#i already was studying and learning folk dancing and singing

[rainbowchewynuggets]

IT'S DONE IT'S DONE IT'S DONE IT'S DONE

I've been grinding away at this for months. I can't wait for people to see it. This project turned out to have a lot of gears behind it, so check out the artist statement below!

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

I love this song. The first time I heard it, I already began picturing a story where a woman stumbled upon a gathering of birds in the forest and became so enthralled by their song that she partied with them until she became a bird, herself. It turns out that isn’t too far off from the singer, Yma Sumac’s, first experiences learning to sing. She would imitate the animals near her home in the hills of the Andes mountains as a very young kid, developing a vocal range that would make her famous later on.

From there, I fell into a montage of research on her life and the Peruvian festival music that defined her early career, as well as the complicated story of the exotica music she became most known for in the United States. I followed that up with a month-long dive into northwest Peruvian culture, mythology, ornithology, flora, and topographical studies. Then, I blacked out somewhere during the drawing phase, and now I’m here.

While I really value what I’ve learned while doing this project, I think it’s important to note that I did it all as an amateur researcher and a foreigner to the subject. I decided it would be a little conceited to try to make a totally accurate depiction of a traditional Peruvian festival, so I instead focused on referencing the regional variation of these traditions. Costumes and music have their own specific designs and textures depending on the area, and dances and festivities reflect local history. Yet, it all shares the same themes of celebrating prosperity and surviving hardship. Common motifs and characters reflect a shared heritage and cultural identity that coexists with individuality. It’s all just very cool to me.

So I asked myself, what if these birds had their own version of these traditions? What would a bird sing a folk song about? What would be new and cool to Yma, but still familiar enough that she could join in? (I got lucky, since Peruvian festival culture is already very reverent of birds and feather patterns.)

What I ended up with pulled a lot from the Carnaval de Cajamarca, which originated in the next town over from Yma’s childhood home of Ichocán. It also references these dances, among others:

Huaylarsh - Los Emplumados - Marinera - Tondero - White Dance / Los Chunchos

It’s also important to know that I took a lot of creative liberties with my research to pull the story together. I hope I haven’t used any elements in a harmful or insensitive way–and if I have, I’d like to know so that I can apologize. (I also missed out on some cool stuff, like the White Dance always having shaker beads on the legs.) I highly encourage you to have a look at some of the sources I did, and to look further if you’re interested. I found it all very enlightening, and I hope you will too.

Yma’s wikipedia, which seems like a mostly accurate overview based on other sources

Her official website, curated by a fan and friend

A segment on NPR about her musical career

The interview I got the opening from

The ornithology archive that saved my ass

I’d like to work on uploading all the frames as an image reel somewhere so they can be looked at individually. Might take a while, though.

Thanks for watching!

(To those using a screen reader, the video description follows this message. I'd like to apologize for putting the description as the last thing on the post. Not only is it extremely long, but this seemed to be the rare instance where the description would benefit from the context of the post's commentary before being read itself. I wrote and formatted this description in a way that I hoped would apply to aid various disabilities that impede enjoying music videos, and I am very interested in getting feedback.)

DESCRIPTION

[The following is presented as an animatic (a series of still images edited into a video) set to music. The art is drawn with condensed yet fuzzy pastel-like linework and full color. The song used is “Chuncho” by Yma Sumac. The song was composed to imitate the various sounds of tropical birds and animals. It has no lyrics, at least in a traditional sense. I, the describer, have tried my best to translate the especially abstract nature of this song into language that can be interpreted through text. Please use the best of your imagination to fill in the rest. An audio description will always refer to the visual description that follows it.

Audio: A male interviewer asks, “Since you are referred to the bird who became a woman in your native Peru, Ms. Sumac, may we hear your exotic voice?”

Visuals: A title card appears with gold lettering on a black background. It reads one word: Chuncho. The word is depicted as if it were carved into a flat surface with loose individual strokes.

Audio: A woman answers, “I will try to imitate the birds, as I did in my earliest years in the mountains of Peru.”

Visuals: Credits appear, also in gold text: Sung by Yma Sumac (Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chàvarri del Castillo. Drawn by Carlie Hughes (rainbowchewynuggets).

Audio: The music begins with the steady four-note strumming of a guitar, which will continue throughout the song. Then, it is accompanied by low ragged notes from a heavy woodwind instrument.

Visuals: A green cicada flicks its wings as it rests on a plant with jagged leaves and a little white flower growing from the middle. Beetles of green, red, and yellow crawl around on trees and ferns among puffy yellow blooms. Yellow humpback beetles huddle together on a cold stone surface as mothlike butterflies cling to hanging purple-grey moss in the background. A cluster of butterflies of black, green, blue, orange, purple, and red flare their wings along stems and vines. A line of spiny cocoons hang from a vine leading up the center of the group.

Audio: A vocalist, the same woman as before, begins to sing in vocables. Her first notes are short, round, and bubbly, like the chirping of a small bird. The lilt of a flute follows.

(“B-bm, bui-bui-buiii…”)

Visuals: A small village sits on the side of a forested and scrub-covered mountain at night. Buildings twinkle with yellow and blue window light through the darkness. At the edge of the forest, a tall lean woman appears with warm orange skin, long black hair, a simple green dress cinched at the waist with blue trim on the neck, hem, wrist, and waist, and a powder blue shawl tied at the chest. She sneaks away from the village into the temperate tropical forest, glancing back to make sure hasn’t been followed. She grows more at ease as she leaves the buildings behind and strides between bushes, deeper into the trees. She passes a flowering plant with orange petals. Its bulbs are held aloft on long, long stems.

Audio: The vocalist sings in elongated threads of notes, wavering in a minor key in a mischievous way.

(“Whu, hu-uuuu…”)

Visuals: The woman grazes her fingers along a bush with little black berries and white spiky flowers. Her hand passes up and down with the shape of the bush, like the rise and fall of an ocean wave. She walks uphill, past pink clover and increasingly frequent stones.

Audio: The vocalist clicks and rolls her tongue with her notes, like drops of water splashing across stones.

(“Dlu, dlu-dlu-dlu-dlu-buiii…”)

Visuals: A voice suddenly gets her attention. The voice passes by as a green line with wide wave forms. The woman follows it. She passes through a stone forest–dense moss-covered rock formations that reach up toward the sky. The ground below is streaked with snake trails. The line of song is now yellow. It leads her forward along a trail through the rocks. She climbs a more precarious formation of boulders, through dense shrubbery and a dramatic rocky landscape. As the voice shifts redder, her colors shift pinker. Even the environment’s colors are shifting to pinks and blues. She climbs a hill, past tall spindly trees and a nearly vertical mountainside. The pink line of song leads her still upward.

Audio: The vocalist belts out the deep throaty call of a tropical bird trying to be heard far and wide. The notes increase in frequency, then widen into a whoop that softens to a murmur. The flute follows her with a few short forceful notes.

(“Ah, bya bya bya-bya-bya-bya-bya-byaaa, whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-wi, wa-wa-wa wiii…”)

Visuals: When the woman reaches the top of the hill, a light shines up at her from the other side, returning her original colors. Below, she sees a gathering of human-sized bird people celebrating on a leafy platform. They’re dancing in different sized circles around a tree at the center. Rainbow colored ribbons of different lengths have been tied to the branches of the tree and hang down to form the silhouette of a condor. More ribbons and colorful bulbs hang from the leaves above. The line of song (now light blue) travels in a circle around the tree trunk. The camera zooms in, revealing details of the birds and their costumes. The birds are pigeons, hawks, cuckoos, seedbirds, and corvids. They’re all dressed in colorful hats, vests, slacks, and dresses with patterns that reflect those of their feathers. A circle of spotted woodpeckers closest to the trunk wear purple gowns and party hats. The party’s singing expands the blue circle of light. A wider circle of yellow, green, and white birds sit and watch the celebration from the edges of the platform. As a line of bright manakin birds zip by with their hands clasped together, the woman approaches from a nearby branch. She’s enticed by the party and joins the dance, clasping hands with a green parrot and leading the line with a broad smile on her face.

Audio: The vocalist makes a quick sudden series of escalating notes, then makes a hard sound with her teeth and returns to a low whoop. The flute echoes her.

(Ba-bana-baba-cht!,  waw waw waw waw waw waw waw wiii…”)

Visuals: The birds switch to individual dances. A short red woodpecker and a tan long-necked bird with ribbons in her hair dance and sing together, their lines of song intertwining. The woman and three pigeons in red and black dresses stomp their heels in a quartet dance. She follows their steps flawlessly, familiar with the type of dance. When they begin to sing and whistle, she joins them–though her voice isn’t as strong as theirs and her line of song is thin and brittle.

Audio: The vocalist makes a low growl, at first imperceptible, that grows to a steady rumble. The flute follows.

(“Rhhh…, rhh, rhh rhhh…”)

Visuals: Then, the lights darken and redden. The woman stops to notice all the other birds heading to the back of the platform. They climb and flutter up to sit in fruit-bearing branches that grow just beyond. The woman finds herself a spot and picks a piece of fruit to eat. She takes a bite as a show begins. A band of various birds wearing ponchos and cloth hats sit down by the show platform. They play their instruments (flute, guitars and a drum) and count in the performance.

Audio: The vocalist makes more short bubbly chirps. They grow higher in small strings of notes until the phrase ends with a low long note.

(“Bom-bom, t-bom-bom-bom, mbom-bom wiii…”)

Visuals: Five owls appear, bathed in magenta spotlight before the center tree trunk. All of them have their yellow-spotted wings wrapped to mostly cover their black and gold-trimmed dresses. The four owls on the sides are short and red, while the one in the center is tall and bright purple. As all five begin to sing a golden song, they operatically open their wings and extend their feathers. As the light darkens to violet, the black and gold patterns in the folds of their wings leap out as if exposed to blacklight. They extend their arms upward and then double over to kneel on the stage, fully splaying their wings in a dramatic display. The woman watching is transfixed.

Audio: The vocalist rolls a noise from the back of her throat. Once, twice, three times–before hitching the roll up and down and letting it trail off. The flute makes a low hollow arc of a note.

(“Ghhh, ghhh, ghh gh-gh-gheee…”)

Visuals: Cut to the next performance. Two teams of blackbirds with long waving feathers compete, standing on each other’s shoulders to form two pyramids. The one at the top of each team lunges forward to try to strike the other with a long stick, propelled by their team. Their feathers glow with yellow light from above. The team on the left—with orange vests and red sashes—strikes first, only nearly missing. They gloat as the lime vest and green sash team on the right recoils and protests. Then, it’s the green team’s turn to take a confident lunge, forcing the red to frantically pull back in time to dodge. On the next strike, the red team buries the stick in the top of the enemy pyramid (actually tucked under the green leader’s arm). The victim feigns a mortal wound, and the entire team flies away. The red team poses, victorious. The red leader gets down to the floor to greet the widow of the green team, wearing a green dress. She peers at him from behind a silky black wing. As soon as he lands, she whacks him over the head with her own concealed stick. He is surprised. She is unamused.

Audio: The vocalist lets out a ghostly wail that wavers wildly like an eerie wind, higher and higher. A shaker instrument rumbles beneath her voice.

(“Woaaa… woaaa… woaa–”)

Visuals: Next, it’s dark. Three colorful birds in masks and costumes tread the air at an angle on the left side of the screen against a blue and green background. There’s a yellow spiky one, representing lightning. A blue round-feathered one, representing rain. And a spade-feathered green one, representing trees. Long beaded threads tied to their wings and tails wave and tangle across the screen as a group of five hummingbirds in shades of red struggle to survive the “storm” raging around them. The colored ribbons of the central tree are muted and flutter with the power of the wind. Two other birds hug the trunk, nearly out of sight. There’s a prop on the floor to the right made to look like a stone alcove, where more hummingbirds are hiding. The storm bringer birds beat their wings hard, casting the strings of lightning, water, and leaf shaped beads in huge chaotic waves. The five hummingbirds in vests and dresses wince and tumble against the wind, flying together in a tight circle. The threads crisscross behind them, an overwhelming force on the tiny birds’ scale. A red line of song floats up to reach them, guiding them down to the nest.

Audio: When her wail is at its highest, the vocalist pushes it further into the voice of a shrill songbird. The note hangs high in the air, then takes a few steps down and up. The segment ends with the sudden interjection of the low round voice–as if in surprise–and a trailing mumble.

(“Haaa, aa-aa aa-aa aa-aa, hoa? Ah, bw-huh…”)

Visuals: Those in the stone nest finish singing and reunite with the others, pulling them down to safety. A blackbird hiding behind the trunk spreads its wings, sitting on the shoulders of a brown woodpecker. The blackbird’s vest and wingspan are covered in yellow, signaling the coming of daylight. The storm birds retreat and sit still on a nearby branch. The wind is suddenly gone.

Audio: The guitar plays alone.

Visuals: After the stage performances, the audience members move back to the platform. They’re gathered off to the far left side of the central tree trunk, standing in a circle around a single figure. The light of the gathering area is deep plum-purple in far off areas and warm dull pink over the crowd. The empty space around the single dancer is salmon red, and the figure herself is blue.

Audio: The vocalist perfectly mimics the sound of a flutter, of delicate waving in the wind.

(“W-w-w-w-w-w-w”)

Visuals: The camera zooms in on her hand as it flits a pink handkerchief in the air.

Audio: The vocalist belts a pair of bold staunch vocables. The second note is held for several seconds before fading out.

(“Kyen, kyen…”)

Visuals: The camera pulls back to reveal the rest of her. She’s a blue eagle with wings that grade from red at the arms to pink to blue at the wingtips in a wavy pattern. Her smiling beak is bright pink. Her dress is royal blue with reddish-pink trimmed ruffles on the hem of the skirt, waist frill, neck frill, and the flower decoration on the side of her head. She stands with the hem of her dress in one hand and the handkerchief extended in the other in an open invitation to dance. A pale pink spotlight frames her head and shoulders against the darkness, and a dark pink line of song passes behind her. Her partner, an eagle of the same coloration with a blue vest and pants, pink shirt, pale orange sash, a blue hat in one hand, and a pink hanky of his own raised in the other, is calling to her. He puts his hands behind his back and takes high steps toward her. When the two are close, they turn and walk parallel to each other in a slow circle. The male’s back is to his partner. He looks at her over his shoulder with a smile and abruptly splays his feathers to be cute. There’s a layer of pink under his outer coat. She grins, entertained.

Audio: The vocalist repeats the two vocables, twisting the end of the second up into a high wavering trill that eventually soothes and disappears.

(“Kyen, kye–eee, ee, eee, ee…”)

Visuals: The two turn to face each other, circling tighter and tighter in unified song until they’re face to face, looking deep into each other’s eyes. With another turn, they’ve passed by each other and out of sight.

Audio: The vocalist makes a whisper, a ghost of the two vocables. Then, a few quick whistles, barely loud enough to hear.

(“Hyo, hyo”)

Visuals: The woman, who has been captivated by the dance, suddenly notices that the crowd has dispersed around her. Partners are walking off in all directions, leaving her alone. The dance is over.

Audio: The guitar picks up, getting faster and louder for a bit.

Visuals: The woman walks alone in the blue night air along a tangle of tree branches that form a pathway. She walks with her hands behind her back, her face looking preoccupied and a little disappointed. Bushels of soft leaves pass by in the background.

Audio: A high, light pleasant note from the vocalist overtakes the guitar. It grows until it fills the soundscape.

(“Aaa…”)

Visuals: An orange song reaches her from the direction she came, and she stops. When she turns, she sees a blue swift standing on the branch path, far behind her in an opening in the trees. The underside of his feathers is dingy orange, and he’s wearing a black vest, white pants, a rusty red sash around his waist, a bright green kerchief around his neck, and an orange rectangular accessory tied around his neck like a necklace. His face is obscured by a white hat with an orange band. He bows low with a hand on the hat. The hat comes off, revealing inviting eyes and a smiling orange beak. The woman grins and accepts the invitation with determination.

Audio: The vocalist draws long high vocables that resemble a wail. They trail off with a low note.

(“Whoa whoaaa…”)

Visuals: She and the swift untie the fabric around their necks and step toward each other as the line of song forms a ring above them. The woman holds the ends of the shawl in her hands and her hands at her hips with the body of the shawl hanging behind her waist. The bird holds his kerchief out in one hand with the hat in the other, held behind his back. He takes measured winding steps along the branches. The woman mirrors his steps, then pushes off of the main path and lands on an outcropping branch.

Audio: The vocalist’s song wavers back up and demurely bobs up and down, intertwined with tweeting from the flute.

(“Hoa…  ohee…”)

Visuals: Her voice, seafoam green and a little stronger than before, trails behind her. She darts back onto the main branch and ducks behind the bird, then circles around to face him, the two only a few feet apart. They exchange steps pushing the other forward and back and flicking their garments in time with their movements. The woman’s voice grows stronger, nearly matching his. The bird quickly catches up as she moves backward, dancing beside her. The two dancers then leap from the main branch and fall down into the rocky forest below, passing by grassy plateaus and vines creeping through stone. Their song follows all the way down. They leap across boulders in the moonlight, side by side. The swift suddenly stops and folds his kerchief around the center of the shawl, hitching the two together. 

Audio: The vocalist belts a complex series of syllables that mimic the heavy majestic cawing of a large bird or hawk. The flute makes itself known a little as the voice fades out.

(“Hlau-lau-lau hau-au-wau-wa-wiii…”)

Visuals: The woman, at the receiving end of the momentum, is swung wide and lets out a vibrant complex line of song that could match any bird’s. The two pull closer to each other and end their song on a low steady note. Then, they bow to each other as the camera pulls back. They’re standing on a rock that rises above a basin of  water among huge formations of rock. Pairs of birds dance all around them in the shallows.

Audio: The guitar takes over for a bit.

Visuals: The camera cuts to an upward view of a varied group of birds sitting in branches, staring downward with interest. The light from the moon coming down through a break in the trees above is now cool green. The light coming up from where the birds are looking is orange-red. 

Audio: The vocalist lets out the aggressive growling of a cat.

(“U-wau, wau-wau-wau-wau”)

Visuals: Below, the woman is dancing in a line with three reddish woodpeckers in a greenish clearing in the trees. They wear intricately detailed dresses in different combinations of bright green, yellow, red, and black with geometric and floral embroidery. The dresses are cinched at the waist with a piece of fabric covered in colored bands. Their heads are covered in scarves with the same colors and patterns. They sing and step aggressively toward the left of the screen. At the other side of the clearing, a line of four red and white faced woodpeckers with green beaks and wings face right. They wear bright green hats, kerchiefs, and sashes, yellow and black striped vests, and dark red pants with yellow tassels at the ankles. Their black shoes tap against the ground as they make quick little dance steps and flutter yellow handkerchiefs. They hold onto the brims of their hats and then lean down with a flourish of their arms, exposing the red crests of their heads sticking up underneath. The dance then changes formation. The girls dance in a line to the left as the boys step in a line to the right. 

Audio: The growl hushes down to a wavering whisper, like wings beating in the dark.

(“Tchwahh-cwah-cwah-cwah-cwah-cwah-cwah-cwah…”)

Visuals: Out on a cliff by a waterfall, the scene is bathed in cyan. The line of dancers–alternating male, female, male, female–do a hopping dance from partners on the left to those on the right and back again as they move along the cliff, passing behind the waterfall as it disappears into the greenery in the foreground.

Audio: The guitar asserts itself again.

Visuals: Everything is suddenly red. A guitarist in a blue poncho and a red neck sash frets the neck of a guitar with a brown feathered hand. Rainbow ribbons are tied to the headstock. A deep orange song emanates from the strings.

Audio: The vocalist quickly accompanies the guitar with a harmonized version of the growl that revs up climatically, taking steps up the scale until it’s at its absolute height.

(“U-wa-wa ee-ee eh-oh! Oh-oh-oh-ohh!”)

Visuals: A congress of the partygoing birds stand in lines facing each other, all wearing blue outfits with red kerchiefs with rainbow tassels on them. The group jumps up and down in unison as part of a dance. The party breaks into smaller dances, and the woman dances by herself. She’s wearing a green skirt and flowy purple top with red underskirt, waist cinch, and scarf. Rainbow tassels are attached to the overskirt, and they swish with her movements. Beside her are a hawk woman and a pair of long billed bird men dancing in a circle with their ankles locked. A pair of red birds with white streaks on their wings suddenly hoist the woman into the air, as other birds are hoisted in the distance. As she’s held aloft, she sings and spreads her arms, revealing more tassels on her top, resembling wings. Her song is immense and beautiful. The camera focuses on one of the hoisted birds in the background, who has executed a handstand with the person who threw them. The blackbird’s feathers are all sorts of bright colors. The song passes by behind him. The excitement of the party disguises the presence of a looming pair of yellow slitted eyes peering out from a dark spot between the leaves nearby. A trio of purple pigeons dancing in a line with twigs and colored strings in their hands dip and weave together. The one in front balks, noticing the threat at last.

Audio: The high energy of the music suddenly cuts out. The shrill call of a small bird climbs up out of the silence.

(“Eee…”)

Visuals: A striped short legged pampas cat pounces into the center of the dance field. It misses the birds, but the illusion is shattered. The bird people are just birds again. They fly in a frenzy up through the trees to the safety of the early morning sky. The hilltop erupts with silhouettes of wings.

Audio: When the small bird’s call is at its highest, it tumbles back down and transforms into a low disquieting wail. The guitar re-enters.

(“Ee-ee-ee-ah-ahh ahh oohhh…”)

Visuals: The pampas cat has retreated into the dim tawny forest. It stands on a bent tree branch among bushes and hanging moss and stares into the camera with glowing yellow pupils. A tiny rodent scurries by and into a bush. The cat notices and darts after it. Nearby, dozens of bats hang from the underside of a rock formation that extends over a field of berry bushes. Their sleepy heads are tucked into their folded wings. A straggler flaps up to join the rest as the sun continues to rise. Elsewhere, a hive with wasp-like insects resting on the outside hangs over a rock. Sunlight gleams over the scene from a break in the trees in the background. A large brown mouse climbs up on the rock, backlit by the sun. It grabs a wasp in its teeth and leaves before the rest of the hive can wake up.

Audio: The vocalist makes a low steady murmur. A couple shakes from the shaker instrument follow.

(“Hoo…”)

Visuals: A colony of green and brown frogs with purple eye ridges, yellow faces, and orange bellies are asleep on dewy ridges of rock. A green cicada hangs out on a leaf off to the top left corner. The mouse jumps down through their resting spot, waking them all up. The frogs croak a green song as the cicada hangs on for dear life on the swinging leaf. The wind moans through the crevices of another stone forest. The little flowering shrubs that grow on the rocks bristle in the breeze. A variety of green, yellow, and blue lizards poke their heads out of the rocks, into the morning light.

Audio: The vocalist repeats the murmur. The flute follows this time.

(“Hoo…”)

Visuals: The camera pulls back to view the entire rock formation. The still rising sun shines only on the top half of right-facing stones. Long spindly tree trunks grow from the top left, out of sight. Long grass waves on the ground below. An alpaca-like vicuña raises its head from the long grass, facing the light. In the branches of the trees above, various birds perch facing left.

Audio: The vocalist makes a mysterious sound that begins as a harsh sound between her teeth and ends as a whisper. It echoes in the background.

(“Chwah-ah…”)

Visuals: The camera turns back to the village. Golden light casts diagonally across the brown roofs and tan buildings. The silhouette of a small bird flies toward the center of town.

Audio: The vocalist makes the sound again, then pulls the whisper up into a harsh repeated rasp from the back of her throat.

(“Chwah-ah qwah-qw-qw-qw-qw-qwah-qwah-qwah”)

Visuals: Down in between the one-story houses, the bird flutters down. Long shadows lay across a passage leading toward a door on the side of a building. We see the shadow of the woman land in the soft dirt path where the bird’s would have. She heads toward the door at a walking pace.

Audio: The call returns to a whisper. The vocalist clicks her throat in a short series of hollow sounds, nearly like the creaking of wood.

(“Qwk-qwk-qwk-qwk-qwk, qwk qwk qwk qwk”)

Visuals: As she opens the door to enter the purple interior light of the house, we see that she’s back in her green dress, but now her shawl is red. The sun glints in her hair. Before she goes inside, she looks back and winks at the camera with a smile. Then, she slowly pulls the door behind her until it’s shut.

Audio: The vocalist lets out her breath entirely as the accompanying music trickles into silence.

(“Haaa…”)

Visuals: The screen is black for a few seconds.

Audio: The high whistling call of a green manakin can be heard over the rustling of forest trees. The call’s tone is raised at the end, like it’s asking a question.

(“Twee?… Twee?… Twee?… Twee?”)

Visuals: The end card appears. Yellow and green lettering and a border lay on a black background. The text reads: Yma Sumac. Peruvian soprano and composer. October 13th 1922 until November 1st 2008. Biographical and reference info in description. Chuncho, 1953. Written by Moises Vivanco. Capitol Records, Universal Music Publishing Group. Carlie Hughes. Tumblr @rainbowchewynuggets. www.carliehughes.com. End ID]

INDEX

#chuncho song #animatic #chuncho animatic #night festival animatic #the night festival #yma sumac #the birds #the forest creatures #this was supposed to go up on her birthday but i got sick aaa #Youtube

[v-era-18]

Possible Brahms x Black Reader Anyone?

Housekeeping wasn't on the girls lists of jobs, but with free food and housing included it was hard to pass up. The Heelshire family was quick to accept her application within the following three days, saying they needed the extra hand around while they were busy taking care of business. Apparently there was also a nanny position, but that job was swiped for someone else; it was really sad though-(Y/n) was great with kids.

The taxi ride to the new residence was silent to say the least, the afro haired girl had been keeping herself occupied in the back seat playing with her 3DS as the radio played softly in the background. The ride had been a bit long-it was a good thing she booked an early train a day ahead of schedule, keeping in mind traffic and travel. The taxi driver was nice, askinging her about her schooling at Oxford since she had been given a full ride. It was one of the main reasons she had decided to get a job here, somewhere close to the University.

Although her hometown in Texas was more reassuring, she needed to finish out her last year of school before considering moving back. Her aunt and cousin said it was cheaper this way to save up money-after all once she gets back to the states she had a plot of land from inheritance in her name. Plus time away in a new environment would give her enough time to lay out the soundtrack for her project, the way things were going it was most likely going to be a classical or romantic edition; not that she was complaining though it was her favorite type of music.

It was hard to think of how long she's been playing. Even before her parents died in the fire her first memories of them was her father playing the piano on christmas eve and her mother singing to her as they danced to the music. Gospel, classical it didn't matter as long as the sounds of the soul were played around her did the girl feel alive. Currently she can play five instruments; Violin, piano, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, and Saxophone. She was fine with the number, seeing as though she didn't have that much time to learn more.

(Y/n) couldn’t help but wonder if they would let her use their study to practice. In the photos there was a piano in the room and she would love to play a few pieces while she was working on her own.

The car soon turned onto a private street, trees and foliage taking up the view through the windows, “Miss, were almost there at the premises. Although I must warn you this family is known for their-uh-interesting past.” The cab driver-Harvey- if she remembered correctly- voice was apprehensive.

The girl in the back frowned slightly, putting away her device in her backpack along with her headphones. She didn't want to judge the family right away, especially before meeting them. Whatever happened in the past was the past-no matter what the towns folk had to say. One thing she learned about people in the United Kingdom was that it was somewhat like the United States-only less extreme in some matters. The rumors last here-and never washes away once a reputation has been tarnished.

“I'll be the judge of that,” (Y/n) replied politely, “Thank you for your concern though Mr. Harvey. I do appreciate the ride here as well.” She understood the man was only trying to look out for her best interest so there was no need to be rude in any way. Especially since he's taken such good care of her the whole ride here.

The older man simply waved the girl off with a laugh, “Oh you were a delight, dear! Thank you so much for staying patient with this old man with the many questions earlier.” He did ask alot of questions, but that's just how older people are. Always wondering what the youth is up to.

They pulled up through the gate seeing as though it was already opened, the property was huge from what the brown skinned girl could see. The house itself was beautiful and old fashioned, stones instead of bricks with grand balconies she could stand at for a lifetime. The girl could only imagine what the inside looked like, the Heelshires were obviously loaded and set for life-no wonder she was given a free room and meals.

After unloading her bags at the front steps and bidding farewell, Mr Harvey set off in his taxi heading back home to his wife. Leaving the girl at the front door waiting anxiously, there wasn't any instruction on how she should or where to enter the home upon arrival. She did see two cars in front so she knew there were others home. Seeing as though the doorbell might be disrupting the girl decided to knock loud enough for someone to hear.

(Y/n) adjusted her clothes quickly, she was wearing simple low rise jeans with a lavender purple sweater with white worn sneakers. Her hair was in twists, pulled up in a bun to look more professional for her first appearance-although she wished she quickly did her edges in the car. The humid air caused curls to pop at the ends, and even though she didn't mind her hair getting moisture-didn't mean her employers would.

The man who answered the door seemed a bit younger from what she was expecting for Mr. Heelshire. He had a nice black puff vest to go over his gray zip up sweater, his eyes were easy-brown and she couldn't help but notice shadowed facial hair. He scanned her over for a minute before giving her an award winning smile-or at least tried to-it came out more awkward than anything.

“Ah, you must be (Y/n) everyone was wondering where you were,” He opened the door wider welcoming her in, “The names Malcome, the grocery boy.” The girl shook hands with the man walking in, as he proceeded to grab her bags from outside. Normally the girl would fret and fuss over being able to do it by herself but she quickly learned from staying here better to comply than to do rejection.

“T-thank you Malcome, my name is (Y/n). I'm supposed to be the housekeeper.” The girl uttered softly. She gazed around the inside of the home and it was more than she expected, the paintings and flowers complemented the floors greatly along with the brown wooden walls. She felt like she's practically walked through time with how different the house is compared to hers back home.

Malcolm paused, gaze landing on the girl again, “Housekeeper? I'm surprised they didn't have you as the nanny, considering how young you seem.”

“Beggars can't be choosers. Work is work, plus I'm willing to do anything I can do to help. If the nanny gets overwhelmed we can simply take care of the child at the same time,” (Y/n) turned back towards the male, giving him a soft smile before gesturing towards the stairs, “Is the Heelshires here? I would like to introduce myself properly to them to make a good impression and apologize for being late.”

“Ah, there's really nothing to worry about in regards to that,” Malcolm tried to reassure the girl, “Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire just got here, and the nanny is currently talking to them upstairs, she arrived an hour before you did.”

The girl hummed in response, taking the information in before following the male up the stairs where the other adults were waiting. Her nerves were on edge as they took steps up the stairs and towards what seemed to be a childs room. The house was old and influenced, the wood architecture complimented the blue carpeting and gold frames along the walls.

The girl had paused a bit up the stairs staring at the large portrait of the family. The Heelshires screamed grace and class, but they did seem to be happy in the photo. She couldn’t help but stare at the picture of the boy for a long moment in wonder.

“So this is the boy we’re looking after?” She voiced softly.

Malcolm made a face that she couldn’t catch, “Yeah, but don’t worry he won’t be any trouble.”

(Y/n) snorted, “that’s what my neighbor said about her daughter three years ago. The girl had dunked my clothes into open paint in the garage.”

The man chuckled, “Open paint?”

“The father was a builder, he was currently working on the garage and left it open while they had a date night. It was a harmless mistake. They paid for me to get new clothes.”

She left out the part that it was one of her favorite sweaters her ex boyfriend had gotten her when they were dating. After finding out his true nature with women she didn’t mind that the only remnant of him was destroyed. Internally she thanked the little girl. Kids had their way of doing things that are good without realizing it.

They made a right into the room before them. It was quite spacious looking like a study of some kind, a grand black piano sat in the middle with many books lined along the walls. (Y/n) had to shake her excitement at the piano, it had been two months since she’s played.

Her focus finally landed on three figures in the far corner of the room near the green marbled fireplace. Her breathing caught in her throat as she saw all three of them staring at her. It was just deserved after all she did turn up late due to traffic.

“H-hello! My name is (Y/n). Let me first apologize for being late. The cab driver got caught up with traffic-,”

The older man, who she guessed was Mr. Heelshire, held up a hand, “There is no need my dear these things happen. Come, we don’t bite.”

(Y/n) paused before making her way over near them along with Malcolm. The woman who seemed to be in her late twenties pursed her lips together as if she wanted to say something but refrained from doing so. It only added to the wonder of the tense atmosphere before her.

Mrs Heelshire stood up straight, “ (Y/n) (L/n) it is a pleasure to meet you. I’ve made sure to read over your resume and I will say I’m quite surprised that your reputation percents outside of the United States,” She moved over from in front of the chair making her eyes widen slightly at the image before her.

“This is our son Brhames. I know you’ll make a great impression.”

Oh so it’s this type of situation.

#the boy #brahms heelshire #brahms the boy #Brahms Heelshire x Black Reader #Brahms Heelshire x Reader

[jarenka]

Couple of weeks ago I watched Boris Godunov in our local opera house.

I don't remember if I've already told you that, but I has zero education in music, I don't understand musical theory and my knowledge of musical history is scattered at best. For last couple of years I've learned a bit about musical history, but I still isn't able to tell apart baroque music from music of classical period.

Why I am telling you about it? Because I've heard Mussorgsky before (and I heard about him of course, but only super basic things) but I don't have any time scale in my mind to put him on. I've never seen Boris Godunov in opera house before, for me it was one of these classical Russian operas on a historical topic:  A Life for the Tsar, Prince Igor, The Tsar's Bride, etc.

So, I was sitting in opera house reading theater program. Mussorgsky was born in 1839, he finished Boris Godunov in 1869. It's something near Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake was written in 1876), but Tchaikovsky followed European music trends of his time and Mussorgsky was from different circle of composers Mighty Handful. They tried to invent distinct Russian style of classical music, collected and studied folk songs and Orthodox church singing and incorporated them in their music (this wasn't in the program, I just know a bit about this group).

And then during the opera I was like: "Why the fuck this 19th century opera was bitten by Stravinsky????", that doesn't sound like a 19th century opera at all (later I found out that Mussorgsky's peers (including Tchaikovsky) didn't understand Boris Godunov at all, they mostly called its music terrible).

What I mean by "was bitten by Stravinsky":

Modest Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov, Coronation scene performed by Royal Opera

Some other examples and comparisons (and Ivan the Terrible's lover) are under the cut

Modest Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov, Varlaam's Song performed by Daniil Akimov (bass) and Alina Smirnova (piano)

Excerpt from The Rites of Spring by Igor Stravinsky

Varlaam's Song was the most obvious example (but I've wrongly attributed it as "Stravinsky vibe", see below) because right before it there was another "folk" song, the innkeeper's song:

(scene from 1954 Boris Godunov film, sings Alexandra Torchina)

It's a typical "folk" song from Russian opera:

Sadko's song from Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko opera (performed by Vladimir Atlantov)

or this choir from Eugene Onegin (performed by all-women choir "Pearl")

Varlaam's song is completely different. And I'm sure I've already heard something like it written in 20th century.

This?

Igor Stravinsky - Infernal Dance from The Firebird performed by London Symphony Orchestra.

No, I've heard something even more similar. And I have no idea why it took me so long.

It's Oprichniks dance scene from Ivan the Terrible movie:

The staple of Russian queer culture with a twink Fyodor Basmanov in woman's dress.

(the liking even more obvious when you compare it to the orchestral version of Varlaam's Song)

Stravinsky wrote his Firebird in 1910, Sergei Prokofiev wrote music for  Sergei Eisenstein's film Ivan the Terrible in 1944, and Mussorgsky was writing his works in the middle of 19th century. He died at the age of 42 in 1881, long before avant-garde music became a thing, surrounded by people who thought that he can't write music like a normal composer. No, he just wrote like a 20th century composer.

And some other works by Mussorgsky:

Modest Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. by Maurice Ravel) performed by St.Petersburg Symphony Orchestra

Modest Mussorgsky - Songs and Dances of Death performed by Polina Shamaeva and Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra Zou can found poems in English translation from this cycle here. Yes, they are about different ways to die.

#music #Youtube

[weekend-whip]

I wanna know what hobbies the folks in the royalty au have. Fun facts. What do these bitches do without internet.

Well most of them do the same things they do normally, just with different context.

With the Western Kingdom being all the about the arts, entertainment, and expression, Cole's hobbies include dancing, listening to music, painting, and drawing—he'd normally be pretty chill and just vibing, if his father wasn't so gung-ho about getting him hitched. And being depressed about that on top of having limited time anymore anyway has deterred Cole from doing things for himself (which is something Jesse seeks to rectify). Also enjoys sleeping, but like, that's not a hobby, Cole.

Always constantly busy with his job(s), Jay doesn't have a lot of free time either, but he's still able to pursue a lot of his craftier hobbies, like poetry writing, cooking, and he doesn't invent so much as "improve" upon things that may or may not need to be fixed. Let's just say he's a guy ahead of his time...and is something of an adrenaline junkie when allowed to be.

Instead of being a journalist/papergirl/extreme cyclist, Antonia likes horseback riding! She also does still like to write stories, which helps occupied some dead time while guarding the boring garden gate, but they're less based on facts/rumors and more on just general goings-on around the castle.......so, Jesse and the Spring Festival are a fantastic source of inspiration for her. Also tries to learn to paint after getting closer with Cole (and inadvertently gives Jay the idea for a mystical object called a 'camera').

Can't remember if I've mentioned this in-story yet (all I know is that Cole doesn't know yet lol), but Jesse's actually a citizen of the Central Kingdom—the real (or, initial) reason he went West was in the hopes of making it big as a magic entertainer. So whenever he's not tending to the gardens or swooning over Cole, he's practicing his magic tricks (another reason why Antonia takes to him—he's really good at beating out boredom). He also likes to sing, but, he's gotta be in a really good mood for that. Also, not technically a dedicated hobby, but he does enjoy baking, even if he doesn't like to admit it (he just needs to right motivation...like a very hungry prince).

In the Southern Kingdom, they're all about agriculture and trade, so while I wouldn't call it a "hobby", Kai and Nya are both extremely skilled in farming, negotiations, and economics (Nya moreso with the farming and Kai moreso with the business). But for fun, Nya likes to spend time on the beaches watching (read: talking to) sea life or collecting shells, while Kai likes to travel if/when he can, as he likes to experience more than just his kingdom. Both of them also have a knack for crafting weapons—Kai by forging and Nya...more as crazy DIY projects, also maybe a bit ahead of her time. Nya also likes horseback riding and Kai likes jogging.

In the Northern Kingdom, they have a strong foundation in battle maneuvers and tactical strategy, so a younger Zane found himself doing a lot of studying while being trained with several weapons. He now has a fondness for archery and darts (but with throwing stars), and can easily pass the time with a nice informative book. He also enjoys bird watching like Aurora, and venturing through the forest until he gets lost, but otherwise is actually quite lonely.

...until Samurai X shows up. They're originally from Central as well, but their father and Zane's parents are acquaintances, so one thing led to another with them becoming Zane's retainer. They enjoy playing things like chess and other board games with Zane, and sparring with him, but for the duration of most the story they don't really have a lot of personal stake in much of anything.

The Eastern Kingdom is the home of most of the world's history (along with Central), so being well-read is already par for the course. What isn't common is the dabbling of magic, which is where Harumi's passions lie, especially after discovering Jesse has magic of a similar source. She reads up on ancient artifacts, studies spells, keeps a pet spider, and teaches herself to throw knives, but otherwise, she's a dreadfully bored person, and that's why she has little hesitation in butting herself into other people's problems. That's entertainment.

Lloyd, despite his well-behaved behavior to avoid trouble, has a nasty habit of pulling pranks around the otherwise structured Central Kingdom and eventually the Spring Festival (activities which are very much enabled by his retainers, and ofc praised by his father). He does this because he's good at it and hates to let a well-honed skill go to waste, and it's also something of a cry for attention. He also becomes interested in the cultures of the other Kingdoms, including but not limited to the art/stories of the west, the weapon aspects of the north and south, and the history of the east, like his mother. He also enjoys paragliding (which is something that Jay got him hooked on).

You may think visiting the Archipelago is like arriving on some tropical vacation, but the only one being entertained is its current ruler. He puts on tournaments just for sport of it, and will banish anyone for doing anything he doesn't agree with...so, Skylor doesn't have a lot of room to do very much, but on the flipside, it also means she's down for anything/everything when given a chance, as just about everything is new to her (which is what draws her to Kai and the other royals to begin with). Though one thing she is a bit guilty about enjoying is her younger self partaking in those tournaments herself—primarily due to the rush from the fact that she's never lost (and especially not to Chad).

#ninjago #tlnm #legacyverse #royal!legacy au #long post #k1ng boo #asks from nice people

[cloudselkie]

Finding Your Identity as a Witch - Tips For Building Your Foundation

Tip 1: "Witch Type" labels are fun, but limiting

Labels help us categorize things, but we as witches do not need to categorize ourselves by our tools or aesthetics, else we might accidentally trap ourselves in a very limited practice without meaning to. I think it is the natural progression to grow out of this as one grows as a witch, but I think it's also good to say upfront to the beginner that if no label fits, it's OKAY. Most "witch type" labels fall away eventually anyway.

Tip 2: Let the things that interest you guide you

Inspiration and direction comes from many places. Make a list of your interests, no matter how diverse or seemingly disconnected with witchcraft. Keeping a list of your interests is great to help you identify your craft. You can add to the list at any time. If you ever feel stuck or directionless in your craft, look back to your list - it's what makes you...YOU!

Tip 3: The building blocks of your craft are your skills + knowledge

Identify some natural skills you have and start there for your craft. That doesn't just mean psychic skills or natural aptitude in magic. This can be knitting, drawing, sewing, cooking, singing, dancing, writing, etc. Apply what knowledge you gain through studying the craft to the skills you already have, and then branch out from there. Add new skills to the old as you learn, just like building a house.

Tip 4: Religion can (but does not have to) be a part of your craft's identity

Religion can inform quite a bit of what you want your craft to be. Or it can be totally devoid of religion, if that's what you want.

Tip 5: Study Different Systems of Magic

Magic works different ways depending on what system you subscribe to. Witchcraft tends to base much of its systems on sympathetic magic, but you can also incorporate elements of planetary, folk, ceremonial, or other systems. Or find that you'd rather be a ceremonial magician than a witch. Be well-versed in the systems of magic out there so you can fine-tune your personal one.

#witchcraft #witch types #witch #witchblr #magic #beginner witch #beginner witchcraft

[yoongiseesawmp3]

just about perfect - seonghwa

howdy folks, back with another fic but i’m switching it up on ya! i might start writing regularly for ateez as well so y’all are cool with that right? right.

summary: this is NOT inspired by seonghwa saying he watches nevertheless. why would you even think that.

warnings: not the kind of warning u were expecting but there’s no smut (i know its based off a show abt friends with benefits so that’s why i’m warning u. do not get ur hopes up) a little cussing, a lotta me waxing poetic abt the perfect man park seonghwa. also slight tomfoolery from the teezers

word count: 10.6k

the bookstore just off campus is your current go-to study spot, mostly because the cafe inside has a drink special where you buy one coffee and get a voucher for the new bakery next door. so, let’s just say the past few days you’ve been well caffeinated and well fed. you’re on the way there now, already planning out what your treats are going to be. 

today you were supposed to meet your “study group” after your last class of the day, but it looks like you’re the only one here so far. and you say “study group” loosely, the professor for your music theory elective encouraged everyone to make a study group for the upcoming final and your group of friends chose to work together. there’s been no studying going on, though.

especially not when hongjoong’s new friend seonghwa has been flirting with you literally nonstop. he’s apparently friends with everyone else in your group too. san knows him from an art class they took together last semester, meanwhile wooyoung and yeosang claim they lived on seonghwa’s floor freshman year and he always bought them booze. seonghwa denies it, only because hongjoong would slap him if he admitted to buying alcohol for underage kids. 

tasteful delinquency aside, seonghwa is a fine person. you mean personality fine, not like, fine fine even though san would beg to differ. he knows you’ve developed a thing for seonghwa despite trying not to, and he’s secretly trying to get you two together. 

which is why san suddenly texts you and says he can’t make it, and neither can yeosang or wooyoung. they decided to ditch studying to practice for the final in their dance class instead, so it’ll be just you, seonghwa and hongjoong. and little did you know, hongjoong was trying to do the same thing as san. so we’ll see how this goes. 

- 

“y/n, you can’t do that,” hongjoong warns you, referring to the scale you were trying to fill out. 

“why not?” you ask, looking down at your work and wondering what’s wrong.

“because it’ll sound like shit,” seonghwa replies before sipping his coffee. 

“what he said,” hongjoong agrees, grabbing your paper and erasing some of the notes you had scribbled out. “it should look more like this.”

you glance over at what he’s done on top of your old work and sigh. you took this class because you like music, and you thought learning about how it works would be interesting, but it’s hard. 

“can’t you just do all my work for me?” you plead. at this rate, you don’t think you’ll be able to pass the final. 

“no, i don’t want you dragging me down in this class,” hongjoong replies. “my grades are great.” 

“i hate you.”

“what are you struggling with, y/n?” seonghwa asks as he finally looks up from his laptop. he had been working on an assignment for another class this whole time because he, like hongjoong, is great with music theory. so maybe this study group was a good thing. 

“here, you can switch seats with me,” hongjoong says as he clears the spot next to you on the weathered loveseat. “i’m going to look for a book i should’ve started reading two weeks ago.” 

before you can protest, seonghwa is sliding his laptop across the coffeetable and slides himself into the spot next to you. when he sits you notice your thighs are touching, which is weird because there was plenty of space when hongjoong was here. you don’t know that seonghwa is doing this on purpose, that hongjoon really left so he could flirt with the cute cashier in the cafe to give you and seonghwa some alone time. 

“so,” seonghwa starts once he’s settled. “what are you struggling with?” 

“hmm, all of it?” you reply. your answer makes seonghwa smile, and you like the way his eyes sparkle when he does.

“then i guess we’ll be here a while.”

-

about an hour later, seonghwa has walked you through all the major and minor scales you need to know for the test and you’re starting to understand a little more. you’re still having problems with the back of the study guide where you have to come up with note combinations that can apply to those scales, but you have time to work on that since the final is two weeks out. right now, your brain is fried and you need a break. 

“do you mind if i go get a coffee?” you ask seonghwa, who was in the middle of sending you the minor scale cheat sheet he made. he looks up from his laptop and shakes his head before he speaks.

“i would only mind if i can’t come with you.”

“it’s literally right over there, why do you need to come with me?” you question.

“i think i would just miss you too much,” he pouts, and you roll your eyes. seonghwa shuts his laptop and stands up. “what if i need coffee too?”

“you already had one,” you remind him as you stand.

“yeah,” he nods. “but teaching you is exhausting, so i need another. c’mon.”

he walks ahead of you to the counter, and you’re too busy searching for your wallet to notice he took his jacket off, revealing a sneaky tattoo on the back of his neck. it isn’t until you’re behind him in line that you get a look at the hand drawn star right on the nape of his neck, and you have to refrain from reaching out to trace the lines.

“i didn’t know you had a tattoo,” you decide to say. he turns around and instinctively rubs his hand across the tattoo, smiling at you with those sparkly eyes again.

“yeah, i have a couple,” he replies. “but this one is my favorite.”

“why?”

“because my name means ‘to become a star’, so i like knowing that i have a reminder with me all the time,” he explains.

“nice. it’s really pretty.”

“thanks, so are you.”

“sir?” the barista calls, pulling seonghwa’s attention from you. he steps up to give his order as you stare at the tattoo again, noticing alongside it a couple of freckles that almost make it look like a constellation.

“y/n?” seonghwa’s voice draws you out of your thoughts and you realize he’s finished ordering. “what do you want?”

“oh, i can get it,” you begin, but he cuts you off.

“no, my treat,” he insists, and you sheepishly walk up to the counter to give your order. seonghwa makes a mental note of what you get, and he also snatches the bakery voucher from you before you can put it in your pocket. you make a confused sound and seonghwa laughs. 

“why’d you do that?” you whine.

“you only get to use it if you come with me to the bakery later,” he teases. “say yes or i’m drinking your coffee and getting myself an extra cupcake.”

“fine,” you huff. “but i have an assignment due at midnight, so i can’t stay long.”

“it’s 4pm, that’s not enough time for you to finish it?” he asks while you step out of the way for the next customers.

“i haven’t started yet,” you admit. 

“you like saving things until the last minute, don’t you?”

“what makes you say that?”

“well, it looks like you haven’t been studying music theory at all, and now this,” he shrugs. 

“not everybody can be perfect like you, park seonghwa,” you grumble as the barista places two coffee cups on the bar. you hear seonghwa giggle shortly, and you give him a questioning look.

“so you think i’m perfect?” he smirks.

-

it’s the next day, almost midnight, and you really need spray paint. 

why? well, you’re stressed because you have so much to study for your finals and you don’t know where to start. yes, seonghwa helped yesterday, but he’s not in all your other classes, so you’ve decided you need a break from tearing your hair out over the material you can’t comprehend. the best way to distract yourself from that is to finally paint that dresser you got from a garage sale a few months ago, hence the spray paint. 

thankfully, san is still awake, and he has a car, so you ask him to pick you up for a quick run to the art supply store that’s surprisingly still open. a bonus of going to college in the city, you can get anything almost whenever you need it. 

“thanks for coming to get me,” you tell san as you hop into his car. 

“no problem,” he replies. “i was bored and hongjoong said he needed paint pens so this is a win-win situation. plus, i get to hear about your date with seonghwa yesterday.”

“it was not a date,” you groan, choosing to ignore the suggestive way san is looking at you right now. 

“but you spent the whole afternoon together,” san starts. “he bought you coffee and you went to the bakery together and talked about, like, your favorite colors and stuff. sounds like a date to me.”

“how do you know all that?”

“seonghwa told hongjoong and then hongjoong told me,” he explains as he turns onto the street that’ll take you to the art store. 

“well tell hongjoong that i’m still mad at him for ditching us,” you reply. “and i’m still kinda mad at you and the other two for bailing in the first place.”

“hey, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have had your first date with seonghwa,” san points out.

“it was not a date!” you cry. “we studied most of the time we were together, then he bought my coffee and bullied me into going to the bakery. i couldn’t stay long because i had a paper to write, so we talked about stupid shit until i had to leave.”

“it sounds like the beginning of true love to me,” san sing-songs. 

“stop the car, i’ve decided to walk.”

-

when you get to the store, san separates from you quickly because he sees his friend mingi behind the counter. they’re busy talking while you search the store for the paints, and you’re so busy looking up at the aisle names that you don’t notice you’re about to run into someone. 

“hey-” you start to complain, but you recognize the man you almost bumped into. “oh, seonghwa.”

“y/n,” he smiles at you. “what are you doing out so late?” 

“uh, distracting myself from how small my brain is,” you explain. “what are you doing here?”

“hongjoong needed paint pens,” he says, and you’re about two seconds away from finding san and slapping him. did they really plan this too? 

“why didn’t he come get them?” you ask as you remember what you’re here to find. your eyes scan the aisle behind seonghwa and you spot the paint cans at the end, but he’s in your way.

“i offered,” he says with a shrug.

“you must be a really good friend, then.”

“well you did call me perfect yesterday, so...” he trails off, smirking. you roll your eyes at him but can’t help the blush creeping up your neck. he interrupts his new favorite activity of staring deeply into your eyes (just to fluster you, of course) and he sees that you’re looking past him at the shelves of paint. “you need something down here?” 

“um, yeah, the spray paint,” you reply, awkwardly trying to skirt around him to get into the aisle. he steps aside to let you through, but still follows you as you search for the color you want.

“what are you making?” 

“i’m painting a scuffed up dresser i’ve had for a while, so i want something simple that’ll go with the rest of the things in my room,” you explain as you stop walking and crane your neck to scan the bottles on the top shelf. seonghwa stops behind you and places his hand on the small of your back as he reaches for a can just out of your reach.

“what about this one?” he offers, handing you a can of light blue paint. it’s really pretty, and it’ll stand out with the white furniture you already have, but you really like it.

“oh, that’s perfect!” you say as you take the can from his hands.

“there you go again,” seonghwa teases, and you shoot him a questioning look. he smiles as he responds. “calling me perfect?”

“i said the paint was perfect, weirdo,” you snap. “but thank you for finding this.”

“anytime,” he tells you. “you said your favorite color was blue right?”

“right...” you mumble, thinking back to the conversation you had at the bakery yesterday. “how’d you remember?”

“ugh, i’m hurt!” he exclaims, hand flying to his chest in mock surprise. “i can’t believe you already forgot that it’s my favorite color too.”

“hm, guess i was too distracted by how perfect you are,” you joke. seonghwa laughs at that, a sharp sound that seemed to catch him off guard. he covers his mouth to stifle the sound, but you’re close enough to the cash register now that it draws attention from san and mingi.

“find what you need?” san asks with a shit eating grin.

“hm, just about,” you say as you place the paint on the counter. “couldn’t find a hammer big enough to drop on your head, though.”

“wow, harsh,” san scoffs. “and to think i brought you here out of the goodness of my heart.”

you’re too busy half-bickering with san to notice that seonghwa has paid for your paint and the pens he promised hongjoong. he mumbles something to mingi, who then hands him a piece of paper. he scribbles his number down for you before handing you the can and his number. 

“i gotta go, but i’ll see you later for study group, right?” he confirms. you’re still processing the fact that he keeps buying things for you and you can’t respond in time, so san steps in.

“yeah, y/n will be there,” san assures seonghwa. he nods and shoots you one last smile before he excuses himself and leaves. you’re stuck with san and that stupid grin again. he looks at you and then checks the paper with seonghwa’s number on it. “yep, i think you got what you needed.”

-

even though seonghwa very willingly gave you his number, you’re still afraid to text him. it’s kind of hard to believe that he’s into you the way you’re into him, so you’re fine with just seeing him for study dates. or, uh, not study dates. study gatherings. with just the two of you. because the other guys have bailed, again.

this time, though, you’re not working on music theory. you have an assignemnt due for your ethics class, and you need family and friends to read about your results from this morals test. you wanted san to do it, but he’s currently “chasing a sweet piece of ass,” whatever that means. he’s probably bothering his lab partner that he claims descended from greek gods. you would usually tease him for saying something like that, but it’s a thought you’ve had about seonghwa, so you kept your mouth shut.

anyway, you know you need someone to answer these questions for you, but you can’t bring yourself to ask seonghwa. he kept up his “perfect” demeanor again today, showing up at the bookstore before you so he could get you the coffee you like. you would ask why he keeps doing things like this for you, remembering your favorite color and your coffee order, but you’re afraid he’ll stop if you bring it up. little do you know, every time he learns something new about you, he writes it down in his notes app, keeping a running tab of the things you like.

“y/n?” you hear him ask. his voice snaps you out of your thoughts and you realize you’ve been staring at him this whole time. the smirk you’ve become so familiar with makes another appearance as he gets ready to tease you. “something on your mind?”

“no, i...no,” you stutter. “i’m just thinking.”

“about what?” he questions as he lifts his coffee cup to his lips. you watch the way he slightly pouts them before taking a sip and you have to stop yourself from staring again.

“just this ethics assignment i want to finish,” you explain. “sorry, i didn’t realize i was staring at you.”

“must be an important assignment,” he nods, leaning forward to put his cup back on the table in front of you. you get another glimpse at the star tattoo on his neck as he does. “because i was definitely staring at you too, and you didn’t even notice.”

“oh?” 

“yep,” he confirms. “i was giving you my best puppy dog eyes and everything.”

“puppy dog eyes?” you ask, unsure of what’s coming. “do you need something?”

“eh, not really,” he shrugs. “i’m just worried.”

“why?”

“you never texted me the other night.”

“after the art store?” you ask incredulously. 

“isn’t that when i gave you my number?” he smirks. 

“i didn’t think you wanted me to text you immediately...”

“well, it’s been three days and i still don’t have your number,” he pouts. 

“hold on a second,” you mumble, reaching for your bag. you fumble around in there, searching for the piece of paper with seonghwa’s number on it as he watches you fondly.

“what are you doing?”

“looking for your number,” you reply like it’s obvious. seonghwa laughs a little and places his hand on your arm to stop you. 

“you do know i’m right next to you, and i could just put my number in myself?” he asks, eyes sparkling as he half-smiles at you. you blush, because no, you weren’t thinking about that. you sheepishly hand him your phone and watch as he adds his number and then texts himself. he gives your phone back and replaces it with his own before asking, “what’s your favorite emoji?”

“um, the smiling cowboy?” you offer, not sure why he’s asking. he laughs again, like he did in the art store, but this time it’s harder for him to quiet the breathy giggles coming from his chest.

“why that one?” he asks, typing something quickly.

“it’s funny,” you shrug. “why?”

“needed something cute to put next to your name, but you’re a weirdo, so it’s not as cute as i was imagining,” he explains, showing you the contact card in his phone. your number is saved as “y/n 🥰🤠” and you can’t help but laugh. you look up at seonghwa, warmth in your eyes, and he starts laughing too.

“see?” you giggle. “it is funny.”

“whatever, at least now i have your number.”

-

after exchanging numbers with seonghwa, you’re starting to let yourself believe little by little that he might feel the same way you do. it’s not anything serious, but there’s definitely something there. the texts he sends are always flirtatious, and it has your heart beating faster every time you get a notification, hoping that it’s him. you’re in the middle of studying for your spanish final when you feel your phone vibrate on the bed next to you, and you smile when you see who it’s from.

seonghwa 🥺💫, 6:28pm: are you busy rn?

you, 6:28pm: not really, just studying

seonghwa 🥺💫: can’t be studying too much if you replied that quickly 🥸

you: what do u want

seonghwa 🥺💫: be nice :-(

you: sorry

you: hi seonghwa, how are you? what do you want.

seonghwa 🥺💫: come get dinner with me? 

you: right now?

seonghwa 🥺💫: no, in 30 years. yes right now 

you: but i’m studying ://

seonghwa 🥺💫: liar!

you: fine, when and where?

seonghwa 🥺💫: i’ll pick you up in ten 🤠

- 

“you sure like staying close to campus, huh?” you ask seonghwa as he walks you about a block from your usual hangout and to a little hole in the wall restaurant that looks like it could seat maybe 20 people, uncomfortably. 

“i know what i like,” he responds with a shrug. “speaking of things i like, you look nice.”

“oh, thank you,” you semi-laugh. you’d been close to panic trying to figure out what to wear (because you’re not sure if this is a date) so you went with something simple, but you’re glad seonghwa likes it. not that you wanted to impress him. but you did, a little. anyway, he looks...well, perfect, wearing black ripped jeans and a velvet-y navy shirt. you continually have to stop yourself from reaching out and stroking his arm just to feel the soft fabric (and maybe his muscles). 

“so i take it you’ve never been here before?” he asks as he hands you a menu. you shake your head no in response. you can’t tell if he’s doing it intentionally, but seonghwa leans closer into your side as he explains. “you pick a main entree, but each dish comes with these sides. they say no substitutes, but i know the guy behind the counter so you can ask for more of something else if you don’t like one of them.”

“i might do that,” you say. “i don’t really want dumplings, so could i get extra sweet potatoes?”

“of course,” he nods, noting the way you smile slightly. it makes your eyes light up, and his heart does a little backflip knowing that he’s the reason for it. well, the sweet potatoes probably are, but he’s the one getting the sweet potatoes, so he’s taking that win for himself. once you both confirm what you want, he places his hand on your back and guides you to the counter.

“hey seonghwa!” the tall guy with a lopsided smile behind the register greets. “long time no see. who’s your friend?”

“hey yunho,” seonghwa smiles back. “this is y/n, a vip, so make sure you give us the good stuff.”

“extra sweet potatoes?” yunho laughs. you and seonghwa both nod as yunho continues taking your order, and you find yourself comfortably leaning into seonghwa as you wait for yunho to calculate the price. before seonghwa can even think about taking his wallet out, you’re handing yunho cash for the food, which makes seonghwa sputter.

“what? y/n, i was going to pay,” he whines, and you simply shake your head.

“nope, my turn,” you tell him. “you’ve bought me coffee too many times.”

“but i asked you out! i don’t want you to pay on our first date if i’m the one who brought you here,” he continues to complain.

“so this is a date?” you confirm, right as yunho asks suggestively “oh, this is a date?”

“yunho, give y/n’s money back,” seonghwa says, ignoring the two of you. “i’m paying.”

“yunho, if you give me that money i’ll be forced to leave and stand seonghwa up for our date,” you say, emphasizing the last word. now you’re glad you wore clean pants.

“seonghwa, why don’t you let y/n pay for this, and then you can get the next one?” yunho suggests, sending you a wink before he turns to the kitchen to share your order with the chef. you’re left with a flustered seonghwa, which is a sight you’re not used to, and it makes you laugh.

“c’mon,” you say as you pull on his arm. “let’s go find a table.”

you’re the only ones in the restaurant, so the food comes out pretty quick, and you have to stifle a laugh when you see that someone has arranged the sweet potatoes on a separate plate in the shape of a heart. seonghwa blushes at this, and you’re taken aback by how shy he’s suddenly become.

for some reason, seonghwa showing signs of nervousness puts you at ease, and you lead the conversation to something stupid san told you about the boys and their shenanigans at their dorm. the story has seonghwa laughing, and he confirms that yes, yeosang does have a sword by the tv, and yes, hongjoong did threaten to use it on him after he lost an intense match of fifa. 

“in hongjoong’s defense,” seonghwa begins, “i do think yeosang cheated. wooyoung was definitely helping him.”

“it still sounds ridiculous,” you tell him. “why does anybody need a sword?”

“yeosang is just...yeosang,” seonghwa replies. “he’s weird but he won’t admit that to anyone.”

“i’m just saying, if i went to someone’s house and there was a katana by the tv, i’d haul my ass outta there.” seonghwa giggles at how serious you look, but this conversation reminds him...

“you never showed me your room,” he says bluntly. you pause for a moment, spoon halfway to your mouth, and seonghwa realizes how that must sound. “i mean, the paint, your dresser. you never showed me a picture once you fixed it up.”

“oh,” you breathe out. “let me grab my phone, i can show you.”

“show him what?” a familiar voice suddenly asks from the seat next to you. when you notice that san, and some of your other friends, have snuck their way into the restaurant, you have to keep yourself from groaning.

“why are you here.”

“i’m hungry,” san replies, then turns to seonghwa. “you didn’t tell us you were getting dinner.”

“i didn’t want to,” seonghwa deadpans. “ i wanted it to be just me and y/n.”

“too late for that, pal,” honjoong says as he slides into the seat across from you. “hi y/n.”

“hey hongjoong,” you grumble. “please tell me you’re getting your food to go.”

“we were, but then we saw our good friends eating all by themselves and thought we should join them,” hongjoong teases. by now, the rest of the boys have sat down around you, some at other tables, and one of them you don’t recognize. that must be jongho, their younger “roommate” who technically lives in first year housing but doesn’t get along with the other guy in his room. you’ve heard seonghwa complain that jongho eats all of his snacks. 

“well, i hope you enjoy your food, but seonghwa and i were just about to leave,” you lie, looking at seonghwa with a stare that pleads ‘please go along with this.’

“where are you going?” wooyoung asks, one table over.

“my apartment,” you respond quickly, standing up as seonghwa follows your cue with a stupidly adorable look on his face.

“oh, perfect!” san chirps. “we’ll come with you!”

- 

so much for your date with seonghwa. it was hard to stop the boys from insisting they all join you at your apartment, especially after yunho said his shift was over and he could really use some destressing. and by destressing he meant booze, so you currently have 8 tipsy boys scattered across your living room. if you thought they were loud before...it’s amazing that your neighbors haven’t complained yet. 

it started off innocent enough, you were just playing card games at first and the loser of each round had to drink. then it turned into never have i ever, and each time you put a finger down you had to drink. then yeosang suggested shots, and it really went downhill from there. san tried convincing everyone to play a round of spin the bottle just for the chance of making you and seonghwa kiss, but mingi and wooyoung were the only ones down, so majority ruled there. 

“san, stop pouting,” you laugh, noticing that he’s upset over his evil plan not working out.

“it’s fine,” he lies, duck lips on full display. 

“spin the bottle is such a tween-y game too,” jongho pipes in. “and we’re adults, so it would be kinda stupid to play it anyway.”

“says the baby of the group,” yeosang scoffs. 

“what about truth or dare?” hongjoong suggests. “still immature, but we can make it fun.”

“yes!” san shouts, suddenly back in a positive mood. 

“i’ll start,” mingi volunteers. he takes a deep breath as he looks around the room, eyes narrowing when he looks at you and seonghwa. you’re currently smushed into your armchair together, not really by choice, because the couch is completely full and neither of you wanted to sit on the floor (you know how dirty it is, and seonghwa has a bad hip). thankfully, mingi has mercy on you and directs his gaze to his best friend. “yunho, truth or dare?”

“truth,” yunho slurs out. you’d say he’s the opposite of stressed by now.

“did you sleep with that girl you met at the party last week?”

“no,” yunho replies quickly, cheeks turning a knowing shade of red. “i just walked her home.”

“and went missing until the next morning?” yeosang asks. he gets a few snickers, and you laugh a little too because you remember san and wooyoung talking about their friend who disappeared for a few hours last weekend.

“whatever,” yunho groans. “yeosang. truth or dare.”

“dare,” yeosang chooses confidently. 

“kiss wooyoung on the cheek.”

“no,” he replies, just as confidently. 

“then take another shot,” yunho concedes, waving his hand at the stubborn boy. wooyoung mumbles something about how kissable he is as yeosang downs what looks like more than just a regular shot.

“this is boring,” jongho whines, which makes him the next target. he chooses dare, and you have to detach yourself from seonghwa so you can go into your kitchen and find the lemon juice in your fridge so jongho can chug what’s left. he’s sputtering after a few sips and gives up, grumbling up to you, “ i hate you for that.”

“hey, it wasn’t my dare,” you defend yourself. “you owe me lemon juice.”

“i’ll give it to you if you choose dare,” jongho challenges. you roll your eyes and take the bait, earning a round of ooo’s from the boys around you. 

“make her kiss seonghwa,” someone hisses.

“or me!” wooyoung chirps. jongho looks over at him with a death glare, and wooyoung shrugs. “i just want someone to want to kiss me.”

“i think you’re cut off,” hongjoong says as he leans across your coffee table to move the bottle away from wooyoung.

“everyone be quiet!” san shouts. “jongho has to give y/n a dare.”

“hmmm,” jongho starts, tapping his finger on his chin. “what should i do?”

“for someone who said this was boring, you’re really milking this,” seonghwa says under his breath. you’re perched on the arm of the chair, close enough to hear him, but thankfully no one else does.

“what’s that other childish game called?” jongho wonders aloud. “seven minutes in heaven? i think you should do that with seonghwa.”

“do i have to?” you pout, and your reluctance makes seonghwa stiffen. he thinks you said that because you’re uncomfortable, and not because you don’t want the boys pressing their ear up to the door while the two of you make out.

“rules are rules,” hongjoong concludes, nodding his head toward your room. “go have fun. i’ll keep the kids from bothering you.”

you look to seonghwa, who isn’t looking directly at you. you tentatively take his hand, giving it a squeeze before you stand up and lead him to your room. there are so many catcalls, whistles and cheers coming from your friends that you barely hear san say “take your time! it doesn’t have to be just seven minutes!”

once you get to your room, you let seonghwa go in first and then you lock the door behind you. he quirks an eyebrow at that, and you shrug shyly. 

“don’t want one of them bursting in,” you explain. seonghwa nods, and you both fall silent. it’s not necessarily awkward, just tense. you both want to do what seven minutes in heaven is meant for, but you’re not gonna make the first move and seonghwa still isn’t sure you even want to be in this situation. so he takes this time to turn around and take your room in, pointing to your dresser.

“is this it?” he asks. you hum out a yes in response, and he runs his hand over the freshly painted wood. “it looks nice. whoever picked out the color sure knows what he’s doing.”

“eh, he’s just lucky,” you joke, and you both laugh. you move to stand next to him and place your hand on top of his. “sorry we couldn’t finish our date.” 

“sorry my friends are so annoying,” seonghwa adds. 

“sorry san pushed me into your lap earlier,” you continue, and seonghwa smirks.

“well, i didn’t mind that,” he says. “i wanted you to sit with me, but i didn’t want to draw attention.”

“oh,” you squeak, feeling a blush on its way to your cheeks. a heavy silence falls over you, and seonghwa is the first to break it.

“listen, if you don’t want to kiss me, that’s cool,” he begins. “i kinda got the vibe earlier that you didn’t want to do this, and that’s cool. if you don’t want to do this we’re still cool.”

“you don’t sound very cool about it,” you chuckle, and seonghwa’s face flushes. “but i was only nervous because i didn’t know if you wanted to kiss me.”

“oh i want to kiss you,” he says firmly. “have for a while.”

“why don’t you do it then?” you challenge. seonghwa takes a step closer to you, and before you know it he’s pinned you against your dresser. you balance your hands on it and the cool wood helps you ground yourself as your body heats up from having seonghwa so close.

“are you sure?” he asks, only a few inches from your face. you nod and whisper out “i’m sure” and seonghwa quickly cups your face and smothers you in a kiss. it starts off slow, and your face warms at his touch. once you relax into it you move your lips against his, nipping at his bottom lip slightly and earning a groan from the man before you. you take the chance to slip your tongue past his lips as you bring your hands up to the nape of his neck, slowly brushing through his soft hair. his hands find their way to your waist, gripping tightly but not too hard, and he leans in to get as close to you as possible. you keep kissing for a few moments, but eventually you need to breathe so you lightly tap on his neck. he pulls back, breathing heavy, and his smile shines like the most beautiful stars in the sky. “so?”

“so?” you repeat, equally out of breath.

“that was nice.”

“it was.”

“the boys are gonna know we made out.”

“of course they are,” you laugh. “your lips look swollen.”

“so do yours,” he counters. 

“but wasn’t that the whole point of us coming in here?” you ask. your hands have fallen to his chest, and you finally get a chance to smooth out the soft velvet of his shirt. and you notice his chest is very, uh, firm, too.

“we didn’t have to kiss,” he says with a shrug. “we could’ve just talked.”

“about what?” you ask with a smile.

“my keen eye for interior design,” he replies. “how sexy you look in low lighting.”

“so you think i’m sexy?” you tease, and seonghwa rolls his eyes.

“i just had my tongue in your mouth, does that answer your question?”

another silence comes over you both, but this one is lighter than before. you’re subconsciously rubbing your hands over his shirt, and seonghwa brings a hand up to cover yours, stopping it right over his heart.

“we don’t have to tell them,” you offer. “i mean, they kept it a secret from us that they were trying to get us together this whole time.”

“oh no, i was fully aware of that,” seonghwa tells you, and you scoff. “do you think i really wanted to get out past midnight just to buy hongjoong some expensive markers? he never even paid me for them.”

“well now i really don’t want to tell them we kissed,” you whine. “how could everyone be in on this except me?”

“it was more fun that way,” seonghwa teases before pecking your lips. “but we can keep this between us, for now.”

“i think we should,” you say with a nod of finality. “it’s more fun that way.”

“c’mon, let’s go back out there before they send a search party.”

you return to the living room before seonghwa (so he can sneak into the bathroom and fix his hair) and you find most of the boys asleep on the floor. you sigh as your eyes meet hongjoong’s, and he shrugs.

“at least they didn’t bother you,” he says. 

“can you help me find pillows and blankets for them, please?” you ask, and he nods before jumping into action. he throws one of the couch pillows down to yeosang, who takes it and hugs it to his chest. you have a couple extras in your hall closet and you pass them to yunho, who’s sitting up when you come back. he places one under mingi and another under jongho and keeps the last one for himself. san and wooyoung are on the couch, and hongjoong tells you he’s fine with the armchair. seonghwa is out of the bathroom by now, and, like the perfect man he is, he’s carrying blankets in his arms. the three of you work on getting all the boys covered before you realize that seonghwa doesn’t have a place to sleep.

“i can take another spot on the floor,” he assures you. “do you have another pillow i can use?”

“let him sleep in your room, y/n,” san mumbles from underneath wooyoung. you pause and look at seonghwa, who’s looking back at you with something you can’t read in his eyes. 

“it’s not a bad idea,” hongjoong pipes in from somewhere within the blanket cocoon he made for himself. “he was just there. you can put him on the floor.”

“y/n?” seonghwa asks, pulling your attention back to him. “i don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable.” 

you would try to fight it, so you could hopefully ignore taunts from the boys in the morning, but you’re suddenly really tired and you just want to lay down.

“i’m ok with it if you are,” you yawn. “take the rest of those blankets, we can use those for your bed.”

“make good choices,” honjoong mumbles as seonghwa leads you back to your room, and you hear san going “oooooo” as you close your door a second time tonight. this time you don’t lock it though, and when you turn around you see the blankets on the floor and seonghwa sprawled out on your usual side of the bed, so you tell him.

“well why don’t you come join me then?” he teases with a grin. you blush and shake your head.

“scoot over.”

he does, but only by an inch. he still looks at you with that flirty glint in his eyes, and you can only shake your head again as you crawl into the tiny space next to him. he immediately wraps an arm around your waist and gives you a tight hug, placing a kiss on your shoulder.

“thank you,” he whispers into your back.

“for what?” you reply.

“for not putting me on the floor. and for liking me.”

-

you just woke up from maybe the best night of sleep you’ve ever had. seonghwa’s arms and legs are draped over yours, so you can’t get up without waking him, but having him so close is a welcome source of warmth. your apartment is quiet, and the sun is peacefully filtering into your room through your curtain. it’s the perfect moment, with your perfect boy, until- 

“i think they’re still asleep,” you hear someone whisper from the hallway.

“wooyoung, leave them alone!” another voice hisses. there’s silence for a moment, and then a smack, followed by someone jiggling the doorknob to your room. you quickly untangle yourself from seonghwa before you watch as the door cracks open a bit, revealing wooyoung in all his bed-headed glory. you close your eyes as much as you can while still peeking at who’s sneaking into your room, and you see jongho close behind him. he must’ve been the one who got smacked. or did the smacking. either way, they’re both staring at you and seonghwa in your bed, but you notice wooyoung smile and pause.

“i knew it! they definitely got together last night.”

“how do you know?” jongho asks. “maybe y/n let seonghwa sleep on the bed because of his old man hips.”

“whatever. they’re in the same bed, so that’s at least something,” wooyoung replies. “lame, but still something.”

“what did you expect?” jongho asks incredulously. “you thought we would catch them doing it?”

“i mean, not exactly, but couldn’t i get a little cuddling maybe?”

“you want me to cuddle you hyung?” jongho deadpans.

“yes, actually-”

“hey!” a third voice whisper shouts. you hear footsteps and then you see hongjoong pulling wooyoung out of your room by the neck of his shirt. “leave them alone. and you, jongho, i’m surprised you’re playing along with this.”

“well...” jongho mumbles.

“well what?” hongjoong asks, sounding like the mom-est mom to ever mom.

“they’re the only ones that know how to make breakfast.”

“both of you, out! now!” hongjoong semi-shouts, and you feel seonghwa stirring behind you. hongjoong doesn’t realize you’re both awake and closes the door as he leaves.

“what time is it?” seonghwa grumbles out, and your heart skips a beat hearing how deep his voice is when he wakes up.

“early,” you reply, turning around to be face to face with him. his arms slowly snake around you as you look up at him and share a sleepy smile. “how can you look this good when you first wake up?”

“weird, i wanted to ask you the same thing,” seonghwa replies, leaning in to kiss you but you touch your fingers to his lips and stop him, so he pouts. 

“uh uh, not until i brush my teeth,” you say as you try to get up, but seonghwa’s grip on your waist keeps you down.

“please,” he pouts again, sparkly eyes on full display as he pleads with you. it takes about half a second for you to cave and kiss him quickly, catching him off guard. he shifts to pull you on top of him and deepen the kiss, but he loses his grip on you and you’re able to slip out of bed before he can stop you. a noise comes from deep in his chest that almost sounds like a growl, and you shoot him a glare.

“hey, you got your kiss,” you warn. “now i’m going to make breakfast for the gremlins. do you want to help me?”

-

after the intrusion into your bedroom, wooyoung obviously told the boys what he saw. but, like jongho said, most of them thought it was just because of seonghwa’s hips that made you share a bed with him. there wasn’t enough evidence otherwise, and none of them really expected either of you to make a move despite their efforts. but they’re starting to get suspicious.

little do they know, after the set up fell into place, seonghwa wanted to take you on a real date. the only way to do that without your friends knowing was to sneak around without them, which was kind of fun. it was nice having this bubble with seonghwa, just the two of you, but it was getting harder to avoid your friends. seonghwa lived with them after all, so they pestered him about how often he was out and who he might be out with. 

“san keeps asking if you’re a good kisser. i told him i didn’t know, and then he asked if he could find out for me. should i be concerned about that?”

“we need to be more careful, yeosang said he saw us at the taco place yesterday, and he said we hold hands weird.”

“hongjoong has been saving seats for us at the bookstore, and each time we don’t show up i think he steals something from me.”

you have been ditching study group lately, but that’s more because you need to do some deep studying for your other finals and your friends are too much of a distraction. seonghwa can be distracting too, but at least he can take a hint and back down when you really need to focus. it’s been nice actually, just spending time in his presence. you were so nervous around him just a few weeks ago, and now you feel like you could trust him with just about anything.

today, you don’t get any personal study time, though. your music theory final is coming up and seonghwa wants you to get all the terms memorized before the review session in class tomorrow. he’s motivating you with a kiss for each right answer and the promise of him making dinner once you’re done. you’re currently cruising on five wrong in a row, and you’re getting frustrated. 

“c’mon y/n, you know this,” seonghwa encourages you, but you just whine in response. “we did this like four minutes ago, and i told you the answer so you could remember it.”

“yeah, well i obviously didn’t,” you snap, and seonghwa fakes being hurt. “sorry. can we skip this and come back to it?”

“sure,” he agrees quickly. “but first you need to write down the circle of fifths for me.” 

“i hate you.”

“hm, wrong answer,” he hums. “but kiss anyway. maybe that’ll keep you from getting so grumpy.”

“i am not grumpy,” you defend after kissing him gently. “i’m stressed.”

“you know what you need?”

“hm?”

“you need to go on another date,” he begins. “with me, obviously.”

“damn, i wanted to know if yunho was free,” you tease, and seonghwa doesn’t think it’s funny. “now who’s grumpy?”

“ignoring that,” he scoffs, but you can tell he’s trying not to smile. 

“when would we go? i’m really busy the next few days.”

“what about after class? we could both clean up and do something nice before we get some dinner?” seonghwa suggests. “why don’t we go to that art exhibit you told me about?”

“ugh,” you groan as you learn your head on his shoulder. “that sounds amazing, but we both said we’d be at study group tomorrow, remember? hongjoong practically begged me to be there, and i said i would ask you to come.”

“what about not letting them know we’re a thing?” he pouts. you don’t tell him about the youngest two that saw you all cuddled up, but instead you assure him that you inviting him to study group wouldn’t look unusual to the boys.

“plus, if we both cancel last minute, they’d know for sure we were up to something together,” you continue. “so yes, we need to go on another date, but just not tomorrow.”

“fine,” he mumbles. “now i am grumpy.”

“would something from the cafe make it better, my little boba ball?” you ask in a baby voice.

“ooh, actually, boba sounds good,” seonghwa smiles. “let’s go.”

-

the next day you get to the bookstore late because your professor gave a pop quiz at the end of class and you’ve been so busy studying music theory you forgot to study for anything else, so you needed all the time you could get. when you finally arrive, all of the boys are there, surprisingly. since you’ve never seen yunho, mingi and jongho here before you’re a little confused, but happy to see them nonetheless. 

as you walk up to the usual spot, you notice a coffee cup sitting in front of an empty chair, and you point to it as the boys greet you.

“is this for me?” you ask, placing your bag on the ground before grabbing the warm mug. “thank you, coffee angel.”

“you’re welcome, actual angel,” seonghwa replies, and you almost choke on your first sip. what is he doing?? you’re supposed to be sneaky sneaks and keep your relationship quiet, but here he is flirting with you in front of everyone!

except, that’s what he did before you started dating too, so it’s not out of the ordinary. in fact, no one pays any mind to it, so you’re left with a burnt tongue and blushy cheeks while seonghwa looks at you with a stare that only you would understand. you quickly shoot him a wink before you put your mug down and reach for your notes.

“um, hello? what are you guys doing?” you ask yeosang next to you, who’s rabidly tapping at his phone, just like everyone else. if they weren’t distracted they might have picked up on the vibes between you and seonghwa, but thankfully they’re the oblivious ones now.

“playing a game,” half of them respond, just as hongjoong says “writing lyrics” and jongho mumbles “texting my mom.”

“aren’t we supposed to study?” you ask. “or did you already learn everything in the world while i was gone?”

“well you’ve missed a lot of study sessions, y/n,” san begins. “so yes, we have learned everything. now we just come here to hang out.”

“so then why did you insist on me being here, joong?” you ask newly orange-haired hongjoong. it’s been a while since you’ve seen him, he must’ve dyed it recently. 

“we missed hanging out with you,” he says simply, eyes peeking up from his phone. your heart constricts at this, and you catch seonghwa’s eyes again. you might have to rethink the whole sneaking around thing if they really do miss you.

“yeah, we missed you AND we had to make sure you and seonghwa are still spending time together,” wooyoung adds, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“where have you been anyway?” yeosang asks. “you don’t have other friends.”

“yes i do,” you scoff.”

“give me names and numbers.”

“ignore him,” yunho tells you, and you nod.

“i always do. but i’ve been really stressed about finals, so i had to do some soul searching on my own to decide if i need to graduate or not.”

“seems fair,” mingi agrees. “i almost had to drop a class.”

“because he forgot he was even enrolled in it,” jongho clarifies, and you laugh.

“but seonghwa has been missing a lot lately too,” san starts. “i wonder what he’s been doing.”

“or who,” wooyoung snickers, and hongjoong reaches over mingi to slap him.

“i haven’t been feeling well,” seonghwa says with a shrug. “i’ve mostly been in my room, or at the pharmacy to get medicine.”

“oh, so you could’ve bought new paper towels for the dorm then, huh?” hongjoong asks, and as the two of them start to bicker, yeosang nudges your arm.

“i saw you two,” he says quietly. “at the mexican restaurant.”

“i know,” you whisper back. 

“so i know you’re dating.”

“are you gonna say anything?”

“hmmm, no,” he thinks. “but you have to buy my silence.”

“with coffee?” you offer, and yeosang smiles. he stands up and puts his phone away before speaking, looking directly at seonghwa.

“my best friend y/n is gonna buy me coffee, we’ll be back,” he says as he loops his arm around your shoulders. seonghwa watches as you walk away (and stares at your ass) but he’s mostly thinking about how he’s a little jealous right now. like, he knows you wouldn’t do anything, he trusts you, but he doesn’t want his friends thinking you have a thing for anyone but him. so while you’re gone, he talks.

“i haven’t been sick,” he admits. “i’ve been seeing y/n.”

“we all knew, dude,” hongjoong says casually, and everyone agrees.

“then why didn’t you say anything?!”

“because YOU weren’t saying anything,” jongho replies.

“yeah, we figured that we did enough trying to get the two of you together, so if you didn’t end up dating then that was your fault. we were just waiting on you to make a move,” san explains. 

“then why did you let us lie to you like that?”

“it was fun,” wooyoung shrugs. “by the way, did y/n let you sleep in the bed because of your hips, or because you wanted to cuddle?”

the red tint on seonghwa’s cheeks gives him away, and the boys start laughing and ooo’ing so loud he’s afraid you’ll hear it over by the coffee counter.

“ok, ok, just. keep this quiet for now,” he says. “y/n may still want this to be private.”

“but you just told us about it,” yunho says. “why would you do that if you knew y/n wouldn’t want you to?”

“well,” seonghwa begins. “i need your help with a date.”

-

seemingly by an act of god, you have time this weekend to go on a date with seonghwa. little did you know, he’s the reason your plans suddenly freed up. san said you could critique him and wooyoung for their dance final another day, hongjoong said he would send you his music theory notes from the review and save you hours of studying and then yeosang found the exact spanish book you needed to finish your performance final ahead of time. it was the perfect circumstances, orchestrated by your perfect boy and his perfect-adjacent friends, who all agreed to help him with this (hopefully) perfect date. 

it starts with seonghwa picking you up from your apartment, coffee in hand. 

“you’re the man of my dreams, you know that?” you say in passing as you grab the warm to-go cup. even if you were only saying it lightly, it made seonghwa’s heart soar. you notice he hasn’t said anything to you, so you meet his eyes to find them full of stars like always, but this time there’s something scheme-y in there. he’s up to something.

“are you ready for the best date of your life?” he asks with a smile that puts the stars in his eyes to shame.

“yes, i think,” you respond, grabbing your keys and locking your door. “but i don’t know what we’re doing.”

“and it will stay that way until we get there,” seonghwa says firmly as he laces his hand into yours. you squeeze his hand and sigh.

“i guess i just have to trust you then.”

“but that won’t be hard right?”

“wait, didn’t you say something earlier about going to that art exhibit? is that it?” you question, even though you know he won’t budge. seonghwa just shakes his head no and punches the button for the elevator. a moment of silence passes before you guess again. “a movie? you rented out a movie theater, like you said you wanted to?”

“i tried, but it was expensive,” he admits and you have to laugh. “funds are tight right now.”

“i watched you buy a couple hundred dollars worth of legos the other day babe. maybe that’s why the date fund is lacking.”

“you’re not coming between me and my collectables, y/n,” seonghwa scolds. the elevator pings to open to the parking garage under your building, and you’re confused for a moment before he explains. “i want this to be a nice date, so yunho let me borrow his car. it would be no fun if we show up all sweaty because we were walking.”

yunho’s car, which is actually pretty nice thanks to all the tips he gets from flirting with clientele, is parked by the elevator. seonghwa leads you to your door and opens it for you, revealing a basket of flowers and candies in the seat. you coo as you pick it up, and seonghwa looks on proudly. you lean over to give him a kiss, and you whisper your thanks as you pull away.

“that was mingi’s idea,” seonghwa tells you, smiling brightly “i got all your favorites.”

“i see that.”

“but look around the flowers,” he guides you. “there’s something else.”

you hold the basket up to eye level, noticing the silver sparkle around the stems of the flowers. is it glitter? you tug at a flower and realize it’s a chain, and attached is a hand drawn star charm to match the tattoo on the back of seonghwa’s neck. 

“seonghwa, this is beautiful,” you say breathlessly. “we’re gonna match! that’s so cute. who’s idea was this?”

“would you believe me if i said it was mine?”

“no.”

“that’s what jongho said too,” seonghwa laughs. “it was his idea.”

“tell him thank you,” you say as you play with the charm. “mingi and yunho too. it’s a good date so far.”

“oh baby, it hasn’t officially started yet.”

-

in the car, seonghwa plays a mix of songs that he really likes, and he’s mixed in some of your favorites too. he has to keep convincing you that the songs aren’t clues, because you ask every time a new song plays.

“so are the songs just distractions?” you ask, finally giving up on getting any information out of him. 

“why do you ask that?” he smirks as he turns down a familiar road.

“because i can tell you just took the long way to the record store,” you explain. “are you stalling?”

“me, what? why?” his response does nothing to manage your suspicions, and suddenly you remember how your friends have helped with the date so far. are they all in on this? you need answers.

“seonghwa, i swear to god, if san or wooyoung jumps out to surprise me wherever we’re going-”

“that won’t happen,” seonghwa laughs while he parks the car. “we’re here anyway, and i promise this is the last surprise of the night.”

“the record store?” you question, looking up at the shop you’ve been to countless times to shop and to bother hongjoong while he works. 

“yeah, you said there was a new album out you wanted to get, right?”

“yeah,” you blush. “but i just said that in passing, i didn’t expect you to remember.”

“y/n, i want to know everything about you,” seonghwa says seriously. “so of course i remembered. wait, don’t get out yet. i’ll open the door for you.”

as seonghwa helps you out of the car, you quiz him on the other things you’ve said around him that you didn’t think he remembered. sadly, he does remember you saying your favorite disney movie is ratatouille and you’ve always wanted to try the mushroom/cheese concoction remy makes in the first scene.

“that’s a little embarrassing,” you sigh as you reach for the door. you’re going to complain some more about how seonghwa doesn’t need to remember everything about you, but the sight in front of you makes you stop mid-breath.

the record store has been decorated from floor to ceiling in fairy lights, and there’s more flowers all over the place. as you look around, you notice the flowers are tucked in the shelves next to your favorite artists. next to the door is the album you were talking about, and a little further down you see your favorite album of all time with a few extra flowers next to it. you’re still taking everything in when you notice hongjoong behind the counter.

“did you help him with this?” you ask breathlessly, and hongjoong nods. 

“yeah, but the flowers next to the albums was my idea,” hongjoong explains. “we’re running a new special called “y’n’s favorites” so everything that’s marked with a flower is yours, if you want it. everything is on the house.” 

“i...i don’t know what to say,” you start. you turn to seonghwa and there are those starry eyes that you love to see. you reach out to cup his face and smile. “thank you. this is...perfect.”

“it’s even more perfect now that i’m here!” wooyoung shouts from the front door of the shop, followed by san and yeosang. you look at seonghwa and all he does is laugh.

“what? at least he didn’t jump out and scare you,” seonghwa teases.

“oh, i would never,” wooyoung nods with a half-serious look on his face. “but i definitely wouldn’t do that when i have your dinner in my hands, i can’t let all this hard work spill.”

“especially not on my clean floor,” hongjoong warns. 

“you made dinner for us?” you ask wooyoung, but you’re looking at seonghwa, who simply shrugs.

“yep, i made one of your favorites and then threw in a couple recipes i thought you’d both like,” wooyoung says as he and the two other boys place food down on the counter by the register.

“and what did you two help with?” you ask san and yeosang.

“who do you think made this place so beautiful?” yeosang asks incredulously.

“yeosang did the lights and i bought all the flowers,” san explains with a smile that makes his eyes turn into happy half moons. “you’d be surprised how many places i had to go to get all your favorites.”

“i really don’t know what to say,” you whisper in disbelief. “i can’t believe you all did this for me.”

“it was all seonghwa’s idea,” san tells you. “we did it for both of you.”

“yeah, we’re just his little minions,” yeosang jokes, and wooyoung giggles. 

“you tell me how that food tastes, got it?” he asks as he backs out of the store. “don’t say anything mean though. i only accept compliments.”

“wooyoung,” seonghwa smiles tightly. “please leave.”

wooyoung holds the door open for san and yeosang as he gives seonghwa a thumbs up. san waves goodbye sweetly and yeosang gives you a knowing smile before the door closes behind them.

“well, i think that’s my cue to go,” hongjoong says, handing the keys to seonghwa. “don’t make a mess. if i get fired, i’m selling all the stuff i stole from you when you were sneaking around with y/n and not telling us about it.”

“i’ll keep him under control,” you assure hongjoong, who nods as heads to the door. you don’t see him leave because seonghwa has stepped in front of you, and he places his hands on your waist to pull you closer.

“so,” he begins.

“so.”

“what do you want to listen to while we eat?” he asks, pulling you by the waist over to a row of records. you stand there quietly, looking over the albums hongjoong pulled to the front for you, and you just can’t believe how much work went into this date. you can’t believe how sweet it is that each of your friends helped, and you put your hand on seonghwa’s and give it a squeeze.

“hwa,” you whisper. he hums in response, but you place your hand on his cheek and guide his gaze to yours.

“thank you,” you tell him. “thank you for this.”

he smiles at you with a look in his eyes that can’t be anything else but love, and you smile back with that much love, if not more, in your own face. you use the hand on seonghwa’s chin to guide his lips to yours, and you lose yourself in the kiss, in seonghwa, for who knows how long.

“mm, y/n,” he mumbles against your lips before detaching. “the food will get cold.”

“you’re right,” you sigh. “but we didn’t pick any music.”

“how about this?” he asks, pulling an album out from the top shelf. you smile at the cover, knowing exactly what song seonghwa wants you to hear. 

“perfect,” you agree. “i’ll put it on while you get the food?”

and that’s how you end up eating the perfect meal, on your perfect date, with all of your favorite things around you, sitting right next to your perfect boy.

#seonghwa #seonghwa fluff #seonghwa imagine #seonghwa one shot #ateez one shot #ateez imagine #ateez imagines #seonghwa imagines #ateez fluff #park seonghwa #park seonghwa fluff #park seonghwa imagine #park seonghwa imagines #park seonghwa one shot

[nightwishesworld]

Babysitting (Part 1)

You and Alcina are roped into taking care of your friend's daughter for a few days. Alcina is...less than excited about it. I mean, come on, a baby in Castle Dimitrescu? What could possibly go wrong?!

***********************

The warmth of the afternoon sun crept its way into the windows of Castle Dimitrescu. Both you and Alcina decided it was a beautiful day to take your afternoon tea in the gardens instead of the library . Blooms grew in newly fragranced air, the sweet petals that fluttered reflected by the honeyed-sweetness within. The garden birds always warm your heart. They bring so much joy just from watching them play and dance around the hedges. There are so many of them out today, large and small, brown, red-capped, and golden stripped. You love listening to their chirping, each singing its own beautiful song.

Alcina held your hand over the table as she sipped her special blend of tea.

“Oh, Darling, did I tell you Cristofor and Lucia are going out of town? He says it’s for business but honestly, I think they just want to have a break from the baby. I mean, I don’t blame them, it’s their first kid and you know how hectic everything’s been for them lately."

Alcina nods. “Yes, well, it didn’t help that they were a little unprepared for baby Julianna. That’s her name, right? I remember we offered to buy a few things for them before she was born.”

“Yeah, that’s it, but I just call her Jewel. My precious little gem. I guess they’re gonna be gone for the extended weekend and need someone to watch her.”

Alcina scoffs. “I pity those they choose.”

“Oh stop it, Alcina, it won’t be that bad.”

She stops what she’s doing, nearly choking on her tea, and just stares at you. “You didn’t. You did not! Please for the love of Mother Miranda tell me you didn’t say we would take care of her!”

Your silence was all the answer she needed.

“Why would you do that? Castle Dimitrescu is no place for a baby!”

“Tell that to Cris! I tried telling him that and all he did was assure me that everything would be fine. They feel Jewel would be safest in our care; they were practically begging, Al. What was I supposed to say?”

“No?” You roll your eyes at her. “What about their family? Are they really not available?”

“Lucia said she would feel guilty asking her folks to do any more for them. They usually watch her every day Cris and Lucia are at work. Imagine that plus three straight days; I would want a break too.”

Alcina stayed silent.

“They’re gonna stop by in a few days with some stuff, like diapers and toys and things.”

Alcina huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m so glad you discussed the details so thoroughly with them.”

“I figured you would say no. Look, I’m sorry I went behind your back but they really need a babysitter and they don’t trust anyone as they do us. Besides, I’m Jule’s unofficial aunt, I don’t think I can say no to something like this. I know you don’t like kids, but-”

“What are you talking about? I love seeing little Julianna.”

“You do? Cause every time they come to visit you seem kind of...distant”

“I don’t...I don’t like holding her. She’s too tiny and fragile for someone like me to be holding.”

“Someone like you?” Then it dawned on you. “Oh, Alci. You don’t actually believe that, do you? You’re always so gentle with her.”

“Because if I’m not delicate I’ll crush her.” Alcina’s face held sorrow to it, not evident to most individuals.

“You wouldn’t crush her, Alci. I know you better than that. You literally came running into my study the other day because I screamed ‘spider,’ and then carried me out because I lost sight of it. You’re a lot more gentle than you’re giving yourself credit.You're a good, thoughtful, and gentle person Alci. Anyone who can’t see that is purely idiotic,” I muttered under my breath.

“I suppose it’s not the worst thing in the world, having a baby running around the castle. And we have time to babyproof everything.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard, love, she’s only seven months old. She’s only just starting to learn how to crawl.”

You were talking but Alcina wasn’t listening. She was too busy making a mental checklist of everything that needed to be done before baby Julianna arrived. “Hmm? Oh yes, of course, darling. Do you know where they got those baby gates? We’re going to need quite a few of them.”

“Alci, I don’t think we’ll need-” She’s already walked away. “ Hey, at least you’re embracing it?”

True to his word, Cris arrived at the castle three days later with a carriage full of supplies. You wanted to welcome them with Alcina, but the matriarch was nowhere to be found. The past few days for her have been spent deep cleaning the walls and floors, which really sucked, especially for Bela, Cassi, and Dani. They stuck doing the hard labor as Alcina bossed them around.

You greeted him with a tight hug. “Thank god you’re here. Alcina’s going crazy trying to babyproof everything. I don’t think the castle’s ever been this protected. Or this clean,” I muttered the last part under my breath.

Cris put a hand over his heart. “Oh, she doesn’t have to do that! Julianna can barely crawl five feet. Besides, I know for certain this place is much neater than our house, even on a bad day. She would have been perfectly fine.”

“I tried to tell her to not worry so much, but it just goes in one ear and out the other. Perhaps if she hears it from you she’ll finally listen,” I rolled my eyes playfully.

Cris nods. “And you wonder why I think Julianna’s so safe up here. I’ll be sure to mention it to Alcina. Do you wanna unload this stuff now or wait for her?”

You glance behind him to the carriage. There were a few large bags filled with miscellaneous items as well as a few larger things on the back seat not bagged at all like the playpen. “I don’t even know where she is, Cris. And I’d offer to have the girls help, but they’re hiding from Alci. Let’s just get started. We can put it in the lounge in the foyer until Alcina comes around.”

“Sounds like a plan. Some of this stuff I’ll bring more of when we drop her off, like diapers, you’ll never have enough diapers,” he says as he tosses you a bag.

“So you’ve said. Didn’t you have a nightmare about it once?”

“Before Lucia even went into labor. We ran out and every shop in a 50-mile radius was sold out. To date, it’s one of my worst nightmares.”

You laughed. “So where are you guys going? I mean, really going. You don’t actually think I believe that crap about a Mortician Expo, do you?”

Cris gave you a look of skepticism and stayed silent as if he were planning his next move.

“Relax man, I don’t actually care. Taking care of a baby is more work than I can imagine. I would want a break too!” The statement seemed to ease him.

“Nowhere special. We made reservations at a nice hotel a few hours south of here; it’s got a pool, hot tub, couples massages, the works!”

You nod, tossing the last of the bags by the lounge. “Nice! You guys deserve it, like I said, I can’t imagine how much work taking care of Julianna is.”

“You won’t have to in a few days,” he laughed.

“I’m excited now, but something tells me I won’t be in a few days. Just sleep deprived!”

“Nah you’ll love it. It’s just, well only slightly tiring! That’s all. Should we go looking for Alcina? I wanna go over Julianna’s schedule with both of you.”

“She knew you were coming so she should be here any minute now. I’m sure she just lost track of time bossing the girls around. The entire west wing has been baby-proofed and when I mean the entire wing, I mean the entire wing. She had Daniela take down all of the ornate weapons and armor from the walls while Bela and Cassi scrubbed everything. And that was just this morning.”

“I’ll be sure to thank them then,” Cris chuckled lightheartedly.

As if on cue, you can just make out the sound of high heels rushing down the corridor, only to stop abruptly just around the corner. Knowing Alcina she was probably adjusting herself to look like her usual well-presented way. Sure as rain, Alcina approached looking as elegant as ever. “Oh Cristofor, please forgive me. It’s been total chaos around here- I completely lost track of time and-”

Cris waved it off and took her hand in his, bringing it up so he could kiss her wedding ring. “Think nothing of it, Alcina. I heard you’ve been keeping yourself busy.”

The matriarch sent you a glare that you shrug off with a smug smile.

“You don’t need to worry about anything, Alcina. I know my little girl will be in the best care possible up here. There’s no one Lucia and I trust more.”

“That is one very generous statement, Cristofor, but a castle is still no place for a baby, especially this one.”

“That may hold some truth, but most of all that...messy business stays in the basement, right?”

“All of it does,” you answer for Alcina. “Even I’m not allowed down there and we’ve been married for three and a half years!”

“And for good reason,” Alcina says. “You know what goes on down there. Why would I put my wife’s life in danger?”

You were about to retaliate but Cris wrapped his arms around the both of you. “Let’s just get this stuff upstairs, huh? Far the fuck away from the basement and whatever goes on down there.”

Alcina opens her mouth but Cris shakes his head profusely. “Nope, don’t want to know. Let’s just get to the bedroom. Wow, the walls do look bare.”

“Indeed,” Alcina nodded. “It’s a good thing little Julianna is staying, I should have had the walls deep cleaned nearly decades ago,” she let out an elegant laugh.

“I hope you didn’t do all this just for us.” Cris looked in awe as the various portraits and ornate weapons decorating the walls became more scarce as they neared the master bedroom. It made this part of the castle feel abandoned. The chemical smell of cleaning solvents was strong, but it would surely be gone in time for Julianna’s arrival.

“Of course I did. You are family and you deserve nothing but the best possible care.”

Cristofor shakes his head. "You're a good woman, Alcina. I genuinely hope you know that."

She gives him a warm smile while holding the bedroom door open for him. "I try to be."

"So," he sets down his two large boxes of supplies to rub his back. "Where do you want this stuff?"

"At the foot of the bed for now," you shrug. "Alcina and I will organize everything once it's all here."

He nodded and kicked it lazily to the end of the bed and took a seat on the mattress. "If we wanna be lazy we could shove the rest of the boxes in the playpen and carry it all up in one trip."

"We can do that," you smiled. "Then we can start organizing everything."

"And while we're doing that I'd like to walk you through Julianna's schedule. Lucia made you a copy with a couple of notes on how to do specific things...it's all well let’s just say pretty detailed," he laughed.

A look of fear crossed over the matriarch's face for a moment. "Why don't I go grab it? Then you two can start unpacking. If I run into the girls I'll send them up as well."

"Oh leave the girls alone," you shake your head at the matriarch. "They're already hiding from you."

Alcina lets out an exasperated laugh. "Can you believe that, Cristofor? My own daughters are hiding from me!" Alcina exclaimed with a look of sheer amusement on her face.

"Nothing I'm looking forward to." You started unpacking the many boxes of  diapers and arranging them neatly on the already emptied shelves while Cris made himself comfortable sitting on the floor, unpacking blankets and clothes. He unfolded and refolded them in a perfect square and placed them on top of the hope chest. You smiled at each plush blanket bearing a different pattern and color.

"Where can I put her clothes?"

"Um, just on the bed for now. I don't know if Alcina emptied out a drawer yet. It would be that middle one if you wanna check."

You hear almost all the joints in his legs crack as he stands and makes his way over to the dresser. He grips the knobs but pauses before opening them. "I'm not gonna find anything dirty in here, am I?"

"Not in there, no."

He turns back to you with an arched brow and hung jaw. You only laugh at him.

"Is it cleared out?"

He nods, neatly organizing the various onesies and pajama sets.

He busied himself displaying various lotions and powders on the coffee table, which would act as your changing station.

“What can I do?” Alcina asked, staring down anxiously at the various bottles.

Cris thought for a moment before taking two smaller boxes out of the playpen and pushing them towards the vampire. “These are for bath time." He quickly scanned over the contents to make sure he was correct. "This box is shampoos, soaps, and toys. Julianna loves bath time; the more toys and games the better." Alcina smiled. “And this box is her special duck towel, washcloth- also a duck pattern she loves ducks, two non-slip bath mats for both inside and outside the tub, and a sponge.”

She looked a tad overwhelmed again taking in all the items but took the boxes nonetheless. “Good thing I cleared out cupboard space, right darling?”

You wanted to laugh but restrained yourself to biting the inside of your cheek instead. “Yes, dear.”

"Well, that's everything. Oh, and don't worry about a crib. Lucia and I are bringing it when we drop Julianna off."

Alcina shook her head and simply waved him off. "Oh don't bother, Cristofor. We have one she's more than welcome to use."

You gave her a confused look. "Um, no we don't."

"Yes, we do. I just have to grab it out of storage. If you'd like to wait and see if it's up to your standards you're more than welcome to." It wasn't so much of an invitation as it was a plea.

Cris laughed. "Alcina, I told you anything you have is probably way better than ours. I'm sure it's fine."

"It would make me feel a lot better," Alcina said with a hint of desperation in her voice.

"Alright, whatever it takes to make you feel better about this."

Alcina sighed in relief and rushed down the hall.

"She really is worked up about this isn't she?"

You let yourself collapse back onto the bed. "You have no idea. She's been fretting over everything since I told her three whole days ago!"

"I kinda figured she would be the calm one between the two of you since, you know, she's got three kids already."

You feigned a look of hurt. "Ok first of all, ouch my pride! Secondly, all three of the girls were turned when they were adults. Which is why I wanna know where this supposed crib came from."

He turned back to you. "And you know what you're doing?"

"Of course not, but one of us has to be calm about it."

Cris laughed, letting himself lounge back on his elbows. Any further down and he was afraid he would fall asleep. "I guess that's true. You're gonna be great though, both of you. Just the fact that you're worrying about all this stuff tells me you're really dedicated to keeping Julianna safe and happy here."

"Thanks, man. I think I really needed to hear that. Got any advice to help us prepare?"

He slaps a hand on your thigh and gives it a friendly squeeze. "Have as much sex as you can before she's here. Because once she is, you'll be way too tired to even think about it."

You sit up and look at him incredulously, which earns him a hearty laugh. "I asked you for advice on how to keep your baby alive and you tell me to bone my wife?"

"All I'm saying is Lucia and I haven't been able to do it since before Julianna was born," Cris whispered in all seriousness.

Alcina returned carrying what you can only assume is the crib covered with a sheet. Bela stepped in first to hold the door open for her.

"Thank you, darling. I found my one good daughter to help me. Not the rascals this time!"

Cris laughs. "I see that."

The blonde nodded and joined you both on the bed. "Hello, y/n. Hello, Uncle Cris."

"Good to see you, Bela."

“Alright,” you hop off the bed. “Let’s see this crib that we apparently have just laying around.”

Alcina rolls her eyes and yanks the dusty sheet away, revealing the most beautiful baby crib you have ever seen. Polished solid dark oak frame with solid gold detailing wrapping around the bars like vines. The Dimitrescu House Crest is shining proudly on both sides.

A smug grin plastered itself on Alcina’s face knowing she single-handedly put an end to your snarky remarks.

“Holy shit,” you finally say. “And you had this in storage…just because?”

The question made her uncomfortable, you could tell. A shadow cast over Alcina’s face. “I had it made a while back and forgot about it until now. I’m glad it stayed in such pristine shape. Any polishes used on it were water-based and non-toxic. Perfect for a baby to slobber on,” she chuckles almost a bit uncomfortably.

Cris shook his head as he ran a hand across the smooth wooden framework. “I don’t know what to say, Alcina. It’s absolutely gorgeous.”

“Only the best for our favorite niece.”

Cris clapped his hands together and pulled out a few pieces of paper from his back pocket. "Now, onto Julianna's schedule. Lucia tried to be as helpful as possible when writing it down, but she said if you have any questions just ask her when we drop her Jules off."

Both of you nodded as he handed them to you. Bela situated herself on your bed with one of the plushies he brought over just because.

 Daily Routine

7 am- wake up and bottle feed 8 ounces for about 20 minutes (doesn't have to be one the dot if she's still sleeping. It's a rare occurrence for her to sleep in, but it could happen

7:30- playtime on the floor or outside (we usually keep her inside this early in the morning but either is perfectly suitable)

8:00- breakfast (something solid-ish. Like oatmeal and fruit chunks)

8:30- more play 

Between 9-9:30- bottle-feed 6 ounces for 15 minutes then naptime

11:00- wake up and play (she loves her building blocks and rattle)

Noon- lunch (baby food! Fruit or veggie) (she'll probably refuse solids but don't take no for an answer! Even just a few are ok if she's especially cranky)

12:30- play (peek-a-boo in the mirror! she gets a kick out of it every time. 

1:30- bottle-feed 6 ounces and nap (Congrats! you're halfway there)

3:30- wake up and play (try using the hand puppets and engage her in nursery rhymes)

4:00- bottle feed four ounces for roughly 20 minutes

5:00- dinner (more baby food. Whichever one she didn’t have for lunch)! Same as the morning, she'll probably refuse)

5:30-play (maybe go for a walk if you haven't already?)

6:30- bath time! (see added note for specific bathtime notes. She loves hearing her little rubber ducky squeak)

7:00- bottle-feed 8 ounces then time for bed (good luck trying to sleep and getting her to sleep)

1:30 am- bottle feed again (she’ll wake you up when she’s hungry don’t worry)

Breastmilk can be refrigerated for five days and I’ve given you more than enough to hold her over. Protect it with your lives! Breast Milk is liquid gold!

 You read the note over a couple of times before handing it to Alcina who looked just as overwhelmed as you. "That is so much."

"Not enough," Alcina says at the same time.

Cris laughs. "Wanna see what she wrote for bathtime?"

Alcina took the second not from him.

 Bathtime Tips

Make sure the adhesive mats are set down before bath time begins. One in the tub one outside

Make sure you have everything you need nearby; towel, washcloth, toys (especially her duck), shampoos, lotion, clean clothes, and a diaper

It’s easiest (and less painful) to sit on a stool or something instead of standing and bending over

ALWAYS KEEP A HAND ON HER!

Take off any jewelry and be sure to wash your hands

Check the water temp with the inside of your wrist- it should be warm (not too hot or too cold)

Dry and dress her on the floor (hence the second mat) 

Squirty toys! (The duck is her favorite as it also squeaks)

Plastic boats that she can push around

Whale-shaped basin for rinsing hair

Once she’s all dry she can go right in her crib

 "Sweet Satan, Cristofor. This is a lot of information. I mean, the more the better but..."

You take her hand in yours and kiss the top of her knuckles. "It's alright, Love, we've got this. If anyone can manage this it's us."

She nods but doesn't really believe your words. You can see the doubt reflecting in her eyes. "You're right."

"It looks way more complicated than it is, ladies. You just put her in the tub, don't let her drown, clean her, and take her out. Boom, simple as that."

Alcina lets out a relieving chuckle and you thank him silently.

 *******************************************************************************************

You lay awake that night unable to fall asleep. Alcina is awake too, but you don't dare speak to her. She's too lost in her own world to be bothered with your nonsense. But it was starting to eat you alive from the inside out. You looked over at it sitting across the room. Its existence is mocking you to the point where you can almost hear it laughing at you.

You finally break the silence. “Who’s even is it? You turned the girls when they were adults, right?”

“Yes.”

“All of them?”

You hear her sigh. “Yes of course all of them. Now please, I don’t want to talk about this.”

“But you had to have a reason, Al. No one just has a crib as intricate as that made out of the blue.”

“It doesn’t matter,” her tone grew sharper. “We have it now for Julianna and that’s what matters.”

“I guess so, but…” you turn your body to face her. Her silhouette is laying on her back staring up at the ceiling. “D-did you try having a baby with someone else and…”

She turns to look at you with wide golden eyes. Not angry, but certainly not expecting that line of questioning. You immediately regret opening your mouth.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-“ Alcina silences your ramblings with a searing kiss. One you happily return.

“It’s nothing like that, my love. My only children are ours. I had it made last year when Lucia first told us she was pregnant. I remember how excited you were for them. You did so much to help her get ready, for both of them, really.” Alcina smiled and reached blindly for your hand. “And every time they come up to visit your eyes just light up when you see Julianna. You’re so good with her, iubirea mea.”

A shadow of guilt passed over her face. “I overheard you talking to Lucia about wanting kids of your own.”

Your heart plummeted down to the pit of your stomach.

“You love our daughters with your entire heart, but it’s not the same as raising your own flesh and blood. Every time I saw you holding little Julianna or singing to her I pictured you with our baby. So, I got all excited and, albeit, ahead of myself and had the crib made.”

“For our baby,” you finished with a genuine smile.

Alcina nodded. “I wanted to wait for you to bring up the conversation before saying anything about it, and” her voice cracks. “You never did. I didn’t understand why at first. You would produce such a beautiful baby with or without me.” Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes threatening to cascade down her cheeks. “Then one night it just sort of hit me; why would you want to share something as precious and innocent as a baby with a monster like me?”

Tears flowed freely from her eyes and sobs racked her body, it broke your heart. Without thinking you throw yourself at Alcina and wrap her tightly in your arms. The vampire happily buries her face in the crook of your neck and cries her heart out. You thread your fingers through her hair to help soothe her.

“Oh, my love, I’m so sorry. Don’t you ever refer to yourself as a monster ever again, do you hear me? You are no monster, Alcina Dimitrescu. How can someone as loving, and soft, and generous like you be anything besides an angel?”

“Oh stop pretending, y/n. I’m a genetically mutated freak! The baby would take one look at me and start wailing,” Alcina let out a frustrated huff.

“Stop it, Alcina. Our baby would adore you just like Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela do. Julianna loves you to pieces! She gets so excited every time you walk in the room.”

Alcina sniffled. “She does that with everyone.”

“Because she likes us, Al.”

A beat of awkward silence passed between the two of you until you finally felt her breathing steady.

“You want to have a baby with me?”

You couldn’t contain your smile as she nodded ever so slightly into your neck. “Why didn’t you say anything before? We could have talked about it months ago. The only reason I never brought it up was that I assumed you didn’t want any more children running amuck in the castle. Imagine if they turned out to be just like Daniela.”

That got her to laugh a little. “I wouldn’t mind a baby running around; especially if they look like you.”

“Well I don’t know about that considering we would have to adopt.”

A mischievous smile crept on Alcina’s lips. “Who says we can’t have a baby ourselves?”

“Um, nature? We’re both women, Alcina. I don’t think I have to explain to you how that won’t work.”

Alcina chuckles into your neck. “We’d have quite the brood running around the castle if it did.”

“Then you want to find a donor?” She detached herself from you just enough to give you a look of disgust. “Of course not; no one is allowed to touch my y/n except me.” She flips you both over so you’re pinned underneath her. “There are ways we could have a baby, you know?”

A blush covered your cheeks down to your chest. “O-oh?”

“Mmhm. The old witch in the village could brew something up for us, should we choose to carry.” She laughs at your dumbfounded expression. “It would be a sex change tonic of sorts. Temporary of course, I believe it only lasts a week.”

You blush furiously.

“And depending on the portions of ingredients she uses we could change the erm, size, if you catch my drift.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to respond, in real words at least. Something between a yelp and a whimper came out of your mouth instead. It gets a laugh out of Alcina at least.

“That’s really a thing we could do?”

She starts trailing kisses down your neck to your chest. “Oh yes,” her free hand comes up to pull your shirt down over your breasts. As soon as they pooled out of their confinement Alcina started circling one of your nipples with her tongue. “Would you like that, darling? To feel my cock pounding into you.”

Fuck you loved it when she talks dirty to you. But that turned you on more than you were willing to admit. You gave a shy nod.

Alcina rewards your honesty by taking your hardened nipple in her mouth and sucking. Her other hand moved up your body to rest on your other breast, gently kneading it like dough.

Alcina has always been fascinated with your breasts. Always burying her face in them when cuddling. She simply melted into them on bad days. Giving her a scalp massage at the same time earned you bonus points.

Her lips abandon your nipple, leaving a bridge of saliva still connecting you, and snuggled her face deep in between your breasts. She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes, letting herself get lost in the moment. Her eyes flutter open and you can see the corners of a smile buried in your chest. “What do you think, my love?”

“I think we should see how we do this weekend before making any big decisions.”

Alcina leaned forward only enough to kiss your lips. “Sounds like a plan.”

#lady dimitrescu x reader #alcina dimitrescu #tall vampire lady #bela dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu #daniela dimitrescu #cassandra dimitrescu #resident evil village #resident evil 8

[bluefirewrites]

Juke headcanon please 🥰

Alright folks, here you go:

Luke stands guard outside of Julie’s room every night. 

She doesn’t know he does this, but ever since the stamps disappeared and the boys were free, Luke is terrified that Caleb is going to come back and do something horrible. 

Especially since Caleb has come to the studio before and knows where Julie lives, it’s Luke’s greatest fear is that Caleb would sneak up on them when they least expect it and harm Julie to get his way. 

Ghost don’t sleep, so every time Julie tucks in for the night, Luke sits outside on the porch ledge right under her window, eyes peeled for anything suspicious. 

He doesn’t even listen to music, his ears sensitive to hear the telltale sign of a ghost poofing just in case... 

He always has a can of salt with him. He knows it’s practically useless, but Carlos has promised him that he’s still looking into a more viable source of protection. 

He just... feels better having it on him. It makes him feel like there’s something he could do. He already feels so powerless...  

(The guys eventually figure out where he goes to every night, but instead of telling him to quit it outright, they end up taking turns to watch over Julie- all of them afraid for what Caleb might do.)

Julie eventually finds this out when she tries to sneak out of the house to meet up with Flynn ( she had sent a ‘911′). She climbs down the lower level roof and scares both her and Luke who had been sitting on the porch while on watch. 

She asks him what he’s doing there, and he couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse. 

And she sees the can of salt and she puts two to two together. 

She doesn’t call him out on it because she likes knowing that he’s close by. 

And if Julie does ever need him all she has to do is whisper out her window and he’ll poof by her side. 

Julie studies up on ‘90s culture and history to better connect with Luke

I see a lot of instances where Julie catches the boys up on what they missed out in the past 25 years, helping them acclimate to 2020′s culture. 

But I’d like to think that Julie wants to make it more like home for them, knowing that all these changes could be so overwhelming and hard to take in. 

Especially for Luke, who she catches appearing self-conscious with how slow he’s getting it. 

She goes to the library during her free time and pores over magazines from the ‘80s and ‘90s to get a feel for the time, maybe see what TV shows Luke might have liked or the celebrities he might recognize, and maybe the language he uses. 

Julie often goes thrift shopping anyway with Flynn, but she spends more time around the electronics section and she ends up coming home with tapes and toys from the ‘90s. 

She gets her dad to dig through their stuff for one of those TV’s with the built in VCR and she plays him the movies he liked to watch and also reruns of ‘Double Dare’ and ‘Beavis and Butthead’

She gets so caught up in ‘90s mode though, that she doesn’t realize that she’s using ‘90s slang casually around him: 

“Hey Jules, how was your day?” 

“Ugh. Got in trouble today in history which was totally bogus,” 

“’Bogus’, huh?” he smirks. 

“Like Mr. Johnson went postal today for like no reason,” 

Luke is trying so hard not to smile real big hearing her say stuff like that, but then she says she’s “totally ‘buggin’” with a straight face and he just... 

He just loves hearing her talk like that and is moved that she would go through all this trouble just to make him feel more at ease. 

Quick ones: 

Luke makes cutoffs for Julie to not only wear but also design. He purposely finds old T-shirts of his that are blank or have plenty of space for her doodles. They share and Luke wears Julie’s works of art with pride. 

Julie gets ‘music history’ lessons from Luke, where he schools her in bands that he likes. Only fitting since he’s the one to have originally introduced her to rock. 

Julie gets them a dual headphone adapter so they could listen together. They often lay down on the ground right next to each other, just vibing with the music. 

Luke doesn’t like it when other people mess with his hair. Julie’s the only who can run her fingers through his hair. He learns that he loves getting his hair played with. 

She hums or sings songs quietly when she does play with his hair. He closes his eyes and it’s the closest thing to sleep he could get as a ghost. 

Julie finds random hair ties in her hoodie pockets that she definitely doesn’t remember putting in there. But what she does remember is complaining to Luke about never having any hair ties on hand when she goes to dance class. 

Luke has terrible handwriting, so before letting the rest of the band run a song, Julie would rewrite the lyrics and copies for the boys. She may have left some cute heart drawings on Luke’s copy, and Luke secretly loves it. 

Julie runs her essays by Luke, who is insanely good in English. He proofreads it and leaves good notes. 

Luke likes to bike, and Julie lets him use the one in the garage at night in the park (so no one can see a bike pedaling by itself). She goes with him sometimes and she gets to ride on the handlebars. 

They both cry during movies. They make sure to have a box of tissues for them to share. 

Although Luke’s Spanish is terrible, Julie loves hearing him try to say things. 

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #juke #palina #juke-box #julie x luke #luke x julie #julie molina #luke patterson #blue answers asks #jatp hc

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

I'm from south wales, and I've always felt desperately out of touch with my own heritage the more I learnt about it, and past using duolingo I don't really know where to start, do you know any good resources for starting out?

HOO BOY I RECOGNISE THIS ONE

So I have a very similar background, and it was a LOT of work fighting my way to where I am now to reclaim my own heritage - Anglo-Welsh culture just Does Not Teach this stuff, something that still, to this day, makes me fucking furious. I remember after I went to uni to learn Welsh finding out about the practice of Cerdd Dant, and I don’t think I calmed down for a week. I had never heard of it. Ever. And Welsh-speaking friends of mine scoffed, and said that Cerdd Dant is horseshit so I was hardly missing out, and I had to explain to them that, yes, if you have the privilege of being connected to your own cultural history and traditions, I imagine you can easily pick and choose which bits to sneer at; but from my perspective?

Here’s what Cerdd Dant is, with the frills stripped away: you are given a poem. A tune - sometimes an existing one, sometimes not - is played as a backing. You have to invent a brand new melody to sing that poem to that tune. If there’s more than one of you, you also need to invent harmonies.

That’s the tightest fucking shit. If I’d learned that in Music lessons in school, I’d have been delighted. That is a formula that is ripe for reinvention, and modernisation. I do not care that the version people do in Eisteddfodau is nauseating and makes me want to punch school children in their weirdly moving mouths (side note: why do Eisteddfodau make people Do That with their mouths?) I care that this is a beautiful, creative medium that is my cultural heritage and I, and every other fucker in Anglo-Wales, was not allowed it.

In any case... what did the trick for me was doing a degree in Welsh and Celtic Studies, which obviously was very successful but also is an expensive and difficult solution. So, in the interests of assuming you don’t have £27000 and three years to spare, what can you do?

It’s difficult, because there’s not exactly an institution or website you can go to that keeps a handy list. But I guess making a list of categories isn’t a bad place to start? Music, poetry, food, dance, festivals, history, customs, folklore, industry, that sort of thing. It gives you a framework for the research.

Check the competitions and categories in the Eisteddfod for things like music, poetry and dance. I’ve mentioned Cerdd Dant, but there’s other musical forms as well - poetry we have even more, and it’s baffling but fun to learn about cynghanedd and the various poetic forms like the cywydd, the englyn, etc (again, these absolutely should have been taught when I was in school. Fucking unforgiveable.) Dawnsio Clogsan is like Irish and Scottish folk dancing with the kicky legs and the tap shoes, but with Added Props - plus group folk dancing and that.

While you’re at it, look up the history of the twmpath chwarae in the villages. In fact, that’s a good segue into customs and festivals - you’ve heard of Beltain, Samhain, Imbolc and Lughnasadh, but those are the Gaelic ones. Wales is Brythonic, and our equivalents are Calan Mai, Calan Gaeaf,  Gŵyl Fair y Canhwyllau, and Calan Awst (heads up: it’s VERY difficult to find decent info on those last two online.) Look up the Mari Lwyd and Calennig and lovespoons. Look up the Eisteddfod (I know you’ll already know at least some stuff about it, but it’s worth getting the full story.) Uh... the Wikipedia page here is a good little index for some Welsh folkloric stuff, but get yourself a copy of the Mabinogion (the 2008 Sioned Davies translation is v good) for the best of Welsh mythology. The main Four Branches are available online here, complete with footnotes to explain what the fuck is going on with the cultural references/symbolism. And the best best BEST resource for Welsh faerie mythology, in English, is British Goblins by Wirt Sykes, which is available here. That one is fantastic, because it was written by an English guy who was fascinated by Welsh faerie mythology, and spent some time in the 1800s wandering around Wales, asking people for stories and beliefs and just writing them down - and very respectfully too, which is a refreshing change from other writers of the era (George Borrow can deep throat a cactus in whichever afterlife he came to).

Uh, that’s probably a good segue into history - I’d recommend, in roughly chronological order, looking up the Celtic tribes of Wales (Silures and Ordovices in particular), Princess Gwenllian, Hywel Dda and his incredible laws, the Welsh royal line in Gwynedd (Llywelyn Fawr in particular, but obviously Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf needs a depressing look, along with what became of his children. Especially his son.), the Bardic Age, Owain Glyndwr and his grand plans for the country, the Rebecca Riots, the Merthyr Uprising, the Treachery of the Blue Books, Dic Penderyn, the Tonypandy Riots, the Senghenydd Colliery Disaster, Tryweryn, Aberfan. I mean there’s a shit-ton of others and I’m probably forgetting some really obvious ones, but we don’t teach Welsh history, so... that’s a very quick overview I guess. (Also, the stuff I was taught in school was HEAVILY colonialist. Like, HEAVILY.)

Anyway; this may or may not have been helpful, I don’t know! The handy thing is that you’ll probably find more elements to explore with each one you research, though, and there’s always something new. Good luck, enjoy, and don’t hesitate to get back in touch with any other questions! 

#WALES! #closed for cleaning on Mondays

[yyxgin]

skeletons & ramen 🎃 

-> pairing: lee minho x reader

-> genre: fluff, halloween au, college au

-> words: 3k (prologue included)

-> happy halloween folks !! this is a part of the @districtninewriters​ halloween collaboration !! check out the prologue and other amazing artists who also participated <3

-> warnings: mentions of alcohol and drinking, swearing and i think that is it :’) 

“No effin’ way did I spend all this time doing your makeup for you to stay at this party for ten minutes. Get your ass out there and at least talk to someone.”

BamBam’s words replayed in your head as you glanced around the party. It was impressive; you’d give him that. Your best friend was known for the ragers he threw, and his annual Halloween party was no exception. With loud music, expensive decorations ranging from a 12-foot-skeleton on the lawn to fog machines, and costumes required – “and none of that ‘just throwing on a witch’s hat’ either, that shit’s weak” – it won party of the year before it even occurred. 

And you didn’t want to come. It wasn’t that you didn’t like his parties. On the contrary, you really enjoyed them. But this year, the party was on Halloween night, which just so happened to be a Saturday. Your first midterm of the semester? Bright and early Monday morning at 8 a.m. sharp. 

“You have to come!” BamBam had said when you first mentioned skipping the party. You could already tell he was dangerously close to pulling out his puppy-dog eyes, as you called them, and if he did that, you were a goner.

You sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want to, Bam. It’s just that my first midterm is super early Monday morning, and I really, really need to study for it,” you said.

“So study on Sunday!” he argued. “You know I can’t have a party without my best friend there. Not to mention, I’ve already put so much thought into how I would do your makeup for your skeleton costume. Don’t make me have done research in vain. Please?”

That’s how you had ended up at the party. Your plan had initially been to stay for half an hour, but when you went to tell BamBam, he wasn’t having it. That’s when he had dropped the line about how much effort he had put into your makeup, shoving you out of the kitchen and into the lounge. 

As you looked around the room, you figured it wouldn’t kill you to talk to someone for a few minutes. But who?

You see a drunk guy from your literature class, Changbin, and his friend that has attended the party in a horse mask for the third year in a row, Jisung, in the corner of the spacious room. You know what, maybe they are not the best people to talk to at this college party.

Your classmate Lia and her friends that dressed up as power rangers are sitting on the sofa with a senior very well known as the friendly guy Chan dressed up as a cowboy, downing shots of tequila and singing loudly at the top of their lungs. You contemplate the choice for a moment, but decide against it when they turn to sing Into the unknown for the thirtieth time tonight, scrunching up your face in pure horror. 

Another choice are the party animals Hyunjin and Felix dressed up as peanut butter and jelly, dancing to whatever song comes out of the loud speakers. Yeah, you could never keep up with them.

The last few people in your sight are in a circle, laughing loudly, bottles of beer, soju and various other alcohol secured in their hands. You see your classmates Jeongin and Seungmin in there, but you don’t know any other people there, so you decide to just let them be.

Maybe you have no other choice, then to leave.

“Yah! We’re matching!” you hear a voice from beside you call, looking at the person and frowning in confusion. What on the earth is he talking about?

But then it hits you. The guy has skeleton makeup on his face, an all-black outfit fitting his body and a huge, obnoxious grin on his face. You really are matching, well, apart from the optimistic expression on his face very much different from yours, on the other hand, disgusted from the whole situation.

“Oh. You’re right. My friend BamBam actually did the makeup, so it’s not really my fault, though.” you smirk, watching the boy growing closer to you and inspecting the makeup on your face.

“Looks like him and Han Jisung watched the same youtube tutorial,” he mutters, making you burst out in laughter.

“Jisung? You mean to tell me that the guy who attends in a horse mask every year did your makeup today?” you ask in disbelief, rewarded by his adorable giggle.

“Yeah, well, I told him I wasn’t going to the party, because I didn’t have a costume, so he told me he was just going to turn me into a skeleton to force me to go with him.” he explains. 

“Looks like he did a much better job than BamBam did, anyway,” you point out, examining the work on his face. At this point, you’re going to go to Jisung to do your makeup for your cousin’s wedding you’re attending next month, because his skills are really good, to be honest.

“I appreciate the rhinestones on yours, though. A pretty detail,” he laughs, making you roll your eyes. 

“Yeah, BamBam likes finishing touches.” you smile.

You’re kind of getting flustered under his gaze, so you quickly turn to look to the ground in response. The fact that you didn’t even drink tonight wasn’t helping you get loose a tiny bit, your shy side showing right after there was a silence in the conversation.

“Wait, you’re telling me you’re friends with BamBam and we somehow still don’t know each other?” asks the friendly stranger, making you look up at his face again.

“Umm, yeah.” you nod.

“And you know Jisung as well.” he points out.

“Yeah, well, everybody knows Jisung, so…” you say.

“Yeah, but we have so many mutual friends, yet we still don’t know each other… that’s strange. Well, anyways, I’m Minho.” he smiles, putting a hand to you to shake it. 

“Nice to meet you, Minho. I’m y/n.” you smile at him and take his hand to shake it. His grip is firm, but not painful, the presence of his skin on yours making you slightly excited.

You were never that good with meeting new people, so to have a stranger introduce themselves to you unprohibited, it felt good. Well, maybe BamBam was right about going to the party. Maybe you’ll even have a new friend after this, and god knows you need some new friends, because you’re certain hanging out with BamBam constantly kind of makes some of your brain cells disappear.

“Wanna get something to drink?” smiles the skeleton boy, on which you nod and follow him back to the kitchen where you’ve come from, seeing that it was now pretty much empty apart from the couple wearing matching costumes of Joker and Harley Quinn making out on the kitchen counter. 

You take a bottle of peach soju and see Minho do the same, cringing at the smacking noises and quickly pulling you away from the kitchen by the elbow, rolling his eyes in the process. “Can’t they just leave it for when they come home?” 

“I’m so sorry for BamBam, I swear if he has to clean the kitchen counter from sperm again this year, he’s going to seriously lose it-”

"Again?"

“Yeah, people get real wild out here.” you nod and try to erase the flashbacks coming back into your head from seeing your terrified and disgusted best friend cleaning the place with kitchen towels and some Clorox.

“Ew. See? This is why I didn’t even want to come in the first place.” says Minho with a disgusted expression on his face.

“You too?”

“Yeah, I hate parties!” exclaims the boy, throwing his arms in the air to gesture to the packed lounge.

“I know, right? I was actually supposed to be studying at the moment, but BamBam insisted on me coming, so I kinda had to, you know.” you blurb out, taking a sip from the soju in your hand.

“Studying. On a Saturday evening.” he gazes onto you, making you feel kind of stupid for sounding like the biggest nerd in the world. Yeah, you cared about your grades, but you weren’t as crazy as it sounded in the first place.

“Yeah, well, I have a midterm on Monday, so-”

“Oh. I got you.” he nods, licking his lips and taking his first sip of the peach alcohol in his hand, making you just awkwardly stare at his face in the process.

“Well, y/n,” starts Minho as he finishes drinking, “not to sound creepy or something, but do you wanna get out of here? Since we both kind of hate parties and our best friends got what they wanted…” he says, almost looking nervous at his question, making you just shyly nod.

“Yeah, sure.” you agree. You’re pretty sure BamBam won’t notice if you leave now, and if he does, well, you spoke to someone. That means you did what he wanted you to do. He can’t be mad now.

“Okay. I’ll be taking this with me.” laughs Minho as he shows you the half-empty bottle of soju in his hand, making you giggle as you show him yours and nod in response, telling him you’ll be doing the same as the two of you go to the front door. You were wearing your black coat through the whole evening and from the looks of his black leather jacket, it looked like he was too, so there was no reason for the two of you to stay at the party longer and look for your things.

“Let’s go!” you muse, going out of the house with Minho by your side, the chilly breeze and silence hitting you in the face in a weird, but comforting way.

“And where are we even going?” asks Minho, making you stop in your tracks and giggle.

“I don’t know.” you shrug, watching his amused smirk only grow wider.

“Let’s just… walk around for a while, I guess?” you say, receiving a nod from him in return as you start walking side by side in the neighbourhood. 

You both keep talking to each other and getting to know each other, learning that Minho is studying dance and not business like most of your mutual friends, and you, do, which is probably why you’d never met before. You manage to make him show you some of his dance moves, both of you slightly tipsy now, giggling at his silly dance in the middle of the street. It was easy, talking to Minho.

“Let’s go trick or treating!” he cheers, making you laugh.

“We’re 21, Minho, nobody will give us any treats.” you say, refusing to get yourself through that kind of embarrassing dumbassery on this wonderful Saturday evening.

“Nobody can see we’re too old for it through this makeup,” pouts Minho, making you laugh even harder. You’re not even sure if it’s the alcohol in your veins that makes everything he says and does so funny to you, but you just know his presence makes you giggle quite a lot.

“They can definetly see, Minho, they’re not dumb.” you say, patting him on his shoulder.

“Hmm,” he pouts, but only for a minute before he manages to change the topic with a sudden information, “I’m in a mood for some ramen.”

“Yeah, same. I haven’t had ramen in so long, dude,” you muse, your mouth already full of saliva only at the thought of the food coming in your sight.

“Let’s have ramen, then,” shrugs Minho and paces quickly in a different direction.

“Yah, where are you going?”

“To the supermarket for some ramen! And then, we’re going to my place and we’re going to eat some ramen.” he explains, not even letting you a moment to disagree with his statement as you jog to catch up with him. Perhaps he notices your alarmed expression on your face, making him quickly reassure you and your noisy thoughts.

“Don’t worry, y/n, I’m not gonna kill you. You can come over, I swear.” he says, but after he sees you still biting on your lower lip in nerves, he stops in his tracks and gazes into your eyes to comfort you.

“Really. You can trust me. We even have mutual friends, remember?” his expression is soft, dreamy, almost, making you instantly relax and nod.

“Okay.” you say, clearly missing what stranger danger means, but you feel like you can trust Minho. Right?

“Okay. Let’s go.” he nods, cheeringly going in the direction of the supermarket again, with you by his side, singing a popular song under his breath in the process.

After an enormous amount of laughter and one argument over which ramen you two should buy, you two finally reach the cashier that looked rather uninterested until she saw you, smiling and giggling under her breath. You place the two packs of ramen onto the counter, waiting for the girl to check you up and give you your delicious food into your hands.

“What a lovely couple you two are.” she smiles at the two of you after reaching out her hands in front of you with the ramen in her hold.

“We are not a couple, actually…” you mumble, feeling quite shy at her comment.

“Oh, but the matching costume…”

“That was a coincidence, really,” you laugh awkwardly, wanting to be finally on your way to Minho’s apartment, when Minho smirks behind you.

“We’re not a couple yet, but you know, perhaps this was all destiny,” he jokes, making you turn around and playfully elbow him in the ribs, a joyful giggle followed by your skeleton companion.

“I’m just joking, chill,” he says, thanking the cashier and taking the ramen into his hands, escaping the supermarket and leading you into his apartment. 

The journey there is comfortable, but the atmosphere quickly changes as you reach his place, taking off your shoes to not dirty his, surprisingly, clean apartment, taking off your jacket and looking at Minho standing in the doorway and watching you. “Well, here we are. Welcome.”

“Thanks.” you shyly respond, not really knowing what to do at this point.

“Come on in, don’t just stand there,” scoffs Minho, leading you into the kitchen to cook the ramen with you right after him, watching your every step and looking around in the dark apartment, silently appreciating his choice of interior design. 

“Meow!” you hear from the dark room, making you jump.

“Wow!” you jolt out, making Minho turn around to laugh at your shocked face, dropping the packs of ramen to the table and picking up his cat from under it to show it to you.

“Yeah, I kinda forgot to tell you… I have three cats, this is Soonie. Say hello, Soonie,” smiles Minho and takes the cat’s pow into his hand to make it wave to you, finally calming down your racing heart.

“Oh my god, that scared me.” you giggle, petting the cat’s head. “She’s adorable.” you mumble.

“I know, right? You should see your face,” giggles Minho, “and this is Doongie and Dori.” he says pointing at the two cats that were, very much not to your knowledge, following you to the kitchen. You shyly wave at them and mumble a quiet “Hi” to the creatures, watching them take their respectful seats under the table again.

The conversation flows freely right after, the slight scare that Minho’s cats brought you making the atmosphere much less awkward, seating yourself at his kitchen table and watching him take his role in the kitchen and cooking the ramen you’ve just bought, appreciating the way he moves through the room and still manages to keep you entertained in the conversation.

“Here you go.” smiles Minho as he places the plate with the finished food on the table in front of you, a proud grin plastered on his skeleton face. 

“Thanks!” you muse, diving right in to the steaming food, slurping and enjoying every single bite of it. You know ramen is not exactly that hard to prepare, but damn did it taste amazing in the late hours of the night, hitting every nerve. 

“It tastes so fucking good.” you mumble, your mouth still full of noodles.

“Chef Lee right at your service,” bows Minho, making you giggle.

In the process of eating, though, you feel a rhinestone fall off your face on the table. You frown, examining it, making another one fall down, realising that it was the steam from the ramen that made the eyelash glue BamBam put on your face dissolve and ruin your beautiful makeup.

“Wanna take it off? It’s late and it’s coming off by itself, anyway,”  he asks, making you nod without a hesitation, following him into the bathroom without even washing the dishes.

Minho takes some moisturizer and a tissue from his cupboard, making you silently curse yourself for not taking makeup wipes with you and having to turn to this poor alternative, seeing how he carefully applies the cream to the fabric and moves it to your face. 

“Can I?” he asks, suddenly, taking you by surprise.

“I mean… sure?”

You take a seat on the bathroom sink, watching his every move as he stands close to you and starts taking your makeup off. The action is quite relaxing as you close your eyes and let him carefully do his work, wondering how you even ended up in here. The moment feels intimate, yet you’ve only known Minho for a few hours, but you feel strangely safe in his presence as he takes care of you. You yawn a little after a few minutes, suddenly sleepy from the relaxing motions of his hand.

“Tired?” he muses, his voice low in the quiet.

You only hum in return, opening your eyes once he’s finished, finding him gazing at you with an unexplainable expression on his face.

“What?”

“Nothing.” he shakes his head and moves further away from your body, “I’ll take mine off and then I can walk you home if you’re feeling sleepy.” he says, making you nod.

Yeah, you feel kind of sad that your night with your new friend is coming to an end, but you can’t stay with him until the morning, right? And it’s getting quite late, anyway. Besides, something inside of you is telling you that this is not the last time you’re meeting the guy you’ve accidentally matched with on BamBam’s halloween party.

So you opt to wait for him in his living room, sitting at the comfortable blue sofa, surrounded by his three cats that take their seats close to you.

You don’t even know when you fall asleep when a handsome face wakes you up from your slumber, whispering into your ear as he gently picks you up from the sofa.

“I’ll let you sleep in my bed tonight. You don’t have to worry, I’ll take the couch.” he smiles when he sees your eyes open and gaze onto his face.

His features look mesmerizing, eye catching, even, without the heavy makeup that managed to hide them quite well. It was hard to make up his face behind the makeup, but when you fianally see it for the first time, you can’t help but find him really pretty. You feel kind of silly for thinking the thought and mentally slap yourself when doing so, but you just can’t stop thinking about how you find him just so beautiful. Maybe it’s the sleep taking over you, who knows?

“Sweet dreams, y/n. I’ll walk you home tomorrow, then.” he whispers into your ear, smiling at you when he drops you onto his bed.

“Sweet dreams, Minho.”

Yeah, it’s silly. 

But you definitely fell asleep that night with your new friend on your mind.

Perhaps the matching costumes really were a destiny.

#districtninewriters #kafenetwork #stayverse #stayhavennet #kpopscape #stray kids imagine #stray kids au #stray kids fanfiction #stray kids fluff #lee minho imagine #lee minho au #lee minho fanfiction #lee minho fluff #lee know imagine #lee know au #lee know fanfiction #lee know fluff

[symphonicscans]

Interview with Hozumi for Sarasate Magazine, 2019

There are next to no interviews with Hozumi, so when I heard about this magazine having one I immediately bought it. Finally got around to translating it, and while it doesn't really talk about much, it's better than nothing! I formatted it to fit the original magazine, but there is also a text transcript as well.

Download the interview in PDF form (or read the transcript below) (I was also really pleased to get my headcannons confirmed XD)

WHO IS SOLLIMA?

Hozumi’s “My Giovanni” was inspired by the piece Violoncelles, Vibrez!

In the story, the main character Tetsuo Tezuka idolizes a cellist named Giovanni Bazzoni, who is modeled after Sollima, and the piece that inspires him is Call of the Cello, which is of course based on Violoncelles, Vibrez!

Giovanni Sollima * Composer, Cellist

Born in 1962 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, he studied cello with Giovanni Perriera and composition with his father Eliodoro Sollima at the Conservatorio di Musica di Palermo. After graduating with honors, he continued his studies on cello with Antonio Janigro and composition with Milko Kelemen at the University of Music in Stuttgart and the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 1997, he founded the Giovanni Sollima Band in New York City, a group made up of musicians who were already active as soloists and chamber musicians, with such luminaries as Claudio Abbado, Martha Argerich, and Philip Glass. His compositions are often said to be strongly influenced by minimalist music, but he has established his own style by freely incorporating a variety of genres, including classical, rock, jazz, bop, and ethnic music from the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Africa.

His most widely recognized work is a ballad for two cellos and string orchestra, titled Violoncelles, Vibrez! (1993), which was dedicated to his close friend Mario Brunello, a fellow student of Janigro. It has been performed by many cello ensembles in Japan, including in an arrangement for eight cellos. His other solo cello piece, Lamantatio (1998), which requires the cellist to sing as well as play, is also frequently performed. He also has written a work for shamisen and orchestra, which was commissioned in Japan. He currently teaches at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and the instrument he performs on is a Francesco Ruggeri made in 1679. His first visit to Japan was in 2004 for the “Summer in Tokyo,” where he performed Violoncelles, Vibrez! amongst other pieces.

A Must-Read Comic for Cellists

“Boku no Giovanni”

Writer/Yumi Kogo

Characters

The cast of the comic

Tetsuo Tezuka

A boy who loves the cello. After looking for a fellow cellist to play with, he ends up having mixed feelings about Ikumi’s cello talent. He later goes to study with Yuriko Soga in Italy. After returning to Japan, he enters a competition.

Ikumi Tachibana

The other protagonist of the story. The only survivor of a marine accident, he is taken in by Tetsuo’s family and is introduced to the cello. He grows up to become a emerging cellist in the classical music world.

Tetsuro Tezuka

Tetsuo’s older brother and good friend. He used to play the cello, but became jealous of his brother’s ability and stopped playing. Later he becomes a ‘mental trainer’ for musicians.

Yuriko Soga

A cellist living in Italy, Tetsuo initially refers to her as the ‘witch.’ She has a carefree personality, but she is an internationally famous cellist. She later becomes Tetsuo’s teacher.

Yukari Narita

A student in the piano department in a Music High School. She becomes Tetsuo’s accompanist, introduced to him by Yuriko. She likes his free style of playing and they become fast friends. She brings out the best in Tetsuo.

-

“Boku no Giovanni” is a popular music-themed manga serialized in “Monthly Flowers,” a manga magazine for women published by Shogakukan. There have already been four tankoubon released. The manga depicts the lives of two boys who choose to dedicate their lives to the cello, and it’s become popular not only with women but men as well. The story is different from the usual type that follow music students living happily while competing with each other, instead delicately portraying the struggles of a boy who aspires to find his place in the world of music. It is in this setting that the character modeled after Giovanni Sollima appears, and they play an important role in the story.

The Beginning

Tetsuo Tezuka, an elementary school student who plays the cello in a small port town, feels lonely because his older brother Tetsuro, his only cello-playing friend, has stopped playing. Tetsuro had begun to feel inferior to Tetsuo’s rapid improvement, so decides to distance himself from the cello so he wouldn’t end up hating his younger brother. Unaware of his feelings, Tetsuo repeatedly asks him to play ‘Giovanni Bazzoni’s’ work for two cellos, Call of the Cello with him.

At the same time, a large passenger ship sinks on a stormy sea off the coast of their island; a faint voice in the distance is heard. Ikumi Tachibana, who followed to voice to the beach, loses his mother — his only living relative — in the accident, and is taken in by Tetsuo’s family. There, Ikumi learns that the voice he heard was actually Tetsuo’s cello playing.

World-renowned cellists Sollima and Yo-Yo Ma as models

Tetsuo starts playing the cello at age six. He always asks his older brother to play together with him.

It all started when he saw a video of Call of the Cello by Giovanni Bazzoni, which his father gave him. The character of Bazzoni — who has a great influence on Tetsuo — is modeled on Giovanni Sollima, the cellist and composer, and Call of the Cello is reminiscent of one of Sollima’s masterworks, Violoncelles, Vibrez! The other cellist in the panel, Lesser Curtis, is modeled after Yo-Yo Ma. Tetsuo was fascinated by the ‘shadow dancing’ between the two world-famous cellists and became enraptured with the cello.

***

Ikumi finds out that Tetsuo wants somebody to play cello with, so he can play Call of the Cello with them, so he asks Tetsuo to teach him how to play. Both boys start out lonely, but day by day they grow closer through their connection with the cello, and vow to remain lifelong friends.

The world-famous cello “Witch”

Another person who stands out in this story is the character of Yuriko Soga, a world-famous Japanese cellist living in Italy. Every summer she visits Tetsuo’s house to relax. She has a carefree personality, but her playing is of the highest level. Through Yuriko, Tetsuo realizes how difficult the life of a professional cellist is, but also thinks that he has no talent. As if to fight against this reality, he refers to Yuriko as a “witch” and rejects her as an outsider in his world.

One day, Tetsuo spends a week at his grandfather’s house, and when he returns home he finds that Ikumi has effortlessly learned how to play the Dvorak Cello Concerto, which he is unable to play yet. He becomes angry and jealous of Ikumi’s talent and his ability to play with the ideal sound that he wants for himself, and there are many scenes after this that make the reader turn the pages with a heavy heart; only in comics can you see the mood and atmosphere of a person’s feelings at a glance.

As if to escape from Ikumi, Tetsuo goes to study abroad in Sicily, Italy, where Yuriko lives. Five years later, he returns to Japan only to find that Ikumi’s talent has blossomed. Tetsuo pursues his own unique way of making music, but struggles to find a pianist to accompany him in a competition due to his strange way of playing. Through his connection with Yuriko, Tetsuo is introduced to Yukari Narita, a high school pianist who prefers a free style of playing, and this inspires Tetsuo to search for his own style in earnest. It will be interesting to see how his relationship with Ikumi and his future as a cellist develops in future chapters...

(Caption beneath image: Monthly Flowers March 2019 / featured cover illustration)

Interview with the Author of “My Giovanni”

- Hozumi-san - Discovering Sollima and the Fascination with the Cello

Hozumi-san, the creator of “My Giovanni,” debuted in 2010 with her work The Wedding-Eve, which won the Silver Flower Award at the Monthly Flowers comic audition. She made her published book debut with the same work, which is a collection of short stories of which the title is one. The book won the 4th Pukurog Grand Prix in the manga category, and also placed second in the “Staff Choice: This Manga is Amazing!” It also placed second In the ladies’ comics category. Subsequent works include Sayonara Sorcier, which depicts the life of Vincent Van Gough, and Usemono no Yado.

My Giovanni was inspired by a performance of Sollima’s Violoncelles, Vibrez! The series began in 2016 and is still ongoing. We asked Hozumi-san to talk about her encounter with the cello, its appeal, and how My Giovanni was born.

She first fell in love with the cello through 2CELLOS.

Q: I understand that you have always liked minimalist music. How exactly did you come to know about Sollima?

A: My first exposure to minimalist music was with Michael Nyman’s The Heart Asks Pleasure First, but one day I got hooked on 2CELLOS. I had a CD of cellist and composer Siegen Tokuzawa, but I had never watched a proper cello performance before. When I started listening to 2CELLOS, I became more and more fascinated with the sound of the cello and started listening to serious classical music. That’s when I came across Sollima’s Violoncelles, Vibrez! From that point on, I started buying Sollima’s recordings and playing them while working on manuscripts (laughs). After that, I listened to recordings of Joe Hisaishi, Ryuuchi Sakamoto, and others that had a bit of minimalist elements, but I still find it difficult to listen to completely minimalist music. I prefer works that mix minimalist elements with folk and other styles.

Q: I heard that your encounter with Sollima’s works is what led you to create My Giovanni. What was it about Sollima’s music that appealed to you?

A: More than anything, it’s the drama! Of course there’s a strong element of repetition since it’s minimalist, but after listening to a song I feel a sense of fulfillment, as if I’d watched an entire movie. When I heard it for the first time, I remember being impressed and thinking, “Wow, I’ve found such an amazing piece of music!” I was so impressed. It seemed like all of human life experience was depicted in it, and I racked my brain wondering if and how I could draw a manga like that. I started to draw it, but it still didn’t reach the ideal I have, and I’m still struggling with it (laughs).

Q: Do you have any specific cellists that you modeled the characters of Tetsuo, Ikumi, and Yuriko Soga after?

A: I don’t have anybody specific in mind, because I think the way they perform is related to their personalities, so I wouldn’t want to attach them to a specific cellist. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to use anybody in particular as a model because, for the sake of the story progression, I sometimes have to push through the performance scenes with a more comic-like style…

But I have a feeling that there is a bit of Sollima in all of them. Actually, learning to play the cello has made me realize that more.

Q: Hozumi—san, your drawings of cellists are natural and beautiful. Is there anything you pay attention to when you draw them, or anything you are very particular about?

A: I really appreciate you saying so. But I don’t think I’m quite there yet. I actually started cello classes and tried to play the cello myself, but it’s really difficult to draw not only the instrument itself but also the playing position — and not only for cellists. I will continue to work hard to draw the flow of the skeleton and muscles as realistically as I can.

Q: You said you’re learning to play the cello. What was your impression of the cello when you started playing it?

A: This might not be something to talk about in a classical magazine, but I was in a band for a while when I was in school, so I had a little bit of experience with the electric bass. So, when I started cello, I had the faint hope that I would be a little better than an amateur because it was a string instrument… but (of course) it was completely different. Unlike electric bass and guitar there are no frets, and even just holding the bow is very difficult. It was a struggle for me to make a single note sound good. Since then, when I hear cellists play — which I used to listen to without much thought — now I am in awe of them. When I draw the characters in my work I think, “It’s amazing, they can all play so well.” (Laughs)

Q: What is the appeal of the cello for you?

A: It has a wide range, with high notes that pull at your heartstrings but also deep bass notes. I think it’s great that they can play everything from melody to bass lines, and since I used to play the bass I think it’s really cool to be able to do that! As a manga artist, my motivation for drawing them is to find a way to express the sexiness that cellists exude when playing cello.

Q: What are your favorite songs, both to play and to listen to?

A: I haven’t gotten very far with my playing because I’m too busy with the manuscript, but I often listen to the song Rain by Ryuichi Sakamoto. It’s a trio for piano, violin and cello, and I imagined this song when I was drawing the live performance scene for the same ensemble in the comic. I also like Piazzolla in general, but in particular I often play Duo de Amor when I’m drawing.

I really like to hear the cello played by my teacher.

Q: How much time do you spend practicing the cello? What do you find most difficult when you practice?

A: Actually, I haven’t been able to attend classes since I had a health scare last year, and I’m not able to play as much as I used to. Really, all practicing is difficult, but if I had to pick one thing I’d say that even though my left hand fingering is good, I can’t keep up with the bowing… sorry for being such a beginner…

Q: Is there a moment that made you glad you started playing the cello?

A: I’m really only a novice, so just being able to play a single note with a tight, deep sound is a great feeling. “Amazing! I can make the cello sound like a cello!” That alone makes me very happy. Also, it was really helpful for me to understand how to hold the bow and use proper tilted posture as a reference for drawing, it was really great! I’m also happy just listening to the teacher play so skillfully in front of me.

Q: What color is your case?

A: I haven’t bought a case yet because I’m still at the stage where I’m renting my cello, but I like white ones and the deep red Bordeaux-like color, and in the comic Tetsuo’s case is white and Ikumi’s is Bordeaux.

Q: Like My Giovanni, many of your works feature gentlemen, siblings and their home environments. Are those things you consciously decide to focus on?

A: When I create my stories, I often adapt and build on my own experiences as a teenager, so that might have an influence on my work. However, I think the best part of a story is to leave things to the imagination of the reader rather than explaining everything about how the story came to be. Although there are fragments of my personal memories in some parts, it is undoubtedly the original story of the characters, and I hope you will enjoy reading it until the end.

#boku no giovanni #hozumi #interview #my giovanni #sarasate #classical music #cello #cellists #giovanni sollima #sollima #contemporary classical

[fandomlurker]

A Ponderous Rewatch: Pavlov’s Mice and Cameo

So thanks to Tumblr nerfing my ability to make an admittedly absurdly long post combining the previous episode rewatch with this one, I had to do this entry in two parts.

But at least now we’re in for the real treat: The first episode in airing order that’s animated by TMS Entertainment. And hey, even the Animaniacs show itself seems to acknowledge that this is special, because theme song rhyme is…

We're Animanie! Totally insane-y!~

Pinky and the Brainy!~

…which hasn’t been done since their debut. So this is gonna be fun.

Might as well get this out of the way, then, since this episode obviously involves Ivan Pavlov. I think most people who know of Pavlov through cultural osmosis pretty much know him as just “that one scientist who got dogs to respond to the sound of bells as if they were being offered food”. This is what happened, but it’s only part of the story. In reality, Ivan Pavlov was doing research on the physiology of digestion in dogs and he noticed one day that the dogs he was studying started to drool in the mere presence of the lab technician who regularly fed them even if the technician didn’t have food with them. Pavlov developed a way to redirect the dogs’ digestive juices outside of the body so that they could be measured, and then he ran some conditioning experiments to see if he could get them to salivate in response to external stimuli that had nothing to do with food, like ringing a bell.

The year in the title card, 1904, was the year Ivan Pavlov was awarded the Nobel Prize for the previously mentioned experiments, which he published the results of in “The Work of the Digestive Glands” in 1897. Basically, by 1904 he was done with his work with dogs and he moved on to experimenting with mice…at least according to this article in National Geographic by Virgina Hughes.

With that, let’s begin the episode proper.

“At the dawn of the 20th century, Russian scientist, Ivan Pavlov, trained animals through his technique of conditioned reflex” says the narrator as we zoom in on a laboratory with Pavlov and our lovable mouse duo.

“Time to earn your dinner, my little mousey friends!”

It’s interesting how Pinky is the one that flinches uncomfortably at the loud sound of the gong while Brain simply snaps into his conditioned response. And that response? Uhhh…

“I’m a little teapot, short and stout.~”

“This is my handle, this is my spout.~”

(Is he…you know…?)

“When I get all steamed up, hear me shout!~”

“Tip me over and pour me out.~”

Oh no… This is a cute and funny scene and all, but when you know about Brain’s canonical issues with how he hates not being in control of a situation and all the traumas he’s endured (for those of you not in the know, yes, Brain does have a lot of trauma in his backstory that we learn about much later, both in the 90s spin-off and the reboot) regarding both general control and losing family and friends…there’s a bitter tinge to this scene.

He’s so embarrassed and humiliated.

He takes the cheese but he is positively fuming with rage, and I can’t exactly blame him from what I know about him.

This is made all the worse by Pinky’s innocent reaction to Brain’s little song and dance.

“Hahahahaha! Wonderful! Hahaha! EGAD, Brain, I could watch you do that dance all day! Haha, narf!”

For Pinky, this is harmless silliness and he gets to see Brain sing and dance and “have fun”, which is not a usual occurrence. But for Brain? Well...

“You have watched it all day, Pinky. Sixty-one times, to be exact. It’s a conditioned reflex to that infernal gong.”

“I’m powerless to stop it!”

Well, Brain, at the very least it’s not like you were a part of a more inhumane experiment like one regarding, say, learned helplessness or anything. …Oh wait. Whoops. (For those sensitive to animal abuse, I suggest refraining from clicking on the second link, and caution against clicking on the first if even more clinical text descriptions of such would upset you. The third link is spoilers for the reboot.)

All that aside, it seems like it’s Pinky’s turn. He gets the more traditional bell chime for his stimulus.

And the result is him going into an uncontrollable and very enthusiastic Slavic folk dance.

With violent results. I hope you appreciate that last screencap, as the animation goes by so quickly I had a lot of trouble isolating the part where Pinky kicks Brain and he goes flying.

Pinky is all too happy to get a reward of cheese, his favourite food, for doing something that he has no memory of.

“What’cha doin’ over there, Brain?”

“Contemplating your afterlife, Pinky.”

That’s not exactly fair, Brain, you know he has no control over this. To Brain’s credit, though, he doesn’t bop him or anything for kicking him involuntarily.

Pavlov leaves, playfully saying that he hopes the mice dream of cheese tonight, and the mice are immediately down to business.

“At last, he’s gone.”

“Now we can begin our conquest of the world!”

We’re already back to it being “our” conquest of the world, eh?

“Behold my latest creation, Pinky: The Vacuum-o-nator.”

Brain has never been good with naming things, has he? At least, not so far. I wonder if this will continue throughout the franchise?

Pinky is certainly very happy and impressed, though.

“It uses reverse air pressure to vacuum everything toward it.”

You know, I was just about to roast Brain for thinking that making a very odd version of a vacuum cleaner was such a brilliant thing, but then I remembered that this takes place in 1904. The vacuum cleaner as we know it was “invented independently by British engineer Hubert Cecil Booth and American inventor David T. Kenney” in 1901 according to Wikipedia, and portable vacuums were available to the general public starting in 1905.My apologies, Brain, that actually is very impressive.

Although, this all hinges on if the viewer considers episodes that take place in the past and/or at different locations than Acme Labs California to be mere Alternate Universe/What If? stories or Brain and Pinky using some kind of time machine to go to a different place and time for these episodes. (Before you tell me that this is just a cartoon and sicc the Please, Please Get a Life Foundation on me, I do this to have fun and maybe educate myself and the reader along the way. I promise I have a life. Barely.)

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Pinky?”

“Uhh… Yeah, Brain! But where are we gonna find rubber pants our size?”

Pinky, that’s… Listen, folks, don’t make the same mistake I did and google “rubber pants”. It’s not what you think it is. You will be disappointed.

BONK!

Seems like you’re enjoying yourself there, Pinky.

“No, Pinky. We’re going to use the Vacuum-o-nator to steal Russia’s crown jewels!”

Man, the animation for even this one small proclamation by Brain is so, so good. Brain standing authoritatively and holding the pen like a scepter or spear, the grand sweep of his arm as he says “no”, the serious and slightly menacing expression on his face, a violent and grabby swing of his arm on the word “steal”,  and a dramatic point and look up towards the sky when he finishes. TMS does great work, folks.

“Narf! Genius, Brain!”

Look at Brain’s satisfied smile at Pinky’s simple compliment. Remember what I said earlier about Brain going through his explanations to show off to and  impress Pinky? At this point I’m absolutely convinced that that’s why Brain turns up the theatrics more than necessary when going through his plans. After all, Pinky is (oddly and rather sadly) the only one in-universe who thinks Brain is a genius and a good person.

…Of course, the effect can sometimes be lessened by subsequent innocent bumbling.

“Turn it off, Pinky.”

He says this so exasperatedly yet so deadpan at the same time, it’s great.

“Oh! Right-o!”

Even Pinky immediately knows that he fucked up.

“Zort! Whew! Wild hairdo, Brain! Heh heh, I like it.”

He even pets Brain’s “hairdo”, aww. And though I personally could take or leave the ‘do, I like the pointed, sharp look this mishap’s given to his ears.

BONK!

“Now I feel cleansed.”

Okay, this one might have been a little too much, Brain.

“But Brain, aren’t the crown jewels always guarded by giant Cossacks?”

Well, Pinky, from what I know Cossacks were usually used extensively in the police force and as border guards during this time, so I guess that’s possible?

Brain picking the lock with the pen is a fun little detail.

“Don’t worry about the guards… For tonight, Pinky, at precisely 1 am, there’s a total lunar eclipse. “

Again, this is probably not a thing the average person could look up quickly and easily in the 90s and the writers most likely didn’t care about accuracy here, but there were no total lunar eclipses in 1904. There were some penumbral lunar eclipses in March and September of that year, though. Just a fun fact for you folks.

“The Earth’s shadow will completely cover the moon, blacking out all of St. Petersburg for a period of 30 seconds.”

Brain…?!? Brain, how did you get the diagram on that piece of paper to animate like that? What kind of Harry Potter-style magic bullshit is this?

I know this is a cartoon and all and I’m not truly upset but this honestly came out of nowhere and made me do a double-take.

“In that brief time, we will sneak past the Czar’s guards under the cover of darkness and steal the crown jewels…for he who controls the jewels controls Mother Russia!”

More dramatics!

“But…I thought your mother’s name was Désirée?”

I love Brain’s pose here. Very grumpy and sassy.

As for Pinky’s comment: We do get to meet Brain’s parents way later in the spin-off, though neither are addressed by any name. I’m taking this joke as canon anyway because it’s funny.

Well, well, well… Looks like we’re shaking things up a bit with an inking instead of a bonk. That’s gonna be a pain to get out of his white fur, though.

“Soon, Pinky, I will rule Russia…so from now on, call me Czar.”

Another sassy hand-on-hip pose.

“Right-o, Brain!”

“—eek! Czar Brain!”

“Come along, Pinky… Conquest awaits!”

Nice to know that despite the inking, Pinky’s still following him anyway. Plus he’s doing it with that fond look on his face again. Hmm…

What follows is a cute and ingenious sequence of Brain launching Pinky and himself through an open window via the spring force of a mousetrap. It goes by very quickly, but I just wanted to highlight a few things I managed to notice while pausing through it. Kudos to the animators again for these little details.

Pinky’s the one that wraps one arm around Brain’s shoulders so that Brain has both hands free to spring the mousetrap properly and so that they’ll be launched together.

Interestingly enough, Pinky’s the cautious one who braces for impact right away while Brain gleefully flies through the air with his arms outstretched.

The “camera” changes perspective and while Brain is still boldly flying forward with confidence, Pinky is still worried but has now opened his eyes as they fly towards the window.

Pinky’s still holding onto Brain and the Vacuum-o-nator as tight as he can. As they get closer to the window, however…

…Pinky seems to realize he’s going to smash into the wall above the window if he doesn’t let go, so he lets go of Brain. Brain doesn’t realize where his trajectory is taking him.

Pinky angles himself downward and through the open window, but it’s too late for Brain.

WHAM! RIP, Brain.

But his pain is not done! It looks like Pinky’s landing was in the soft snow. Meanwhile, Brain slides down onto the window and through the opening, only to bash into the lid of a garbage can, much to Pinky’s concern.

Then Brain falls headfirst into the snow.

And finally, Brain is clonked on the head by the same garbage can lid, which makes a loud gong noise. Someone get this poor mouse some Aspirin.

But since there was a gong noise, you all know what that means!

Cutely, Pinky joins in on the dance in the middle of it.

“Ha! Oh that was fun, Czar Brain! But let’s give it another go, right? Only this time with feeling!”

Man, that side-eye at the beginning from Brain…

Pinky’s body language is great in this episode, too. The gleeful flapping of his arms and feet and the “with feeling” gesture are fantastic examples of his more open and energetic nature coming through.

Oh hey, there’s that one shot of Brain being ticked off used in the spin-off theme song! I can’t exactly blame him for his anger here. He just went through a lot of pain in a short amount of time and was then involuntarily made to humiliate himself. Pinky doesn’t mean to be mean here—he genuinely wants to have some sing and dance fun with Brain—but it’s gotta sting to have the humiliation highlighted.

Pinky still doesn’t deserve a bonking for it, though. But it’s slapstick, so he’s fine.

Heh, “deliveries to rear” indeed.

Oh, are those jingle bells on a sleigh that I see?

Uh oh…

“No, Pinky… Not now!”

It cannot be stopped, Brain. He must dance!

Another quick detail as Brain launches himself at Pinky’s midsection to either topple him over or hold him still to get Pinky to stop.

Alas, Pinky’s dancing is too strong.

OUCH!

The face of regret.

His punishment is swiftly thwarted, though.

“…That was unpleasant.”

They take a different and more uneventful ride on a hay wagon to the palace.

I love the exaggerated perspective going on here.

Peekin’.

“We made it inside, Brain!”

“…’Czar Brain’.”

“Czar Brain.”

He says it so quietly and sweetly, aww.

“Yes, Pinky. There are fleeting moments when I even amaze myself.”

I…don’t know if it’s much of an accomplishment yet, Brain. Settle that ego down a bit.

Oh, that’s some classic Looney Tunes-style sneaking animation there.

Wait, why is the door to the treasure room just open behind them? Czar Nicolas II, what gives?

Speaking of…

Hello, Czar Nicolas II. I hope you’re enjoying your “eclipse party”. You only have another 14 years or so to live it up, after all.

“In just a few minutes, it’ll be totally dark and scary. OooOOoo!~ But don’t anyone touch me, I have cooties!”

I, uhhh. Okay, then.

Same, boys. Same. Best to get down to business.

“Behold the crown jewels of Mother Russia, Pinky. World conquest will soon be ours!”

Again, world conquest is “ours” and not just Brain’s. Also you can just tell Pinky’s thinking “I’m going to wear so much of this jewelry!”

“Now, Brain?”

“Not yet. Wait for the total eclipse.”

Speaking of…

“Complete darkness, Pinky. Start the Vacuum-o-nator…”

“NOW!”

That gonging noise is an interesting choice for a chime. Surely this ornate clock is only an omen of good things for our duo.

Pinky, you’re swooning again. And Brain…

Oh no.

Another clock! Who’d have thought Russian nobility loved clocks so much? This one has a more pleasant bell chime, though.

…Oh NO!

Well, looks like things are going to hell pretty quickly.

Goodbye, boys.

Goodbye, Czar Nicolas II! You might wanna look out for a man named Grigori Rasputin in the future, okay?

Nice hat, Brain.

“Whu--? The eclipse is over? Narf! What happened, Brain?”

BONK!

“Zort! I mean, Czar Brain.”

“We failed again, Pinky… But just wait until tomorrow night!”

“Why? What are we going to do tomorrow night, Brain?”

“What else, Pinky?: Try to take over the world!”

It was a nice try, boys, but honestly I don’t know how you were going to fit all those crown jewels into that tiny improvised vacuum bag, anyway.

One last cute little detail in this episode is our mousey duo jumping up with enthusiastic determination in front of the silhouette of the moon on the last note of the theme reprise. One day, you guys. One day…

Oh! And before I forget, have another short cameo from “Plane Pals”. It’s a tiny one.

Pinky and the Brain steal a sheep off of an airplane. For what purpose? Who knows? But that’s it. I’m kind of wondering if the writers wanted to make a running joke of them making cameos to steal random things for world conquering purposes and just sort of gave up.

Anyway, so ends our recap for this post. It sure was a long one, but what can I say? There were some very cute details that needed to be shared. Have we learned anything new this time? Well, I mean, besides historical trivia.

Brain thinks both he and Pinky are great actors, despite his own near inability to lie and keep up an innocent pretense. Oh, he can be sarcastic, sure, but he can’t seem to manage to stop himself from revealing that he’s out for world  domination whenever he has an audience.

For the first time we see Brain’s annoyance and humiliation resulting from him being a lab mouse. Though it’s on the more subtle side at the moment, Brain seemed extra grumpy and violent during that last     episode because of the conditioning he’s unwillingly gone through. I’m     curious to see if there are any more examples of this before we reach an  episode touching on his origin story. Or…one of his origin stories, at     least. There’s around four of them last I checked and all but one of them  can reasonably fit into the others.

Pinky is truly beginning to show how much he adores Brain, which is nice. Beforehand we knew he was down with his world domination plans for whatever reason and also that he thinks Brain’s plans are great and ingenious. Now, though, we’ve gotten to the point of him literally swooning at Brain and his plans. Something’s definitely brewing there.

Next time: We get some more substantial cameos, join our mouse duo on a Fort Knox heist, and meet a new character that is both pretty important to the “lore” of the show going forward…but also doesn’t appear in person after their introductory episode until the very end of the Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain spin-off run.

See you then!

#Pinky and the Brain #PatB #Pavlov's Mice #Plane Pals

[apothecarinomicon]

Spring week 5 part 1

I took stock of the tools at the cottage, and I thought I might be able to get a few more to help with my work. With a sickle, I figured, I could cut through the underbrush in places like Glimmerwood Grove and Moonbreaker Mountain better and find the reagents I needed more easily.

Aidan told me the best place to buy that kind of thing was actually at The Copper Fox. It seems in addition to booze and food, Todd—that's the bartender, Todd MacArthur—sells weapons and tools to adventurers, rangers, and foragers. Remembering the maybe-bribe I received on my first visit to The Copper Fox, I asked Aidan if Todd’s tool trade was somehow illicit or under-the-table. He said he didn't think there was anything illegal about it, but that line of questioning seemed to make him uncomfortable, so I left it at that.

Anyway, I headed down to the Copper Fox when it opened this morning to get myself a sickle.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

It wasn't as busy in the tavern as it was on my previous visit, though there were still plenty of people sitting around eating and drinking and chatting at the tables and bar. I saw the Low family, probably on their way out to the mines. Crystal smiled and waved. I saw Dr. Ardor-Knox, sitting with someone I didn’t recognize. They didn’t acknowledge me.

The bard (I've learned that her name is Tara Moultrie, and that she and Todd might be in a relationship, although accounts differ) was performing again, standing on a table singing and playing her lute. It was a song I wasn’t familiar with, but she recited the lyrics to me afterwards so that I could get them down. She told me it was called "Journey Song."

My lady is gentle, my lady is kind, She loves me and I love her true Her laughter’s contagious, her dancing’s outrageous, Without her who knows what I’d do

My lady loves stories, and within our cottage, She lets me sweep her off her feet I look in her eyes and find to my surprise, Together we’ve a life complete

But I remember the days when the world opened wide And took me into its embrace I remember the time of the smell of adventure Of slaughter, of life, and of chase I remember my fellows all sat ‘round the campfire The stories of glories we’d tell I think of it often, my heart starts to soften, Oh yes, I remember it well

My lady is pretty, she puts out the washing, And of course she always knows best When it gets too hard for a restless old bard, She soothes me against her warm breast

My lady, she keeps me at home and busy Trav’ling just isn’t for her And if you ask me where I want to be, With her is where I’d prefer

But I remember the days of journeys, and danger, And adventure calling my name I remember the things I earned as a hero The money, and glory, and fame I remember my friends and my allies in battle The bond and the trust that we had As I think back on it while writing this sonnet It’s hard not to miss it a tad

My lady is gentle, my lady is kind, And though I hope that she can’t tell, The mem’ry of questing remains interesting Oh yes, I remember it well

It's one of many folk songs about longing for adventure—and not a particularly adroit one at that—but the melody is pretty and it went over well with the patrons of the tavern. As they applauded Tara, I asked Todd about purchasing a sickle. He looked at me with an eyebrow raised and asked me what I planned on using it for. I told him the truth—that I hoped it would help me forage more efficiently. He studied my face for a moment, before calling Tara over and asking her to retrieve one for me from the stock in the storage cellar. It set me back a full fifty silver, but the tool she brought seemed well-made, with a dark wooden handle and a blade that shined in the light.

As Todd counted my silver, Tara made small talk. She asked how I was liking Greenmoor so far, and I told her my time here had already been much more eventful than I’d expected. She laughed and said the peaceful small-town veneer was deceptive, but that I'd get used to the activity. It couldn't be any more hectic than life in the city, she said. I agreed that maybe since I'd expected calm, the relative activity seemed more intense than it might have otherwise.

It was then that I asked about the song she'd been singing and she gave me the lyrics. I considered asking further questions about something else, but the moment I resolved to do so, what it was that I wanted to know left my mind entirely. There was an awkward silence as I racked my brain—something about my predecessor, maybe?—but it didn't return to me. So, I thanked them instead and left to test out my new sickle on Moonbreaker Mountain.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

I decided to try and find another candy rock, this one to send to the Museum of Magic. I followed the same trail I'd met Mòrag on a few days previous, past the shrine and right to the candy rock cluster I'd mined from before. A lot of the underbrush had already grown back, but my sickle made even shorter work of it than I’d expected it to—saying it was like slicing through butter would be a bit of a cliché, and I suppose it wouldn't even be true: it was more like slicing through air. The tangled plant matter barely even slowed me down, and I made it to the candy rock cluster in record time (I know it was only the second time I'd been, but still).

I chipped off a healthy chunk of candy rock, and stored it in my satchel for safe-keeping until I could package it up to send to the museum.

On my way back down, I stopped briefly at the shrine to Cernunnos. I was looking over the horned figurines and the offering bowls on the altar when I noticed something strange. The carvings on the stone wall behind the altar didn't match Cernunnos’ iconography. There was a deer, sure, but it was a doe shepherding two fauns—not a single antler among them. The other images—the thick trees, the rolling hills, the great owl, and especially the four arrowheads—symbolized a different deity altogether: Lèabeinn, patron goddess of those lost in mountains and hills. This shrine must have been originally dedicated to her—only later would worshippers of Cernunnos have come along and converted it.

This revelation was concerning for a number of reasons: first, desecrating the shrine of any deity is obviously a major blunder, especially if you're supplanting them with another god. Furthermore, Lèabeinn is notoriously jealous about her worship. She will help those in need of her aid, but she expects their gratitude in turn—and she will have it, one way or another. This isn't a problem for most, as those she helps are usually more than happy to repay her with worship, but those who give worship to others that ought to have been hers…

It was at this point that my train of thought was broken by a voice behind me saying my name. I turned and saw MacKay Bankhead, looking pale and frightened. I asked what he was doing out on the mountain, and he told me he worked part-time as an assistant to Mòrag McKinney. Then he told me that Mayor McKinney needed my help. He said that they had been in the middle of a hike up the mountain (a hike she had been making more and more frequently recently) when she had abruptly wandered off of the trail, mumbling to herself, that now he couldn't even get her to acknowledge him.

It seemed Lèabeinn was taking her due. I told MacKay to lead me to the mayor, and I'd do what I could to help.

⇦●〇●⇨

#writing #writeblr #original fiction #fantasy #writeblr community #amwriting #writers on tumblr #original writing #rpg #writers of tumblr #writblr #entry #apothecaria #fiction #writers #writerblr #creative writing #cernunnos #new chapter #celtic

[penpalkingdom]

23/M/Brazil 🇧🇷   Hello folks, welcome! (yes, Sherlock! I know, it’s a very long ad) I don’t know exactly how to start this message, but let’s try. My name is Fillipe, I’m a normal guy, maybe with an above average curiosity. I live in a city called Belo Horizonte, it’s the capital of the state of Minas Gerais. I love classic art and cities that preserve the traditional architecture of their people. Today there’s a term for that, “Dark Academia”. I sympathize a lot with this “movement”, but I don’t follow it to the letter. I’m too eclectic to fit a specific group. I have already studied some French, Italian, German and Norwegian. Don’t be surprised, it was just the basics. I have also studied the Hebrew, Russian and Korean alphabet. I didn’t keep them for lack of practice, but they are easy alphabets, I want to return to studying these languages ​​(and many others) in the future. At the moment, the languages ​​I speak are Portuguese, English and Spanish. A secret: sometimes I think about the possibility of creating a conlang. I still don’t know which way to go academically and professionally, despite having many options in my mind. I have a hard time making decisions, depending on the subject. It’s bad to feel paralyzed, but it’s something that happens sometimes. And the worst part of it is that time doesn’t stop, it’s a little distressing. I’m a communicative guy, I like to talk about a lot of subjects because I have several interests, from philosophy to cooking. From sports to video games. I consider myself both an introvert and an extrovert, and I know this can seem like something strange. It varies according to how comfortable I feel. When I’m in an environment where I don’t know anyone, I act very discreetly. But, next to friends, I’m a very charismatic person. If you send me a message, I’ll be talkative with you, after all, we will both be in the mutual interest of getting to know each other and consequently building a friendship, right? There’s no reason to hide in this situation. Besides, I’m also a great listener, I’d love to hear about your day, hear interesting stories that you have lived, hear your dilemmas and etc. Believing that “tomorrow” will be a better day is not always an easy task, on the contrary. But honestly? I’m an optimistic person most of the time, I try to learn from difficult situations. Overcoming anxiety is a long journey, but I’m taking my steps in the right direction. If there’s one thing that I think is incredible, it’s the possibility of meeting people over the internet. Thanks to sites like this, I can meet people that, if it weren’t for the internet, I would never know them. Think, I live in Brazil, you live in another country (or in another state/city), what are the chances that we would meet if we had been born in the 19th century? Now, reflect a little: Many great people have lived in previous centuries and built incredible things. How would these people use the internet? Perhaps, if there was internet in the Renaissance period, an even greater number of artists would appear. Or maybe the big names like Da Vinci were even more inspired. I’m just saying that the fact that you are reading me right now, being so far away from me, that is impressive. We have the privilege that many ancestors would like to experience. I wanna meet you in a genuine way. Share with me your culture and your hobbies, lend me your eyes, let me explore the world with them. We can have deep dialogues and also banal conversations. We can learn from each other on various topics. We can be good friends. I’m obsessed with music, I spend my days listening to music from different genres (Classic Rock, Jazz, Blues, New Wave, POP, Soul Music, Hip-Hop, Metal, etc.). I wanna take singing lessons again, just like I wanna learn to play keyboard/piano and music production. If you like to share music and playlists, welcome to the club. Consequently, I’m also interested in dance, a duo that I’ve been enjoying watching on YouTube is: Kaycee Rice and Sean Lew, they are great. It’s also worth mentioning that, in my opinion, the Classic Ballet is (soooo) beautiful, if you are a ballerina, congratulations, I’m already your fan! Like most people, I also enjoy watching movies and TV shows, although I haven’t done that often lately. I’m eclectic and I like different genres (drama, fantasy, comedy, animation, documentary, horror, etc.) I will mention some information that may be interesting. If you are Turkish (🇹🇷), know that: Turkey is a fascinating country, filled with beautiful cities, cities that in turn are filled with great stories! How many stories does ancient Constantinople keep? I already talked to some Turks, they were all very friendly with me. To be honest, they were some of the most understandable people I’ve ever spoken to. I definitely wanna visit this nation someday. And the city I would most like to visit is Izmir. A fun and totally random fact: I like the name Zeynep, it sounds incredibly good and beautiful. I’ve been watching two Turkish series, Hakan: Muhafız and Börü. There’s a Turkish show that was broadcast in Brazil a few years ago, and my mother loved it, I watched episodes at random, but I confess that it was cool, in fact, it’s a guilty pleasure, the name is: “Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne?”… Anyway, I also like some Turkish artists, among them: maNga, Mor ve Ötesi, Duman, Yonca Lodi, Toygar Işıklı, Yuksek Sadakat. If you are Japanese (🇯🇵), know that: I have a huge admiration for Japanese culture, and it’s precisely for this reason that I would like to build friendships with Japanese citizens. I know that friendships are not built overnight, but, I’m in no hurry. In my view, Japan is almost a parallel world, due to the cultural contrast, but don’t take it as a critic, it’s precisely the difference that makes it special. I hope to travel to Japan someday, there are countless dishes that I would like to try, there are idioms that I would like to learn and several places that I would like to visit, maybe Kyoto will become my favorite city, maybe Osaka or even Tokyo, Time will tell. Some people may not know it, but the largest Japanese community outside Japan is in Brazil. In 2017 and 2018 Kawasaki Frontale won the J-League title, a fun fact is that this club has Grêmio (BRA) as inspiration, and Grêmio is my team here in Brazil. I’m passionate about traditional Japanese architecture, but this is even obvious. Another obvious thing is that kimonos are really cool, maybe I should start my collection. Another fun fact is that I loved spending my time watching Terrace House. In addition to all this, I like some Japanese anime, like: Kakegurui, Kuroshitsuji, Saint Seiya, Kimi no Na wa, Death Note, Devilman Chorão, Nanatsu no Taizai, etc. Finally, I like to listen some Japanese bands like: Urbangarde, Kinoko Teikoku, Polkadot Stingray, Mirei Touyama, Kavka Shishido, MACO. If you are a South Korean (🇰🇷), know that: At the moment, South Korea is in the spotlight, there are many foreigners becoming more and more interested in Korean culture. There are a lot of bad things that have happened throughout South Korean history, but at the end of the day, Koreans learned to deal with it, and it certainly wasn’t the easiest way. This overcoming is what most catches my attention, it’s admirable and should serve as an example. Well, I would like to build friendships with Koreans, it would be a great experience, what’s more, I wanna visit South Korea someday, Seoul seems to be extremely vibrant, and Busan so vivid and attractive. Maybe there are even other cities that surprise me. If you wanna help me learn more about the culture of Korea, the common things in everyday life related to food, gestures, clothing, the behavior of people in general, I would be extremely grateful, as this would be special. Anyway, South Korea is like that cool teenager that everyone wants to hang out with during their break. I’ve been watching some South Korean series, like: Record of Youth (second best), Start-Up, My First First Love, My Holo Love, Live, The King: Eternal Monarch (the best), “Hello, My Twenties”. There are also others that I plan to start soon. Finally, I like some Korean artists that I believe are not part of the “mainstream K-POP”, for example: So Soo Bin, Bolbbalgan4, CIKI, 20 years old, Sam Kim, Kim Na-young, Kwon Jin-ah… And to be fair, I also like G-Dragon and CL. If you are a Russian (🇷🇺), know that: Russia is an elegant country with a lot of tradition. There are many things about Russian history that I would like to know better, especially about the monarchic period. I have the impression that Russian cities breathe culture, from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, so I think they need to be enjoyed on a long-term, unhurried trip. By the way, I need to visit the Bolshoi theater at some point. The Cyrillic alphabet is intimidating at first, but then it becomes absurdly easy. The Russian language is beautiful and listening to it can be addictive, besides, the written form is also addictive, and I don’t need to mention the incredible authors who make up Russian literature, I think it’s obvious to all of us, but reading the great works in the original must be incredible. Despite stereotypes, I feel that Russians are warm in their relationships, which reminds me us, Latinos. A Russian show that I watched and found very well produced was Лучше, чем люди, I really liked this one. And of course, I can’t help mentioning Russian artists and bands that I like: Noize MC, t.A.T.u, Oxxxymiron, Земфира, Мы, InWhite, Vitas, Zemfira, Nochnye Snaipery, Okean Elzy, Zveri. If you are Italian (🇮🇹), know that: Italy makes me speechless. Have you ever watched Eat Pray Love? I believe that a trip to Italy can change a person’s life. Through this film I got to know the expression “dolce far niente”, and it was already something I felt, I just didn’t have a definition for me. And it was a satisfying moment. Another satisfying moment was when I watched La Vita È Bella, one of the best films I’ve seen, since then I recommend it to everyone. There are some Italian series on Netflix that I would like to watch soon: Baby and Suburra. Perhaps my favorite Italian city is Venice. But honestly, it is so difficult to choose just one. The Italian islands? They are breathtaking. I have a club in Italy, Juventus! And no, it’s not thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo… It’s more thanks to Nedved! Not that it means anything very relevant, but I eat pasta every day and I’m passionate about pizza. But let’s be serious now… Rome was the birthplace of Western civilization, Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance. As a mere admirer of tradition and classical art, I take my hat off to Italy. Italy is a strong candidate for the most beautiful country in the world. The truth is that I can’t talk about Italy without talking about beauty, one seems to define the other. And when it comes to Italy, beauty is literally in everything, in the language, in the streets, in natural landscapes, even in the neighborhood countries. And the Italian songs? They are indescribable. Come on, Italian artists and bands I like: Gianluca Grignani, Fabrizio De André, Gianna Nannini, Måneskin, Lorenzo Fragola, Il Volo, Tiziano Ferro, Litfiba, Marlene Kuntz, Zero Assoluto, Velvet, Ministri, Linea 77, Laura Pausini, Andrea Bocelli, Gigliola Cinquetti, Ultimo, Ornella Vanoni, etc. If you are French (🇫🇷), know that: You have the best accent, regardless of the language. And this is almost like a superpower, okay? So it’s time to celebrate… Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit now, but the compliment is still valid. Few know how much France influenced Brazil, since the period when Brazil was only a Portuguese colony. Napoleon’s expansion into Europe triggered many things, such as the arrival and permanence of the Royal Family in Brazil, but that is a subject for another time. I need to study French in the future, in addition to being a language close to Portuguese, it was in the past, the lingua franca among royalty. And we all want a little more glamor, right? It’s hard to say something about France that’s no longer obvious, so just know that for me, it would be really cool to make French friends. Like millions of people around the world, I also wanna visit France someday, especially the following cities: Strasbourg, Montpellier, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon… Do you have any suggestions? Fun fact: My favorite football player is Frenchman Zinedine Zidane. I know, life is full of contradictions. Anyway, there are some French artists and bands that I really like: Carla Bruni, Coralie Clément, Kyo, Jérémy Kapone, BB Brunes, Noir Désir, EIFFEL, Matmatah, Damien Saez, Vanessa Paradis, Les Innocents, Mademoiselle K, etc. If you are a native German speaker (🇩🇪),(🇨🇭),(🇱🇺),(🇱🇮) know that: Liechtenstein and Luxembourg are small countries even by European standards, but I believe that is part of the charm. I already met a girl from Luxembourg, it would be nice to meet more people from both countries. Liechtenstein’s population is so small that it’s almost a “VIP group”, I’m laughing. But certainly, being part of a nation like this is something quite different from what I’m used to, I mean, my city has a larger population than Luxembourg. However, I imagine that smaller countries are also much easier to manage. By the way, if there is something that I really appreciate about Switzerland, it is its form of government and the autonomy that each of its cantons has. I believe it is the most efficient model and I would like Brazil to replicate it. Anyway, I want to visit Switzerland someday, and make the most of its ski resorts, my favorite Swiss city is Zermatt, is there a correlation? Maybe yes maybe no. I find it fascinating that Switzerland has four official languages, varying by region. Romansh is losing its space over time, from what I hear, but I really hope that the future is more positive, it would be a pity if the Romansh fell into total disuse. I love Audrey Hepburn, she passed away and was buried in Switzerland, I am not in the habit of visiting tombs, in fact, I never did that, but maybe this will become my first time. I love chocolates, Switzerland produces the best chocolates, so I love Switzerland. In turn, Austria seems to me to be such a romantic country. As a good music lover, Vienna becomes an unmissable destination. Beside Vienna, there are other equally wonderful places that seem to have been drawn by hand, such as Innsbruck, Hallstatt, and especially Bad Gastein. There is another fact that makes me sympathize with Austria, it is the motherland of Empress Leopoldina, married to the Brazilian Emperor D. Pedro I. She was born in Vienna and was undoubtedly one of the most important women in the history of my country. Anyway, the history of Germany is also very interesting and I think it does not need new presentations. Many German immigrants came to Brazil and founded very beautiful cities here that still maintain Germanic traditions. At first, Berlin is not a city that attracts my attention, unlike Munich, Nuremberg, Freiburg and even Frankfurt. German literature is composed by very interesting authors, my favorite is Goethe, will I ever be able to read one of his books in the original? Speaking of the language, there are countless German dialects, I heard that some may have a greater difference between themselves than Portuguese language and the Spanish language, honestly, this is so cool. Moving on, here are some German artists that I like: Juli, Spider Murphy Gang, Revolverheld, Silbermond, Wir Sind Helden, Lotte, Namika, K.I.Z, Bengio, Clueso, Mark Forster, Scorpions, Rammstein, CRO, Xavier Naidoo. If you are Israeli (🇮🇱) or Jewish (✡️) (regardless of nationality), know that: You are welcome here! I love the Jewish people and the Jewish culture as a whole. To be honest, I not only appreciate the Jewish faith, but I follow it, I am a noahide. That said, regardless of the group you belong to (liberal, conservative, hasid, dati leumi, Sephardic, etc.) we can talk about Judaism, that would be lovely. If you are not a Jew, but an Israeli, you are also welcome here! There are several Israeli cities that I want to visit, such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Eilat, Haifa, Netanya, Acre, among others. Your country is my favorite, it’s where I would be right now, if I could. I wonder how magical it feels to be in Israel during the Purim party, or during Yom Kippur, it seems surreal. Israel’s history is also sensational, and speaks for itself, if we consider only the modern state of Israel, all the human, economic and technological progress that this country has achieved in so few decades is extraordinary. I would love to have Jewish and / or Israeli friends and talk about all these issues because it makes me happy. If you believe that we can be friends, that would be wonderful! I need to dedicate myself to studying the Hebrew language, at least the alphabet is much easier compared to Arabic. Israeli TV shows that I like: Bnei Aruba and Shtisel. There are movies and documentaries about Israel that I also really like, for example: The Red Sea Diving Resort, The Angel, Operation Finale, Inside The Mossad, etc. There are two Israeli shows that I would like to watch in the future: When Heroes Fly and Fauda. Israeli bands and artists that I like: Hadag Nahash, Ravid Plotnik, Tuna, Asaf Avidan, Izabo, Rita, Hatikva 6, Tamar Eisenman, Nissim Black, Gad Elbaz, Raviv Kaner, Idan Rafael Haviv, Eden Ben Zaken, Matisyahu, Omer Adam, Jasmin Moallem, Alex Clare, Amir Ve Ben, Jane Bordeaux, Hanan Ben Ari, Marina Maximilian. If you are Chinese (🇨🇳) or Taiwanese (🇹🇼), know that: If you are Chinese, know that: I follow channels of some Brazilian youtubers who live or have lived in China, the experiences they share are often hilarious, which makes me think that China is a very propitious place for fun and memorable tours. The Chinese seem to be quite hospitable and helpful, and also quite interested in interacting with foreigners, especially in smaller cities. As you might be guessing, I’d like to visit the Chinese regions where traditional architecture prevails, I think there’s a specific name for that, “hutongs”, right? I think it’s in these places where the most fascinating things are hidden. However, I don’t deny that I would also love to visit the major urban centers like Shanghai, Macau, Guangzhou, the modern part of Beijing, among others. I’ve been interested in martial arts since childhood and by my father’s influence I have always liked films that revolved around martial arts. It may be a stereotype, but perhaps China is the ideal place to get to know Kung Fu in a profound way. It’s also worth mentioning that I find the Chinese characters are very beautiful. If you’re from Taiwan, maybe you support Taiwan’s independence, maybe not, but regardless of your political views on this subject, I’d love to talk to you and listen to your thoughts, not just about these political issues, but about all aspects of everyday life in Taiwan, it seems like a very fun place that I would also like to visit. I tell you the same if you are from Hong Kong, it’s undoubtedly a place much above average, sometimes I watch some virtual tours and it’s impressive. It would be great if I could have information from people who are really inserted within that context, and not just opining on the other side of the world, from the comfort of their couches, if you know what I mean. Here are some Chinese artists I like: Li Ronghao, Da Zhuang, Joker Xue, Nick Chou, Lu Han, Gin Lee, Rocket Girls 101. If you are Polish (🇵🇱), know that: I strongly believe in Poland’s potential to become one of the most developed countries on the continent within the next few decades. I may be mistaken, but I feel that Warsaw is the heart of Eastern Europe, I have seen the city attract many Brazilians to work in the IT field. What’s more, Poles are known to be hard workers, which is great. Over the years, I have had contact with several Poles, there’s no specific reason for this, but we have always maintained good relations. I feel that culturally speaking, the franchise The Witcher has brought quite notoriety to Poland. I would like this to continue with Cyberpunk 2077, but CD Projekt Red couldn’t deliver everything it promised. Anyway, I wish the company success and that they can represent Poland well in the game industry in the future. Many people report on the internet their difficulties in the process of learning the Polish language, claim that it’s a rather difficult language, and I believe in these comments, but I think that makes the journey more attractive, I mean, challenges are cool, nobody feels gratification for finishing a game at level easy. I liked the movie Jak zostac gwiazda, despite several negative reviews on the internet, I would watch it again. Some Polish artists I like: Dawid Podsiadło, Natalia Szroeder, Mrozu, Baranovski. If you are Czech (🇨🇿), know that: Since childhood I have had a special affection for your country. Maybe it’s the sound of the name? Maybe it’s the beauty of your flag? Anyway, I liked to choose the Czech team in the video game. I admired players like Petr Cech and also Nedved. I did some Czech language lessons at Duolingo and it seems to be a fun language. Answer me: Why does “Dobrý večer!” sounds so beautiful? Sounds like the beginning of a poem. I will dedicate myself to learning Czech someday, because the history of the country is also attractive, from the Kingdom of Bohemia to the former Czechoslovakia, which in turn was dissolved without any armed conflict. I imagine Prague to be culturally vibrant, and at the same time compact, compared to other European capitals. I think it’s a country that should be looked at more closely by tourists. It’s also worth mentioning that one of the best film colleges in the world is located in Prague, FAMU. I confess that I would also love to visit Český Krumlov. “Once” is one of my favorite films, the leading actress is the Czech Markéta Irglová, I admire her musical work a lot. Also, here are some other Czech artists I like: Sto zvířat, Divokej Bill, Chinaski, Kryštof, UDG, Hana Zagorová, Lenka Filipová, ATMO music. If you are Romanian (🇷🇴), know that: there’s a Brazilian song that in its release was a real phenomenon, a hit! The fun fact is that actually this song is a version of a Romanian pop song, I will not mention the name here, in case you are curious, I can show you both. It’s hard for me to think about Bucharest and not remember the iconic Michael Jackson show, I wish I had witnessed that moment. We all know that Romanian is a Latin language, but the influence it has received from other languages in the region has made it unique, quite different from Portuguese, and that’s very cool, let’s be honest. I must to say that it is strange (in a good way) to open a website written entirely in Romanian and be able to make good deductions, rather than feeling myself totally lost. I wanna study Romanian someday and visit this country, I’m sure we share more things in common than just the origin of our language. But answer me a question: how do you feel being Dracula’s countryman? Just kidding. Here are some Romanian artists I like: Lidia Buble, Liviu Teodorescu, Florian Rus, Smiley, Andrei Ropcea. If you are Hungarian (🇭🇺), know that: my curiosity to know Hungary began a few years ago, when I was researching the lifestyle of digital nomads. In general, everyone made very good comments about Hungary, not only them but also tourists passing through the country, I think Hungarians learned the art of treating their visitors well. Incredible architecture, good food, hot springs, challenging language (the way we like it), affordable prices, hospitable people, I think my bags are ready. George Ezra’s song is already playing with repeat enabled. The question is: Buda side or Pest side? Which one’s the best? Kidding aside, here are some Hungarian artists I like: Follow The Flow, Punnany Massif, Halott Pénz, V-Tech, Emberek, EDDA Művek, Blahalouisiana. If you are Slovenian (🇸🇮), know that: I don’t know a lot about the history of your country, I need to confess that. But I’m interested in meeting you. I know it’s a small country with beautiful cities, as much as I may seem repetitive saying that, it’s reality. Slovenia is a country with so many green areas, that is an admirable fact. I also know that there are many caves in Slovenia, I have visited some in Brazil and enjoyed the experience, I imagine it’s as cool as. I wanna know more about the history of the Slovenian people, what is behind the beauty of their streets? Well, here are some Slovenian artists I like: Joker Out, Gaja Prestor, Nipke, Zlatko, Emkej, Big Foot Mama, Mi2. If you are a Norwegian (🇳🇴), know that: I enjoyed the experience of studying Norwegian, however briefly. I know that most Norwegians, especially young people, can communicate without problems in English, yet I believe that going back to norwegian study would be a nice thing. I can imagine myself lying on the couch, reading Sofies Verden in its original version. After all, every translation is a betrayal, right?! There are many things about Norway that catch my attention, among them is Svalbard, this island seems to me to be sensational, bears, dog sleds, northern lights, months in the sunlight, months in the moonlight, Santa Claus, entertainment industry on the rise. What I can say is that at the moment Norway is my favorite Scandinavian country. In the past that answer would be different. Some Norwegian artists I like: A-ha, dePresno, Amanda Tenfjord, Kings of Convenience, End of Proof, Thomas Dybdahl, Jonas Alaska, Jarle Skavhellen, Sigrid, Anna of the North. If you are Finnish (🇫🇮), know that: there are Brazilians who are completely enchanted by Finland, and after living with some of them, I can say that it’s something contagious. It seems that there’s a kind of magical atmosphere hovering over this country, as if Finland were some sort of “Disney”, I can’t explain, it’s difficult to put into words hahaha. Today Finland is a very stable nation and its people are known to be happy, which is something wonderful, at least that is what some studies point to. But tell me, what are the best things available in Finland when summer comes and all the ice goes away? Helsinki seems to have excellent infrastructure, but what about smaller cities, what is life like in these regions? In general, what do Finns think about the winter war? Why are Finns so passionate about metal? I’m getting carried away with the questions, I’m sorry. I like the way Finns preserve their language, (very beautiful and original language, by the way), I would like the same to happen with the Portuguese language, but anyway, that’s another topic. A totally unusual thing is that although I’ve already had opportunities to get into a sauna, I’ve never done that. Translating: A Finnish sauna may still be my first sauna. Just kidding. Here are some Finnish artists I like: Anssi Kela, BEHM, Juha Tapio, Laura Voutilainen, Ressu Redford, Arttu Wiskari, Von Hertzen Brothers, Ari Koivunen. If you are British (🇬🇧), know that: I know that there are cultural differences between each of the countries belonging to the United Kingdom, and I think that is great, I like that there are differences, I like to see the contrast. Calm your hearts, Scots, I know you are not English, even though you are British! hahaha. Edinburgh is certainly one of the most beautiful cities in the world in my view, its architecture is inspiring, I would say even more than London, but to be fair, I need to visit both and prove this theory with my own eyes. I’m passionate about castles, so Wales is almost a paradise for a person like me. The Welsh course at Duolingo has a lot of lessons, much more than I anticipated, which is always great, right? These initiatives are always positive, I hope that Welsh will not become a dead language in the coming decades. I know that Rugby is very popular in Wales, but I don’t even know how that sport works, unfortunately. I’m not so knowledgeable about Northern Ireland, nothing that goes far beyond the Irish conflict. Belfast seems to me to be a more introverted city when compared to Dublin. But anyway, if you are from Northern Ireland, please share your experiences with me, teach me about your nation’s history, I’m ready to listen to you! Many people say that London is, alongside New York, the capital of the world, and perhaps it’s true. For people working in the entertainment industry, London looks wonderful, the right place to build your name. On a possible visit to England, I would like to visit the smaller cities, the precious places that foreigners don’t usually value so much. Going against the grain of what I just said, I like the English royal family and would it be wonderful to be able to witness some public event, maybe the next great wedding? I’m being optimistic, I guess. Do we all agree that Oasis is better than The Beatles, huh? Okay, I don’t want to cause controversy. By the way, there’s only one English club I don’t like: Manchester City. Finally, I have a question, if I visit Notting Hill, what are the chances of me meeting a super famous actress? Okay, I think the film industry is eluding me again. If you are Irish (🇮🇪), know that: I almost did an exchange in Ireland, I was in love with this country, so I know a few things. I loved watching videos where people were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, to this day it seems like a very fun event. I don’t like beer, I don’t drink alcohol, but I’d try Guinness for once! Gaelic football is something so… I have no words to describe it, but it’s an attractive sport, I sympathize with the Dublin GAA team, perhaps by the colors, I love blue. (I still hate you, Manchester City). The truth is that Dublin seems to me to be a very fun city, and that in addition, offers good academic and professional opportunities. I don’t know much about life in Corck or Galway, but I know that these are good cities for students looking for something quieter. Brazilians living in Dublin seem to love bicycles, the convenience must be amazing. It’s a shame I can’t ride a bike. I mean, I know how to ride a bike, but not totally. Irish people seem to be open and fun people, they love parties as much as Brazilians do, besides being good musicians and also smart in business, and I’m not making fun of it, it’s that Brazilians really love Ireland and that’s not by chance, the Brazilian community in Dublin is really huge. So how about we’re friends? If you are American (🇺🇸) or Canadian (🇨🇦), know that: I admire the Founding Fathers of the United States and the values that America represents to the Western world. Looking at history, Massachusetts is for me one of the most interesting states in the country. But honestly, I don’t have a favorite “state” or “city.” I am as interested in knowing about Miami as I am in Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Nashville, New Orleans or Hartford. American culture is already immensely widespread around the world, so I don’t even know what I could say here to “get away from the obvious.” I watch many American films, I read many American authors, I listen to a lot of American music, I follow American festivals, I have a notion of how American universities work, etc… I imagine that most people living outside the United States also follow the American daily life, at least in Western countries, so I don’t know what I should say. Just know that I like the entrepreneurial vision that Americans have (or used to have). I love sports and I’m starting to follow the American leagues, I’m still not a fan of any specific team. As for Canada, Toronto seems like a good place to start a music career. The first time I watched the Winter Olympics was in 2010, Olympics that took place in Vancouver, this event was etched in my memory. My “favorite” Canadian city is Ottawa, perhaps because of the mix of cultures and languages, perhaps because it reminds me of the Hallmark Channel shows. Canada is one of the most sought after destinations for Brazilians seeking to immigrate, whether to work or to study. In general, they are very pleased with this decision. They also make sweet comments about the Canadian people. I used to follow a Brazilian polyglot who lived in Canada, he records videos on the streets talking in several languages with numerous foreigners he met at random, but today he’s living in France. Anyway, it would be really cool to talk to Canadians, from Quebec or not. Finally, I was happy when the Toronto Raptors won the NBA. If you are Australian (🇦🇺) or Kiwi (🇳🇿), know that: They are two very attractive countries in many ways. New Zealand has breathtaking landscapes, it’s no accident that several big-budget films are shot there. It’s a small country but offers many options for those who wanna have fun and have a memorable vacation. I can’t help but mention the Haka, it’s an interesting dance, I was surprised the first time I saw it, but I suppose in person it’s an unprecedented experience. Australians, like kiwis, are also reputed to be good hosts. They say Australians walk barefoot through the streets of the city, and I confess it’s funny to imagine this scene. I don’t have a “favorite city” in Australia, but I’d love the experience of crossing that country in a motorhome. Wanted and Dance Academy are two Australian TV shows that I enjoyed quite a lot to watch. The truth is that I see similarities between Brazil and Australia, historically and culturally speaking. Australia has beaches that make me wanna learn to surf right now. When I think of Australia, I imagine a good day, a cloudless sky, cheerful people smiling. For these and other reasons not mentioned, I have a lot of affection for Australia. When I think of New Zealand, I imagine a group of friends who love venturing into nature, whether practicing hiking, climbing, or parachuting. Maybe I’m just dreaming too much. In any case, Oceania doesn’t seem to me the best place for those who don’t wanna live intensely. Si sos español (🇪🇸), debés saber que: tengo un gran interés en la geopolítica de España. Me llama la atención todo el tema separatista en el que se insertan algunas regiones. Si sos de Galicia, Cataluña o el País Vasco y apoyas la independencia, sería un placer hablar con vos. Me gustaría escuchar todo lo que tengas que decir al respecto de eso. Si está en contra de la independencia, está bien, sos igualmente bienvenido. No tengo ningún bando en este conflicto. Solo quiero escuchar de vos y ampliar mi conocimiento de lo que está sucediendo. Política aparte, las ciudades españolas parecen destinos increíbles y me gustaría visitar cada una de ellas, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Granada, Bilbao, Pamplona, Almería, Sevilla, etc. Sería bueno si pudiera practicar mi español contigo. ¿O quizás aprender un poco de catalán o gallego? ¡Es una opción! Algunos artistas españoles que me gusta escuchar: Duncan Dhu, Héroes del Silencio, Radio Futura, Mecano, Sidecars, Abraham Mateo, Los Rodriguez, Pereza, Alejandro Sanz, David Bisbal, etc. Si vos sos de Hispanoamérica (🇦🇷), (🇨🇱), (🇺🇾), (🇲🇽), (🇨🇴),… etc, debés saber que: Estoy muy interesado en conocer gente de esa región. Me encantaría empezar nuevas amistades con argentinos, chilenos, uruguayos, paraguayos, mexicanos, colombianos, panameños, etc. Dicho esto, está claro que quiero visitar varias ciudades hispanas en el futuro. Sería genial practicar mi español contigo y, como beneficio adicional, aprender sobre la historia y la cultura de tu país desde tu punto de vista. Buenos Aires y Montevideo son mis ciudades favoritas, en parte por la arquitectura. Por otro lado, Santiago también es extraordinario. ¡Recordando que Soda Stereo es mi banda de rock favorita! De todos modos, me encantaría conocer mexicanos, ya hablé con algunos y siempre fueron muy amables. Pero, todos son bienvenidos, peruanos, ecuatorianos, bolivianos, venezolanos, etc. Hay tantos países y no puedo nombrarlos a todos, pero eso es todo. Sean bienvenidos. Algunos artistas hispanos que me gusta escuchar: Gustavo Cerati, Serú Girán, El Cuarteto de Nos, No Te Va Gustar, Virus, Los Autenticos Decandentes, Lucybell, Los Tres, Los Prisioneros, La Vida Boheme, Hello Seahorse!, Charly García, Mon Laferte, Pedro Aznar, Miranda!, Juanes, Fito Paez, León Larregui, Sebastián Yatra, Natalia Lafourcade, Jorge Drexler, etc. Se tu és português(a) (🇵🇹), saiba que: Os sotaques de Portugal são os meus favoritos. No começo eu confesso que achava bastante estranho, mas com o tempo eu fui me adaptando e hoje eu os amo. Eu não tenho nenhum rancor em relação à Portugal sobre o período da colonização no Brasil e etc, muito pelo contrário, eu vejo Portugal com muitos bons olhos. A minha cidade portuguesa favorita é Porto, muito devido à sua arquitetura, me parece ser um lugar especial. Talvez o fato de os Ornatos Violeta terem surgido ali, tenha um pouco de influência sobre a minha opinião. É engraçado pois sempre que escrevo para o público português, eu me pego a falar em voz alta o que estou a escrever, simulando o sotaque europeu, é impressionante. Enfim, loucuras à parte, o meu time português favorito é o Porto, embora eu simpatize bastante com o Sporting, a única certeza que temos é: Benfica há de perder, amém! hahaha. Brincadeiras à parte, eu gosto de vocês, tugas! Eu gosto do Podcast Maluco Beleza, eu prefiro o The Voice Portugal ao The Voice Brasil. Eu sou apaixonado pela Marisa Liz, se você a conhecer, por favor, nos apresente! Brincadeira… Mas a falar sério, não tenho nada contra caso tu sejas de Lisboa e benfiquista, ou de Coimbra, ou de São Miguel, etc. Saiba que a história do seu país é LINDA, Portugal é um lugar muito fixe! Tenhas orgulho disso! Estás a entender? Pois bem, então sejas bem-vindo(a)! Esses são alguns dos artistas portugueses que eu costumo ouvir: Ornatos Violeta, Linda Martini, Amor Electro, Pedro Abrunhosa, Toranja, Diogo Piçarra, António Zambujo, Carolina Deslandes, Agir, Ana Bacalhau, Foge Foge Bandido, Pluto, The Gift, Valas, Piruka, Bispo, Cálculo, Slow J, Átoa, ProfJam, D.A.M.A, etc. If you are from one of the following countries: Serbia (🇷🇸), Armenia (🇦🇲), Moldova (🇲🇩), Ukraine (🇺🇦), Albania (🇦🇱), Greece (🇬🇷), Iceland (🇮🇸), South Africa (🇿🇦), know that: I didn’t make a special paragraph because I don’t have enough knowledge for it. However, I would love to talk to you, I would like to know the culture and history of your country, after all, these mentioned countries catch my attention and make me curious. But I don’t just wanna know the history of your country, I wanna know your story as an individual, I’d like to build a fun friendship with you. Let’s smile more instead of taking life so seriously. Our time is precious and it’s running out, so let’s put a smile on our face, okay?! If you accept, I would love to talk to you, share stories and so on. If your country or region hasn’t been mentioned (🌎) know that: It’s all right, don’t worry. It’s normal, as the list of existing countries is huge. But hey, we can talk and be friends, you can surprise me, I can surprise you, so don’t let some flags stop us from building a healthy friendship. Welcome and let’s get to know each other! If you liked what you read, write me a message. Don’t spare words, the more talkative the better. Tumblr: @atoasttopoetry Greetings, Me, Myself & I.

#penpal #electronic mail #online friends #internet friends #all ages #penpalkingdom #submission

[harrysgoldrush]

and they were roommates {h.s} part x

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A/N: so sorry for the wait my loves, I hope you enjoy!! and thank you thank you @soullikestyles for inspiring me and keeping me going xx

harry’s first solo concert was a success. there was no other way to say it and you couldn’t be more proud. you would be lying if you said you hadn’t cried along with anne and gemma, immensely overwhelmed with how great harry was. his album hasn’t even been out for that long and yet it seemed like the whole world was singing with him. you had never experienced anything like that in your life, an overwhelming sense of price.

of course you had been there when he was working on the album, he had shown you the songs and taken you to the studio and in turn, you had held his hand the minute the album was released, shouting with joy as jeff opened a bottle of champagne.

he was clearly emotional as well, frozen in awe when the audience sang loud and clear for him. you wanted him to always look that happy, eyes wide and smile blinding as he watched everyone around him.

as soon as harry finished his encore, it was a rushed madness to safely get backstage, gripping gemma’s hand tightly as anne pushed towards one of the venue workers who was glad to lead you back to the greenroom.

the band was all standing in the hallway, listening to the cheering audience that was slowly clearing out as the stage was being taken down. you spotted harry immediately, his floral jacket slung over his shoulder as he kicked at the ground, talking to adam with furrowed brows.

as anne whistled to the group, they all turned and gemma was quick to tackle her brother.

sarah came running to you immediately, her smile wide as she pulled you into a bone crushing hug.

“sarah, you were absolutely amazing! how was it for you guys?”

smoothing her ponytail, she tried to shrug coolly before bouncing on the balls of her feet. “oh awesome. really awesome. we could have played all night.”

“hang on, let’s not give jeff ideas,” mitch was cracking a rare smile as he pulled you into a hug, ruffling your hair as he asked, “was this as exciting as those book booze ups you’re always taking harry to?”

laughing, you pretended to think before playfully shoving at the taller guitarist. “those are for work, mitch. harry just likes the catering company so we always go. but this might have been just a bit more interesting.”

while you spoke to the two, you were keenly aware of harry making his way to you, kissing his mum on the cheek before murmuring something to her. you pretended not to notice harry slide up beside you but your smile betrayed you when he grabbed at your hand lightly and began playing with your fingers, his head ducked as he focused on his quiet task.

“sorry, i’m actually waiting for my roommate,” you were grinning at him, surprised when you felt tears growing in your eyes as harry looked up at you with his soft smile and gentle gaze. “he’s a huge fan, sings your songs almost every day. i hate to say it but he’s almost better than you.”

he was covered in sweat but practically glowing, his face lighting up the moment you began to tease him.

“oh sorry, must’ve thought you were my roommate, she flew out from new york to see me but must’ve gotten lost, she has no sense of direction,” he played alone, slapping a hand over his eyes as he stepped back, feigning embarrassment. “shame though, was thinking about inviting you to my after party.”

laughing, you grabbed at harry, pulling him into a tight hug as you said, “i’ve changed my mind, take me with you please!”

his arms stayed tight around your waist, his chest shaking from his own quiet laughter before he pressed a gentle kiss to your hairline. “mum said you cried during the show?”

your cheeks grew hot as you glanced towards the woman who had shared confidential information, having been sworn to secrecy after catching you wiping away quiet tears while harry spoke to the audience; you had started crying the second he stepped on stage.

“we all did, it was hard not to,” leaning back, you tilted your head as you studied him. “i’m really proud of you harry. that was phenomenal. what did you think?”

“audience was good. felt nice. better now that you’re here though.”

you were growing dizzy with every sweet word and meaningful glance and you were sure you would melt in his arms if not for jeff shouting, “c’mon folks, the quicker we work with tech the sooner we can head to our hotel.”

harry gave you that funny look he had been giving you the last few days before grabbing your cheeks, pecking your forehead dramatically before he joined his band, disappearing down the hall with a cheeky grin.

it was anne that pulled you back from space, making you jump as she took your arm gently. “let’s go, pet. after you and gems drop me off, you two can meet with them.”

the car ride was quiet, you could tell anne was still tired from the flight over. gemma had turned the radio off as soon as the car turned on, eager to hear how you had been since the last time you had met back when Harry had first finished the album.

"harry won’t stop telling us about that book of yours, you’ll have to send me a copy. from what i’ve heard it’s absolutely broken my heart."

gemma was speaking in a hushed tone, eyes filled with quiet excitement as she nodded her head toward anne who was already asleep before you had even left the parking garage.

"tomorrow morning mum'll be asking you for an advanced copy; we almost have to get one with the way our boy’s been acting; he needed to talk to someone but didn't want to bother you with all the reviews that were coming in."

"really? so he liked it?"

"babe, i haven’t seen my brother in weeks and all he’s said to me since i landed was about you and your book. i think it’s a bit more than just liking it.”

the rest of the car ride was filled with nervous smiles and knowing looks. anne was out of the car before you had fully parked, mumbling sleepily that she needed a shower before hugging and kissing you both, fully expecting to see you at brunch to discuss your book tour.

surprisingly the hotel was fairly empty as you helped gemma carry her bags, thankful jeff had sent yours there earlier. by the time the two of you had changed into more comfortable clothes, anne was passed out diagonally on the bed and harry was texting you, begging you to hurry up and get upstairs.

"you spoil him, babe," gemma had teased, pulling you into the elevator with her. you were wearing a floral button up crop top with light washed jean shorts, phone and hotel card sitting securely in gemma’s purse. despite her evident jet lag, gemma was bouncing up and down on her heels, black spaghetti strap top and skinny jeans creating a perfect balance of runway ready and after party prep.

harry was notorious for his drunken antics, with you having had to act as babysitter for plenty of exciting nights this past year. you had learned the hard way not to wear your favorite sweater or a short dress around him, it never ended well.

when gemma nudged you, effectively pulling you back to earth, you hummed in confusion causing her to laugh.

"i’m just saying that the two of you bend over backwards for each other. not that that's a bad thing, he clearly loves all your attention. you both just seem really happy. honestly i'm surprised he hasn't declared his undying love for you yet, you two just make sense."

your cheeks were beginning to burn as you laughed defensively. "i am very lucky to have clicked with harry the way i did. i feel like i’ve known him my whole life. but i don't see anything like that in our cards. we both needed a friend when we met and i wouldn't change that for the world."

gemma's eyes narrowed but she was soon smiling with excitement as the doors opened to reveal harry donning a sparkly party hat with three solo cups balanced carefully in his hands.

he had changed into dark jeans, his grateful dead shirt faded but fitting just right as he lifted his eyebrows and pulled a confused face, his breath already smelling like tequila and something else.

"did you go to the wrong hotel or something? it's been ages since i've seen my two best girls!”

gemma simply laughs, shoving at her younger brother as you chide playfully, “you’re an absolute goof, harry styles.”

the styles siblings were practically glowing, basking in each other’s presence in a way that you’ll always love. they have a secret language, one similar to yours with harry, but one that has been years in the making, something so effortless and fascinating and something you could only hope for.

before you’re even able to catch on, gemma has left you two alone and harry is gently handing you a cup that is filled to the brim. “hope you don’t mind, i might’ve poured a bit too much.”

“i need to catch up with you anyways” your shrug makes his eyes light up, more mischievous than usual with the excited nature brought on by a night of performing.

taking a sip, your eyes shoot wide as you’re met with a mouthful of straight tequila. his guilty pleasure and a nasty habit that you’re more than happy to indulge in.

when he begins to laugh, you ask quickly, “i’m not stealing you from the party, am i?”

“the party don’t start til you walk in.”

oh yeah, he’s plastered.

as he leads you deeper into the party, introducing you to people whose names are already forgotten, he hands you more and more drinks and you feel yourself swept into the blur of bright lights and loud music.

you are normally much more conscious of drinking with harry, always making sure to be aware enough to look out for him but tonight jeff has taken that role, along with dj much to harry’s delight.

“where’s the band?” your voice is drowned out by the bass drop of a song you’ve never heard in your life and you’re sure harry didn’t hear you with the way he grabs you to dance. then before your mind can wrap around what’s happening, he’s pushing you forward, hands resting warmly on your hips, cup clenched awkwardly between his teeth.

you wind up in another room filled with colorful lights and the smell of weed, thankful that this room is a little quieter. adam sneaks up on you, making you jump when he takes your empty cup and disappears with a promise to fill it up.

sarah is a welcome form of affection, granting you warm hugs and nonsensical insights as harry and mitch mess around with the camera. in a blur of bright lights and clumsy laughter, you’ve slowly begun to fill your pockets with photos of you and the band. you hardly have time to look at the finished products, deciding you’ll have plenty of time when you’re sober and missing your friends.

ever the narcissist, harry is fascinated with the machine and determined to take the best photos; he’s already brought himself a brightly colored hat to make sure people know this party is for him. you can’t tell why it’s so funny, but you keep pointing out his ridiculously large forehead and harry keeps pulling serious faces right before your pictures are taken, prompting you to do anything you can to try and get harry to crack a smile for a photo.

“harry come on, i just want one nice photo of us. why won’t you smile? is it because i said the thing about your head?”

“you look better in the lighting than i do.”

you can hardly take him seriously, struggling to keep a straight face before you nod in understanding.

“okay. we can fix that.”

sarah is quick to hop in, directing the photos in question as she yells, “harry close your eyes more! no no don’t open them!”

in the end, you’ve wound up with dozens of photos of you pulling the ugliest faces ever to make your roommate feel better while he does a poor attempt at a smolder.

“what is that supposed to be, h? you look constipated.”

“sarah jones it is my interpretation of blue steel from the hit comedy action movie zoolander.”

“come on, come on i want the whole band in this last one!” you’re shouting, interrupting the two as you realize people have formed a semi-organized line to use the camera. “squeeze in!”

“hang on, i can’t fit!” harry is nearly screaming, pushing at you all as the camera counts down.

grabbing at him, you try to explain that he’s got plenty of room but as the shutter goes off you’re suddenly being tackled as harry leaps onto your back, knocking the whole group over.

time becomes blurred after that, desperate snacking and lazy drinks and an overall sense of content when sarah whispers something to harry and they both look at you.

later in the night, when your brain isn’t as foggy and the air isn’t as hot, he’s convinced you to sit on his lap, or maybe you had to sit on his lap to stop him from embarrassing himself; it’s hard to tell. all you know is that he is practically glowing with his arms wrapped around your middle and his chin resting on your shoulder as he talks loudly to his friends around you two.

you swear harry’s never spoken so much in his life when one of the tech crew members recognizes your name from the new york times newcomers list. he’s practically telling your whole life’s story along with a long list of embarrassingly exaggerated accomplishments. he’’s even stuck his hat on your head now, explaining that you’ve got to wear it because you’re the guest of honor now; the sharp bite of the elastic chin strap keeping it on your head makes you think otherwise.

by the time gemma’s rejoined the group with another round of drinks he’s lost the plot; all grins and giggles and nonsense.

“harry, mate, we’ve met!” mitch is close to tears, practically wheezing as he shakes your hand for the third time that night as you struggle to catch your breath.

“what? really? aw, i’m so glad. do you like her? i hope you do, she’s bloody brilliant.”

giggling, you’re glad to be grounded in his arms, feeling your drinks finally setting in. harry’s eyes are wide, his pupils impossibly wide and he can tell you’re about to get up to get him a water or a snack or anything to bring him back down because the second you try to get up, he’s stopping you with a playful frown.

“i’m just gonna fill our cup, it’s already empty since someone lost his drink earlier.”

he just shakes his head, wrapping his arms tighter around you before awkwardly twisting his legs around yours as sarah tells a story that makes gemma clap her hands loudly before asking mitch if it’s true.

you’re only able to tune into their conversation for a moment, with harry easily able to distract you when he begins fumbling with your phone. you’re still not sure how or when he got it but he’s been using it all night, doing who knows what with it.

“wanna take another picture of us, you look beautiful.”

laughing, you turn to see what he’s doing and let out a shriek when he accidentally head butts you as the flash goes off, his lips scrunched up against your chin.

he’s grimacing as you struggle to grab at your phone, easily able to keep it out of reach as he examines the picture he’s taken.

it’s an awkward angle with his free arm wrapped right around your stomach, the other holding out the phone low in front of them. you hadn’t even noticed your hand was holding his arm gently, too focused on not knocking over your drink while harry nearly broke your jaw with his sudden decision to aggressively kiss your jaw. your eyes are wide and so are his, but you’re both smiling in the picture and look so happy that you know you’ll never delete it.

“have you been taking those all night?”

he nods, still staring lazily at the photo, zooming in on your faces before he’s glancing up at you with a smile, surprising sober as you bump heads more gently.

“yeah, don’t want to forget anything. our lives are different after tonight with your book and my album. but i don’t want this to ever change.”

“you mean that?”

“yeah, never. but don’t tell the others, okay? i’d hate for them to find out so early in the tour that you’re my favorite friend.”

in a surge of sound, you’re immediately twisting to look at harry who’s already shot up, practically carrying you to the dance floor. you’re surprised he hasn’t been dancing all night, he’s mainly hovered around you and introduced you to his friends as if this was a house party rather than the after party for one of the most important shows of his career.

but now it’s your song, your guilty pleasure which always makes harry blush in embarrassment, begging you to stop dancing and singing loudly to the bee gee’s best song (in your humble opinion).

somehow “more than a woman” has found its way into a playlist that’s been playing fleetwood mac, kendrick lamar and the rolling stones for the past two hours. and harry is dancing his heart out.

you had shown him saturday night fever months ago, openly thirsting over young john travolta dancing to this song and now your best friend is drunkenly attempting to recreate the scene in question, singing in his falsetto with mischievous eyes and you watch in awe.

it’s utterly ridiculous. and that makes it easy to fall into line, practically shouting the lyrics with him as you dance just as awkwardly with a huge grin on your face. your arms are everywhere they shouldn’t be, harry’s tripping over his two left feet and it’s the greatest thing you can remember happening. with his eyes on you, it’s easier to just close yours; it makes your cheeks cool significantly as you embarrass yourself with him.

and when he takes you into his arms, you hold onto him just as tightly and yell, “i can’t believe you got jeff to play this song. when did you even tell him about it?”

“you should know by now i’d do anything for you. including playing the bee gees at my very private very exclusive party.”

at a loss for words and boldened by the endless drinks supplied, you can only admit with a breathless smile, “i love you, h. so much. i can’t remember the last time i had ever been so happy before i met you.”

his smile is timid, almost bashful as he nods, comprehending what you’ve said. you feel small in his arms, especially when he lifts you up and spins you in his arms, choosing to sing rather than respond.

maybe tonight he’ll tell you how he feels. while you’re dressed all pretty just for him, following him around all night despite how obnoxious he’s been; he blames it on the nerves. he’s had much more to drink that you, he had hoped it would have made him bolder in the ways that matter and now he’s sure he’s messed things up when he realizes just how much he’s leaning on her when they dance.

still, you somehow manage to hold him up, shouting the lyrics right back at him, holding his hand just as tightly and keeping him close all night until the party had dwindled down to just the two of you and harry’s ipod in harry’s hotel room.

“one last song,” harry promises earnestly, light on his feet as he searches for the song he wants. he’s torn between two, unsure of how he wants to end the night. “pick a number, one or two.”

please pick two. he thinks, fingers hovering over a herb alpert & the tijuana brass song that always makes him think of you, something that would easily steal his words right out of his mouth and change everything.

he watches you think for a moment, kicking your shoes off near his bed as you finally free your head from the hideous sparkly hat he had gifted you, your hair a frizzy mess that you have no intention on taming tonight.

“hmm. one? we can always listen to two another night.”

you can hardly breathe when he steps close to you and gently puts an earbud in your ear, smiling quietly at you before the beginning notes of “going to california” begin to play. his touch is soft when he pulls you close, his gaze intense as he sways you both gently. one hand grips yours and the white ipod nano while his other hand rubs at your lower back, his actions bold while his face is timid yet relaxed, giving you his full attention.

you fold first, skin hot and chest tight as you look down at what little space there is left between you two.

he sings it gently in your ear, your hair tickling his nose but harry doesn’t seem to mind, holding you tightly as you both dance. he’ll tell you another night when he doesn’t need to play “this guy’s in love with you” because he’ll be able to say it himself. until then, he’ll be thanking gemma for the rest of his life for taking your phone and key card with her to you shared room, giving him ample excuses to invite you in; he’ll take all the seconds he has with you.

tag list: @capture-the-moment-on-camera @myspecialparadise @berrynarrybanana @brwnskin-bunnyteeth @harry-is-my-medicine @harrysclementines @another-lonely-heart @harryskalechips @soullikestyles @lights-up-hazza @c-h-e-r-r-y-y-lips @cassiopeiaskies​ @inmygardensuit​ @ggaayyyong​ @mortumnoctis​ @orange-mang0​ @shawnieeboyy​ @odetostep​

#harry styles #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles blog #harry styles imagine #friends to lovers #harry styles fic #harry styles fluff #harry #roommates to lovers #roommate!harry

[penaltybox14]

Decofiremen: Soon Be the Dawning Days

@darknight-brightstar @zeitheist Every single one of my attempts to write pleasant holiday-oriented things ends up ass-deep in character dissection and plot exposition.  @squad51goals @its-skadi

In this installment, we talk about seasons, changes, and things to celebrate.

December darkens the days, and sharpens the nights.  There is frost every morning, and the sun is a pale consumptive, waking feebly and slipping weakly into evening.  The potbelly stove in the dorm is always burning, always someone up in the night to tend it, every hour.  The lads spend a productive few hours one off day re-arranging their beds, recaulking the windows, and hanging curtains.  When Josiah asks what they are up to, they explain the lads at the ends of the rows have been getting cold in the night, and they are trying to fix it up so that either everyone is warm, or everyone is cold.

"You mind, Captain?" Jules Menlo asks.  He and Bertram Cochrane have taken up the lead, since Antoine and Ellis left for the City.  They are raw to it, but they are learning yet. 

"Not at all, boys, carry on."

Josiah is pleased with them.  Neat and natty rows of beds can go to hell, the lads are making a fine hearth for themselves.  They make sure to vent it properly, and Lufty nods approvingly at their work - a house inside of a house, a canvas-flanked beast breathing and snoring in the wind-snipped nights.  Josiah only scolds them once, when he catches Davey at three in the morning carrying wood in for the stove.  Sure, he is wrapped up tight as a beetle in a sack of flour, but Josiah reminds them that he's just a boy, yet, and needs his rest.

Young Cleary had stumbled a while, the days after Antoine and Ellis were graduated.  Eddy had given him a scorcher of a talk for forgetting to include Davey in the proceedings, and he deserved it.  That responsibility is still so new and giddy to him - where now, he can remember his own graduation, and think well on it, and not always be so bitter - and he had left the boy bereft.  Fool that he is.  Even Silky would've cuffed him for it. 

My true friend Silky, he writes, one glassy morning when the sun had lost the strength to lift the frost from the grass, you would not believe me or maybe you would.  Do you remember the day the bell sounded for us, at breakfast?  In the good cheer of sending my lads to the city, I left out the boy who needs us most, our young Cleary.  Your god, my friend, would smote me off the earth.  It was a terrible mistake, for I frightened him so badly.  I had to set him down later in the day and explain all the proceedings and the ceremony.  I am not yet sure he forgives me.  I am not sure I deserve it.  Here he is, a boy who has already lost one family, and I am to take another from him.  You can be sure Eddy let me have it. 

yours irresponsibly, Birchy

In those following days, after Antoine and Ellis depart on the train from Troy, his heart aches, something like a tooth you want to forget, something a body can't escape from.  The long hallway is there in his dreams, in the boy's dreams, and now he hears the piano, and the distant laughter.  He smells the books in the study.  When he wakes, he feels the far-off gaze of a man much his senior, cool-eyed but in such a way as a lake when the summer days grow taut about the city streets.  An expectant look, a waiting.  Far off down that hallway, as far from the boy now as the Bronx for him, as the dorm he once sweat out his sear in.  He would want to look away, as the village folks and the oakbellies look at his scars and his brace.

He knows that hallway, and that's just the trouble, for young Cleary has walked it alone, trailing his fingers along the green wallpaper, and Josiah, trembling for the thought of the beam waiting in the ceiling, has not followed.  Coward, he thinks.  To let the child walk his hallway and stumble, smoke-wrecked, to his wide lawn, alone.  A one-legged and half-hearted coward.  Davey looks at him askance often in those following days - doesn't come to read with him or practice his Latin, doesn't follow the lads out on their drills no matter how they coax him.  He walks down the pathway past the brambles and into the woods, his too-large coat down past his knees and his collar up so high it leaves just his dark curls tumbling out in the sharp wind, and when he comes in for dinner, he is quiet and small among the lads. 

It is one of those long, weary twilights when the winter rattles like dry bones, and his leg aches.  He is fixing the ledger, making notes, and Silky's reply is on the edge of the desk.  Davey slips in so quietly he only hears it with his sear, so startlingly that Josiah leaves a blot on the end of a row. 

"Capper?"

He puts his pen down and smiles like he imagines Silky would at an Antoine or an Ellis.  Truth to say, he has missed the boy, even the sometimes frantic, fledgling winging of his sear.  He is far too young to grieve such an emptiness as that long, black hallway and the smoke-torn sky.

"May I ask a question?"

Times, the boy's genteel raising surfaces, softly like the wave on the shore.  Times, as now, he holds his cap in his hands as if he's in a holy place, and his eyes are the shyness of moss on a shadowed ledge. 

"Course.  Always."

"Eddy said firemen don't take holidays."

"Come sit.  What're you onto?"

"It's almost Dawning Days, that's all..."

"Oh, ghosts above, Davey - " Josiah has to laugh.  " - no, that's not how Eddy meant it.  He only meant that fires and accidents and all our work, it can happen any time."

Davey sits in one of the clutter of chairs in Josiah's office, kicking his legs, the gesture of a younger boy, an apologetic sort of gesture. 

"I don't mean to laugh, young Cleary, but we do know the Dawning Days."

From the sundown on solstice to daybreak on New Year's - the time of spirits, the time of the seasons shifting, the time to do good and remember that the sun is only resting for a grand debut.  The oakbellies throw a grand to-do at New Year's, all the officers invited to come at their most festive.  He has not gone - and the oakbellies are likely to be glad of it, he figures, for he would not cut such a charming figure in his full dress and a tin of polish on his leg.  They would, as they did at his promotion, shuffle and swallow hotly above their stiff collars.  He would probably stand the whole night out of pride and spend the week after in bed.  Perhaps it would be worth it.

"Do you have a party?"

"As many as we can."

"And lights?"

"As many as the sills will hold.  The lights and the cups left out for the ghosts.  Eddy has probably got another little tree to plant - you know, that stand of maple by the stables, that's his handiwork."

Davey is looking as delighted as Josiah has ever seen him.  His eyes are younger, now.  He is more the boy that he must have been in golden days, before his long dark hallway. 

"And you already know Bertram and his fiddle, and save us all, we've heard the lads sing."

"They taught me the fireman's song."  Davey grips the chair, and then pauses, as if lost of a sudden.  "Lyddie would've liked that song, I suppose.  Mother scolded her because she called the music our teacher brought her 'musty old tunes'."

From far away, in the marrow of his bones, Josiah feels the soft carpet of the parlor under his shoes.  Dark walnut bookshelves and rich, salmon-colored wallpaper embossed with an intricate pattern, the sort of thing a child would run their fingers over.  The books are less a rainbow than a late-summer forest, greens and smatterings of red and orange.  The girl playing the piano, with the bow in her hair, likes to spin cleverly from the plodding strains of an old mass to the bright chirps of ragtime and dance.  The brother laughs. 

The oak floors in their dormitory had what seemed to be a century of wax and polish creating glistening currents in the low lamplight.  They could have greased the bedsprings with a gallon of lard per man and the damned things would've screamed like witches every time a man so much as thought of rolling over.  A cold night outside, and a warm hearth within, each coat and helmet hung on its hook, each woolen blanket tucked neatly around each mattress corner.  The brothers are singing and the brothers are laughing. 

"Antoine wrote me a letter," Davey says, quietly.  "He says he got his sear."  Davey bites his lip.  "He says everybody looked after him, and his captain Jack Prince gave him a pocketwatch.  Does it hurt so much, always?"

"Every man is different.  It's a hard hand of days.  But we look after each other." "I don't remember, exactly.  I hurt so long, I was in bed and the lady wanted to call the doctor, I think.  I hurt so long, and then - then it just felt like - "  Davey leans forward, puts his arms on the desk and his head in his arms and sighs.  Muffled, he whispers, "I felt like - "

Like wandering, Josiah thinks.  That strange stillness when the fever breaks, before you come around to your mates watching over you, before you pull yourself out of your bed weak and stunned and brand-new on foal's legs.  A fresh and open field, the shaded place where the last dollop of snow lives nearly into June. 

"I know," Josiah murmurs, and lays his hand - his scarred hand - on young Cleary's shoulder.  "I do know, son, I do."

"I wished Antoine didn't have to hurt that way.  Or Ellis.  Or Jules or Betram." "I dunno what it was like - " Josiah sighs.  " - but for me, I had my mates around, and my pal, we got it together.  I never would've got through it, without him."

"Thomas."

Josiah starts.

"Sorry, Capper.  I read it on the letter.  Eddy talked about him once, too."

"Silky."

"Capper?"

"Silky.  That's what we called Thomas."

"Why?"

"I don't remember, really."

"What's he like?"

"Oh," Josiah says.  "I'll tell you.  You'd like him a sight better than me - for one thing, he's got two entire good legs and he could take you down to the fish pond.  Second - "

Davey is kicking his legs again, scuffing the toes of his boots on the wooden floor. 

"Well, I'll tell you.  The day I met him, here at Wynantskill, he very nearly ran me down with a horse, a big old dapple grey gelding we called Chubby..."

Davey leans on his hands. 

Silky's letter, half-unfolded, is by his elbow.  I never really got the brothers' whole forgiveness bit, it says, but I do reckon it's a little bit like when you turn over the ash of a building, and you find a little green thing growing underneath.

#decofire #decofiremen #yes I realize that's an 11 day span #and yes sometimes that's an eleven day food alcohol and music bender #but you also get plants