#like in a renaissance or baroque genre

[hiyari8]

Think it’ll be successful bc vocatone had a bit of notoriety and using Oliver’s name (and I think

That one vtuber guest was circus’ persona lol) so it’s prolly worth willing for ppl to “invest”/take a chance on it compared to a completely new unknown company starting from scratch tho no one expected synthV it go as viral as it did , so I think it’ll be more successful Than Emvoice but not as much as SynthV unless they get a ton of voice variety and handful of western composers to do a demo song or so

Tho if they’re able to instead of competing be nice for a collaborative effort to also get a version with them on SynthV /cevio /etc if they claim to be able to do 30 languages

i suppose that's true, they do have the benefit of a headstart as u said <3 the 30 languages thing sounds crazy i hope it turns out well

[girlboccaccio]

Italian literature tournament idea?

I have many things to do but still I want to fill the void of my existence, so a week ago I thought "why don't create a tumblr tournament between the authors from italian literature?".

For the names there are two simple option:

or I will chose the names from the literary canon

or I will open a google form when everyone, by a specified date, will insert the author names that will be put in the tounament.

both the three options combined: I will but the names already chosen under this post and after that open a google form if anyone else want to add some names. The more the merrier the longer = more violence between our favourite author from high school <3

The combination for the various challenges will be sorted randomly, I think I'll use a program/generator to do the job.

Idk if somebody else did the same thing for other literature, like the french or russian, but this idea could be used for various possibilities.

+ I think I'll add also playwrites, for me theatre and literature are different fields but a playwriter at the end of the road is still an author.

I also wanted to do the same thing for italian art, but is a field too wide and maybe in a future I could do it more by art schools/genres (best baroque artist/architect, best renaissance artist/architect etc).

[rocksibblingsau]

classical music has various eras based on history advancement like baroque, renaissance, romantic ect. do you think branch would choose his aesthetic based on one of them?

Oooh I love this question. So to me Branch kind of stands out in that he doesn't conform to any particular sub-genre or aesthetic. He's very open when it comes to music so I could see Branch as enjoying a mixture, though I am leaning a bit towards a heavier love for Romanticism. Especially since it's not as heavily detailed as Baroque, so it's easier on his eyes!

[nobrashfestivity]

Bob Thompson spoke the language of jazz, of riffing and improvisation. He played drums, and in New York he befriended bass player Charlie Haden, saxophonist Ornette Coleman, and other experimental musicians spearheading the “free jazz” movement. He knew writers like Allen Ginsberg, too, and by the late 1950s he was attending some of the first “happenings,” in which artists of all kinds would perform spontaneously with the participation of the audience.

Thompson was a bohemian, in other words. But he had a thing for Renaissance and Baroque art, and when he moved to France in 1961 it was to study these works at the Louvre museum in Paris and elsewhere. In art school, he had begun to copy the paintings of Fra Angelico, Piero della Francesca, and other Old Masters, and when he moved to Europe he began to turn them on their head.

Several paintings in Mia’s show riff on “bacchanal” paintings of the Baroque era, which not so subtly evoke the sex, drinking, and merriment of myth. (A real Baroque painting, featuring cads and their willing victims, is included as context.) One of them, Homage to Nina Simone, shows nude men, women, and children grooving to music in an idyllic, park-like landscape — a twist on Nicolas Poussin’s painting Bacchanal with Lute-Player, from around 1630, which Thompson had seen in the Louvre.

Thompson had been on a tear, returning to New York with a huge trove of paintings like this, which established him as a kind of genre unto himself: the black artist who deconstructed old white art for a hipper, groovier time. Like Jean-Michel Basquiat in the 1980s, his talents broke barriers even as they enabled his vices. The charms of the art world — money, fame, drugs — were held out to him, and he turned none of it away. He loved to party. He had a heroin addiction. He lived fast, and died fast.

Thompson painted his tribute to Nina Simone, the talented and tragically unstable singer and pianist, in 1965. The following spring, in Rome, he overdosed on heroin and died. He was 28.

source medium.com/ painting:  Bob Thompson’s “Homage to Nina Simone” from 1965.

[mrghostrat]

Wait wait wait sir sir I got a question

does au Crowley have a nice singing voice.

IMAGINE LIKE. THE POSSIBILITIES. Chat makes him sing a song bc someone donated a very nice amount so he does a little “thank you *name* for this weirdly nice donation” tiny sing song and it’s actually good??? So people try to get Crowley to sing more idk-

HMMM DOES HE?? i try picturing him singing and all i can hear is the apology song SO–

honestly somethin about crowley screams Bad Singer to me. but in a really wonderful, uniquely appealing way. hear me out:

we know he's got this vivid imagination, so i feel like anything he's creatively good at would be in a unique, creative, unorthodox way. like, as an artist, he wouldn't be a realistic renaissance painter, but a push-the-bounds cubist or abstractionist. in architecture, we think of him as brutalist, rather than something with a classic appeal like baroque or even standard minimalism. he's not appealing. but he's revolutionary.

so, with music, he wouldn't sound pretty, can't sing a smooth run or even have an impressive range. but he would have lungs for days and you'd know his voice instantly. i'm talkin cage the elephant, alt j, the vaccines, fucking menomena quality. he doesn't sound pretty but he sounds otherworldly, and he can't sing you to sleep but he'd change whatever genre he tipped his toe in forever.

SOOOO yeah. i think he'd have a shit voice. and it would fucking rock

[thestarsfightagainstusmyfriend]

"Allegory of the Vanity of Earthly Things," c. 1650, unknown French artist

This is one of my all-time favorite Baroque works, but there's, like, no scholarly works on it, so here's an excerpt from an essay I wrote on its meaning, entitled "Shadow and Light: Tenebrism and Chiaroscuro in Depictions of Femininity in Baroque Art":

"While candles in Baroque art tend to serve a similar purpose regardless of context– a literal and symbolic way to expose some otherwise obscured truth– this is used to wildly different effect throughout varying traditions. For example, the candle became a universally-recognized element of vanitas and memento mori paintings– related genres which utilized carefully-curated still lifes as a way to create physical manifestations of the inevitability of death. Items such as books, candles or lamps, skulls, and timepieces became synonymous with these late Renaissance and Baroque-era genres. Skulls, once again, serve as a constant reminder of death and the limitations of the human body, books as a symbol of the limited use of accruing earthly knowledge, and timepieces as a very tangible representation of the unstoppable, unforgiving nature of existence. While the vast, almost complete, majority of paintings within these genres are still lifes, a handful include human or humanlike (e.g. angelic) figures. One such example is the enigmatic Allegory of the Vanity of Earthly Things by an unknown French artist. This painting, while clearly referencing vanitas and memento mori paintings through the familiar naming convention (i.e. “Allegory of …”) and the direct reference to vanity in the title, as well as the selection of objects, evades direct categorization. The female figure is unnamed and unrecognized. Because of the relation of Mary Magdalene to vanitas paintings, one could make the argument that the figure is meant to be a representation of Mary. However, depictions of Mary Magdalene throughout history nearly universally depict her with long, flowing, curly, often blonde or reddish hair (with Artemisia Gentileschi’s Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy being a perfect example). Additionally, when Mary Magdalene is depicted as the subject of vanitas paintings, she is generally the one contemplating the macabre items. In this painting, the woman seems to be wordlessly communicating with an individual to the audience’s left. As she tilts the mirror– a symbol of truth, obsession with the self, and most importantly, prediction– towards this phantom audience member and points to the skull with a faint, knowing smirk, she seems to be very intentionally and explicitly indicating the point of the work– death is inevitable. If the predictive, mystical capabilities of mirrors– as well as the truth-revealing properties of the candle– are considered, one could even interpret the woman as a harbinger of death."

If anyone knows anything more about this painting, I would love to hear about it! I've developed a strange obsession with it.

[speculativepages]

I recently started world-building for a new story idea (I know—bad when I'm supposed to be in the middle of revising my current project) and in trying to figure out the level of technology and feeling of my new world I got lost in google searches about the different punk genres.

So I decided to make a master list.

According to Wikipedia (a highly reputable source by all accounts) a punk genre can be described as “a world built on one particular technology that is extrapolated to a highly sophisticated level (this may even be a fantastical or anachronistic technology, akin to retro-futurism) a gritty transreal urban style, or a particular approach to social themes.”

There are so many (so so many) and some people roll their eyes at every new addition but I think the names and distinctions are interesting and fun (I mean, Magicpunk may just be regular fantasy, but it sounds so much cooler). I love the idea of scientific fantasy, and of blurry the lines between the sci-fi and fantasy genres. Who’s to stop you from mixing the culture of the Japanese samurai with an epic space opera in the stars?

This is an incomplete list. I've organized it by time period (loosely, because some overlap or can go anywhere). I've also provided an example of a published work (for those that have them).

Established Fantasy Punk Genres: An Incomplete List

Magicpunk/Dungeonpunk: Fantasy punk genre where the “one particular technology” that the world is build on is magic. You have trains running on lines of sorcerer-fueled energy and ships powered by wind magic and computers running on sub-dimensional energy from the demon realm. Popular examples include The Sleeping Dragon by Jonny Nexus and The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams.

Aetherpunk: Subgenre mix of Magicpunk/Dungeonpunk where the magic source of the technology is specifically the element of Aether. Often, if not always, also has Steampunk elements. The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher is the only example that comes to mind.

Mythpunk: A punk genre that is inspired by or incorporates myths and legends. These aren’t usually a retelling of a popular myth, but rather one that includes elements of the myth, or twists and changes the story around to it’s own ends. Popular examples would be American Gods by Neil Gaiman or Deathless by Catherynne Valente.

Stonepunk: Set in the stone age, this genre is characterized by the use of non-technology as technology, creating pseudo-tech and modern inventions with natural, basic resources like stone, wood, water, fire, clay, and rope. The Flintstones would be the best example.

Sandalpunk: Sandalpunk is on thin ice as a punk genre. Rather than being inspired or defined by a technology, it instead focuses on the period of time of the ancient world before the Middle Ages, often set in Greece or Rome. There aren’t many examples of it. But the name is cool.

Steampunk: Arguably the most popular punk genre (after Cyberpunk) featuring science fantasy stories set in Victorian era, with advanced technology powered by steam engines and clockwork mechanics. Doctor Who perhaps described it best, “The Victorian Age accelerated. Starships and missiles fueled by coal and driven by steam.” There are many examples, both in literature and film, including His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, Mortal Engines by Philip Reeves and The Parosol Protectorate by Gail Carriger.

Clockpunk: Close-cousin subgenre of Steampunk, characterized by a lot of clocks and inspired by the pre-steam energy period of the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Pasquale’s Angel by Paul J. McAuley is more Clockpunk than Steampunk.

Silkpunk: Silkpunk is another subgenre of Steampunk, one generation removed. While steampunk is defined by it’s Victorian era brass and steam aesthetic, Silkpunk is inspired by East Asian culture during the period of the Silk Road. Examples include The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu and The Tea Master and The Detective by Aliette de Bodard.

Cattlepunk: Yet another subgenre of Steampunk, Cattlepunk is the across-the-ocean-bastard-cousin set in the wild west of early America. Cowboys, bank robberies, and train heists meet robots, warmechs, magic, and super-weapons. The Wild Wild West and Firefly verse are classic movie examples. Book examples would be the Mistborn Era II series by Brandon Sanderson and The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. (And I didn’t realize until I just did all this research but based on examples this is like my favorite punk.)

Dieselpunk: This genre is set in the aesthetic of the 1920s-1950s era and is characterized by the use of diesel-powered technology. Commonly incorporates alternate history elements, as well as themes surrounding the Great Depression and World War II. It’s been called the darker and dirtier version of Steampunk with an emphasis on air travel and combat, dirigibles, and air pirates. Examples include The Iroon Dream by Norman Spinrad, Dreadnough by Cherie Priest, and Pirate Utopia by Bruce Sterling.

Atompunk: A retro-futuristic punk genre set in during the Cold War and characterized by atomic nuclear technology, ray guns, robots, hover cars, and interdimensional travel. Atompunk often deals with the themes of nuclear power gone wrong and alternate versions of the Cold War. The most popular example of this would be the Fallout games by Bethesda.

Capepunk: Capepunk is just superhero fiction set in the modern-era world where people have powers. Example would be any superhero story ever. I just think the name’s cool.

Gothicpunk: Gothicpunk is also usually set in the modern-era, but incorporates The Goth. Generally characterized by an underworld of supernatural creatures lying in wait and secretly controlling the workings of our world where humans are but cattle. This is basically dark Urban Fantasy, but it’s popular enough to get a distinction. Anne Rice’s Interview With a Vampire is an okay example. The movies Priest and Daybreakers are much better ones.

Cyberpunk: Cyberpunk, the grandfather of all of the punk genres. Characterized by dystopian and cynical future world in which technology has brought about cultural nihilism and a crap society. Often combined with Film Noir or detective fiction. (Fantastic Noir is a fantasy version of Cyberpunk). Heroes are most prone to be some form of hacker, rebel, or antihero fight against a totalitarian police state or corporate empire oppressing the people. Examples Neuromancer by William Gibson and the movie Blade Runner.

Post-Cyberpunk: This is Cyberpunks chipper, more optimistic sibling. It has all of the vision of a scientifically advanced cyber-culture without the gritty, dark, and edgy world elements. It still share’s the Cyberpunk elements of analyzing how technology interacts and impacts with society, just without such a grimdark view of humanity. Examples would be Agent G by C.T. Phipps and The Peace War by Vernor Vinge.

Biopunk: Biopunk is Cyberpunks genetically engineered half-sibling. This punk centers around organic technology with a healthy smattering of bio-augmentation and biotechnology. Examples include In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S.M. Stirling, West of Eden by Harry Harrison, and Wolfish Nature by Vladimir Vasilyev.

Nanopunk: Also a subgenre of Cyberpunk with characterized by the use of nanites and nanotechnology as the predominate form of technology. Examples are Tech Heaven by Linda Nagata and Micro by Michael Crichton.

Solarpunk: Solarpunk is a genre characterized by it’s environmentally friendly technology meshed with African and Asian cultures and an emphasis in community, art, and a bright solar future where humanity has found a balance between technology and nature. Can also include many elements of Biopunk, but with a much more optomistic, for-the-future-of-species-and-environment outlook. Example works include Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor, Maurai by Poul Anderson, and Songs from the Stars by Norman Spinrad.

Apunkalypse: This genre is defined by the collapse of civilization where society is replaced by lawless bands of roving scavenger gangs or cities collapsing into decay or the rise of punks overthrows the rules of the past. Examples include Mad Max and Mortal Engines by Philip Reeves (which is also Steampunk, so it’s a good example of book incorporating more than one punk genre).

Desertpunk: Punk genre characterized by sand. Who doesn't love a good desert planet? Often features roaming tribes, wandering heroes, desert bandits, and sand storms. Can be combined with Cattlepunk, for a Western desert, or Apunkalypse, for an-after-the-end-of-the-world setting. Examples include Dune by Frank Herbert and Railsea by China Mieville.

Oceanpunk: This punk is set on the high seas. Often features floating cities of wood and iron lashed together and mighty nations fighting for dominion of the watery world and may also feature civilizations and cultures below the waves in underwater cities. Sometimes called Pirate Punk, because nothing breed pirate stories like ocean cities and sailing ships. Examples include The Scar by China Mieville, Tranquilium by Andrey Lazarchuk, and Dark Life by Kat Falls.

Did I Miss a Punk? Can you guys think of any other punks to add? Either ones you've thought up, or any you've heard of that I don't have listed. I'd love to keep this list updated. I find it's useful to look through when creating a new world to get the overall feeling of what I'm going for with the story and world-building.

What punk are you writing in for your current WIP?

[unfortunately-a-fangirl]

what's your favorite machine

aouuuu tough choice but it's always rotating between four major things: The Arquebus, Pierre-Jaquet Droz's little writing freaks, the Difference Engine, and the Apple 2 (hnbl. mentions to the TRS-80 and Apple LISA)

The Arquebus (which I'm using as supercategory to the Wheellock and Matchlock) has a very interesting vibe in that it feels incredibly baroque (tracks given they're contemporary!) but it also highlights an era of weaponry that is kinda underutilized both aesthetically (everyone wants to fuck the renaissance or enlightenment but no one cares about the baroque period! sad!) but also in terms of like, gamemaking or storytelling given that the long reload times of the Arquebus in addition to the fact it's a hand-canon that's reloadable makes it very useful for keeping pikemen and cavalry relevant while introducing guns into the setting. But if nothing else harquebuseers are very lovely as a middle step between medieval pikemen and more modern musketmen.

Regarding Jaquet Droz's automata, i'm less focused on the dolls (though let it not be forgotten, i do appreciate them) the mechanism is what fascinates me most. I think the appeal is more obvious with the Difference Engine, but the fact that it's a programmable machine that uses clockwork to operate makes me stare in both awe and envy. Like, it kinda relates to my thoughts on the Coalbrookdale Locomotive, which looks like it operates off of clockwork as well, and that combined with the Automata suggest the shape of things that could make for a nice setting but i like a lot due to fiddlybits and precise motions and stuff. It's all nice.

When I was little, there was a museum in town that got a replica (i guess? the original was never built only ever drafted.) of the difference engine and I was lucky enough to see it in operation. It's really hard to express what it's like, but I think i would relate it back to the Jacquet Droz automaton in that they're both pinnacles of clockwork. I don't really know how to express my fascination in these without going back to like pocket-watches or the fine engraving on things, but it's a combination of the complexity of the thing, how elegant it seems while in operation, and then presentation- especially with the difference engine which is simply itself, it is an object that imitates nothing else and is a monolith in doing so.

The Apple 2 is sort of exemplary of the genre of retrocomputer I love. Like, it's not the only one, and I wouldn't say it's my favorite computer in specific (toss-up between the Sinclair Quantum Leap and the LISA if we're talking form factor) but the Apple 2 feels very friendly in a way. Like, I don't own an Apple 2, but I've used an Apple 2 before, and they're incredibly easy to get started with. Add to it an admiration for the Woz, the wedge-shape that I think is, while understandably abandoned, sadly underutilized. It's just a little thing that is all-in-one and lives on your desk. Literally what else do you want out of life.

idk there's more and if you asked me at a different time i'd give you a different answer, but machines yeag

[scotianostra]

On November 18th 1785 Sir David Wilkie, the Scottish painter, was born.

Wilkie was born in Pitlessie Fife in Scotland on 18 November 1785. He was the son of the parish minister of Cults. He developed a love for art at an early age. In 1799, after he had attended school at Pitlessie, Kingskettle and Cupar, his father reluctantly agreed to his becoming a painter. Through the influence of the Earl of Leven Wilkie was admitted to the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh, and began the study of art.

He is principally famous as the most popular genre painter of his time, but he also produced historical subjects and portraits. Wilkie moved to London in 1805 aged just 20, a year later an exhibition at The Royal Academy was a remarkable success for a painter so young.

His Chelsea Pensioners Reading the Gazette of the Battle of Waterloo (1822, Wellington Mus., London), commissioned by the Duke of Wellington, was so popular when shown at the Royal Academy that a rail had to be erected in front of it to protect it from the crowds. Between 1825–8 Wilkie travelled on the Continent for reasons of health (he had long been prone to nervous illness) and his work changed radically under the influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, becoming weightier in subject matter and broader in touch.

Of his Scottish work I like his self portrait, (the first pic) thought to have been painted before leaving for London, Pitlessie Fair (seen in pic 2) and 'The Honours of Scotland'. The discovery of the Scottish Regalia (pic 3). The third one may look a bit rough, but it is the historical content embodied in the piece I like.

In 1840 he went to the Holy Land to research material for his biblical paintings and died at sea on the return journey; Turner (one of his many artist friends) commemorated him in Peace: Burial at Sea, as seen in pic 4.

[theadaptableeducator]

An Historical Timeline of art materials throughout history: An ‘Ism’ Overview - Perspectives Comparing And contrasting art movements

Prehistoric Times:

Cave paintings were created using natural pigments like charcoal and ochre (40,000 BCE - 10,000 BCE).

Ancient Times:

Egyptians used materials such as stone, copper, gold, lapis lazuli, and pigments made from plants and minerals for their paintings and sculptures (c. 3100 BCE - 30 BCE).

Greeks used clay, bronze, and marble for their sculptures and fresco techniques for their paintings (c. 800 BCE - 146 BCE).

Romans used similar materials as the Greeks, but also developed new techniques for mosaic making (c. 753 BCE - 476 CE).

Middle Ages:

Medieval artists used pigments made from natural sources like plants, insects, and minerals, and materials such as wood, stone, and stained glass for their artwork (c. 500 CE - 1500 CE).

Renaissance:

Renaissance artists used a variety of materials including oil paint, canvas, wood, and marble (c. 1300 CE - 1600 CE).

Baroque:

Baroque artists used a wider range of materials such as pastels, chalk, and silverpoint, and developed techniques such as chiaroscuro and tenebrism (c. 1600 CE - 1750 CE).

19th Century:

The Industrial Revolution brought new materials such as synthetic dyes and oil paint tubes, which made painting easier and more accessible to artists (c. 1800 CE - 1900 CE).

20th Century:

Modern artists experimented with new materials such as acrylic paint, spray paint, and found objects, and developed new techniques such as collage and performance art (c. 1900 CE - present).

An then there’s now…

There are numerous materials used in the production of art in the 21st century(-ish). Here are some examples:

Digital Media: With the advent of technology, digital media has become a popular medium in contemporary art. Artists use software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and 3D modeling programs to create their works. Some examples include:

Cory Arcangel's Photoshop Gradient Demonstrations (2011)

Rachel Maclean's video installations (2016)

Found Objects: Artists often use found objects, or everyday items, in their artworks. These objects are repurposed or combined to create new works of art. Some examples include:

Damien Hirst's shark preserved in formaldehyde (1991)

Ai Weiwei's installation of 9,000 bicycles in Toronto (2013)

Mixed Media: Mixed media refers to artworks that use a combination of materials and techniques. This can include painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, and sculpture. Some examples include:

Kara Walker's cut paper silhouettes (2005)

Robert Rauschenberg's Combines (1954-1964)

Performance Art: Performance art involves live actions by artists, which can be theatrical, improvisational, or conceptual. It often involves the use of the body as the primary medium. Some examples include:

Marina Abramović's The Artist is Present (2010)

Tino Sehgal's These Associations (2012)

Installation Art: Installation art is a genre of contemporary art that involves creating immersive, site-specific works that often utilize a variety of materials and techniques. Some examples include:

Olafur Eliasson's The Weather Project (2003)

Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room (2013)

These are just a few examples of the many materials and techniques used in contemporary art.

[archive-of-artprompts]

🤘Punk!🤘 Send in a character/s + number to reimagine them in that Punk style

 (list from tv tropes 📺)

Atom Punk - A sleek, futuristic setting with "Atomic Power" logos on everything; popular in the 1950s, 1960s, or early-to-mid 1970s.

Bio Punk - A gritty, futuristic setting with heavy biotechnology-inspired elements.

Cape Punk - Realistic, deconstructive takes on the superhero genre.

Cattle Punk - The Western with steampunk elements.

Cassette Futurism - A futuristic setting built on late 20th century analog technology.

Clock Punk - Widespread use of clockwork-like technologies and machinery beyond simple clocks, often in a Renaissance/Baroque era setting.

Cyber Punk - A dark and cynical genre based on the impact of advanced computer technology on society, often as a tool for corporate or governmental oppression and resistance towards it.

Desert Punk - A sci-fi world set in a desert.

Diesel Punk - A retro-futuristic setting based on early 20th century technology.

Dungeon Punk - A dark and gritty world where spells, enchanted artifacts, and magitek take the place of modern technology.

Fantastic Noir - Film Noir mysteries with a fantasy or sci-fi twist, popularized in The '80s.

Gaslamp Fantasy - 19th century Steampunk settings with fantastical magic instead of technology.

Gothic Punk - A modern, fantasy setting which heavily draws on Gothic Horror elements.

Gunpowder Fantasy - Fantasy works based on the early modern period, roughly spanning The Renaissance through The Napoleonic Wars, i.e. the 15th to very early 19th century.

Myth Punk - Classical folklore and fairy tales rewritten with darker, postmodern elements.

Ocean Punk - Modern fantasy or speculative fiction set at sea, often drawing on elements from the age of Wooden Ships and Iron Men.

Sandal Punk - Science fiction set in the Bronze Age up until the Middle Ages, usually drawing on Ancient Greece/Rome and the Middle East (for Biblical stories).

Scavenged Punk - Culture and technology built out of scavenged junk.

Solar Punk - A futuristic setting based on renewable energy and sustainability.

Steam Punk - A retro-futuristic setting with steam power as the basis for advanced technology, generally with a late 19th century aesthetic.

Phlebotinum-Induced Steam Punk - Advanced technology run on rare or magical materials.

Stone Punk - Modern inventions and technology but made with Stone Age materials.

Tesla Punk - Lightning-based technology attributed to Nikola Tesla's alleged scientific genius.

Urban Fantasy - Fantastical elements in a modern setting.

[art-of-manliness]

Classical Music 101 — The Origins of an Illustrious Art

I’ve enjoyed listening to classical music for most of my life. In high school, I’d tune into my hometown university’s radio station at night to listen to Bach and Beethoven while I did my homework. It made me feel smart.  I still listen to classical music today when I work. I also listen to it on Sunday mornings when planning my week.  While I’d listened to classical music since I was young, I didn’t know much about it. Sure, I knew who the great composers were and was familiar with their most famous compositions, but I couldn’t tell what made Bach’s music different from Beethoven’s. Heck, I didn’t even know that calling what I thought was classical music “classical music” was really a misnomer. More on that below. So, I decided to change that this year. Starting in January, I began reading books on classical music and listening to an audio course on the subject from The Great Courses. It’s been a revelation! While it didn’t make me an expert, when I listen to classical music now, I get more out of it because I know what I’m listening to. It’s made me appreciate what I’m hearing. I’ve also enjoyed learning about the lives of great composers like Bach and Beethoven. Bach was a workhorse, and I admire Beethoven’s Romantic bent (he once wrote that he wanted to “grab fate by the throat” — what an amazing, thumos-filled phrase!). If you’ve wanted to get into classical music but have been intimidated in knowing where to start, today we begin a two-part series that introduces the genre. The goal is to help kick off your listening journey and appreciation for the music that we call classical. Which is a nice segue to the first thing I learned in my own listening journey… Why Classical Music Isn’t Classical Music If you’re like me before I took this musical deep dive, you likely call all music made with flutes, pianos, and violins, written by dudes who wore powdered wigs and had German last names, “classical music.” But, yeah, that’s a misnomer.  Technically, Classical music, with a capital C, is a style of Western music that was composed between approximately 1750 and 1827. Beethoven was a Classical composer, but Bach wasn’t (he was a Baroque composer). If you want to be more precise, you’ll want to call what you call “classical music,” “Western concert music” or “Western art music.” With that said, I don’t worry too much about using “classical music” colloquially to describe the spectrum of formal, harmonically complex Western orchestral/instrumental music that people typically put under that umbrella. I’ll be using it in that sense in this series. Western art music/classical music is typically broken into the following eras: * Greek, Medieval, and Renaissance Eras (2,000 BCE to 1600) * The Baroque Era (1600-1750) * The Classical Era (1750-1825) * The Romantic Era (1825-1900) * The Modern Era (1900 – today) Each era had its unique style and innovations.  When you imagine “classical music,” you probably imagine music from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras. And for good reason! These periods produced the giants of Western music like Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven. When you tune into your local classical music radio station, you’ll likely hear songs composed during these three periods.  Another thing to point out about classical music is that we typically think of it as “pure music” — music composed for art’s sake rather than for filthy lucre or the masses. You listen to classical music in the background when doing math problems or contemplating Platonic Forms. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but even the greats wanted to get paid and be famous. Many great classical pieces were written to get rich and attract an audience. And some of it was downright vulgar (Beethoven composed a song about his digestive issues that mimicked farting). The fact that great classical music was composed for money and fame shouldn’t take away from its illustriousness. These composers also worked to create art that glorified God and inspired humans to live… http://dlvr.it/T5bFBr

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

charlotte talks art history: memento mori and vanitas

Hey everyone! Welcome to the very first “charlotte talks art history!”

Today we’ll be exploring some of my favorite artistic motifs: memento mori and the vanitas genre of painting

Content warning for death and depictions of skulls throughout the whole post

~2200 words 

First let’s define some terms:

Memento mori is a latin phrase used across art forms (literature, art, music, etc.) meaning “remember you will die.” Essentially, it reminds the viewer of their own mortality

Vanitas is the name of a genre of art derived from a bible verse which states that everything is vanity. What this means in this context is that the things of this world (beauty, power, wealth, etc.) are fleeting and are nothing but vain pursuits when compared with the certainty of death. Some nice light stuff here, right? 😅

Quick note: although vanitas is a distinct genre of art, memento mori is more of a phrase that is widely used across media. Therefore, we typically call these images “vanitas paintings,” but they carry the message of memento mori (and also may actually use the phrase somewhere in the piece)

Both of these terms and the ways they’re applied to the art I’m discussing today is very much set in a western European Christian context, but this is absolutely not to say that other cultures did not have their own versions of these concepts. One example of this can be seen in Kusôzu, a genre of Japanese art in which the artist depicts a corpse in various stages of decomposition. The viewer was then intended to meditate on the depiction of this decay and contemplate their own mortality and the fragility of concepts like beauty and status (I’ll put a small cautionary note here to let you know that if you look these up, some of them can be quite graphic, and I know that isn’t for everyone, so if you would rather not see depictions of human decomposition, probably don’t go searching for these pieces). However, for reasons of space, time, and my own familiarity with these motifs, I’ll be focusing on memento mori/vanitas images today

Alright, if you’re ready, let’s head into the catacombs and meditate on our own mortality! 💀

Artwork with memento mori motifs can be found stretching all the way back to the ancient world, but the specific genre of vanitas paintings emerged out of the late Middle Ages and continued to flourish throughout the Renaissance and Baroque periods

Below are some early examples that don’t quite yet conform to what would become the vanitas genre, but include memento mori elements that would later be widely used in vanitas art

First, let’s talk danse macabre! A concept you may already be familiar with, the danse macabre is an artistic trope wherein various living people of all professions and stations are shown dancing with skeletons. The main idea here is that death comes for everyone, regardless of your power, money, or status. Although not precisely the same as the vanitas genre, it does promote similar ideas, such as the ephemerality of this world and the universality of death. Many scholars think that the danse macabre trope emerged as a result of the mass mortality caused by the Black Death in the mid 1300s. The disease was relatively indiscriminate, wiping out entire communities and leading many to feel as though they were living at the end of days – a perfect scenario for reflections on one’s own mortality. Now let’s look at some examples!

You may have already seen this image of The Danse Macabre, created by Michael Wolgemut in 1493. However, note that this depiction includes only the dancing skeletons, not their living counterparts

Another image, the Procession of the Dance of Death made by Wenceslaus Hollar circa 1607-1677 does include the living. This depiction also serves as a good example of many different types of people being shown, even those of great power such as kings, popes, and bishops. Again, this underlines the “vanity” of worldly power and the omnipotence of death. Additionally, note that this image was created over 100 years after the first depiction, which demonstrates the lasting interest in this type of imagery well into the Renaissance and beyond.

I also want to touch briefly on two fascinating examples that relate to this theme, but aren’t perfectly aligned with any of the overarching categories I’m discussing. The first is The Three Living and the Three Dead from the De Lisle Psalter which was created circa 1308-1340. This is a trope found especially in medieval memento mori art, and it has a very similar message to the danse macabre. Typically, we see three living figures – usually of high class – who meet three corpses that remind them of their inevitable deaths. It’s also interesting to note that this manuscript was likely created prior to the outbreak of the Black Death, which shows that that memento mori themes and meditations on mortality were part of the cultural consciousness even before this mass death event.

And lastly, I want to show you a panel called The Dead Lovers created circa 1470. Although a much later piece, its imagery is absolutely aligned with everything else I’ve discussed so far. This piece is a panel painted on both sides, with the living couple on one side and the dead couple on the other. Similar to The Three Living and the Three Dead, the mirror of the living versus the dead shows just how quickly life can fade, and even those of high status or those who are healthy and youthful can still be reduced to corpses. Note in this one especially how grotesque the depictions of the corpses are. Super fun, right?

Okay, finally – vanitas!

As I mentioned previously, vanitas is a genre of painting that builds upon these prior ideas and uses memento moriimagery to encourage reflection on the fleeting nature of the world – and the things of the world – and the inevitability of death. They convey these messages through symbolic imagery rather than through the more confrontational presentation of corpses or dances with skeletons

So let’s break down that symbolism! 

The first “proper” vanitas paintings that we have are from the 16th century (“proper” in this case meaning that they take a more symbolic approach rather than the earlier more literal/direct depictions of death). These are often simple, depicting only a skull, perhaps with a latin phrase written on a slip of paper. So, first up in death symbolism: the skull! 💀

This one is fairly straightforward, since skulls and skeletons today still act as reminders of death. This is, of course, because the only time we would see a complete human skull is when that person is dead – and typically long dead, given that their remains have decomposed to the point of becoming skeletal

Here we have a couple examples of the simple skull vanitas: Portrait of a Man – Memento Mori by Andrea Previtali, ca. 1502 (left) and Portrait of Jean de Carondelet by Jan Gossaert, 1517 (right). Also, note that both of these works were on the backs of portrait paintings, meaning they have a similar effect as The Dead Lovers

Now on to some other “traditional” symbols of death: timepieces and candles! Clocks, watches, and hourglasses are associated with the passing of time because, well, they keep time lol. Therefore, they serve vanitas paintings as a reminder of a person’s limited time on earth. Personally, I think that hourglasses are particularly effective at this since you can watch the sand running out, but many vanitas pieces also feature clocks and watches, which convey the same idea. Similarly, candles track the passing of time since they have a definitive end point; when they burn to the end, they’re gone. Vanitas art tends to focus especially on candles that are close to burning out or have just been burned out (usually indicated by a wisp of smoke still floating from the wick), since that really emphasizes that the end is close, and time is limited. I’m sorry this is such a downer lmao 😅

Philippe de Champaigne’s Still Life with Skull (1646) is clear and to the point, with an hourglass prominently featured on the right of the canvas (upper left). Antonio de Pereda’s Allegory of Vanity (1632-1636) has a lot going on, but you can see an elaborate gilded clock on the right side of the image (upper right). Pieter Claesz’s 1625 Vanitas – Still Life has a candle that is still burning, but is incredibly close to using up all the wax and going out (lower left). In Sébastien Bonnecroy’s Vanitas – Still Life (1641) we can see a wonderful example of a just-extinguished candle, with a fading ember at the top of a wick and a ribbon of smoke floating upwards (lower right).

Next, let’s chat about whimsy! Bubbles, butterflies, shells, and flowers were all used in vanitas paintings. Bizarre, right? Today, we usually associate these objects with more positive feelings, not as reminders of our inevitable demise. However, in the context of memento mori imagery, they totally make sense. One thing they all have in common is their fragility. Bubbles pop, shells shatter, cut flowers wilt and decay, and butterflies are easily crushed or damaged. Therefore, in this context, they represent ephemeral beauty and the delicate fragility of life

In Vanitas by Jacob de Gheyn II (1603) we see a giant bubble hovering rather ominously over a skull in a niche that resembles the simple skull vanitas images we saw previously (left). Vanitas – Still Life with Bouquet and Skull by Adriaen van Utrecht (ca. 1642) features a vase filled with lovely flowers that dominates the left side of the composition. Although beautiful, we know that they will inevitably wilt since they’ve been cut and placed in a vase. This process is even hinted at in the drooping pink flower that has fallen from the rest and is now languishing on the table, soon to fade and decay (right)

Vanitas by Harmen Steenwijck (ca. 1640) has a lovely pearly shell placed just below a skull, whose shape it echoes (left). Vanitas by Jacob Marrel (1637) features both a butterfly and a dragonfly (which holds similar connotations of fragility/delicacy). They’re a bit hard to see so I’ve added circles to point them out (right).

And lastly for this post: the vanities of earthly life. Since the underlying idea of vanitas art is that everything is vanity, I wanted to close on this one. Vanitas paintings frequently depict things like jewelry and luxury items, coins and gold, and even armor and weapons. They may seem a little out of place amongst the skulls and shells, but they each indicate the ultimate unimportance of the things that humans use to distinguish themselves. Jewelry and adornments represent beauty and status, bags of coins represent wealth, and military equipment represents power. By laying all these things alongside the more obvious symbols of death and ephemerality, the artists remind us that these things too – even if they are made of sturdy metals – are ultimately just as fragile as a shell or the flame of a dying candle.

On the table in Clara Peeters’ A Vanitas Portrait of a Lady (ca. 1618) we can see piles of coins along with jewelry items such as rings and bracelets (upper left). Still Life Composition by Hendrick Andriessen (ca. 1650) features an ornate crown and scepter on the right side of the canvas. Tied in with luxury and status items, this represents the fact that even those who hold the most worldly power and status – like kings and other rulers – are subject to death just as much as anyone else (upper right). (we can also think about this in conversation with Hollar’s Procession of the Dance of Death in the fact that it also shows rulers and nobles being equal participants in the danse macabre). The lower left corner of Exilium Melancholiae by Bartholomäus Hopfer (ca. 1643) contains a pouch full of gold and silver coins along with strings of pears and gold chains and rings (lower left). In Memento Mori Still Life by Carstian Luyckx (ca. 1650) we can see a whole suit of intricately decorated armor on the right side of the image along with a banner, other armaments, and military accessories (lower right). 

You’ve reached the end! If you’ve read this far, thank you so much!! I know this was long (sorry!), but I love this topic and simply cannot shut up about it. I hope you’ve learned something or at least enjoyed looking at these fascinating images. From the simplicity of the 16th century skull niches to the explosion of items depicted in paintings like Luyckx’s piece, I hope you found something you like! Many of these symbols are used to this day, so hopefully this little primer can help you identify and analyze them in the future. There are so many more paintings and symbols I could have covered, but I have to stop here for now. Please let me know if you found this helpful, which painting and/or symbol is your favorite, or anything else you’d like to say!

Hoping I didn’t give you an existential crisis 😅, 

yours,

charlotte 💙

[depressedraisin]

Hiii 🖐16 13 15 for the music ask <3

tell us the name of a song that most people probably don’t know but you absolutely adore?

i'm sure there are people who know this but nana mouskouri's 'there's a time'. it's such a lovely and bittersweet song <3

do you have a favorite genre or dabble in it all?

baroque pop!!!!!!!!!!! basically put a bunch of strings and horns and maybe a harpsichord or something in a song and i'll EAT. IT. UP. i'm think we're gonna have a baroque pop renaissance soon and im so excited for it. also, raga rock- which is like psychedelic with a very promiment indian classical influence. we need to bring that shit back.

who is the most underrated artist in your opinion?

ooooooooffff there're so many ppl i think who are amazing but so so underappreciated. but for the sake of this blog, let's go with miles kane. he deserves all the glory

[autism-disco]

(innocent completely question)

what are your opinions on classical music? For example, Mozart 😁?

ok so sadly i haven’t actually listened to that much mozart specifically or at least not consciously? his music is pretty good but sometimes the fact that he’s a child prodigy makes me feel rather insecure as is the case for all those fuckin five year olds playing concertos like what the hell man

to clarify before i get fully into this rant, i’m specifically talking about western classical music because i don’t think i know enough to talk about other areas of the world’s classical music, as incredible as it is. i love me an erhu, and i’ve studied indian classical music at school and it’s great, i just haven’t gotten round to listening to much of it in my own free time.

i think it’s quite hard to pin down my feelings on classical music specifically because i’m not all that good at differentiating between classical and romantic yknow? baroque is more obvious at least in terms of concertos (admittedly that’s the only type i’ve studied) because of the harpsichord but i really need to listen to more baroque stuff. and like any music genre, classical music is very broad but is always kind of condensed into just “classical” which i feel like doesn’t really do it justice? so take like idk, claire de lune by debussy (i know that one’s a romantic one shut up shut up) (romantic the type period for clarification) is a beautiful piece of music which is well renowned for that. it’s incredible, it’s heart wrenching and it’s just lovely. then on the contrary you have pieces like the miraculous mandarin by bartók which are somewhat unsettling in places but still magnificently composed. in any other scenario i don’t see how these pieces could be classed as the same genre but they still are.

it’s also difficult to define classical music because is it the style or is it the time period? people still write classical-style music in the modern day- take more modern composers like shostakovich, he’s an arguably classical composer who died in 1975! similar goes for bartók actually. and karl jenkins- benedictus from the armed man mass for peace is literally all you hear on classic fm!! but he’s still kickin!! also my guy john rutter

speaking of time periods, i think that it’s interesting that in a majority of kinda western music studies we just begin with like classical or baroque. at least at a more simple level, we don’t really look into renaissance music as much as i personally would like to. me and my brother have an ongoing joke about greensleeves which is such a famous piece of music but by time period definitions would not be classical. i think it’s also interesting to point out folk music here- some folk songs have existed for so long and are still played by folk bands to this day! i mean obviously the issue with music predating the baroque/classical era is that it wasn’t written down quite as much as far as i’m aware- especially for folk music, it’s very much an oral tradition.

another qualm i have with classical music is that it can be quite inaccessible to get into. if you’re not in a choir or don’t play in an orchestra it can be challenging to actually find classical music because there’s just so much of it! of course the radio can help with this- things like BBC radio 3 and classic fm can be a little repetitive in what they play but it’s good stuff. however, they both have much more chilled out classical music, which of course is fine, but if you’re wanting to explore beyond that which i think is where the appeal might lie for the average person, you can struggle a little. streaming services do provide good access to classical music, but honestly in my opinion it can be quite stressful and overwhelming to actually manage partly because half the names of pieces are just “opus 12 in d major” or something similar. i mean this of course stems from the fact that classical music wasn’t designed for streaming services obviously, and i’m not suggesting we like rename pieces or something like that i think that would be a bit silly. obviously another way to get into classical music is to go and watch concerts, but they’re not exactly affordable for many people which sucks. i want everyone to experience zadok live at least once in their lives (yes it’s for the coronation no i don’t like the monarchy however i do not care it’s incredible i actually sang zadok with like a whole accumulation of choirs and it actually changed me as a person!!) but it’s just unrealistic for so many people because of the prices.

to a very simplified extent, you can divide classical music into the different time periods (although see the issues above), and into if it’s orchestral or choral. of course many choral pieces are accompanied by an orchestra, but it’s at least some semblance of a dividing line.

although i do play an orchestral instrument in an orchestra (baritone the brass one), i haven’t actually performed that many classical orchestral pieces myself, save for like mozart’s “the magic flute” and such. choral music on the other hand. oh boy.

the first piece of classical music i remember doing would be fauré requiem i believe? it was either fauré or rutter i don’t fully remember. fauré requiem is very good, but at the time i didn’t really appreciate it because i was like 7 or 8 and i wanted to keep doing things like sheep sheep sheep or the amazon maurice and his educated rhodents play (it was incredible). listening back though i see why it’s so well renowned.

in case you didn’t know, a requiem is a mass for the dead, with the main phrase of any requiem “requiem eternam” translating to “grant them rest eternal” if i remember correctly. i think this is captured incredibly in mozart’s requiem, which is the most recent requiem that i’ve sang. the opening captures the mood very clearly, and we go on to get incredible pieces like rex tremendae and dies irae. and then of course, there’s the rightfully famous lacrimosa, which i urgently need to sing as a cathedral choir at some point.

a potentially(??) less well known classical piece that i’ve performed is stainer’s crucifixion. now i’m not a religious man. but the chorus from the throne of his cross is one of the most exciting pieces i’d sang at the time, especially early on and the “they shouted against me bit”. it’s like jd from heathers meant to be yours vibes and it’s jesus on the cross. the rest of it is pretty nice as well, a couple of the bits weren’t as engaging but also a lot of was soloists (who were very good by the way)

i’m slightly afraid this’ll be an unpopular opinion but i did hadyn’s creation a year or so ago now and honestly? i wasn’t a huge fan. the bits that weren’t the choruses just kind of dragged on a bit in places, i mean it is the entirety of genesis but yeah. the best bit was absolutely the despairing cursing rage attends their rapid fall/a new created world springs up at god’s command combo. although that top a(?) nearly killed me i’m so glad i don’t have to actually sing soprano anymore and can just do it occasionally for the silly. but yeah, i feel like i was disappointed from the beginning when the orchestral “chaos” was like the most orderly chaos properly. i wanted more dissonance to fill the cathedral, man!

i’ve done a couple of pieces from handel’s messiah, well specifically three, and they were pretty fun i guess? they were probably some of the most challenging pieces i’ve done in a while, the tenor line on hallelujah is so unnecessarily weird and difficult?? handel just hated tenors i think (based)

the most recent one that i’ve done if i recall correctly is one i mentioned earlier: karl jenkins’ armed man- a mass for peace. this is one of the ones i again didn’t perform all of- we did kyrie, sanctus, benedictus, and agnus dei. i really enjoyed them all honestly! the contrast between them really portrays the ideas of war and peace very well. we didn’t do the ending random english one, which i think is for the best because ending on the word peace (parcem) is a rather beautiful sentiment.

there are, of course, a lot of other pieces i enjoy that i haven’t performed, both choral and orchestral and piano which i realise now should sort of have its own category. i can’t name them all, the one that instantly comes to mind is liebesleid but that’s just thanks to your lie in april (which honestly was a pretty good way to discover some new pieces!). i’m working on compiling a playlist of them completely, so if anyone is interested in that i can keep you posted.

i probably have more to say but it’s nearly been an hour and i really should sleep. if you’ve gotten this far thank you for reading all of that or scrolling to the bottom of this post!

tldr; i enjoy classical music and mozart is pretty neat

[nemobeatrice]

Heritage Februabba 2023 Day 5: First/Last Kiss - A Brief Moment to Ourselves

Ao3

Quotev

Wattpad

Leone arrived at the restaurant, expecting to see the others there, but there was only Bruno. He had some squid pasta and a cup of tea, and he was smiling, a rare sight.

“Hey, Bucciarati!” Leone grabbed his attention. He looked up at him, and his smile grew.

“Abbacchio!”

“Where is everyone?”

“Narancia’s currently in school, and Fugo and Mista are watching a movie to pass the time. Polpo hasn’t given us any orders, so I thought I would take this moment to relax. So, Abbacchio, have a seat. How have you been?”

Leone sat down near him. There was a tea kettle and some cups, and he poured himself some tea. “Nothing exciting. I woke up, had some early lunch, watched TV for a bit, and that’s it.” He thought about bringing out his CD player but then thought he should chat with Bruno. “How about you? Don’t tell me you’ve been sitting here all day.”

“Unfortunately, yeah, I have.” Bruno frowned.

“That can’t be fun.”

He sighed and looked at Leone. “You brought your CD player, right? Could I listen to some music?”

“Sure.” He handed his CD player and headset to him. “I don’t know if you’ll like my music, though.”

Bruno put on the headphones and hit the play button, listening for a few seconds. “This is relaxing. I didn’t expect you to listen to this type of music.”

“Let me guess. You thought I listened to metal. I mean, I have, but it’s not my favorite genre. I like renaissance and baroque music.”

“Do you listen to jazz?”

“Never listened to it.”

“I left some CDs at home. Maybe we could listen to some of my music some other time. The others should be here shortly.”

“Why are we waiting for them? We could just go now.”

“I know, but someone could need help. Fugo will be tutoring Narancia, and you know how intense Fugo can get when Narancia gets an answer wrong.”

This was why Leone liked Bruno, but he does think he needs a break. “Why not let Mista or I handle them?”

“Well, last time, Mista encouraged the fight, and I got an earful from the owners. And as for you, I thought you didn’t like bratty kids.”

Leone chuckled. “Are you calling Fugo and Narancia bratty?”

“They can be a bit much.” Bruno sighed. “Why couldn’t Narancia stay at home with his father?”

“Don’t know.”

They got quiet until Bruno said something.

“This is the longest time we had together by ourselves,” Bruno noted.

“Yeah.”

He heard the other sigh and noticed his cheeks flushed. “Oh boy, and we’ve known each other for how long?”

Leone couldn’t remember, but he wished he did. He sat for a while, trying to think. “I feel bad for not remembering something so important in my life.”

“You think I’m important?”

He blushed. “Yeah.”

Neither of them could make eye contact. They were so nervous. Leone could feel his heart racing and breathed in and out, conscious if he was loud.

“Um,” Bruno started, voice shaky, “d-do you—oh boy.” He sank into his chair.

Leone brushed a strand of hair behind his ear. He tried to grab his tea, but his hands shook, so he put it down.

Bruno sat straight and cleared his throat, catching the other’s attention. “Do you want to go—no!”

“Bruno, are you alright?” He got closer to him.

“Can I kiss you?”

Leone didn’t answer but kissed his lips instead, quickly withdrawing to see his facial expression, Bruno’s eyes wide open. However, instead of him sitting down to finish his pasta and tea, Bruno gave him a kiss that lasted a few seconds longer. It probably would’ve lasted longer until they heard to door to the restaurant open.

“Is Bucciarati here?” they heard Fugo’s voice.

“Yes. The same table as always,” the host answered.

Leone looked at Bruno’s lips and noticed his lipstick stain was on him. “Your lips!” He grabbed a napkin and quickly wiped his mouth.

“Is it gone?” he asked.

“Hmm, is something going on here?” Fugo asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Leone lied.

“Something was near my mouth,” Bruno said, trying to help.

“I hate it when food’s on the corner of my mouth,” Mista commented.

“Yeah, I remember when I tried to signal to you some frosting was on your mouth,” Narancia said. “Instead, you kissed me.”

“You could’ve said so!”

“I had food in my mouth!”

“Hey, guys, could you shut up?” Fugo asked. “Narancia, you’re learning long multiplication, right? I can help you with it.” He sat at the table with Bruno and Leone and pulled a chair out for Narancia. “Come on. The sooner we get done with this, the better.”

And their day carried on like any other. Narancia was confused with his homework, making Fugo frustrated. Mista started talking about nonsense while Abbacchio put on his headset and listened to music to drown out the noise. One of the servers in the restaurant approached Bruno, and he sighed and got up from his seat.