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sissytobitch10seconds · 8 months

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Birdsong: Hollow Moon

Fandom: Grishaverse: Six of Crows Summary: Jesper likes taking little odd jobs, they let him meet new people. Very pretty people, that he likes collecting. Despite the fact that he already has four of them waiting for him back home, he can't help but flirt with the woman that just walked into his friend's bar. Warnings: implied unhealthy relationships, implied ableism, alcohol, and implied sexual content Word Count: 6,388 Ship(s): Nina Zenik/Jesper Fahey/Kaz Brekker/Wylan Van Eck/Inej Ghafa/Matthias Helvar

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A/N: I edited and got this ready to be uploaded on the same day that I'm posting it so if there are typos and spelling errors please be kind to me because I wasn't able to spend as much time on it as I wanted. I hope that you guys enjoy this installment! Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3

Jesper Fahey had been taking odd jobs for as long as he could remember. Back when he was living with his father, across the country from where he was now, he had always signed up to do whatever had sounded interesting. Several of the farmhands that were the same age as him at that time had dedicated jobs that they had to check on every day, but Colm understood that wasn’t right for his son. Jesper was allowed to drift from job to job as long as he completed the tasks correctly and on time. It was what had worked best for him, which is why his schooling had struggled so much before he had the supporte he needed from his partners.

Jesper’s favorite job was working with the local theater near where he lived. It was the first place that he had managed to secure a job while trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life now that he was no longer twenty miles from the nearest other living person. Poppy was the child of a family friend of theirs and had taken him in, but had also pushed him towards the theater.

He liked acting well enough, but memorizing the lines under the more strict directors that wouldn’t let him improvise was dull so he had to make sure that he avoided them. That limited the amount of acting jobs that he was allowed to take, but he was good when it came to the props as well. The stage crew was always so light that he was allowed to drift from job to job to job while completing about half of each. Sometimes he would leave them and someone else would come and pick them up, sometimes he found himself scrambling to get them finished the night before they had to be used. He liked the rush-rush-rush and changing nature of the theater jobs. It was alway something different and new, never the same show and rarely ever with the same premise.

He had a soft spot for the specific theater that he had been working in not just because it was the first place that really let him thrive as an adult, but also because it was the job that he had when he met Matthias. The other man had just barely moved from Denmark and was struggling to speak English, let alone hold down a job that required him to decipher the language through reading as well. Jesper had been a wonderful conversationalist and helped him adapt to a culture that he didn’t really understand.

They had both been rather lost in the big city, Jesper having grown up on a farm and the new place that Matthias lived being so different than his last one. It didn’t take long before they became as thick as thieves, and then only a week after that was when they had shared their first kiss. Things had been a little complicated in the moment since Jesper was also navigating the relationship that was beginning to develop between him and his two best friends in the entire world.

Tonight brought him a job that he was enjoying at least a little bit, though he was excited for it to end. A friend of his owned a bar close to the one that his boyfriend ran, so Jesper had agreed to be a stand in bartender during the interim of the last one quitting and the owner being able to hire a new one. He hadn’t anticipated that quitting to happen directly when Inej was getting back from the shows that she had been doing in Germany, which made him a little antsy to get back to his home.

They had all finished moving into the estate that he and Wylan had cleared out, which meant that they were all finally back together. It was a bit of a steep learning curve but they each had their own rooms and space so that they could be away from each other when they needed it. Still, of course, they were living together which meant that they had to learn and work around the new quirks of every person in the house.

Jesper had tended a bar before, usually at the Crow Club after Kaz asked him to with those puppy dog eyes that he just couldn’t ignore. Kaz was better at begging with his eyes than Matthias’ dog Djel, which was saying something.

This establishment was different than Kaz’s in the aesthetic and the types of people that it attracted. The layout had tables scattered around the main floor, all of them the same color of dark cherry wood with a different numbers of chairs littered around them. They were all stocked with a bowl in the center that could be filled with peanuts, fries, or chips depending on what they ordered. The walls were lined with booths that had red coverings and silver outlines, along with a couple of tasteful art pieces. There were also TVs littered around the space, pointed in different direction so that people could catch the news or a variety of sports games playing on the cable channels that the bar paid for. The bar itself had the three regular flavors of juice that were mixed into cocktails, as well as the soda gun. The rows and rows of alcohol behind him were kept in place with a thin clear plastic band so that he could see the label for when someone asked for something specific. In front of him were a couple of stools for people to sit on, which Jesper half hated despite his general love for people and communication.

He had been serving drinks to people for the better part of two hours and was growing bored with it. He wished that he could switch the TV to something else to distract him from the growing pile of texts in his pocket. Inej and Wylan were being bad influences on each other and encouraging him to skip out on the rest of his job and come home early so that he could spend time with them. Inej had only been back home for a couple of days so having her around them was relatively novel again, which made the fact that he was away from her during that returning honeymoon period all the more annoying.

The people milling around the bar were still far and few between for how early it was in the night. He’d see a much larger surge in the crowd leaning towards midnight, when the bar closed. His friend owned one of those places where working people were supposed to come after they got dinner with their friends to get a drink before they returned to the monotony of their lives. That meant that he was making a lot of whisky and not a lot of the cocktails that he enjoyed making.

He had recently been experimenting with his recipe’s on Matthias’ behalf to try and find him a non-alcoholic version of the drink that he had gotten at The Blue Jay when he and Kaz had met up a business partner a few weeks ago.

Despite the time, things seemed like they were about to get a lot more interest as a big group entered into the bar. There were two men and four women from what Jesper could see. He didn’t like to assume that kind of thing more than he had to, but he also liked to looked for the stereotypical dramas that played out in a lot of people’s lives. He was always open to being corrected, but speculating about what was happening in groups he wasn’t a part of was one of the only things that kept him sane during the monotony of this kind of job.

Jesper continued to work on the drinks that had been ordered from him, keeping his eye on the group as they found one of the booths towards the back of the bar that was big enough to fit everyone. They were discussing something between themselves, obviously already very close based on the way that they were knocking against each other and grabbing things out of each other’s hands.

It reminded him of being back home with his partners, which made his heart ache. He didn’t realize how much being out of the house at night just a few days after Inej came back home was going to be tearing him up, but it was.

He tried to distract himself as he focused on making the drink that he had been sipping on himself for the last hour. He made a point of not drinking when he was at work even if Kaz could very easily coerce him into having a drink or two when they were having date nights, but he would allow himself one if he fucked up a cocktail in a very slight way. It felt like a shame to waste alcohol and juice just because he had accidentally messed up the ratio away from the vodka.

“Barkeep!” a sultry voice from behind him said. It was rich and deep in a way that would have made a wonderful second alto if she was singing, and entrenched in a very nice accent.

“Yes?” he asked, a smirk playing over his lips as he turned around to face her. She had the looks to match the voice that she had, absolutely gorgeous and very obvious that she was somewhat aware of that.

She had long brown hair that was curled around the side of her face and woven intricately back into a bun on the back of her head. Her jawline was just sharp enough to be accentuated with a tiny bit of bronzer but still soft enough that it highlighted the beautiful plumpness of her body. She had a smokey eyeshadow and perfect catwing eyeliner to bring out the pop of her gray-blue eyes and a matching plumb lipstick. She was wearing a black suit jacket with nothing underneath other than a red lace bra that clung to her skin in just the right way, flush but not squishing anything. Jesper could see the sneaking curve of a feather tattoo resting above her heart, hidden mostly but still visible enough to be tantalizing.

“You’re not the regular bartender,” she commented when he turned around fully.

Jesper pouted at that, tilting his head to the side, “Sorry to disappoint.”

“I don’t think that you could disappoint me if you tried, darling,” she replied easily as she folded her arms on the edge of the bar and leaned forward.

Jesper had been working with enough sexually promiscuous and exploitative people for long enough that he could tell the difference between someone trying to hit on him and someone trying to get something out of him. She didn’t want free drinks like the last group of women he had tried to flirt with while bartending had, she was genuinely interesting him.

She sighed as she toyed with a single lock of her hair that had been left out of the updo, winding it around her finger until she released it so that it bounced next to her naturally freckled face. “I do have to actually tell you what we want now, though.”

“Oh, do you come here often?” Jesper asked. He had been washing down the bar, and it felt oh-so-terribly cliche to do so, but he moved his arms out wide with the towel grasped in one hand so that he was lower down and closer to her.

The woman tilted her head to the side as a beautiful little smile toyed at her lips. She was clearly enjoying the attention that she was getting, and he loved giving it to her. “I played a show here last week. Something small and intimate to help drive up nighttime numbers,” she supplied. “A friend of mine recently went through a bad breakup and she liked this place so we decided to come back this evening.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. About your friend, that is,” Jesper pointed with his head back towards the table where the rest of her group was waiting. He knew that she had come in with them because he had gotten a decently long look at them, but he was glad he got to see her much closer than he had before. “I could never be sorry about you coming here again because it meant that I got the pleasure of meeting you.”

A rosy glint took over her cheeks and the catlike smile painted on her plumb-colored lips widened. “I can’t say that I’m particularly sad about what happened to the other bartender either, you’re much nicer than he was.”

“I do try my best for pretty ladies such as yourself. Can’t say that I take great care of the dodgy old men that come to leer at the sports,” he smirked back in reply. He was, of course, at least courteous to all of the patrons that came in so that that bar could keep up its business, but it was more fun to pretend that he wasn’t to her.

“Well, I do feel special,” she tilted her head down towards one shoulder as she did a half-shrug. The gesture was cute and it made Jesper feel warm inside to know that it was directed specifically towards him.

“Good, someone was pretty as you certainly does deserve to feel special,” he smiled. He remembered that he was there as a worker and not another patron, so he did have to work. “Now, what can I get you?”

“Well, the table wants a load of shots while they decide what they want to be drinking all evening. And then I’ll just take some soda water for myself,” she replied, a little bit of a pout taking over her beautiful features.

“Soda water?” Jesper wrinkled his nose. He tried not to judge other people for what they wanted, but it was such a bland drink for a woman that outwardly seemed so rich and complicated. He knew that type of dichotomy did exist in some people but it was also the first time that someone had ordered carbonated water from him while he was tending.

The woman sighed, toying with the strand of hair again as she shifted her weight to her other foot. “Unfortunately, I’m the designated driver so I will not be drinking tonight. Someone has to stay sober enough to make sure that Nikolai and Zoya don’t fall into bed with each other. Again,” she cringed, wrinkling her nose cutely.

Jesper had the impulse to kiss her on the nose for just a moment before he pushed the thought from his mind. He had developed crushes on people very quickly before, but that had mostly faded now that he had four partners of his own waiting for him at home. They kept him busy and fulfilled enough things in his life that he never felt like he had to continue looking for anything else.

He cleared his throat and stood back up. He grabbed one of the shot trays from behind him, a wooden plate with indents for the glasses. He placed ten of the shot glasses down in it while he asked, “How about you tell me your favorite cocktail and I’ll make a virgin?”

“Are you really going to be able to do that?” she asked, eyeing him nervously.

Jesper tried not to be offended. A lot of the other bartenders that he had met were so focused in with the alcohol that they didn’t know what kind of flavors could supplement them when it was removed. He also had no precedent with her, so while he hated people doubting his ability to do his work he couldn’t really fault her for it. So he smiled confidently at her and said, “Yes, I can.”

And, because he had so much trouble being able to contain himself, he said, “One of my boyfriends recently got into vintage cocktails. He doesn’t do very well when it comes to kitchen work and doesn’t want to be getting wasted every night so I’ve been making him virgin cocktails for the better part of two weeks.” It was a bit of a curveball when it came to flirting. Matthias liked to hide the fact that he was polyamorous until he was sure that the relationship was going to lead to something romantic or sexual because his Christian upbringing made him feel so awkward about it. Kaz never flirted with anyone, which was probably for the best. Inej and Wylan usually brought it up towards the end of the first date that they were having with a prospective partner, which didn’t happen very often. Jesper liked to throw it in at the beginning of his flirting so that he could talk about the partners that he adored without it convincing the person that he was pursuing that he was off the market.

She raised her brow at him, “Just had to slip that in there, didn’t you?” Her accent got thicker when she teased him, which he thought was absolutely adorable.

“I thought that it was worth mentioning,” he winked. He was letting the flirting go on a little bit longer than he probably should have as some of the other patrons were nearing the end of their drinks, which usually meant that he’d have an uptick in things that he was supposed to do. Still, he was validating it to himself with the fact that he had brought the shot set and the glasses over with him.

Something that he couldn’t quite read crossed her face as she stood up to her full height. Jesper wondered what kind of heals she was wearing and how tall she would be compared to Inej and Matthias, the extreme end of the spectrum in height out of his polycule. He hadn’t been able to see the bottom half of her outfit when she was walking over to him since he had been trying to distract himself from the heavy heart in his chest.

She glanced back towards the booth where her friends were getting restless before she drilled those piercing eyes back on him. He felt like she was trying to peel him apart so that she could see exactly what made him tick, examining the mechanisms of his heart with the eye of a clockmaker. “You’re not trying to flirt with me so that you can get to one of my friends, right?”

“Darling, if I wanted to flirt with one of those boys over there then I would flirt with them directly,” Jesper said honestly. It amazed him that someone was divinely beautiful as her thought that she would be passed up for the others that she had come into the bar with. While they were generally handsome, none of them held the mystique and grace that she did.

“Really? You’re not trying to make me feel so special and doted on that I get flustered and send someone else to the bar so you can pounce on them?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously. “Because Nikolai isn’t the type that you should date and David is engaged.”

“Do you think that I’m gay?” Jesper asked, realizing the mistake that he had made. In trying to tell her a little bit more about his romantic life to show that he was interested, he had made the mistake of leaving out the fact that he could be and was interested in her that way. It was a flub that he had made before, and it would not be the last time, he was sure.

She raised her perfectly penciled brow at him as she placed both of her palms flat down on the table. “What else was that line about your boyfriends supposed to do for me?”

“I may have misspoke,” he replied awkwardly. “I was simply trying to come on to you a bit harder, beautiful. You’re a very pretty woman, it’s easy to get tongue tied,” he winked at her.

Her shoulders dropped as she became more relaxed. He wondered how often someone had overlooked her despite her obvious beauty and wit, to try and get to someone that she cared about. She tilted her head to the side again and said, “I’m Nina.”

“Jesper,” he replied as he mirrored her look. “Now what can I get you, before my boss decides that I’ve done a horrible job and you have to spend the next night getting to know a new bartender.”

She laughed at that, her beautiful eyes sparkling. “I’ll take a virgin pina colada if you think that you can make that.”

“What kind of shots would your friends like?” he asked as he got out the class that her served those drinks in.

“Vodka,” she supplied. She moved to one of the stools and got up on it so that she was able to continue to talk with Jesper without being in the way of the other patrons that might need to come and speak with him.

He got out the vodka that they kept for when people didn’t give them a specific brand and then filled up all ten shots easily. He moved the plate up towards her on the bar as he got to work on mixing her drink. “Is this something that you do often?” Nina asked, placing her elbow up on the bar so that she could rest her head on her hand.

Jesper shrugged, glancing at her while trying to focus mostly on his work. “I have a bartending license, if that’s what you’re asking,” he replied. “I don’t usually hop from bar to bar to startle people that are used to seeing a certain face back here. Though mine is usually an upgrade.”

“It certainly is for me,” she winked playfully at him.

He felt heat pool in his veins, dripping down from his heart. The longer that he spent time around her, the harder it was to deny. Nina was magnetic.

“Well I’m glad that I can be a bit of change in decor for you. You said that you had played here the other week?” he asked, trying to get to know her better. The flirting in between the conversation was usually his favorite part, but flirting just to flirt got a little boring after some time.

She toyed with the edge of the plate with one hand as she said, “I’m in a band with all of the people I came in with, sort of. Alina, Zoya, and Nikolai are my bandmates but Genya styles us to make sure that we don’t look like a complete disaster.”

He wasn’t able to put the names to faces, but it was nice to be supplied with a bit of information anyway. “I could never imagine you being anything other than immaculate.”

“You’re quite the sweet talker,” she commented. “Not that I’m complaining now that I know you’re not trying to get me involved in yet another relationship drama I can’t even have the fun of being part of.”

“Two of your bandmates sleeping together whenever they’re left drunk or unsupervised does sound stressful,” he nodded. Before he had gotten into his current polycule, it had been a hassle to try and navigate the friends-with-benefits relationships that he tended to become a part of back when he was doing theater full time.

“It’s not quite that,” she rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed at even the memories that were popping up in the back of her mind. “I do love my bandmates and I’m so happy that we’re back together but Nikolai and Zoya having the weird on-again-off-again thing that they do is the least of my worries.”

“Do tell,” he supplied as he finished up with her drink.

She took the glass with her nimble fingers and then smiled. “You better hope that this is good enough for me to want another so that you can find out more of my drama,” she winked. She slipped off of the barstool and disappeared to the back of the bar with what she had ordered.

Despite barely knowing anything about Nina, he desperately hoped that she would like what he had made her. Both so that she had something to cheer her up since she seemed to be so upset with the way that her life was going and so that she would come back to talk with him more.

---

Jesper tried to get lost in his work. He made sure that he was focusing on all of the patrons equally instead of keeping his eyes glued on Nina, who was sitting with her friends and sipping on her drink. She had sent the blond man over to the bar so that he could order martinis for the drinking members of the group, but Jesper had made sure to just be professional with him as he was taking the order and preparing it. He wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a test of some sort so that she could confirm that he was focused on her, but he hoped that he had passed it.

Given that it was a weekday, even the large rush of people towards the evening who wanted to pregame before they went clubbing was relatively small. Jesper had to card two teenagers that thought enough makeup and a suit would make them look adult enough to avoid that. He had just finished sending them away, rubbing out the headache that was beginning to form on his temples, when he heard Nina’s voice again.

“You were right, you are rather good at this,” she purred as she set her now empty glass onto the counter. “Would you make me another?”

“Only if you spill your secrets for me, beautiful,” he said teasingly.

She was already positioning herself onto the stool that she had been on before, directly in front of his workspace. “My band is called Shadow and Bone. We’ve been together for four years, but we had to take a huge break in the middle because one of my bandmates got into a relationship that wouldn’t let her play with us. It’s not my place to talk about that, but it meant that we couldn’t even practice, let alone make our own stuff. Each of us went and made our own side bands so that we could continue creating, other than Alina, but it’s left things a little twisted now.”

“Something you’re still untangling?” he asked.

She nodded. “I got very popular with my music, but it isn’t something that can work with the type of music that we play as a group. Just the other day I had someone try to accuse me of changing the sound of our music even though Alina and I switch off singing and all four of us write everything together,” she rolled her eyes.

A mischievous look overtook her face as she said, “If you’re interested in looking me up then my solo work was under the name Heartrender. I wasn’t nearly as good as Nikolai, but he passed on the name of his work to a mutual friend of ours. Have you heard of an artist called Sturmhond?”

She was assuming that he worked in bars more often than he did by asking that, but by some stroke of luck he was actually familiar with the name that she had just given him. “I am. My friend Poppy did a set with him during a drag show she did,” he supplied. He hadn’t been able to attend said show because Wylan and Kaz had both ended up getting a cold and he was the only one that was able to take care of them, but she had told him all about it the next time he was able to show up for rehearsals.

“You know Poppy?” Nina asked, her face illuminating with an excited look. “Small world!”

He chuckled alongside her, basking in the brightness of her warmth. He wished that she could sit by him the entire time that he was working, but he knew that she had come to help comfort her friend through a breakup. Jesper had been around enough broken hearted people and been consumed by it enough himself to know the importance of having support during those times. “Your drink, my dear,” he handed over the finished cocktail that she had ordered.

“Thank you, handsome,” she winked.

---

For the rest of the night, Jesper worked alone. He poured what felt like a thousand glasses of beer and a million shots, until his arms and wrists were sore from the repetitive motion. Nina hadn’t strayed over to the bar again as she continued to nurse the singular refill that she had gotten on her virgin cocktail. He was right about the rush happening closer to midnight, but everyone had already trickled out by the time that they hit eleven.

When they were at the height of the crowd, the owner had slipped behind the bar to help him out. They had worked in tandem with each other, silent but efficient. Jesper was terribly exhausted by the time he finally slipped into the back with a plate of fries and a water to rest up before the last stretch of his shift. He brought his phone out and connected the wireless earbuds that he kept with him in his pocket for when he got overstimulated. He opened Spotify, searching up the band that Nina had given him.

He chose the one that she was in with other people first, clicking on the first song that popped up, obviously their most popular. He could tell that it was her voice crooning to him immediately as the first couple of lines played, “Late at night, when the stars don't look quite right. In the darkness, slowly crawling over my skin. Whispers at the door ‘Let us in, let us in.’ I'm a fool! I've been howling at a hollow moon! There's something burning in the empty room inside of my head. Fill it up with doubt, let it in, let it spread. I won't be sleeping, there's too many monsters in the backyard and I feel them creeping closer, closer, closer. I'm afraid. Is this a bunker or a shallow grave? Either way I'm left holding onto the shovel and rope, digging in the dirt, finding bones, finding ghosts. I won't be sleeping, there's too many monsters in the backyard and I feel them creeping closer, closer, closer. But if I made my bed did I make the demons in it? Set 'em free from my head, did I make the demons in it?”

She sang the chorus over and over again, the notes seeping together and burrowing their way into Jesper’s soul. He had always been a fan of music, which was how he and Wylan had met in the first place. They had been attending the same small music course and immediately hit it off, even if the other had a harder time reading music and instead just memorized a song. He wondered what it would be like if Wylan and Nina performed together, if Jesper would be able to handle it or if it would kill him on the spot.

He favorited her band so that he could come back and check it out later as he searched up the name that she had told him she used for her solo work. It was easier to listen to the more manufactured, pop-leaning stuff while also finishing up the other business than the more raw sounding classical that her band made. He let the songs play in the background as he flicked through the messages that his partners had sent him. He replied to a few and then took a screenshot of the song that he had listened to from Nina and sent it to Wylan so that he could get his boyfriend’s opinion on it.

Almost immediately afterwards he got a text from Matthias, which meant they were like watching one of their medical drama shows while waiting for him to come home. Inej and likely coaxed Kaz into the bath with her, the only person that understood the touch issues he had well enough to have that kind of special intimacy with him.

Jesper felt the fry that he had been eating become lodged in the back of his throat as Matthias informed him that the girl he had been flirting with over Instagram for the better part of the last two weeks also happened to be the woman that he had met at the bar. It really was a small world afterall.

He rushed through the last part of his break so that he could hopefully get back out in the bar before Nina left. He hadn’t want to be so creepy as to obviously check to make sure that she had stuck out the busy part of the night, especially since she would have been there for hours if she had. He made sure to calculate his walk so that he had slipped back into the persona that he used when he was working, suave and smooth, much like acting. He didn’t want it to seem like he was too frantic or desperate to get back to work lest he freak her out.

He had stepped back behind the bar and served two other patrons, switching out with the owner, when Nina finally came back up. The relief that he felt upon knowing that she hadn’t left despite having been huddled in the back corner for hours at that point made him feel a little embarrassed. He ignored it as he looked up to her, waiting for what she had to say.

“I was wondering when you were going to be back,” she smiled as she took the same stance that she had when they had first begun their interaction.

“Sorry for leaving you, baby, but I had to take a quick break,” he explained as he set down the glass that he had just finished cleaning.

“I understand, being that handsome has to take quite the toll on someone,” she winked back in reply, which made his heart flutter. He hadn’t known how Matthias had fallen so hard and so fast for Nina, especially since it had taken him almost a week to get to the point where they could even hold a conversation with each other. Now that she was standing in front of him in all of her smooth, gorgeous, suave glory, he understood.

“If you keep this up then I’m going to fall in love with you,” he grinned. He was telling the truth, of course. If she continued to treat him like he was something special then he was going to fall head over heels for her the same way that Matthias had. He’d be tender smiles down at his phone and one earbud in to loop the sound of her crooning musical voice into his mind while doing mundane tasks.

Nina had the common decency to look a little bashful at that as she shifted awkwardly. “I have to admit that the idea of that doesn’t sound too bad. I came over here to pay my tab but I was also hoping that I could possibly get a way to stay in contact with you?”

Excitement burst through him like fireworks as he leaned forward like he was going to share a secret that no one else was allowed to hear. “If you ask Matthias then he’ll give you everything,” he winked.

She looked a little confused and scared, as if he had found out that she was somehow trying to give him the runaround. He tilted his head back towards the door he that led to the back room, “When I took my break I searched you up and sent one of your songs to my partner who likes music. Turns out that he was with Matthias and we found out that we had been flirting with the same woman. So it sounds like you’re going to fit into our relationship quite well if you’re serious about pursuing us.”

Immediately the panic left her and she laughed. It was louder than the quiet giggles that she had given her before, all rosy tinkling and shaking shoulders. She then shook her head, causing a few of the curls that had come loose from her tight bun to bounce around her beautiful face. “I should have known when you mentioned the cocktails, it’s all Matthias has been talking about lately.”

“He gets like that sometimes,” Jesper agreed. It was endearing how one thing could take over Matthias’ entire personality until he had discovered how it worked or how he could navigate it properly and then moved onto the next thing.

Nina shifted and handed him her card. He processed it for the tab that the table had wracked up and then handed it back to her. She said, “I don’t want to take up all of your time tonight, but I would like to see you again. I’ll ask Matthias for your handle and then we’ll talk more, alright?”

“I think that the both of us would like that very much,” Jesper nodded. Even if he didn’t actually develop a romantic or sexual relationship with Nina, the idea of getting to have someone as wonderful and mysterious as her in his life was very enticing. He leaned across the bar so that he was closer to her, giving her the hint of what he wanted. Jesper asked, “May I kiss you?”

A pretty smile split across her face and she said, “Polite as well as handsome, color me surprised. You may.” She placed one of her hands on his cheek, letting him feel the calloused nature of her hand. She then leaned in and pressed their lips together in a quick, chaste kiss. She smelled like green apples and lavender, mixing together distinctly to make her smell overall sweet. He could taste the vanilla of her lipstick and the pineapple clinging to her tongue from the drinks that he made her throughout their evening of flirting.

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a-library-ghost · 1 year

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hi! i'm a new tumblr resident. i've visited this site a couple of times in the past during the peak of a few of my hyper fixations but never stayed long enough to discover the other good stuff. now i'm trying my best to learn about tumblr etiquette and the culture of the communities that i would like to partake in. one of them, is book tumblr or bookblr (?) i'm not sure which is the proper term sorry. if you don't mind, can i ask for a brief guide on navigating the book community here? and how does it differ from say, booktwt or booktok? i am ignorant about this stuff and would really appreciate some help.

thank you for taking the time to read this ♡ and i hope you have a nice day!

I love this question! I really like book tumblr bc it’s a great balance of analysis and silly content. You’ll see paragraphs of detailed breakdown of kaz and inej and race and trauma in the grishaverse and then the next moment you’ll see a boneless jesper shitpost. Another thing that makes me prefer book tumblr over booktok is the accessibility— booktok imo sometimes feels like a contest between who owns the most books or can accumulate the most tbr or who reads the most books in one year or has the prettiest shelves, etc. but tumblr is art and gifs and text for everyone.

I don’t know if I am the best guide, because i just post whatever I please how ever I please, but I do have a few recommendations :)

- use tags! Tag the fandom names, author, book titles, etc to boost interaction and find people into the same stuff as you

- interact with other accounts positively— follow, comment, reblog

- post whatever you want! Don’t worry about engagement, just have fun dumping all your ideas from random memes to critical analysis

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ireadyabooks · 4 years

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The Perfect Book & Holiday Movie Pairings

It’s the most magical time of year...when we all gather round and watch holiday movies! 🎄 Whether your favorite holiday is a romantic comedy of mistaken identity or an animated film, we have the perfect book recommendation for when the credits roll.

We recommend grabbing some hot chocolate and cookies and finding the perfect book and movie combo to start this season off right!

Last Christmas: Read The Music of What Happens

No spoilers about Last Christmas, but don’t worry––although we’ve paired it with The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg, this book does not have quite the same twist ending as the movie. In Last Christmas, Kate is struggling with where her life is going while working as an elf in a Christmas store. But when she meets Tom, her life takes a new turn. The same can be said for Max and Jordan, two complete opposites who are both harboring secrets...but whose lives both change when they are tasked with running a failing food truck together.

Klaus: Read Call Down the Hawk

We’re not exactly saying that Ronan Lynch is Santa Claus, but we’re also not NOT saying it. Seriously though, think about it. In Klaus, Klaus is a reclusive toymaker who lives up on the mountain alone, whose imagination allows him to create incredible toys. In Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater, Ronan is living on his own at the Barns, dreaming up fantastical––and sometimes dangerous––dreams that he brings to reality. Does this mean that Declan Lynch is basically Jesper, the mailman who drags Klaus out of reclusion? Well. Can’t say it’s too far off...

A Christmas Prince: Read The Impostors Series

Intrigue? Deceit? An undercover investigation? This sounds like both A Christmas Prince AND the Impostors series by Scott Westerfeld! In the movie, a reporter goes undercover as a tutor to get the scoop on a prince, but ends up falling in love as she’s tangled up in royal intrigue. In Impostors, Frey is tasked with impersonating her twin sister Rafi in a precarious deal––but starts to become close with the son of the enemy.

The Spirit of Christmas: Read The City of Ghosts Series

Are ghosts festive? We sure think so! The Spirit of Christmas and the City of Ghosts series by Victoria Schwab are all about helping spirits find the closure they need to move on. In The Spirit of Christmas, Kate has three weeks to sell a haunted bed and breakfast––but the spirit who lives there won’t back down without a fight. In the City of Ghosts series, Cassidy Blake can see through the veil that separates the living from the dead and joins her parents filming a TV show in the most haunted cities in the world. She soon discovers that her gift can be used to help spirits move on.

Noelle: Read I Love You So Mochi

Noelle is the latest holiday movie from Disney+, where the Claus family has passed down the Santa Claus tradition for generations––but when the latest Santa in the family, Noelle’s brother Nick, has an identity crisis and flees days before Christmas, Noelle must track him down. This movie is about finding yourself and chasing your passion, which is exactly what Kimi must do in I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn––when she and her mother get into an epic fight about her love for fashion, Kimi spends her spring break in Japan with her estranged grandparents trying to figure what, and who, she wants to be.

Let it Snow: Read Snow in Love

If you love holiday stories that tell multiple stories in one, then Let it Snow and Snow in Love are the perfect holiday treats for you! In Let it Snow, a snowstorm on Christmas eve brings a group of high school students together––their separate stories, friendships, and love lies soon collide. Snow in Love is a series of short holiday stories from Melissa De La Cruz, Nic Stone, Aimee Friedman, and Kasie West about everything from a Hanukkah miracle to a holiday scavenger hunt!

The Princess Switch: Read Technically, You Started It

Mistaken identity and hijinks abound in both The Princess Switch and Technically, You Started It by Lana Wood Johnson! The Princess Switch is about a Chicago baker who, when competing in a Christmas baking competition in Belgravia, finds out that the prince’s fiancée looks exactly like her––so they switch lives for two days. There are no doppelgängers in Technically, You Started It, but there are two cousins BOTH named Martin Nathaniel Munroe II...so when one of them texts Haley, she doesn’t realize which Martin she’s ACTUALLY texting. Can friendship and love blossom in these stories about concealed identity?

A Cinderella Christmas: Read Stepsister

We love a twist on a classic fairytale all year round, but especially during the holidays! Both A Cinderella Christmas and Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly are twists on the Cinderella fairytale. A Cinderella Christmas is a modern take on the fairytale, Angie takes a night off from her uncle’s events business to go to the Christmasquerade Ball and catches the eye of a wealthy local bachelor––only to leave before revealing her identity. Stepsister begins when Cinderella ends, and follows the story of Isabelle, one of Cinderella’s “ugly” stepsisters. Once Cinderella goes to the castle with the prince, Isabelle must go on a journey of redemption and empowerment. Both of these stories put feminist and modern lenses on a classic tale!

The Santa Clause: Read The Candle and the Flame

In The Santa Clause, Scott is magically required to take on the mantle of Santa Clause when Santa falls off of his roof on Christmas Eve. His life and reality are transformed as he travels to the North Pole and realizes that he is actually the new Santa Claus. Now, The Candle and the Flame doesn’t have anything to do with the holidays––but in this stunning fantasy, Fatima must take on the fire of a djinn when one of the most powerful of the djinn dies. She is changed in ways she cannot fathom - and while the stakes might be a bit higher for Fatima than someone having to take on the role of Santa Claus, these two stories are still a great pair!

The Knight Before Christmas: Read The Traitor’s Game Series

In need of a story that has to do with an epic quest? The Knight Before Christmas and The Traitor’s Game series by Jennifer A. Nielsen are the perfect fix! In The Knight Before Christmas, a medieval English knight is transported to present day and must fulfill his quest by Christmas, or risk being stuck in the present forever. In The Traitor’s Game series, Kestra is captured by a group of rebels who want her to retrieve the lost Olden Blade, the only object that can destroy the King. In both The Knight Before Christmas and The Traitor’s Game, love and intrigue will complicate both of these quests!

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Read Tarnished are the Stars

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a classic combination Halloween / Christmas movie! Pumpkin King Jack Skellington wanders out of Halloweentown and into Christmastown––where he falls in love with the world he didn’t know existed and tries to bring his findings back to his home. In Tarnished are the Stars by Rosiee Thor, Nathaniel has lived under the shadow of his father, the Commissioner, for his entire life. When he attempts to prove himself to his father by catching the elusive Technician who has been supplying illegal technology to the citizens of Earth Adjacent, Nathaniel discovers that the world he thought he knew is not quite what his father has said it was. Both these stories are about finding the truth about the world around you, and about how your best intentions can sometimes go very, very wrong.

Elf: Read I Wish You All the Best

At first glance, Elf and I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver might seem like they couldn’t be more different...but, both Buddy and Ben must travel to live with their estranged family members when the lives they knew are shaken. In Elf, Buddy learns that he’s not really an elf and must go live with his real father in New York City, contending with all of the cultural and societal expecations that he has no idea how to navigate. In I Wish You All the Best, Ben comes out to their parents as non-binary and is forced to live with their estranged sister and her husband, who Ben has never met. Ben must go to a new school, handle anxiety, and keep a low profile. In both Elf and I Wish You All the Best, these characters are helped through these transitions by unlikely friends...AND unlikely crushes.

This Christmas: Read Hey, Kiddo

Family dysfunction seems to be a staple of a lot of holiday movies, but what stands out about both This Christmas and Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka is that under all of the drama, these families care deeply about one another no matter what. In This Christmas, the matriarch of the Whitfield family calls together their first holiday together in four years. As they come together for the first time in years, various secrets come to light that will strain the family and ultimately decide how their holiday is spent. Hey, Kiddo is a remarkable graphic memoir about Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s childhood growing up with his two opinionated grandparents and learning that his mother is addict. Only as a teenager is Jarrett able to piece together the truth of his family.

A Prince for Christmas: Read The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali

If you love a story about how true love conquers all - even the pressures of family––then A Prince for Christmas and The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan are the perfect pair! In A Prince for Christmas, a European prince flees to America to escape an arranged marriage, only to fall for a waitress who might be his true love. In The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali, Rukhsana must handle societal and familial pressure when her parents discover she’s dating her girlfriend, Ariana, and whisk her away to Bangladesh to set up an arranged marriage.

#holiday #holiday movies #hallmark movies #Christmas #Hanukkah #book recommendations #book recs #booklr #I gift YA #Keep Your Shelf Warm

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inquisitor-julia · 4 years

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I mentioned that I had talked A LOT about Wren in a Discord I’m part of so I’m making a masterpost of everything so far! This includes information about Wren, her sister, her alternate LI, and her relationship with Solas as well as aesthetics, playlists, etc. Under the cut because it’s a lot of Wrenformation

I’m hilarious

Special thanks to @noire-pandora @kita-lavellan @eluvilavellan @inquisitor-veowyn @mik-arts @jespers for asking me so much about my girl Wren and for keeping me sane through this whole quarantine thing! Love you all so much!! <3

Part 1: About Wren Wren Development in da:i

Wren is....very sheltered so there's just A LOT that she has to come to terms with in da:i, things she's heard about but never really seen until inquisition and that's on purpose on the part of her clan, they always think she's too weak to handle the worst parts of the world, that her frail shoulders couldn't take the weight. Maybe under different circumstances they'd have been right but her time with the inquisition FORCES her to grow....she's still the little sheltered healer from the dalish for the most part but by the end she can also make the hard decisions and such

In the Fade at Adamant, what does her gravestone say?

Abandonment; Wren has always felt like a burden to her clan because of her frailty and when she was a child she was almost sent away to another clan because she was a mage, if not for the intervention of her older sister Lyre she would not have been able to stay with clan Lavellan. She's been afraid of people deserting her because she's not strong ever since.

Tea soon? (Does she like tea/ Her reaction to receiving the birthday card?)

Wren loves tea! Her mom was the clan's herbalist so Wren knows a lot about which herbs can be used for which ailments and which teas to make using some of those herbs, and she can make an amazing cup of tea. Solas still isn't fond of it but it's the only tea you're likely to see him suffer through drinking. Her reaction to the card is covered in my fic i'm writing for her and is (tn spoilers) that she has a panic attack thinking that charter is in danger but then goes to save charter. Wren is also determined to make a cup of tea that even solas enjoys one day.

How do the fearlings appear to her in the fade?

hmmm her deepest fear is abandonment or that she's a burden because she's weak so her fears would probably be faceless elves with the voices of her loved ones calling her useless or telling her that if she didn't have her sister to hide behind she'd be nothing.

"Your family tried to get rid of you, they knew you were weak." "Scared little girl, what makes you think someone so frail can change anything." "Kindness to cover weakness, you are nothing but a facade to hide your fear." "He will abandon you, little bird, a burden discarded, unneeded, unwanted."

Has she encountered any racism/sexism during her time in the Inquisiton?

Wren has encountered racism during her time in the Inquisition, especially during the ball at the winter palace. It's quite a shock for her because she's been so sheltered and never had to deal with such things before. Sexism is a less prominent issue because most people are more offended by her ears and vallaslin than anything else.

How would your OC want to be remembered?

I don't know that it matters to Wren that she's remembered at all, just that she helped even if no one remembers who she was. At one point Cole says "It doesn't matter that they don't remember, what matters is we helped." or something like that and that's pretty much how I think Wren views things. She's a healer by nature and by trade, if she can make someone's life easier even for the briefest moment that's enough of an impact for her. How she doesn't want to be remembered though, is a different story entirely. Being Inquisitor brings her so much worry that she's using her people, that in their last breaths they'll curse her or worse praise her. She would rather not be remembered than be known as someone who hid behind a war table and sent legions to die for her cause. As far as her reputation she fears nothing more than the blood that her position forced onto her hands being what stains her name in the tales of history

If your OC was a spirit, what kind of spirit would they be?

Wren would be some kind of spirit akin to "the matchmaker" that Solas talks about. A subtle and shy spirit that would steer people gently toward things that would bring them happiness, but not necessarily compassion like Cole. something closer to contentment than compassion.

What kind of (spirit)/demon would they turn into?

hmm ok well I still think something like a spirit of contentment would be Wren but as for demon....if her spirit form is her guiding people to happiness i think her demon form would be something like...obsession with the happiness of others? like care-taking but smothering, don't leave me behind, clinging, cloying, suffocating. I think that's a kind of fear demon. It reflects her fear of abandonment and twists her good heart into something that could bring harm. Or at least that's my current thought.

Do they drink/smoke? Are they a party animal or tend to stay in their quarters?

she doesn't usually drink or at least not much, and not anything strong, she doesn't really love the feeling of being drunk, it dulls her senses and she's a person who needs to be connected to the little sensations and events around her at all times to be happy. The world is a little tapestry to her and if a drink blocks out some of that she doesn't want it. The only time she drinks is in cold places like Emprise du Lion, when she's got a lot of anxiety and drinks a small amount to calm down, or that one time she drank with bull and ended up sloshed and Solas had to take care of her that night and the next day and she never speaks of it because it's embarrassing. On the whole though she doesn't like alcohol because it's bitter, if she drinks it's going to be something sweet other than that time with bull that we DO NOT talk about. Wren doesn't smoke and she's not a party animal BUT she also doesn't spend too much time in her quarters. She wants to take care of people and usually she's off doing that and exhausting herself and has to be dragged back to her quarters and made to sleep by Solas or Lyre. She spends most of her alone time in whatever the highest possible location is nearby, she loves heights and she'll climb up to ridiculous heights just to find a quiet spot to read

Why did they choose their vallaslin?(colour?) If they romanced Solas, did they choose to remove it? Why (not)?

She chose her vallaslin because she wanted to give herself something to aspire to, a protector instead of the one protected. She was to become the Keeper and she wanted to be someone who could keep her clan safe. Her vallaslin are red because no ink could be placed under her extremely sensitive skin, only her own blood, magically enhanced to stay bright red. The color fades as the magic does though and after the first application her vallaslin have to be reapplied using a dye (like henna but stronger). They appear white like a scar if this is not done. She does have Solas remove them because of what they mean, and because she's already a protector, her aspiration has been achieved (if only she knew how much more she would have to protect in the future) and she was never fond of her vallaslin anyway. She always felt guilty about having herself marked as an adult while her older sister would never be.

Do they have any pets? If not, would they want one?

Wren does not have any pets besides her horse in da:i because animals and Wren traditionally do not get along. Not that she doesn't try to get along with them just that they tend to shy away from her. Getting the token of the packmaster and having wolves follow her around and let her pet them? Highlight of Wren's life. She would love to have a pet but finding a horse willing to carry her around thedas was hard enough, finding a pet that would actually be affectionate would be next to impossible....but maybe someday..

Do they gossip? If yes, with who about whom?

She tries not to call it gossip but she confides in her sister about most everything, that includes any trouble she might be having with her friends or solas. She trusts Lyre above anyone else in Thedas and if she needs to discuss anything or laugh about something that happened it's always her sister that she seeks out.

Do they have any musical or artistic talent? How did they learn it?

Wren....can sing off-key but can usually hum fairly on key. And that's about the extent of her musical talents. Artistically, she's grown up in a very practical culture: sewing is learned to patch clothing, woodworking arts are practiced by the craftsmaster, there is no real need for a Keeper's apprentice to learn any artistry. In the inquisition she watched solas paint anytime she could, in awe of the way what he saw in his mind just unfolded onto canvas or stone. She learned a bit through observation and subtle guidance from solas but never really pursued it as a hobby, more something she did to feel included in a moment and feel connection to her vhenan. After he leaves the inquisition she spends hours pouring over the sketches he left behind (some of her, some of locations they'd visited, some of their companions, and some of his plans for his murals) and when she left skyhold and the murals behind she took those sketches with her, the only thing she had left of who solas was beyond the Dread Wolf. When the murals were reported destroyed, she dedicated herself to recreating them on canvas so that they would not be completely lost.

What kind of god/goddess would your OC be?

goddess of the night sky, of the moon, of wishes (bc stars), and of navigation (bc stars)

Part 2: Wren ficlets

Wren and Solas and their daughters by @jespers

the moon and the wolf, twice reflected in the starlit lake, meandered up to a clearing in the nearby forest. the sky was empty, save for the quiet thrumming of thousands of stars. two sets of twin souls settled into a bed of blankets, one set nested between the other. moon, part one, began to whisper tales of valiant knights, of dragons and queens, of a wolf who falls for the moon. da'evune and da'fen giggled as moon, part one, told them of the wolf's dislike of tea - how he'd turn his muzzle up at honey splashed with tea. she told them of how he betrayed the moon once, how he'd turned to the sky to hide him. and yet, the moon loved him still. their love was so great it overcame it all. when the veil came crashing down, it was their love that shielded thedas from the worst of it. it was their love that created thedas' second moon and her sister, the wolf. this pair would the guiding lights - the howl that guides you home, the moon that brightens the night. and when the first pair finally faded, thedas would have a twin souls that would, above all, endure. the wolf, part one, pressed the moon's hand to his lips, and began to tell the tale of the dragon who gave herself so that they all might live.

Wren and Solas by @inquisitor-veowyn

Solas stood on the battlements, Wren’s proximity to him radiating warmth. He turned his head, admiring her beauty for a moment before reaching out to her. He grabbed her hand, weaving his fingers through hers. Her skin was so soft against his calloused hands, and it felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders. He turned to her, weaving his fingers into her other hand. “You mean so much to me, Wren.”

Solas + Wren + Tea by me

I picture the cup of tea he enjoys being the first one she makes him in the peace after the chaos of the veil coming down or w/e da4 brings. He can rest and be with his love and she still loves him and they can be happy and she hands him a cup of tea in the morning like she used to in skyhold and it's the first cup of tea he's ever really enjoyed. She's so warm with her head resting on his shoulder, the morning light giving her hair a slight golden tint as she sips her own tea happily. Maybe it's his own happiness that makes this cup of tea different.Whatever the case the drink is quickly forgotten as he trades the taste of the tea in his cup for the subtle taste of it on her lips.

Wren dies in the red lyrium future in an AU where she isn’t Inquisitor by me

Hot. Metallic. Seeping between her teeth and splattering against the demon's face when her lungs forced a cough and the terror's claws dug in deeper. The taste and warmth brought to her sluggish mind a memory of someone she'd loved trying to make her tea, metallic because it had been stale, but she'd said it was delicious. Bare face beaming, flaxen hair, it's terrible isn't it sister. Sister. Lyre. She'd forgotten; the red taking her mind from her more each day. The terror ripped its hand cruelly from her stomach, taking so much of her with it, her pooling blood already turning to crystal as she fell to the ground. She wondered which would kill her first, the blood loss or the encroaching crystallization, before her mind wandered back to her sister in her fading moments. Lyre; bright, radiant, the sun to her moon. She'd tried so hard to keep Wren safe and what had happened to her....Wren couldn't remember now as the red tinged shadows pulled at the edge of her vision and her last word fell softly from her lips: asa'ma'lin I'm sorry sister.

Wren + Solas + fluff + dancing (i had to write to make up for the wren death)

The bittersweet flavor of raspberries danced across Wren's tongue as she bit into one of the tarts the cook had made for her. She'd told the woman on many occasions that making her sweets on top of feeding the entire Inquisition wasn't necessary but the only response she'd ever gotten was "You save us all from that blighted Corypheus arsehole and we'll call it even." Yet she sensed a kindred spirit in the woman, a caretaker if a rather grouchy one. She closed her eyes and hummed happily as she took another bite of the pastry, the thin, crisp layers of the tart crunching as she bit down into the raspberry preserve center. With her clan she'd never eaten anything quite so sweet as the desserts she'd tasted since becoming inquisitor, one of the few perks the job offered really. As the sugar coated her mouth she felt like dancing. Sweetness was such a happy flavor, making her heart light and her feet lighter in turn. And suddenly she was spinning, bouncing happily in small, unplanned movements, moving to the feeling of the joy bubbling in her chest. Was it silly to dance because of a simple raspberry tart? Maybe, but she couldn't find it in her heart to care. That is until she very nearly careened into Solas who was suddenly there, the soft expression he reserved only for her lighting his face as he helped her regain the balance her surprise had stolen from her. She wasn't sure how he'd entered her room without her hearing, had she truly been so wrapped up in delighting over her treat? She felt her face redden as she thought of how her gluttonous happiness must look. He offered her his hand and she looked up at him quizzically. "May I have this dance, vhenan?" Her heart floated happily into her throat, buoyant on the warmth his voice always held (for her, only for her). She curtsied dramatically trying not to laugh as she gave him her answer. "Of course ma lath." She took his hand and he pulled her close, letting her lead him in the steps of her spontaneous dancing. The tarts were quite forgotten then, some moments were sweeter than anything the cook could bake after all.

Part 3: Wren and her alternate LI, Haleir

What's the first "date" Haleir takes Wren on, and does Wren realise that's what it is?

Haven't actually thought about their first date before now but here goes! Before their first kiss, Haleir was content to just follow Wren wherever she wanted to go or to simply be in her presence at her home in kirkwall. After their first kiss (an achingly soft press of her lips to his, her heart was shattered, begging not to be broken again. He did not take more from her than this moment. Just held her close and pressed his forehead to hers, basking in the warmth of her fragile happiness. He would never abandon her.) he lets himself want to show Wren the wonders he knows how to reach through the eluvians. Nothing that would compromise the plans of the Dread Wolf, Haleir is not a complete fool, he knows he may be able to use the eluvians in this way once without Solas finding out. He takes Wren to the ruins of an elven observatory, not so much for the devices that once watched the heavens but for the books that map the stars. The world cut off from the fade can only see so many of the stars, the night sky now a dull comparison to the skies of arlathan. As they look over the star charts together Wren becomes the closest to herself that she's been in years, some of the ache in her chest is replaced by light happiness and the excitement of discovering that there are more stars to spin tales about. She spends hours pouring over the books with Haleir content to watch and listen. When they've spent enough time there that someone might take note of his absence, he notices wren's hesitation to put one of the books back on the shelf. Gently he covers her uncertain hand with his own, telling her to keep the book. Wren presses the precious gift to her chest, holding it as though it might disappear as they travel back through the eluvians. This time, Haleir kisses her.

A Wren and Hal scene I wrote

Can be found HERE

Some Wren and Hal AU smut in progress

Can be found HERE

Wren and Hal by @eluvilavellan

Hal by @mik-arts

Playlist for Wren and Hal

found HERE

Haleir in da:i

Haleir in sims3

A very dumb Hal video i made

Can be found HERE

Part 4: Wren Aesthetics, picrews, sims, etc.

Wren sims4

Wren sims3

Wren’s older sister Lyris (Lyre) Lavellan in sims3

Wren playlist

Can be found HERE

Wren flower symbolism

Muscari: Caring Love Mullein: Good Nature Tea: Harmony/Peace/Spiritual Connection/Rejuvenation/Change/Contentment Moonflower: Dreaming of Love/The Moon Blueberry Flower: Eternal Optimism Meadowsweet: Happiness/Peace/Protection

Wren and Solas flower symbolism

Mistletoe: Kisses/Peace/Safety/Poison Columbine: The emblem of deceived lovers Rain Flower: I love you back/I Must Atone For My Sins/I Will Never Forget You Snowdrop: Hope Eremurus: Endure Forget-Me-Not: Don’t forget me, Remember me forever Honeysuckle: Bonds of Love/Lover's Embrace/Clinging

Wren aesthetic by @mik-arts

Wren aesthetic by @eluvilavellan

annnnnnd I think that’s everything for now!

If you read this far then bless your soul because this was so much

if you want to know more about Wren her tag is #Wren Lavellan and you can shoot me an ask about her anytime! <3

#wren lavellan #jules' ocs #inquisitor #lavellan #da:i #long post #jules speaks #masterpost

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eathdk · 4 years

Photo

Sensplorations? Text and images: Jesper Jansson

I’ve always been interested in how outer factors effects us as humans. Especially how our senses effect us, and help us to navigate, or not. Like how you sometimes loose focus, just because of a tiny annoying sound like a clock ticking. Or that smell that makes your meal experience amazing, and triggers old memories from a place, room or something that you had a that cafe and wanna try again.

I also always have been very fascinated in systems, to organize things into categories, and to create frameworks and ”rules” in a creative process that you sort of aren’t allowed to break out of. What you end up with is, in my experience, something very concise and structured. Designing by numbers is a very good way or example, like if you want to do typography, use the fibbonacci sequence as a size guide to get good balance between a headline (89pt), ingress (55/34pt) and so on; 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ...

By ”mapping” things out, in this case senses, you create a very interesting framework as a sort of base or foundation foryour process and endgame.

During the EAT-course I’ve been struggling with trying to get to a point in my project that 'makes sense' (mind the pun), or to present/package it in a way that is more accessible to other people – to summarize – will they get it?

I started out with discussing and touching upon different senses, first the regulars; hearing, scent, vision, taste, touch etc.

But found also a few more.

- will, feeling – thought

- touch

- thought

- life

- balance

- smell

- taste

- sight

- temperature

- speech – hearing

- ego – movement

- will - act - action

http://tomvangelder.antrovista.com/pdf/observing.pdf

And I though about how this releates to food, flavours, the experience of foods and such. What I found is that eating is not only something you do just to keep your belly happy, but also survival, pleasure, energy and much more.

Eating is also an event, something that you experience, it creates memories. It's about the room, the light, sounds, smells. What happens when some of them are more or less dominant in terms of how you experience them? Like for example, if something you eat has a lot of flavour, but completely lacks texture? Or vice versa, has alot of texture but no flavour. It can be super crispy, but doesn't taste anything. Take something away and the others compensate?

I want to recreate, categorize, sort this out. Break it down, recreate it and serve as a dish, or dishes. Bite-sizes that contain aspects of the senses?

Later I found two great terms that summarizes this narrative and phenomenon really well. And a way to make it less abstract.

1. Psychorheology

"Psychorheology is the sensory judgement of rheological properties. It is a term used in the food industry, to describe how a food 'feels' to the mouth. It is not necessarily straightforward to predict how a food will 'feel' based purely on the true rheological properties.

Psychorheology is the sensory judgement of rheological properties. It is a term used in the food industry, to describe how a food "feels" to the mouth. It is not necessarily straightforward to predict how a food will "feel" based purely on the true rheological properties."

2. Mouthfeel

"The most important factor in food rheology is consumer perception of the product. This perception is affected by how the food looks on the plate as well as how it feels in the mouth, or 'mouthfeel'. Mouthfeel is influenced by how food moves or flows once it is in a person's mouth and determines how desirable the food is seen to be."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_rheology

https://www.thespruceeats.com/mouthfeel-765730

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouthfeel

These two terms also relates to – the twelve senses – the different aspects of palate*.

*"…describes 'Baltimoreans' preference of flavors in food, their palate. Palate can also mean the roof of one's mouth or the taste of something, such as wine…"

https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/palate-palette-pallet/

Senses <–> Palate <–> Psychorheology <–> Mouthfeel.

I found a great list of words to explain different qualities of foods in terms of psychorheology. This will be my guide for creating my bite-size foods. It basically touches upon everything I want to do with this project.

Cohesiveness: Degree to which the sample deforms before rupturing when biting with molars.

Density: Compactness of cross section of the sample after biting completely through with the molars.

Dryness: Degree to which the sample feels dry in the mouth.

Exquisiteness: Perceived quality of the item in question

Fracturability: Force with which the sample crumbles, cracks or shatters. Fracturability encompasses crumbliness, crispiness, crunchiness and brittleness.

Graininess: Degree to which a sample contains small grainy particles.

Gumminess: Energy required to disintegrate a semi-solid food to a state ready for swallowing.

Hardness: Force required to deform the product to a given distance, i.e., force to compress between molars, bite through with incisors, compress between tongue and palate.

Heaviness: Weight of product perceived when first placed on tongue.

Moisture absorption: Amount of saliva absorbed by product.

Moisture release: Amount of wetness/juiciness released from sample.

Mouthcoating: Type and degree of coating in the mouth after mastication (for example, fat/oil).

Roughness: Degree of abrasiveness of product's surface perceived by the tongue.

Slipperiness: Degree to which the product slides over the tongue.

Smoothness: Absence of any particles, lumps, bumps, etc., in the product.

Uniformity: Degree to which the sample is even throughout; homogeneity.

Uniformity of bite: Evenness of force through bite.

Uniformity of chew: Degree to which the chewing characteristics of the product are even throughout mastication.

Viscosity: Force required to draw a liquid from a spoon over the tongue.

Wetness: Amount of moisture perceived on product's surface.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouthfeel

Then of course there’s the aspect of flavor, which in hand relates to mouthfeel.

”Five basic tastes – sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami (savory) are universally recognized, although some cultures also include pungency[3] and oleogustus ("fattiness"). The number of food smells is unbounded; a food's flavor, therefore, can be easily altered by changing its smell while keeping its taste similar.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavor

The bite-sizes will contain one or several of the above mentioned aspects. So I did some experiments with tofu/soy and fried rice papers.

Rice papers (Very crispy, fatty, coating…)

Superfast and easy way to make an interesting snack.

Be careful with the hot oil though! Make sure there’s no water close to the oil, the rice-papers or your cooking equipment.

Recipe in the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoADEBQWM98

You end up with a nice snack with interesting texture, and you can flavor it by using different oils, or sprinkle dry powdered spices on them.

Chunky tofu (chewy, salty, smoky, dense…)

This recpeice takes a little bit more time, but it’s a slow food so be patient.

Recipe in the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwDYQxdc5_Q

1. Buy tofu, regular one from supermarket.

2. Freeze the tofu overnight or for a least 4-6 hours. This will make it easier to ’drag out’ more water, making it moretangy.

3. Defrost the tofu in a warm waterbacth.

4. Open the packaging, pour out any leftover water.

5. Press the tofu like in the video or between to wooden or plastic cutting boards.(You do not need to drill holes like he did in the video, just make sure the water doesn’t soak your kitchen, just put aclean towel underneath or around it like he does in the video. If you press between two wooden cutting boards, aheavy put or frying pan is fine on top, not to much though, time is the key here, not to much weight!)

6. Cut the tofu into one inch cubes.

7. Sprinkle some table salt on all sides of the cubes.

8. Put on a baking rack with a drip tray underneath, in the oven on 125-150C° for half an hour-ish or until the tofu looksa bit charred, but only a little bit, you want to drag out as much water as possible.

9. Take the tofu out after 30 minutes.

10. Prepare a marinade of your choice, if you feel lazy, just use some soy-sauce and grilling oil. Just make sure it’sbalanced.

11. Put the tofu in a container/bag and makes sure that the marinade coats the tofu.(If it only coats halfway, just flip them around every 10 minutes or so.)

12. Marinate for 1-2 hours, or overnight in the fridge if you really wanna get a super deep flavor.

13. Remove the tofu from the marinade. But save it for later.

14. Put the tofu on a baking tray or rack again, and this time put your oven on 175-200C°.

15. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, and if the tofu looks ’dry’, you can take it out and brush some more marinade.

16. Take them out of the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes.

17. Enjoy!

BUT: I’ve altered this a little bit to make it even more chewy!

This tofu work to eat with sallads, or stews etc. Depends on what spices you use, but the general idea is to get a tangy texture by drying them and then re-moisting, since the water is dragged out through freezing and salt baking, the texture of the tofu really get super tangy, I don’t know why, but I guess it’s like sundrying in a way, slow vs fast processing creates different end results.

PS: If you want to enjoy this tofu in a hot dog like way, just cut long cubes instead and eat with a hotdog bread. A burger version I haven’t tried yet, send me a ping on instagram if you do!

//Jesper Jansson

Some other interesting links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfg8WB6tICE

https://steinbeisser.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kszzJjtv2oo

https://libraryofsenses.com/Tasting/files/a1876a5bcdf1b041613d7484d9fbd65f-0.html

https://libraryofsenses.com/Tasting/files/45a003b84e1a4b1529816a431c34d20d-5.html

Website and instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/eathdk/

https://www.instagram.com/jesperkjansson/

https://jesperkjansson.cargo.site/

#thisishdk #eathdk #tofu

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