#harpist rambles

[sleepinginmygrave]

im gonna start playing in a mf harps quatuor and my first practice sesh is in one minute i am shaking in my boots rn

[thecharmingchimaera]

God there’s so many beautiful people in the world

[olderthannetfic]

Something I've noticed when I write black OCs is that I get people referencing TV Tropes like it's a gotcha. "You're writing a black woman with water elemental powers. That's really cliche, here's a link to show what I mean." "Oh he has lightning abilities? That's super overdone, haven't you seen the page Electric Black Guy?" "That name sounds pretty stereotypical. It's what TV Tropes would call a Ghetto Name." "Him being into classical music has such "But Not Too Black" vibes."

I had a college professor who was super into TV Tropes. She was an adjunct who wore the same red cardigan and stained, smelly purple Uggs every day, who regularly rambled and went over the allotted time we had for class each day, one time by forty minutes. I got a lot of writing done in that Intro To Literature class, but it's given me a bias against TV Tropes. Particularly because none of those tropes are bad.

Black people having elemental superpowers in a setting where all superpowers are elemental? Not a bad thing, it'd be kind of weird if I broke the lore just for black people. Somali names like what I gave one character's family (bc they're Somali American) being "ghetto" is dependent on what we mean by "ghetto" but why would be it bad if, in fact, those were names people living in a ghetto had? And speaking as a harpist in my university's orchestra, I know for a fact that black people into classical music exist, not just because they're in the orchestra but because our orchestra director is a black man who's very passionate about multiple genres, including ones that are "not too black".

TV Tropes was fun in middle school. I get the appeal. But it doesn't dictate what can and cannot be written about. And just because a trope has a name doesn't mean it's racist/evil/bad/wrong and no one can ever write ever no matter what. Even TV Tropes says tropes are not evil.

--

The real cliche here is the desire to police the fuck out of every single black character for not being literally all things to all people at the same time.

[becauseplot]

90 Seconds to Midnight: An Ordem Paranormal AU Masterpost

Figured I should make one of these so I can keep track of my own posts lmao. Will be edited with new entries as they come but don't expect toooooo much content. Spoilers through OSNF finale and OPD 6. Asks are always open for the AU!

90 Seconds to Midnight is an AU where Thiago survives Santo Berço, but he doesn't quite escape the Symbol. After all, anything that is touched by Death cannot ever go back to the way it was. (Liz+Thiago-centric.)

FICS

Still Feel (Original fic where I made up the basic premise of how Thiago survives Santo Berço. This was written BEFORE I decided to make the AU angsty lol. You can definitely read this as standalone and pretend the rest of the AU's storyline doesn't exist.)

Inktordem Day 9 --- Morte (One-off I wrote for Inktordem. Towards the end of the AU's storyline. One of my reblogs on this post has extra meta info about it, but the explanation contains spoilers for OPD 19, so be warned!)

TUMBLR POSTS

Post 1 (Self-indulgent rambles and Liz and Thiago's living situation. Secret-third-thing Liz+Thiago my beloved.)

Post 2 (First explanation of how Thiago's situation starts to take a turn for the worse.)

Post 3 (How Thiago initially tries to cope with the nightmares.)

Post 4 (Toying with ideas concerning Thiago and Liz's entwined decent.)

Post 5 (Random thing I tagged for this AU that I think is still relevant enough to be worth mentioning.)

Post 6 (Ending of the AU's storyline.)

Post 7 (Epilogue!)

Post 8 (The entanglement of their love, their trauma, and paranormal influence.)

Post 9 (Another thing I tagged and see as relevant to the au.)

Post 10 (And ANOTHER thing I tagged that is SUPER relevant. In my opinion.)

Post 11 (Liz's nightmares. Can't believe I haven't talked about Liz's nightmares yet.)

OTHER STUFF

Some wonderful art made by the lovely @rabbit-harpist! Please go look at this it's amazing it's incredible I love it so so much.

HEY LOOK AT THAT I MADE A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST :D

[ladyoflindon]

Inspiration strikes

Author's note: My story will be named "Lady of the Noldor", also Rings of Power was a huge inspiration (especially the Galadriel-Sauron temptation dynamic, I'm not copying that but I think it's interesting), I'll be adapting Rings of Power events into my story

Hear me out, guys! I've got an idea for a Silm elf, but I'm really fleshing it out. This is a story where my OC eventually ends up with Glorfindel, but there's a very long journey before she gets there.

Her name is Noldoriel (Q. Lady of the Noldor, forgive me if I'm wrong here), and she's a Noldor elf (duh). She is known for her wisdom, earning her the title Noldoriel the Wise. She resides in Eregion with her father Lalmion (S. Laughter's son), who's a close friend and advisor of Celebrimbor. Erestor (yes, the future Chief Counsellor of Rivendell) also lives there with his father Almarion (S. Son of blessedness). Lalmion and Almarion are close friends, together they form a close-knit circle of Celebrimbor's advisors.

Noldoriel is a harpist, and she has an extensive understanding of elven lore. In particular, she respects Glorfindel a lot, has worked on a few murals of him throughout Eregion (this is before he's reborn). She admires his valour and courage.

Her close friend is Mirdania (a Rings of Power OC, but I love her).

One day, Annatar (Lord of Gifts, oh how I wish to beat up this mf) comes to Eregion. Noldoriel is suspicious of him, but Annatar is smart enough to know that it would be better to have her as an ally instead of his enemy. He charms her with Maia magic. For a while, she actually falls under his spell.

He lures her in with false promises of romantic love, and it was originally meant to be a charade but over time he actually falls for her. Noldoriel can subtly sense that something is wrong, but she is trying to fight the subconscious.

Part I of my story will be about Noldoriel fighting the temptation of Annatar. The Siege of Eregion happens in this one, and I think the closing scene of Part I would likely be a final confrontation between Noldoriel and Annatar (like Sauron and Galadriel's fight).

Part II of my story is where Glorfindel comes in. I personally headcanon (before Rings of Power came out) that the Lindon elves would have an army to save Eregion, and Glorfindel (reborn) would be one of its commanders. As Glorfindel and the other commanders (including Elrond and Gil-galad) lead the survivors of the siege out of Eregion to the valley that would one day become Rivendell, they walk by a plunge pool (which is where a waterfall will meet the stream that feeds the Glanduin river). Glorfindel spots Noldoriel washed up on the banks (she had chosen to jump down the waterfall from the top of the cliff to escape Annatar/Sauron, and I kinda want it to be a symbolism where she finally rids herself of his influence, and not to copy the scenes from Rings of Power).

He saves her, they go to the valley. Noldoriel and Glorfindel eventually fall in love, they get married after the War of the Last Alliance.

Part II of the story is about Glorfindel and Noldoriel.

Thanks for listening to my rambling! If you have any feedback or ideas you'd like to see me use in my story, please comment! Any lore inaccuracies, comment as well!

Face claim for Noldoriel: this amazing actress over here, Grace Victoria Cox (except with longer hair of course, and grey eyes)

[kate-m-art]

This is silly but finally found one of my dream dolls, Aine from Barbie's 2008 Legends of Ireland collectors line and like I love her so much and wanted to show her off 😅💕

But then like lowkey just really love the little collection I have, still growing slowly but don't get to show people v much so like akdkf other dolls under the cut cause I just think they're pretty TvT

Harpist Angel (1997) and Fairy of the Garden (2001) still looking for Fairy of the Forest

Then Legends of Ireland Aine (2008) and Princess of Ireland (2001)

Princes and the Pauper's Anneliese and Erika (2004) and Sugarplum Princess Clara from Barbie's Nutcracker (2001)

Liana and Alexa from Barbie & the Diamond Castle (2008)

Margot Robbie in the Return to Barbieland outfit from Barbie (2023.) (Preordered "I am Kenough" Ken too because he made me laugh so much, he'll get here sometime this year lol)

Mostly collect Barbie and a few Disney dolls but these two girlies are my exceptions. On the left is ICY Fortune Days Virgo doll from their twelve constellations line (want to get the Cancer doll too eventually) and on the right is Rainbow High's Victoria Whitman (2023.) I love her freckles so freaking much

Maggie beloved is my ooak doll, I think I've shared her with you guys before

Rosella from Barbie as the Island Princess (2007.) She was my favorite doll to play with growing up and couldn't believe I found another in box.

Then Rapunzel is from the 2001 movie and Elina is from Mermaidia (2006.) You can see Serafina peeking out there too, forgot to move her next to Anneliese.

Snowflake Ballerina (2000) and the Swan Queen from Swan Lake (1998)

The first version of Peter Rabbit Barbie (1997). I'm still looking for the second one in the blue dress.

Austrian Barbie (1999) and Prominade in the Park Barbie (1997)

Then the 2000 Celebration Holiday doll and a Flynn and Rapunzel wedding set from the Disney store that I bought a long time ago, but looks like they're selling this set again so akdkf nice! (Plus a 17" Rapunzel I want to repaint someday and a little Miraculous movie Marinette from last year.)

And then the 2022 Holiday Barbie with red hair (she was a Walmart exclusive and hard to find because very unique face, I lucked out and found one at a TJ Maxx for cheap 😅) and 2013 Holiday Barbie (she, 2000 holiday doll and one other i have in a drawer somewhere were my first display and not play dolls actually)

Think that's about it, I've been rambling for a while now but if you made it this far thanks for letting me show and tell ♡

[music-interpretation-review]

For the 14% of you who are interested in knowing more, I'm going to paste in some recommendations! (Plus those who answered yes might find something they don't know about here.)

Analysis of Popular Music

12tone - analyzing the lyrics and how they connect to the chords and motifs in a song

Charles Cornell - analyzing the chord progressions and motifs in video game music and music from shows, as well as other things

Justin Hawkins Rides Again - this guy has long rambling videos but they're packed with interesting info

Lie Likes Music - inactive now but good videos in his archive

Middle 8 - histories of popular song and bands

Polyphonic - more of the above

Rock N' Roll True Stories - yet more, specifically about rock songs

Sound Field - a PBS show about modern popular music

Todd in the Shadows - his most popular series is One Hit Wonderland

Music Theory Discussion

Adam Neely - catch-all music analysis

David Bennett Piano - analyzing chord progressions and other details in rock and pop

David Hartley - song and musician histories

Holistic Songwriting - Teaching theory to amateurs

Inside the Score - analyzing classical music and film scores

Sideways - his most famous video is "why the music in Les Mis 2012 sucks" if that helps

Vocal Coaches React/Analyze Technique

I find a number of vocal coaches on youtube who analyze performances get catty about it sometimes. The ones below are vetted by me as encouraging and kind.

Ashley Kennedy

Jaron M. Legrair

Jennifer Glatzhofer

Ken Lavigne

Peter Barber

Sam Johnson

The Charismatic Voice

The Vocalyst

Music Professionals React

Because Isaac - hip-hop music producer listens to classic rock & new releases in his genre

Covers & Commentary - drummer reacts to music

Virgin Rock - harpist reacts to rock and pop

Musicians Play Songs They've Never Heard Before By Ear (As Well As Other Relevant Music Analysis For That Instrument)

Drumeo

Musora

Pianote

Scott's Bass Lessons

Okay, hopefully that'll hold you.

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

the way the Riddle-Master trilogy is about Morgon but just as much, if not more than that, it's about the people who love Morgon

[sleepinginmygrave]

harp class today !! :D

[cx-shhhh]

I’m literally so stupid. “At the End of the Day” and “One Day More” have the same instrumental intro... probably because they’re both about days.

Also there’s probably something significant about how at the end of “At the End of the Day,” Valjean ruins Fantine’s life in the factory while he saves Cosette’s at the beginning of “One Day More”???

[ladyniniane]

Salut @lena-rambles ! Je suis un peu en retard mais puisque @violets-in-her-arms-writes m'a gentiment proposé de participer, je viens avec quelques recommandations.

Un artiste française que j'aime beaucoup est Cécile Corbel, c'est une harpiste bretonne qui a un univers magique très fantasy (et je viens d'apprendre qu'elle avait sorti un nouvel album en septembre, La fille du verseau).

Toutes ses chansons ne sont pas en français, mais en voici quelques unes que j'apprécie :

-La fille damnée / Sans faire un bruit / Garden District / Neige / La Fiancée/Emmène-moi /Décembre/ Valhalla/Le Mur est Tombé

Ensuite il y a Mylène Farmer, une chanteuse française très connue. Ses textes, notamment à ses débuts, sont parfois sombres et étranges mais ils sont plus profonds que ce que certains veulent bien en dire, avec des références à l'art et à la littérature française. Ses performances et mises en scène en concert sont très impressionnantes. Pas mal de mes personnages ont été inspirés par ses chansons.

Il y a beaucoup de chansons d'elle que j'aime, mais en vrac :

Désenchantée / Je t'aime mélancolie / Sans Logique / Fuck Them All/ Les rues de Londres / A tout jamais / Jardin de Vienne / Bouteille à la mer / Insondables / Un jour ou l'autre /Méfie-toi/Désobéissance (et j'en oublie sans doute pas mal)

Mention spéciale : Les filles du Canyon par Etienne Daho

That's it! Hope you will like those songs!

salut encore ! as-tu des recommandations des chansons françaises, en général mais particulièrement pour l'écriture et les personnages ? ma collection n'est pas grande :(

aussi, peux-tu parler un peu à propos lorelei et/ou némésis ? elles sont très intéréssantes ! bien sûr, seulement si tu veux

(quand j'écrivais en haut, je pus penser des mots espagnols mais pas français haha . . . ça fait longtemps que j'ai écrit en français mais osef)

Coucou ! Alors honnêtement je ne suis pas la meilleure personne à qui poser cette question 😬 la musique française et moi on a une relation... compliquée. Mais j'ai quand même quelques chansons françaises sur ma playlist donc :

Ta reine de Angèle

On brûlera de Pomme

Tournent les violons de Jean-Jacques Goldman

Requiem de Alma

(Tango) Princesse, D'où je viens et Si je m'en sors de Julie Zenatti

Faire semblant et Je sais si peu d'Élodie Frégé

A ma place d'Axel Bauer et Zazie

Je dors sur des roses de la comédie musicale "Mozart l'Opéra Rock"

Encore du temps de la comédie musicale "Le Roi Soleil"

Je serai ton ombre et D'un souffle ou d'un cri de la comédie musicale "Cléopâtre"

Generally speaking the french musicals have killer soundtracks so you should definetely check them out! Most of them are on Youtube and you can easily find the songs + lyrics video ^^ Of course, some of them are better than others (and some are just *chef kiss*) so, good luck

Le Roi Soleil ; Mozart l'Opéra Rock ; Cléopâtre la dernière reine d'Égypte ; Notre Dame de Paris ; Roméo et Juliette ; 1789 les amants de la Bastille ; La légende du roi Arthur ; Robin des Bois ; Don Juan ; Dracula l'amour plus fort que la mort ; and probably more I've forgotten. Have fun !!

ALSO THANK YOU FOR ASKING ABOUT MY BABIES !!! Yes I would love to speak about them but I'll probably make a separate post and tag you in it, if you don't mind ? 😊

(@ladyniniane if you have more french songs to recomand, don' hesitate to jump in 👀)

[crazypercheron]

Its been a gazillion years, but I finally posted some art. And by art, I mean like just 2 people. Yeah, I forgot about Drawtober so I think I'm going to take a break this year.

[so-this-is-my-blog-i-guess]

Harpo Marx - Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1955 - I Love Lucy)

For some unknown reason, I needed to hear Harpo play. He’s an amazing harpist.

[ack3rlady]

The Universe Had His Back - Chapter 7

Summer

Chapters: Six | Seven

Master List

Warnings: Fluff, Fluff and more Fluff

Word Count: ~2.74k

Inspiration: Don't Go - Exo

A/N: And with this chapter, I conclude this series. Thank you for all the love you all gave my baby project!

Tags: @sooibian, @queenofcurse, @red-n-tall, @badbitxhbuckybarnes , @sweet-assh0le

‘Why am I nervous? We've done much more than just kiss. For fucks sake! I'm the mother of his child.’

You took a few deep breaths to calm yourself down before pushing the cart from behind your truck towards the large glass doors of the café. You had offered to take today’s batch of bread and pastries to Levi’s to snag a chance to see him, much to Mikasa’s annoyance.

“Oi, brat! You’re late.”, Levi remarked without looking up from his laptop when the bell above the door rang with your entrance, expecting her to have finally arrived.

“Levi, I’m so sorry! I made an impromptu decision to come here instead of Mikasa and -”, you emerged from behind the lofty stack of boxes.

Your hair was up in a messy bun, you were panting from hauling the weight and the resultant perspiration made you glow. Your continual rambling about why you were late, instantly gave him a feeling of Déjà vu, hurling him eight years back in time to the morning when he first laid his eyes on you.  Mirroring that day, he couldn’t focus on anything you were saying, gawking at you with unblinking eyes given how stupefied he was by the sight before his eyes and the sound of your voice.

“Levi? Are you listening?”, you waved your hand in front of his face, disrupting the mental movie playing in his head.

“Huh? Oh, y-yeah. Hi.” he shook his head vigorously and blinked a few times to bring himself back to the present.

Both a blushing mess, you stood by the entrance to the cafe, smiling at each other like two smitten high-schoolers.

“Are you finally back together?”, a shriek from the opposite end of the seating area made your ears ring.

The cacophony was loud enough that Erwin’s head immediately peaked out of his office; his face riddled with confusion. Both your necks snapped towards the source - Hange was running in your direction with the brightest grin on their face. Every head in the room was turned towards you. Eren and other new members of staff at the café, Armin, Jean, Sasha and Connie were slack jawed with their gaping eyes fixed on you after being subjected to this abrupt and unnecessary announcement. One look from Levi sent them scrambling back to work.

“Fucking four-eyes.” he mumbled as they came closer.

“I knew it! You lovebirds couldn’t stay apart for long!”, they squealed with joy enveloping you both in an spontaneous group hug, not giving Levi an opportunity to flinch away.

“Shhh! Calm down, Hange! We’re not back together. Yet.”, you tugged on their hands trying to free yourself from their clasp.

Levi's eyes met and stayed on yours when you uttered the last word, the way his heart fluttered at the sound of it clearly reflecting on his face.

Yet.

“But you were together last night. You have both put in way too much effort in your appearances today. And the color on Short-stack's cheeks can be spotted from Mars! What am I missing here?”, they observed, unaware of the heat rising within their two friends thinking about their final moments together at the Ackerman home yesterday.

Always the perceptive one, Hange. They weren’t entirely wrong. You did spend forty minutes in your closet hunting for the one floral lemon-yellow dress that Levi loved seeing you in; piling on deodorant while simultaneously cursing the hot summer. You picked your reflection in the mirror apart for way too long, fiddling with the necklace he bought you ages ago while rehearsing what you would say to him.

By the looks of it, he did too. He looked oh-so handsome today. Granted, he always did. But today was different. He wore your favorite navy-blue button-down shirt with slate grey slacks, sleeves folded to reveal his toned fore arms, and the top two buttons left open to aid with the sweltering heat; or was it because he knew that it made you weak in the knees when he wore his shirts that way? And his cheeks and ears were definitely a brighter shade of pink than the raspberry compote on the cheesecake you brought.

He stood pinching the bridge of his nose, his breathing starting to speed up. You figured it was his attempt at suppressing the strong urge to smack the grin right off Hange’s face.

“Hange, I promise, I’ll give you all the details later. But for now, Levi and I have things to discuss.”, you pulled him away before he could act on his impulse.

Taking a seat at the table by the large bay window, kissed by the morning sun, you watched the city slowly rise awake with your cheek resting on the palm of your hand. Levi, who was walking back from the kitchen with a cup of tea for himself and a caramel latte for you, stopped in his tracks to mentally frame this image. It was as if you were a different person than who he met over the last two days.

There were no signs of the anxious but adoring mother from yesterday nor the bewildered, pained ex-wife from the day before; you were the same clumsy, moody, garrulous, as well as kind, selfless and mesmerizing woman he fell madly in love with when you walked in through the doors of this very place eight years ago. How could one person flood his heart with a barrage of different emotions this way?

You acknowledged him with a soft ‘hi’ accompanied by a smile when he sat down on the chair opposite to you, nervous about the forthcoming conversation. You stole occasional glances at each other while sipping your beverages, hesitating to be the one to say the first word.

“Do you hate me?”, he asked out of the blue, his gaze locked on his cup.

“No! Why would you think that?”

“Uh- you obviously had a chance to think about what I said to you after going home last night. Why would you possibly want to still see me?”

“Well, I’m here, aren't I? I want to work on us if you’re willing to try as well, Levi. I want to see where this takes us.”, you smiled, placing your hand on his.

"Me too."

.

.

Four months later

The day of Suki and Furlan's wedding was finally here. The venue was set, guests had arrived and you were busy helping the bride get ready for her special day, having spent all morning with her, Isabel and the other bridesmaids in the bridal suite, chatting away in excitement and anticipation for the day ahead.

“Honestly speaking, Suki, I’d have a hard time keeping my hands off you if I were Furlan”, you teased while draping the veil into her hair, causing her to bury her face into her palms.

“You’re one to talk! Levi has been looking for reasons to see you all morning. I had to turn him away thrice already. I'm pretty sure he is going to murder me after the wedding is over.”, Isabel shot back with a smirk.

The last four months had been nothing short of a whirlwind. After that morning at the cafe, having breakfast with Levi turned into a routine. He brought Luna along on most days, and the three of you spent time chatting and admiring the toddler’s antics over tea and scones while sitting at your usual table by the bay window. Sometimes you’d have her accompany you to the patisserie to give Levi a much-deserved break.

Everyone there was enamored with the little firecracker. Her Uncle Miche had always been her favorite because the gentle giant ferried her around the large kitchen on his shoulders. Bertholdt and Reiner would happily comply to all the orders their mini boss belted out. Annie, although a little awkward around her, listened intently to her endless stories; Mikasa secretly pampered her with numerous treats even after several warnings from you, and Nanaba would fuss over her all the time and try to keep the little one all to herself, earning protests from the others.

The evenings varied between taking Luna to the park or the pier, or just spending time indoors at your place or his. You even celebrated her fourth birthday two weeks ago. All your friends and family, along with some little friends the birthday girl had made at the park were invited. You spent a beautiful evening in the backyard of your house around a bonfire, with a delectable meal and wonderful company.

Levi especially made sure you knew that you were being wooed by taking you out on date nights every now-and-then to the finest of restaurants, walks on the beach, to the drive-in theater a few miles outside your town, or star gazing from your favorite spot up the nearby hill. You both were working through your differences and had barely had any disagreements during the time spent together. Things were slowly falling in place; in fact, this newly re-built relationship with him felt much stronger than ever before.

The flashback ended when the wedding planner knocked on the door indicating it was time for the ceremony to begin. You, Isabel, and the other bridesmaids ushered Suki to her designated spot, making sure her dress, hair, make up and flowers looked perfect.

.

.

Standing at the altar by Furlan’s side as his best man, Levi was relieved that he would finally be seeing you soon after being apart all morning. Lately, the two of you spent most of your time together; and this sudden separation had him feeling restless.

On cue, the two harpists seated on either side of the rows began to play heavenly tune of ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perry, a prompt for the bride’s party to start making their way towards the altar. He watched patiently as bridesmaids accompanied by groomsmen walked down the aisle, waiting for you to finally appear. He almost forgot to breathe when your form eventually entered the nave, walking a short distance behind Isabel and one of Furlan’s friends.

You wore the emerald gown from your encounter with him at the store four months ago, and looked a million times more beautiful this morning. Your usually open hair was tied into an elegant loose braid with some curly strands framing your face. The sun rays falling on your silhouette from the towering stained-glass windows of the church made you look like an angel descending solely upon him. He finally began breathing again when you smiled at him and mouthed “breathe”, after taking your position at the altar.

Levi only peeled his eyes away from you when Luna’s giggles reverberated off the stone walls as she waddled down the aisle, scattering petals of baby pink roses, about the same shade has her chubby cheeks, on the ivory carpet. You wiped a stray tear rolling down your face as you both proudly watched her play the part of a flower girl with utmost perfection. Upon making it to the end, she ran to you and buried her face in your gown, suddenly feeling shy from the cheers and applause she received from the smitten guests.

You instantly scooped her up and held her close, letting her nuzzle into the crook of your neck, cooing sweet words of encouragement into her ears. Levi was so taken by this divine scene before him that he failed to notice the bride's much awaited walk down the aisle; surprised to directly find Suki standing at the altar, facing Furlan with her lips curved into the widest smile before his attention found you and Luna again.

He lost track of how long he was marveling at his two perfect girls for, until he felt an elbow harshly crash into his ribs, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

“Is this revenge for your wedding?”, Furlan frowned.

Levi blankly stared at him, having no clue what he was talking about

“Ring, Levi!”, the fuming groom growled.

Oh, right. He pursed his lips in embarrassment melting under the scrutiny of the baffled guests while he handed over the ring that was in the safety of his blazer’s pocket. His eyes darted towards an alarmed Suki and silently apologized to her. Then his gaze moved back to you, an impish smirk on your face as you stared back at him, knowing exactly what was going on in his mind.

Fuck! Furlan was not going to let this go for a long time.

Luna had lost interest in the festivities midway through the nuptials and had fallen asleep in your arms. After the ceremony, when everyone began to make their way outside the chapel, Levi swiftly moved over to walk beside you and offered to carry the snoozing toddler. You groaned after her weight left your body, stretching your sore shoulders and aching back .

“Stop that. You have no idea how hard it is to control myself from jumping your bones, especially when you look this gorgeous.”, Levi whispered in your ear, snaking an arm around your waist.

You glanced around awkwardly making sure his words did not fall on any prying ears and gave him a quick smack on the shoulder, trying to suppress the heat creeping up your neck.

.

.

Time skip – Evening

The wedding reception was underway. You sat at a table sipping lemonade, watching the newlyweds grooving to the beats of music being played by DJ Zeke. Levi swapped his usual glass of Macallan for a cup of ginger lemon tea; His reason being that his throat was sore from carrying out best man duties. But you knew he was just being supportive of your goal to stay off alcohol.

Erwin and Hange sat by the bar, socializing with Furlan’s Boss, Mr. Pyxis while Luna was busy playing duck-duck-goose with some new toddler friends she made at the venue. Levi needed to be physically restrained from ambushing Isabel who he had discovered slow dancing with the same groomsman that walked alongside her at the ceremony. Miche and Nanaba were spotted in a rare public embrace, dancing leisurely to the slow music; and your army of helpers consisting of Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Sasha, Connie, Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie took the lead on setting up tables as yours and Levi’s patisserie and café were the official caterers for the evening.

The choice of DJ Zeke's next track brought a sparkle to your eyes. Your smile spread from ear to ear when ‘Fly me to the Moon' by Frank Sinatra emanated from the speakers. You sang along and began swaying cheerfully in your seat to the melody.

“Remember, Levi? This was the song we had our first dance to at our wedding.” you reminisced; a nostalgic smile spread across your face.

“How can I forget?”, he asked.

His eyes were unfocused, lost in memories of his own. He remembered how ethereal you looked in your white wedding dress. How your diamond jewelry shimmered under the spotlight, how you whispered honeyed words into his ears when he felt exceptionally uncomfortable dancing in public, how warm your hands felt wrapped around his body, how your breath tickled his neck. He’d give anything just to go back and relive that moment.

You gaze was still lost among people enjoying themselves on the dance floor when a stretched-out hand entered your line of vision. Your eyes followed it to land on Levi’s face. A quirk in your eyebrows wordlessly asked him what this action meant.

“Let's dance.”, he said.

“You, Levi Ackerman, are willingly asking me to dance? Did someone spike your tea?” You smirked, earning an eye roll from him.

“Oi, brat! Let’s go before I change my mind.”

“Only if you ask nicely.”

“May I have this dance with you, my love?”

You accepted and the pair of you headed towards the dance floor. He gently pulled you close to him and firmly held on to your hand. His other hand wrapped firmly around your waist and you rested yours on his shoulder. You both moved to the slow rhythm in perfect harmony, as you drowned in those gorgeous blue-grey eyes. It felt like the world around you had dissolved and it was just the two of you and the music.

“You look nice today. I see you bought the same gray suit you hated with a fiery passion.”, you teased.

“How could I not after you said you liked it?”

You looked over his shoulder to Suki and Furlan flashing you a wide grin from across the dance floor. And so did Hange, Miche and Nanaba from over that the bar. Erwin gently raised his drink in your direction. The heat from the from the sudden metaphorical spot light you stood under was cooled by the kiss Levi planted on your cheek.

“Did I tell you how lucky I feel to have you?”, he whispered into your ear as while brushing strands of hair off your face.

“I could stand to hear it more often.”, You hid your blush by resting your forehead on his shoulder, feeling too shy to keep his gaze.

“It's true. You’re the most beautiful woman is this room tonight, scratch that, you’ll be the most beautiful woman anywhere, any day; and I get the honor of calling you mine.” he cooed, drawing gentle circles on your back with his fingers.

“You’re awfully talkative today!”, you lifted your head again to reveal a contagious coy smile spread across your lips.

“Don’t be stupid. I’ve always been talkative.”,

“Come with me.”, he moved you off his chest and tugged at your hand.

“Where?”, you asked in utter confusion, and a bit of annoyance at the wonderful moment being ruined, just to receive silence in response.

Levi quickly glanced over to find Luna munching on garlic bread sticks with Erwin and Hange, as he guided you away from the venue and towards the lake nearby. The ripples in the water gleamed under the moonlight, resembling liquid silver. Warm yellow light from the lamps on either side of a wooden dock dimly illuminated the path that led to a gorgeous gazebo that stood at the end, its ceiling sprinkled with fairy lights that defined the intricate floral carvings in the wood. You stood in the center of the structure and slowly spun around, marveling at the work of whose ever brilliant hands built it.

“Levi, this is stunning!”, you said gazing in all directions, running your fingers over the sophisticated engravings.

“Yes, it is.”, Levi agreed, his eyes not on the architecture, but instead on the human embodiment of radiant sunny day that stood by his side.

Not remotely expecting anything to outshine the sight before you, your vision was captured by an extravagant display of red, green, and gold against the dark blanket of the night’s sky. You jumped when the sound of the first soaring explosion caught you off guard. An arm slid across your waist and a kiss was placed on your temple. You were enamored by the shattering sparks of the fireworks, eliciting frequent oohs and aahs, until a voice snapped you out of your reverie.

“Marry me.”

It took you a few seconds to fully register what you just heard. But when you did, overwhelming feelings of joy rendered you speechless; fingers absentmindedly running over the carved railing of the gazebo, stunned orbs darting between the brilliant sky and the love of your life.

This time Levi had to remind you to breathe.

Your eyes and lips both turned into wide Os, and you slapped your hands to cover your gaping mouth when he slowly lowered himself to kneel before you, opening a little black box containing the same gorgeous ruby ring from all those years ago, which he sneaked out of your nightstand during one of his visits.

“I know that you said you wanted to take this slow. But the last four months with you have been the most precious of my life, where I got a glimpse of what having a perfect family would be like. I learnt the hard way, what I lost when I lost you and you gave me a second chance at finding happiness when you decided to come back. I promise to love and protect you every single day for the rest of my life, and even after. You complete me, love, and you complete our family. So, will you do me the honor of being Mrs. Ackerman, again?”

“Levi...”, your trembling voice was barely audible.

“Yes.”, you breathed, letting the floodgates finally open when he slid the ring on your finger.

He got back on his feet and engulfed you into the tightest embrace as you wept joyous tears into his shoulders.

“I love you so much!”

“I love you too!”, moving to look into your eyes, he cupped your face with warm hands.

And finally, his lips found yours.

It felt... like home;

Like laying in a cozy bed after a long day of work, like the warm chocolate sauce on a cold scoop of ice-cream, like wearing a fuzzy sweater on a crisp autumn evening, like walking barefoot on the beach at sunset, like taking a cool shower on a blazing summer afternoon, like everything you ever needed.

After being torn apart from the one person who made your life perfect, you were finally back in the soothing confines of his strong arms, resting against his able chest, ready to fall apart; all while the fireworks in the sky mirrored the fireworks in your hearts.

“Mama! Papa!”

You were awoken from this surreal euphoria by the most beautiful squeal you had ever heard. Both your heads turned towards the source of it – a tiny figure running towards you with all her might while all your near and dear ones including the newlyweds watched from a distance, cheering merrily.

“They knew?”, you gasped, sobbing and sniffling from the joyous tears.

“Yeah, pretty much everyone but you knew.”

Luna flew into Levi’s open arms when he bent down to receive her. The three of you merged into one blob of a positively smothering family hug, only pulling away to pepper each other with more kisses. Levi held his two girls close. His sun and moon were now back together in the sky of his life. He looked into Luna’s crescent shaped eyes and whispered,

“Moon beam, Mama’s coming home.”

[nymph-of-books]

your tags are so real an autistic person suddenly approaching you with information about one of their interests is scary. we are too powerful.

i actually became a harpist because i was really gay for my friend who played the harp and she taught me a bit and then i was lucky enough for my great uncle to fund my lever harp/harp lessons for several years!! now i actually mostly use it to compose d&d music for my party :> so elves on harp are THE VIBE™️

that looks like a lever harp and also that art is sick as hell omg you've even got the right pose down ,, , harp rests on the right shoulder fr!! that elf is ELFING i am in love okay okay so

this is a similar harp to the one you showed, dw about the levers/etc at the top because you chose the best angle to absolutely avoid that, but i'm showing this for the strings TECHNICALLY some harps don't start off with the C string (the red one at the bottom of this one!), but most do and for the sake of simplicity this elf's harp does now too ! so basically w the strings, it doesn't matter as much the exact number of strings, but rather just like,, which ones realistically fit and you've gotta get the colour order right it's C - red D - white E - white F - blue or black G - white A - white B - white C - red again and they should all be close as possible without like. the vibration of the strings hitting the other strings if that makes sense? but the most important part is that the spacing is consistent. also, there's different types of strings. personally, the most suitable for a fantasy vibe would be gut strings i think, which just look. very normal, and are the most common for lever harps anyways. i have three different types of strings on my harp, but figuring out how to draw different types and at what string to start sounds painful, and again, fantasy vibe slays

lil image i found because i forgot to say but another important thing is the tuning pins - there should be the same amount of tuning pins as there are strings, as they're for tuning individual strings, but don't worry too much about placement as that would cause an unnecessary headache, since most harps differ on this, just again the same thing of they're mostly spaced out the same way, but as you can see in the image here they get closer at the top summary of all my ramblings: - bottom of harp is red string. red string, white string, white string, blue/black string, white string, white string, white string, red string, white string, etc. - gut string. this is easy enough to convey with just lines as opposed to metallic strings for example - tuning pins at the top of the harp - same amount as the strings, look at a couple references to figure out the spacing if you want to

Damn. This wip got me searching how many strings there are in a large harp. Nobodys gonna fucking know. No one's gonna look at my art and say 'hey, this harp is missing a few strings!.' Except maybe they will and i will suffer in shame for the rest of my life

[songfell-ut]

Smutraiser trip report

Another repost of @sharkowskii's art for another announcement: we made it to $502 on Ko-Fi! Thank you so much for helping us go on our anniversary trip! ;_; Y'all may expect 10,040 words of filth sometime in the next couple of months. Have kid, ADHD, starting new job, etc. etc. etc.

Yesterday was our actual 10th wedding anniversary. I will ramble about it beneath the cut, and then show pictures from last week's trip. It'll be really cool c'mon lessgo

The whole day of our wedding was great. My crazy bachelorette party consisted of me, soon-to-be-husband, and a few college friends at my parents' house watching Crisis on Infinite Earths (fantastic) and then the original Night of the Living Dead (Mike hadn't seen it yet!). Then he went home and I slept at the house as an unmarried lady (in my old bedroom, no less) for the very last time.

Next morning, I brought our friends into the neighbors' yard to meet their golden retriever, Autumn. (We had standing permission to go over there without asking first, ever since we were kids.) The bad news was that there was a strange dog in the yard I hadn't known about; the good news is that Amber was also a golden retriever, and they were both absolutely besides themselves with joy at all the people coming to say hello. You could not ask for worse guard dogs. :D

The actual ceremony was lovely, too. We had it at a pretty bed-and-breakfast right on the river, complete with kayakers and cyclists waving and hollering wellwishes as they passed. I did have to book the whole thing at the beginning of the year: it was a nice outdoor venue, and no one in their right goddamn mind wants to be outside in Texas between March and October, so the dates got snapped up pretty fast. It was worth it! Instead of an aisle, I walked down an autumn-leaf-strewn path winding down to the lawn, and my one big bride-y splurge was that we had a harpist playing the main theme of Final Fantasy VII. You are correct to be jealous.

My biggest unsolicited advice (just ask my Discord friends) is to marry into a nice family. Shitty in-laws are absolute poison, but an extra set of people to love and support you? I can't even joke about how amazing that is, especially if you need as much support as Mike and I have. Everyone enjoyed the free margaritas, but no one misbehaved, and when the party broke up, I was happy to go up to the honeymoon suite instead of any of the after-parties--it was mostly my family, but his was also invited, and I think a couple of his cousins accepted, cementing cordial relations on all sides.

How was our wedding night? Weeeell...it turned out that it was the first properly cold night of the year, and when we turned on the heater, it had obviously not been used in 8 months, because an enormous cloud of black dust poofed out at us and set off the fire alarms. We spent most of the time passionately sitting around with the door and windows open to air the place out playing 3DS and going through all the cards and presents to make our thank-you-note list.

Then came our honeymoon, which was...well, we walked around downtown the next day. Then I went back to school and he went back to work the day after that.

Buuuuuuut on our trip to New Mexico, we TOTALLY DID SHIT

I GOT ON A PLANE AND THE SEATS WERE REALLY NARROW

Don't worry, Mew-Mew came through it okay.

...The same could not be said for me when I went into the bathroom at the Dallas-Fort Worth GIANT FUCKING CITY airport and saw this shit.

That's the goddamn sink where you wash your hands. Turns out the right stick is soap, the middle is water, and the left is air. I've seen PlayStation 1 puzzles that made more fucking sense. Also, why is it a trough aaaaaaaaaaa

Anyway, airplanes are cool cause you get to look down at clouds

Then we waited a long time to get our rental car because they had one guy in charge of two separate companies. At least the vending machines had cans of Mountain Dew. Those are hard to find.

Once we were driving, it turned out that my suspicions were correct: New Mexico has lots of topography.

Hi, Mike's beard! So kyoot

The first thing we did was go up the tram to Sandia Peak. It was fucking cool. And also FREEZING because it's high up and the temperature is very literally 30 degrees colder than the bottom, and autumn in New Mexico is nice and cool to begin with. Check out the view from the tram!

Then there was more cool crap

I wish like hell I could get videos off Mike's phone easily, as mine has been having focus issues (like me. Get it? GET IT) and I got most of my best stuff using his phone, especially at the zoo. Albuquerque's zoo is the tits. Here's a happy little fella, by which I mean "a fuckin dinosaur of a snapping turtle with a water bottle for scale."

The penguin exhibit is probably the coolest thing in the history of ever because they have all this space to swim around and under and over you.

Only 10 images per post? Fine, Tumblr. This is to be continued, then