#alastgoodnight

[labyrinthruled]

@alastgoodnight requested a starter!

-

The Library was certainly an unusual place, between being the home of many eccentric individuals and having a mind of its own. Today appeared to be one such day.

What should have been a peaceful day was interrupted by the sound of knocking. It was a hasty rhythm, incessant in nature. If it did stop, it was only for a moment before it started again, as though someone was changing hands.

After a few minutes, it stopped abruptly. That was when the shouting began.

"Hi! Hi! Hello!"

"Excuuuuuuse meeee?"

"Is libbyrary open? I's got a book for beswitching!" This was followed by a loud thump, as though the stranger knocked the door with the book.

Should the door be opened, it would be revealed that the visitor was a murky grey bipedal creature whose face looked like it had been squashed after running into a wall. Orange, beady eyes were too far apart from the flattened nose - almost like a pug. He wore a dulled, metal helmet with a single spike on the top, and a matching, equally worn leather armour. In his paws was indeed a book, and this was raised. It appeared to be one that covered the topic of unusual natural locations.

"Book for beswitching! Goblin King wants book on rivers!"

The last thing of note was where the visitor was standing. It was supposed to be a closet, but it resembled neither that nor Lullaby Lane. Instead, the closet door opened to a small yard paved with light grey stone with a focal point of a narrow fountain.

[heythereneighbor]

Hey there Neighbor,

I went to see my friend Miss Naomi (@alastgoodnight ) today. She was wearing a very shimmery green-blue shirt. When I told her that I like it, she spun around to show it off. Then Ragamonster stood up and spun around too.

[variantia]

@alastgoodnight / lyric starter !

“ What is life WORTH LIVING if you don’t dance to anything ? ”

[aintitfierce]

@alastgoodnight replied to your post “for how stupidly cute he is i hope it's also been...”:

"#The Thing with OCs is that they're a constant WIP smh" if that isn't the eternal truth, lol

​we do love our problem kids tho ghfiofe

[escapedartgeek]

@alastgoodnight

[x]

"Dear you,

Oh.. I have definitely had nights like that. Sometimes there's so much going on in my head. So much that I pick up, so much that I remember that it's really hard for me. I find myself staying up all night - sometimes working, sometimes just.. being awake.

I'm sorry that you weren't able to work. I get not wanting to disturb anyone else in the house though.

Good books huh? I've read some things but I'm not sure if they would qualify for what you're looking for. I tend to read a lot of art history, surrealist literature, music history.. but maybe I'll look through some of the fiction works I've been checking out to see if anything comes up.

I do understand that it's often difficult to find unique fairytales to really read for others. I vaguely remember Freedom Child of the Sea being a good book that a friend recommended to me as a more recent story. So maybe.. that might be a good addition.

I do appreciate the explanation about the podcast, that sounds like a really interesting project. How long have you been running that?

For me? I have been working on a lot of artistic projects -some for myself, some for clients. working on experimenting with words, colors, lines and really mixing different forms of expression. Other than that.. I do a little traveling. Trying to enjoy something of the warm weather during the summer, that's been pretty nice too - especially when there's music playing.

What else do you like doing around the house if I might ask?

Thanks for the letter, looking forward to hearing from you soon,

Zora. "

[moonrevolutions]

(alastgoodnight) Naomi's not an amazing cook like Lo is, but she's pretty good with vegetables! She likes to make a stir fry with red+yellow bell peppers, white mushrooms, broccoli and sugar snap peas. She makes the sauce from scratch. Her other favorite is tempura cauliflower.

°✩₊˚.⋆ @starfoam. meme. still accepting!

vi is gonna need to try this cuz he loves a red and yellow bell pepper. and a tempura?! he doesnt get tempura anything much often, maybe on the weekends when he orders out, but never super fresh and like. right there.

so my fact for a fact!

virote has a favorite thai stir fry called pad prik king...! red curry stir-fry with chicken! chicken and cruncy long beans in a salty, sweety red curry paste with a salted duck egg… sometimes its a soy sauce marinated egg with crunchy chili onion. it has to have makrut lime leaves!!! one of those meals that he makes when it's morning and he just wants something good to eat for the rest of the day. cuz he can pair it with roti or a fresh salad with just arugula. he always has a lot of jasmine rice w. a little vinegar too.. yuh.

if ur spending the night at vi's this is probably waiting in the fridge for u the next morning.

[sportacoke]

UNPROMPTED || ALWAYS ACCEPTING! || @alastgoodnight

alastgoodnight asked: What's this? it appears to be a letter! It's in a pale blue envelope and sealed with a sticker - a goldfish jumping out of its bowl, orange and bright. The letter itself is on white paper, bordered with blue and purple hydrangeas. The handwriting is careful and clear. "Dear you, It's been a while since I wrote one of these. I never know where most of these letters end up, unless someone writes back. Please feel free to respond! I love getting letters - it will know where to go. How are things where you are? It's starting to get cold here - the sky has turned silvery and the clouds look fluffy overhead. Sometimes I think about plucking one of the clouds from the sky and wearing it as a coat. Are you keeping warm where you are? I'd love to hear about where you are. Are you getting ready for a heavy winter, or does it get warm there? Are there any holidays you're looking forward to? I think that's enough for now. Please feel free to write back, and take care! Sincerely, Naomi" The envelope has a return address - "Miss Naomi, Lullaby Lane Library, Lullaby Lane". There's no numbers or indications of where this Lullaby Lane might be.

[Sportacus would recognize the sound of an inbound letter anywhere -- he flipped again and again towards the "mail delivery" part of his airship, catching the bottled-up letter in mid-air.]

[With a grin, he made his typical announcement:] ❝ I've got mail! ❞ [Then eagerly opened the container. This letter was fancier than many others that had been sent unto his ship, sealed in a baby blue envelope with a goldfish sticker. Remarking to himself about how nice the goldfish and its display of agility was, he opened the letter, careful not to disturb the goldfish.]

[Even the stationery was fanciful, with hydrangeas bordering the paper; the author's neat handwriting complimented it.]

[He read the letter aloud to himself; the open address of "dear you" and the introductory paragraph made it clear that this was a sort of "message in a bottle," a hopeful letter sent to an unknown recipient. As it so happened, by whimsical circumstance, he wound up receiving it -- and with how much he loved reading letters AND sending them, he couldn't help feeling excited about this mysterious penpal.]

[Upon finishing the letter, he happily hopped, flipped, and twirled his way over to his own stationery -- plain, but effective. This time, Naomi would get a letter back -- just as she'd written, letters ( both to and from him ) often found their way. Her address was vague, but he could make do with it.]

❝ Dear Naomi... ❞ [He narrated his letter aloud:]

"Dear Naomi, It's always good to reach out to others, no matter how far away they are! The weather here in LazyTown is usually sunny, but sometimes we get wind or snow storms in fall and winter! It hasn't gotten too cold yet, so I have thankfully been able to get out and enjoy the weather. Even when the weather is gloomy, I can always spend time indoors and do what I love. Do you have any hobbies? I love exercising and playing sports! Winter around here always hits in late December or sometimes January. LazyTown is full of people who love the holidays! I am very excited to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with everyone! Do you have family or friends that you spend the holidays with? What holidays do you celebrate? Feel free to reach back out anytime! I love getting letters in the mail! Take care and stay safe, Sportacus P.S. I think a cloud coat is a fun idea! Clouds are too light and fluffy to even be touched, but it should be possible to make something similar, like a puffy jacket. Do you know anything about making clothes? If not, you're never too old to learn!"

[He was satisfied with that -- now it was time to deliver it, the way he always did. He folded the letter into the shape of a paper airplane, then leapt over to his mailing ball ( a bowling ball that had been repurposed for mail delivery ) and tucked the letter inside. It might not have an address written on it, but it was clear who it was written for, and his paper airplane method ALWAYS found the right person.]

[Sportacus set the ball down, then kicked it into one of the open slots in his ship -- the ball got stuck, but the letter flew freely on the outside, drawn to the recipient like a magnet. Now, all he had to do was wait -- even if "waiting" for him consisted of various exercises. Sitting still wasn't an option!]

[heythereneighbor]

Five or six months. That was both a long time, yet not long enough, to learn about another as unique as Library. Wally knew it took him a long time to become fluent in understand Home.

How long was that, exactly?

Even though it couldn't be seen, Wally found himself nodding as Naomi spoke, as though showcasing his good listening skills. Luckily, his soft hums were noises that could be picked up by the phone.

"I think Home is quietest when it isn't clean. It's like... All the dust and dirt weighs it down, like how a sad day can make you feel like someone is pressing very hard on your shoulders." Rarely, Wally would return home to find the rooms a lot messier than how he left them. He was never sure how it happened, but it always coincided with Home not feeling too upbeat. Maybe Library was the same.

"I bet it is hard to learn how to speak Library. It might be the first one ever to speak it." That was a special thing, but it did make things tricky. Wally might be able to give advice, but maybe his experiences with Home would not match up with Naomi's experiences. "I think speaking Library sounds just the most. I like how the lighter sounds are 'yeses', almost like how others laugh and they sound higher." It can be hard to learn a language, Wally knew that. Just like how learning to sign with your hands can be a total change to what you know, learning how to manipulate things to make a sound must be challenging.

"I hope Library isn't making itself tired. Moving and slamming things sounds like a lot of hard work. I hope it is happier now that you have cleaned it up."

Naomi felt herself smiling along as Wally spoke. He was right, she was happy the job was done... but sad, too, because she liked doing the work. It was hard to explain, especially on the first phone call - perhaps she'd save that for a later discussion.

But then he moved on to talking about Home, and she listened intently. He seemed experienced, in his own way, on the matter of learning how a place speaks. It'd be good to heed his insight, and maybe ask a little more herself.

"I think it's been about... five, six months since I first came here?" Ignoring how time twisted between her world and Lullaby Lane, as back "home" it hadn't even been a full season yet. "Library didn't talk to me at first, though. It was much dirtier and smaller then, and I was..."

She hesitated. It wasn't fair to turn a happy occasion sad, so she chose her words carefully.

"...Rather lonely, without much to do. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my time, actually, and I seemed to have so much of it. But then I found the key to the Library, and it needed care to get big and bright again. So I just... started cleaning."

She thought about those first days, sitting on the rotted floorboards in empty rooms with cobwebs but no spiders.

"I think I was here for about two months before Library started waking up. So it's only known me for... four months or so, and it's still learning how to speak, too."

She hummed, looking around.

"You know... when I ask it yes or no questions, it doesn't have a specific sound for either. It's the way it makes noise that matters. Long, light sounds like windchimes or the breeze usually mean yes, while a floorboard creaking or a door slamming usually mean no. Isn't that something? I wonder if it's still learning how to speak Library, too."

[theseerhesaid]

@alastgoodnight liked for a lyric starter

"Don't let me know when you're opening the door. Stab me in the dark, let me disappear."

[vortship]

(alastgoodnight) "Why are you all wet?"

"I fell in the pool. Don't ask how!" Hal paused, ringing some water out of her shirt, she didn't even realize her hologram of a disguise had been disabled entirely, revealing the pink alien beneath, "Okay. I'll tell you how. I tripped over a floaty duck."

[pluviacuratio-a]

@alastgoodnight whispered:

Bing! The letter just... appears?

Well, no, it's sat quite nicely at the foot of the door, but the matter of fact is that mail came and went quite some time ago. It's a pale blue envelope, sealed with a stationary sticker of a goldfish bowl. The envelope offers no information beyond a name and a place called the Lullaby Lane Library as a return address, though there's another sticker (a window looking on a starry sky) where the stamp should be.

Inside, the handwriting is practiced and polite. It reads:

"To whoever finds this,

Hello! This is a practice letter. I've just fixed up my new letterbox and am seeing how different sorts of mail fit into it - I'm not sure what I'll do once I've finished. Maybe I'll leave it in here for you to find? Of course, I have no clue who you are - you could be me a month from now, cleaning out the box.

But it feels rude to talk about myself for the duration of a letter. How are you? Have you tried anything nice today, like a warm drink or a new music group? I hope you find something nice about your day.

Alright, I think that's enough practice. Write me back if you can! Or if you're just me, maybe make an effort to write to more people.

Have a good day! Naomi Sato"

She's drawn another fishbowl in the corner of the letter. There's nothing else to be found.

{ ♪ } -- Bella was no real stranger to odd occurrences. Her daily life could be considered a consistent string of strange occurrences. But, she'd never found an odd letter at her door with no telling who or what left it there. Her fingers lifted the pale blue envelope and she read curiously.

Despite everything, she found herself smiling at the contents. Whoever wrote this letter seemed polite and rather kind. Had she any idea of how to send a response, she just might. For now, the letter is folded up and placed in the drawer of her desk. Perhaps she'd take up the idea and write a few letters to friends.

Receiving a paper letter in this day and age where everything seemed to be digital felt rather special, after all...

[heythereneighbor]

@alastgoodnight - See this for context

-

If there was one thing Wally learned with his friends at Home, it was that you should try everything.

When Naomi passed over Ragamonster, it was little surprise that Wally's legs immediately buckled with the extra weight, dropping him to the ground. However, somehow, Rags wasn't dropped.

More importantly, both seemed quite content with this turn of events.

[starfoam]

//I don't treat Naomi like this. It's ONLY Lorelei who gets this treatment.

//Torn between the allure of a doomed romance where Lo won't stop trying to save someone who refuses to be saved (very Orpheus of her tbh) and giving her a damned NAP

[aintitfierce]

@alastgoodnight said: That is an EXCELLENT dog!!!

well thANK YOU i agree ghfhhifeo

he also was a yodeler-- whenever i came home from work/school he'd run to greet me, but then stop about two feet in front of me and toss his head back and do a yodel. it always came across like he was telling me off for leaving him, haha

[escapedartgeek]

@alastgoodnight

[x]

"Yeah, even if it's not the biggest of deal.. I can understand how it might get to you after a while. Especially when you're expecting rain. I do hope it does rain soon.." It wouldn't seem good for it for this lack of rain to go on that much longer.

[sweetloveandhoney]

@alastgoodnight liked for a starter~!

"I like watch them." Honey's referring to the fish down in the koi pond under her feet; the old bridge she's standing on may need a coat of paint, but it's still sturdy. The botanical gardens had quite a lovely pond, and it was a wonderful getaway during the winter months. "Have you ever seen the staff feed them with a baby bottle? It's the funniest thing I've experienced firsthand."