a wildflower withering in place

          you used to be such a delicate kid, a lonely            fish in a sea full of squid Violet Natalie-Ann Parr. 20. Magick. Emotional SUpport Oldest Daughter. Multi-facted. Multi-talented. Complicated.

[un-incredibleviolet]

Impromptu Figure Drawing || Vice

go-askalice​:

–

“Oh, that’s a good answer,” said Alice, with a nod. “Peaches, I mean. I prefer them to apples too. Peach pie, peach juice, peach cobbler, peach tea — I think they’re just so much better. Also, thank you for that, now I’ve got a terrifying new fear in the back of my mind.”

She laughed a little and in the back of Miss Violet’s portrait she added a dark shadow, creeping behind.

“I’d probably answer with something like failure or loneliness, but that certainly works too.” 

`

Violet laughed nervously while trying not to move too much to ruin the drawing, her eyes darting down into her lap. Yeah she was probably too honest there. She had a habit of doing that.

“My family used to live in Georgia, there’s a peach festival there every year. Peaches are, like, Georgia’s thing. We went once. It was weird but I ate a lot of peach based things so no complaints.”

[un-incredibleviolet]

Impromptu Figure Drawing || Vice

go-askalice​:

–

“We go way back,” said Alice, her smile turning from something bright into something nostalgic. It was a little subtle movement, more in her eyes than anything as her brows lifted and her gaze sort of glazed over as she remembered her childhood days stomping around Hatter’s. 

“But you, Miss Violet,” she turned the conversation back to her muse of the moment. “Tell me a bit about yourself — big or small or in-between. How old are you? What do you fear most? Do you prefer apples or peaches?” 

`

Well, that was quite a collection of questions, Violet thought.

“I’m twenty, I’ll graduate from Pride U next year,” she answered, though she didn’t ask about school but she also didn’t think Alice would mind her adding that. “I used to fear people finding out my family were magicks, but we’re out now so now it’s just living alone one day and somebody kidnapping and murdering me but nobody knowing I’m missing because I was all strong and independent and didn’t have a flatmate to be like, hmmm, haven’t seen Violet in a week, that’s wack.”

A beat.

“Oh, and peaches.”

[un-incredibleviolet]

Sally Cinnamon || Vilonwy

eilonwy-notjustgirl​:

“Ok!” Eilonwy nodded brightly. Cookies were always her go-to in terms of baking, and she did bread a lot when she was especially annoyed as the kneading was really satisfying. But pie crust was tricky enough to usually be enjoyable. 

“I mean, there are lots of good kinds so it’s hard to pick a favorite. But if we want to do a fruit pie, I think apple is one of the best. Let’s see if we have enough!”

Immediately diving into the fridge, she found that Laurel must have bought a whole bunch. She pulled out a bag, thrilled to see there were both Granny Smith apples as well as Fuji apples which would blend well together. 

“Looks like we’re in luck! Unless you like to add berries or some other fruit, in which case I think we have those too and we can add them in as well.”

`

“Whatever sounds good to you, you’re the baking expert!” Violet said, which she was aware was a copout answer, but she meant it! She didn’t know much about baking, wasn’t particularly good at it unless Eilonwy was there, so really, whatever she thought was a good idea.

That, and, Violet was mainly here to make sure her friend wasn’t isolating too much on account of...you know, the Whole Thing. Eilonwy could’ve wanted to do nothing but lay down and stare at the ceiling and Violet would do that with her.

“Oh, wait. Does Laurel have strawberries? Those go great with apples. If not, apple alone is one of my favorite pies, so like. Perfect!”

[un-incredibleviolet]

Impromptu Figure Drawing || Vice

go-askalice​:

–

“Yes, you!” Alice beamed. She always liked it when people looked surprised when she offered to draw them. Really, Alice thought that everyone was beautiful in their own way, and this girl with her long curtain of dark hair and round cheeks made her think of springtime for some reason. 

“My name is Alice, by the way,” she said, her pencil meeting the paper. “Just so you can put a name to the stranger drawing you. I work here, actually, so you may’ve seen me around, but I’m not on shift now. I just camp out here and ol’ Hats can’t ever get rid of me.” 

`

“I think I have seen you! My name’s Violet. I’d shake your hand or whatever is polite, but I don’t want to jostle too much. Mess up your angle you’re getting or whatever,” Violet said.

“Guess it’s nice Hatter doesn’t mind you basically living here. And nice you like hanging around.”

[eilonwy-notjustgirl]

Sally Cinnamon || Vilonwy

@un-incredibleviolet

Eilonwy was still struggling to adapt to the new pattern of her life. She didn’t have classes to go to and she didn’t live in the dorm, and it had left her feeling strangely cut off from all of her uni friends. Not that she didn’t still see them, but suddenly it was much harder without the option of casually running into each other around the dorm or studying together until late at night. Instead, she was mostly just reading at home if she wasn’t finding someone to spend time with around town. 

It was part of why she was so glad Violet had jumped on the idea of coming over to hang out today. She had mentioned that she was thinking of doing some baking but she didn’t really know what, just knew that she wanted to do something to pay back her friends and Laurel for their patience with her. Luckily, it seemed like Violet was open to that. 

“Ok! So did you want to make something in particular? I have a lot of stuff for different types of cookies, but we could also do breads or I bet we’ve even got enough ingredients for a pie around here if you want to try that.”

[un-incredibleviolet]

Violet would like the record to state that the butterflies in her stomach were on account of not knowing exactly what to say when one of your two best friends suddenly drops out of school after going missing. Not because Eilonwy was super cool and pretty, ha! Haha! They were friends, why would Violet be...

Anyway.

All of her suggestions sounded good but the idea of a pie sounded a bit like a challenge. Eilonwy liked a challenge.

“Let’s see if we have enough for a pie from scratch. Sounds like a fun project, really worth the work. What’s your favorite kind?”

[the-princess-atta]

un-incredibleviolet​:

Market Research || OPEN

`

“That sounds fun!” Violet said. “Shoot, what’s question one?”

Violet absolutely was about to sound incredibly ignorant about the forest, but surely you need one or two dumbasses to answer to get a good sample of the town.

.

Some of Atta’s nerves evaporated with the girl’s friendly smile and surprising enthusiasm. Oh! Well, it was– quite nice, actually, to feel less like an annoying little gnat buzzing around someone’s head. No one else had been excited to see her survey. 

“Ah, right! Right. Alright, ehm, first question– how often have you gone on the forest and in what capacity, meaning, have you gone on any tours or participated in any camping… things like that.” 

[un-incredibleviolet]

Violet thought on it, then nodded. “Yeah! When my family moved here, my mom and I took a tour. A nice fairy was our tour guide. And last summer I went camping for a few days with some friends in the section allotted for that.”

“Have to say I relied on them, I’d never been before. It was fun though! I’d love to go camping again.”

[un-incredibleviolet]

Market Research || OPEN

the-princess-atta​:

.

“Oh no, it’s– it’s about what you know,” Atta clarified. 

Then she heard what she said and worried–

“Not that it’s a quiz or anything like that. I’m um, just trying to establish a baseline on what the town knows about Enchantra. The uh, rules, and also who lives there and… all that kind of thing.” 

`

“That sounds fun!” Violet said. “Shoot, what’s question one?”

Violet absolutely was about to sound incredibly ignorant about the forest, but surely you need one or two dumbasses to answer to get a good sample of the town.

[the-princess-atta]

Market Research || OPEN

Atta had her very own little project.

Well, she got projects for school all the time, but this one was er… more official fairy stuff. She was going to partner with the Sheriff’s office and everything for what she hoped would be a thrilling series of highly educational seminar events! 

But like always, before she could figure out what exactly those seminars could entail… she had to prepare. And preparation meant research. Research meat talking to people. 

Oh frost. 

“Ehm, er– uh– y-yes– hi! Do you have a, a moment just to stop and answer a few questions about Enchantra forest?” 

[un-incredibleviolet]

`

Oh nooooo. A pretty girl is talking to her! Now would be a great time to spontaneously combust or magically develop confidence, but seeing as neither option was going to happen...Violet was just Violet.

“Uh-- I suppose you can ask. Though, you seem like you’d know more than me. Being a fairy and all,” Violet said, gesturing to the pretty pixie.

[go-askalice]

Impromptu Figure Drawing || Open

“Hello!” Alice plopped down at a table, freshly off her Hatter’s shift. She had a sketchbook in hand and a smile on her face. “You look beautiful today – may I have your permission to draw you?” She flipped open to a blank page. “All you’ve got to do is continue what you’re doing.” 

[outfit]

[un-incredibleviolet]

Violet luckily had been between songs on her Spotify playlist, otherwise she would’ve looked very rude by accidentally ignoring the nice girl speaking to her! She gently tugged on one of her earphone strings to keep one ear open as she repsonded.

“Wait, what?” Violet laughed. “Me? You think I’m beautiful? Ha, oh my. Well, sure, you can draw me.”

[huldufolk-hjarn]

FREE HUGS | open

Sindri was trying to make new friends while spreading awareness about the new recycling bins around campus which was why he was standing outside the student center under a sign that said FREE HUGS while we learn about RECYCLING! 

Yes, maybe it was a little cheesy, but he was trying to put himself out there and make a difference and free hugs were definitely a good conversation starter. He’d just finished talking with a girl who’d decided to swear off plastic bottles and go buy her very own reusable one when he saw someone else approaching. He smiled and held out his arms. 

“Free hug?” 

[un-incredibleviolet]

Violet typically avoided people who were obviously doing campus outreach stuff, but hey, Violet just aced a test and Eilonwy was AWOL so she in fact would take the celebratory hug from a rando!

“I love free hugs! Bring it in, pal. What’s your name?”

[un-incredibleviolet]

you are my peach, you are my plum || vilonwy

eilonwy-notjustgirl​:

.

As soon as Eilonwy felt her side getting poked she yelped, curling in on that side and glaring half heartedly at Violet. “Wow, rude! Very rude! What’s that for?”

`

“Because I felt like it,” Violet laughed, closing her notebook. “Come on, lets get milkshakes. Milkshake break! Then we can go back to studying. Or, you can. I might actually take a nap.”

[un-incredibleviolet]

you are my peach, you are my plum || vilonwy

eilonwy-notjustgirl​:

.

Eilonwy shook her head grinning as she stood up right. “It’s fine, I shorted my cool down stretch today and then I’ve been sitting like a monster so this is just my back poking at me. It’ll get over itself soon enough and I don’t think I trust someone walking on my back. Even a small someone.”

Grabbing hold of one wrist, she tilted slowly to one side with her arms over head, trying to stretch out that side and hopefully relieve any of the pressure there. After holding it for a few seconds she switched sides to be able to even it out. 

`

Violet’s facial expression morphed into the devil emoji when Eilonwy’s back was turned to her while stretching. Perfect. Amazing. Golden opportunity. Once in a blue moon chance.

She poked Eilonwy’s side and said “Sneak attack!”

[un-incredibleviolet]

you are my peach, you are my plum || vilonwy

eilonwy-notjustgirl​:

.

“Right, yeah, of course.” Recording made sense. She scrambled for her phone and opened it up, switching to the recording app when Violet began to sing again. 

“Thank you! This is really helpful. I’ll have to see about trying that for the next time around.”

She put her phone down, and stretched out her arms over her head, tilting her back until it cracked. 

`

Violet preened at having been helpful, especially considering she wasn’t in Eilonwy’s course of study. All Violet did was look at names and match ‘em to a melody, but the actual information behind them all was meaningless to her. 

“I retain what I study better when I make it fun, I’m glad I could be of service. I’m sort of good to keep around like that.” Violet said, being wincing at the sound of Eilonwy’s back. “Yikes, we need to steal a toddler and make them walk on your spine. Then drop it off before it gets annoying.”

[un-incredibleviolet]

you are my peach, you are my plum || vilonwy

eilonwy-notjustgirl​:

.

As Violet began to swing, Eilonwy stared at her, mildly baffled and extremely impressed. She had just…done that. Just off the top of her head, she had come up with a song and put all the information in order.

“Huh. That’s - huh.” Anytime Eilonwy was confronted with something truly new, her ability to speak tended to desert her as her brain started to take in the new ideas and find a way to fit the information into what she already understood. 

“Could you sing that again? I don’t think I fully caught that.”

`

“Here, unlock your phone. Record it! But show it to anybody, and don’t tell them it’s me. This is Violet’s zero warm up jingle singing.” Violet joked, before happily launching back into it.

She cleared her throat after and grinned widely. See? Studying could be fun!

“Of course some things you have to learn by just pure memorizing…but songs an mnemonic devices are lifesavers!”

[un-incredibleviolet]

you are my peach, you are my plum || vilonwy

eilonwy-notjustgirl​:

.

Eilonwy thought she’d heard a mention of Spongebob on the internet, but she’d never watched any of it. Maybe she should if it was popular. But that could only happen as she had time and she was never going to have time if she couldn’t figure out how to memorize these dates and pass her exam. 

She didn’t want to admit that she didn’t know the Itsy Bitsy Spider either. She couldn’t think of any songs really. Or rather, there were traditional Monan ballads that she had heard occasionally, but those had been rare and they didn’t seem to be the sort of thing Violet was referencing. 

“It’s all of these ones, here,” she pointed down the page to the list of dates and the names of the different rebellions.

`

Violet examined the dates and names for a while and tapped her finger against the notebook, testing out different melodies.

“You know, if you don’t mind bastardizing the melody of a beloved children’s song. It fits one if you squint.”

She sang the names and dates of the rebellions in chronological order as Eilonwy has written to the tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider.

“And you can fit any other pertinent information into the melody too. Like if any major leaders of movements died, what was accomplished.”

[un-incredibleviolet]

you are my peach, you are my plum || vilonwy

eilonwy-notjustgirl​:

.

“I never learned the ABC song,” Eilonwy said, both baffled and intrigued. Achren hadn’t exactly been the type for songs or patience, but she had been Eilonwy’s first teacher. Plus Welsh had been her first language and the alphabet worked entirely differently. 

She leaned her hand on her chin as Violet went through the silly song that combined history with music. She didn’t recognize the song either, but it had a good rhythm. 

“That sounded fun! That’s a catchy song. But doesn’t it take a long time to work on something like that? How does it help save studying time?”

`

“The AB-- never?” Wow, Eilonwy’s childhood sounded...cold. “Oh, well, it’s a catchy song because it’s the tune of the Spongebob Squarepants theme song. It’s an American cartoon popular when I was growing up. And not necessarily! That one did because I was trying to memorize a historical narrative rather than basic facts. But if it’s rebellions and such you’re trying to nail down, that’s easy.”

Violet peeked over at Eilonwy’s notes and thought a moment.

“You could easily take these names and dates and make a study jingle to the simple tune of a children’s song to keep them straight. Like, I memorized all the US Presidents to Itsy Bitsy Spider. Here. Which ones are you having the biggest trouble keeping straight?”

[un-incredibleviolet]

you are my peach, you are my plum || vilonwy

eilonwy-notjustgirl​:

.

Eilonwy sort of stared at Violet as she asked the question, not really sure how to answer. “I just, memorize it I guess?” What did she mean about making up songs? Memorizing was just learning facts until they didn’t go away. Right?

“It helps to make studying fun, you know.” Violet suggested. “Like-- okay so like, when I was taking Intro to Asian History last year, I found this one song about the Mongol Empire that helped me remember a lot of important details. It’s a history parody of Bad Guy, you know, Billie Eilish.”

“It’s just like how we learned the ABCs as kids with a song, right? I’ve been writing my own study jingle since middle school. Foooor example.”

Violet opened up her notebook, the purple one she used for her current Southeast Asian Civilization class, and flipped through the pages until she found where she’d written her own little song about the spread of Islam in Southeast Asia...to the tune of the Spongebob Theme song.