#moomin suitcase

[pastaprincess]

There is nothing better than traveling with a Moomin suitcase!!!

[penisliker-moved]

everybodys merry until my dad raises his voice lol

[ana-chronista]

29 for bojere ❤

Apologies for the delay, Anon, but thank you for the prompt and I hope you enjoy it! (It got very long...)

Waking up the morning after their second Helsinki gig was never going to be a fun experience, but having that knowledge didn’t make it any easier. Bojan groaned, resisting the urge to pull the pillow over his head and block out everything until he ran out of time, and reached for his phone. 9 am. OK, so that was something at least – their ferry wasn’t until the early afternoon, so there was still time before he needed to throw everything in his suitcase and leave Finland behind. Leave Jere behind, you mean, a snide little voice needled him in the back of his mind. Bojan dropped his phone back on the bedside table and at least allowed himself to bury his face in the pillow instead. The other side of the bed was empty but judging by the rattling and clanking coming from next door, Jere was in the kitchen. He’s talking to himself – muttering, really – in that way that Bojan’s learned that he does, narrating his own life in rolling Finnish as he goes about his day. Bojan doesn't do well alone – never has, truth be told – and he knows it. It's why his time as a solo artist was so short lived, and why he'd asked Kris to take Martin’s old room when he moved in with his partner. There's just something comforting about having someone else nearby, even when they're in the next room doing their own thing. For a moment, he lets his mind wander; lets himself believe that this is just a normal morning in a normal day, with nowhere they need to be an nothing they need to do. He can follow Jere into the kitchen, waste time trading lazy kisses with no urgency for them to go further, share a leisurely breakfast just the two of them. They can take a stroll together, binge Netflix, order a takeaway, just enjoy all the time they have together doing the most mundane things. The door creaks, snapping him out of it. Of course, none of that can happen – he's got somewhere to be. Sighing, he turns to look round at Jere, who’s shuffling into the room with a mug in each hand. “Bojan, you're awake.” He pulls himself up so he's sitting against the headboard and nods. The sight of Jere swamped in a hockey shirt and sweatpants, hair ruffled and feet bare, is so domestic that it brings a lump to his throat and he doesn't quite trust himself to speak. If Jere notices he says nothing. He passes Bojan one of the mugs, the one patterned with gaudy orange and pink flowers. He’d presented Bojan with it in the autumn, proudly announcing “It is you” before tripping over the word “shagadelic” three times and dissolving into laughter. The fact that he's remembered and kept this eyesore of a mug safe for his return months and an apartment move later – that it wasn't just a one-off joke – makes his throat hurt even more. For a long moment he just focuses on sipping his scalding coffee and Jere does the same. The silence is almost peaceful, almost not loaded. It’s Jere who breaks it. “I tell Joker guys I get you back in one piece.” Bojan remembers – he was there for every one of the increasingly dramatic promises that Jere had made to his bandmates at the end of each night they’d been in Helsinki. It had started simply enough, swearing that he’d make sure Bojan didn’t spend all night out and about at the city’s clubs (accomplished – they’d gone straight back to Jere’s still-new-to-Bojan apartment) and that he’d force him to abide by vocal rest (debatable – it was probably for the best they’d not run into any of Jere’s neighbours so far), but had gradually morphed into a list of all the possible risks Jere would guard him from, from hysterical fans to rampaging moose to – at Jure’s particular insistence – rabid Moomins.

“So, I feed you and bring you back to hotel. All laundry in case this time, yes?”

Bojan nods again, sipping at his coffee. He’d accepted his errant clothes back from Jere at the start of the trip with just as much ceremony as they’d been presented to him and stowed them away safely already. Of course, if one of Jere’s t-shirts had happened to bury itself in there underneath everything else, he wasn’t going to mention it. "And then me and Hӓӓrijӓ bring you all to ferry to make sure you are there OK. Good plan, yes?” He can see from the corner of his vision that Jere is ducking slightly, trying to catch his eye, and has no choice but to look up. It makes it all the worse, just as he’d known it would. He wonders if Jere will look so calm when they say goodbye. Probably not, even in public at the port; definitely not when they say their real goodbye to each other here before stepping out of the front door. He’s got past evidence to go off of, of course, and knows as soon as he lets everything show in his face he won’t be able to stop. So he just doesn’t. “But then I think you have not been to Tallinn before.” Jere carries on, slow and deliberate and too thoughtful. He’s not quite tapping his chin in consideration, but it’s a close call. “Maybe you not know your way around. You don’t find venue, you miss gig, fans angry, end of band. Not good. Bojan is too pretty not to be star.”

Despite everything, Bojan feels the tug of a smile at the corner of his lips. Jere having an absurd tangent for all occasions is nothing new to him – it was one of the first things that had drawn him to him at the pre-parties, even if the earliest ones had mainly been through gestures and miming – but he can’t help but be amused by it each and every time.

Then Jere is suddenly pulling his phone out from his pocket, swiping through it as he reaches out to put his mug on the bedside table. It takes him a moment to find what he’s looking for, but as soon as he lands on it he’s passing the phone to Bojan with a triumphant “So, I book this.” Bojan blinks at the screen, still cradling his coffee in one hand. It’s a ferry ticket. “You’re coming with us to Tallinn?” It’s there in black and white in front of him, but he can’t help his words still coming out as a question. He checks the timing of the email and sees it came through yesterday just before the end of their gig. It’s clearly a spur of the moment decision and Bojan loves him for it. “Yes, yes. I will be guide for you, me and Hӓӓrijӓ. Show you all the best kebab van and kareoke.” His face splits into a full-blown grin as he passes back the phone. “Alika’s going to be happy to see you too.” Jere nods enthusiastically. “Yes, I think maybe we get big cake to celebrate. And I will jump out for surprise!” And suddenly, with their goodbye pushed back – only by a day, just forty eight hours, but forty eight more hours than we had just a moment ago – it’s so easy to dissolve into laughter, to lose themselves in such a ridiculous idea, to just be them. Bojan is a split second away from asking if Jere knows any Estonian bakers who might be willing and able to whip up a giant decoy cake at such short notice when suddenly Jere gets himself under control enough to swipe again through his phone and hold it out. “But then also I book this.” He accepts the phone again, glances down at the screen and promptly freezes. He feels lightheaded all of a sudden, barely able to make out anything past ‘Helsinki-Vantaa’, ‘Ljubljana’, and ‘5 May’. “Jere, what – ” His voice catches in his throat and all he can do is stare at him, wide-eyed. For his part, Jere is deliberately nonchalant, but Bojan can see the tension in his shoulders blaring his nervousness out to the whole world. “I have album to work on, but only one gig. I check with the guys and they say you have time then. But is just me, not Hӓӓrijӓ, so maybe they are disappointed.” “I can’t believe it – I – ” He shakes his head. There’s too much to say to be able to wrangle it into a sentence or two. “I want this to work. I want that we know when we will see each other, not just...” Jere seems to run out of words, resorting to scrunching up his face and gesturing vaguely, but Bojan knows what he means. “And you come here now three times. I do not make it to London – ” “That’s not your fault, you were busy.” The words may be true and well-worn by now through all the times he’s repeated them to himself and others, but they still weigh heavily in Bojan’s mouth as he swallows down the lingering disappointment he can see reflected in Jere’s face. “But still, I do not come. I do not want you to think I don’t care. I want I see you in your home and be part of your life.” He hesitates slightly, then continues, quieter and less certain, “If... if that is OK.” “OK?” Bojan can’t believe those are actual words that have just left the other man’s mouth. “Jere, that’s... I... yes, I want that too. I just can’t believe it.” Jere’s phone slips from Bojan’s hand as he starts forward, hands cupping Jere’s face and reeling him in for a kiss that tastes of sleep and coffee and him all at once. It ends up not being one kiss so much as several, pressed in quick succession against Jere’s mouth as he sighs and relaxes into Bojan, combing his hair back and trailing down his neck. “I promise this is not the only time.” he murmurs against Bojan’s lips when they part for a second, foreheads pressed together. Their next kiss is deeper, starting slower than the others though it doesn’t stay that way for long as Bojan pulls Jere down again to the mattress with him. Their coffee grows cold on the bedside table, but neither of them notice.

[robertogreco]

Snufkin in Comet in Moominland, by Tove Jansson:

But that’s how it is when you start wanting to have things. Now I just look at them, and when I go away I carry them in my head. Then my hands are always free, because I don’t have to carry a suitcase.

From more on Snufkin see ”Understanding Snufkin: A Moomins Essay.”

[oliveristired-snoremimimi]

Snufkin(min) Infodump!!

@cipherdragon

Long post under the cut :D

Small spoilers for Moominvalley (2019)

okok so Snufkin is a character from the book series The Moomins.

The Moomins are from Finland, written and illustrated by Tove Jansson. The Moomins have been adapted into many forms, but the main three are the comics written by Tove, the 1990 show, and the 2019 show.

There are many philosophical and queer elements to the stories. An example, is the story The Magicians Hat, two characters called Thingumy and Bob (in English) carry a suitcase containing the Kings Ruby. They talk in a different language to the moomins and are very cautious, scared that someone will try to take the ruby. They are running away from the Groke, which is trying to take the ruby. It is speculated that the King's Ruby represents lesbian love, as Thingamy and Bob are outsiders and come off as very strange to the Moomins, only being able to communicate with each other and keeping a strong hold on the ruby for fear someone will take it away. They are drawn androgynous and are a representation of a secret romantic relationship between Tove and another women Vivica.

There is also trans themes in the character of Toffle.

A large part of the Moomin franchise is Moomintroll's longing for Snufkin while he's gone, as Snufkin was based on Toves then boyfriend who had to leave for long periods of time on business trips.

A quote from the Moomin official website says:

"

In many ways the relationship of Moomintroll (Tove’s alter-ego) and Snufkin describes the relationship between Tove and Atos. Moomintroll admires Snufkin who still is quite distant and very often Moomintroll is also experiencing a deep sense of longing and yearning when Snufkin is leaving to his adventures or choosing to be at peace with his own thoughts. Moomintroll tries to understand Snufkin’s desire for freedom, even though the waiting is not easy.

Just like Tove admired Atos and just like Tove waited for Atos, his love confessions and commitment.

"

With LGBT+ people being more accepted, the new 2019 series has been dipping its toes into exploring the romantic relationship between Snufkin and Moomin.

In the first episode, Moomin and Snufkin take a walk together in the forest while a song plays in the background.

Listen to this song and tell me it describes you and the homies. (No homo)

Moomin is also shown ignoring his girlfriend for Snufkin,

giving Snufkin a bark boat (which he sees as romantic), and generally being very bi for the man.

(Theres a scene where Moomin literally lays in bed daydreaming about what's going to happen when he sees Snufkin next in this soft voice but I can't find it.)

There are also many scenes where the two slowly grow more physically intimate.

(there's also one where they're standing on a hill looking out over the sunset and then Snufkin offers his arm as they get up to return to the group but I can't find it 😭)

And thats not even including the Gayest Scene on Earth, as the fandom has dubbed it. (Skip to 2:18 for quick gay)

So. Thats Snufkin, and by proxy, Snufmin. There's a whole lot more detail I could go into about Snufkin's need for freedom contrasting with Moomin's need for affection, Snufkin as a character, other queer themes in the books, but I'm going to leave it there.

I love Snufkin <3

[faline-cat444]

Moomin and Pippi Advent Calendar Showcase-Day 12

Halfway through and we have another case of a living being and an inanimate object.Showing up for winter it's Too-Ticky with Pippi's stash of gold coins.

Described as a "suitcase" but I'd say it's more of a sack if anything.In the matters of the cartoon they were kept in a more "proper" chest as a containment unit.

[writers-in-moominvalley]

💡Lightbulb Moment💡

Sometimes I think about this set of comic panels and more specifically Sniff's stubbornness and persistence to make his plans work. He's often described as opportunistic and indeed he very much is but he's also persistent in his attempts despite his failures, it's the thing that drove much of Moomin and the Brigands' story.

What started out as him trying to get money to buy Moomintroll a new house (since Stinky ate it) became a trial to prove that he can get money at all. He's a smart and assertive guy, contrasting Moomintroll's doormat personality which is very potent in this story, his attempts often seem trivial and even silly but then work, and they should work, it's just that alot of it fails because of things out of his control. If he were in a situation where he doesn't have to worry about comic luck steamrolling him like a Looney Tunes cartoon then he might've come out very successful.

Sniff finally snapped when Moomintroll said perhaps they aren't talented enough for fame and wealth, he feels that no, he is talented enough to do it, Moomintroll's just holding him back. And the odd thing is that.... Perhaps he's right. He scammed Aunt Jane out of much of her money in the next comic (Moomin and Family Life) and then disappears before returning in Moomin Begins a New Life where he is introduced with a scarf and suitcase, but he comes back looking for even more money yet again.

I miss much of his characterization from Moomin and the Brigands, he pretty much got flanderized in later Tove/Jansson comics as a side character only serving as a money-hungry nuisance. In Moomin and the Brigands he was portrayed as a friend that Moomintroll really needed to be more assertive and work towards solving his issues in spite of his constant name-calling and practically dragging him by the wrist at times.

[countessofravenclaw]

A homeland this north, country dear fathers! Part tres

Winter is the time for holidays, celebrations, and fun. Nina, Gastón, Luna and Matteo receive a wedding invitation to France for the New Years and decide, since they're already going to Europe, why not take everything out of it and take a well-deserved skiing vacation? Simon and Ambar join them and all is set for a relaxing holiday at Finland's northern region called Lapland. A place for speed, reindeer, fun, and dangerous situations... Just kidding, what could possibly go wrong at the winter wonderland? (There is a Finnis Christmas song linked on the title)

On allain avaruus, ja tähtipolku kauas vie

“Look at the sky.” Ambar linked her arm with Simon as they walked out of the hotel at Rovaniemi. 

“It’s beautiful,” Simon looked up and squinted his eyes, “You can see the stars so clearly. How is it just 5 pm?”

They had landed in Rovaniemi a couple of hours ago, and had dropped their stuff at the hotel where they were staying for the night. They would be driving to Saariselkä tomorrow, after doing a couple of touristy things at Rovaniemi, like the Santa’s Village which Luna had insisted on. 

“The sun will barely even come up,” Ambar nodded while looking at the sky. “We will have very limited daylight time while skiing.”

“Good because then I’ll have an excuse not to freeze to death,” Simon laughed while pulling the jacket he was wearing closer to himself. “This jacket is probably so heavy for a reason.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Ambar patted him on the head, ruffling his hair. “Like where is the hat? This is the one time you’re actually not wearing a beanie.”

“Right here,” Simon pulled a ridiculously bright blue woolen hat with purple and yellow tassels. 

“I should have never let you and Luna go shopping on your own,” Ambar laughed as Simon pulled the hat over his head, “but it was worth it. This is way too adorable.” 

“Speaking of adorable,” Simon pointed behind Ambar’s head. They had been walking a catwalk that was lined with all kinds of tourist shops. Behind her, the one that Simon was pointing toward, was a shop that had a sign that read “Muumi”.

“A Moomin shop?” Ambar turned around and dashed to the display window. 

“I guess so,” Simon followed her, “I was speaking of the shirt on the window. This was like an anime we used to watch with Maya while I was growing up. You know it too?”

“Of course, I know Moomin,” Ambar answered, “Did I never tell you how I loved those books? The author was Finnish. They sell all sorts of merch. I always wanted those mugs, but Sharon said that they looked tacky.” 

“Well, let's go buy you some,” Simon suggested. 

“Oh, we’re absolutely gonna buy some.” Ambar grinned at Simon as she kept scanning the window, “Oh, and look at those baby clothes. We need to get them for Delfi and Pedro.”

“They won’t probably need to buy any clothes themselves soon,” Simon laughed as they walked out of the store 20 minutes later. 

“It’s the least we can do,” Ambar smiled, “This is so exciting. Hopefully, they return the favor someday.”

“Hopefully we will be able to fit all this in our bags once we leave.”

“There is always room in your suitcase if you make it,” Ambar remarked, “I learned that from Jazmin.”

“Is it just me, or did it get colder all of a sudden?” Simon shivered again. 

“Not really,” Ambar looked at a temperature that was displayed on a big light-screen at the end of the street. “But it can feel like it I guess since we just came from inside.” She shivered herself a little bit. It was not like she was extremely used to these freezing temperatures herself. “Has something to do with the heat regulation of the body and homeophosphatic balance… or I don’t know. Something with biology and maybe physics… ask Gastón, he might know.”

“Is that a Starbucks up ahead?” Simon looked at the end of the street. “I need something warm right now.”

“Good idea.” Ambar said simply and sprinted into a run, “Last one there pays!!” 

“Hey!” Simon ran after her, “We have combined finances!!”

***

“Olette siis menossa tapaamaan pukkia? Oh sorry. Väärä kieli. You are going to go visit the good old Santa?” Taxi asked said as Gastón, Nina, Matteo and Luna got into his vehicle, with a broken but understandable English. 

“Yes, that is correct.” Gastón answered him as he got to the front seat.

“You are the first tourists I have had this week, which is very surprising.” The driver kept talking while turning the car’s radio on and music that sounded like Christmas music in Finnish started playing. “The two weeks before Christmas, I was just driving Japanese and Chinese tourists back and forth. So, tell me, where are you coming from?”

“Buenos Aires,” Matteo piped up from the backseat. 

“Latin America? That is the first in my cap. You speak very good English, but I could swear you had a British accent.” The driver pointed towards Gastón, and he shared a quick glance with Nina. This has happened way too many times already. 

“Our, no, WE are so excited to go here… or was it there?” Luna stumbled through a sentence in English. “Was it alright?” She whispered to Nina in Spanish. 

“It was fine.” Nina whispered back. 

“Well, my friends, here we are.” The car started slowing down as a huge number of light-up structures came into view on the side of the road. Since it was 8:45, they had wanted to be there at the opening time, but it was still dark. “Joulupukin Satukylä, or well, to you, Santa’s Magical Village, or whatever it is in Spanish. Have fun!”

“He was really nice,” Luna said as they waved their taxi driver goodbye and stood at the gate waiting for Simon and Ambar. Their taxi came five minutes later. 

“Was your driver very talkative?” Matteo asked them as their car also drove away.

“No, didn’t say a word,” Ambar answered while putting her gloves back on. Simon already looked like he was freezing after being in the cold outdoor air for two minutes. 

Well, it was -15 degrees Celsius. It was cold. Having lived through many London winters, Gastón and Nina were much more used to actual below-freezing temperatures than anyone else. Luna, Matteo, Simon and Ambar were not so. Luna and Simon, having lived in Mexico most of their lives, had never even seen snow in their lives. 

“Ours actually was,” Matteo continued.

“Hmmm, I thought that the Finnish people are known for not really talking.” Ambar pondered, “Or at least there was something about bus stops, when I did the research.”

“Hey! Are we not gonna go in?” Luna was jumping on her feet. Maybe because she was cold, or because she was so excited. 

“I am ready for some hot chocolate.” Simon said still shivering, “Or that Glugo stuff. I am freezing.”

“I think it was called glog, they call it glögi.” Nina said as they walked in. She had pulled up the map of the village on her phone.

“Simon, you are cold because you have not closed your jacket all the way,” Ambar scolded Simon and fixed his zipper.

“So, apparently this is the line for the Arctic Circle,” Nina read from her phone as they stopped in front of a row of stone pillars. 

“Hey! I AM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD!!!” Luna had already jumped over the line. 

“Luna! Wait for us!” Matteo yelled as the other jumped over the line as well. 

“Well, now we can cross that off our bucket list…”

“Oh noh guys…” Matteo suddenly started looking around. “Where did she go? Guys, I have lost Luna.”

Everyone looked around. Luna really had vanished, even when she had just been waiting for them at the other side of the Arctic Circle. 

“How do you lose Luna?” Gastón asked, trying hide his slight amusement. “She was wearing literally the whole rainbow. We are surrounded by snow; she will stand out.”

“I don’t know,” Matteo shook his head.

“Okay,” Ambar said, not sounding concerned at all. Well, it would be Luna, if anybody, who would get lost in a foreign Nordic country. Not to mention in freezing temperatures. “Raise your hand if you are surprised?” No one raised their hand.

“OMG, SO CUTE!!!” All of them turned their head towards the noise.

“That has to be Luna.” Simon said.

“Let’s go,” Ambar nodded, “Before we get kicked out of here because Luna was terrorizing an elf.”

Soon enough Matteo, Simon, Ambar, Gastón and Nina found Luna at the husky yard.

Luna was patting the head of the dog that was sitting next to the fence, and talking animatedly to the employee there, who was in fact wearing an elf costume. The poor elf was looking very confused.

“Luna! Finally, we found you.” Matteo was first on Luna’s side. “What are you doing?” 

“I was just asking them how many dogs they have, and can we take one home.” Luna looked Matteo innocently, “So Newton has a friend.”

“Luna, first, we are not getting a dog, our lives are way too busy. And second, they don’t understand Spanish,” Matteo gestured towards the elf. 

“I apologize for my wife; she just gets so excited sometimes. How many dogs do you have?” Matteo asked in English.

“We have seven adult dogs and ten puppies that were born a month ago.”

“Thank you!” Matteo took Luna from the shoulders, “Come on. Let’s go see Santa.”

“But the puppies were so cute!!” Luna whined as Matteo led her off to the others. 

“Luna look, I love you,” Matteo sighed. Ambar had been right. This was not surprising from Luna at all, “But you can’t go wandering off like that. We are not in Buenos Aires.”

“Matteo, I am an adult girl, I can take care of myself.”

“I know, but we are in a country where they don’t speak Spanish, you don’t speak Finnish and your English could use some work,” Matteo sighed, “Tough love, but it is important. You can actually get lost in here.”

“Okayyy, I am sorry.” Luna rolled her eyes.

“So, can we now go inside?” Simon was stepping in his place to keep warm. “I am literally becoming a snowman here.”

“Weren’t we supposed to go and see Santa?” Ambar questioned as she rolled her eyes at Simon.

“The post office is close here,” Nina said while looking over the map that she had. “We could go there first.”

"You can send a post from here?" Luna piped up.

"Well, this is the place where you sent all the letters to Santa," Gastón noted. "How do you think he gets them? Of course, he needs his own post office."

"OMG! Let’s go!"

"Luna wait! Don't just dash-" Matteo yelled, but Luna had already taken off running,"-off."

“You might wanna get an air tag,” Gastón suggested. “So, you can locate her if she disappears in the snow.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Matteo shook his head.

“I vote yes,” Ambar raised her hand.

“This isn’t a democracy.”

"Hey! What are you doing just standing here?" Matteo jumped as Luna suddenly appeared to be standing next to him. "Weren't we supposed, like go?"

"Well, we were, but then you ran away" Ambar noted.

"Oh, yeah... I guess I did. Sorryy." Luna tilted her head. "But I could not find the post office. So, l had to come back."

"Luna, we are standing next to it," Nina pointed to a sign two meters away from them. "I just was about to say that when you ran away."

"Okay, I learned my lesson," Luna shook her head in laughter, "I won't do that again."

"Does everyone have their letters?" Matteo asked after he had signed the card to his Nonna in Italy and talked Luna out of sending a card to everyone of their friends.

"Yep!" Simon said as he and Ambar came to the counter with a postcard.

"I specially signed it, so Simon's family knows that he has not frozen into an ice-sculpture," Ambar patted him on his head.

"Worry that is not unwarranted." Simon said as he fixed his hat. "How do people live in this weather?"

"With proper get up probably," Gastón said as he and Nina came to the counter and posted their own letters. "A professor I talked with at the Aalto University said that Finnish people are known for their endurance or whatever that was. Sisu? Anyways, if we want to meet Santa we should really get going. We still have that drive to Saariselkä.”

“I am so excited to meet Santa!” Luna was skipping ahead as the rest were trying their best to keep up with her as they entered the place called Joulupukin Toimisto. As they were there in the morning, the sun had just come up and it was nearing 10:15, there was no line, so they could just freely walk the queue. 

“Uuuu, what is this?” They stopped in front of a big picture that was on the wall of the queue. Or more like, it was a drawing. Drawing of the globe with some odd instructions.

“The…earth’s…rotational…speed…regulator…” Luna read from the drawing. “What does that mean?”

“Actually, I don’t know,” Matteo said, while looking at the wheel, “Gastón! Wanna translate this?”

“It means that this is supposed to be a device that regulates the earth’s rotation,” Gastón explained looking at the painting.

“I guess it relates to the fact that Santa manages to fly all over the world in one night,” Nina continued. 

“Would that actually work?” Matteo asked Gastón while eyeing the drawing.

“Earth’s rotation, rotational speed, angular velocity and the electromagnetic current are all part of the theory of relativity,” Gastón said while looking at Matteo. “You do not want me to go on. But in a quick review, no, it does not work. This is all based on Magic.”

“Had to try,” Matteo shrugged. 

Soon they made their way to the end of the queue. 

“I can’t believe it! Santa Claus really is real!” Luna exclaimed as the old man in a beard came into the view.

“I can’t believe Santa Claus let Luna sit on her lap,” Simon laughed after they were walking out of Santa Claus’s office. 

“He probably thought she was still a child.” Gastón joined him in the laughter. Nina and Ambar, who were walking behind them, just rolled their eyes at them. 

“That was so much fun!!!!” Luna was still jumping up and down as she and Matteo exited last from the building. “Santa was so nice. And I got finally present my Christmas wishes in person.”

“Luna, Christmas was a week ago,” Nina noted to Luna as she and Matteo caught up with the rest of them. 

“Yeah, I know that,” Luna just shrugged, “I meant for like next year.”

“You mean this year.”

“Yeah, sure. The earlier the better! Maybe now I will actually get that banjo.” Luna threw some pretend dagger eyes at her friends.

“You want a banjo?” Ambar asked dryly in complete disbelief.

“YES! I have been asking one for years.” Luna nodded, “No one has gotten me one.”

“And maybe that is a blessing…” Ambar whispered to Simon.

“What?”

“Ah, nothing.” Ambar shook her head, “How much time do we have left?”

“The drive is almost three hours” Gastón answered looking at his phone, “The weather is probably quite a big component in that. But today’s is not that bad. Can’t imagine what would happen in a snowstorm. To answer your question, we have time, but we really should make sure we leave before it’s dark again. The rental cars were available for the pickup as soon as we want.”

“We should probably go eat at some point.” Matteo pointed out.

“I read that there was this restaurant that was completely built out of snow here,” Nina explained.

“No way!” Simon exclaimed, “How is that even possible?”

“I guess the same way they built those huge sandcastles. Apparently, that is another tourist thing in Finland. Somewhere called Lappeenranta they built one every year.”

“OMG!!!!” Luna suddenly exclaimed. Matteo quickly grabbed her arm, so she was not able to run away. “Look at them! They are real?”

“What are real?” Everyone turned to look where Luna was pointing. 

She was pointing towards the reindeer yard. 

“Hold up a second.” Gastón asked, “You did not know that reindeer were real?” He exchanged a skeptical look with Matteo. 

“Well, I thought they were just fairytale creatures.” Luna started speaking, “Just like dragons and unicorns. I mean Santa Claus is not real, I know that, so I thought his reindeer were not too.”

“Luna, quiet down,” Simon hushed her, forgetting that it was pretty unlikely that any of the people around them understood what Luna had been saying in Spanish, “You can’t just shout something like that out loud. There are children around. You’ll end up in the notty list for good.” 

“Uuuups.”

“Well, anyways. Reindeer are mostly native for arctic areas like Northern Europe and I think there are some in Canada.” Nina explained. “Their whole affiliation with Santa Claus comes from lot of legends.”

“Well, can we go see them?” Luna asked jumping up and down once again. 

“Well, why not.” Ambar nodded. “They are cute. You are right.”

“Hey! Can these reindeer really fly?” Luna asked the reindeer keeper, who was also dressed as an elf. 

“Ööööö, Anteeksi?” The keeper asked a bit confused. 

“Luna.” Matteo reminded her. “Sorry about that.” He started speaking English. “We are tourists from Argentina. She was just asking you if these reindeer can actually fly.”

“Oh noh,” the keeper laughed, “These ones don’t. Santa has a lot of different reindeer for different purposes. These guys right here don’t fly with him on Christmas Eve, but still are very important to our small village.”

“Can we meet Rudolf?” Luna asked. “What?” She said once she saw all the others staring at her. “I wanna see his red nose.”

“I wish you could see him,” The keeper responded, “But Rudolf and the other Flying Forces are resting. They had a long journey on Christmas Eve flying all around the world, even with the earth’s rotational speed regulator. But if you really wanna meet him, keep your eyes open next Christmas Eve and you might catch a glimpse of him.”

***

Nina sipped her tea while sitting at the table in the Villa they had rented for two weeks at Saariselkä. They had arrived there yesterday and looked around for a bit. Today was the first day the others would actually head to the slopes. 

“So, what are you gonna do today?” Luna flopped the chair next to her yawning and almost spilling her orange juice. 

“I think I’m gonna take a walk, once the sun is up.” Nina said and stirred her cup.  “There is this one hiking path that I read about. There are some beautiful sights here, so I’m taking the camera… And I promised to call Mom as soon as we got settled up here, so I’ll do that. The sights will at least make that somewhat enjoyable. I’m sure she has helicoptered at least ten different things she needs to bring into my “Attention”.” She made quotation marks. 

“Tell her to talk to my mom if she wants to fuss,” Gastón kissed Nina on top of her head as he sat down, “They can form a support group. They’re just scared that they’ll never get grandchildren if we die here middle of nowhere.”

“Add my mom to the list,” Simon piped up, “You don’t want to hear what she said when I told her where we were going. I mean, she’s right in some aspects, I am gonna freeze. Are all our mothers just way too overprotective?”

“I still wish Mom and Dad would have actually picked if they wanted to be protective or not,” Gastón laughed, “More often than not, they just let me do what I wanted, but then suddenly they were convinced I was deliberately putting my life at risk. I’m still surprised they ever let me back to Roller after the fire.”

“What I am wondering about, is why are we awake before the sun?” Matteo leaned back while munching on his cereal. 

“The sun is coming up at 11, so not for hours,” Ambar noted while sitting down to braid Luna’s hair. “and going down at 2 pm, so we can’t just operate according to it. The gear rent place opens at 9:30, so I think the best is to be there as soon as it opens. Our class starts at 10, so we need to be there.”

“I agree,” Gastón nodded. 

“You sure you don’t wanna join us?” Luna whipped herself out of Ambar’s reach as soon as she had finished tying the elastic onto the braid. “You can still change your mind and come join us in our lesson.” 

“No,” Nina shook her head, “I told you already. No one will have fun if I’m there. I’ll come to ice skating once we're doing that, so that's one sport covered.”

“Okay, I think it’s time for us to leave.” Ambar got up from the table pulling her own hair into a ponytail. 

“Have fun,” Nina kissed Gastón on the cheek as he got up from the table, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Us?” Gastón and Matteo glanced at each other. They had opted not to take any lessons, given that they had done quite frequent skiing while younger. It was to be seen how good an idea that was going to be. “Never.”

“I’m being serious,” Nina saw from the corner of her eyes the guys doing their handshake when Gastón turned back to her.

“Of course, you are. Don’t worry.” Gastón ran his finger through a lock of her hair, “We’re not going on a black slope at the start. We’ll start off easy and be careful.” He leaned down swiftly to kiss her. 

“Send me pictures when you get to the top.” 

***

“I think we still got it,” Matteo and Gastón stopped at a curve of a slope. They had gone through a few green and blue slopes first, after leaving Luna, Ambar and Simon in the care of the skiing instructor, just to get a feel for it again. The good thing was that they both were in good shape and some of the muscle memory from their skating days still existed. 

They were now on one of the red slopes. 

“I think we do.” Gastón agreed. The slope they had taken came all the way down the fjeld. It wasn’t steep, but more a long narrowing path down the mountain. “Can we stop for a sec. I need to take a pic of this.”

“Nina won’t call the police if you don’t update her every fifteen minutes.”

“It’s not that,” Gastón rolled his eyes as he took his gloves off and fished his phone out of the breast pocket of the jacket he was wearing. “This is a beautiful view.”

It was now noon, so the sun had finally come completely up… Or well, as up as it was going to come, which wasn’t high, but up it was.  

“I guess it is true,” Matteo squinted his eyes in the sunshine as he took the skiing goggles off. “Hey! Since we're doing a photoshoot, take a couple of me, so I can post them.” 

“You sure it’s wise to announce your location publicly?” Gastón raised an eyebrow at Matteo. 

“Because my fans would swarm me?” Matteo laughed, “I mean they do love me, but Finland barely has any, unfortunately.”

“Maybe, but you never know with those fans of yours.” Gastón rolled his eyes as Matteo posed with the skis. 

“Right,” Matteo kept laughing, “I forgot that you don’t like them, after they thought Nina and I were dating when we first started writing songs together.”

“It never bothered me like that,” Gastón gave Matteo a look, “You know that, and it was for five years, but implication of some people being so invested in it is still so bizarre.” 

“I have been too scared to look at some of the corners of the internet,” Matteo admitted cringing. 

“Although, I gotta admit it was kind of amusing to wake up in the morning and see that the first thing that pops up on TikTok, is a swifty-level fan post about the new song you wrote and how the lyrics and subtext absolutely confirm the romance—When she’s literally sleeping in my bed.” Gastón shook his head, “but it’s so odd how some are invested. I don’t get it.”

“It’s not like you’re the most anonymous person on the planet anymore,” Matteo chuckled, “You do know they call you the “young rising promise who will revolutionize the whole construction scene” or something like it. You name has been out there ever since the promotion.”

“I used to be the child no one knew Isla and Marco Perida had, and I am grateful for them for that.” Gastón rolled his eyes again. He knew why his parents had done it, to keep him out of their business and to let him become his own person with his own path. “At least there’s no tabloids, which surely would have already accused me of benefitting from nepotism. I mean, it is what it is. We’re out there and I accept it. Nina is going to become more known as time goes on and she deserves every inch of that success, and I will never leave her side. But mark my words, I will not ever let a photographer close to my children.” 

“You need to have those children first,” Matteo nudged Gastón teasingly, “When’s that gonna happen?”

“Not you too.” Gastón groaned, “You’re worse than my parents.” 

“Hey! I’m just caring about my godchild here.” Matteo raised his hands onto the air. 

“Who decided that?” 

“You, if you know what’s good for you.” Matteo smirked, “I’m not telling you to do anything, just having a conversation. You have been married two and a half years now, you have a house, a dog and more than generous cash flow for two people in their twenties that will just increase. Plus, you haven’t been able to keep your hands off your wife since you were 17. I know that you have always wanted children.”

“Of course, I have,” Gastón responded, “and so does Nina. We have talked about it a lot. It’s just not happening at this second. We have all the time in the world. You don’t think we’re actually gonna tell you when we’re trying? That would be crossing some lines. When there is actually something to tell, you will know.”

“I will hold you to that.”

“You know, why am I the one getting interrogated?” Gastón crossed his arms, “When are you having a kid?”

“Wow,” Matteo shifted himself back, “I’ve been married for a year and we’re constantly between work and shows…”

“And I’m not gonna question you any further,” Gastón finished his point before looking at the view down the mountain again, “You know, life’s really good right now.”

“Agreed,” Matteo nodded while tapping Gastón on the shoulder. “Do we deserve it?” 

“Teenage you would probably faint if he knew,” Gastón laughed, “We’ve come a long way. Anyways, should we go down and see how the ski-schoolers are doing?” 

“Sure,” Matteo nodded grinning, “Who do you think has fallen the most?”

“I have no idea.” Gastón shook his head. 

“I gotta go with Simon,” Matteo concluded, “Luna has the agility and Ambar won’t let herself fall if Luna doesn’t.”

“Well, hopefully you won’t fall,” Gastón grinned and started sliding ahead, “See you at a lower altitude!”

“Hey!” Matteo jumped to follow Gastón, “That was a false start!” 

***

“So, now that you all have mastered the snow plowing, we’re starting with turns.” The ski instructor kept talking as Luna, Ambar and Simon stood in a line on their skis. 

They had spent most of the morning learning how to stay upright and how to control the speed while going down. 

“How do we turn?” Simon raised his hand like he was in school, “Because these are so stiff and don’t curve. How is it even possible to maneuver them?”

“It’s not about the skis' maneuverability,” The instructor continued, “It’ about the pressure, the friction and force. Basic physics.”

“Fabulous,” Ambar sighed next to Luna, “Didn’t realize we needed math.” 

“—But it’s actually super simple,” Luna turned back to look at the instructor, “You actually only need to lean side to side to go left or right. There’s a catch though. You are not gonna go left by leaning left.”

“Then where are we going?” Luna asked. That didn’t make any sense to her. 

“By leaning left, you turn right. I know, that’s confusing, but it just needs some rewiring in your head. Let’s try it.” The instructor slid closer to the start of the training slope, “Follow me.”

So, they wormed around while trying to make their skis turn while also trying to get moving. 

“This clearly will need some work.” Their instructor sighed as they finally made their way down the training slope. “Come on! And we go again!!”

“I did not sign up for a boot camp.” Simon rolled his eyes as they stepped on the escalator lift. 

“I think this is fun!” Luna did a small jump. The ski boots were extremely clunky and didn’t feel the same as her skates did, but she would deal with it. “I can’t wait for the bigger slopes.”

“At least you match energy with our teacher.” Ambar remarked, “He probably does this every day. I would love to get access to your backup energy converter. I guess it is like Gastón said. These people have that sisu thing and all the guys go to do military when they turn 18.”

“Sounds awful,” Simon shook his head, “I could never go to war.”

“Good thing you would not need to fight Russia.” 

They spent at least an hour honing in their technique of turning and all of them finally managed to go down the training slope gracefully. 

“Okay, you guys.” The instructor clapped his hands, after another hour, “I think you’re ready to hit the slopes. Have fun!”

“Okay, hopefully we’re good enough,” Ambar looked down at the training slope. “Time to go find some actual slopes.”

“So, we need to go down this again,” Simon nodded.

“Hey! I have an idea.” Luna jumped up, “Let’s go down this while holding hands.”

“You serious?” Ambar turned to look at Luna. 

“Sounds fun,” Simon was actually smiling, “Let’s try it.”

“Okay,” Ambar shook her head amused before grabbing Simon’s hand and they started sliding down the slope. 

At the start it went well… 

But then as they were starting to turn left, Luna who had been leading their train, accidentally turned right, while Ambar and Simon were turning left… 

Long story short, they totally dripped and ended up falling on top of each other. 

“That’s a one way to get down the slope.” 

Their pile had slid the rest of their way down the slope where Matteo and Gastón had apparently been waiting for them. 

“Where did you come from?” Ambar asked as they scrambled on their feet. 

“From one of the red slopes,” Matteo said as he helped Luna up. “Came to see if you were done.”

“We are,” Luna said, “Uuuu, so what slope should we now do?”

“We took couple of green ones at the start,” Gastón started, “They’re beginner friendly. Wide and away from the forest so there is no danger if you fall or derail.”

“So, who has fallen the most?” Matteo added. 

***

“Weeeeeee!” Luna was gliding on the ice and Matteo tried his best to keep up. 

None of them had gone on the slopes today, they had already been there for many days, and they were taking advantage of the brief daylight to do something else. They were ice skating. 

Luna had been the one insisting they try it, given their background. Matteo did have to admit that skating on ice with blades under your feet instead of wheels was a completely different experience. 

Luna obviously was a natural. It was no matter what she had under her feet, it still looked like she was flying. 

“Matteo stop snailing around!” Luna called as she turned around and tried skating backward. That didn’t go as smoothly, but she was moving forward. 

“I’m coming.” Matteo rolled his eyes. 

“This is so much fun!” Luna started circling around Matteo, “I mean it’s not like normal skating, but still familiar.”

“I think this actually is normal skating.” Matteo pointed out. 

“Do you think I might be able to try an axel?”

“I wouldn’t try it,” Matteo shook his head, before looking at Luna sternly, “Luna, I’m being serious. Don’t try it. I don’t want to head to the ER during this trip.”

“Okay,” Luna rolled her eyes, “I won’t do any jumps. Pirouette will do.”

She skated a small round and tried to do a pirouette. The problem was that the ice-skates didn’t have a break at the toe, they had blades with spikes. So, when Luna tried to spin, the spike caught onto the ice, and she tripped completely over and fell onto a pile of snow. 

“That goes onto the list of your top ten wipe-outs Chica Delivery.” Matteo laughed as he skated closer to where Luna was lying. “Chica Delivery? Luna? You okay?” 

Suddenly his arm was pulled, and he fell face first into the snow as well. 

“Hahahaaa!” Luna curled up from laughter, “Got ya. I have always wondered how’d you look as a snowman.”

“Now you got me started,” Matteo shook his head smirking as Luna jumped up from the snow and back onto the ice. He grabbed some snow from the pile and formed it into a ball. 

Sadly, Luna had time to notice what he was doing before he had time to throw the ball. 

“Hah, missed me!” she dashed for the pile and formed her own snowball, “This is war now.”

***

“I didn’t fall that many times, so I’m taking that as a victory,” Nina pulled a shawl over her shoulders as she curled up on the couch next to Gastón as they were all hanging out in the Villa’s living room. 

“My muscles are way too out of shape,” Ambar massaged the base of her feet. “But it was fun.”

“That’s it!” Luna sat in one of the armchairs with a huge cup of hot chocolate, “You all need to start skating again.” 

“Yeah nope,” Simon got from where he had been sitting in front of the fireplace. 

“Hey!” Ambar’s phone dinged, “Delfi sent me a new sonogram.” 

“Uuu, let me see,” Luna grained her neck, “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“No,” Ambar blew some hair off her face.

“Are we having a gender reveal party?”

“We would like to throw one for them with Jazmin, but they aren’t telling us,” Ambar shook her head as she kept examining the picture, “I’m sure they have already found out. Gastón, isn’t your cousin a doctor? Can you send this to her, and she could tell us?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure April won’t want any part of this,” Gastón laughed while he had been absentmindedly playing with Nina’s hair, “and she’s not a doctor, yet. She will be a neurosurgeon, not a radiology tech or OBGYN. She won’t be able to tell a thing, but we’re very well situated if someone has a brain injury…or well, you are. She won’t be allowed to operate on me.”

“Look at the sky.” Matteo pointed out of the window. 

Everyone turned around to look out the window. The sky was lit up by colorful swirls. 

“Northern lights?” Nina gasped, “I was sure we wouldn’t be so lucky that we would see any.”

“Luck is on our side,” Gastón placed his hand on her shoulder. 

“Can you go get the camera?” She asked him while looking out of the window. Ever since they had decided to go to Lapland, she had been hoping they might be able to catch the Aurora Borealis—the official name was beautiful, but it was a game of luck, so she hadn’t wanted to be too hopeful. “I don’t know how good pictures you can get through the window but…”

“Why would you need to take those through the window?” Gastón said as he handed her their DSLR camera. “Let’s go outside. Who knows if we’ll be able to catch these again.” 

“You aren’t seriously going out right now?” Matteo looked at them horrified. 

“Why not?” Gastón looked at him confused, “It’s only 11:45.” 

“Yeah, but did you notice that the temp has dropped to almost -30?” 

“It has?” Nina looked at the digital temperature indicator. “We’ll be fast.” 

“Seriously?” Both Luna and Simon asked in unison. 

“So, we take it that none of you are joining us?” Gastón questioned, “Ambar?”

“I think the window view is enough for me too,” Ambar noted, “It’s a bit cold for me too.”

“Bunch of wimps,” Gastón shook his head laughing as he and Nina walked out of the doors. “It’s not like we’re being completely irresponsible and braving a snowstorm. It’s not even windy.”

“It’s so clear, look.” Nina pointed toward the sky, which was completely clear, and the moon was shining directly at them, surrounded by numerous northern lights. 

The swirls of light were moving continuously. It almost looked like they were dancing. 

“There must be some tricks on how to get good pictures of these,” Nina said after looking through the camera lens. Gastón was the one of the two of them who was a bit better at nature photography, while she had the better knacks at photographing people. 

“Decrease the shutter speed and the aperture and increase ISO between 800 and 3200, to about 1600. Use manual-focus and a steady hand,” Gastón adjusted the way Nina was holding the camera. 

“Did you research this at some point?”

“No, but Dad has taught me all of his tricks,” He shrugged as Nina snapped a series of pictures. “I don’t know how I even remember it, but it’s all about getting as much as light as we can.” 

“Okay,” Nina said and directed the camera back at the sky, “These are looking much better already. I never thought we would get to see the beauty of Auroras in person.” 

Gastón couldn’t fully look at the pictures as his gaze kept focusing on Nina and how her face was illuminated by the light from the sky. She was so beautiful. 

“Put that camera down for a sec.”

“Why?” Nina turned to look at him. 

“Because I can’t stand a moment longer without kissing you.” 

“You’re impossible.” She giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. 

“Impossibly in love with you.” 

Making out in the snow under the moonlight had not exactly been on their bingo card for this year, but that didn’t make the moment any less special as their bodies started intertwining with each other. 

Suddenly a strong gush of wind blew past them. 

“The wind seems to be picking up,” Gastón wrapped his arms tighter around Nina, “The storm might be coming after all. We should get going before you freeze.” 

“Well, there are things we can do to get the body heat back up.”

***

“I really wish I could have seen the pics you got yesterday,” Luna said as she, Gastón and Matteo finished descending one of the red slopes. 

“Well, you were already asleep,” Gastón shrugged, “Nina said that she’ll transfer them to the computer during the day. We can look at them in the evening. Your loss for not coming with us.”

“How did you even take that long?” Matteo furrowed his brow. Something was telling him that Gastón and Nina had not minded at all having been left alone to take that moonlit stroll to hunt for the Aurora Borealis. “We were sure you had been frozen into icicles.”

“And yet you went to sleep.” Gastón rolled his eyes. “Almost like you don’t even care… Anyways, where to next?” We’ve done almost all of the basic slopes now.”

“Uuuu, so what have we not done?” Luna looked at the map that was on the wall of one of the cafes. 

“The Black ones,” Matteo pointed to one of the narrowing black lines on the map. “We wanted to get some experience before doing those.”

“Well, how about we go try one?” Luna hopped up on her snowboard. After a couple of days, she had switched the skis to the board. She seemed to actually prefer it. “I mean we have experience now, and it can’t be that hard if people here do it.”

“I’m in,” Gastón nodded, “Matteo?”

“Well, why not?” Matteo nodded and looked at the map again, “The chair lift is right up ahead.” 

“Well, that took forever,” Gastón remarked as the lift finally got up top, “Felt like it was gonna take a lifetime.” 

“Well, we’re here now,” Luna attached her left leg back up to the board. “The last one down is a loser!” 

Gastón and Matteo just laughed and headed down the slope after Luna. 

The slope was quite steep and there were trees all around with deep trenches on both sides.  

As the slope was also quite narrow, they ended up descending it in a singular line. Gastón first, Matteo second, and Luna last. 

“That looks really steep,” Luna remarked after they had taken a small break about halfway down. 

“Maybe, but nothing we can’t handle right,” Gastón said as he put his gloves back on. “Ready to continue?”

“Yeah, just in a sec,” Matteo turned to Luna for a moment as Gastón already started sliding down. 

“Aaaah!”

“Oh my god!” Luna’s face turned horrified all of a sudden.

“What?” Matteo turned around to see that Gastón had somehow disappeared off the slope. 

“He… he somehow all the sudden went straight left and straight to the trenches,” Luna pointed forward.

“Ah, I see,” Matteo tried his hardest not to laugh, as he carefully started descending to the spot Luna was pointing toward. “There must have been some ice there or something. You might not hold the best wipe-out record much longer. Gastón, you okay?!”

There was no answer. That was weird. 

“Did you hear me?” Matteo inched closer to the bank of the trench. “Gastón?”

“Don’t scare us like that—” Matteo peeked over the bank onto the trench… 

Gastón was there, on the bottom… Lying completely motionless, face against a tree. 

“Dio mio!” Matteo quickly took his skis off and jumped into the trench. There was so much snow that he progressed with difficulty, but he was finally able to make his way to Gastón, his heart in his throat. “Gastón!!”

“Hey, you okay!? Answer me!” He grabbed Gastón shoulder and turned him around, shaking him. He was completely limp, and his eye was black and they were closed… “Wake up!”

“Matteo?!?” Luna’s voice came from above, “What’s going on?”

“He’s completely unresponsive!” Matteo yelled at her as the waves of dread washed over him. 

“What!? Is he breathing?!?” 

“I don’t know,” Matteo looked at Gastón again. How did you even test for a pulse? Something he should have learned to do after Mom had died, but he hadn’t thought he would be in a situation like that ever again. But here he was, holding his best friend’s seemingly lifeless body in his arms, 17 years later. “No, no, you can’t do this Hermano, come on. Wake up!!!”

{}

Uuuup, told you nothing was gonna go wrong am I right? Well, here we are. This happy go lucky adventure hs just gotten just tad bit more diar. So, honestly, I don't know what else I can really say right now. Tune in to read the next chapter... when it comes out. You really though I was actually gonna tell you when it's gonna be huh?

[teacupsandcyanide]

i love the fabulous emerald episode of 90s moomins. imagine being the hobgoblin and you roam the universe on your flying panther looking for extremely specific woolworths collectibles. you find the massive bonkers rare ruby you've been looking for since the dawn of time and it's just at this one family's house because two of their informal airbnb guests have been lugging it around in a suitcase. you trade some wishes of phenomenal cosmic power for the ruby. the family call you back a year or two later and are like "hey our friend's garden got wrecked in a storm, could you use your phenomenal cosmic power to bring it back please :((". you explain to them you aren't that kind of hobgoblin and it's kind of rude and weird getting summoned to their house by random OCs on flying broomsticks. they're like "but pwease" and you're like "no seriously i'd do a trade but my current DISO is so ludicrously rare there's no way you'd have even heard of it". they're like "aww :((" and you're like "okay fine whatever. it's a massive emerald. like a really huge one. size of a baby. glows and stuff". and then the son of the family is like "oh neat hang on a second". goes upstairs and comes back with a glowing baby-sized emerald and is like "here u go. i was keeping it in a drawer next to my slinky"

i'd lose my mind

[nathalywrivera]

But that’s how it is when you start wanting to have things. Now I just look at them, and when I go away I carry them in my head. Then my hands are always free, because I don’t have to carry a suitcase.

-Understanding Snufkin: A Moomins Essay

[direwolf-summer]

9 for the end of year book ask :)

ah thank you my friend!

9. Did you get into any new genres?

I guess you could say kids' books? Back when I was a stupid teenager who didn't know any better, I didn't care much for kids' books (and thus missed a precious opportunity to bond with my best friend on another level). But this year I watched a movie called Tove (2020), which is basically a biography of the artist Tove Jansson, and I just couldn't help but fell in love with her.

Tove Jansson is an insanely talented artist, and I'm so mad at myself for not getting into the Moomin world earlier. Of course I've heard of it before, but I didn't know the meaning behind the story. I didn't know, for example, that Bob and Thingumy are a representation of Tove and her then secret lover, theatre director Vivica Bandler. The two little creature speak in their own secret language that nobody else can understand, and carried a suitcase where they hide their little treasure, just like Tove and Vivica hide their secret love.

[rosesofthetwilight]

[moominverse]

love 💕

[catnipcarnival]

Episode 7 cover image, part of my Moomin (1990) cover illustration project. 

Now in digital colours. 

[taijavigilia]

Bought the cheapest suitcase and decorated it myself with three sharpies and some paint markers.  Homage to Tove Jansson’s illustrations from Moomin books.  Husband added the very happy bat in the sky.

[flowerbloom-arts]

Welp, since two people asked (@xanzusx and @ratdaduniverse ) I suppose I have an excuse to do an unnecessarily deep dive into a character literally nobody cared about that much or bothers to draw before I came along with my thing for all too unpopular characters!

Let's start with a quick tl;dr :

Aunt Jane is (probably, this is more speculative than anything) a victim of capitalism and misogyny working together to create a damaged woman with anger issues and a toxic relationship with money.

How, you may ask? Well, let's take a close look at her titular, starring, and only episode of the 90s series;

episode 27: Aunt Jane

In the beginning of the episode, Moominpappa receives a letter from an aunt from his father's side and it's made immediately clear that he is not a fan of his aunt or the reason she sent the letter to him, it's also stated that Aunt Jane had no one else to turn to besides her nephew to "discuss money matters" as the episode puts it. Moominpappa says that he isn't really scared of Aunt Jane herself (though she is quite scary and a not-great person as MP himself describes, being bossy and not letting people have a moment of peace) but it's the money he's afraid of, he's afraid of having to discuss something he knows nothing about with someone he dislikes, so he takes it upon himself to leave before she arrives. (sidenote: this may tie into some fear Moominpappa has of looking dumb and ruining his ego, aswell as generally not being able to put up with people he finds unpleasant for very long)

Then Aunt Jane arrives on a rowboat down the Moomin Valley river with someone else rowing for her (cool detail: her boat actually matches her umbrella! We can assume she owns the boat based on this and the rower is either an employee or some guy she paid [his mustache is delightful by the way, I love the round little fella]) and she just has this... Very odd blank stare as our very first shot of her? It's an odd first impression for the viewer to be sure.

Jane gets off the boat and the rower simply continues down stream without her, Jane notices Snufkin fishing and asks for directions to Moominhouse, Snufkin gives her the tip and then Jane asks Snufkin if he could carry her suitcase of gold coins for her. Snufkin politely declines, saying he's busy, and then Jane attempts to bribe Snufkin by offering a "handsome reward" in a very confident manner, almost as if that trick has always worked before. Snufkin still declines, saying he just wants to fish. Aunt Jane is legitimately shocked at Snufkin not wanting money, now a first-time viewer might interpret this as Jane being vain with her wealth but it actually ties into how everyone in her life would simply be interested in her money (which is something that'll be elaborated further on) so Snufkin is perhaps the first person in a long while to not be interested.

Jane has little time to let that sink in as Sniff (the ultimate capitalist of the show) runs in, introduces himself as simply someone to help take her to Moominhouse and goes to help Jane carry her suitcase, to which Jane simply acts like a more poised individual and bimbles behind Sniff.

They arrive at Moominhouse right after Moominpappa had already left in the previous scene, Aunt Jane adjusts her glasses and says "A round house? How stupi- typical of my nephew." which establishes that Jane... doesn't like her nephew (and considers round shaped houses as being dumb [which I think a couple architects/engineers would agree but correct me if I'm wrong])

Jane gets welcomed by Moominmamma and after Moomintroll introduces himself Jane's attention immediately goes to Little My, assuming that My is a child of the family, she says that My's too small for a daughter (her expression says that she's bothered by it more than anything), then Moominmamma explains that Little My's not related but lives with them and My says she won't get any bigger, to which Jane simply squints at the small creature in a strange but I guess concerned manner? It's easy to assume that there were some strange beliefs about daughters that she was raised on.

Jane then asks where her "worthless nephew" is (again, she doesn't think highly of him), Moominmamma barely manages to not tell her the truth and Moomintroll saves her by saying Pappa's away to find inspiration for his work. Jane says "When has he ever worked? I'm here to see him!" (Score 3 for putting down her nephew) and Moomintroll suggests she should talk to him instead, Sniff butts in saying Moomintroll knows nothing about money and Aunt Jane simply says "In that case it's about high time he learned! As for his father, I may still disinherit him." (Score 4), Sniff says he's a member of the family and she can talk to him about money, Moomintroll says he's a great friend of his, and Jane adjusts her glasses then says "But hardly a member of the family" (we can see here she only really cares about relations more than anything when it comes to others taking care of her money, perhaps the money was passed down through generations and she wants to uphold that tradition, which is only one major reason she wants to get rid of it)

Snork and Snorkmaiden walk in, Snork introduces himself and explains how his sister is a "special friend" to Moomintroll and basically that they might get married someday, thus merging the Snork and Moomin family together, thus making them practically family already (Which I find just so utterly hilarious, he can be such a weasel I love him). Jane doesn't accept that as an argument (OBVIOUSLY) so Snork explains that he needs money to fund his flying ship project, and then Mr. Hemulen walks in with a very happy confidence (that chaotic metallic theme [you know the one if you pay attention to the soundtrack] cues but then stops shortly, I got so hyped and it just ended like that :( ) and he tells Aunt Jane about himself and asks her to fund his scientific research (assuming Sniff had already told her about it) and Sniff tries to save it by explaining that they could grow a greenhouse of orchids and roses and sell them to make money, he corrects himself by saying "I mean you'll make alot of money!" instead of "we'll" which he thinks might make her more lenient to the idea, but Jane shuts it down by saying she already has plenty of money (showing that she really isn't interested in hoarding wealth, she's satisfied with what she has especially since the whole point of going to the Valley was to shove her money-related issues onto her nephew)

The three guys try to talk over eachother trying to explain themselves, Jane is overwhelmed and confused so she stops them and asks Snork to clarify that he's Snorkmaiden and it goes downhill from there, Snork asks if he's explained his connection to the moomins well enough, Sniff says he's a friend of Moomin's, Mr. Hemulen asks Sniff if he could explain his research to her for him, and they all talk over eachother, Aunt Jane looks back in forth in a confused and overwhelmed manner and then gets angry, then she yells "BE QUIET EVERYONE!" with an overhead shot of Moominhouse (this sort of sets up Jane's anger issues which builds and builds until the climax of the episode)

Moominmamma escorts Jane to her room and tells her that she can call if she needs anything before leaving Jane alone, Jane more or less just observes her surroundings (it's clear she wasn't used to such a simple environment but she isn't opposed to it either) and then sits down on her bed with her eyes closed, looking peaceful for literally less than two seconds before Sniff knocks and she stands up instantly with her hands held in front of her like a "proper woman" sort of pose. Sniff stumbles in the room with the suitcase of gold and sets it on the floor, Jane thanks him and then Sniff stands there and looks around as if he's looking for something and goes "Ehem". Jane sees this and unenthusiastically asks "What is it? Want a reward?" (This is like the most telling scene of the episode and shows that this kind of thing is something that she's used to) Sniff lies at first but then admits it after a second thought, he hesitates and looks around if anyone would eavesdrop on them, Jane tells him to make up his mind and then Sniff gets close to her and whispers that he knows where Moominpappa is, Jane dismisses it saying she knows that he's on a trip (atleast she's willing to believe it? Doesn't revert any of her put-down points tho), Sniff corrects her by saying he's actually nearby and Jane is immediately interested and asks Sniff where he is, Sniff says Pappa said not to tell her where he is since it's a secret and after teasing it with her Sniff says he'll be taking a risk if he tells her so Jane asks "Oh, how much do you want?" knowing full well Sniff wanted to get paid for this without him even saying it, Sniff plays it safe and says she can decide how much she'll give him.

Sniff leads her on the beach, Snufkin notices this and runs to the cave to warn Moominpappa before she arrives (what a champ, that Snufkin) and then Sniff and Jane enter the cave with it's watery floor, Jane thanks him with a singular silver coin, Sniff asks if that's it and then Jane replies (with a very angry tone) that yes that's it until she actually sees her nephew, the two enter the cave with no Moominpappa in sight, Sniff is bewildered by this and Jane is very angrily disappointed that her "worthless nephew" (Score 5, though it's just a repeated insult, it still counts) isn't there, Sniff says "this is very strange!" while desperately looking for Moominpappa and Jane assumes Sniff had tricked her and takes away Sniff's one coin as punishment and simply leaves despite Sniff's desperate cries that he has to be there somewhere.

Jane goes back to Moominhouse and enters the kitchen to ask Moominmamma where Moominpappa is hiding, Moominmamma gasps and tries to reiterate the lie Moomintroll said, but Jane says she wants to know the TRUTH, so Moominmamma stutters and Jane tells her to hurry up, Mamma sadly admits that Moominpappa is hiding in the cave but Jane says she's already been there and didn't find him. Mamma is suddenly hopeful and is like "Oh so he really must have gone on a trip!", Jane proceeds to ask why Moominpappa would want to hide from her anyway, Moominmamma "suggests" that maybe Moominpappa is afraid of her, and Jane gets legitimately surprised and furious over this and asks "But why!?", Mamma says that he's mostly afraid of money matters, Jane exclaims "Incredible!" and contemplates "Afraid of me because of money matters...?" and then storms out of the kitchen saying "He must be utterly mad!" (Score 6)

Jane sits down on the table in her room and talks to herself about how this family is so confusing and only Sniff seems to know anything about money, Little My enters smuggly and shits the behind her, saying she knows where Moominpappa is at that moment, Jane assumes Little My wants gold from her and My says she couldn't care less about her silly gold, Jane strangely enough seems to try and defend the thing by saying "My 'silly gold' indeed! With my 'silly gold' I can assure you you could do just about anything you want!" and My claps back with how it isn't helping her find Moominpappa, this arouses Jane and My continues saying she should forget about her money. Jane responds by turning around in her chair to look at Little My directly and says "Young lady, money isn't something you could just forget about! It needs constant looking after- that's why I must talk to Moominpappa at once! Now take me to that rascal nephew you of mine if you really know where he is, you hear me!?"

My and Jane walk down the dirt path and see Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden being all lovey-dovey with eachother on a tree stump, saying how they love eachother and such, Jane scoffs "Oh, how frivolous!" and My smugky responds with "Not really, if I could find a small enough boyfriend, I'd be frivolous just like them too!" and starts to walk away, Aunt Jane turns to her and says with a very strong sense of longing "Ah well, Fredrick and I were frivolous once..." (With an inexplicable voice change by the way) and My just teasingly says "Really? If you says so! Suppose I'll have to believe you!" while still walking away, and Jane gets so mad at this dismissal/mockery that she almost snaps her umbrella but stops herself and stomps forward to follow Little My. The marshmallow couple notices the two and follow them.

Little My interrupts a game of chess between Snufkin and Moominpappa in Snufkin's tent, she introduces them to Jane as a "special guest" and Snufkin is shocked by her presence, he says Moominpappa's name and he looks up to look at his very angry aunt, Moominpappa runs out of the tent and Jane chases him with her umbrella around a tree and stomps on the ground with enough force to make Moominpappa, Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden hop off the ground (OKAY I'M NOT GONNA GET INTO THIS PART SINCE IT DOESN'T REALLY TIE INTO THE THESIS THAT MUCH AND WOULD BE TOO SPECULATIVE BUT HOLY CRAP??? HOW??? WHY DOES SHE HAVE THAT KIND OF STRENGTH??? IS IT SUPERNATURAL??? HELP????), this causes Moominpappa to fall over on the ground and Snufkin intervenes by saying Moominpappa was just coming back from his trip and stopping by to play chess with him, Moominpappa tries to go along with this but Little My says it's no use since Moominmamma already told her the truth, Moominpappa gets all defeated and Jane asks him why he's afraid of her, Moominpappa says it's not that he's afraid of her, he's afraid of her money. Jane gets enraged by this and stomps of the ground again to send everyone hopping, she then tries to "reason" with Moominpappa on this by saying "It's perfectly good money and all in gold coins! Listen nephew, I'm depending on you as my only relative!" (For some reason her voice gradually gets higher pitched in this line? But anyway this just confirms Moominpappa is literally the only family she has left), Moominpappa echoes "Yes, yes, depend." and Jane continues with "When I get too old to do it, you must look after my gold for me! I'm relying on you!", Moominpappa gets spooked by this and desperately suggests they should just give it away to people who need it, Jane blurts out "HOW UNGRATEFUL!" and turns red from rage but then is subsides, the red fades away and Jane, probably after having a thought, breaks into actual sobbing and falls to the ground to cry even more, Moominpappa tries to comfort her and suggests that maybe they should put it in a bank, Jane retorts through her sobbing that her money would hate being in a bank and it's a terrible idea (which is the start of her talking about it like it's a person/entity which follows to the very end of the episode), Moominpappa reassures her by saying banks are so nice these days and Jane looks up asking "They are...?", Moominpappa continues by describing how they have "Flowers and shiny little piggy banks and paintings on the wall!" and Jane lifts herself up asking "Is that really true...?", then Moominpappa tells everyone they should go home and fix a welcoming party for Aunt Jane, the scene ends with a shot of a sad Aunt Jane looking around everyone, possibly confused or even sorry.

We cut to the dinner party when Mamma is putting the cake on the table saying it's her grandma's best recipe (I have to note that Aunt Jane's face here is just... So sad and guilty-looking), Moominpappa gets up and says to drink a toast to the only millionaire in their small circle and how he hopes she'll live a long and happy life. Everyone drinks except for Jane who simply looks around and then looks down at her glass to sigh, Moominmamma asks what's wrong and Jane says "Never in my life have I and my money felt ourselves so welcomed before, I'm so happy I could cry" (jeez woman that is actually sad to hear considering just earlier that day 3 complete strangers went to her asking for money and her nephew literally tried to hide from her before she even arrived, that must've been one heck of a welcoming party) and then she genuinely starts crying saying "And once you start crying- you just wanna go on and on-" and proceeds to sob a bit and says "Oh dear- oh deAr- Moominmamma-" and looks up "Moominpappa-?" Moominpappa answers and she says "I'll put some of my gold in a bag, but you must look after the rest when I'm too old!", Moominpappa hesitates and then Jane snaps into anger mode by asking "Why not?" and slamming her fists against the table, Moominpappa sheepishly describes how they'll take care of it and Jane says it's not what she had in mind though it does sound nice and sufficient, but then she says how the money will miss her. She decides then and there that she'll leave the suitcase of gold to Moominpappa so they can "get sorta used to eachother" and use it as they please, even complimenting the flying ship and botanical research funding as rather splendid. Everyone is happy except Sniff who laments he should've gotten a better idea than flowers, and the episode ends with Jane smiling and a pan out of the house as the narrator closes off the episode.

~

Alright so already we have quite alot to unpack here and it's all gonna get a bit rambly and jumbled if I don't segment it into specific parts so let's do that. We're gonna put allllll of that baggage into 5 parts

1. Moominpappa and the lack of a family

2. Money is not a good partner

3. A woman millionaire

4. A bitter, lonely maiden

5. Conclusion

~

1. Moominpappa and the lack of a family

It's been stated twice that Moominpappa is Aunt Jane's only relative, and it's said that they relate through Moominpappa's father.

(Side note: We'll be going by the 90s cartoon canon because Aunt Jane is a moomin comic strip character and in the comic strip Moominpappa wasn't left at an orphanage I don't think, so it's logical to assume they just met eachother because they're family. But we're talking about the 90s canon where Moominpappa WAS left at an orphanage like in Moominpappa's Memoirs/Exploits of Moominpappa)

It's really unclear on the backstory of their relationship. It's unclear how these two met, it's unclear when they've met, and it's unclear how they knew they were related. Moominpappa clearly met her atleast without anyone in his current family (esp. Moominmamma) and hasn't talked about her ever since (given how literally nobody INCLUDING MOOMINMAMMA knew who she was) which to me signifies that their encounter was both somewhat isolated and unpleasant given how he describes her as bossy and not letting people have a moment of peace (which only brings images of some kind of business setting when they met in my mind, and knowing how Moomin stories operate Moominpappa probably found himself as one of her employees somehow). Whatever happened between them has certainly put a sour taste in eachother's mouths, making Moominpappa believe Aunt Jane to be unpleasant enough to avoid at all cost (he probably also witnessed the horrors of wealth which is why he's scared of her money) and Jane believing Moominpappa to be incompetent, worthless and idiotic.

Pulling back from whatever encounter they had... Was Aunt Jane aware of her nephew's existence before then? We don't know the circumstances which lead to Moominpappa's parents leaving him at an orphanage in a paper grocery bag (if the person/people who left him ever WERE his parents), and since him and Aunt Jane are the last members of their family, it's easy assume something tragic most likely happened to the parents. And not only that, the rest of Jane's family would've been gone aswell, leaving Jane as the sole heir and possibly not knowing about her orphaned nephew. Can you imagine being in such a position? Your whole family is gone for whatever reason, you're the only one left to your knowledge, and you have all the money you could ever want in the early 20th century. You are responsible for millions of [money unit] in gold coins. Jane is responsible of that kind of money. And what is that to her?

2. Money is not a good partner

Aunt Jane's relationship with money is extremely weird but clearly somewhat toxic in a sense. We know she has it in the millions and she's not interested in making more of it (though we do have to ask if she runs a business or if all of it is inheritance and nothing more, does she turn in a profit? What business does she work in? How big is her paycheck? Does she work with employees? Why is it all in gold coins? Where does she even live? Nobody knows! It's all vague and unspecified and there really is no point in speculating something like this because there's literally no evidence to speculate about)

Anyway, money is 3 things to her: it's something people use to get what they want, it's a burden and it's something that needs to be taken great care of. It's both a commodity and a child to her, she doesn't particularly "like" having it yet she thinks it's in need of care by someone she knows she could trust, it's a pet she doesn't want since it attracts so many people who want to pet it. By the end of the episode she treats her money like it has feelings, it "hates being in a bank" (presumably because it's "uncomfortable" since Aunt Jane is swayed as Moominpappa describes how nice they are), it "has never felt so welcomed", it "will miss [Jane]" and it "needs to get used to Moominpappa", the thing is she hasn't treated it like an entity with feelings until her breakdown near the end of the episode. Moominpappa's "ungratefulness" broke her so much that she resorted to characterizing her money, and it's unclear if she ever has done this before in her life. It's odd to me, but her life does revolve around the thing, for all we know she's gone for extended periods of time talking to her money when she feels particularly unsafe/alone, but I digress.

Aunt Jane has presumably spent alot of her life taking care of her money and fears growing too old to do so anymore, so she turns to the only person she believes she could trust to continue that legacy. She has enough wealth to do whatever her heart desires, And what is her social reward for having such wealth to look after?

3. A woman millionaire

Misogyny exists. Yes, even in the moominverse, it sucks but it's true even if it isn't explicit sexism. Jane is presumably single, she had someone by the name of Fredrick who she was "frivolous" with but clearly that didn't work out as implied with the tone of her voice when she drops that information, Jane is alone in her wealth and that leaves her open to many people who believe they can get themselves some cash for whatever venture they want to pursue. It has happened plenty of times before in her life and it has happened within the episode when 3 males come up to her asking for funds, of course they didn't seem to care that she is a woman, not a word of it was even mentioned, but it's an issue that may be less present if she wasn't. Nobody is intimidated by her aside from Moominpappa who has met her, Snork and Sniff think they can weasel a family inheritance if they just do enough logical leaps, Mr. Hemulen just assumes she'd be interested from his botany credentials alone, and none of them really listen to her, they just talk over eachother trying to convince her to give them money until she bursts out yelling at them to shut up.

And she has to have some traditional feminity instilled in her, given the way she stands when Sniff knocks and gets in her room, how she arrived to Moomin Valley under a pink shade with curtains, having someone else carry her suitcase for her, being bothered at how small Little My is, her whole outfit among other small things, she seems to have been raised on traditional values, and those values, well, they don't lend well to someone of her status. She can be bossy and terrifying (and surprisingly powerful) but she's not respected by anyone that we know of, nobody's explicitly treated her kindly besides Moominmamma and maybe everyone at the welcome party if you count that, everyone only cares about her because of her money. Moominpappa is scared of her money and every other male only cares to get it from her for their own gain, she just can't win as a millionairess because any care directed towards her is actually care directed towards her money. And what does that treatment leave her as?

4. A bitter, lonely maiden

Jane is very, very alone. Nobody likes her as a person and the fact nobody likes her as a person only makes her more bitter and unlikable, it's a feedback loop. She doesn't seem to have anyone, and I mean, literally ANYONE. We have her rower but he's just a random guy she pays for all we know, she just sits there and stares blankly at the pink curtains until the guy rings the bell and she gets out, she just has no personal connection with anyone even by the end of the episode. Speaking of the end of the episode; she literally cries because she hasn't felt so welcomed by anyone IN HER LIFE (side note: I know I'm not supposed to bring up the comics but she actually cries when Moominpappa uses the word fond on her and it makes me so upset because she's treated even worse there too)

She's angry and alone because people use her for her money and don't care about her, everybody cares only about her money including herself, the only times she'd pay mind to her own self as a person is when she's flabbergasted at Moominpappa "BEING AFRAID OF HIS OWN AUNT!?" or when she feels disrespected by My teasing her about how she used to be frivolous with someone, Little My doesn't really care about her, she just takes her to Moominpappa to view the chaos that would ensue at such a meeting of two worlds. Moominpappa says she doesn't let people have a moment of peace yet it looks like she doesn't have a moment's peace herself, there's literally one moment and it's the one second she sits on her bed before Sniff knocks on the door.

Aunt Jane is both pitiful and somewhat sympathetic, she's an antagonist who's clearly not a good person but she has her own very understandable reasons as to why she's the way that she is. And what do we take from this?

5. Conclusion

I don't know if you know this but uhm, capitalism is bad, folks. It really just brings out the worst in people wether it's the scummy ways they gain money or the problems money causes for your mental health, and in Jane's case it's the latter. It's unclear how she got the money to begin with, I assume it's inherited but I could be wrong obviously, though I don't think that question could truly be answered. Aunt Jane is insistent on keeping her wealth and only giving her wealth away to her own family even if it's the root of her problems, but also Snork and Mr. Hemulen only ask for her money so they can continue with their hopes and dreams, Sniff is well, Sniff, but I'm pretty sure he's traumatized into believing he's only worth the wealth he has so that's another capitalistic problem.

Moominpappa is happy the way he is without the money, the Moomin family is decidedly non-capitalistic and Moominpappa knows nothing about how it works, so he chooses to simply not have it. They simply don't need it with the way things are.

And I suppose that was the appeal of the Moomins franchise that got people hooked into the fantasy of living there, it's pure freedom from an oppressive system that doesn't even give people what they're worth, it's being able to be yourself with a small, loving and accepting community.

But Aunt Jane never had that, which makes her feel out of place in this valley more than other outsider characters do in the show. And like the weirdly smooth and good animation that was clearly outsourced to a different studio for this one specific episode, being rich looks nice, but the cutthroat system of how it's made probably doesn't make it worth it.