Welcome to the official blog for the "We Don't Talk About June(no no no!)" Event!! This blog will act as an announcement hub and archive for all participants! mods are moon ( @clownmoontoon ) and chels (@sketchncanto ) !! ♡
dhridnjskef, I keep forgetting to make a post about this because of everything that's going on right now, BUT the Bruno goodies from the @wdtajn event arrived the other week! (along with some slightly crushed streamers lol)
A huge thanks to @sketchnwhatevr and @clownmoontoon for hosting this event! It was a lot of fun, and everyone made wonderful pieces (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧
AAAND NOW THAT WDTAJN IS OVER U CAN SEE THE UNBLURRED VERS OF THIS POST!!
i feel like its prob obvious which mod did what weeks bUT just in case! @clownmoontoon did the art for meme and horror week, and @sketchnwhatevr did crossover and song! :D
and with that! WDTAJN IS OFFICIALLY OVER!!! but before we get to the good byes and congratulations...✨
HERES THE LIST OF EVERYONE THAT QUALIFIES FOR THE PRIZE RAFFLE!!!! if you think you should be on here but dont see your name PLS comment on the post or dm one of the mods! @clownmoontoon @sketchnwhatevr
as a reminder in order to qualify you had to submit either a fic or art piece for ALL 4 WEEKS OF WDTAJN: MEME, HORROR, CROSSOVER AND SONG~
👤 NEW YORK
🎵 1990'S
⏪ ▶️ ⏩
Come spend a summer in New York.
The sun sets a little differently over the Empire State.
「 Bruno's always been the odd one on his block. He works as a drywaller but has hopes of making a living writing for Broadway. His family is pretty well known around town, but he's always preferred to keep a low profile. Bruno's best friend, Luigi (Super Mario Bros.), runs a plumbing business with his older brother in Brooklyn. They've known each other since they were kids, always being picked last for basketball or bonding over the color green.
Their other best friend is Kuzco (Emperor's New Groove), a rich kid from Upper Manhattan and up-and-coming heir to his family's billion-dollar empire. However, due to his lack of maturity and wild party-boy behavior, Kuzco has been temporarily cut off financially, forcing him to take a job as a Taxi driver.
Despite being cut off, Kuzco still has access to some perks, like the rooftop basketball court of the Sports Club his Dad owns. But Kuzco's not the only one with a hookup.
Audrey Ramirez (Atlantis: The Lost Empire), a chief mechanic engineer, can come and go as she pleases thanks to this being the gym where her Boxing Champion sister trains. She's always with her best friend and roommate, Chel (The Road to El Dorado), who is originally from Colombia and works at The Met.」
For @wdtajn crossover week!
(All backgrounds are photos taken by me in New York from my last visit with my family.)
Insta- @icecry1
HOLY HECK I FINALLY FINISHED THIS WMDHALSJS ofc it's last min up to the extended deadline even MSJDSLSK-
My entry for the final week of the @wdtajn event, song! 😭😭💚✨️💚 Every time I hear this I picture Bruno just dancing and having lots of fun 🥺💚 (Lonely Dance - Set It Off)
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THIS WAS SUCH A FUN EVENT AAAA I'm so proud of myself for participating and it's been amazing seeing all the other amazing entries! I'm happy I was able to contribute! 🥰💚✨️
Thanks to the lovely creators of the event for taking the time to put this all together for us! You guys are simply the best! 💗✨️💗✨️💗✨️💗✨️
For @wdtajn Week 4: Song! I had so much fun with these challenges. Thank you for running the event, and on a more personal note for helping me get back into writing!! 💚💚💚 Jewish Madrigals and pudgy Bruno ahoy 😌 To be posted on AO3!
Content warning: references to a major character's death (of old age, which should be a hint as to who it is) and the sadness that comes with it. Otherwise, the story is pure fluff.
...
The rocking chair in the nursery is a bit on the creaky side, though the sound is more soothing than anything else. Bruno’s set the chair in a gentle rhythm, halting at intervals with the balls of his feet pressed against the floor. In his arms, baby Mateo, Dolores and Mariano’s second child, has begun to gum one tiny fist. He’s regarding his tío through long lashes; deep brown eyes rove over the man’s face.
“You hungry, kid?” Bruno asks as he watches his bissobrino continue to root. “Didn’t you just eat?”
Then, with a chuckle, he adds, “Or maybe you’re taking after your chubby ol’ gran tío, who’s always hungry, eh.” He dances his fingertips over Mateo’s fat little tummy.
Despite his easy tone, Bruno feels relieved when the baby releases his mitt, and even more so when he doesn’t show any signs of becoming fussy. The whole point of taking Mateo this time was to give Dolores a moment of rest. Of course she’d drop everything to tend to her son’s needs, but Bruno would rather not need to bother her. (“He seems alright,” he says aloud for her to hear.)
“Pbh,” Mateo grunts, brow wrinkling slightly as he stretches his drool-soaked hand toward his tío.
No visions are required to know what’s coming. Wiping away most of the goo with a well-timed burp cloth and slowing the rocking chair, Bruno tilts his head and lets his nose be captured. From there he maneuvers Mateo into a ‘standing’ position, maintaining support under the armpits and using his own plump tummy as a prop for those teeny feet.
“Ey, you! Respect the pancita,” he laughs when he gets frog-kicked in the belly. At no point has the burbling baby relented his grasp (with both hands, now) on his nose. But Bruno’s used to that. As an infant, Dolores showed the same fascination with his prominent snoot—all the sobrinos did: bopping it, studying it, and even, in Isa’s case, trying to suckle on it.
Eventually (and luckily), Mateo’s fingers start to slip from their hold. The yawn that soon follows makes his gran tío smile and give a small nod.
“I like the way you think, Maty.”
Cradling Mateo once more, Bruno reaches his free arm around to adjust the pillow sandwiched between his back and the chair. The years of odd sleeping postures have really been catching up to him. Resettled, he gazes down at his bissobrino, who appears as alert as ever.
“A-oh no, s-sorry!” He nestles the baby higher, and rocks more determinedly. “Let’s get you comfy again and ready for your nap time.”
For a second he wonders if offering his nose might help, but then he notices the burp cloth is still draped over his knee. Its hue, like that of a bright wine, sets in mind a different thought, a different idea.
Slowly, in the softest of tones, Bruno begins a nigun: “Lai da dai, da lai lai lai…”
As far as he knows, this particular wordless melody doesn’t fit the old Ladino lullaby that he remembers from his childhood. But it probably doesn’t matter. Surely, Mateo won’t judge either—not the mismatched tunes, or the off-key singing.
“…lai da dai,” Bruno warbles. “A la nana y a la buba…”
Abuela’s lullaby
The baby blinks up at him as he does a refrain, voice hitching over part of the verse: “Da lai lai lai, a la nana y a buba…”
“Se durma la criatura…” he continues.
The child sleeps
At this line, he brushes a knuckle across Mateo’s pudgy cheek. From the direction of the courtyard come a cluster of sudden, muted but discernible sounds: a delighted giggle, a wet ploosh, and a baritone whoa—what can only be Mateo’s sister Felicidad practicing her watery Gift with their papá.
The mild commotion has Bruno suppressing a chuckle. But he quickly recovers and returns his attention to the lullaby and his bissobrino, whose increasingly sleep-heavy limbs had twitched in surprise at the noises.
Clearing his throat, he picks up where he left off, with the last pair of lines.
“El Dio grande que los guadre, los guadre…”
May the great G-d protect, protect
Just like a blessing, a comfortable hush descends upon the nursery. It seems that Felicidad and Mariano decided to move beyond the courtyard (and that perhaps Casita intervened by pushing them along).
“…A los niños de los males.”
All children from sorrows
Bruno lets the final word trail off before humming the nigun again. He can see that Mateo is truly drifting off now, the very image of innocent repose.
For the next few minutes, the loudest things in the room are the rocking chair and Bruno’s quiet humming. His eyes finally drift from Mateo’s sleeping form to the burp cloth. …A purplish-red, like his mamá’s color. The lullaby was something she would to sing to her trillizos, and to each nieto when they were babies. It turned out to be a Jewish song—in Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish language, which none of them can really speak but which has nonetheless been passed down through the generations of Abuela’s family.
Abuela Alma herself had known Mateo for only a short time. She was unable to lull him to sleep with the same song, vocal cords too weak toward the end of her life. As Bruno looks at the cloth, the memory of his mamá’s voice floods his senses. He hopes he’s done the lullaby justice in her place.
Tears wetting his eyes, Bruno turns back to the baby tucked sweetly in his arms. Fast asleep, still. He knows that Dolores and Mariano had decided to follow Sephardic custom and named their son after Abuela, giving him a Hebrew name that honored hers, which was Nehama.
“Dulces sueños, Mattityahu Nahum,” Bruno whispers with a damp smile. This kid will be linked to the past in so many ways but have a path all his own, he thinks. Then an urge to nap overcomes him, and he yawns, melting into the chair.
Fast asleep is how Dolores finds them. She nudges Bruno first, informing him quietly, “Wake up, Tío. I heard your stomach growling.”
...
Note: the reference to Isabela trying to suckle on Bruno's nose comes from this Tumblr thread (thanks for the HC, @sketchncanto and @princesa-pens-and-pizza 😁)
The Ladino lullaby is called "A La Nana." I first learned about it from The Ladino Song Project.
Guess who got inspirations like two effing hours before the deadline of @wdtajn! This brat!
I am once again forcing you to learn about my niche taste in musicals. This song, “I Have Friends”, is from Crazy Ex Girlfriend, probably one of the funniest and smartest musical dramedies I’ve ever seen. A lot of the songs are up on Youtube, go check it out!
Here’s the song this story is based off of:
Dinner at the Madrigal Casita means 14-year-old Bruno hopes his mother does not ask any questions regarding how his day went, or how his social life is going, or anything involving him, honestly.
Aaaaand here's my last entry for WDTAJN! Altered some of the lyrics, but I really do think the original is Bruno to a T. Anyways, this was fun, hope everybody had a good Pride, and has a good disability awareness month!!
