Post by Shadaras on Jun 29, 2011 18:43:11 GMT -5
I think 'JulNo' is a horrible sound, by the way. I also appear to be one of the only people who has actually figured out a title so far. xD
So, because this is my thread and I do not feel bad about cluttering it up with stuff, have some things.
So, yes. :3 This is going to be awesome.
So, because this is my thread and I do not feel bad about cluttering it up with stuff, have some things.
This first bit came from talking to Rikku about wanting to write a musicstory. This is basically who Micah is. This also spawned this picture, which probably influenced Micah's character a fair bit, though Micah looks nothing like the guy I drew there.
This line was inspired by the Silence. It is also the reason why Micah has a British-ish accent.
And then the bit that matters, the bit that led to this being a ghost-story. Again, talking with Rikku. xD This was mostly a note-to-self, a reminder of what I wanted to write: Something having to do with ghosts and possession. Urban fantasy story, for once.
Also the name Aisling, which basically created Ash.
Jazz, and saxophones.
So much pretty can be done with that.
Smoke and mist and lonesome bars...
Sweet sad notes singing out, ringing through muted, beer-stained silence.
Playing to the beat of the cars and crashing footsteps, playing saxophone – jazz, perhaps? – as the world falls down all around you.
darn it. That is such a beautiful image.
Fallen angels and fedoras and longcoats. <3
Imagestealing from: Torchwood (S2E1), Buffy (the Bronze), Dollhouse ()
)This line was inspired by the Silence. It is also the reason why Micah has a British-ish accent.
‘It’s not the dark that scares you, is it? No, it’s what might, just might, be waiting in the dark. That’s what scares you.’ (This line, it is better with a British accent.)
And then the bit that matters, the bit that led to this being a ghost-story. Again, talking with Rikku. xD This was mostly a note-to-self, a reminder of what I wanted to write: Something having to do with ghosts and possession. Urban fantasy story, for once.
Also the name Aisling, which basically created Ash.
Micah Nathanael Hayes is a ghost-speaker. Or, more accurately, ghost-singer. Except he can’t sing to save his life – his voice is ragged, rough, not pleasing even to a ghostly ear. But he can play saxophone. Gods, can he play. The dead stop to listen when he plays the saxophone in the night, and they forget their sorrows, their regrets, the worries that led them to linger in the realm of the living. It’s only when he’s playing his music that he can see them – it doesn’t matter whether he’s whistling or humming (which he’s done habitually ever since he noticed its effect), singing, or playing his saxophone; the effect is the same. But if he’s musicless, voiceless, he can’t see them at all.
Micah isn’t very tall. He just acts like it, and people respond to the act. He’s actually just 5’8”. He wears a longcoat, a wide-brimmed hat (fedora?), and otherwise ordinary jeans and t-shirts, generally in dark, plain, stained, ripped, colors. His skin, from being a rather nocturnal being (like the ghosts he sings to sleep) is paler than genetics alone would make it (genetics just make him Hispanic). His eyes are soft brown, set in his face, framed by dark brown hair he occasionally dyes black (for the image). Also he’s European, though his heritage is as mongrel as any American (meaning, he’s American but grew up in Europe and likes the image of being European).
His saxophone, Cassie, is beautiful brass and is the only thing Micah truly takes care of and keeps in perfect condition. He talks to her as if she’s his wife – and who knows? With a ghost-singer she might very well be. Her tone is rich and sweet and sad, honeyed sunlight in the darkness, soothing and soft, raucous and raging, depending on the song Micah plays. She has been with him longer than any of his many human lovers, and he’s been known to say that she inspired him to become the jazz musician he is today. Some people believe it. Most people say it’s just him being mysterious (he likes being mysterious, so it’s not that much of a surprise).
Ashlyn Kavanah – technically Aisling, but she Anglicized the name to stop confusing people, and to avoid being Named by the things she sees – is a witch. That’s what most people call her, at least. She would prefer being called a seer, because that’s what she really is. Not an oracle, but a seer – someone who sees beyond the normal perception of things. So, she can see ghosts naturally. She also sees what she swears are fairies and demons and angels, but people don’t believe her. Ghosts, now, ghosts they believe her about. She can’t talk to ghosts – they don’t acknowledge her in the way they do Micah – but she knows they’re there.
Ashlyn is, unsurprisingly for someone so Irish, a red-head, freckles and all. She is annoyed by them, because they set her apart in the generally Latin/African American part of town she lives in. She lives there mostly because the rent’s cheap and they believe more easily in the supernatural beings that are an intrinsic part of her life. That she also makes a living tutoring English in an area that has strong Mexican ties (and thus Spanish-language ties) is a side benefit.
Micah almost certainly calls her Ash. Ash doesn’t believe he’s European. Micah likely starts calling her “My Ashling” at some point, which freaks her out. He assumes it freaks her out because she doesn’t want a relationship with him (which is also true, and an excuse she gladly clings to), but she’s really freaking out because he’s using her truename without realizing it.
Micah isn’t very tall. He just acts like it, and people respond to the act. He’s actually just 5’8”. He wears a longcoat, a wide-brimmed hat (fedora?), and otherwise ordinary jeans and t-shirts, generally in dark, plain, stained, ripped, colors. His skin, from being a rather nocturnal being (like the ghosts he sings to sleep) is paler than genetics alone would make it (genetics just make him Hispanic). His eyes are soft brown, set in his face, framed by dark brown hair he occasionally dyes black (for the image). Also he’s European, though his heritage is as mongrel as any American (meaning, he’s American but grew up in Europe and likes the image of being European).
His saxophone, Cassie, is beautiful brass and is the only thing Micah truly takes care of and keeps in perfect condition. He talks to her as if she’s his wife – and who knows? With a ghost-singer she might very well be. Her tone is rich and sweet and sad, honeyed sunlight in the darkness, soothing and soft, raucous and raging, depending on the song Micah plays. She has been with him longer than any of his many human lovers, and he’s been known to say that she inspired him to become the jazz musician he is today. Some people believe it. Most people say it’s just him being mysterious (he likes being mysterious, so it’s not that much of a surprise).
Ashlyn Kavanah – technically Aisling, but she Anglicized the name to stop confusing people, and to avoid being Named by the things she sees – is a witch. That’s what most people call her, at least. She would prefer being called a seer, because that’s what she really is. Not an oracle, but a seer – someone who sees beyond the normal perception of things. So, she can see ghosts naturally. She also sees what she swears are fairies and demons and angels, but people don’t believe her. Ghosts, now, ghosts they believe her about. She can’t talk to ghosts – they don’t acknowledge her in the way they do Micah – but she knows they’re there.
Ashlyn is, unsurprisingly for someone so Irish, a red-head, freckles and all. She is annoyed by them, because they set her apart in the generally Latin/African American part of town she lives in. She lives there mostly because the rent’s cheap and they believe more easily in the supernatural beings that are an intrinsic part of her life. That she also makes a living tutoring English in an area that has strong Mexican ties (and thus Spanish-language ties) is a side benefit.
Micah almost certainly calls her Ash. Ash doesn’t believe he’s European. Micah likely starts calling her “My Ashling” at some point, which freaks her out. He assumes it freaks her out because she doesn’t want a relationship with him (which is also true, and an excuse she gladly clings to), but she’s really freaking out because he’s using her truename without realizing it.
They meet at a run-down old bar (Father’s Casket) Micah’s playing at for free, because he likes to play and he saw glimpses of something strange there, and because he thinks it’s beautiful. It is, in an old way. It’s wood and brick, peeling paint and plaster, a fireplace in danger of setting everything on fire; a broken piano that never quite is in tune, a bar full of more memories than booze, a window that looks out into a brick wall; everything has been broken and repaired, but nothing is quite right anymore, even the staff and customers. Micah loves it, loves playing to the old ghosts who are just there for another drink, another dance, another old song.
Ash goes there because it keeps the old customs. The man who runs it speaks shattered English, is pure African American, first learned to speak in Spanish, and still prefers the fluidity of Spanish to English. This doesn’t bother most folk; it’s how most of the people there work. But for Micah and the few people who visit, the strangeness, the Borderness, of it puts them off a little. To Ash, however, that’s a good thing, because the old tongue, the tongue that belongs to the land, and the old customs (that don’t quite belong to the land, but are close enough) keep most of the stranger and more dangerous supernatural beings away, leaving just the old ghosts who don’t want to harm a thing.
Then something happens and those old ghosts go mad.
Ash notices it first; she hears the old ghosts stop their murmur, the background noise of ghosts die away. She doesn’t know what the silence is at first; she just takes it for a deep listening to the musician’s song. Then the old ghosts rise and leave their drinks behind, and they begin advancing on Micah. Micah’s eyes are closed. He doesn’t notice, can’t hear or see or feel anything but the music and the need to play stronger and faster to combat something that he’s never felt before. As his song rises, growing more complex, Ash looks around, trying to find the source of what’s affecting the ghosts. When she does see the spell’s source, she can’t make out what it is. She just knows where it is, and that she needs to stop it. She heads over to the source, pulling out her fae-charm (an iron cross), and throws it at the shadow.
It disappears. The ghosts go back to normal. Micah’s song slowly dies out. Ash collects her charm, troubled, for nothing like this has ever happened before; she chose to live here because it’s untroubled. When Micah leaves, Ash follows him, warning him that something is after him because he can speak to ghosts.
Micah laughs.
Then a ghost comes after them, and they start to run, and Micah’s songs and Ash’s knowledge are the only things that can save them from the sorcery haunting their paths.
Ash goes there because it keeps the old customs. The man who runs it speaks shattered English, is pure African American, first learned to speak in Spanish, and still prefers the fluidity of Spanish to English. This doesn’t bother most folk; it’s how most of the people there work. But for Micah and the few people who visit, the strangeness, the Borderness, of it puts them off a little. To Ash, however, that’s a good thing, because the old tongue, the tongue that belongs to the land, and the old customs (that don’t quite belong to the land, but are close enough) keep most of the stranger and more dangerous supernatural beings away, leaving just the old ghosts who don’t want to harm a thing.
Then something happens and those old ghosts go mad.
Ash notices it first; she hears the old ghosts stop their murmur, the background noise of ghosts die away. She doesn’t know what the silence is at first; she just takes it for a deep listening to the musician’s song. Then the old ghosts rise and leave their drinks behind, and they begin advancing on Micah. Micah’s eyes are closed. He doesn’t notice, can’t hear or see or feel anything but the music and the need to play stronger and faster to combat something that he’s never felt before. As his song rises, growing more complex, Ash looks around, trying to find the source of what’s affecting the ghosts. When she does see the spell’s source, she can’t make out what it is. She just knows where it is, and that she needs to stop it. She heads over to the source, pulling out her fae-charm (an iron cross), and throws it at the shadow.
It disappears. The ghosts go back to normal. Micah’s song slowly dies out. Ash collects her charm, troubled, for nothing like this has ever happened before; she chose to live here because it’s untroubled. When Micah leaves, Ash follows him, warning him that something is after him because he can speak to ghosts.
Micah laughs.
Then a ghost comes after them, and they start to run, and Micah’s songs and Ash’s knowledge are the only things that can save them from the sorcery haunting their paths.
Micah Nathanael. Or, more accurately, Michael Nathanael. Micah’s mom named him for his father, Michael, who came like an angel out of the sky and rescued her from the shadows that tried to consume her as she explored old crypts under some cathedral in Eastern Europe. She didn’t know he really was the angel Michael. But he was, and now Micah has the blood of an angel and the blood of a woman who disturbed the rest of an old spirit. As long as his mother was alive, Micah was safe. But now his mother’s dead, and the spirit’s coming after him. And there’s no angel coming to rescue him now; the Archangel never knew he fathered a child, and was punished for saving Micah’s mother by being trapped in the Heavens for a hundred years.
So Micah’s got an angry spirit after him and has no idea what’s going on, other than that it’s got to do with his bloodline and his music. :3
His mother is named Eliana Hayes. She was... anthropologist/archaeologist-type person. Explored the old crypts because she was curious and she could. Is ridiculously lucky that Michael was looking when he was, and that the old spirit after her was a demon of some sort, one that mostly only has power over the dead. Mostly. Mostly because he got chained, then Michael pretty near killed him saving Eliana. The demon used to be able to affect the physical world, but now only has a shadow of his true power. Killing things gives him power, of course. Which means that Ash and Micah need to figure out how to stop him before he destroys them and gains enough power from angelblood to rouse other demons and destroy the whole world.
...that sounds quite melodramatic. xD Should be fun!
-=-
Ash’s motivation to fight the demon is initially to protect her town. As she learns more about Micah, however, she begins to want to fight it and destroy it in large part to protect him.
Micah just wants to live. But as he learns more about why he’s being hunted – from what ghosts say while coming after him, along with educated guesswork – he starts wanting to avenge his mother (who he assumes died from this monster) as well.
-=-
The whole angel-thing makes perfect sense with what Micah can do. Most ghost-speakers can’t send ghosts off to the realms beyond – they can just talk to them, interact with them. Micah sings them to their rightful places instead.
Other effects of angel-blood: he’s never gotten sick, almost never gotten injured worse than scratches and bruises, has an uncanny ability to get out of trouble, doesn’t need much sleep or food or drink, and is one of the nicest people anyone knows. Even though he’s an arrogant scoundrel who’s in love with his saxophone, he’s sweet. And everybody likes him.
-=-
Ash probably has fae-blood a fair number of generations back. Thus the ability to See things. Fae-blood isn’t uncommon in the Old Country, of course – it used to be perfectly normal, natural even, for folk to have fae-blood children and relatives. With the advent of technology and iron, the fae have drifted away, and their blood with them. But there are still remnants of their power in the old country, and Ash has a strong bloodline. She has more witchling abilities than she thinks, honestly, and probably some old grandmother will teach her some things about her powers as the story goes on.
So Micah’s got an angry spirit after him and has no idea what’s going on, other than that it’s got to do with his bloodline and his music. :3
His mother is named Eliana Hayes. She was... anthropologist/archaeologist-type person. Explored the old crypts because she was curious and she could. Is ridiculously lucky that Michael was looking when he was, and that the old spirit after her was a demon of some sort, one that mostly only has power over the dead. Mostly. Mostly because he got chained, then Michael pretty near killed him saving Eliana. The demon used to be able to affect the physical world, but now only has a shadow of his true power. Killing things gives him power, of course. Which means that Ash and Micah need to figure out how to stop him before he destroys them and gains enough power from angelblood to rouse other demons and destroy the whole world.
...that sounds quite melodramatic. xD Should be fun!
-=-
Ash’s motivation to fight the demon is initially to protect her town. As she learns more about Micah, however, she begins to want to fight it and destroy it in large part to protect him.
Micah just wants to live. But as he learns more about why he’s being hunted – from what ghosts say while coming after him, along with educated guesswork – he starts wanting to avenge his mother (who he assumes died from this monster) as well.
-=-
The whole angel-thing makes perfect sense with what Micah can do. Most ghost-speakers can’t send ghosts off to the realms beyond – they can just talk to them, interact with them. Micah sings them to their rightful places instead.
Other effects of angel-blood: he’s never gotten sick, almost never gotten injured worse than scratches and bruises, has an uncanny ability to get out of trouble, doesn’t need much sleep or food or drink, and is one of the nicest people anyone knows. Even though he’s an arrogant scoundrel who’s in love with his saxophone, he’s sweet. And everybody likes him.
-=-
Ash probably has fae-blood a fair number of generations back. Thus the ability to See things. Fae-blood isn’t uncommon in the Old Country, of course – it used to be perfectly normal, natural even, for folk to have fae-blood children and relatives. With the advent of technology and iron, the fae have drifted away, and their blood with them. But there are still remnants of their power in the old country, and Ash has a strong bloodline. She has more witchling abilities than she thinks, honestly, and probably some old grandmother will teach her some things about her powers as the story goes on.
So, yes. :3 This is going to be awesome.
