I haven’t been on this side blog in AGES but, since this is where I’ve collaborated with you both the most, I figured it was the perfect place to answer these asks. Two sets of five things that make me happy. Hmm... let’s see...
1. Participating in Online Reading Challenges - It helps me zero in on specific titles on my TBR, and it gives me added motivation to stick to them. It’s also been really nice to have that sense of community, making reading feel a little less solitary, even if participants have chosen different titles.
2. Autumn - We’re officially in my favorite season! Leaves are starting to change outside my window, it’s starting to get cooler outdoors, and soon I’ll finally get to put up my decorations around the house. I’m really looking forward to it!
3. Upcoming Releases - There are some books, streaming series, and movies scheduled to debut in the next couple of months, and I’m feeling really optimistic about how much I might enjoy these new stories.
4. Lounge Pants - My former ones were so old that the fabric was wearing out and getting holes/rips. I was able to find some affordable replacements and they’re so soft.
5. Daydreaming - The old tried and true, but I don’t think I’ve ever given it a shoutout, so I can remedy that now. I don’t always have the time/energy/willpower/etc. to commit writing projects to a document, but being able to tinker with them in my head helps me feel like I’m keeping the ideas fresh.
6. Painting - I’ve dabbled in this again, just a little bit, during quarantine. I think I like painting decorative things more than I like taking on a blank canvas, but both had a pleasant calming effect on me when I tried. Even though the process is always messy, the familiarity of it is really comforting.
7. Board Games - I don’t get to play them nearly as often as I might like, but they do make me happy when I get the chance. I’ve discovered new fun ones along the way, but Clue is still my favorite.
8. Bonding with My Cat - For years, she preferred other people in my house to me, but she’s been warming up to my company in recent months. It’s been really nice. <3
9. Playlists - I love finding a really well-crafted one, especially when it’s inspired by a movie/show/character/ship I like. I love making them myself, both for my own tastes and for members of my immediate family. I enjoy the challenge of curating just the right mix for the occasion.
10. Messages from Friends - Especially in our current times, random messages from old buddies genuinely brighten the whole day on a level that nothing else can quite manage. It’s wonderful to reconnect, whether it be a brief chat or a longer exchange, and I always welcome the unexpected reason to smile.
Watching one of my favorite animated Valentine classics and a Rhanny BROTP tag just dawned on me, @darthvoldemaul.
BROTP: Snoopy & Woodstock. They’re almost always with each other. They get up to all sorts of shenanigans together. They prank one another, but it’s also clear to see that they love each other a lot and are lifelong best buds. Plus, if Rhett were a bird, he’d totally have feathers like Woodstock. :P Asdfghjkl; BROTP: If You’re A Bird I’m A Beagle. :’-)
Happy Holidays, @houseofhaseul! As part of my Secret Santa gift for you (the other half can be found below), I wanted to put together a little aesthetic imagining for the softer version of our Coven universe. Here, days are golden and full of what’ll be cherished remembrances, and nobody dies. Romantic connections and friendships are formed but, best of all, a found family.
Thank you so much for all the characters and ’verses we’ve created together (asdfghjkl; I can’t believe it’s going on six years since you applied to NYBN), and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your years of friendship! <3 I’ve loved every idea and creative avenue we’ve already explored, and I’m so excited for our adventures yet to come!!
~ A playlist of songs either directly from my muses’ music collection or whose sound + lyrics resonated with how I think they’d feel about their respective love interests in this softer world ~
Baby I'm A Fool - Melody Gardot - from Mina
I’ve always imagined her music tastes leaning toward this jazzy, sultry sound. I’m not sure how Alex comes into the picture in an alternate universe where she wasn’t sent with a purpose, but I like to think the push-and-pull between these two still exists. If I could overlay the time period when Mina is starting to lower her walls - though still not fully trusting Alex’s intentions just yet - with a little non-diegetic music, this is the type of mood I’d like to set on a night when they’re sharing drinks in Mina’s office after everyone else has gone to their rooms upstairs.
That's All - Mel Tormé version - from Tarik
Tarik’s tunes consist of modern songs he can vibe to and music that was before his time but sounds great on vinyl. The main requirement I knew he’d have for a track representing his relationship with Archie is that it be something they could slow dance to in the greenhouse/their rooms together. The fact that this song in particular makes repeated references to “forever” and being resilient against the passage of time felt especially fitting considering Archie’s long life. I also like the pictures it paints, with years of hand holding and walks through nature. It suits them and warms my heart.
I Love You - Sarah McLachlan - from Léonie
Given that Dominic doesn’t come to the academy for detective work in this universe, it felt reasonable to assume there’d be more of a longing-in-local-proximity feel to their dynamic here. They’d be aware of each other because Léonie picked up students from the station, but they might not often have an occasion to talk otherwise. Thus, they’d pine while passing each other on the streets in town until they finally grew weary of excuses not to take a chance and try.
Dream A Little Dream - Kina Grannis version - from Kayara
Being the old soul that she is, I thought a classic song covered by a modern artist would fit Kayara pretty well. Since a common quality time activity between them involves gazing at the night sky and making up their own constellations, I couldn’t help seeking out a song that centers around nighttime and speaks frequently of the stars. This song also has that sense of aching for each other while having to be apart, which was an element I wanted to include for our dear ones who must bide their time and keep their connection a secret.
It's You - Michelle Branch - from Sofia
This song comes up on shuffle on her phone when they’re studying together one night. While Alesha’s still looking down at her book, Sofia’s just openly gazing at her in profile with a soft smile. Is this likely their First Kiss song in the softer universe? *nods* Oh yeah. 100% a First Kiss song. If anything, the lyrics just gave it a blatant push of encouragement. Thank you, Michelle Branch.
Ordinary Day - Vanessa Carlton - from Nola
Phew, I was really going back to my middle school roots in this section of the playlist, wasn’t I? I have zero regrets because applying the song to their relationship was too cute to resist. I immediately became that little pleading face emoji imaging the gentler timeline for them. Danny and Nola get to make their sparkling connection and nothing tragic interferes with actually exploring that. Someone in the comments on YouTube remarked that this song has a Peter/Wendy feel to it. Setting aside how actual Peter Pan can be kind of terrifying, I am quite taken with the Disney parallel of a redheaded boy sweeping a girl with sandy brown hair away to a magical world that is technically accessible from her own, but only if she’s let in by someone from there who decides to trust her.
I've Just Seen A Face - The Beatles - from Rhett
Initially, I assumed Rhett’s track would be something he first heard in the garage with his dad, but it turned out to be a song played in the house by his mother instead. Persuading him to let me set any of his feelings to music in public posed a bit of a challenge in and of itself. However, I think he at least approves of the fact that this one’s not overwrought. It has a fun energy for our playful pranksters, the sort of thing I could imagine over a montage of their shenanigans, with their friends laughing and exchanging knowing looks in the background.
Youth - Troye Sivan - from Mariette
I trusted my sister’s musical tastes for Ri’s selection, because they’d be such kindred spirits if Mariette existed in our world. I wanted something that captured the joy of a young love, a song that felt like a celebratory swan dive into deep feelings despite already suffering her first heartbreak. It’s the sort of thing she could use as a background track on social media with photos and/or video clips of her time spent making memories with Garrett.
Complicated - Fitz and The Tantrums - from Neve
A song with chaotic energy for our reckless-hookup-turned-relationship. This is absolutely in Neve’s iTunes library somewhere. It’s felt like Their Song to me ever since I heard it for the first time, and I could imagine her identifying with it during the early days of their relationship. The “I love to hate it” line is like, but do you really, though? Or is it the other way around? They’ll work it out and get to softer sentiments eventually. ;)
The Other Side - Betty Who - from Vanessa
I knew, for dearest Nessa’s track, I was looking for something that felt like it could fit in on a playlist with Dancing On My Own by Robyn, our cosigned Marty song from the Unconfessed Feelings Time. Betty Who’s style absolutely fits that bill. I was delighted that there was a reference to bike riding right out the gate, and I liked that this song managed to be full of wishful sentiments but not too angsty. It simply yet perfectly describes the way conversation flows between them, and how often they can stay up late into the night in their dorm room just chatting. The line about saying “I love you” when it’s likely to go unheard, at a time when she knows Marty’s still exploring with other people, adds that dash of temporarily unrequited that gives my heart pangs but doesn’t feel like it will last indefinitely. Someday Marty loving her right back will shift from the platonic variety to something romantic. Vanessa’s heart will be just as full of devotion when it does.
spotify wrapped ask (but for ships...): frizzlepop & 6
Song:
Lovefool - The Cardigans
Lyric for Prompt:
Mary's quiet statement was made from in front of the large, open window. The sheet slid off Valerie as she rested her chin on her knees. Sheer bedroom curtains billowed on a breeze, veiling Mary from view as if they were a rolling mist into which she might vanish on the spot. Valerie didn't need a proper view of the sky to glean its portent.
"So soon?" Valerie asked, dismayed by how lonely her voice sounded hanging in the air.
Though they both knew the answer, Mary gave a tight nod.
Valerie reached for her robe on the chair and put it on while she swung her feet to the floor. She crossed to the other side of the room and wrapped both arms around Mary's waist. Her nose brushed against Mary's neck and she breathed in her scent - an olfactory memory that would cling on the clothes her lover left behind and the half of the bed she left empty. Valerie was well aware that soon she'd seek that comfort on any material in the house where it might linger, holding it close the way she longed to do with the woman to whom it belonged.
She flattened her palms across the fabric covering Mary's hips and coaxed her to turn around, away from the beckoning of the shifting weather. She lifted her gaze to study Mary's features in the predawn illumination. This was how she would miss her most, the angles of her cheekbones softened by pale blue light, her dark hair escaping its tie in errant waves.
"I know you'll want to set out at the start of the day," Valerie acknowledged, "but it's not quite morning yet."
A quick, gentle tug freed Mary's locks from their fastener. Valerie let them cascade over her hands as she pulled Mary's face down to hers.
The wind was left howling to a vacant space when she pivoted them both in a semicircle and moved back toward the bed. Valerie straddled Mary's thighs where she lay supine across the foot of the mattress, kissing her languidly. Still, the chill from the window called her attention; she craved a last, little bit of time tucked away in their own shared heat.
Valerie crawled to the side where she usually slept and flipped the blankets, patting the cover beneath in invitation for Mary to join her. Once they were reunited under layers of bedding, Valerie hooked one leg over Mary to draw her nearer. She rested their foreheads together and delicately traced Mary's jawline.
"I'll write to you," she promised in a whisper, "like we always do. Give that family the weeks and the wisdom they need from you, and I'll do the same with my students. Then, please, the instant it's over and the job is done, touch down on our doorstep and return here to me."
