#hidethings

[jpopstreaming]

🆕🎶 「 SKYPIA 」 new single by hidethings, TACMA is now available worldwide! 🌐 Listen now on our weekly updated playlist and discover new sounds from Japan 🎧 https://spoti.fi/42HdAgd

[youareunbearable]

Why do Brendon Fraser's sons look like someones Facecams for Maedhros and Maglor????

[eri-pl]

Tuor (and Maeglin!) - Turin paralells

Long and chaotic. @lanthanum12 you may want to read, there'll be some talk of Maeglin and the girls*.

\* since -el is a feminine ending in Sindarin, I decided to agree with you: Anguirel and Anglachel are ladies.

So I was watching the brilliant Czech CoH musical. (marred with a ton of YT ads but anyway). And it starts with a scene, which either they brilliantly invented, or it's from a source I don't know:

Huor and Hurin, in Gondolin, see a falling star (the one which later would be forged into A&A) and Hurin makes a wish: he would like to have a brave son and for an elven maiden to fall in love with said son. Huor says he'd rather not know the fate and shape his life himself than wish upon a star.

This wish is brilliant, because they both do get it. Both. (IIRC there was even more in the musical, and all of it was things they later both achieve)

Edit: it's not canon-compatibile, timeline fails. Eol made the swords before FA 400 and Hurin was born FA 441. :(

And this got me thinking about the parallels between Turin and Tuor, and I feel that the best parallel is when we add Maeglin to the mix. Like, Maeglin got some of the strands of fate that were meant for Tuor? Sorry for the chaos.

So

The naming convention, obviously. Turin son of Hurin. Tuor son of Huor. (Seriously, what were they thinking?..)

Huor and Hurin are brothers and do some of Tolkien's brotherly motifs. Huor dies heroically in the battle, Hurin lives long in despair (like M&M). Hurin is older and is tied to defiance and despair. Huor is younger and is tied to hope (like the other M&M -- Manwe and Melkor).

Tuor gets all the good things in the story, and becomes an Elf. Turin gets all the bad things (due partially to his life choices, but it still counts). But in some early more Norse-like versions, becomes a Vala. Somehow. (I'm not a fan of this obviously, but it adds to the parallels)

Tuor is chosen by fate Ulmo. Turin tries to fight against fate and it goes badly. Also, he's cursed by fate Morgoth.

Tuor leads (via his son) to the War of Wrath, and Turin, erm... I really don't like this concept, but it is there. So allegedly Turin&Anglachel get to perma-kill Morgoth.

(Hmmm... what if Tuor took Anguirel from Maeglin during the fighting, and later gave it to Earendil and it played a part in the War of Wrath?)

Tuor marries an Elf. Turin almost marries an elf, which would allegedly end his fate-related problems, but he doesn't. Tuor's future elf wife is flirted with by Maeglin, who later gets captured into Angband. Turin's elf almost-wife is earlier bethroted to Gwindor, who is captured into Angband.

Now Maeglin:

Turin's mother is Morwen, the stern Dark Maiden (this is what "Morwen" means). Maeglin's father is Eol, the stern Dark Elf.

Maeglin loses both parents and is raised in Gondolin. Turin loses his father and is sent away from his mother and is raised in Doriath. Both are very loved by the king of their city.

Maeglin wields Anguirel (Iron of the Eternal Star? Iron of the Hot Star?), Turin wields Anglachel (Iron of the star of Leaping Flame). (Also, Elves are eternam and humans are more like leaping flame)

Maeglin betrays Gondolin and leads to its fall. Turin tries to help Nargathrond and leads to its fall.

Maeglin's father dies by a fall and later Maeglin does too. Turin leads to Saeros's death by a fall and later his sister-wife dies by a fall too.

Maeglin wants to marry his cousin. Turin marries his sister.

(Also, for a Maeglin-Tuor: both are orphaned early.)

There would probably be much more parallels if I knew CoH better. :(

PS: The orthography and sule / silme post is being written, but I got distracted, sorry.

[eccentricmya]

Imagine naming your kid 'Silmaril' in the first age.

[searchingwardrobes]

Hymn Saturday: "He Hideth My Soul" by Rosemary Siemens

Tagging @jrob64 @snowbellewells @kmomof4 @whimsicallyenchantedrose

[southfarthing]

at our wedding (we’re engaged btw) your vows will solely be silm references and im not gonna get all of them but I WILL be nodding vigorously and agreeing w everything you say

JDBDODDNIDJDNJDDHDJ perhaps... perhaps the silmarillion isn't the best place to get vow inspiration from 🥴 but I'm flattered you have this much trust in me <333

[jjcocker]

neaely had a heart attacj,

[welcomingdisaster]

“Nelyo, art thou asleep?” 

“Plainly not.” 

“In such a case, wouldst thou perhaps entertain my flight of fancy, for only a moment?”

“That I cannot promise.” 

“I have only been thinking…” 

“Ah, this grows more dire by the word.” 

“I think of afar casteth.” 

“Mm?” 

“Well, whoso hideth or hoardeth—certainly reasonable. I well see his meaning. Finding keepeth—of course, yes, we would little want such things. But afar casteth, Nelyo, I worry of.” 

“I daresay we would little like to see the jewels afar cast, Káno.” 

“Well, of course not. But suppose, for the sake of argument, that someone was to cast one of the jewels a rather short distance. In startlement, or some such, of their great beauty.” 

“Thou hast missed the mark, I fear. That would be a-near casting, and totally irrelevant.” 

“Ah! But I have not finished. Our caster, see, stands on the edge of a cliff, and the jewel falls from his hands down a very great span. Below the cliff there is a deep mountain lake, and its currents carry the jewel a distance of perhaps eight or nine leagues. Certainly now it has been cast afar. Do we slay our caster?” 

“That shall not come to pass.” 

“Do we?” 

“Káno.” 

“Oh, very well. Let us take another example. Suppose… oh, name a cousin thou likest.” 

“Findekáno.” 

“Why do I bother asking? Imagine Findekáno takes up a jewel in his hand and pitches it—” 

“He would not!” 

“I am asking thee to imagine! Findekáno takes up a jewel in his hand and pitches it off the uppermost peak of a cliff—” 

“Wherefore are there so many cliffs in thy imagination?” 

“—for thou art standing at the bottom of the cliff to catch it! Now, has it been cast afar, and must we slay him?” 

“I am done speaking with thee.” 

“Oh, be reasonable.” 

“Thou art asking me to imagine Findekáno atop a cliff lobbing jewels at me, and I am to be reasonable? I am done, I am done. Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight.” 

… 

…. 

“Nelyo?” 

“Yes?” 

“Say the jewel was taken in mouth or in foot, rather than in hand, or else fastened by glue or rope to the back of a crocodile…”  

[eilinelsghost]

(Medium) Hot Take: "Did the Oath actually condemn Fëanor & his sons to the Everlasting Darkness" is the wrong question because it has a clear textual answer: which is "no."

Did it have the power to do so? That's another question entirely and a fun one to debate.

But did it? Absolutely not.

Because each of the sons of Fëanor (and Fëanor himself) fulfilled their Oath. Nowhere in the various drafts of the Oath is there a version where they call down the Everlasting Darkness if they fail to retrieve a Silmaril. What they actually swear is:

an oath of enmity for ever against any that should hold the Silmarils The Book of Lost Tales, Part One

shall no law nor love nor league of Gods, no might nor mercy, not moveless fate, defend him for ever from the fierce vengeance of the sons of Fëanor, whoso seize or steal or finding keep the fair enchanted globes of crystal whose glory dies not, the Silmarils. The Lays of Beleriand, The Flight of the Noldoli

no law, nor love, nor league of hell, no might of Gods, no binding spell, shall him defend from hatred fell of Fëanor's sons, whoso take or steal or finding keep a Silmaril. The Lays of Beleriand, The Lay of Leithian: Canto IV

neither law, nor love, nor league of swords, dread nor danger, not Doom itself, shall defend him from Fëanor, and Fëanor's kin, whoso hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh, finding keepeth or afar casteth a Silmaril. This swear we all: death we will deal him ere Day's ending, woe unto world's end! Our word hear thou, Eru Allfather! To the everlasting Darkness doom us if our deed faileth. Morgoth's Ring; Fifth section of the Annals of Aman

they swore an oath [...] calling the Everlasting Dark upon them if they kept it not; [...] vowing to pursue with vengeance and hatred to the ends of the World Vala, Demon, Elf or Man as yet unborn, or any creature, great or small, good or evil, that time should bring forth unto the end of days, whoso should hold or take or keep a Silmaril from their possession. The Silmarillion; Of the Flight of the Noldor

Every version of the Oath that includes the Everlasting Darkness calls it down upon them only if they do not pursue the perceived thief with vengeance and hatred. The only variance from this is in the version from the Annals of Aman where one could conceivably link the Everlasting Darkness with a failure to kill whosoever took a Silmaril. But this version is replaced by the consistent form shown in all other iterations (the same form that is included in the published Silmarillion) and consequently doesn't hold much weight for the argument.

Fëanor and each of his sons (save Maglor who survives the First Age with a Silmaril in his possession) met their ends in pursuit of this exact clause - pursuing those who hold a Silmaril with vengeance and hatred - and consequently dying in fulfilment of their Oath. Which is to say that even if we do hold that the Oath had the power to damn them to the Everlasting Darkness (which it very well may have!), it would not, could not, and did not do so because the terms were met.

And even setting the specific wording of the Oath, the text tells us exactly what happens to one who dies in pursuit of the Oath while still not regaining a single Silmaril: "...[Fëanor's] likeness has never again appeared in Arda, neither has his spirit left the halls of Mandos" (The Silmarillion, Of the Return of the Noldor).

So yes, the Oath might have had the power to send them into the Everlasting Darkness, but it did not have the grounds to do so. And so it did not.

[silmarillion-ways-to-die]

"Oh, what are you doing, And where are you going? Your ponies need shoeing, The river is flowing! Oh, tra-la-la-lally Here down in the valley, ha! ha!" – Elves of Rivendell, The Hobbit

“You are more worthy to wear the armour of elf-princes than many that have looked more comely in it.” – Thranduil, The Hobbit

“May your shadow never grow less (or stealing would be too easy)!” – Thranduil, The Hobbit

"A Elbereth Gilthoniel, silivren penna miriel. 0 menel aglar elenath!" – Elves of Rivendell, The Fellowship of the Ring

"Such is of the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere." – Elrond Halfelven, The Fellowship of the Ring

"Farewell, and may the blessing of Elves and Men and all Free Folk go with you. May the stars shine upon your faces!" – Elrond Halfelven, The Fellowship of the Ring

"Yes, they are elves, and they say that you breathe so loud they could shoot you in the dark." – Legolas Greenleaf, The Fellowship of the Ring

"And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!" – Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring

"In this phial is caught the light of Eärendil’s star, set amid the waters of my fountain. It will shine still brighter when night is about you. May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out." – Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring

"Get thee gone from my gate, thou jail-crow of Mandos!" – Fëanor, The Silmarillion

"...neither law, nor love, nor league of swords, dread nor danger, not Doom itself, shall defend him from Fëanor, and Fëanor's kin, whoso hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh, finding keepeth or afar casteth a Silmaril." – Fëanor and His Sons, Morgoth's Ring

[jesus-lover-of-my-soul25]

Treasures of heaven

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭44‬ ‭KJV‬‬

The kingdom of Heaven is hidden to those who still have a veil on them, but when the veil is lifted for a moment, and we are able to find an understand the mystery of salvation through Jesus Christ we hide that truth in our hearts and we joyfully go and give all that we have and sacrifice all that we have just to be able to find our way into that field, which is the kingdom of heaven

[jpopstreaming]

🆕 「 LIFE is JAH」 by hidethings, JHH Available for streaming worldwide!🌐 Added to our weekly playlist 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3lgjH73

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

This is what I mean when I say this fandom has an incredible Noldor bias and insists on twisting everything so the Feanorians come out looking as charitable as possible, because the accusations that Thingol/Dior/Elwing knew they'd be condemning the Feanorians to the Void to keep the Silmaril and it was therefore justified that the Feanorians attacked Doriath and Sirion rely on some truly nonsense assumptions. How would those three know about the oath? Even if they did hear that it was a thing, how would they have the information that the Feanorians believe they'll be sent to super hell if they don't get the Silmarils back? AND even if they somehow did have this info, the oath literally says the Feanorians will come for whoever comes in contact with the Silmaril, regardless of what they do with it afterwards. On top of all that, I've seen people claim that the Feanorians "begged" Thingol/Dior/Elwing to give them the Silmaril, which, lmfao. These people read Tumblr metas and decided that counted as reading the Silm.

i don't have much to add here anon, just a resounding "yeah." i mean, maybe thingol has heard about the oath through some hearsay from beren, who received vague tidbits from finrod, but regardless, that eternal damnation business is definitely not something he'd be aware of. doubtful that finrod, or anyone outside of the feanorians themselves and their followers, know about that. and it's even more nonsense to say that dior or elwing would have any way of hearing the details of the oath. and!!! like you said! i don't usually find myself including this in my arguments because, as i've said, thingol and dior and elwing wouldn't know what exactly the oath stipulates anyway -- but it quite literally says "neither law, nor love, nor league of swords, dread nor danger, not doom itself, shall defend him from feanor, and feanor's kin, whoso hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh, finding keepeth or afar casteth a silmaril." it doesn't matter what this person does afterward -- whether they keep or cast away a silmaril once they have it, the feanorians are going to go after them.

and as for that third point specifically -- that's the most egregious, imo. it's always hilarious to see people act like the feanorians were any iota of polite or diplomatic, let alone humbled themselves and begged, when dealing with thingol, or dior, or elwing. seriously, the way the word "unreasonable" is hurled at those three specifically is something else considering for whose defense the accusation is made in the first place. on the feanorians' part -- zero attempts at reparations made for the murder, kidnapping, and attempted rape. zero indications that they give a fraction of a fuck about any of the teleri. and from the perspective of the iathrim/inhabitants of sirion, zero indications that they are even decent enough people who would honor their own terms and leave doriath/sirion alone if the silmaril is surrendered. as per the text, straight up negative indications that they ever, lmfao, acted with any type of respect towards thingol or dior or elwing, all people whose family they have sorely wronged. towards thingol we get that they "reminded him of haughty words of their claim," and that their words were "proud and threatening." to dior we don't get specifics, but the text does say explicitly that they "sent to him to claim their own," which certainly doesn't make it sound like they were being tactful about it. to elwing and sirion they send messages "of friendship and yet of stern demand." begging? begging where? diplomacy where? attempts to acknowledge their wrongs and make even the barest offer of amends where? yet thingol and dior and elwing, the ones whose families were their victims -- the ones whose kin were murdered, kidnapped, and/or almost raped by them -- are the unreasonable and unfair ones. they are the ones who should have acted differently, and upon whom every bit of blame and culpability lies. the poor sad feanorians are tormented and tragic as they're forced to *checks notes* make good on their own oath to murder innocents which they chose to swear long before anyone other than morgoth was in possession of the silmarils. they tried sooo hard (except no they did not) but those big mean bigoted bullies thingol, dior, and elwing were just too mean and bigoted to listen to them and they had no other choice. they were forced to commit mass murder. boohoo.

so yeah, anon. "relies on some truly nonsense assumptions" is an accurate way to put it. nah, i'd say it's even a nice way to put it, because fucking stupid is what it is

[eri-pl]

TIL the Oath is in alliterative verse and I had to share it.

(bold: where I think the beats are)

Be he foe or friend, be he foul or clean, brood of Morgoth or bright Vala, Elda or Maia or Aftercomer, Man yet unborn upon Middle-earth,

neither law, nor love, nor league of swords, dread nor danger, not Doom itself, shall defend him from Fëanor, and Fëanor's kin, whoso hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh, finding keepeth or afar casteth a Silmaril. This swear we all: death we will deal him ere Day's ending, woe unto world's end! Our word hear thou, Eru Allfather! To the everlasting Darkness doom us if our deed faileth. On the holy mountain hear in witness and our vow remember, Manwë and Varda! 

Older version

Be he friend or foe   or foul offspring of Morgoth Bauglir,   be he mortal dark that in after days   on earth shall dwell, shall no law nor love   nor league of Gods, no might nor mercy,   not moveless fate, defend him for ever   from the fierce vengeance of the sons of Fëanor,   whoso seize or steal of finding keep   the fair enchanted globes of crystal    whose glory dies not, the Silmarils.   We have sworn for ever! 

[softlysilverfountainsfall]

Bear with me while I rules-lawyer the spirit of the Oath of Feanor because I'm pretty sure that's exactly what Maedhros did.

The Oath is specifically targeted at anyone who "hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh, finding keepeth or afar casteth a Silmaril" which I do not believe means anyone who touches a Silmaril, despite "in hand taketh" because all the other stipulations are targeted specifically at people who keep the Silmarils away from the Feanorians, by hiding, hoarding, keeping, or even throwing it far away. It would also just be bizarre if, say, a Feanorian follower returned the Silmaril to their lords and the Oath required that they kill them.

However, the strongest evidence for the Oath only applying (or being interpreted to only apply) to people who deliberately withhold the Silmarils from the Feanorians are Maedhros'/the Feanorians' actions before the 2nd and 3rd kinslayings: in both cases, they send a letter demanding the return of the Silmaril. Now, if by touching/posessing the Silmaril, the deaths of Thingol, Dior, and then Elwing are already demanded by the oath, why in the world would they send a letter (losing part of the element of surprise), not even to declare war, but demanding the Silmaril's return? Sending that letter implies that this can still be resolved peacefully if the Silmaril is handed over.

It's my interpretation that Maedhros/the Feanorians are rules-lawyering this tiny loophole in the oath (regardless of whether the oath is present magically/compulsive/just their own dedication) by deliberately closing their eyes to the fact that the current holder of the Silmaril definitely believes it to be their possession and is deliberately keeping it from the Feanorians---which lasts as long as that holder hasn't confirmed that desire.

After all, Thingol, Dior, and Elwing didn't steal the Silmaril, they received it from family members. If the Feanorians ignore the intent behind their keeping it (before that intent is confirmed by the holder's response to the Feanorian's demand), then they could consider Thingol et al to simply...coincidentally...happen to be holding a Silmaril, not possessing it for themselves and therefore not liable to the oath.

Actually, one line in the text from after Thingol refuses to return the Silmaril even hints that even after that, the situation might be salvageable if the Silmaril is returned by free will: "Celegorm and Curufin vowed openly to slay Thingol and destroy his people if they came victorious from war [this is pre-Nirnaeth], and the jewel were not surrendered of free will" (emphasis mine, Of the Fifth Battle, The Silmarillion).

Of course, the Oath drives the Feanorians to reclaim the Silmarils, and so I view the letters to Thingol, Dior, and Elwing as last-ditch attempts at solving this peacefully (via exploiting the above loophole). (Note: this is not necessarily meant to make the Feanorians more sympathetic, this is just me trying to figure out why they sent those letters.) However, this also dooms them to a kinslaying, because as soon as Dior and Elwing reject returning the Silmaril, they have explicitly or implicitly claimed it for themselves and have now "in hand taketh" the Silmaril instead of just touching it and happening to have it around, which means their deaths are now demanded under the Oath.

[skzdust]

Arrange These to Spell Love

Chapter One: Lilac, Purple

Welcome to my new series, Arrange These to Spell Love! @felixs-voice-makes-me-wanna requested a San enemies to lovers fluffy smut, and I kind of took off in a completely different direction... but there will be enemies to lovers and there will be fluff and there will be smut, so I hope you enjoy it regardless! I even decided to include the Yeosang from one of my recent fics... Your Boyfriend, Yeosang. He isn't your boyfriend now, though, of course ;) Thank you for the request, it really kickstarted my creativity!

A few little notes: The flower language book I'm referencing is available through the internet archive here. It's pretty cool, you should check it out! Also, each chapter will be titled after a flower, with its meaning and associated poem at the beginning, to set a tone for and foreshadow the chapter.

Shoutout to Rem, @rems-writing, for the title and for beta reading, and of course my bestie @palindrome969 for beta reading as well!!

Summary: You run Beehive Flowers and Enchantments in your small beach town... and the attractive and infuriating Choi San runs the competition, Seaside Floral. When he calls you asking for help learning about Victorian flower language, you agree to help him. Little did you know what was to follow... involving your town's harvest festival, a wayward enchantment, and your best friend with benefits, Kang Yeosang.

Pairing: Kang Yeosang/Choi San/afab reader love triangle

This chapter includes: unexpected phone calls, "I hate him I swear", wine night with best friend with benefits Yeosang, a family spell book, and Victorian flower poetry

Word count: 1.8k

Taglist (Comment on a post/send an ask if you'd like to be added): @weirdowithaphone, @caught-in-the-afterglow, @palindrome969, @skzstan12345, @katsukis1wife,

@hyunjinsjeans, @somethingkindazainy, @silverstarburst

Network:@mirohs-aurora-society

Reblogs, likes, comments all appreciated!!!

Part 2

Masterlist

-----

LILAC, PURPLE: Too well-known to need description. Flowers purple and white.

FIRST EMOTIONS OF LOVE

"How sweet and rapturous 'tis to feel/ Ourselves exalted in a lovely soul!--/ To know our joys make glow another's cheek,/ Our fears do tremble in another's heart/ Our sufferings bedew another's eye!"

-SCHILLER

"As the little floweret hideth/ By the woodland stream,/ So in youthful hearts abideth/ Love's first witching dream."

-MISS J.A. FLETCHER

San and you were rivals. There was no other word for it.

You owned Beehive Flowers and Enchantments, a flower and spell shop which had been in your family for decades. Your grandmother had run it, then your dad, and now you had taken over. You were the only store that sold flowers or magic in your small beach town, and business was steady.

At least it had been, until Seaside Floral had opened last summer, run by the most attractive man you’d ever seen: Choi San. Unfortunately, he was also the most hateable. He was sweet to customers, but you saw him as smug and deeply competitive.

You’d seen it when you and your mom had brought him a bouquet, last summer, when San had first opened his store. It had been a beautiful arrangement, made of bright yellow, orange, and pink blooms. San had thanked you with a huge grin, but a couple of days later, you saw the flowers in their trash can.

Ever since then, San was number one on your ‘people I dislike’ list.

Sure, he didn’t sell everything you did. Your customers came to you for sleeping potions and home protection charms as much as they did for arrangements. But that didn’t mean he didn’t irk you endlessly.

The shop phone rang as you were removing the leaves from some lilies. You set down the flowers and picked it up. “Hello, Beehive Flowers and Enchantments, this is y/n speaking. How can I help you?”

“Hello, y/n, it’s Choi San, from Seaside Floral.”

You were immediately on the defensive. “Hi, San. What can I do for you?”

“I—” He sighed. “I want to ask you for a favor.”

You bristled. “Why do you think I owe you a favor?”

“You don’t, you don’t.” San rushed to say. “You don’t. I just think another florist is the only one who will really be able to help me.”

“What is it?”

“Can you come to my shop tonight? I think it’ll be easier just to explain in person.”

You sighed. “I’m… I don’t have anything going on. I’ll be there after we close, so probably around 6:30.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you then.”

“Okay.” You sighed. “Bye.”

“Goodbye.”

You set the receiver down and just stared into space for a moment. The Choi San you knew would never just call you for help for no reason. You wondered for a moment if there was some flower-related subterfuge going on, then banished the thought. That was silly. And San wasn’t that creative.

The day seemed to fly by, and soon enough you were locking up the store. You glanced at your phone. You’d get to San’s a bit early, but that was fine.

You walked through the town to Seaside Floral, trying to predict what San was going to want, but truly, you had no idea. You arrived at the shop at 6:20, and looked in through the front window, past their CLOSED sign.

San was standing behind the counter, his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth as he snipped the bottom of a rose. He set it in a vase full of foliage and tilted his head at it, moving a few of the flowers and smiling at it.

He looked adorable, and your smiled before remembering that it was San and adjusting your expression to be stonier. You walked to the door and knocked.

San opened it a second later, wiping his hands on his apron, a stray leaf sticking to the front of him. “Y/n! Thank you so much for coming.”

“What do you want?” You raised your eyebrows, stepping into the shop. “I must say, I was a little surprised at your call.”

San laughed. “Yeah, I know we haven’t been very cooperative with each other, but I want to change that. I think if we did some events or promotions together it could be good for both of us.”

“So you want to plan something?”

“Maybe a flower stall or something at the harvest festival, we could both sell stems and you could have some fall themed enchantments or something… but no, not tonight.” San locked the door, and you followed him to the counter. “One of my customers wants to use Victorian flower language in the centerpieces of her wedding. She seemed pretty confident in my abilities to do something with it, but I’m… pretty clueless on that topic.” He smiled sheepishly. “Maybe that makes me a bad florist. I thought you might know, though. You seem like you’d be into meanings of flowers. So, I was wondering if you’d teach me.”

You blinked. You weren’t sure what you’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. “I do know about Victorian flower language.”

“So, you’ll teach me?” San’s smile was hopeful.

“Why don’t you just, like, google it?”

“I feel like this is something that should be taught, not googled.” San picked up a stem, twirling it between two fingers. “And I feel like you’d be a good teacher.”

You hesitated for a moment. “That’s white jasmine, which means, like… kind love, sweet love.”

San beamed. “I feel like I should be taking notes!”

“Don’t take notes.” You shook your head. “You should try to memorize them. It makes you look like more of an expert when a customer asks about it.”

“No notes, then.” San pulled out his phone. “Here, I’ll give you my number.”

You couldn’t believe it, but you typed San’s number into your phone.

He was acting so nice. You couldn’t let him fool you.

—

Your took another sip from your wine glass. “Yeah, and then he asked for my number.”

“Your number?” Yeosang lifted his eyebrows. “Really? Did he need that?”

“I don’t really think so.” You shook your head.

“Why are you helping him, anyway?” Yeosang asked. “I thought he was the competition.”

“He is.” You looked down.  “I’m… I don’t know, I’m accepting the olive branch.”

“Why?”

You shrugged. “He said he wants to do a flower stall come autumn, for the harvest festival, and maybe he’s right. It would be good for business.”

“That sounds like a lot of work.” Yeosang scooted a bit closer to you on the couch. “You’d have to be on your game to have something at that festival, it’s so popular.”

“It sounded like he’d thought a lot about it, even mentioned enchantments I could sell. I don’t know what he’s trying to do.” You mumbled, looking into your glass as if the wine would tell you San’s true intentions.

“I do think you should keep him at arm’s length. He’s kind of been a dick in the past.”

You nodded. “Oh, I have no plans to be best friends with the guy.”

Yeosang nudged your shoulder. “As your best friend, I’d hope not.”

You looked at him, smiling. “I could never replace you, Sangie.”

“You better not.” Yeosang winked.

Your heart jumped. Yeosang was your best friend with benefits, but you’d agreed that outside of occasional really hot sex, you couldn’t become more. You’d dated for a bit in college, when you’d lived together, but when you’d both moved back to your hometown, you’d broken up. Neither of you wanted to risk your relationship as best friends.

But you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to wake up with him every morning, instead of just every so often.

—

You got unreasonably excited about your first flower language lesson with San as you flipped through the pages of the 1850s botanical book that your mother had given you, passed down from her family. It was one of your most valued possessions, and it was where you’d learned all you knew about Victorian flower language, as well as being the family spell book. It was reassuring to see all of your knowledge written out in old ink on old pages. It also soothed you to see the loopy handwriting along the edges of the pages, spells and recipes written out in the book. It was proof that generations of witches were on your side.

You didn’t bring the book with you as you got your things together to go to Seaside Floral that evening. It was too precious to risk something happening to it. Instead, you took some flowers from the shop that you wanted to tell San about. You would go into this lesson prepared.

You knocked at the door right at 6:30 this time.

“Stressed?” Your eyes flicked to San’s hair when he opened the door, which was messy, like he’d been running his hands through it repeatedly.

He gave a short laugh. “You could say. I’m just rushing for this wedding.”

“Then I guess I’ll start with flowers that represent love.” You carefully pulled a white flower with long petals out of your bag. “Lemon blossoms for fidelity in love.”

San picked up the bloom. “Lemon blossoms… I didn’t know that even flowers from fruits had meanings.”

“Oh, almost every plant has a meaning.” You held out a vine of ivy next. “Ivy is also fidelity, but it has a slightly different meaning… ‘I cling to thee’… which might sound bad, people think clinginess is bad, but it was actually quite a sweet and desirable The lemon blossom has the connotation of lemon, which means zest, so it’s a bit more enthusiastic in its commitment, whereas the ivy is more sentimental.”

San took the ivy from you, looking at it thoughtfully.

You went on. “Some of them have poems, too. I have this… this book that’s full of all of this information. It’s old, but the poems are nice.”

“Is there one for ivy?” San looked at you.

You cleared your throat. “Yes… it’s pretty… um… sappy. That’s how a lot of Victorian poetry is, I guess.”

“Do you know it?”

“Yeah.” You sighed. “Long have I sought, and vainly have I yearned to meet some spirit that could answer mine; then chide me not that I so soon have learned to talk with thine. Oh, thou wilt cherish what some hearts would spurn, so gentle and so full of soul thou art; and shrine my feelings in that holy urn— thine own true heart.”

San smiled. “It’s not great poetry, but it’s sweet.”

You shrugged. “Ivy often reflects matrimony, so it’s very lovey-dovey writing.”

“Ivy… matrimony.” He nodded. “Perfect for a wedding bouquet, then.’”

“Yeah, you’re getting it.”

“This is interesting.” San stared at the ivy. “I wonder if anyone will get it.”

“Probably not.” You grinned. “But you’ll get it, and I’ll get it, and I think it’s fun.”

“It is fun.” San looked back at you. “Show me another one.”

You left the shop wanting to hex San much less than usual.