words from nightmare before Christmas #the song Jack's Lament #anyway #my art #jason todd #red hood #batman #dc comics

[quietwingsinthesky]

im just saying that if i had been in charge of s6 of doctor who, i would have fully leaned into the horror of amy's pregnancy, the loss of her own agency in it, the way she was used as a vessel to create a child she would never hold again, amy pond who never indicated once that she even wanted a child and was made to have one anyway against her will, and once they were done using her, they even took away any choice she might make about it in the future.

and i would have had this be a factor in amy and river's relationship going forward. how do you interact with a child you never knew, never got to decide if you wanted to have, and she's also already your friend, you love her as this miraculous, insane woman who has saved your life more than once. she's always known more about you than you could about her, but now you know exactly how much she was keeping from you. it's not like she could have told you, could have stopped it, but all this time, she was your friend and she was your daughter, and how do you learn to live with her?

#im just. saying. #amy pond my most beloved. #amy pond #river song #doctor who #this is a horror story. to me. #it should be. it should be. #THIS STORY. IS ABOUT AMY POND. IT IS NOT ABOUT THE DOCTOR RISING SO HIGH AND FALLING SO FAR. #THIS STORY IS ABOUT AMY POND. THIS STORY IS ABOUT AMY. #THIS IS ABOUT HOW NO ONE EVER COMES TO SAVE HER IN TIME. THIS IS ABOUT THE FACT THAT SHE WAS SEEING THROUGH #THAT GANGERS EYES FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS AND BELIEVED SHE WAS THERE WITH THE DOCTOR. AND HE KNEW #SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH HER PREGNANCY AND HE DIDN'T SAY A WORD. THIS IS ABOUT AMY POND AND HOW SHE NEVER GETS ANY CHOICE. #WAITING IS NOT A CHOICE. WAITING IS WHAT YOU DO WHILE EVERYONE AROUND YOU GETS TO CHOOSE. AND YOU'RE TRAPPED. #YOU WILL WAIT WHETHER YOU COWER OR YOU SOB OR YOU RAGE AGAINST THE WALLS KEEPING YOU IN. YOU WILL WAIT. IT IS NOT A CHOICE. #it is the absence of one.

[europasage]

boygenius, letter to an old poet // uma thurman // @_sayorikinnie on pinterest // mitski, first love/late spring

#web weaving #webweaving #web weavings #web weave #web weaves #on love #on heartbreak #poetry #poetic #poet #prose #poems #words words words #lucy dacus #julien baker #phoebe bridgers #mitski #boygenius #lyrics #song lyrics #first love late spring #letter to an old poet #parallels #uma thurman

[words-at-night]

#quotes #dark academia #wordsnquotes #beautiful quote #dark academism #beautiful words #dark aesthetic #quoteoftheday #book quote #spilled poem #self love #sad songs #sylvia plath #punk #poetry #live #lit #literature #life #love #moon poetry #midnight musings #moodboard #musings #music #makeup #sad notes #i have no words #spilled poetry #poetry spilled ink

[lucidloving]

D. Alan Holmes, Enlightenment // Signet Amenti // @cryptonature // Alan Wilsom Watts // Evan M. Cohen, "Oceans" // Nikita Gill // @pauladoodles // Julian Gough, "Minecraft End Poem" // Sleeping At Last—Saturn

#theme: we are the universe experiencing itself #web weaving #webs #web weave #poetry #prose #aesthetic #prose poetry #literature #art #book quotes #novels #novel quotes #books #quotes #words #writing #inspo #parallels #compilation #poems #poems and poetry #illustration #song lyrics #existentialism #philosophy #on life #on humanity #stars #space

[whendidmythoughtsgocrazy]

If you're telling all your friends how you don't need me, then why you tryna keep me?

k.b. // jordy - delete me

#k.b. #writers on tumblr #quotes #poets on tumblr #love #love quotes #quote #words #love quote #cute #jordy #singer #songwriter #writers #writing #poets #poetry #lyrics #song lyrics #songtext #heartbreak #heartbreak song #heartbreak quotes #breakup #breakup quotes #poem #life #life poetry #life lesson quotes #life advice