#i need a Snorkmaiden tag

[callmedylan]

I got bored and made a future Moomin valley AU and gave them all little happy families

So my Moomin valley fixation came back after like 5 whole years, and originally these were just meant to be one off little ship kid concepts but I grew attached to them and the idea of it and eventually it kinda evolved into a next generation AU in the span of like 3 days… Hope I’m not too late to the party chat…

I’ve been thinking up a LOT about this AU, but I’ll just give a basic run down rlly fast:

Lumi and Linna are best friends and basically take over the roles of snufkin and moomin, who are now lumis parents, the AU is very slice of life and follows a lot of the main lessons from the original moomin shows (Especially a veeeerrryyy familiar dilemma about a friend feeling sad over one choosing to leave for the winter)

Lumi is similar to Snufkin where she has a big urge to get away from social situations and be on her own, and can really only spend prolonged amount of time with her parents (or Linna in certain situations). Despite looking almost exactly like snufkin, she acts a lot like Joxter and it’s no suprise the two are actually very close especially considering their equal love for sleeping and hating authority. Despite her love for sleeping and her indifference to the idea of hibernation, ever since Lumi was able to choose she’s always chose to go south with Snufkin. Even if this makes Linna sad.

Linna is much more social than Lumi, and doesn’t mind speaking her mind and having fun with others. She takes after Snorkmaiden with her love for Romance, and often fantasizes about her “Prince Charming.” Linna, unlike Lumi, has hibernated for all her life, even after she was given the option to hibernate or not, she often wishes that Lumi would stay for the winter, but Lumi is insistent on traveling, but the two are always happy to meet again during the spring and go on their normal adventures. She usually acts as the “pact leader” and is often the one leading the games and day plans, but Lumi helps take charge when they are going on adventures as she is best at it.

There’s a couple side characters that are turned into more important roles, like for example in this AU the joxter is actually a reoccurring character !! (Let’s just pretend that Joxter and Snufkin met & rekindle their relationship and so now Joxter gets to be a silly grandfather!!)

That’s pretty much the basic rundown, and yes I did choose to ship snorkmaiden and Ninny, it was last minute but I thought it’d be actually rlly cute unironically.

Anyways Here’s some extra doodles I made cause I wanted to attempt to replicate Tove’s doodling style to finish off this post, so enjoy these!! And thank you for reading!!

[handles27]

turning this back into a gif made the quality implode

it Was a gif idk what went wrong heart emoji

ANYWAY continuing my flooding of the moomin tag with trans pride, here’s snorkmaiden enjoying gender

[writers-in-moominvalley]

@hunsa-jars

[Image ID: a screenshot of Tumblr tags from user hunsa-jars saying, “mmmmm, maybe something about episode 46: dame elaine?”

End ID.]

Dame Elaine was an episode based on the 28th (Lars' 7th) comic story titled Moomin and the Farm, which followed the Moomin family as they inherit Gobble Manor and Stuff happens.

This request was all the way back from October of last year and I apologize sincerely for the wait, I just knew that this episode was based on a comic and an analysis wouldn't be complete without it. But now that I finally have my grubby hands on the tale I can finally talk about this episode beyond the somewhat interesting but overall irrelevant lore it provides.

(if you [the person reading this] have any requests for other episodes of animated adaptations, please let me know!)

It's one of those adaptations where if you try summarizing them both at once, the summary turns out to be very short due to how little their plots align. But basically: a lawyer finds Moomintroll (while searching for Moominpappa) who leads him to Moominhouse and the Lawyer informs Moominpappa of his late 6th cousin 4 times removed (although the lawyer corrects himself to 5 times removed), Sir Gaylord Gobble, and his inheritance of Gobble's manor. The Moomin Family are confused on who Sir Gobble is but after the Lawyer explains what the manor contains they decide to pack their things and visit it. After a long journey they arrive at the manor, which is very large and difficult to manage. Moomintroll senses a ghostly presence before anyone else and it turns out the manor IS in fact haunted by a ghost named Dame Elaine, Elaine becomes an inconvenience and the Moomins set her up with a ghost friend they were previously acquainted with, the two ghosts fall in love and the Moomin family subsequently go back home.

Adaptation differences

One of the major differences between the episode and comic is that, strangely enough, the episode barely gave time to the original focus of the comic; the farm that surrounds gobble manor.

The comic was primarily about showcasing how much difficulty the Moomins have with taking care of a huge farm, from taking care of the livestock to harvesting the wheat. Dame Elaine herself was built up throughout the comic but once she revealed herself, she was confined to the B plot of Moominmamma taking care of the mansion that went alongside the farm shenanigans (the episode, on the other hand, only focused on the exploration of the mansion and decided to let her show up two thirds into the story).

Snufkin, Sniff and Little My were also not part of the comic, as the comics' usual formula was having the main characters be the Moomins and Snorkmaiden. And in the comic, the manor was surrounded by regular, local farmers who looked on and found themselves entertained by the ignorance of the new "city folk" hauling up in Gobble Manor but still offering to be helpful when needed or asked. The farm animals also talked (the cows notably less so) and weren't "reverting to being wild".

The titular Dame Elaine herself was also severely changed during adaptation: in the comic she was a nagging and bitter presence who instructed the Moomins on how the Manor's historical belongings should be taken care of, while the episode depicted her as a quirky and friendly ghost whose major fault is being way too talkative.

90s Elaine drops some explicit lore about herself, being one of previously 3 ghosts taking care of the manor. One was a black knight who was blown away in a December storm of 1634, the other was Cedric who up and disappeared one day, and Elaine speculates he probably left because she talked too much.

Comic Elaine drops only a small bit of backstory, in that she only mentions Cedric in passing, saying that it would've been his 710th birthday if he hadn't been "lost during the reformation" (Elaine is also mentioned to be around 700 years old by Moominmamma).

Also, in the comic the portrait is of SIR GAYLORD GOBBLE, it is NOT sir Cedric like the 90s claims.

[Image ID: two screenshots of similar portrait from the comic and the episode adapting it.

The comic's portrait is a very simple illustration of a man with a serious expression holding a beer stein with overflowing beer foam next to his face, he wears neck ruffles and a tophat.

The episode's portrait is a highly detailed painting of the same subject, except that his outfit is much fancier, he's wearing a musketeer hat and his beer stein contains flowers.

End ID.]

The beginning was also very changed, the comic starts with a smooth segue from the comic's customary rump shot, the Lawyer pokes at it and Moomintroll leads him straight to Moominpappa. Moominpappa then has to verify his identity in a number of comedic ways.

The 90s episode on the other hand starts with the kids being bored at a tree stump and Snufkin playing the One Song on his harmonica, the kids moan about being bored and Little My asks Snufkin that his travels outside of the valley must be terribly exciting, Snufkin deflects and says he doesn't leave because he's bored, My asks why does he do it and Snufkin answers with:

"I'm not sure! I guess it's just something I have to do. Maybe if I didn't go sometimes I would forget that Moominvalley really is the best of all places"

Then the Lawyer comes in, asks for Moominpappa and the kids lead him to Moominhouse.

One last difference I want to mention is how Elaine and the Ghost falling in love (aka the climax) goes:

In the episode, Moomintroll is sleepless for a few days because Elaine keeps talking to him all night, every night, and the family gets worried about this. Moominpappa invites his old Ghost friend (EXPLICITLY THE ONE FROM MOOMINPAPPA'S MEMOIRS) and renovate the whole manor before he arrives, and once the Ghost arrives Elaine is shy to greet him but once they meet each other they start doing this strange mating dance and fall in love. The Moomins watched all this from the mansion and decided to quietly leave them be.

In the comic, Elaine is suddenly distraught because it's Cedric's birthday, she talks to Moominmamma over coffee about how much she loved him, despite being overfond of rattling chains. Moominmamma gets the idea of sending a letter to their ghost friend from a previous comic in the hopes of him distracting Elaine, and that night the Ghost arrives. Elaine and the Ghost actually talk to each other and they fall in love rather quickly, they get engaged the next day and Elaine becomes very spry, demanding that the Moomins work even more. The Lawyer arrives and tells the Moomins they aren't actually related to Sir Gobble (something that wasn't confirmed in the episode adaptation), the Moomins celebrate this and leave to Moominvalley immediately.

And you cannot look me in the eyes and tell me this is supposed to be the same character.

[Image ID: screenshots of the Ghost from the episode Adventures of Moominpappa part 3 and the Ghost from the episode Dame Elaine.

The first Ghost is a white sheet ghost with an displeased expression, he lacks a nose and the fabric of his body flows down from his arms, and the bottom of his body is tattered.

The second Ghost is also a white sheet ghost, but this one has a pleasant expression and is clasping his hands together, his arms are separate limbs from his body and the fabric of his body appears to be very clean.

End ID.]

Overall I find it to be a weak adaptation of the story. It nearly erases the original title, say for the cameos of the livestock and the automatic binder (which they reassigned as a weed wacker, for some reason?) and doesn't do a good job with Dame Elaine either. It lacks literally all the jokes the comic presented and makes Gobble Manor far more confined as a location than it originally was.

But does the story hold up as its own narrative?

Writing

The episode adds a fairly decent lesson to take using the story; that you don't really appreciate your home until you leave it.

However… it doesn't implement it very well into the narrative.

It's a theme that's brought up very heavy-handedly in the beginning of the episode; the kids are bored of Moominvalley itself and Snufkin the wanderer lays down the lesson very clearly, but gets dismissed. We're set up to look forward to the kids learning this lesson for themselves and whatever happens, they'll probably be gone from the valley for a while, then miss it, then come back with an appreciation for it.

…

And then this theme doesn't get referenced until the ending narration?

Gobble Manor is presented as this super impressive estate with a cool overgrown garden for the kids to play in and the only downside is that it's a little decrepit from not being taken care of in the past 5 years. And like… none of the characters have any problem with it? Or even so much as wistfully think back to Moominvalley? Comment on how it's different and they miss home?

It would've been so easy to add dialog about it. But instead the Moominparents are impressed with the study and kitchen respectively and the kids are having fun until Moomintroll has the misfortune of befriending Elaine.

Elaine becomes the only issue they have with the manor! Missing home becomes about wanting to get away from this one person causing sleep problems to one of them! It's not the decrepitness or the overwhelming size and amount of work to do or the long legacy tied to it or the lack of what Moominvalley had, the Moomin family came into this apprehensive about the extra responsibility, then convinced because some things about it might be cool to check out, and they stayed without their worries dawning on them!

It's not good thematic writing — it's just a set up, a series of unrelated events and a narrated pay-off without build up. And the build up would've been so easy to do, it's almost more likely that they intentionally avoided it for some reason.

The only character you could argue was affected by the theme is Moomintroll, and even still, voluntarily lending an ear to Dame Elaine all night every night does not create a good reason to appreciate Moominvalley, the only takeaway you can get from it is that the one reason the appreciate Moominvalley is the lack of anyone like Dame Elaine (which is… an extremely questionable lesson, particularly for a children's show).

[Image ID: a screenshot of a very tired Moomintroll sitting at a table holding a pink mug.

End ID.]

But, ignoring the truly GLARING issue on the thematic writing, it's… a fine episode. Fun, even! The jokes they added and that one scene with the bed flying down the stairs were really good fun. I just really wished it could've nailed its message down better, it would've elevated the experience by a long shot.

And that scene of the Ghost and Elaine flying together was... Weird? I think they were going for depicting a more magical, wordless experience but a meet-cute with smitten dialog would've worked so much better. Though it may just be me really liking their immediate relationship in the comic.

[Image ID: a comic panel depicting the Ghost and Dame Elaine sitting on a window sill together, the ghost is covering his mouth and Elaine is leaning against the side of the window sill, blushing. Both of them are smiling at eachother.

The Ghost's dialog bubble reads: “Well, I think you're cute!”

Dame Elaine's dialog bubble reads: “To me, your aspect, too, is most endearing...”

End ID.]

Other things

The lore they added to Elaine and even the Ghost was interesting. The Black Knight? The Ghost being of royal descent and also still living on Moominpappa's colony island? Fascinating implications.

Taking Moominpappa's dreams of being of royal descent in Moominpappa's Memoirs into account, perhaps the ghost supposedly having royal blood could mean something. I've always sensed that, even in a non-literal sense, the Ghost was a manifestation of Moominpappa's behavior and attention-seeking tendencies, summoned by his ghastly bout of depression from Hodgkins' absence (of course, the 90s adaptation didn't depict any of this because it LOVED cutting corners with that story in particular). It's almost comical that even a Ghost, HIS Ghost, had something he didn't have; the Muddler had a good caretaker, the Joxter could do as he pleased without consequence, Hodgkins had goals he successfully attained and the Ghost had a heritage he could only dream of. It's… a tragicomedy.

Speaking of, Dame Elaine is episode 46, BUT Adventures of Moominpappa part 3, in which Moominpappa talks about the Ghost, is episode 64. So on top of the continuity problem with the Ghost's design, there's also straight up a continuity error in the writing itself? How would Moomintroll know about Moominpappa's ghost before he heard his backstory? (I mean, you could argue that MP told him off-screen but that's a bad writing cop-out) The characters talk about it like we're already familiar with the ghost, are we supposed to be at this point in the show? Maybe the book and Fuzzy Felt fans would be but what about new ones that aren't familiar with them? What?

Once again, Moominmamma and Snorkmaiden are victims of the show's overarching problem of removing the female characters'.... Character, from the source material. And poor Dame Elaine is added on the list too. S'just really annoying and unfair.

WHY WOULD A MACHINE WITH ROBOTIC HANDS BE A GOOD WEED WACKER??? I CAN SOMEWHAT UNDERSTAND IT BEING A REAPER BINDER BUT A HORSE-DRAWN WEED WACKER???

[Image ID: Moominpappa riding the supposed weed wacker with bright pink mechanical arms behind him, he is looking at the camera.

End ID.]

Sniff in armor is really good. I need to see more Sniff in armor. But.. poor boy is the butt of the joke once more, getting punched down in both the beginning and ending travel scenes. When will animated Sniff be brought justice?

[Image ID: a screenshot of Sniff in the desaturated purple armor looking confused.

End ID.]

(Also I feel like Jeff Harding had a really rough time recording that day, his voice sounded really strained especially for that Sniff in armor scene)

I like Snufkin's explanation of why he travels, he isn't quite sure of it but he still very much loves Moominvalley. It's a nature he doesn't understand but his justification for it is very sweet.

Mr. Lawyer man has a very cute Superman curl but.. dude. 5 whole years searching for Moominpappa? How did you manage that? Like, at all?

[Image ID: a screenshot of the Lawyer tilting his up up to reveal his hair curl.

End ID.]

I do highly recommend reading Moomin and the Farm, however. It's alot of joke after joke and so many of them landed well for me, and Elaine and the Ghost's relationship near the end of the story was super saccharine and adorable.

[just-another-self-shipper]

I'm gonna go ahead and post headcanons for the f/os/sources I post most often here. Familial, platonic, and FWB f/os included. With how many I have, I'll put them under a cut.

Romantic

Gantu: Demiboy, bisexual, biromantic, he/they

Demencia: Trans woman, demisexual, demiromantic, polyamorous, she/they

Black Hat: Agender, pansexual, demiromantic, polyamorous, he/it/they/she (he or it most often)

Tyr'ahnee: Cis woman, bisexual, biromantic, she/they

Alex: Cis man, demisexual, panromantic, he/they

Bulkhead and Wheeljack: Here

Sun/Moon: Agender, demisexual, demiromantic, he/they

Randall: Cis man, pansexual, panromantic, he/they

The Groke: Genderfluid, asexual, panromantic, any pronouns but "it"

Platonic

Ruben (625): Genderqueer, demisexual, biromantic, he/they

Snufkin: Nonbinary, asexual, demiromantic, Achillean, polyamorous, he/they

Snorkmaiden: Cis girl, asexual, heteroromantic, polyamorous, she/they

Izumi: Cis woman, demisexual, biromantic, she/they

Sig: Cis man, demisexual, heteroromantic, he/they

Optimus Prime: Agender, aroace, he/they

Ratchet: Cis, demisexual, panromantic, he/they

Bumblebee: Genderqueer, bisexual, biromantic, he/they

Arcee: Cis, demisexual, demiromantic, she/they

Jack: Cis, biromantic, bisexual, he/they

Miko: Genderfluid, aroace, she/they

Raf: Token cishetallo (he's ND, so it's fine), he/they

Familial

Nani: Cis, bisexual, heteroromantic, she/they

Lilo: Demigirl, asexual, biromantic, she/they

Dr. Flug: Cis, bisexual, biromantic, he/they

5.0.5.: Agender, aroace, he/they

Moominmama: Cis, asexual, biromantic, she/they

Moominpapa: Cis, asexual, panromantic, he/they

Moomintroll: Demiboy, asexual, biromantic, polyamorous, he/they

Little My: Genderfluid, aroace, she/they/he

Ed: Cis, bisexual, heteroromantic, he/they

Al: Genderqueer, demisexual, biromantic, he/they

FWB

Starscream: Genderfluid, bisexual, aromantic, he/they

Knockout: Cis, pansexual, demiromantic, he/they

Holy shit coming up with new tags wasn't easy. I didn't even come up with that many new ones ;~;

Also, I've never hit the tag limit before. That's kinda neat.

[soggedupfrog]

Just thought I'd let you guys know i have the same personality type as comic snufkin i am winning

[opachos]

moomins + “fashion” 

more

[terrorpyjamas]

DTIYS by @sevirii

[bubblellop]

Felt like doing smth different and did this weird pixel art/lineless art style thingy. And i also finally pushed myself to draw some moomin stuff cuz damn

[skruttet]

Ok so earlier I was trying to think of a song to sing but then I was thinking about cosplaying as Mymble jr (or at least buying a pink dress cause I wore one in my dream this morning and I felt pretty in it ANYWAY I digress) and I was like “hmm what song do I know that mymble would sing” and I thought maybe Soon from Don Bluth’s Thumbelina so I started singing that then I thought BRUH imagine her & Too-ticky singing “Let Me Be Your Wings” in the latter’s hot air balloon....and then I thought a hot air balloon date would make for a super romantic fanfic....

THEN I thought that the Let Me Be Your Wings (Sun Reprise) would be a good song for Moomintroll (now there’s no more sun / winter has killed everything / and although it’s dark December forever / I’ll remember sun) and THEN my brain just went crazy thinking of a Thumbelina au with Moomin as Thumbelina and Snufkin as Prince Cornelius and I may try to write a fanfic for it idk.....I wish I could draw but maybe I can attempt to just edit screencaps from the movie tho I doubt that’ll end well lol

[pizza-box-raccoon]

Aww! Moomins now reminds me of you, cause you always tag me in wholesome Moomin stuff.

The 90s series is nice for background watching. The music is so chill.

[unagrancantidaddepanes]

people be like ugh im sick of people making content/posts of (insert ship) i miss when the fandom didnt have as many ship posts and thus was better but what if i was sick of THESE posts where people talk down to wonderfully made content and silly posts just because they look down on romantic relationships as less superior than other things and literally just complain that people are having fun with something that they dont personally like hmmmm what then 🤔🤔 what if i was sick of people being like i miss when people talked about other characters and would discuss theories as if all of those types of posts and fan content just EVAPORATES and disappears the moment a ship becomes popular like if you want to see owl house theories literally all you have to do is look up owl house theories its not that hard lmao. if you want to see fanart of little my just look up little my its not that hard lmao. just because lumity and snufmin are popular and your probably gonna see a lot of content of them if u just search up ‘the owl house’ or ‘moomin’ doesnt mean you cant just. specifically look up what you want lol, like im sorry your petty the thing YOU like isnt the most popular thing in the fandom, literally all you have to do is look up the thing you want instead of being upset you didnt get what you. didnt search for. like what where you expecting you didnt search for it 😭 im sorry the first result when you searched ‘moomin’  happened to be a snufmin fanart and not a snorkmaiden fanart because statistically there is more snufmin art than snorkmaiden art literally all you needed to do to find what you want is. look up snorkmaiden 💀 BEGGING THESE PEOPLE TO JUST LOOK UP WHAT THEY WANT LMAO and do not even get me started on when people make comments like this, not on public forums or their own posts, BUT DIRECTLY IN THE COMMENTS OF POSTS OR CONTENT PEOPLE HAVE MADE OF WHATEVER SHIP THEIR COMPLANING ABOUT, TO THE PERSON WHO MADE IT

drives me insane tbh, its literally just bashing and looking down on people for having fun and making content for something they like just because its not personally THEIR favourite thing, sometimes DIRECTLY TO THE FACES OF PEOPLE WHO MAKE THE CONTENT, like IMAGINE seeing a cute fanart of (insert ship) and commenting on it ‘god it makes me so sad how much worse this fandom is now because content of (insert ship) is the only thing you see in the fandom anymore’ LIKE???? WHY R U TALKING DOWN TO THIS PERSON ABOUT WHAT THEY WANT TO DRAW LMAO, JUST LOOK UP WHATEVER IT IS YOU WANTED TO SEE IM BEGGING YOU 😭 theres a difference between saying something like ‘!!!! i love theories !!!! i hope people make more theories in this fandom theyre awesome !!!!! :)’ and ‘ugh honestly so annoyed of there being so much lumity content, i miss when the fandom was better because there was less lumity content being made’ also a lovely reminder that here on tumblr there is a ✨block function✨ for tags and blogs that will, miraculously, fliter out whatever content it was that you didnt want to see <3

[rudhira]

Check-in tag

I was tagged by @frottana-sims, thank you!

Why did you choose your url?

So this blog has been around for... a while, and at first I was using it as a black and white aesthetic blog. Later, I wanted to switch to monochrome red and looked for a word that would fit that theme. I ended up with rudhira and never really changed it.

How long have you been on tumblr?

I... don’t know, actally. This blog is at least from 2013, but I’ve deleted old posts so I can’t really check.

Do you have a queue tag?

No!

Why did you start your blog in the first place?

For aesthetics, and then it slowly switched over to just personal stuff into pretty much exclusively Sims 2.

Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

I was sharing storytelling pictures from a neighbourhood I had back in the day, and I just happened to like that picture. And now I’m too scared to change it.

Why did you choose your header?

I used to have a generic tiled background image but wanted something more unique, so I commissioned a design from @spiritofbeckychu. I figured that I might as well use it.

What’s your post with the most notes?

A comic of Snorkmaiden attempting to use lipstick.

How many mutuals do you have?

No idea! 77, after painstakingly counting.

How many followers do you have?

Well, that’s not public knowledge, is it?

How many people do you follow?

250? Maybe.

Have you ever made a shitpost?

Oh, for sure!

How often do you use tumblr each day?

Whenever I’m on my computer I have a tumblr tab open. I don’t really check tumblr on my phone unless I’m away from home for an extended period of time.

Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won?

I guess? I would consider myself the loser because ultimately it was a waste of time, but that is also the case for them and at least I’m still here.

How do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts?

I feel less inclined to reblog them because unnecessary urgent language on the internet just makes me think of scams.

Do you like tag games?

Yes!

Do you like ask games?

Yes!

Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

@deedee-sims, @keoni-chan, @poppet-sims, uh... I don’t really know? Like, there are definitely people with big followings but I don’t keep track of that, and just because I would consider someone famous doesn’t mean they are and vice versa.

Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Does @sidedwilliams count? Then, sure!

Not tagging anyone because I already scrolled past like ten of these posts on my dash and don’t know who’s been tagged, but feel free to consider yourself tagged by me personally if you’d like!

[annzybwrites]

I posted 163 times in 2021

74 posts created (45%)

89 posts reblogged (55%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.2 posts.

I added 344 tags in 2021

#moomins - 52 posts

#snufmin - 49 posts

#snufkin - 49 posts

#moominvalley - 46 posts

#moomintroll - 41 posts

#annzy writes - 39 posts

#snettles - 25 posts

#springdove - 16 posts

#moomin red string au - 16 posts

#snorkmaiden - 11 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#i just wanted to give special attention to these guys because their comments have literally made me either super happy or manically laugh

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Epiphany, Part 2

Warning: Angst ahead. (Read part 1 first.)

Last Year

Moomin heard his laughter echo inside the cave right before he entered the waterfall, travelling down with it into a deep pool of cool water. He opened his eyes once he was under, immediately looking for Snufkin who was at the bottom of the lake, smiling up at him with that familiar, fond crinkle in his eyes.

The two of them swam to the surface, gasping for air right before laughing again.

“How do you always go right to the bottom?” Moomin asked, pouting slightly.

“I turn my body into a spear,” Snufkin replied, chuckling as he playfully splashed at Moomin. “Instead of a fuzzy cannonball.”

Moomin splashed him back, pretending to scoff with offense. “I can’t help it. Cannonballs are objectively more fun, anyway!”

“Objectively, you say?” Snufkin raised a brow, grinning wider. “So you’ve done research on the matter?”

“Oh, definitely.” Moomin nodded, starting to do a lazy backstroke towards the edge of the lake. “I took a survey of everyone in Moominvalley and they all agreed that cannonballs are the best.”

Snufkin laughed even harder, shaking his head as he doggy paddled after him. “I don’t remember being surveyed.”

“Really?” Moomin hummed, trying not to grin too wide. “Must have slipped my mind.”

“You’re telling me Mrs. Fillyjonk does cannonballs?”

“She actually preferred belly flops.”

Snufkin laughed so hard that he snorted and had to stop swimming. Moomin stopped as well, a warm pride welling up in his stomach at the sight of Snufkin covering his mouth, his normally wide eyes wrinkled in amusement again as his laughter bounced off the dimly lit cave’s walls. Moomin knew he was one of a select few that was able to see Snufkin so loose, and he loved having the privilege. Snufkin was naturally carefree, of course -- anyone that spent even just a minute with the mumrik could tell you that much -- but he did usually keep some reservations around strangers, or even friends sometimes.

“Let’s jump again!” Moomin suggested when Snufkin settled down. “I’m sure I’ll get to the bottom this time.”

Snufkin shook his head, smiling wide enough for his fangs to appear at the edges. “If you say so.”

~~~

A harmonica’s tinny timbre always felt nostalgic to Moomintroll. It was one of the first instruments he’d ever heard Snufkin play, and it made his chest fill up with a comfortable warmth. Tonight, the long notes echoing across the cave, backed by the constant roaring of rushing water a few yards away, caused him to doze in and out of sleep.

He and Snufkin had already set up their tent inside the cave. What little sunlight that had peered through the cracks in the cave’s ceilings was gone, so now their only source of light was a small campfire they’d made to cook some stew on. Right after dinner was when Snufkin started playing his music, still seated upright by the low flames, though his hat was put away for the night.

After a few tunes, they’d changed positions, heading over to a rounded corner in the cave so they could sit with their backs resting against the cold, occasionally bumpy stone, and their legs could rest atop each other’s. Snufkin’s usually always rested on top of Moomintroll’s, as it was more comfortable for the both of them. Plus, it allowed Snufkin to shift easier, as he usually had a hard time staying in one position for too long.

A few more songs later, Snufkin decided his lungs needed a break. He yawned, and Moomin opened his eyes just in time to see Snufkin stretching his arms above his head. “Oh, dear. I played a long time, didn’t I?”

Moomin nodded, yawning himself. His head shook lightly of its own accord as a shiver ran down his fur, his ears twitching as his body tried to wake up a bit. “Yeah. It was nice, though.”

Snufkin chuckled, shifting closer to the cave’s corner until his side was pressed against Moomin’s, his knee gently nudging Moomin’s. “You always say that.”

Moomin smiled, nudging back against Snufkin with both his knee and his shoulder. “It’s always true.”

Snufkin chuckled further, settling down against Moomin as he just smiled, staring right into his eyes. It was something Snufkin had started doing more recently, and it always made Moomin’s heart jump a bit.

It was rare for a mumrik to look you in the eyes in the first place. The Joxter had told him once that a mumrik’s eyes portrayed every emotion they felt, even if the rest of their body and face betrayed nothing. To stare into a mumrik’s eyes meant you had their complete trust, and maybe even a bit more than that.

Moomin felt his stomach clench, and he cast his gaze to the side as he laughed lightly. “Do you think it’s time for bed?”

“Not yet.” Snufkin’s low voice sent a shiver across Moomin’s scalp, and when Snufkin grasped his paw his mouth went dry. “Do you have the energy to stay up just a bit longer, Moomintroll?”

He hated when Snufkin said his name like that; all airy and practically pleading. Well, maybe he didn’t hate it, but he definitely thought it was unfair. He’d probably do anything when Snufkin said his name in such a way.

See the full post

47 notes • Posted 2021-10-09 11:47:13 GMT

#4

Now that it’s Mermay, the urge to write a fic where Moomin falls in love with a charming merman who bears a striking resemblance to Snufkin is growing stronger and stronger

(Do it - best friend reading over shoulder)

47 notes • Posted 2021-05-02 17:18:02 GMT

#3

Epiphany

Snufkin laughed, but the way his mouth was pulled tight at the edges to show off his fangs revealed that he wasn't actually that amused.

Moomin swallowed, taking a sip of his punch and turning his face away as the others continued to tease them.

"I mean, really." Little My rolled her eyes, standing on top of the moomins' coffee table. "You two spend most afternoons cuddling under the sun and both of you still say you're 'just best friends'??"

"It is getting a little ridiculous," Snorkmaiden agreed, reclining upside down in what was usually Pappa's armchair, her bangs just an inch off the floor and her fur an amused, dark yellow. "We all know about your 'secret' birdcall so you can sneak off together in the night."

"That's what that is??" Sniff almost dropped his own drink in surprise. He was sat on the couch next to Moomin, with Snufkin on the troll's other side. "I thought it was an actual bird."

"Well, that's the point of it, right?" Snufkin hummed, his face still tense as he sipped his own drink. "To sound like an animal."

"If Sniff's the only one who was fooled, you've failed miserably." Little My snorted.

Moomin should stop them. He knew he should; with Snufkin smiling like that he was either going to snap or go on a two-week long solo trip, and he didn't want either of those outcomes.

But he didn't really know what to say.

"Can't you two just admit you're a little more than friends already?" Little My pressed, bringing two of her fingers together and squinting at her hand just to show how tiny the distance between them really was. "It's becoming unbearable."

"Sorry to hear that." Snufkin turned to look at Moomin, his already tense smile being pulled even further. "What do you have to say about all this, old friend?"

Moomin's mouth went dry, the edge of his cup pressed against his mouth. He stared into Snufkin's annoyed, brown eyes and slowly lowered the cup, swallowing. "Well, I..." His mouth was already dry again, so he cleared his throat, staring avidly at the floor now. "It's o-our relationship, so --"

"But do you two actually talk about your relationship??" Snorkmaiden interrupted, throwing her hands up towards the ceiling, the momentum causing her chair to rock a bit. "Do you really think everything you two do is just best friend behavior? Because Little My and I don't do half the things you two do."

"I didn't say --"

"Wait," Sniff interrupted, staring at Snorkmaiden with a sudden worry. "If you and Little My are best friends, and Moomin and Snufkin are best friends, then who's my best friend??"

"I don't know." Snorkmaiden shrugged. "Stinky?"

"He pulls my tail!!"

"Just admit you're the fifth wheel already and be done with it," Little My advised.

Sniff gave an offended gasp, jaw dropping. "I think that's the cruelest thing you've ever said to me."

"We can be best friends, too, Sniff," Moomin offered, patting his shoulder.

Sniff shrugged him off, crossing his arms as he turned his whole body away. "I don't want to be a rebound!"

"Well, when Snufkin and Moomin finally become boyfriends then the best friend position will open up."

"Little My!" Moomin hissed, pulling at one of his cheeks as he closed his eyes. "Can you please stop already? Can we talk about anything else?"

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, Moomintroll." Little My snickered. "Poor you. Even if you did confess, Snufkin probably wouldn't be ready."

Moomin snapped his eyes open, a cold shiver running through him. No, no, no, she did not just say that! He turned to look at Snufkin, who's hands were starting to shake with how forcefully he held his cup, that unnatural, too-polite smile still carved onto his face.

"And why would you think that?" Snufkin asked, his voice just a few decibels too low. He might as well have growled out the words for how much Moomin wanted to run away right now.

"Come on." Little My scoffed, placing her hands on her hips. "Mr. 'I Don't Need Anything' admitting he loves someone? Mr. 'I'm Better Alone' being that vulnerable?"

"Moomin does seem like he'd be more in tune with his emotions than you," Snorkmaiden agreed, albeit more quietly. "And more likely to actually talk about them. I mean, he used to cry to you before every winter."

Moomin flushed, stammering, "I don't do that anym-more!"

See the full post

72 notes • Posted 2021-10-07 03:48:22 GMT

#2

As much as I like the fandom deciding mumrik kisses are just, y’know, regular kisses, I can’t help but think we missed an opportunity to embrace Snufkin’s more catlike qualities to show “kisses” and affection.

Like, imagine Snufkin licking Moomin’s cheek, and Moomin just laughs and wipes it off while mumbling, “Love you, too.” Better yet, imagine Snufkin being really sleepy and softly nibbling on Moomin’s ear like a kitten.

There are possibilities, people.

184 notes • Posted 2021-05-29 03:56:40 GMT

#1

The ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING @hanekdrawsmoomins has DRAWN AN AMAZING SNETTLES FOR ME. This is canon, folks, this is what Snettles looks like; is it any wonder Moomin became infatuated immediately??

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH *screams forever out of joy and disbelief*

257 notes • Posted 2021-11-02 02:56:25 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[blue-maiden4]

So, I kind of ended up making a Moominvalley AU with TLoZ: the Wind Waker. (I'm not kidding I literally have the most important plot points figured it out)

Provisional name of the AU til I can think of something better: Moomintroll and the Guardian of Spring (I suck at names I know)

Okay so the story is almost the same as the game, I said almost cause I made some slight (or major) changes.

I'm just gonna drop what I have in regards of the characters and some small things of the story cause explaining the whole story would make this the size of a Bible.

-Moomin is the main hero, and he gets involved in one crazy adventure after Snorkmaiden is kidnapped by a giant bird that was actually aiming for Snufkin. He really doesn't want to fight or kill anyone, but slowly learns that in these circumstances there's no other option (Little My is to be thanked for this).

-Little My tags along, even though she was told she couldn't come. She is mostly the voice of reason.

-Joxter, Hodgkins and Muddler are the pirate crew, though they not exactly pirates, they're just travelers, that have to be constantly moving for Snufkin's safety (will explain that later)

-The Lady of the Cold is the main villain (her design will be the one I made a long time ago <this one>), she basically is been kidnapping (or well the giant bird does) down any creature that has some similarities with Mumriks, for she's looking for the one who is the reincarnation of the Guardian of Spring (I also explain that later), that way she can kill him and cover the land in an eternal winter and no one would stop her.

-Snufkin has an important role here, for he is the reincarnation of the Guardian of Spring, the thing is, he doesn't remember. A long time ago when he was just a little kid (he was more or less aware of his real identity/role), the Lady of the Cold attacked the island his family lived on, apparently she got word that the new GoS (got tired of writing the whole name) was there. After that, it was decided that Snufkin's memories (and of everyone in the island who knew who he really was except for Joxter, who was given the task of keeping the boy safe) had to be erased to protect himself and others, and that he must be in constant movement so that witch can't track him down easily. Also this is why Joxter is overprotective of his son. (Oh and given who Snufkin is, he can do magic with his Harmonica, basically when he plays especific tunes with a certain purpose in mind something happens) It was also established that he would get his memories back once he was truly ready to fulfill his destiny, which would be defeating the Lady of the Cold once and for all (killing her)

-The Hobgoblin was responsible of erasing Snufkin's memories and is the only one that can make him remember everything.

-Moomin and Snufkin slowly fall in love with each other during this whole craziness (after he gets his memories back, he sticks up with Moomin, cause now that the Lady of the Cold is aware he is the Guardian, he can't be on his own), they start bonding when they are heading out to rescue Snorkmaiden at the beginning (said first attempt did not turned out well)

-Sniff is also part of this mess, though he only stays back and watches over the ship, the only reason they let him stay is cause he knows how to cook and his food is really delicious. He lived on a island full of merchants (Windfall Island, still haven't chosen a new name) with his mother Fuzzy (they came with the Oshun Oxtra crew to find a new place to live, Muddler in the end decided to stick up with Joxter and Hodgkins cause he felt they needed their help more, given they had to look after Snufkin and all that).

-The ghost/spirit of the "old" guardian of Spring is the one who guides Moomin and tells him what he has to do in order to save Snorkmaiden (not sure how that even works, but I think the spiritual part of the Guardian is separated from Snufkin when the boy's memories were erased and practically is a different entity)

Now in regards of the story:

-The seasons were looked over by a guardian spirit, but the balance was broken by the Lady of the Cold, who looked over winter, she was just sick of winter being such a disliked season by everyone, so she made winter last longer than what it was meant to, eventually the Guardian of Spring fought against her and sealed her away, though he ended with some fatal wounds that eventually killed him (he is only immortal, yet he can be killed). Hundreds of years later, the witch escapes from her prison and tries to cover the world in an eternal winter once more.

-The land below the sea is known as the forgotten land (I suck at names) and the reason why it was flooded, is because the damage that the Lady of the Cold did to it by making Winter last longer couldn't be fixed (the Guardian try to restore it with his powers, but nothing happened). The existance of such land is considered a mere myth nowadays.

Okay I have more stuff in regards of the story but these are the most important points of the lore xd.

Man this was super long, but I had fun making this, honestly I feel tempted to write a fic of this AU, I practically have the whole story planned out in my mind (or at least the key points)

Feel free to ask stuff about it, I love when people send me asks about my stuff

[czokokoko]

@cozypeachtea tagged me to share some positive stuff from 2020 (because who could resist snorkmaiden in my icon  ; })

good memory: paddle boarding on the lake this summer, this particular brand of silence when you are alone, in the middle of big body of water, is really therapeutic.

favourite song of the year: Rau_Performance - NIE DZWOŃ, NIE PISZ. - essence of my 2020

favourite game of the year: Baldurs Gate 3 - gosh, it’s still in early access but it’s SO GOOD

favourite movie of the year: I’m not really a movie person, I have attention span of a fly, don’t tell me to watch smth, I’ll die

best read of the year: SO MANY but I’ll mention only three: The Murderbot Diaries Series by Martha Wells, In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan (thanks @sunrise-and-death !!) and Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass

something else i’m proud of: The awareness that I’m capable of juggling full-time work, my studies and language lessons like a functional person AND STILL have time for my hobbies, is a big boost to my self esteem. work bitch.

something else i’d like to share: I came to terms with the fact that I’ll need to say goodbye to my møtherlånd, this sweet shithole, after graduating. Good riddance.

tagging @zorkowyj & @krarka & @sunrise-and-death​ no pressure tho, enjoy your 2021!! : )))))))))

[cardentist]

I’ve been seeing people ask about the age gap between moomin and snufkin for a little while now, with some people going so far as to label it pedophilia outright.  I responded to someone asking about it politely recently and I think I went over it in enough detail and with enough sources that making it it’s own post could do some good.

that said, that’ll only work if people are actually able to see it in the tags, which won’t happen if tumblr knows that there are links. so to get around that I’m going to put parenthesis around the dots in all of the links and bold them, like this: staff (.) tumblr (.) com if you want to get around that then my original response is here:  cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/185261475458

but alright, here we go first off, snufkin is canonically younger than little my ! from the official moomin website: Snufkin is Little My’s younger half brother – Little My is older than Moomintroll, Sniff and Snufkin, whose parents only meet each other when Little My is already born. moomin (.) com/en/blog/snufkins-family-tree/ with that in mind, I don’t see many people question whether little my is on the same footing as moomin emotionally (even though she’s the most likely to be significantly older than moomin jdlksj) so it's strange that people do it for snufkin

as for snufkin’s age in relation to moomintroll there are a few things to consider first being snufkin’s backstory that’s revealed in moominpappa’s memoirs, that being that his father (the joxter) met his mother (the mymble) around the same time that moominpappa met moominmamma and sniff’s parents (the muddler and the fuzzy) met, with little my having already been born this already makes it far more likely that snufkin is around the same age as moomin, but that’s further hammered home by how snufkin is portrayed and treated in the novel itself. he’s very much on equal footing with the other kids in behavior and is actively treated the same as the other kids by moominpappa, he even refers to snufkin that way ! he’s also very much so engrossed with the joxter, taking pride in the similarities between him and his dad, insisting that moominpappa only tell him the truth about the joxter, and occasionally referring to the joxter as his “daddy,” all of which are pretty heavily coded as being childish, or at the very least as not being as jaded as an adult in his position might be I’m sending the screenshots as links for size conservation: imgur (.) com/RD8xCWz imgur (.) com/LJYmo58 imgur (.) com/lerDoUA

overall it’s pretty clear that snufkin is being put on the same level as moomin and the rest of his friends by moominpappa, and snufkin himself views moominpappa and joxter as adult figures

the second thing to consider is that ! snufkin’s relationship with moomin would be, Really Really Weird if there was a significant age gap, even when viewed platonically. and I mean this both from the perspective of us observing it from the outside and from the adults in universe not having any qualms with it

for instance, the first winter after moomin and snufkin met they hibernated together, with moomin’s room even being officially recognized as also being snufkin’s room !

moreover, they’ve outright slept in the same bed together in the 90s anime during a sleepover

the moomins are an absurdly nice and welcoming family, but letting a grown adult man sleep next to their child for three months after they’ve only just met him this summer is a bit much even for them fjksld

it’s also worth noting that it’s made clear that their relationship is just as important to snufkin as it is to moomin. they both view each other as their best friends, which would be weird for a child to feel about an adult but just, Way Too Uncomfortable for an adult to feel about a child. the fact that snufkin relies on moomin just as much as moomin relies on snufkin is more or less the lesson he learns in moominvalley in november kjflsd, which there’s an excellent analysis of here: milky-red (.) tumblr (.) com/post/184933769573

then there’s also the spring tune, which I’ll admit I’m more familiar with the 2019 adaptation than the original, but they both exist somewhere along the extended moomin canon so fkljsd it’s more or less all about snufkin’s need to be alone vs his need to be with other people, or more specifically with moomintroll. while he doesn’t outright acknowledge it, not yet, his need to be with moomintroll is just that, it’s become a part of his nature just like his need to wander and his need for solitude, and one that he’s trying to come to terms with

in the 2019 adaptation snufkin outright hallucinated moomin telling him that it was okay that he wasn’t ready to come back yet, all while holding snowdrops, flowers that snorkmaiden would later tell moomintroll “herald the return of loved ones” while the 2019 version definitely leans into snufkin being more outwardly emotional, it’s also worth noting that the part of the novel this scene is referencing is well, I mean look at it kjfsld

and then of course the argument with teety-woo the 2019 adaptation puts a lot of emphasis on snufkin being physically uncomfortable around teety-woo, uncomfortable with having company at all and with how forward they are. this is especially notable as it’s something that comes up later in snufkin and the park keeper, where he ditches moomin at a party and then has to take time for himself. both because he needs to cool off after being overstimulated/overwhelmed at the party and because he very actively feels guilty over leaving moomin, though he doesn’t admit that fact outright. this is especially driven home when moomin comes up with the plan to break snufkin out of jail, as when he chooses a punishment for snufkin we’re shown a flashback to the party and snufkin says “I suppose it’s all I really deserve.” he not only thinks that moomin is punishing him for leaving him but actively accepts that it’s his fault for needing to leave him, or perhaps just for leaving without saying anything

with that in mind, it’s especially worth noting that snufkin’s lines about being able to go back to moominvalley whenever he wants and that maybe he won’t go back at all are lead up to by teety-woo riling snufkin up by invading his space and ignoring his body language to the point of very genuinely upsetting snufkin, and then is punctuated by teety-woo bringing up that it would hurt moomintroll. and when the argument has wound down and he’s come back out to play for teety-woo and sees that they’re gone it’s pretty obvious from his tone and facial expression that he regrets snapping at them, most likely feeling that he’s driven them away

this is then followed by snufkin feeling physically ill from loneliness, him desperately looking for teety-woo, and the nightmare sequence. which, is very explicitly about his fear of being both forgotten and replaced, not just in moominvalley but by moomin specifically the scene even goes so far as to have snufkin abandon his harmonica, his very excuse for not having gone back to the valley in the first place

while he’s afraid of losing his nature, of losing his freedom, the idea of moomin pulling away from him scares him even more.

moomin is an incredibly important part of snufkin’s life, one that he’s had to learn how to tailor his previous lifestyle around. one that he finds worth changing how he lives his life over. while it’s certainly not entirely out of the ordinary for an adult to have some kind of positive relationship with a child, enjoying their company and enjoying acting as a mentor, for an adult to emotionally rely this heavily on a child would just be, inappropriate and unhealthy for both parties

none of this even getting into the fact that their relationship is pretty heavily queer coded ! I, would probably go on for far far too long and there’s more that I wanna get into (and the links themselves are gonna take up more than enough room) so here’s links to references and analysis of a queer reading for these characters both in and out of universe ! moomin (.) com/en/blog/who-inspired-tove-when-creating-snufkin/ cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/184309504683 cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/184352468223 cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/184529809803 cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/184126897018 cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/184305305518 cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/185023635288 cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/18424873269 jamiewoolleyart (.) tumblr (.) com/post/185073023200 cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/185066154973 cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/185199096163 I don’t think I need to go over why an age gap between these two would be uncomfortable under the lens of them being queer coded. though with that in mind,  it’s worth noting that snorkmaiden has been depicted as thinking that snufkin is cute or flirting with him in both the comics and the 1990s anime cardentist (.) tumblr (.) com/post/184569294298 imgur (.) com/7EDJ9Rt

the anime has more leeway in that snufkin is more or less just playing along while she’s having memory issues, it wouldn’t be too strange if snufkin were older than snorkmaiden here. but in the comic snufkin blushing and being “wooed” is the Punchline. the comics are more adult sure, but I don’t think tove would just casually make jokes about pedophilia 

thirdly, I think that ultimately snufkin only comes off as more worldly because his upbringing was so dramatically different from moomin’s ! all we know for sure about his past is that he was abandoned when he was very small, so small that he didn’t have any memories of the mymble or his other siblings

it’s possible that he was raised by somebody for a short time, but it’s never mentioned in canon and he certainly wasn’t raised there for long. snufkin had to grow up faster than moomin did simply for the fact that he had no one to take care of him, and his worldliness stems from having more life experience than someone his age usually would and from independence being both a need for his survival and ultimately something he didn’t get to choose for himself at the start, even if it’s what he wanted for himself later

and ! for my final point ! the ages for the moomin characters, while generally consistent with their relationships to each other, are not set in stone. they’re heavily implied to be different depending on which versions you look at, both between adaptations and between the novels and comics and sometimes the novels themselves. tove played around with canon as she pleased jfklsd

the comics especially have no qualms showing moomintroll smoking and drinking, getting in fights over snorkmaiden’s hand, and just overall being more adult, which isn’t too shocking since the comics were more adult oriented, as I mentioned earlier

moreover ! it’s more or less canon that moomin is outright an adult in moominvalley 2019, as the team has said that this version of moomin was supposed to be older, he’s very much so voiced by an adult who is using an adult voice, and he outright calls himself an adult moomin in the show !

so it’s very likely that moomin is, at the very least, a late teenager to young adult in much of canon, with snufkin being close in age

feel free to add onto this with more analysis and sources if you have them and the time !