ruotsalainen

[ruotsalainen]

'Beautiful Death I' by Nordfjall // Tromsø, Norway. [Facebook] [Society6] [Flickr] // © George Hieron 2014

#travelogue. #queue.

[ruotsalainen]

Sigil, 2014.

Sean Mundy

#queue.

[ruotsalainen]

wait for it.

#updates forthcoming. #white noise.

[ruotsalainen]

#kittens. #queue.

[ruotsalainen]

#travelogue. #queue.

[ruotsalainen]

{ blue }

#travelogue. #queue.

[ruotsalainen]

"Ja, det tror jag kanske" is a popular Swedish phrase which means "yes, I maybe believe that"

#intimately familiar. #queue.

[ruotsalainen]

rottguiler replied to your post:i’ve thought about writing for a time, but many of...

Get it outta yourself and onto paper.

good thinking. it's been too long since i actually have kept a paper diary.

#rottguiler #thanks for the advice.

[ruotsalainen]

i've thought about writing for a time, but many of the things that i have to say are very dark. how do you reconcile the need to express yourself with facing that kind of ugly, murky reality?

#white noise.

[ruotsalainen]

heja, it looks like xkit has finally settled down, maybe my blog will be usable now.

#white noise.

[ruotsalainen]

Aino laughs quietly. "Yes, well. First class is something else entirely. But us lowly mayors, you see, we are still restricted to steerage class! Maybe once the city has had a few years of more prosperous government that will change, but until then I suppose I shall have to make do." It's especially ironic for her to say this given the fact that they're strolling into an expensive limousine as they speak, but she says it with the lilt of sarcasm, like there's more to the story beyond the ideas she's paying lip service to.

"Yes, I find it quiet peaceful in here especially," Aino says, gesturing to the limousine around them, "especially after a long day of arguing in the city council. But I suppose it's going to be very lively soon enough regardless! Already I've heard back from some of the other city presidents that they may be attending tonight. Mr. Kirsch and Mr. Agnes both expressed interest at the offer."

—

Bran nods, glancing around the airport again. They remember seeing a map on a kiosk, and all the different branches of gates and terminals were overwhelming. “Yeah, you’re telling me. Thanks again.” On the way to the limousine, Bran takes the opportunity to be much more liberal with looking around, now that they’ve got a guide to follow in case their attention wanders.

"Oh, no, it was fine," they nod, tip of their tail flicking pleasantly. "It was a long flight, but first class is great." Ducking into the limo, they seat themselves carefully and cross one leg over the other. Their tail coils around the ankle they keep on the floor, the forked halves laying flush against one another. "It’s usually the white noise that gets to me. Everything feels so quiet now, hah."

#schratteli #sorry this took so long bluh. #face to face. #narrative post.

[ruotsalainen]

Seeing Bran come out of security unharmed is a great relief—Aino's been worrying that the Swedes would end up detaining them for hours as a result of the small "demon" situation, and has resorted to swearing at herself for not having been able to subvert the entire Swedish border control to her control in the intervening time.

Soon, she thinks to herself sullenly, but her thought is interrupted with the sight of Bran, and the smile—combined with the abrupt and organic informality—sets her at ease. "Hey to you too," Aino says, as she takes their hand into a quick shake. "It's my pleasure to come by here. Stockholm's airport is somewhat confusing, so don't worry about it. Just follow along and we'll go to the automobile."

As they begin the walk over to the limousine, Aino strikes up a strand of casual conversation. "I hope your trip was not too unpleasant! I never enjoy travelling by airplane, I'm always so stiff by the end, so by the time I am in the airport again I'm always very relieved to be on the ground again."

—

Airport security tops the list of Bran’s Least Favorite Things Ever (though in fairness, this list is constantly being rearranged). Apparently it’s not nearly as bad in other countries as it is back home, but Bran is still relieved that it at least goes by quickly. Once free, they pause for a moment to adjust their necktie - white silk, took a solid hour to decide on it - and to scan the area. Spotting their host thankfully doesn’t take long, and they approach with long strides, heels clacking on the floor. 

In their head, they mentally go over a checklist, ensuring they’ve taken care of and brought everything required of them. Suppressing the urge to ogle around the airport in the name of being professional, they straighten up and hold out their hand for a shake. They start out with a “Hey!” but then pause to clear their throat, realizing how that might have come off as overly casual.

"Pleasure to see you, and I appreciate you coming to pick me up. I’m afraid I don’t know my way around very well." They smile, but they’re careful not to do it with teeth - it’s likely bad enough they’re a foreigner and a demon; the last thing they need to do is look threatening. 

#narrative post. #face to face. #schratteli

[ruotsalainen]

I. Affären bakom kulisserna (The Backroom Deal)

Kerstin leans forward when Aino walks into the room, eyes narrowing to a single dimension. That dimension is pure suspicion.

"You, Ruotsalainen, what's your angle here? You walk into my office yesterday and tell me you need an express, twenty-four hour turnaround to approve this American's business registration, while also neglecting to tell me this same American is the one who got up on a tribunal and explained patiently to the world that we have lizard-people like Putin walking among us? How the hell do you expect me to see this and say nothing more than, well, everything seems to be in order here? Do you see what is wrong with this picture???"

"Hej, Kerstin," is all Aino says.

"Don't 'hej' me, Aino, I want to know what kind of fresh shit I'm wading into here before I publicly broadcast that it is open season for aliens from planet America to tromp all over our land and buy our business and god knows what else. Are the lizard-people mind-controlling you? Will they mind-control us all???"

Aino can't help an exasperated sigh. "Kerstin, no," she begins, as if that's supposed to calm her down, at all. "Human or not, Ms. Scordato is promising to invest a great deal of money into Stockholm's economy, and is offering to take on the responsibility of running a casino which the government has no longer found profitable. By the projections submitted with this application, even aside from the single payment for ownership of the building, the tax revenue alone should allow the government to recoup its losses within two years. This is a cut-and-dry deal, here."

"But the lizard-people—"

"Kerstin."

"I'm just saying, first it's Putin, and then—"

"Kerstin."

Now it's her turn to sigh. "Fine. But don't tell me I didn't warn you."

—

II. Förberedelser (Preparations)

The first and most difficult obstacle is out of the way. With the business deal authorized, and ILR all-but-assured, Aino can move on to quickly dispatch the more mundane facets of preparing Stockholm's newest business for its grand opening. A few short phone calls with Bran give Aino all the information she needs to contract the refresh and redesign of the casino, and on the abbreviated timetable of her demands—made all the more fearsome by the prospect of certain brödraskap enforcers overseeing the projects—everything is ready sooner rather than later, and the grand opening is palpably near.

On the morning of the grand opening of Caesar's Stockholm, Aino has been awake for several hours already, micromanaging every organizational nitpick that she can to ensure that everything is in order. A good first impression, after all, is quite important! She's had her clothes picked out a week in advance, commissioned a hairdresser for the morning, and sits in the limousine an hour in advance of Bran's arrival. As the 747 lands, Aino and the chauffeur situate themselves right outside of the international terminal's security with a discreet sign alerting Bran to their presence.

#lv: story #narrative post. #face to face. #schratteli

[ruotsalainen]

Belgium’s  Flower Carpet Festival 

The Flower Carpet Festival is a popular event that takes place in Grand-Place Brussels every other year. Since 1971 over 600,000 Begonias flowers are arranged in an intense pattern filling the city square with a powerful and graphic carpet made entirely out of flowers. Taking months of planning to produce (with only 48 hours of install time) the event brings together landscape architects, technicians and hundreds of voluntary participants weave the flowers in place for the five day event!

#i was here! #travelogue. #queue.

[ruotsalainen]

neunaugeinstein replied to your post: goodbye, sun…

Winter is coming. :]

i sympathize with the starks. imagine winter like this lasting for years!

#neunaugeinstein

[ruotsalainen]

goodbye, sun...

#white noise. #i knew you well.

[ruotsalainen]

schratteli replied to your post:schratteli replied to your post:schratteli replied...

Did you make a Harry Potter joke? (Hi. I’m glad it went… Well? I guess?)

he made the harry potter joke here. i'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact of the matter here. especially considering up until this point all he's told me is that he goes off worshiping bears a lot.

and thank you. it did go okay, though i suppose of course my own revelation to him about my...er, my unique abilities...had a bit more of a dramatic flair. so i'm not really one to talk.

#schratteli