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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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 Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 11:45 am
 Pale Moonlight was in a snit. He'd intended a day at home to practice the piano, maybe read a bit, and most of all, be alone- but as it turned out, his grandmere Scent Puff had dropped by. Delighted, he'd wanted to perform for her- but no, she had to run off. She'd only stopped by to see if his moms could babysit, and of course they could. And now he had to play with this girl- and indignity of indignities, she was his aunt! It would be one thing if she was his cousin, but the fact that she, despite being younger than him, was his mother's sister... this was bizarre.
Still, a gentleman had to be polite. Stiffly, he extended a hoof and tried to speak as politely as possible. But he didn't really know what to say, other than a simple "Hello." Did he call her Aunt Jasmine? Jasmine Tea? He couldn't fathom calling her Auntie or Jazz or something... pejorative, but he needed to call her something. And what even was he to do with her? He really didn't know his aunt that well. Presumably, she was a bit like his mom Taquita and a bit like his grandmere, but outside of that... He was utterly clueless. And he could only imagine how she felt, being forced to spend the day in the company of a nephew older than herself.
Stars above, this was awkward.
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 3:44 pm
 Jasmine was just about as lost as Moonlight. Scent Puff had informed her daughter that she needed to go into the human town to collect some things for her shop. But Jasmine wasn't old enough to leave the park so okaasan was leaving her with her half oneesan and half-oneesan-in-law for the afternoon. Jasmine, of course, did not mind staying with the two mares. They were much quieter than her half-oniisans. But she had yet to meet any of her....neices and nephews? It was a concept that boggled her mind sometimes, as they were all older than herself.
The ruby colored filly looked to the pale colt, his eyes as red as she was. She smiled politely and bowed in the traditional japanese style, "Ohyao Pale Moonlight." She blinked a bit as he held out his hoof, then remembered thats how most phonies greeted each other. She blushed under her red coat. It was all so...awkward. She had brought a few things from home incase there was little for her to do. A lovely tea set with a few blends, some fans, and a book on herbs. "Ah....um. What...shall we do? How do you keep your mind and body in harmony?"
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 4:36 pm
Ohio? What was in Ohio? He wasn't Ohio. Cedar Point was in Ohio, according to his uncle- his actual adult uncle- but that was full of roller coasters. His little aunt bowed at him, then seemed to miss the concept of a hoofshake. He'd probably startled her, or maybe she expected a hug? Letting it slide, Pale Moonlight scrunched up his face and thought for a moment.
"Um, well... Harmony? Like, musical harmony? I mean, I play the piano. And the harpsichord, but not quite as well as I do the piano. Do you play any instruments?" Please, please, please let her like music. He understood music. He could talk about music. "Or- do you sing? That takes harmony."
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 6:30 pm
Jasmine could see she had done something wrong by the look on Pale's face. Though she wasn't quite sure what she had done exactly. Her father and brothers all bowed upon meeting anyphony and her mother always seemed to get her hoof kissed. Was she suppose to do that to him? It didn't seem proper. She looked shyly at the older colt, her crystal blue eyes just like Taquita's.
Then the colt spoke of music and his abilities. Oh he was a musician! Just like her half brothers! Well sort of. Draft did use a keyboard which was like a piano. At his question of her own musical talents she shook her head, "No, I am afraid I am not as blessed as my elder siblings in music. I take after okaasan and make nice smelling and flavored tea." She smiled and trotted softly to him, her hoof falls so light and delicate.
"But I would love to hear you play. My oniisans are....rather loud. But the piano and harpsichord sound lovely," she gave him a soft smile. Everything about her seemed to raidiate a peaceful feeling, a gentle calm aura. She happened to glance over his shoulder and noticed the stripes on his rear end....and that they were see through. She blinked a bit at that, "I see you have stripes too?" She turned to reveal her own blonde stripe going down her back.
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 7:02 pm
Pale Moonlight eyed his aunt's stripe with interest. "Indeed; I guess we do have the same stripes. Only- you can see through mine. Because of my mom. Sorry you don't know how to play- it's lots of fun," he said, trying to think of what to do with her.
Then a thought struck him. Maybe they didn't have to share his interest; maybe he could pay attention to hers.
"So tea's not just a name for you? You actually blend it?" Tea was the colt's favorite beverage. He was partial to strong ceylons, but green tea was lovely, too. "I drink, uh, a lot of tea," he said, stammering. "I just figured it was a name. Like how my mother- your... half sister, I guess, doesn't actually cook a lot of Mexican food."
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 7:17 pm
Jasmine giggled softly as Pale spoke of his stripes' unique properties. It was amazing to her that some of her neices and nephews had see through parts from the ghostly genetics of her sister in law. She just nodded at his apology for her lack of musical ability but her eyes lit up in a soft glow at the mention of her beverage of choice.
"Hai, I love to make all sorts of blends from different flowers. Flowers add aroma as well as flavor to teas," she looked to her satchel she carried, "I brought some samples I've been experimenting with." Jasmine always carried samples just incase, after all a cup of tea could help calm down any situation and allow others to think. If Pale enjoyed tea perhaps he would like a cup. A tea party!
"Let us have a tea party. I can make you some and perhaps you can play the piano for me," she smiled. "A tea party is not complete without proper music to go along with it."
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 7:27 pm
A tea party? That sounded like a girls' game... but then again, she was a girl! And she was willing to let him play the piano for her, so he was willing to at least give this a shot. He sniffed at her samples; they did smell heavenly, and he was rather excited to try them.
A thought struck him then. "Indeed! But- let us call it a soiree. It, uh, it sounds fancier! I've heard grandmere use the word- well, I guess you just call her mere? Or... do you have another word for her? What do you call my grandother And then... maybe you can teach me a little bit about how to blend tea? I've never seen it done before, and it... well, it sounds quite fascinating!"
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 7:46 pm
Jasmine nodded happily, glad to have found some common ground with the prim and proper colt. She nodded at the change of name, after all if he was going to play he should have some say in what they were doing. His question about what she called Scent Puff made her smile. "Ah, you speak french like her. I speak Japanese like my otousan, my father. I call her my okaasan, it means mother. You would call her obaasan," she explained as she walked towards the room Taquita had indicated they were to play in. She assumed the piano would be in there.
Selecting a low table she pulled out all her ingredients and her small japanese tea set. The cups had no handles but then again both the foals were unicorns. She pointed to the leaves, "You see the tea leaves, depending on the kind you have are dried with flower petals mixed in with them. It infuses the tea leaves with their scent and flavor. You just add more depending on how strong you want it." She put some dark red looking leaves in the pot and plugged it into the wall. It was a self heating tea pot, safer for foals of all ages.
"This is rose tea, a black tea with rose petals dried inside it. You can also serve it with candied rose petals," she said as she produced a small bag of said treat, "as it is customary to have a small snack with tea." The pot soon whistled and she magiced it off then poured them both a cup. The aroma was subtle but definately there, adding a soft sweetness to the brew without mounds of sugar.
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 8:09 pm
Pale Moonlight shrugged and blushed a bit. "Heh. I'm not that talented; I just know a few words that I picked up from- I guess this is kind of ironic, really- Ende- End of an Era," he corrected himself, not knowing if his aunt knew his mother's nickname. "She actually speaks it pretty well. I think she learned it to impress your - oh-kaah-sahn," he said, stumbling on the strange word just a bit. "And I know a little more from music books and such, but most of that notation's actually in Italian. It's got some good words- for example, I'd describe this tea as dolce- which means gentle and sweet. Not too strong, and not too bitter." He smiled as he sipped at it; it was delicious, and its aroma was soothing. "What other flowers do you put into tea?"
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 8:31 pm
Jasmine listend as the colt spoke of his mothers and the language he seemed more familiar with, Italian. Truly their entire family was highly cultural. She smiled as he enjoyed his tea, rose tea and jasmine tea being her specialties. She sipped some her self, enjoying it's pleasent aroma. At his question she paused to think a moment.
"Well Jasmine of course," she giggled, "they are used mostly in green teas to had soft flavor. Then osmanthus flowers can be added to black or green teas, it actually gives the tea something of a peach flavor. Lotus blossoms are also used. Peonies are used in white tea" She paused to sip her tea again, "Of course flowers are not always used. To make Earl Grey or Lady Grey they use oil extracted from a special kind of orange in a black tea."
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 11:45 am
"Huh. A flower that tastes like peach. That's really neat!" Pale Moonlight was definitely beginning to warm up to his aunt; even though he still found the exact nature of their relationship kind of strange, he was beginning to see that didn't matter. Understanding one's family and the loyalties that came with that could tie into making a new friend out of a relation really well!
Plus, this tea was really delicious.
"So now that you've taught me about tea, would you like me to show you a little bit about the piano? It's much more... sophisticated than an electronic keyboard, really. And since you're a unicorn, you can push the keys pretty easily!" He smiled widely, hoping she'd take him up on it. He had a bit of a surprise for her- he might not know a lot about Japanese culture, but he did know a lot about the pentatonic scale.
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 6:29 am
Jasmine was so happy she and her nephew were getting along. She hadn't expected to find such a friendship with one who was musician. Their talents were so different yet their enjoyment of the other's talent seemed to be bringing them together. She was proud to be his aunt, even if it did seem a little strange for her to be the younger of the two. Family loyalty was important in her brood and she felt it with Pale Moonlight.
Upon his request to teach her about the piano she nodded softly. "I would like that. I have sometimes watched Draft play but he....mixes...so it is not classical music," she smiled and made sure to clean up the tea before they would begin piano time.
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:27 am
After they cleaned up the tea, Pale Moonlight hopped up onto the piano bench and slid to one side, then patted the spot next to him, indicating that his aunt should sit. There was easily room for two foals on the padded seat. "This isn't strictly classical, but it's way different than what Draft and Grandpa do. Though- hm." He paused for a moment. "I guess he's not your grandpa; actually, I guess you aren't related to TACO at all! My mom would say that you're lucky, but I'm honestly pretty grateful that his musicianship passed down. The interesting thing about the piano is that it can play anything, once you know what notes to play." He began to press the keys, starting with the A below Middle C and moving up the scale.
"So there's eight whole tones- the naturals, they're called. That's the white keys. A, B, C, D, E, F, G- and then they repeat, all the way up the keyboard. But the black keys? Those are the half tones, the sharps and flats. Each one can be a sharp or a flat, because that term is based on where it is in accordance to the whole tones. So this one here- it's between a C and a D- depending on how the music is written, it is read as C Sharp or D Flat. Now, when you play a scale that has both the white and black keys, it's called a chromatic scale." Carefully, he played one up and down, hitting all the keys in perfect order. "But when you take out the white keys? That leaves you with five tones- hence the name, pentatonic. What's neat about these is that they are very similar to the way Eastern instruments are usually tuned. It's not exact, but it mimics the sound pretty well, and to most peoples' ears, it's what sounds Asian." Using the middle notes, he picked out an Oriental riff.. "This one's interesting; if you hear it in a song, you know that the song's going to be about the East. It's a leitmotif- while it's not from anything specifically, it's shorthand for "this is what the song is about and you should get that image in your head." But playing around with the pentatonic scale, you can really get a very nice sound that's evocative of instruments like the koto or shakuhachi." He gently rippled a few of the keys towards the far right of the piano, trying to imitate the delicate sound of the Japanese flute. "See? Now you try!" He was extremely excited for his aunt to be playing the piano with him; he really did love sharing the things he loved with his family.
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Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 6:42 pm
Jasmine took a seat next to her nephew, smiling as he spoke of their common relations. Oh she knew of TACO, her mother had specifically told her to never speak to him. Then she usually said some rather inappropriate words in French. "Hai, he is not my grandfather but oka-san tells me of him. How she and Taquita have never truly liked him," she smiled a bit, "But I am glad for him or I would not have such amazing half siblings or nephews."
She listened intently as he told her about the keys, trying to remember the sounds as he played them. It was all quite complicated but she tried her best to take it all in. But when he played the little rift she giggled, "My father has played some music like that before too." It was interesting to know both sides of her family could find connections, even as different as they both were.
Her little hooves slowly tried the sounds he had played, though something seemed a little off. Using her own knowledge of the sounds of the flute she changed the keys up a bit, "Try it like this. You see the flute has a longer sound, something more soft rather than sharp. The flute is suppose to guide your mind like the soaring of a bird on a breeze, gentle yet swift."
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 5:59 am
"I see," Pale Moonlight said, pondering as he sipped at his tea. He adjusted the way he hit the notes, trying to imagine the fluttering movements of a bird. He sipped at his teacup as he played. Even in such a situation, he'd managed to learn something new! "How's this?" he said, turning to her and smiling. "I think I've managed to blend both my old style and your new one!"
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