#I think I know Finnish until….

[percival-p-pups]

A bit of breakfast on his chin.

[sparklitive-sonya]

.

[noctroluco]

are there any updates with the t-shirts? :) no rush i am just curious

yup!!!

first of all, sorry for the delayed ask, ive been workin my ass off this week packin the shirts ironically enough. i wasnt able to post them this week but they should arrive to europe by like wednesday next week.

anyways, to get here and to the actual update as to why im so motherfucking late

first of all yall remember when they came right? well turns out HALF of the batch they fucked up, half. they had this weird fuckin ink spill or whatever. so i go, fuckin frenzied takin pictures of them all and i send the printing company 20+ pictures of them tryin to be as polite as possible while naturally stressin the fuck out of it cause thats me

again they took a good few days to answer, i was able to order them again, they took few extra days _again_ to confirm the actual order for some reason despite confirmin me on the next day before.

so then we get to the second, why i didnt send the other, good half of the batch earlier. right after the first shirts came i had this music festival right. all goes well except that to make it to the specific concert we originally got the tickets for in the first place was aboutta start and my good bestie and i had to walk fast/run round 2km, and during that fateful 2km i somehow broke my hip. i got this like.. severe awful fucking pain in my hip>leg>knee and i was basically unable to move for two weeks. went to pride thinkin i was fine, no it got way worse. went to get envelopes and ask about the weight for the packages as the post office site sucks major ass, it got actually unbearable. hence why i havent been able to get to the post office.

i know i fucked up by not sendin an update sooner thinking the new batch was comin fast enough but they only came this week and i wasnt able to make it to the post until next week’s monday. im so fuckin majorly sorry about this extra time ive taken and i promise u i feel so fuckin bad about it and as an apology and a like, thank you for the patience yall have given me, ive made prints of each character to go along with the shirts along with priority shipping, so they should arrive faster. i really hope yall take it as my humblest of apologies.

[tuherrus]

adalminan helmi or adalmina's pearl is a finnish fairytale by zachris topelius about a princess who's given gifts by two fairies as she's born, the first one giving a pearl that will grant her ever-growing beauty, intelligence and wealth, though should she ever lose it then she'll also lose all those things with it until she finds the pearl again the second fairy's gift is that if she does lose the pearl she'll gain a kind and humble heart instead

it's another fairytale illustration and this was the one story out of finnish fairytales that i probably read the most, and it was a favorite of mine as a kid (it still might be, sometimes it's hard to decide) and i wanna summarize a bit more in detail what happens at least in the version i'm most familiar with under the cut, but there's some other variations of it out there too!

so the king and queen deem that the second gift is worthless bc they'll be having servants around adalmina day and night to make sure the pearl, now fashioned into a crown, never disappears or falls off in the first place (and that the first gifts are better suited for a princess regardless)

as she grows older, she does become more beautiful, intelligent and wealthy but also grows selfish, arrogant and even cruel to the people around her

she's resentful of anyone she thinks dares to be more beautiful, intelligent or wealthy compared to her, even stomping on flowers as "she's the only one allowed to be beautiful"

when adalmina turns fifteen she's grown bored of the castle walls and decides to venture out, coming across a pond upon seeing her own reflection she can't help but stop and admire it and do so very closely

of course this is when her crown with the magical pearl tips off of her head and falls into the pond, taking all of her gifts with it and leaving her with amnesia

now appearing as a poor peasant girl and not knowing who she is, a terrified adalmina runs into the forest and comes across a cottage where an old woman lives alone

she takes pity on the lost girl and decides to take adalmina in her care if she helps her with herding goats, and adalmina embraces her in gratitude and promises to help however she can

she's then described to be happier than ever before by living a simple life, now surrounded by a glow that's "not born from shine on the surface, but the kind that comes from the inside of anyone with a good heart"

three years pass by, and a prince comes across the cottage in the forest (i think in some versions he's searching for the missing adalmina specifically) and finds himself falling in love with adalmina as he sees her working from a distance he stops by a pond to have a drink of water and discovers adalmina's pearl in the water, deciding that he'll give the crown to the shepherd girl he saw (again this is different in some other versions where he brings the crown back to the king and queen and it's then tried on all the girls in the kingdom to see who it fits in order to find adalmina as the crown only fits her)

as he places the crown on her head she's revealed to be the lost princess, now restored with all the gifts she had before on top of the kind and humble heart

adalmina returns to the castle to her parents, taking the old woman with her and apologizes to everyone she had hurt

later on she marries the prince and the story ends with "adalmina and her pearl are lovely, but much more lovely is her kind and humble heart, which is more valuable than a pearl"

[its-avalon-08]

Can you write something fluffy, like meeting Kimi Raikkonen for the first time, maybe based on the song "Enchanted" by Taylor Swift ????? Please and thank you 😊

iceman and his sunshine (kr7)

the sterile white of the ferrari garage felt even colder as you nervously adjusted your headset. your first day as a junior engineer, and you were lucky enough to be assigned to the legendary kimi raikkonen. "iceman" they called him, known for his stoicism and monosyllabic interviews.

forcing laughter, faking smiles

suddenly, a figure loomed. tall, broad-shouldered, with an air of quiet intensity. it was kimi. you braced yourself, but before you could stammer a greeting, he surprised you.

"you must be the new one," he said, his voice surprisingly deep and warm. "y/n, right?"

"y-yes," you stammered, cheeks burning. "nice to meet you, kimi."

a flicker of a smile – a genuine one, crinkling the corners of his ice-blue eyes – played on his lips. "welcome to the team. don't worry, i won't bite… much."

your eyes whispered, "have we met?"

relief washed over you, replaced by a nervous giggle. the sound, light and airy, seemed to hang in the air. kimi tilted his head, a curious look in his eyes.

"you laugh easily," he observed, not unkindly.

you shrugged shyly. "n-not really. just… a bit nervous, i guess."

he gave a short, almost inaudible chuckle. "first day jitters. understandable."

the day flew by in a flurry of activity. you found yourself working alongside kimi, explaining telemetry data with a newfound confidence. he listened intently, occasionally asking sharp questions that pushed you to think harder. to your surprise, he even cracked a few jokes – dry, finnish humor that sent shivers down your spine for reasons that had nothing to do with the air conditioning.

later, as the team packed up, sebastian vettel, kimi's teammate, strolled over. a mischievous glint lit up his eyes.

i'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home

"someone seems… talkative today, kimi," he teased, nudging kimi with his elbow.

kimi shot him a withering look. "just helping the newbie settle in, seb."

"helping, or… captivated?" seb wagged his eyebrows, earning a playful shove from kimi.

heat flooded your face. were they talking about you? you pretended to be engrossed in your notes, hoping the blush wouldn't betray you.

later that week, you found yourself alone with kimi in the garage, calibrating the car. you were about to apologize for a minor error you'd made when he spoke, surprising you once again.

"you know," he said, voice low, "that laugh of yours. it's… nice." he paused, fiddling with a wrench. "makes the whole damn garage feel less sterile."

all i can say is, i was enchanted to meet you

you stared at him, speechless. a blush crept up your neck.

"i… i just laugh easily," you mumbled, kicking a stray tire iron.

"not a bad thing," he said, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. he met your gaze and held it for a long moment, his blue eyes sending a jolt through you.

weeks turned into months. you and kimi fell into a comfortable rhythm, your laughter becoming a constant in the once-silent garage. he still had his moments of stoicism, but around you, he seemed… different. warmer.

one rainy afternoon, huddled under a shared umbrella, you found yourself confessing your feelings for him. he didn't reply immediately, just stared at you with that intense gaze. then, to your surprise, he cupped your face in his hand and pulled you into a kiss.

it was slow, hesitant at first, then deepened, the warmth of it a stark contrast to the cool rain. when he finally pulled away, a genuine smile spread across his face.

my thoughts will echo your name, until i see you again

"i thought i wanted to win races for the rest of my life," he murmured, his voice husky. "turns out, i just want to hear that laugh forever."

from then on, the ferrari garage wasn't just sterile white anymore. it was filled with the warmth of your shared laughter and the quiet hum of a love that bloomed amidst the roar of engines.

i was enchanted to meet you

🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️

well i hope you liked it! thank you for sending in your request and do send more <3 happy reading!

leave a like! leave a note! 🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️

[prettytoxicrevolver]

Jealous of Joe | Juraj Slafkovský

wc. 1.9k

Juraj's jealous when he sees you with another certain athlete

(sorry for the bad google translate throughout)

You jog down the steps of Nationwide Arena until you're face to face with a wall of glass blocking you from the players on the ice. Your eyes roam the red and white jerseys, finding purchase when they land on the familiar number 20. You look over his figure, studying the way he skates down the ice with ease. He looks like he’s floating, stick down, looking for the puck, focused, perfect. 

You and Juraj Slafkovský have been friends since the minute he was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens. As one of many social media managers, you became best friends with the whole team, finding safe spaces in Cole, Nick, Kirby, Kaiden, Monty, and most importantly, Juraj. 

The first thing you ever bonded over was your mutual knowledge of the Finnish language. The two of you could converse for hours in Finnish and not even realize until another one of the boys finally gains the courage to ask about what you two have been saying. They even tried to use it to their advantage, asking if you understood what he would say in Slovak but you were no use in that department. 

You try to snap yourself out of the trance you were in, looking around the rink to see what kind of media you could create before the game. You’re in the middle of thinking up a new question or tiktok challenge when you feel a presence next to you. 

“They look good,” the stranger says from next to you and you don’t look over as you respond, somewhat hoping the person leaves. 

“Hopefully they keep it up during the game tonight,” you respond, knowing the Hab's tendency for third period strikeouts. 

“You think Caufield will score?” the boy next to you asks and you shrug. 

“It’ll make my job easier if he does,” you joke and the laugh that sounds from next to you is so melodic it has curiosity leading you to turn your head. 

To say you’re shocked by the man standing next to you is an understatement. After working in this league it takes a lot for you to get star struck by an athlete but you’re speechless, jaw dropped open looking at Joe Burrow standing next to you. 

“Holy shit,” you blurt out and the older boy turns to look at you, a mischievous glint in his eyes. 

“I’m Joe,” he says, holding a hand out for you to shake and you can’t help the shiver that runs down your back when his hand slides perfectly into yours. 

“(y/n),” you say, still not quite sure that you’re not totally dreaming. “No offense, but what are you doing here?” 

His laugh has you smiling right along with him and you find yourself wanting to hear more of it. 

“I’ve been meaning to come out and see a game for a while, meet the players and so on. I figured since I’m injured,” he takes the moment to lift up a carefully wrapped wrist in front of your eyes. “I would come and check it out.” 

“Well if you’re expecting your fellow Ohioans to win, I apologize in advance,” you say and Joe throws his head back in laughter.

“Oh really?” 

The two of you continue talking, trading jokes and reveling in each other's laughter. You were beyond enjoying the conversation with Joe and you almost forgot about the ongoing practice and job you should be doing. 

Juraj certainly didn’t forget. During practice, a game, in the arena, out of the arena, no matter what Juraj always has an eye on you. The minute you stepped up to the glass during his practice his eye was on you, watching what you were doing, but more importantly, who you ended up talking to. Juraj’s furious and jealous gaze roams your figure, hating the way your head is thrown back in laughter, pink rising to your cheeks at his words, the slight, shy movements he knew all too well. 

At some point his brain must have shut off because suddenly his body is barreling down the ice without a second thought. You’re mid sentence to Joe when a loud bang sounds in front of you and you both jump back in fear. You look up to see Juraj standing there, a sheepish smile on his lips but something different in his eyes. You shoot him a look that conveys the sentence “are you serious right now???” and Juraj waves awkwardly before backing off and skating away. 

“Your boyfriend?” Joe asks and you jump at his voice, forgetting he was there for a moment. 

“No, no,” you say, glancing at him before reverting back to following Juraj’s movements. “Just friends.” 

“So, you wouldn’t mind if I asked you out then?” Joe asks and your body fully turns towards him at the question. 

“I can pick you up before the game tonight? I have an empty seat next to me,” he offers and you grin. 

“I’d love to.” 

Juraj spends the rest of practice pissed and all the boys can tell. They’re even playing a game, seeing who can mess with him the most before he truly snaps. 

Nick takes pity on him, the captain skating over to the young player. He follows Juraj’s gaze to where you are and watches as his eyes flame in anger when you smile at Joe. 

“What's up?” Nick asks, vague enough that Juraj can tell him what’s actually going on or he can brush it off. 

“He can fight?” Juraj asks and Nick fully turns to him in shock.

“What?” 

“I’m gonna fight him if he goes out with her,” Juraj says, determination so deep in his eyes that Nick knows he’s not a force to be reckoned with. 

Normally, before games you’re nervous for other reasons. Making sure you have enough content, tweets are loaded and ready to go, photos are edited and stats are ready to be posted. This time, your coworker is taking on those nerves while yours belong to the date you were about to go on. 

You looked over your outfit for what feels like the millionth time and smooth out the canadiens jersey that falls over your body. You were showing up with Joe but still had Juraj’s last name on your back; the irony. Joe knocks on your hotel room door right at 7 and you let out a breath before making your way to the front door. 

You were no stranger to Joe’s pregame outfits but you were shocked out how he could still look so incredibly good even in a simple t-shirt and jeans. His smile is blinding and while you know you should be swooning at the sight, you can only think about Juraj’s crooked smile, the way he looks down, not wanting anyone else to see the beauty. 

You and Joe head to the arena, a short drive in his luxury car and he’s nothing but a gentleman the entire time. Your heart flutters from time to time but you’re not sure if it’s because of Joe, or because you're nervous to see Juraj. 

You two take your time getting to your seats, stopping to grab drinks before heading down as the players are finishing warm ups. Juraj thinks he’s safe, that he won’t have to control a temper for the rest of the game but it all falls flat when he sees Joe with an arm slung around your shoulders in the front row. 

“Leave it be,” Nick warns the younger player and he shakes his head, praying his focus turns towards the game. 

The game against the blue jackets is physical, to say the least. The boys are playing like it’s a revenge tour and the game is tied for most of the time. Third period begins and Juraj is firing on all cylinders at this point. He’s finishing his checks, he’s rushing down the ice, he’s doing anything and everything to forget about you and Joe. 

You watch as Juraj digs for the puck, a battle between him and one of the blue jackets players trying to gain possession of the puck. It sails down towards Nick and Juraj lets up, words clearly exchanged between him and the opposer. 

“Careful before I take your girl out next,” the player sneers at Juraj and he’s officially seeing red. 

You watch in slight horror as Juraj slams the player into the boards and fists go flying. The fight must last a quick 20 seconds but feels like a lifetime. You’re on your feet and pressed against the glass as Juraj gets up, a fresh cut on his cheekbone and his hair disheveled and hanging over his now dark eyes. 

 “Holy fuck,” you breathe out, watching as Juraj is escorted down the tunnel and some of the boys are casting glances in your direction. 

“(y/n)?” you’re snapped out of your trance at Joe’s voice and turn to find him with worry and understanding in his gaze. 

“I have to go check on him,” you say and Joe nods. 

He leans forward, pressing a kiss to your cheek that explains all of his thoughts and feelings. You smile, a bit of sadness laced in the look, before parting and heading straight for the locker room. 

You race down, surprisingly not getting lost as you run and you flash your access badge like your life depends on it. You finally come face to face with the locker room door and you take a deep breath before flinging it open, unable to stay away from Juraj any longer. 

“Kto si, do pekla, myslí, že je? Sedí tam s ním a užíva si každú sekundu!! A ten sráč, ktorý-” Your brain flies a million miles an hour trying desperately to grasp the little Slovak language you know but to no avail. 

“Juraj?” you call and the 6 foot 2 hockey player halts all movements before turning towards you. 

“What are you doing here?” he grinds out, chest heaving trying to catch his breath. 

“I wanted to check on you.” 

“jebať ma,” he mutters angrily. “Go back to your new boyfriend.” 

Juraj was torn clean in half between two sides. One desperately wanting you here, wanting you to stay and talk to him, to explain that Joe meant nothing to you. The other half of him is infuriated, feeling disrespected that you would show up now after flaunting Joe in front of him. 

“What the fuck is your issue?” you snap, taking several steps till you're inches from Juraj’s face. 

“Ježiš Kristus.”

That’s the last thing you hear before Juraj leans down and slams his lips against yours, the kiss lighting you end to end in a fiery passion. His hands wrap around your waist and pull you up onto your tip toes and press your chest against his padded one. Your body takes a minute to catch up and when you do, your hands tangle deep into Juraj’s damp strands pulling him close and begging him to never let go. 

Unfortunately, humans need air and the two of you separate, panting heavily for a moment after. You fall back onto your heels and Juraj’s eyes search yours for a moment before speaking again. 

“You’re my issue,” he says and before you can retort he shushes you. “I love you. You walked into my game with my name on your back but your hand holding his.” 

Your eyes stare deep into his, your heart cracking at the idea that Juraj could ever be hurt by your actions. However, it’s filled back up when you remember him admitting that he loves you. 

“Oh minun rakkauteni,” you murmur, pulling him into you again and reveling in the feeling of his lips on yours. 

“It’s you baby. It always has been and it always will be,” you promise. 

Juraj grins against you, the moment fleeting but lasting forever. 

[dreamauri]

♪ — 𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗬, 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗠𝗬 𝗪𝗔𝗬 kimi räikkönen x fem! photographer! reader (fluff) “. . . you try to capture kimi's smile but you capture his heart instead.”

( main masterlist ) ( requests )

joining formula one

Bustling. That's what he'd describe the track on such a day. Pushing through the people, Kimi didn't have the patience and to stop and apologize. You didn't neither, but you still repeated the same phrase trying to squeeze through the crowd with a polite smile.

You looked . . . Kimi was to busy watching to think about that. His eyes followed you as you clutched your camera, trying to frame a moment before your dead line. You had this . . . bubbly-like aura that kimi couldn't quite put a finger on. The way you smile and apologized, the way you helped give people directions or explain things even though your clock was ticking.

He's heard about you from his mechanics. The new intern who seems to be practically towing the joy and warmth sun behind wherever she goes. He had to agree with them on that, you sure were . . . something.

Click.

He was too concentrated to realize it was him you were pointing the lens at until it was too late. And he didn't like that. A bright smile made its way to your lips as you looked down at your product, proud of the moment you captured.

You looked up, ready to push yourself in the direction of where you last saw the Finnish boy, only to find him gone already. He'd walked away without sparing you a second glance.

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Kimi!" You tried to get his attention. Well you did, but not long enough for him to make eyecontact with the camera lens. You smiled nonetheless at your product. "Still no eyecontact?"

You yelped in surprise at the new voice only to relax upon realizing your new friend. "You know, I'd look in the camera and pose for you any time." Fernando Alonso said cheekily as he leaned his shoulder on the wall next to you, watching you blush as he gently held your chin.

Kimi did not like what he was seeing. Watching you pull away from Fernando, shyly brushing a strand of hair behind your ear. But why? Was it because he knew the Spaniard's intentions were only going to take away your innocence. Or maybe because he wanted to keep the joy you radiated all to himself.

You were aiming to get his attention after all. The only thought that now ran through his head was that he also wanted to see the pictures you took.

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"BOO!" Kimi turned to look at you unamused as you tried to get his attention ( successfully ). A squeel rang through your throat as you jumped in place from excitement. Finally!

The sun was practically in your eyes as you stared at the new addition to your camera roll, feeling mesmerized by the beauty of a singular man. Unaware of his presence, Kimi stood behind you also staring at the pictures you took, putting a hand on his waist sighing deeply.

"I like this one." He pointed, pointing at the screen. You jolted surprised, looking up at the finish man with a shy blush. He raised an eyebrow waiting for you to reply or do something but you didn't. "Are you going to keep staring at me or . . . ?" He tilted his head waiting.

You could feel your face redden even deeper as you looked up at him. "I— I was thinking . . . You'd look way better if you took those of. Cause you know— you have—" You stuttered over your words as you gently reached and pulled his glasses off gently, staring deep in his eyes. ". . . Very pretty eyes." You found yourself whispering, like it was a secret.

Kimi hummed, titling his hear the other way, staring deep into your sole which only made you shrink and tense further. "I'll think about it." You couldn't catch it, but the smallest curl of a smile made its way to his lips as he took his sun glasses from you softly, his skin brushing against yours as he tool his leave.

God you loved Finnish men. Blond Finnish men. Blond Finnish men who drive fast cars. Blond Finnish men who were Kimi Räikkönen.

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Kimi didn't like early mornings. At all.

He grumbled as he walked down the semi-empty paddock with his hands in his pockets. The sun was blazing brightly and he didn't like the new see through sunglasses.

Well, he didn't like them until he saw you sitting on a motor home's roof ( how you got up there he didn't think he wanted to know). He stood there, watching you swing your legs and hum a song's melody as you cleaned your disassembled camera.

He didn't want to interrupt you, but he also wanted your . . . attention? It took you a few moments to look down confused at the none moving human. All it took was your wide smile and laugh to make Kimi Räikkönen feel lighter and brighter as he waved up at you hello.

"You got new glasses!" You cheered, throwing your hands up happily. Oh how you loved his eyes. This would do nicely, you thought as you dismounted. You couldn't stop the giggles as you jogged to where kimi was standing waiting for you.

"Do I look camera worthy?" He chuckled, the smallest smile curving on his lips as he leaned a hand on his hand on his hip, tilting his head down for you to get a closer look.

"Camera worthy? I can get you an a magazine." You giggled happily, holding your hands together. The sun shone brighter and Kimi smiled all the way, gently ruffling your hair as he continued his walk through the paddock.

You found that smile on his face time and time again each time he noticed your camera pointed at him. He didn't bother looking away and smiled at you, watching you work and jump in excitement with each perfect shot.

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He lost the glasses ( on purpose, but you didn't need to know that ) and shrugged about it when you asked about it. "It's better for you." He waved off, ruffling your hair and patting your back ( gently ).

You watched as he pushed power cameras and hid his face from them. But to your camera, he presented himself, posing even. Giving the smile that induced your own. The smile that was only for you, genuine and heart stopping. You were his designated photographer at this point. Not only in formula one but in commercials, marketing businesses, and third party events.

He was never that far from you, always by your side, watching you go through the camera roll from a top your head. You enjoyed the small smile and hearing his chuckle from behind you as you held up the screen to show a photo you personally liked. But he wasn't watching them, he was watching you.

You felt your heart flutter and face redden as he offered simple gestures. You'd often find Kimi brushing your hair out of your face or typing it in a loose ponytail, sometimes putting his team cap on your head during sunny days. The way he pulled you to walk under his umbrella when it rained or helped apply the sunscreen to your back when he invited you to out to his yacht in Monaco.

Kimi wasn't big with words or conversations, but you knew what he was asking you when asked you turn around. You felt him gently drape the expensive necklace around your neck with KR7 pendant, clipping it into place. You loved the soft smile that covered his face when he leaned down to connect your lips with his.

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

thank you, formula racing

"Kimi, love." You held his hand, pulling him still in his tracks. He gave his immediate and all of his attention to you. This was unusual. You weren't smiling or radiating your halo of joy and warmth. You were dragging along a cloud atop your head, with an uncertain and hesitant look.

Kimi didn't hesitate to cup your cheeks, turning you right and left and around, checking for injuries or bruises. "What happened? Whats wrong?" You closed your eyes, leaning into his soft hands that you've come to love so much.

"I— Remember that magazine photo shoot about 'Schumacher's nightmare'? I . . . I Got a job offer with hypercar. My boss is forcing me to go."

That was great news! Hypercar! Endurance races, night races, 24 hours of le mans! Porsche, Ferrari, McLarwn, Mercedes and more! More money and experience! Lots of new things! Different circuits and calender as well!

. . . different circuits and calender.

You didn't dare to open your eyes and see your boyfriend's reaction. But the way he ran his thumb across your cheek, you couldn't look away from his eyes.

He was stoic. The same way you saw him for the first time. Same way he didn't give a shit about anything outside you. You furrowed your eyebrows, silently begging him to say something.

But this was kimi we were talking about. His hands slowly pulled away from you, and if you closed your eyes, you could still feel him. He hesitantly and simply nodded, holding his hand out for you to shake.

You eyes teared up as you looked down at his open palm. You tried blinking your tears away as you shook his hand gently before watching him pull away and carry on with his previous task.

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

welcome home

"Kimi." You whispered. You missed his name on your lips. The quiet man snapped his head up at the familiar voice. Kimi found himself smiling widely upon finding your face, leaning his head on your hand. He could recognize your voice anywhere, in a crowded room after years of being apart.

The gaze in his eyes said everything as you waved a hello and he mounted back one to you. You weren't holding up your camera but Kimi still found himself looking and smiling at you.

You were still beautiful and innocent, your halo and warmth were still intact. Especially your smile, oh how he missed your smile. The way you made him feel, relaxing as he stared at you like a teenager in love. He hasn't felt this at ease in years, and he was glad you were back.

He didn't get the chance to catch you after the press conference, but he found you sitting on the balcony of his garage, legs swinging down the edge. He stood behind you, listening to you hum a melody as you looked at the pictures from today.

You must've been too into your little word to notice him crouched behind you, looking through your pictures with you. A soft smile on his face as he admired your concentrated face. "Baby," He held your chin gently turning you to face him. "Look my way."

Pink dusted your cheeks as you looked at him shyly. "Hi." You whispered barley loud enough for him to hear. "Hi." He glanced down at your lips, not giving it a second thought before leaning down upon seeing the necklace he's gifted you years ago.

[bogkeep]

Would you recommend the SSSS comic? I know little of it beside the very beautiful artstyle and premise

to answer the question of if i would recommend SSSS as a comic: yes, yes i would.

a description for those who don't know: Stand Still Stay Silent is a post-apocalyptic horror + adventure webcomic set in the nordics (norway, sweden, denmark, finland, iceland) that have been isolated from the rest of the world and gone back to their old gods. the the world outside of safe zones is full of trolls and beasts - humans and mammals that got infected by a horrible virus and turned into monsters. the story follows a ragtag crew that ventures into the old world (derelict denmark) on an expedition to collect books.

the comic updated every workday until it concluded in 2022, and consists of two Adventures. the creator had plans for many adventures with these characters in this world, but ended it after two when she wanted to take a new direction with her life.

what i love about it:

- the art is GORGEOUS. it's been a huge source of inspiration for me. open any page and it's a masterpiece, and you will ask yourself "how the FUCK did she update this FIVE DAYS A WEEK"

- the characters are wonderful and endearing. i just, i love them so much. i am so thankful lalli hotakainen exists he is one of my #1 blorbos forever

- the world is so cool. the blend of chunky sci-fi and norse mythology fantasy magic slaps. it goes so hard. i fell so hard for this comic when i got to the big ferry ship with a viking style dragon head prow added to it. it's everything

- it really really gets nordic cultures. it's difficult to explain all the dynamics and nuances but it just gets it. it brings me as a scandinavian a lot of joy to read a story that speaks to my heart this way. the attitudes, the language barriers, the cultural differences... it was so refreshing to me in a media landscape dominated by american stories. when the pandemic hit, i decided to reread the comic because i found such an odd comfort in seeing how it depicted the scandinavian countries reacting to, well, a pandemic.

- there's kittycats

what i don't like about it:

- the most glaring and obvious flaw is that everyone in the comic is white. there's not a single character of color anywhere, not even i background shots or the prologue. there's no mention of the saami people (the indigenous people of northern europe), either. i believe this was done in ignorance more than malicious intent, but the implications are Extremely Bad and it's been bothering me (AND MANY OTHERS) since day 1. that is the number one caveat i will give to anyone wanting to check this comic out. i've been in the discourse trenches and i am not going to excuse this. it's just bad!

- you can tell in the middle of adventure 2 that the creator has kind of lost interest in the work, around the time when she found jesus i guess. like, very few people can keep up work on the same creative project for years and years and years and i think it's fine that she wanted to drop it, but it's a bit sad to see the comic dragged to its end like a limp corpse, and feeling like the creator no longer really cares about the characters.

- minna sundberg has said and done some questionable things, presumably gotten somewhat radicalised over time, and has also converted to hardcore christianity which is what her new works are about. there's nothing about this in SSSS - there is a moment of christianity represented in the story in a sort of mythological sense, just like the other religions, but this was written before minna's conversion. her new works... are a Choice. i have much to say about them, and i have, and im not gonna rehash it now.

SO YEAH hopefully this will help you take an Informed Choice! i got into this comic in 2015 and was deep in the fandom and it's for better or for worse part of my soul foundation now.

i also recommend A Redtail's Dream, minna's "practice comic" before SSSS, based on finnish mythology and the kalevala.

[homunculus-argument]

I don’t think native english-speakers in non-european countries really grasp how everyday needing to speak a second or a third language is in Europe. Languages are a school subject as much as biology and math, nobody really just goes out of their way to independently decide “hmm, I must learn a second language” and just goes on to download duolingo and be self-taught in spanish (okay, some people do, but that’s not the usual and standard way that people learn). The town I live in is historically bilingual - used to be majority swedish-speakers but now it’s about 50-50 as far as I know, and a generation ago you couldn’t really get by without speaking both. The books at the local library are mixed into the shelves, finnish and swedish ones on the same shelves, and sometimes there’s no copy of some book in both languages because it’s assumed that everyone speaks both on a passable level, at least enough to understand a book they really want to read.

 I’ve had natively swedish-speaking schoolmates in nursing school who have struggled to write essays in finnish because despite of being fluently bilingual in speech, their whole education until this point has been in swedish, and they’ve never really needed to write proper written finnish - which is a distinct different type of finnish than spoken finnish.

 The only native finns under 30 that I know that personally say they don’t speak any other language than finnish usually mean that they understand swedish and english badly, and aren’t confident in speaking it. Usually someone only speaking finnish is a clue that they’ve got some language-related learning disability. “I don’t speak english” is a similar statement as “I can’t do math”. There’s a problem of young chronically online finns losing vocabulary in finnish because they use english so much online that they’re not as practised in their native language.

 I didn’t go out of my way to become a polyglot who Speaks Six Languages, I picked french, russian and spanish in school because languages were easier for me than STEM subjects, and I’ve already forgotten most of what I learned. If I were to go out of my way to decide to start learning a non-germanic, non-latin language now, without school, I’d have no idea where to start nor would I ever become fluent in them. As a matter of fact, all I know how to say in any other ones than finnish, swedish or english are “I don’t speak [language] very well, I only understand it poorly.” It’s a school subject I learned and have forgotten most about.

[torillatavataan]

Hi, I have a question, what is the shortest form of the numbers after four? I know that you can say yy, ka, ko ne, until four but what is the shortest you can go with the rest of the numerals? Thanks in advance!

Hi! Good question. In Finnish, we can indeed on some occasions shorten the numbers a lot. How we do it depends on why we're shortening the numbers and which dialects we speak.

What you are referring to are the short forms used for counting.

From one to ten, in standrad Finnish: yksi, kaksi, kolme, neljä, viisi, kuusi, seitsemän, kahdeksan, yhdeksän, kymmenen.

Here are the common short forms for counting: yy, kaa, koo, nee, vii, kuu, sei/see, kasi, ysi, kymppi/kymmene.

Typically one to six/seven all use long vowels, but when counting really fast, the second vowel can get swallowed and you'll end up with y, ka, ko, ne, vi, ku, se(i), kasi, ysi, kymppi/kymmene.

A slightly longer version is yks, kaks, kolme, neljä, viis, kuus, seittemä, kaheksa, yheksä, kymmene. These can be used in more contexts, so let's focus on the yy, kaa, koo etc. forms.

After ten (yksitoista, kaksitoista etc. in standard Finnish), you combine: Yytoo/yy'yy*, kaatoo, kootoo/koltoo, neetoo/neltoo, vii(s)too, kuutoo, seitoo, kasitoo, ysitoo, kakskyt.

The tens are: kymppi/kymmene, kakskyt, kolkyt, nelkyt, viiskyt, kuuskyt, seitkyt, kasikyt/kaheks(a)kyt, ysikyt/yheks(ä)kyt. In some dialects, all end in -kytä (kakskytä etc.) and some dialects say the vowels in brackets, others don't.

With the tens (in standard Finnish kaksikymmentäyksi, kaksikymmentäkaksi etc.), you combine like this: kaayy, kaakaa, kaakoo, kaanee, kaavii, kaakuu, kaasei, kaakasi, kaaysi.

From thirtyone and on: kooyy, kookaa, kookoo, koonee, koovii, kookuu, koosei, kookasi, kooysi. You can probably guess the rest, but here's a few for you to figure out: neesei, viiyy, kuukasi, seikaa, kasisei, ysiysi.

Some dialects use the tens like this: yksyks, ykskaks, ykskol, yksnel, yksviis, ykskuus, ykssei, ykskasi, yksysi. Kaksyks, kakskaks, kakskol, kaksnel, kaksviis, kakskuus, kaksei, kakskasi, kaksysi. Kolyks, kolkaks.. Nel'yks*, nelkaks... Viis'yks*, viiskaks... Kuus'yks*, kuuskaks... Seiyks, seikaks... Kasiyks, kasikaks... Ysiyks, ysikaks...

*to mark the syllable break because yyyy would be just a very long y sound and nelyks, viisyks, kuusyks can imply the syllables are ne-lyks, vii-syks, kuu-syks. Which they aren't, so don't remember these..! :D

I'm sure there are other combos out there, but these are common ones I can think of. I don't want to make it more complicated than it already is.

NOTE: As a rule of thumb, these short forms (yy, kaa, koo etc.) are only used for counting. You can't use most of these in other contexts. For example, you can't use these for telling the time, age, price, or weight etc.

You can use them when you're counting to a hundred while playing hide-and-seek, counting the number of jumps done with a skipping rope, counting the number of people or things, and so on. You also don't use these if you're counting backwards.

You can't say you are viitoo years old. You can't say you weigh kuukasi kilos. You can't say your grandma lives ysikoo kilometres away. You can't say something costs kaakaa euros. You can't say it's koovii minutes past midday.

You can say: "Kolmosella/kolmella lähtee: yy, kaa, koo!" (We'll go at three: one, two three!) "Aika alkaa nyt! Yy, kaa, koo, nee, ... sata! Aika!" (Time starts now! One, two, three, four, ...hundred! Time's up!) "Hirveästi kukkia! Yy, kaa, koo, nee..." (So many flowers! One, two, three, four...) "Ei minulla taida olla tarpeeksi rahaa. Yy, kaa, koo, nee, vii... Vain viisi euroa." (I don't think I have enough money. One, two, three, four, five... Only five euros (implies you have five one euro coins).)

In conclusion, these are typically used when you want to count something fast. You can also use these to count the seconds between lightning and the rumble of thunder, but it kinda defeats the purpose because you have to go yy...kaa...koo... etc. slowly.

There's a short, funny post I've reblogged about this here. :)

[puuta-heinaa]

Joker Out, Paris (Café de la danse) 22.3.2024

I arrived at the venue around 14ish, and was third to last in the EE queue. However queueing is part of the party! I exchanged sooo many bracelets and met amazing people, some of which I just met that day, some I knew from Discord or tumblr or earlier gigs, couldn't have been happier. Got selfies with Bojan and Jan?? Hug from Bojan??? HELLO. That would never happen in Finland. I described his hug as jämäkkä and turvallinen, which roughly translates to sturdy and safe.

Some of the bracelets I made for the concert!

Met someone in the queue who had hawk's eyes and who encouraged me to go and ask for a selfie with Jan, and later on she spotted Bojan on the street 100 m before everyone else did. I had a chance to give Bojan 3 2 ananaslonkero -bracelet that I'd made, with a tiny drink charm. If the main joke in fandoms is that a hug from your blorbo would cure you? well it's true. Getting a hug from Bojan removed some stiffness between my shoulder blades that I didn't even know was there. It was literally easier to breathe after the encounter. I also kept vigorously shaking for 3-5 minutes afterwards, so much that some people asked if I'm ok. Just released years worth of trauma ig. Also LOTS of happy hand stims throughout the day, my autism was showing lol.

Jan was outdoors SMOKING!!! And Bojan had charmingly dirty hair! He was taller than I had thought.

ANYways the gig !! I ended up on Jance side, which was nice as I was on Kris' side in Helsinki. Whole stage was about as wide as K-18 section at Kultsa, and I think they suit better on smaller stages.

We got Vem da Gres and Gola in soundcheck! I was wearing Vem da gres -bracelet that I got in Helsinki a few weeks ago and thought about that person for a few seconds!

Gola was ok. Bojan got disney mickey ears, and he was wearing my 3 2 ananaslonkero bracelet. Bojan also got a maca plushie that he was NOT scared of, he even made it fly.

Kris left the stage as soon as the last notes of Gola were over, other boys stayed jamming in accelerating speed for couple of more minutes. I showed them my UM sign that only read "I want to sing UMAZAN" at that point. :')

20h02 was ok, didn't connect with their music at all though. JC Stewart seemed a bit sick, but sounded good nevertheless. Finished my sign.

They started with Katrina and Bele Sanje, and people were singing even guitar riffs along. Dopamin hit like dopamine followed by Ne bi smel, Nace was staring at me several times during those songs.

Liinu's superb edit of staring sc Nace and struggling Kris and Arcti's edit about Jan's forgotten library books made my day

People were already singing along to Sta bih ja, and Bojan was sooo happy (and sweaty. We were all very sweaty, the concert hall was ridiculously warm.). Kris disappeared for a moment in the beginning of Sta bih ja, and Bojan looked like a lost puppy (wait, where is kris?? about 5-10 seconds into sta bih ja). Bojan said Kris didn't like how Jan played the riff and that's why he left the stage :P. Jan flipped a bird to him.

Decibels raised by about 20 when they played Ona and Demoni. Turns out they might be the easiest to sing along for absolutely everyone, not just for people who speak Finnish. Bojan looked me directly into eyes during second verse of Demoni for several seconds, and I felt so seen (in a good way). EE was definitely worth its price.

In Helsinki I felt like the setlist was over before it even started, but in Paris it felt more like we were really dancing and playing until the stars fade. I think it had something to do with how much they interacted with each other and with the public during each song. In Helsinki they seemed like they had forgotten how to be on stage, and there was just TOO MUCH SPACE, whereas Paris had Nordic Tour energy.

They all moved a LOT on stage!! Kris was on jance side several times! Nace had a mating dance thingy going on with Kris at least twice, Jan once. Jan interacted with the public on Kris's side a few times. Bojan almost run into Kris at one point - no wonder he caressed Kris's arm to let him know he's there before grapping his hips?? and dancing behind him??? during Behind those eyes. It's cafe de la danse after all.

Def thinking "THIS is how we'll trend on tumblr tonight" right after the famous dance

Everybody's waiting and soooooo many people raised hands when Bojan asked in his spiel before the song if anyone here suffers from panic or anxiety attacks, and I think it made everyone feel less alone. He sang I'm the problem it's me -line to make things a bit lighter before proceeding to the song.

We got Omamljeno Telo and I felt SOOOO HAPPY (but also sad for Moonu) but also SOOOO HAPPY it was on the setlist, I think I screamed VITTU JES on top of my lungs (manifesting it for Ruisrock huh). Famous water spray on Jan during OT, and it shows I've grown old, because instead of "yeeeess I want Bojan's spit on me" I went "rat disease, why am I not wearing a mask".

Everyone sang along during CD, not in French though even if there was a fanproject French translation published a whole 28 hours before(....). Plastika hit like a hammer once again, but I think I was already waiting and stressing for UM, so I didn't mosh for example. Which, good idea, because my neck was soooo sore after Helsinki.

Bojan announced the karaoke song, and asked which versions we have today. He saw my sign, asked "Slovenian version?", to which I "said" (from 4th row on Jan+Nace side) Finnish version, and he heard it and corrected himself and said perfect. I was not afraid at all even if I knew I'm probs going to sing in front of about 500 people in 5ish minutes???? How??? I'm usually a ball of anxiety but here I was just proud and excited to sing my version of it.

I loved the Bretogne/French version (I've still no idea what were the words, but it rhymed super well and she sang well, but that was def NOT paris region French), cringed at some of the "translations" because they did not fit the lines and did not rhyme, sang along to Slovenian versions in Finnish, felt bad for one of them as the karaoke singer started at the wrong moment and Bojan spent most of their special moment trying to orchestrate the band.

When Bojan approached with "I think we still have a Slovenian version, OH NO, A FINNISH VERSION" I chortled, and felt the last bits of nervousness disappear. (Cue "some boat, titanic, oh no".) I had my ACTUALLY finger pointing moment, which, on point with my personality, telling him it's a hybrid version. I don't know what he meant with SUOMI SAA, but it was NOT full-on Suomi SAATANA, that much is certain. I quite like the idea/interpretation he was making a pun with SAA(tan)Are you ready? But who knows. Sad about missed chance to answer "ArE YoU???" now that I think about it, but at least I wasn't the only one who failed the moment :') . Speaking of cursewords though, a histronic youngster next to me did shout vittu though! I loved my spot but she was super annoying throughout the evening.

The Finnish version is in the beginning of this one, and the Arabic version right after Finnish version is AMAZING. The French version is on the first part, as well as Bojan going "uuu Finnish version? perfect".

Started in Slovene, which made him have a Ok?? face, but when I switched to my own Finnish version that rhymes with the Slovene version, he raised his brows and seemed so impressed that I just nodded to him, sending telepath(et)ic messages that yes, our languages match and rhyme, about time you collaborate with Jere. I think he remembered I asked for a hug in the afternoon, because he did not hug everyone during karaoke. Afternoon hug was better btw.

I love his little surprised smile right when I finish the first Finnish line on this one

I usually think quite a lot about how other people perceive me, but now I didn't give a single fuck, just enjoyed being the main character for 20 seconds, having this interaction with my blorbo. Forever grateful for the 4 different angles I received from friends I made in the queue, and 1 from a random guy who asked me after the concert if I'd like to receive a video he took of me singing. Even Vita was filming the whole thing with her big light + camera + phone ensemble. I often sing in my car, and even IMAGINING i'm singing karaoke makes my voice suddenly tiny and weak and compressed, so I'm overflowingly glad it went this well, you have no idea even if I've just bragged about it for 4 paragraphs.

I later realised I was the only one who didn't hold the mic themself, this is a clear example how I objectify the boys, seeing Bojan just as a mic stand.🫣😵‍💫

I got fluent Kiitos from Bojan, that guy needs to move to Finland he speaks Finnish so well. Also LMAO I forgot to sniff him in the afternoon, now I'm praying the snifff I took after karaoke wasn't too evident and doesn't show on Vita's video……….. Jere is wrong, Bojan does not smell like shit, but there were no parfume smell either? He just smells like nothing in a pleasant, pheromone rich way lol.

my translation: Sanje so tvojega okusa Aamuihin taas tuoksusi Neula ei haarukassa Sieluni on hukassa Etsimässä tietään luoksesi

I haven't figured how to translate the first line. I've been playing with "Makus' on tarrannut uniini", but it does not rhyme with the og well enough. Otherwise super proud of my version. Neula and haarukka are parts of compass, basically saying the compass is layed on the map the wrong way. 🧭

This is how small the place was??? I was in 3/4th row, and the hat guy in the right corner was right behind me during the concert so the club truly was tiny.

Apparently bubbles were not allowed on stage in Cafe de la danse? But some people had brought their own so we had bubbles anyway.

Jure exchanged his drumstick to a breadstick. I laughed because a) it was a clever pun and b) such a stereotypically French thing to bring a BAGUETTE wrapped in a napkin to a concert. Also no wonder boys are always sick, I don't even want to know how many people touched that bread before it was on stage.

Life is pain (in mouths)

We waited for the boys after the concert outside the venue in the rain, and they walked past quite quickly. Bojan stayed for 30 seconds to take a group selfie. <3

Honestly so happy I traveled there and met amazing people and surpassed myself on so many levels.

I feel like 2004 again, because that's when I last made a post this long on livejournal and also when I last was this hyped about a group.

I loved band's AMAZING OUTFITS in Café de la danse, everyone had some idrija lace on them, and I'm afraid my next special interest will be bobbin lace.

[crustaceousfaggot]

You know... As much as I love pjõl and believe it's an excellent piece of fiction, I am entirely unsurprised that it was a massive flop when it was first published. Imagine you're an Estonian guy in 2012 and you go "wow, a fantasy mystery book written by an Estonian author! I gotta give this a read!" And then you pick it up and it's This Mess.

And you go hey wait a sec. What's Vaasa. What's Graad. What's the Pale, why does the narration act like I should know what this is. Why are they speaking Finnish suddenly. What's an Innocence, that seems important why hasn't it been mentioned until now. Wait there are ghosts now? Is this a normal thing in this world? If only this were some kind of interactive experience where I could ask questions and learn about the world alongside the protagonist.

I love the world of Elysium, but it is so massive in its scale and the chain of cause and effect that has led the world to be in the place it's in (both in DE and in pjõl). Disco Elysium is a game chock full of worldbuilding through dialogue, and it still leaves a lot of players confused about aspects of the history and political situation. And that's in a game where you play as a character who knows literally nothing and goes around asking people "hey what the fuck is the Antecentennial Revolution". Imagine your first exposure to Elysium being through this spiralling surreal novel that is so caught up in its own story that it kinda forgets that it has an audience.

Idk, I just think it's easy to forget that the initial target audience for pjõl was not Disco Elysium fans, but just... Regular Estonian readers.

[onlyluxalo]

Hiiii! Can I request some Hc for Welt Yang catching their shy!s/o singing by themselves. (Maybe the crew is on Jarilo-vi. Reader kinda just wanders into the snow planes to watch the aurora but also because it's far enough that no one would hear reader sing to their hearts content)

Thanks!

💐 anon

I guess emoji anons is what I’m working with that now lol

I hope I did my best! 👍

Gn reader and older reader implied!

Welt Yang with shy reader that sings hcs

Id like to think when Welt took a stroll in Jarilo-VI since him and reader agreed to take a small break from the “young ones” to get away from the chaotic ness as they did their own thing on the planet.

When Welt was done doing whatever he was doing (probably checking some books in Belobog), he was going to find reader so they could go back in the Express in one piece.

Welt couldn’t find reader anywhere in Belobog so he decided to go out of Belobog and go out into the Outlying Snow Plains knowing it was a quiet area since he knew reader well enough due to not liking crowded and loud areas.

As he walked further into the snowy plains, we could hear the sound of someone’s voice that he recognized due to his enhanced hearing as a Herrscher, but he couldn’t pinpoint what they were saying or talking about until he got closer.

Then Welt heard the sound of reader singing. But to not alarm them, he decided to hide behind the stone wall and listen to them.

Welt hasn’t heard someone sing like this in so long that it reminded him of Heinrich (his mother) that almost made him feel like going to sleep since reader’s singing sounded nice and calm as he had a gentle smile on his face.

But about another 30 minutes later, Welt had to interrupt readers singing despite him not wanting to but he had to so the other Express members didn’t get worried about them.

But when he made his presence known, reader became red in the face as they stuttered, trying to lie about them singing and all that but Welt interrupted them,

“It’s okay rakas, your voice was lovely.”

He said that with a cute smile (I’d imagine) as reader is happy that Welt enjoyed their singing as they gave Welt a smile in return before they held hands, going back to the Astral Express.

I hope I did well for shy reader 💐 anon! :)

Rakas means “Dear” in Finnish!

Also Finnish speakers please correct me on anything when using Finnish! :>

[dreaminofu]

How do you think our boys are counting down the days until Ruisrock?

Do they have a specially calendar or a completely different approach? (Bonus points if you add JO boys and/or Kä crew)

Apparently, I’m unable to give a short answer to anything…

Jere isn’t one for calendars or anything concrete like that. Every morning he’s like ”only 11 gigs until Bojan❤️” or ”only 30 sleeps until Bojan❤️” and keeps counting down the days in his head like that. (But he gets really frustrated at least once when he gets the days wrong. Wdym it’s still 13 days to go and not 10??)

Bojan has one of those countdown apps on his phone. But the countdown (on his lockscreen) doesn’t say Ruisrock, oh no no no, it simply says ”Jerč ❤️” and has a picture of the two of them. One where Jere is licking him in Tavastia as Bojan keeps manifesting some more licking and groping action for when they’re going to perform their new collab. This is trululu until proven delulu

All the JO boys seem to really like Finland, so they’re all really looking forward to Ruisrock, but it’s Nace and Kris who keep gushing about it to each other. They talk about going to the sauna and experiencing the Finnish summer, but that’s just a front, because what they’re really looking forward to is their reunion with Jere. They’re among his biggest fans after all, but just more subtle about it compared to Bojan. Also, Jan is mostly just counting down the days until he gets his next fix of ananaslonkero…

But the truth is that neither the other JO boys nor the JO and Kä crews need to count down the days. They know that the closer they get to Ruisrock, the more hyper and insufferable Jere and Bojan will become. They have no need to look at the calendar, they don’t even bother to look at it, because they’ve experienced this before.

As the day approaches, no matter what his crew says, Jere starts blurting out more random shit to them. Like when someone says they need to use the bathroom, Jere just goes ”we go to toilet with Bojan” or when someone says they’re knackered, Jere comments ”I put in bed for Bojan and wrap him in formulalakanat”. He does all this in English, of course, as he’s already in his Bojan-mode <3

Bojan, in turn, is often heard singing ”Vse kar vem in kar znam, je, da ne boli, ko me tvoj objem zakriva” under his breath with a stupid grin on his face <3

Their crews know that the day has arrived once Jere and Bojan have reached a certain level of giggles and heart-eyes and when they won’t shut up about each other. A month before Ruisrock, both Jere and Bojan mention each other to their crews a few times a day. Around the fifteen day mark, it already happens every hour and on they big day, it’s non-stop babbling until they’re in each other’s arms again <3

[ere-na]

wtf I need a full time job just to keep up with everything that happens with these two fandoms in a day.

Anyway, here's my short fic take on "Jerč". (And to whoever is here who's not supposed to be I say a strong worded🖕🤨🖕)

"What he call you?" Jere was curiously asking on their weekly video chat. He had just heard how Kris shouted a goodbye in Slovene to Bojan before leaving his flat. "What?" "That name, like 'Bojan'" "Oh! You mean "Bojči'? That's my nickname in Slovene" "Huh.. Boj..či. Bojči?" Jere repeated, making 'j' and 'č' very rounded sounds that seemed to roll off his tongue like caramel. Bojan's heart sqeezed. He always had a soft spot for Jere's accent, and hearing such a personal name from Jere's mouth was a low blow. "Yes.. like that.. Bojči." "Heh! Bojči, so cute! Just like you." Jere grinned, always so quick with the compliments. "Do I get one too?" "What one?" "Name in Slovenia" Bojan looked at him for a moment. This man was winding him so much and he either was a dumbass and had no clue, or he knew very well what he was doing and was testing Bojan, finding every single thing that made him tick. Bojan cursed silently. Finnish people were so hard to read.. and sometimes, when he felt Jere's intense sharp blue eyes on him, he couldn't help but shiver. "I think.. Jerč? Yeah, that could be it." "Oh.. I like! 'Jerč'? Okay! Then you can call me 'Jerč'" Jere grinned his toothy smile. "When, if I miss you very much, I call you 'Bojči' and you know I'm lonely, I don't need explain more. And you can do same with 'Jerč', yes?" Bojan sighed, counting days again how long until their next trip to Finland. "Kyllä, Jerč...But only if I really really miss you. So I don't think you'll hear it again."

After all, he couldn't just give an upper hand in everything to Jere, right?

[nordickies]

First of all, I just want to say how much I love your takes on this blog! your headcanons are really good and I appreciate you giving characters the more complicated parts, since a lot of people don't really do that. But you still manage to make the nordics feel lovable! Also your art is so beautiful!

But I also have a question, and I figured maybe you could help me. I'm in the process of creating an AU where Ancient Scandinavia is Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden's dad. I also have Ancient Britannia for the UK brothers, Rome for the Italy brothers, etc! But I'm struggling with who I should make Finland's father. Sorry if this is a hard question, but since you seem to know history, I thought maybe you'd have an answer. Thank you!

Hi, anon!! I wish nothing but the best with your AU; I think it sounds exciting! And I'm more than happy to help <3 I know the pain of not having clear or helpful sources when it comes to trying to do some research. You're working with a very specific topic, after all. As much as I'm eager to help here, I also have to immediately admit that I don't have a clear answer for you either. But I can try to explain why that is, so you can come up with a solution yourself!

Right off the bat, I don't know how the rules and headcanons apply in your world-building, but I'm making a guess that you work with similar "Ancients" that other people in this fandom have. I know making "Scandinavia" into a personification, and thus the Nordics' parental figure, is somewhat of a popular headcanon! So you're probably looking for some pre-Christian Finnic area as Finland's parental figure?

The first immediate problem is that we simply don't have the sources to tell us about pre-Christian "Finland." There are no written records by the Finns themselves, not even later chronicles or sagas you might be familiar with in Norse history. There are no detailed stories about Finns by the early Christians either since there wasn't consistent contact until the 13th century or so. All we know comes from assumptions based on the surrounding people's history, some archaeological findings, and the few mentions of "Finns" in runestones or Norse/Novgordian sagas

We're also working with language limitations. The few sources that even mention "Finn," "Fenni," or "Finne" are ambiguous because the term itself could have referred to a Sámi, Finnish, or any kind of Finnic person!

The first mention of "Fenni" comes from the Roman historian Tacitus in 98 A.D. in his book Germania, and this is what he has to say. Some historians think he's describing the ancestors of the Sámi people, but regardless of the specific people group described here, it can be assumed that this was the general way of living for the remote Northern European tribes in the first century - or at least how outsiders viewed these people's way of living The first document in which the term "Finns" refers specifically to Finnish people may be Pope Alexander III's papal bull "Gravis Admodum" of 1171 or 1172. It's a letter to the Archbishop of Uppsala, where the pope tells about his disappointment with the Swedes aiding the Finns when they're attacked by enemies (Novgorod). How Finns promise to preserve the Christian faith every time, but as soon as the enemy withdraws, they deny the faith and persecute the Christian preachers. The pope did not find it acceptable that Christians would come to the Finns' aid as long as they kept mocking their religion, and his solution was to create fortifications in the land to stop Finns from abandoning the religion. This letter might have launched the first "crusade" to Finland, but the events and nature of this crusade are heavily debated

The land area that we today call "Finland" was settled from multiple directions by different people groups at many different points in history. The first people came to the peninsula as soon as the last Ice Age ended, around 10,000 years ago

The Baltic Finnic languages are part of the Uralic language family, which are thought to have originated in the Ural mountains - but that doesn't necessarily tell where the modern people came from. The Finnish language is almost like a time capsule, with lots of loan words from Proto-Germanic, Proto-Slavic, and Proto-Baltic, suggesting these people groups must have been at some kind of contact, even if their languages originate from completely different places

It's believed that the split between the Finnish and Estonian languages happened in the first millennium, and it's possible that the two languages may have been mutually intelligible during the Viking Age. The split between Proto-Finnic and Proto-Sámi, however, had happened thousands of years before that

Here's a visualization of the presumed people groups living in Finland around 1000 AD. The deeply forested areas of Fennoscandia were inhabited by nomadic people groups, the ancestors of the modern Sámi people. On the coast lived Swedish settlers, who would eventually become the Swedish-speaking population of Finland. On both sides of the Bothnian Bay is where the somewhat mysterious Kven people are thought to have lived

According to Icelandic and Norwegian sagas, Kvenland was a land inhabited by giants, and the great Norse kings were their descendants. The Orkneyinga saga, written in the 13th century, tells the story of a man named Fornjótr, the king who ruled over "Finnland and Kvenland." Fornjótr's son Nórr is presented as the founder of Norway, and even Harald Fairhair claimed to be his distant descendant. In the modern-day, "Kven" is the name of the Finnish-descent minority who live in Finnmark, Northern Norway.

In the opening of the Finnish translation of the New Testament (1548), Mikael Agricola names the three Finnish tribes; Finns, Tavastians, and Karelians. This subgrouping of the Finnish people can also be determined from the archaeological findings (from the variable styles of weapons and jewelry) during the early Middle Ages and the era of the Finnish Crusades

Tavastian (Hämäläiset) are considered to be directly related to the earlier speakers of Proto-Finnic, who presumably arrived from modern-day Estonia. The Novgordians used the term "ямь/емь" (Yem). The Novgordian sources mention many wars between the Yems and Karelians from the 11th to 13th centuries, in which Novgorod supported the Karelians and the Swedes allied with the Yems. These conflicts evidently contributed to the Swedish conquest of Finland by the 1250s

The Finns (Suomalaiset) are believed to be a more mixed group of people, as the area was under Tavastian, Norse, and Baltic influence. The town of Turku was also a Novgordian trading base, so it was by far the most international corner of the peninsula and thus the first to fall under Christian influence. Also, the Novgordian sources talk about a group called "Sum" fighting alongside the Yems, which could have possibly been these Southwest Finns

Finally, Finnish Karelians (Karjalaiset) are a subgroup of Finnish people who resided on the Northeast coast of Lake Ladoga. Finnish Karelians should not be confused with ethnic Karelians, who are their own Baltic-Finnic people group and speak the Karelian language. But as the shared name may suggest, these two groups have had a close association with one another, probably being partly of the same origin, but were eventually separated by two different spheres of influence (Lutheran Western Karelia and Orthodox Eastern Karelia)

In the 1340s, The Swedes united the recently conquered Western Karelia with the rest of the conquered territories (Finland and Tavastia), and the whole administrative area started to be referred to as "Österland" (Eastland). Since Österland and its Bishopric were administrated from the city of Turku (Åbo), eventually, the whole region under Turku's management just started to be referred to by the name "Finland," and that's where the entire country got its name But obviously, the Finns themselves had a different name for their people and region: Suomi. The term "Suomi" has been in use for a long time, and the first written record of it comes from the Treaty of Nöteborg (1323) when the first official border between Sweden and Novgorod was established The theory some might have heard is that the Finnish name for the country comes from the Finnish words "suo" (swamp) or "suomu" (fish scale). But there's also a theory that the name might actually be a loanword. One possible suggestion is that the name Suomi comes from the Proto-Balto-Slavic word "žemē" (earth, state, territory), from which the names Häme (Tavastia) and Sápmi would also originate. The only other languages that refer to Finland as "Suomi" are other Baltic-Finnic languages like Karelian and Estonian (Suomi/Soome), Sámi languages (Suopma), Latvian (Somija), Lithuanian (Suomija), and surprisingly Scottish Gaelic (Suomaidh).

Also, you might be thinking that since Sámi and Finns seem to get confused with one another so often, does that mean they are the same thing? Well, no. The term "Fenn" probably comes from the Old Germanic term for "hunter-gatherer". The term might have been an umbrella term for all kinds of people who participated in that lifestyle in the Northeast of the Baltic Sea

While agriculture has been practiced in Southern Finland for thousands of years, the Finnish continental climate was rather unforgiving. The cultivation and harvest seasons were short, and the winters were harsh, which meant that before the introduction of better tools and suitable crops, people had to rely on at least partly nomadic lifestyles in some parts of the country. In eastern Finland, the main farming method was slash-and-burn, which also caused people to move constantly in search of new arable lands

Although Sámi and Finns have similar origins and ultimately belong to the same language family, Sámi people had been their own people group by that point, with their own languages, mythology, religions, culture, and, obviously, their own history, which just often gets overlooked and mixed with the rest of Fennoscandian history. Think that the Norse people have Odin and Thor. Karelians and Finns have Kalevala, and Väinämöinen. Estonians have Kalevipoeg, and Vanemuine. Sámi have Maderakka and Beaivi - the difference is clear

All these groups had their own societies and worldviews, but obviously, some similarities can be found. Sámi people had Seida, holy places of worship and homes of gods and deities. Finnic people had Hiisi, which served the same purpose. Sámi people lived in moveable dwellings called Lavvu. Finnic people had Kota (or Laavu in some dialects), a settlement in the courtyard used for cooking and a temporary dwelling during hunting trips. Sámi, Finnic, and Norse people all believed that the world revolved around some kind of world tree, which reached the North Star, and so on

So, the reason for confusion and mix-ups between the Finns and Sámi in old Norse sources didn't necessarily come from these two groups being similar but from outsiders regarding them as similar. For a Norse person, both Finns and Sámi were foreigners whom they couldn't understand and who lived seemingly disorganized nomadic lifestyles. Thus, they probably used the name "Fenni" to describe them both

Conclusion...?

I guess after all that rambling, the answer to your question really depends on when you think Finland, the character, was born! Was he around the Viking Age? Maybe even before that? Or did he only come to be once his land was Christianized? It depends on what you think he represented in his youth before "Finland" was created

He could be the personification of Finns, aka Southwest Finland, which also explains his closeness with Sweden from very early on. There could have been personifications for other Finnish tribes as well, but for some reason, they're not around anymore, so Fin has just naturally taken their place, too. If you want, you could potentially make it quite sad; he could be the last personification of his family branch

There are no right or wrong answers; it really depends on your AU's rules. But I hope this has been somewhat helpful! Hopefully, you learned something new, at least. Finland is a bit of a tough case, I suppose. It had never developed central rule, as the land operated on paganism and tribalism. Instead, the Swedes brought their rule with them once they started expanding under Catholicism. Due to Finland's remote location and lack of trading routes, it was one of the last corners of the continent where Christianity was introduced; and with this new religion came a whole new system of governance and worldview.