#lever harp

[greenjudy]

It's ready to ship.

The fruit of more than 5 years of searching, saving, waiting. A Starfish Glencoe in maple: 34 strings, staved back construction, Camac levers, gut-strung. Tension high for a lever harp, designed for the Scottish clarsach tradition, not the lower-tension Irish tradition. Maple for purity of tone and faster decay, allowing for better articulation, especially on the bass end.

I've been low-key in mourning for my spectacular old Pratt Chamber Harp, which I was privileged to own and play for about 8 years, and finally had to give up because of where I live--super, super remote, in a tiny space with unpredictable heat and humidity.

This baby is half the weight of the Pratt and a fraction of the size, with a ton of projective power. It will fit in the back seat of a car and the corner of my room. I can't wait to hear its voice.

Next: it takes a journey from Ballachulish. Pouring rain here, so we are in a holding pattern for the next few weeks.

When it arrives, I'll record some noodling on it; don't expect much, I only play for myself, but it might be fun to hear how it sounds.

[arwendeluhtiene]

New Youtube music video 🧙‍♂️ 🧝‍♀️ ✨🎶 ! Pilar ‘Tarmariel’ (also, IG) reading The Hobbit with me playing ‘Misty Mountains’ on the lever harp, at the EstelCon 2018, the annual event of the Spanish Tolkien Society 😃

[the-leech-lord]

🛰S’Chn T’Gai Spock Stimboard🛰

💙💙💙|💙💙💙|💙💙💙

Part 2/7 of my TOS crew stimboards

[lumikore]

(for Tiny Little Baby's)

[crafty705]

Young Sophie at the harp mayhaps

(before anyone starts counting there r 39 strings)

—

daytime version & sketch below cut:

[sickfreaksirkay]

should i learn to play a section of wagner's tristan and isolde on the harp 🤔🤔

[sassmill]

Sewing is so good

[fructidors]

i hate that with harp interesting music is basically locked behind a 15 thousand dollar paywall. what the fuck

[tempests-bards-and-birds]

finally found some harp sheet music for the genshin theme so gonna try that at some point ig

[lostjulys]

for someone who really just is only good at one instrument i sure have a lot of instruments <3

[flocon-tourne-en-rond]

Whoever decided celtic harps should have levers was both absolutely right and terribly wrong.

[thewriterg]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧’ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 chp.4

pairing(s); simon ���ghost’ riley x fem!reader, johnny ‘soap’ mactavish x fem!reader, kyle ‘gaz’ garrick x fem!reader, john ‘bravo six’ price, werewolf!soap, harp crow hybrid!gaz, dragon hybrid!price, wraith!hybrid (?) ghost, phoenix!hybrid (?) reader

summary; holding out, threats, and a thumping tail

word count; 2.4k+ | chasin’ chaos masterlist

warning(s); monster au, dark twisted themes, normal cod violence, firearms, knives, combat, pinning (?), poly themes, death, r call sign is flatline, blood consumption, eventual smut, kissin, and language

A/n: thank you all so much for 1.9k it means everything under the sun to me!

Your view is slightly perched from the position you’re in on Price's back, legs wrapped around his torso. You have an arm wrapped around his neck, applying no real pressure on his airway. The palms of your captain and fellow lieutenant are pressed against each other trying to over power the opposite. Ghost dressed in a sleeveless hoodie that allowed you to see his hulking scarred arms, gray cargos you'd only seen him in a handful of times, and a black balaclava with his trademark painted on the front.

“You two holdin’ out on me?” The brunette smirks teasingly his full beard adorning his face, shoulders slightly shaking in response to the pressure being applied against them. The dragon and the wraith are practically nose to nose with one another and both you and Simon have your own responses to the question

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Captain.”

“Don’t want you pulling anything, old man.”

John huffs out a laugh and averts his eyes over his shoulder at you for a second and it’s all the time Ghost needed to throw a kick to his lower abdomen. The brunette throws you off his back with the flap of his stray wing while you take the opportunity to swiftly slither yourself between his legs back on your feet in a snap next to the blonde's side.

Your eyes slightly widen when your captain goes to open his mouth and before his languishing flames can reach your body, shadows make a mock wall In front of you blocking your figure from the heat. The wraith can feel you take a hold of his shadows, a sense of familiarity falling over his underwhelming sense of adrenaline. You’re soon taking your wrist and yanking it down as if pulling on a lever. Neither Price or Ghost were aware of what you’d done until the brunette was falling towards the padded rink floor. You’d had one of the blonde’s Infamous shadows wrapped around Price's ankle covered by his steel toe boots, the smoky black littered with electrifying orange and yellow sparks. The dragon’s bottom breaks his fall and he goes down with a grunt before settling his eyes on the two of you.

"Well now, aren't you two a sight? " Prices gruff voice falls over the empty gym, a flirty underline to it that was somewhat difficult to catch from the older man unless you’ve heard it multiple times before. You and Simon stand next to each other's usual balaclavas that rested on your faces absent. The wraith has shadows crawling up his bare arms resembling veins all too accurate. His eyes aren’t quite pitch black but a dark gray blending in well with his eye black, while smoke floats from the slits of his eyes past his temples. Your frame on the other hand has altered just as much however not at such an intensity. Your eyes are light reddish orange, there's cracks running up your arms and the back of your hands like a shattered porcelain doll, a glowing yellow orange burning through them each individually. Your face matches your arms, those cracks spreading from your temples to your cheekbones and from your forehead to above your brow engraved like lightning streaks.

“Yeah, real head turners.” Ghost huffed sarcastically, helping Price up off his position from the mat. The dragon grunted at the quick change in position and patted the wraith on the back with gleaming eyes and a quirk of his lips

“That’s for damn sure” The two begin to exit the rink seeing you happen to be steps ahead. You're dressed similarly to them both with: camo cargo pants, steel toe boots, and a forest green tank top. The sight was close to heavenly and by the others' faces the men could tell the other was not so joyful you had covered yours.

💌💌💌💌

“Missed seeing you in action, Captain.” The lieutenant hummed lowly in the back of his throat even though it sounded more like a grunt passing John a cold thermos of water. It was the closest the hybrid would get to a ‘I missed you, I missed being around you, and stop having so much damn paperwork even though it’s your job.’ And the Captain took it all without complaint while the solider took a seat next to him.

“Trust me, I hate being chained to the desk as much as you do” He responded sipping on the water with a sigh of contentment, watching as you stretched in front of them. Your legs are stretched as far as you can get them beside you hips, you have you stomach pressed to the ground with your arms stretched flat in front of you, while your tank top is slowly rising up your lower back showing the peak of a deep yet healed scar going up your spinal cord, and Price finally looks away at the sight of it.

“How's the shoulder old man?” You question when you're finally off the ground, watching Ghosts mask arch in your peripheral indicating that there was a quirk at his lips. You thought it was even more humorous how John responded without a bat of an eye.

“Tight but that’s nothing new” He grunts, leaning slightly towards the side his stray wing was on with a hand thrown over his hip.

“You two have been interlocking shadows and cosmic energy more often” The captain notes taking more water from the chilled thermos while you and your fellow peer lock eyes for a split second before they strayed away. You’re already taking a sip of your water bottle leaving the skull masked man to answer the question himself.

“Mm, in a good patch.” The blonde answered simply and you couldn’t expect any more from him, it could’ve made you chuckle if you weren’t also roped into the equation.

“Got anything to do with our newest recruit?” The brunette smirks, steam coming from his lips previous fire dying out with a ‘fssssss’.

“What!?”

“What!?”

“I’m not stupid and you’ve always been a dog person Simon” The dragon waved him away with a pale clawed hand, the steam from his mouth spreading in the process. The wraith had thrown a hand over his head staring down at his lap.

“Fuck me, Price, don’t put it like that.”

“I ignore the mutt's existence as a whole actually and I like birds more.” You fight back a roll of your eyes, arms crossed over your chest while your captain slightly grins.

“You love a chase Deity, we all had to go through it at one point.” He grins at you, blue eyes twinkling as you avert your gaze to the now interesting wall while the man dug into his duffel bag.

“Here’s hoping you both keep those opinions, yeah?” The captain held out a file for either of you to take which you’d grabbed first, going to sit in between the two men to give Ghost a view over your shoulder.

“New transfers?”

“Temporary ones. International corps are sending us two of their attack dogs and a python. They’ve been tracking a bogey for months who’s recently made themselves known on our turf. They’re asking to work together.”

“They’re asking to work together? Got us doing their jobs for them with this request for preliminary recon” The wraith merely huffs out, while the dragon began to take a stand from his seat, his brown eyes low peeking through his mask. If unamused was a person he wouldn’t be too far off.

“Just to prepare for their arrival. Shouldn’t be an issue, make sure it isn’t.” The brunette softly grins out, an order. Hes holding the wraiths chin tilting it up slightly in his clawed pale hand while his thick pear green take swayed idly behind the back of knees before his heavy boots began to take him away. The masked lieutenant acts quickly, stretching a hand to reach over to the captains.

“Soap he’s… he’s not gonna change this” The statement falls off his lips like a prayer. His hooded eyes rest lowly with eye black covering the surface around them. Price slight grins before resounding a moment of silence having passed by.

“You don’t need to promise me anything, Simon. I'm your captain, I’ll be here either way.” He grabs ahold of your forearm gently tugging you to his side while stepping in front of the blonde, the writhing having to crane his neck up to see you both in response to you standing before him.

“And I wouldn’t mind if he did. My boys taking of each other when we can’t, a dream come true” Price nods to his side where you stand, eyes flickering between bloodshot red and their normal color.

“Dirty.”

“You wouldn’t have it any other way.” You roll your eyes playfully, —only to their eyes did it seem that way— your thumb rubs against the stubble on his cheek having hiked up his balaclava to his slightly crooked nose. Your eyes don’t stray away from his brown ones, his pupils are slightly blown. Your own orbs are still shifting shades while you stare down the hulking wraith with uncertainty, it would be the first time since…

The blonde shifted his head slightly giving you better access to his jugular, eyes raking over the horned brunette in front of him. It happens all too quickly fangs are scraping against his pulse point and lips are being smashed against his. John swallows the deep hum from Simon when your teeth pierce through the skin of his neck, one of your hands on the nape of his neck and a clawed pale hand that didn’t belong to you sat against his jawline. Your knee that was against the bench now creates friction through the thick fabric of Ghost’s cargo pants right above his growing cock. The lieutenant lets out a broken moan combined with a grunt at the sudden motion that you can hear past his and Prices sealed lips before you’re pulling away.

“Got hybrids today, maybe you could stop by if your dog doesn’t turn you into a treat.” You hum rubbing a finger over the corner of your lips where stray blood had slipped before taking it in between your teeth and walking out of the training room ignoring the faint sounds of your superiors chuckle.

“You think she’ll get over it?” The blonde questioned standing from his seat with a crack of his back, eyes nots quite slipping from your retreating figure. —the sway of your hips to be exact— The brunette huffs out a chuckle slinging his bag over his shoulder before responding.

“When you think about it she’s approved a lot with him, especially since the med wing. Not a threat to her home anymore, just a threat to her people.” The one winged hybrid hummed out, the itch for a smoke growing more prominent the more time had passed.

“By people you mean us… but come on Price, Deity knows she has us” The dragons grin had yet to leave his face, arms thrown across his broad chest.

“We know we had her when she toyed with that one tall lad, König was it? She's just smelling him out Simon. Phoenixs are territorial, pretty sure the ‘threat’ will be gone soon enough. Hell he follows ‘er around like a lost pup anyhow… Tell you what, bet you a twenty he’ll be marked in the next month” With a pat on the shoulder Price left the room without another word, trailing along to the comfort of his office leaving Ghost to himself.

💌💌💌💌

You enjoyed the evenings right outside of base. It wasn’t too warm where your skin was being cooked to a crisp under the sun and not too cold to need anything other than a thin jacket at most. It was also the time where you could get a pocket of peace, where you didn’t have to listen to ‘lieutenant, lieutenant, lieutenant’. A scheduled area away from the comfort of your office where little to no one knew about? Perfect for you… until it wasn’t.

Your visitor couldn’t seem to the memo of temporary peace. All of a sudden instead of the sound of chirping crickets and flickers of fireflies, all you could focus on was the faint sound of the beat blaring through your sergeants headphones. Your cigarette softly crackles as you inhale the smoke from it, the smoke falling over the jacket that wasn’t actually yours. All you wanted was to finish your paperwork in peace and here comes this little mu-

You wanted to groan at the repeated tap on your thigh.

“… Soap” You call out with a huff in your voice, turning your head slightly to look over your shoulder to see the back side of the Scott who seemed blissfully unaware of his… surroundings

“Soap.” You call again his thick, bushy, tail swinging back and forth hitting your thigh with a ‘thump’. You stare at him for a while before standing, snatching the fur rod in your grasp with an underlying firmness.

“Mactavish.” The motion makes the hybrid jerk in his seat leaning forward slightly, dropping his files and pen in the process. You notice the tight looking collar around his neck that you couldn’t imagine having around your own but decide against speaking about it.

“Uh - L.T?” The wolf looks almost bashful when he turns to meet you gaze, your eyes low yet sharp and it reminds him of the day you met —if you could call it that—. The brunette was sure you could see the warmth spreading across his face, it would take a blind man not to.

“Your tail is whacking me.” Soap liked to think of himself as a pretty observant person and now he couldn’t tell if you wanted him in your bed or in a grave.

“It’s uh, g-got a mind of his own” Johnny stuttered out trying to not to fumble over his words. He runs a hand over the nape of his neck, persistent on keeping his eyes on yours and not the grasp you had on his tail.

“Well real it in or I will.” You finally let go of his tush, barely looking at him through the peripheral of your vision before taking your seat. The Mohawked stud takes a hold of his trim with his pants a little tighter then what they were a few moments ago, the thought of finishing his papers completely gone.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Now that everyone’s got their screen time I can’t WAIT to write for my baby gaz🤭

I hate my writing this Chp but what can you do?🙂

[mothdruid]

Mate

pairing. werewolf!Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x afab!reader

word count. 2.7k

warnings. this is an 18+ piece of work, minors buzz off. 18+, mdni, smut, werewolf smut, penetrative sex (p in v), oral sex (fem receiving), mating mark, jake gives a mating mark to the reader, so also biting, knotting, cream pie, Jake is in human form but his dick has a knot (sorry, not sorry)

author’s note. the last one!! here is our emotionally inept man that we all love no matter what!

True love was weird. The entwining of two people, two souls in a special kind of warmth. A warmth that told you everything would be okay. Every bad day would pass. Negative emotions would melt away from you. Nothing could harm you as long as you had that one person in your life. And Jake had never believed in any of it.

Growing up he was told by his parents that one day he would find true love. Told him that once he found a person he shared true love with, they would get mated and spend the rest of their lives together. They would have a family together, watch their kids find true love, and so on. Jake would sit there and listen like a good son, only rolling his eyes once his mother turned her back.

True love was bogus in Jake’s eyes.

Sure, werewolves always found a mate, always had a family, and always died with their mate. It was a real cut and clear thing. Werewolves don’t live alone, always surrounded by a pack or mate. But finding someone that you practically could not live without? That was total horseshit.

Every holiday he came home his sisters went on about how they found their mate. Harping about how true love was real, telling Jake he would find someone eventually. Jake went all throughout high school and the military without ever experiencing this so-called true love. Met plenty of people, fucked a lot of them too. If true love was a thing, he would have found it by now. Or at least he believed.

It was that fateful night at the bar the pack always hung out at. Jake was actively beating everyone at the pool, Bradley being the only one coming close to beating him. Everyone was starting to back out, complaining about how Jake couldn’t let anyone else win due to his ego. Jake rolled his eyes with a big smirk before heading up to the bar. He had promised to buy a round of shots at the beginning of the night, and he assumed now was probably the time to do that.

Once he got to the bar he finally noticed you. You had to be new, he had never seen you before. And he knew that he would remember a face like yours. The way your hands moved over the tap, pulling the lever to fill the next glass of whatever draft. For the first time Jake thought about getting a beer on tap, wanting to take up as much of your time as possible. A pounding in his chest had started, something he had never really felt before. There was a sudden lump in his throat when he looked at him.

As soon as you spoke, he knew he was a goner.

But it didn’t immediately occur to him that it was ‘true love’. That was still something he rolled his eyes at, claiming that the relationship he shared with you was different. When his sisters asked him about it he would just happily say the two of you were trying things out, meshing well together.

The first time he actually considered that it might be true love was late at night. He was having a really hard time sleeping, yet you were curled up in a deep sleep next to him. A peaceful look was covering your face, one that made Jake’s heart swell. He couldn’t stop himself from staring, watching your most peaceful state. It was that night when he first said ‘I love you’ even if you weren’t awake.

But right now was different.

Right now Jake was currently sitting in the living room, waiting for you to get home. After a long talk with Javy, he had come to terms that this is true love and he had to accept it. He didn’t have to make it his entire personality, or change anything that he was doing. Simply acknowledging it would be enough. Telling you directly that he loved you. Letting you know that this was more than a simple relationship, it was one he was invested in. And one he hoped you were also invested in.

Jake immediately perked up when he heard the front door open. Anxiety bubbled inside of him slightly, thinking about how you might react to his confession. He had always assumed that you knew he loved you, whether he had formerly said it or not yet. From him asking you to move in, him taking you out for date nights, and even staying up late to make sure you got home from work safely.

“Hey,” you said as you passed the living room to the open kitchen.

Jake turned and draped an arm over the back of the couch. He watched you set your bag and keys down on the bar, letting out a deep sigh while you did. You turned around to face him and leaned back against the counter.

“Busy night?” Jake asked.

“Something like that,” you smiled at him.

“Well, come on over here and I’ll help you de-stress,” Jake waved his hand, beckoning you over.

You made your way over to him, rounding the couch to sit down next to him. His arms embraced you quickly, no hesitation in the movement. He let you lean back into him, relaxing into his chest. He pressed a kiss to your temple.

The two of you sat like that for a while. You relax into him while he prepares himself to tell you his feelings. But if anything, this moment encouraged him more to confess. The way you were trusting him with your peace, knowing that he would make sure you were well taken care of after a long day of work. He rested his head against yours lightly, embracing your prescience.

“Hmm?” You asked, knowing he had many thoughts swirling in his brain.

“What?”

“I can here you thinking,” you looked at him.

Jake let out a soft chuckle. That was another thing that he loved about you, how you could see right through him. No matter how hard he tried to hide something, you knew about it just by looking at him. You even asked him about being a werewolf on your first date. The way you just knew him like no one else.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” Jake’s voice grew soft.

“About what?” You asked with an intrigued look.

“I’m not really sure how to say it,” Jake started, “but I wanted to talk to you about my feelings.”

“Your feelings? And what feelings are those?” You took his hand in yours, running your thumb softly over his palm.

“Feelings towards you,” Jake said.

That made you perk up, completely invested in what he was about to tell you. You turned your body to face him, sitting up in the process. An awkward smirk covered Jake’s lips. You reached out and placed a hand on his knee, the other found his hand. You laced your fingers with his, a warmth blossoming between the two of you. Jake huffed lightly before he continued.

“Well, I think you might know what it’s about,” Jake said.

“Mmm,” you hummed lightly, “enlighten me.”

“Well, we’ve been together for a while now,” Jake swallowed, “and I’ve noticed there is something I haven’t told you yet.”

A small smile tugged at your lips. You rubbed your thumb softly against the inside of his palm.

“I love you,” Jake finally said.

It felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest. Finally speaking his feelings into the world, freeing them from his mind. He studies your face, waiting to see some type of change. But the changes were small. Your gaze lightened and your smile grew a tiny bit.

“I know you do,” you inched closer to him, “and I love you too.”

You moved over top of Jake, looking down at him. Your hands moved to either side of him, gripping the arm of the couch for support. He brought a hand up to your face, thumb brushing over your skin lightly.

“You know,” Jake whispered.

“I know.”

“It’s true love though,” Jake whispered as your lips inched closer to his, “like I could mate you and not regret it.”

That made your heart skip a beat.

“Mate me?”

“Mhm,” Jake kissed you briefly, “share the rest of my life with you.”

Another kiss.

“Have a family with you.”

Another kiss.

“Experience everything with you.”

Another kiss, but this one didn’t stop.

The two of you were enamored with each other now. Lips dancing in a rhythm with one another. One hand was holding the junction of your jaw, the other slipping down and around to your ass. He started kneading your ass over your jeans, slipping his hand into your back pocket at some point, eliminating a tiny layer. Your body lowered onto his body, slotting between his thighs.

“Jake,” you whimpered as his lips moved.

A trail of kisses started down your jaw to your neck. Jake eventually stopped that trail at the juncture of your neck and shoulder. The curve of it was taunting, begging him to be bitten. But Jake refrained. Instead he licked and sucked at the spot, earning a few hip rolls from you. This continued for a few minutes, the two of you rutting together like teenagers while Jake marked up the spot where a mating mark should go.

Soft sounds were coming from the both of you, filling the room. Jake was marveling at the way your hips rolled against his, you moaning at the sensitivity he was causing on your neck. Somehow the two of you started to maneuver into a different position. Jake placed you in his lap, both of your legs bracketing his thighs. This way Jake was able to help roll your hips, and take your shirt off.

The warmth of his mouth covered one of your nipples immediately. Wet muscle swirling around your hardened bud, the other bud being rolled in between his thumb and forefinger. You arched your back, pressing your chest closer to his face. The sensations were guiding your body, as if you had no control. It was as if Jake was puppeteering you, controlling your moves with his own. You started grinding down into him, feeling his cock hard against your ass.

His hands started to ghost down your sides, palms barely touching your skin. His mouth moved to your other breast, taking your nipple into his mouth. Jake was taking his sweet time, enjoying you to the fullest extent. Savoring every sound and reaction you had to offer him. Every stupid wolf instinct in him was screaming to mark you, mate you.

He wanted the word to know how much you meant to him. Wanted everyone knowing that you were his world. The person who brightened his days, made the problems he faced seem solvable, and even helped calm down his egotistical side. Mating you would solve all of his problems, eliminating any bad feelings that he ever thought. A low growl bubbled in his throat.

“Jake,” you whimpered at the vibrations around your nipple.

“Perfect,” his lips started to press kisses between your breasts, “so fucking perfect, don’t ever wanna lose you.”

His hair was soft as you threaded your fingers through it, reveling in the small amount of shagginess he was allowing. When you had met him he was a clean cut and short hair kind of guy, but over time he had noticed you liked it a little longer. Long enough for you to run your fingers through and tug on it, long enough for it to peek out from under the occasional hat he wore.

It were small things like that that you picked up on. Him learning how to fold your laundry the way you liked without asking, remembering how you liked your food cooked, and so many more things. The way he just learned so much about you without asking, but also asking when he couldn’t fully figure the thing he needed to know out. You never needed to tell him twice, he always just knew. Even knowing when you had a bad day, making sure your time at home was relaxing. He was just perfectly in tune with you.

That’s why you never threw a fit about him not saying the three words. You knew he felt the three words, and his actions were definitely showing that to you.

“You won’t lose me,” you whispered while grinding, “never gonna lose me.”

With that Jake was rolling you over, back hitting the couch. He made quick work of you pants and underwear, tossing them to some unknown area of the living room. Without warning he was parting your legs, diving in between them to lap at your cunt. A gasp left you as he started to lick your clit. One of his hands slipped under the back of your thigh, then pressed it close to your body. His other hand pressed your other leg out, wanting you in whatever position he wanted.

Noises continued to pour from you like a fountain, a never ending flow of sound. Jake was loving it, loving the way he was able to show his love to you. Make sure you never forget what or how he felt for you.

As much as you wanted to keep feeling his tongue work you over, you needed him close to you. You tugged at his hair enough to get him to pull up from between your legs. Your lips crashed together as you started pushing his sweats down. Jake took the hint and sat back on his heels, pulling his shirt off then pushing sweatpants off.

“Knot me.”

Jake went into a frenzy after that. He lined himself up with your entrance, pushing his tip in you. It was a few thrusts until he was completely in you, stretching you out. Jake had always been a little big, but nothing you shied away from. The stretch was amazing, satisfying even. Little crescents were starting to form under your grip on his shoulders. Jake looked at you for a look of consent before he started thrusting.

His thrusts were deep and sensual. It felt like he was deliberately trying to stretch out your entire abdomen, each thrust feeling deeper than the last. There was a small shift in his angle, then you were seeing stars. That sensitive spot inside of you was now being pound into. Jake pressed his forehead to yours, staring deep into your eyes. He brought a hand up to cradle your jaw.

“I love you so much,” Jake whispered with a groan.

“Mate me.”

Jake’s thrusts stuttered when he heard the words.

“Are, are you serious?”

“I love you, and I want to love you forever,” you said.

Jake smashed his lips to yours, tongues mingling ferociously. You could feel his knot starting to swell, catching and tugging against your entrance every now and then. Jake broke the kiss and nuzzled into the junction of your neck and shoulder. His tongue was running over the skin, wetting and nipping at the skin. You could feel his thrusts starting to get sloppy, signaling he would be done at any moment. You clenched around him, sending the both of you over the edge.

A sharp pleasurable wave washed over you. Jake’s teeth had broke the skin of your neck and shoulder. His knot stretched out your entrance, slipping inside of you and locking the two of you together. You could feel his cum filling you. The feeling had your legs shaking, body exhausted from everything that just happened. Jake’s bite let up, mouth retracting from the new mark. He marveled at his work for a moment before going back in and licking it softly.

There was a warm sensation in your chest. It was new but comforting, like drinking hot cocoa on a cold day. Not only was there warmth, but there was a surge of general emotion. A type of connection, the mating bond.

“Do you..?” Jake asked softly after pressing a kiss near your mark.

“Yeah,” you answered.

Jake brought a hand to your face, running the backs of his fingers over your cheek. His heart couldn’t help but swell as he looked at you. It was as if he could feel everything you were feeling. It was finally all clicking into place. Why would you ever mate someone you experiencing true love with?

[the-casbah-way]

why do old men always assume they know more than me when it comes to niche lore. im fucking autistic you’re nothing. don’t open your fucking mouth around me i know more about antique pocket watches / wwii light bombers / 13th century scottish politics / how to restring a lever harp than you ever will. please stand back unless you wish to embarrass yourself you clown

[onetruelurker]

Harp Facts for Reference

the likelihood this will reach anyone is nil, but for reference to anyone who wants to draw or write about someone playing a western harp:

High Points

the harp rests on your RIGHT shoulder

the column faces away from you

the left hand plays the low/long strings and the right hand plays the high/short strings (typically)

unless you are playing a traditional wire-strung celtic harp (and maybe Paraguayan harps? not clear on this), the nails are short because you do not play with your nails and long nails give a really unpleasant buzz

correct hand position is palms facing the strings, thumbs up

you do not play with the pinky

Playing while sitting in a chair with arms is annoying as fuck because it interferes with your elbows moving

unless you're doing an effect you pluck in the middle of the string

This got REALLY long, so more under the cut.

Parts of a Harp/How a Harp Works

A harp is composed of individual strings tuned to a specific note (the number of strings varies), like the white keys on a piano, but upright. The strings resonate off a soundboard, which is a thin piece of wood. Shorter strings are higher notes, longer strings are lower notes. The soundboard is attached to a hollow body (there are holes in the back, that's how you change strings). The strings stretch between the neck and the soundboard and are under high tension. The front piece is called the column, and in a pedal harp it has a mechanical component in it. In a traditional western harp (aka folk harp, aka lever harp), the column is purely structural. The column faces away from you as you play.

In its most basic form, the harp has no mechanism to change between keys without re-tuning the strings to the appropriate accidentals (sharps or flats). This is a huge pain in the ass, and harpists have come up with two major ways to get around it: pedals and levers.

Types of Harp

Pedal Harp

Most western orchestral music which includes a harp is written for the pedal harp, which has 7 pedals at the base (one for each note in the western music scale, A-G). Pedals are for changing the notes from flat to natural to sharp, so it lets you play in any key and shift keys while you're playing. This is a relatively new innovation - the modern pedal harp came on to the scene around 1800.

The column of a pedal harp needs to be straight because the mechanism which allows the pedals to shift the string tension and change the pitch runs through it.

Pedal harps are heavy. They usually have 47 strings. People who play pedal harps (not me lol) have dolly carts to carry and position them. Pedal harps are more portable than a piano but less portable than most other musical instruments. They are VERY expensive and always cost >$10k (usually more like $15-20k) because of the complexity of the pedal mechanism, but can be much, much more depending on the wood and decoration.

Folk/Lever Harp

This is a folk or lever harp (mine, in fact! it's a 34-string Rees Mariposa that I love with my whole heart. please ignore the cat food in the back). The lever harp is capable of playing accidentals by flipping up the lever on the neck, which adds the exact change in tension needed to turn the string from a flat to a natural or from a natural to a sharp. This is obviously less nimble than the pedal system, since you have to take a hand out of playing commission for a second to flip a lever, but on the other hand you can switch just one string instead of all A strings or whatever. You also don't have to retune if you want to play a piece in a different key. They're very suited to playing Celtic traditional music.

Lever harps come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny 20-string lap harps to almost the size of a pedal harp, though I haven't seen any models that are bigger than 40 strings (mine has 34). They're generally much lighter and usually more portable than pedal harps. They're also much less expensive, and good ones generally live in the $2k-8k range. Definitely still a hefty chunk of change, but much less than a pedal harp.

Playing a Harp

The lever and pedal harp have very similar technique with the exception of pedal stuff for pedal harps (I don't play pedal harp so I can't comment on that). In general, the harp is tipped back and rests on the right shoulder. Most of the weight of a harp is in the base, so this isn't heavy or uncomfortable and tbh I love the feeling of the music resonating through my shoulder and body.

Pop quiz: the harp rests on what shoulder?

....

The RIGHT SHOULDER

For some reason this is wrong in like 90% of art which features a harpist. If you learn nothing about the harp from this, learn that the harp rests on the right shoulder, and I will be happy.

The right hand typically plays the melody on the higher strings and the left hand plays accompaniment on lower strings, just like the piano. You pluck strings with the flesh of the fingers, not with the nails (except in traditional wire-strung Celtic harps, which will shred your fingers, and I think Paraguayan harpists might play with the nails) or a pick. You usually need short nails as a harpist because nails + harp string = awful buzzy noise. As one can imagine, harpists have mad calluses. Harpists do not use the pinky because it's too short to reach the strings reliably.

When you play, you have your palms facing the strings and slightly tilted toward the floor, and the thumbs are up. The elbows are usually up so you have a smooth line from your elbow to your wrist (and not get wrist tendonitis). The right arm can rest lightly on the body of the harp unless you're playing on the highest strings.

You pluck in the middle of the string because it has the nicest resonance, unless you're doing an effect called près de la table (close to the soundboard), where you play right where the strings attach to the soundboard. This sounds like a guitar.

Harps have HELLA resonance, especially the lower strings, which will pretty much ring forever. You often need to actively muffle strings you don't want to be making noise anymore.

Because the wrist and forearm move together and the elbows kinda stick out, playing in a chair with armrests ranges from "really goddamn annoying" to "not possible."

Other Stuff

If you look at photos of harps, you will see some red strings and some black or blue strings. C strings are red, and F strings are blue or black. These are not training wheels, these are a visual indicator of the note. They're standard and are used by everyone from little kids playing Twinkle Twinkle (which is not a good harp tune, for the record) to professionals.

Low strings are wrapped in wire.

Fun fact, some lever harp makers make double or even triple (the Welsh are wild) strung harps which have multiple sets of strings either in parallel or crossing over. They are very cool looking and I'd love to learn to play one someday.

Harps are pretty delicate like all wood instruments. They get out of tune if you look at them wrong, and because you tune every string separately you spend a LOT of time tuning. I should probably be tuning right now.

[oliviawebsite]

gamer moment but i think gwyns theme will be the first the thing i learn on harp its relatively easy and i think its also in A Minor so i dont have to change any levers/pedals