#blooms and brews

[tessari-the-dreamer]

Who doesn't love goofy audios? :D

My friends, I present to you an audio that I had a lot of fun making. It is based on the beginning of chapter 13 of the story titled Blooms and Brews (previously known as The Herbologist and the Potion-maker) by @amberlide. She is one of my dearest friends that feeds me with Garreth content ❤️ I highly encourage you to read her story with Garreth and her OC Penny! Hear me out! Give it a shot! You won't regret it ;) Here is the link to the story.

AO3:

Wattpad:

Below the cut, I paste a fragment from the chapter so that you can better understand the audio context!

Audio is made in two versions. Classic one and slightly surround sound one. Let me know if I should fiddle with that idea more in future projects! Enough of talking! Enjoy! :)

"I finally got it!" The door swung open, bumping into the wall with a loud thud as an overly excited Leander made his entrance, his grin so wide it covered half of his face.

However, his enthusiasm lasted only as long as it took to assess the scene in front of him, when he strode into the bathroom on the third floor. The room was a complete and utter mess, with ingredients and items scattered everywhere.

Bouncing bulbs quivered in the corners, some of them sliced on the chopping board or in the sink, while others were reduced to powder in mortars. The walls were plastered with what looked like Flitterby moth juice, the orange from their wings glowing, adding an ethereal touch to the chaos.

Leander noticed some of the moths still alive, fluttering their wings near the windows, emitting a low hum, seemingly eager to escape the crime scene.

How could he blame them?

Plus, a weird pungent smell was lingering in the room, and it was not coming from the cauldron or the empty stalls, most likely from the chopping board, could it be some sort of plant, foxglove?

What were they doing with a poisonous plant?

It was absolutely the first time that Leander had seen Garreth's laboratory so messed up.

His friend was usually very careful when preparing his brews, except for his own Better than Butterbeer creation, which always seemed to bring chaos wherever he attempted to prepare it.

To avoid touching anything in the cluttered room, Leander abruptly stopped in the middle of the scene, the glass shard from a broken pipette crunched under his shoes. At the same time, a blindfolded Garreth bumped against the separator between two stalls, scattering leaves and chopped ingredients everywhere on the floor, muttering curses under his breath.

Penton, on the other hand, sat on a small table with his legs crossed, completely oblivious to the others. He appeared to be lost in his own homework but looked more disheveled than usual, with his hair sticking out in all directions and his tie more loosely hanging from under his uniform jumper.

When Lee barged in, he almost didn't raise his head from his books, not even when a half-cut Bouncing bulb started to roll around in the sink, splashing water everywhere.

Sensing the intrusion, Garreth made to raise the bandage from his eyes, but Penelope was faster. "Don't you dare!" she hissed, swinging her wand menacingly, as if the other could see her.

Slowly, Garreth placed the blindfold back, with a resigned sigh.

Leander took a step back, almost slipping in a puddle of water, sensing some tension between the two.

"What's happening here?" he asked, gripping the sink, his voice raising in concern as he cast suspicious looks from one boy to the other.

"Nothing important, just a little ruse," jested Garreth, almost bumping his head against the toilet seat in his attempt to kneel down and collect the ingredients on the floor.

He heard Penelope huff in annoyance, "I can tell you, Lee," she murmured, swinging her legs on the edge of the table, her oversized trousers reaching the soles of her shoes.

"Mr. Brewsley here started to complain that after all this time, I cannot tell the difference between chopping and mincing. And he's blaming my skills, when I do have a poor eyesight," she rolled her eyes behind her glasses, which were half-covered in some sort of reddish slick.

"Hey!" interrupted Garreth, "I also have a sight problem," he tried to raise his blindfold, but Penelope cut him off.

"So, since he's so skilled, he said he can prepare a Pompion Potion with his eyes closed. So here we are, testing his theory," she exclaimed, her tone still sour.

"And if I manage it, you're going to drink it!" added Garreth with a playful tone.

"Sure, you should thank me that I didn't ask you to bind your arm behind your back as you suggested; you're taking ages to finish," Penelope leaned against the tile wall behind her, eyeing Garreth.

"You know that foxglove is toxic, right? If I don't put the right amount, you're going to die," retorted Garreth.

"Then you have to show off your ability and make it right. Besides, nothing can be more lethal than your toilet water."

"Wow, you're a bit cranky today, Pen. What happened?" Leander raised his eyebrow, trying to look concerned. However, the sight of his friend on all fours, desperately trying to rake up foxglove from the floor, was too amusing, and he couldn't stifle a chuckle.

That little Hufflepuff surely brought some fresh air in that stale bathroom.

Penelope shrugged but didn't answer.

In truth, something had indeed happened. After all her efforts to grow the Moody Hyacinths, she had lost more than half of them just because some troll head had decided to move her pots around the compartment, placing them next to the Screechsnap, which totally ruined their blooms with their incessant squeaking and irritable temper.

She didn't want to admit that she had also ruined some of her own with her swinging mood of the last few days, as she had overheard some worrying whispering between Natty and Garreth involving Poppy Sweeting and what seemed like a date.

"What did you come here for, Lee? You seemed quite enthusiastic," Garreth rose and turned around to check where the next stall was, his hands swinging in the air as he tried to locate the silhouette of the cauldron without burning himself.

"I managed to find out what those pesky Slytherins are planning…" Leander started, finally getting to the reason why he was actually there in the first place. After more than a month, he had managed to find out, thanks to his sneaky abilities, which were top-notch as usual.

He advanced confidently into the room, squared his shoulders, leaned against the lavatory, crossed his arms, and prepared himself with a wide smile to savor the expression on Garreth's face, since he was the only one who didn't believe him.

"You mean the Halloween party?"

Leander widened his gaze and slumped his shoulders, turning to face Penton.

"How in Merlin's name…"

Penelope shrugged closing her book with nonchalance.

"It's been a week since I started selling flowers to the Slytherins. The boys are paying good prices to impress their partners. Apparently, vampires are used to put a white flower in their pocket,” she murmured, remembering how she had managed to steal and sell some of the white Fanged geraniums from Prof. Garlick.

She had also sold all the Trumpet Daffodils, which were surely brightening up someone's day in the Slytherin dorm with all their fuss. But at least they were out of her greenhouse; the flowers had become increasingly noisy and excited lately with all the coming and going of students, causing her more than one headache.

"Are you selling flowers?" Garreth pushed his blindfold up, casting a surprised look at her.

"Of course! Five knuts each, minimum. What do you think?" she asked, hoping for a word of encouragement.

"That you are a thief!" answered the other. "Five knuts for a flower? Are you kidding me? Not even  my toilet water costs that much!"

"You really don't want to know the maximum price…"

"We are talking Slytherins…" interrupted Lee, "Not the brightest," he raised his hand, "great work Pen!" he exclaimed, clapping her in a high five.

[tessari-the-dreamer]

Yeeey! My beloved story now with perfect cover! 😌❤️

Good job, Hun! 👏🏻

Another piece I was commissioned to do by @amberlide for her Garreth fiction. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I barely wait for the next chapter.

You should also give it a go.❤️

[aimseytv]

cannot stop thinking about c!aimsey grabbing c!guqqies lifeless body and holding it as tight as humanely possible, her knuckles turning a dark shade of blue from the pressure because every inch of aimseys body is screaming that there is a hope if she holds her dead lovers body tight enough, she will come back. despite bloom knowing this won’t happen, she does it anyway. she clutches onto guqqie, trying to clasp onto pieces of her clothing to hold her closer. she is whispering apologies, but the whispers quickly begin to get louder as the words aimsey sputters start to match the intensity of her own heart beat, to the point where aimsey is screaming and begging for guqqie to come back as it echos through the ghost town. tears begin to fall onto guqqies pale face, aimsey cupping it gently while still muttering incoherently about how this is all her fault, how this has changed everything

suddenly, it all goes quiet, no more talking, and the rain stops. all there is to be heard are sobs. aimsey realises that she isn’t coming back.

[blueraspberryroadkill]

work in progress

[shutter-pan]

Artificial intelligence #9

[cheesedtoteawithyou]

Today's tea session: blooming white tea He Jia Huan Le. Was very yummy and had a gorgeous caramel like scent. Lasted many infusions and also as you can see, I got some new teaware/ceramics so YAY!!!

[orchideae]

Source (guys, GUYS, it's her CN VA!!!). Oh my god, I'm feelings things. Literally yesterday, I was complaining in the tags on one of Kafka's posts how characters like Yelan are so incredibly subjected to being reduced to just a specific trait or two if most. And then I wake up to her Chinese VA having gotten people together to make this entire ode for Yelan's birthday, and it's gorgeous. The sheer passion she must have to have for the character as to have gotten this made, makes up for everything. It's passion, guys, passion will get me every single time. God, I'm going to have so much to analyze in this thing alone. AaaaAAAAAa. God, some have already translated a few lines, but I'm waiting on people getting the whole thing. But I just, happy birthday, my beloved Yelan who I'll never let go of.

Also, I'm sure this translation isn't perfect, but I managed to scrape together a little translation of part of the VA's description for the video on her Bilibili and it warms my heart:

"When I came up with the idea of "making a song for Night Orchid", I struggled with several options, and finally decided to make a piece with a national style tone, with Night Orchid's unique style, and hoping to incorporate elements of opera (a little personal preference). The character of Night Orchid especially poked me, and I wanted to express her backstory through the song, so I chose a more narrative theme, dividing the "past" and "present" of Night Orchid with the acquisition of the God's Eye (Vision)."

[thepinkhippoinhungryhungryhippos]

i just think toasty drinks tons of tea. both warm and iced. there are always mugs and cups on their window sills and nightstands. i think they would prefer herbal and fruity teas, their favs would absolutely be sleepytime teas (vanilla specifically) and peach teas

[thesconesyard]

Where the West Begins

23. Mirage

Scotty sighed as he worked in the garden. Leonard had been acting strange the past week and no matter how Scotty watched he couldn’t tell what was wrong. Not quite a month ago Leonard had gotten another strange letter from Gaila and had disappeared for an afternoon.

It made Scotty’s stomach twist with worry even as he reminded himself that Leonard was allowed to have his secrets. Everyone on the ranch had their pasts, but it was their futures they all worked towards together. Scotty knew about Leonard’s previous life and Scotty had told him about his own.

He just hoped nothing was wrong.

Around him Keenser’s birds chirped and chased each other and Scotty tried to just enjoy the warm sun above him and the cool earth below.

In the evening he walked with Leonard to their favorite spot by the creek. The doctor’s mind seemed elsewhere as Scotty bumped his hand against his. With a sigh he brought his fingers back to his own side.

“Have I done something wrong, Len?”

For a moment he wondered if Leonard had heard him, but then the other man slowly looked at him in surprise.

“Of course not!” he said with feeling. “You could never do anything wrong!”

“Oh.”

Leonard sat down beside the tree and pulled Scotty down with him.

“I’m sorry Monty,” Leonard said, looking down at his lap. “I’ve been thinking about something and I just…” He shook his head. “I’m sorry.” He looked up then and caught Scotty’s eye. “I’ll do better, I promise.”

“Oh Len,” Scotty said quickly. “I just worried, that’s all.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” Leonard said, still looking at Scotty. He smiled slowly and moved in close. Scotty let out a brief chuckle and met him halfway.

Leonard had left early. Scotty sighed as he worked in the garden again. The greenery was soothing, but he still was worried. The doctor had promised the night before to do better, but then he’d left again without saying why. He and Honey had been gone as soon as breakfast was finished. Scotty had helped the ladies with the washing up and when he had gotten outside, Leonard was just passing the gate.

“Am I missing something?” he had asked Christine as she came out on the porch.

She shook her head, and touched his arm. “I’m sure it's fine. He takes spells from time to time. Just be there for him.”

Another sigh. If Leonard was having a hard time, then Scotty would do his damndest to support him. After all they’d all had their hardships. Scotty knew he had his own moments of grief for the life and brother he had left behind. He kept those moments mostly tucked away and carried on as normally as he could when they hit.

Leonard needed his space. He took care of his memories differently. Scotty couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to not have been able to save his father.

Eventually Scotty’s thoughts moved on. The sun was warm and the plants were growing. And wasn’t that what he should focus on; life moving on and growing?

Keenser had come to join him and Jaylah after that. Scotty smiled and laughed with his friends. Keenser whistled them a song that sounded like his birds. When he finished Scotty began to sing an old song he knew from when he was a boy. The old Gaelic words fell from his lips. Keenser closed his eyes and nodded along.

To Scotty’s surprise a voice joined him in singing the song. No one spoke Gaelic on the ranch. He turned around so fast his hat nearly fell off.

Leonard was standing at the garden gate. Scotty’s voice faltered as he saw the man standing with him, who was finishing Scotty’s song.

“No…” Scotty whispered, his legs nearly giving out underneath him. “It cannae be!”

“Halo a bhràthair.”

“Robbie?” Scotty whispered. He looked at Leonard who was smiling with his whole being. “Robbie!” Scotty yelled. Somehow he made it across the garden and threw himself at his brother.

“Monty!” said an old familiar voice as arms Scotty never thought he’d feel again surrounded him.

“How!?” Scotty pulled back to look at his brother, then closed the gap and hugged him again. “How?”

Robbie laughed, but Scotty could hear the tears as well. His own face was wet.

“I cannae believe it!” Scotty said again, moving back to look his brother up and down and take him in. “This is real?”

“It’s real darlin’,” said Leonard, still beaming.

“I’ve missed ye so much Monty,” said Robbie, wiping a hand across his face.

Scotty wiped his own eyes. “I never thought…”

“Ye’d see me again?” Robbie laughed. “I thought the same until about a year ago when I received a letter from a Dr. McCoy.”

“But the MacLeods—”

“Dead,” said Robbie. “About a year after ye left. A deal with the Gordon’s gone wrong.”

“All this time—”

“Ye could have come back and ye didn’t know,” Robbie said with a sad smile.

Scotty didn’t know what to say. He stared at his long lost brother and couldn’t help but hug him tight again just to make sure it was really real.

[whatthefishh]

happy 1k celebration, meowna-na !!!

🎨, they’re still a secret right now but I really wanna request a shaeven couple moldboard,, I’m really curious to see how you view those two cuties ☺️💕

Hello my darling 🩷 a moldboard just for you, trying to channel some Shae and Steven vibes (I miss them)

Photo creds to Pinterest 💚

I hope you like it bb!

Xoxo

[thesabrinatheteenagewitchblog]

Sabrina is losing her heart, and Hilda and Zelda must stop Josh from liking her in Sabrina The Teenage Witch (1996) Episode 15 (90 overall) "Love in Bloom" (February 11, 2000)!

[juniepops]

You should try thirdpersoning yourself sometime. Especially if you use slightly unusual or neo pronouns

[blueraspberryroadkill]

PINKIES BREW ANIMATIC

[shutter-pan]

Artificial intelligence #8

[redwoodfogcatcher]

First time ordering from Atlas Coffee Club. Was NOT disappointed. Oh and for all you moots, yes I'm a huge coffee nerd.

[radicalhighway-moved]

i think it might be snanines time tonight