Glada Vappen!

[suomi_thunder]

Aarne hadn't celebrated holidays properly in over a year which left him feeling disconnected. Giant bonfires in the streets and rampant reindeer were frowned upon in most civilized cities, unless of course the punks were involved, then that was arson not celebrations.. ok, well for the punks it was a celebration but not for a Saami.

In the Nexus though, oh here he could do whatever he wanted, or that was what he had learned in his few visits. He had been planning and cooking and collecting. The gods probably don't even know where he stirred up reindeer from in the Nexus but he has and Mouka was happy to have a job keeping them corralled. His usual rock gear is augmented with his family necklace and oddly doesn't look too out of place with rest of his wildness.

He didn't have a lot but parties always started this way. The host had some things and then people came and brought more booze and food, ordering all kinds of things. Aarne did bring Mead, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and a a bunch of lemon tippaleipä batter. He had cooked some but this was something he could show visitors how to make on their own. The honey mead based sugar in a large bowl. Strips of dried reindeer meat and juustoleipä, a Finnish reindeer milk cheese, are out on the table too. There are fruits; strawberries, apples, and nuts which were common as well as a cream from reindeer milk traditional to the culture and nearly like unfermented yogurt.

That all done he looked to the huge pile of logs that he had gotten from various people around the Nexus. The Sami added leaves to it to create smoke at first to attract others. Before lighting it he put up a banner of hide dedicated to the Akka, the female fertility spirits, decorated with the same imagery as his traditional drum. It was sentimental, the first drum he ever learned to play.

Drum in hand he poured kerosene on the log pile and lit it. The reindeer spooked at the sudden fire but soon calmed, especially when the tall Fin went among them.

Comments

[itmeanstruth]

The Uchiwa twins certainly weren’t Scandinavian, and they had no idea what this particular festival was about. The closest holiday they knew happened around this time of year was Children’s Day. (Despite growing up in the States, the family still hung koinobori decorations and made tasty kashiwa mochi. Isamu loved to gloat that he got the higher karp because he was a few minutes older.)

The party had definitely already started by the time they arrived, so there were a lot of friends to greet. Many of which were likely in various states of inebriation. But soon enough, they’d make their way back to the bonfire.

“Hey, people are making funnel cakes! Come on, let’s try it out!” Minoru nudged his brother.

Isamu immediately agreed. “That does sound, and most certainly smell, delightful.”

[suomi_thunder]

"Tippaleipä." Aarne corrects as he comes up to talk to Stardust's boyfriend. They all knew he had a couple floating around though the Fin remembers this one from parts of the tour too, though between his work on stage and Minoru in the rigging there wasn't much time to have a serious conversation. "It's similar."

The tall Fin is happy to see him where things were more relaxed and quickly assumes the other is his twin. Minoru is known enough though that there is an offered hug as soon as the drummer is close enough. He's physically affectionate by nature but not offended if he doesn't want one.

"I'll make you some." He offers.

[itmeanstruth]

That was not a word that Isamu recognized or a language that he was familiar with. So, naturally, he was immediately intrigued. “Pardon, could you repeat that name a second time? What significance does this dessert hold on this particular festival? I am not familiar with the customs, but curious nonetheless.”

Minoru laughed as his brother immediately started asking questions. He hugged Aarne without hesitation.

“Aarne, this is my brother Isamu. The walking encyclopedia.” He snickered. “Isamu, meet Aarne. He’s the drummer for The Hammers. They’re one of Ziggy’s opening acts.”

“Oh! Yes, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Isamu paused his inquiries long enough for a more proper introduction.

[suomi_thunder]

Aarne chuckles because it reminds him of all the times his bandmates had just stared at him when he said something in Finnish. "Tippaleipä" He repeats but slowing down the language can easily change the meaning. "I'm Finnish, Saami from the north, and it's rare for people to recognize my language."

"It means.. drip cake?" Aarne says it but he's not really sure how to translate it to English exactly. "Tippaleipä and munkki have been traditional Vappu, May Day, foods for a long time." He didn't know why people started eating them. It was just what you did.

Aarne always gives warm and loving hugs to anyone he knows, even in passing, which means when Isamu is introduced as Minoru's brother he's likely to get one too. Unless he stops the Fin before the hug. He's overly cheerful today, drunk and had way too much sugar by this point.

"Do you speak Norwegian?" He asks Isamu after the hug, if Isamu accepted it, and while he waits for the oil to heat up after turning on the small camp stove.

[itmeanscourage]

Living with a very huggy person meant that Isamu found himself pulled into them more often than not. It was a little awkward perhaps, but Isamu would not refuse the greeting.

He repeated the unfamiliar word, committing it to memory. It did not roll so easy off the tongue.

“I do not.” Isamu admitted. “While I may be able to recognize and understand portions of Greek, Mandarin, Latin and its various derivatives, I am only truly fluent in English and Japanese.”

“Don’t forget Anthean.” Minoru added.

“Hardly. At best, I am the equivalent of a toddler learning their alphabet. I cannot even speak it.”

Even though they did not know the language, both were interested in learning more about Vappu. (And food was never a bad way to start!)

[suomi_thunder]

"That's a shame." Aarne sighs. "Our bassist gets frustrated because we're not good with Norwegian and he's not good with English. He could use someone who could talk engineering or whatever it is he does."

Everything. That was how Aarne felt sometimes. If it could be pulled apart and put back together or built then the bassist knew. He felt bad for him sometimes and was always looking for someone who could speak to him better than the rest of them could.

"I don' know any of those." Aarne spoke a couple languages but besides English he didn't know any that Isamu did.

Aarne turns to start working on the drip cakes which, unlike funnel cake which is in a flat disk, is pilled up on top of itself as it fries. "How alcoholic do you like your drinks?"

There were several drinks traditional that varied from intensely alcoholic to non-alcoholic. He could work with any response.

[itmeanscourage]

“Ah, that is a pity.” Isamu sighed. “I did dabble in engineering during my first year if undergraduate studies, before solidifying my interest in biochemistry instead. Talking shop, as it were, with your bassist would almost be nostalgic.”

While Isamu was a very quick learner, even if he began studying Norwegian now, he likely wouldn’t be conversational enough in it for a technical conversation anytime soon.

Minoru watched the cake batter drip with anticipation. “It smells lemony. Bro, you’re gonna love this.”

“As far as drinks go, I would prefer something only mildly alcoholic, please. Something comparable to a lager or an ale, as in roughly 4-6% alcohol by volume.”

“Same for me.” Minoru agreed.

Neither had any intention of getting plastered, though a fair number of party goers appeared to have reached that stage of drunkenness already.

[suomi_thunder]

"You could still try." Aarne shrugs but it couldn't hurt. Even if it was hard it might help Vars learn more English.

"We put lemon in the batter." He started layering in the batter while speaking. "It is different than your carnival cakes."

The batter was lighter and more donut like in some ways with a definite sour to it from the lemon.

"We use mead sugar which is sweeter, fruit and reindeer cream... it is like yogurt maybe?" Trying to place the flavor was hard with the high fat and strong flavor of the milk.

Aarne himself is very drunk but he cooked smashed out of his mind a lot. As for drinks he starts with shredding lemon peel in a glass. He added the family mead to it, though it was strong and sweet to smell, too strong for that they wanted, closer to whiskey than beer by content. To that he added water and lemon juice to water it to something they wanted. It was an on the fly drink that would mimic Sima which was traditional. Those two glasses he hands over then goes to plating the cakes. He has a professional accuracy to his work even if it is a little flamboyant from drink. Cooking was Aarne's second love, right after drumming.

[itmeanstruth]

The twins nodded, both of them now watching the traditional confection take vertical shape.

“No, the typical carnival food stall would not have mead sugar or reindeer cream in its stock. Just simple granulated sugar and cow’s milk.”

“Something tells me normal funnel cakes are never gonna be the same after this.” Minoru smirked. They were definitely a favorite fair food of his. Between the corny dogs and the turkey legs, finding vegetarian options wasn't always easy.

Watching Aarne make the mead was also quite interesting. The twins took the glasses and tried a sip of the traditional beverage.

Minoru was a bit ambivalent on the drink. It tasted both sweet and tart to him, at the same time. Isamu, though, found himself a potential new favorite.

“Oh, the lemon is a nice touch here as well. This is quite an enjoyable mix of flavors.”

[suomi_thunder]

"Unless you're at a North Finland carnival." They had them too in the cities. Aarne had been to a few as a teen once they moved into a city. "The Danes use mead sugar too."

Which, now that Aarne considered it, might explain Rik's consumption of sugar. White sugar just didn't hold up to the sweetness of the honey based sugar.

Once the tippaleipä was plated he handed that over to the twins to share and instructed that strawberries, apples or nuts were a personal preference and they could do that part. All the premade tippaleipä had been eaten so Aarne set about making a few more to leave if someone wanted one while he was away.

"Sima is a type of mead. This is a bastardized, quick and dirty way of making Sima from full strength mead."

Aarne refilled his wooden cup with the full strength mead and watche Minoru's reaction. "If you don't like it, I can make you a Mule. The Danes drink them but I'll make it weaker than how they drink it."

[itmeanstruth]

The twins had never been to Europe, at least, not in their world. But the Nexus provided for a lot of opportunities to travel, and both of them thought that sounded like a good time.

As far as the drink, Minoru thought it was an interesting flavor, but still wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“It’s not bad!” He insisted, not wanting to offend the gracious host. “Just never had anything like it before.”

“An acquired taste.” Isamu filled in to save face. “Though I would hazard a guess that at its full strength, it is sweeter and truer to form - given that you were kind enough to dilute it upon our request. Perhaps you would enjoy it more when paired with the tippaleipä.”

Isamu tried his best to pronounce the word correctly, but it was still a little off.

“You want to do all the toppings, Bro? I don’t know if I can pick just one.”

“Indeed. It would be a waste not to savor all of the options.”

[suomi_thunder]

"Sweetness is determined by how long you let the mead ferment and if you back add honey." Aarne fills in Isamu's discussion. "My family prefers higher alcohol content so there is less sweet and more acidity. You can honey already processed mead if you wanted it sweeter."

Aarne knew that Finnish wasn't the easiest language to pronounce. He had watched his bandmates struggle and they already spoke Nordic languages.

"Put the fruit under the sugar if you like sweeter." He busies himself digging into the dried reindeer meat. He's been picking at food all day.

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru smiled, holding up his cup. “Oh, then extra honey, please!”

Isamu chuckled lightly to himself and shook his head at his brother’s sweet tooth.

“I am certain the... tippaleipä...” he thought he got closer with the pronunciation this time, or perhaps was merely saying it wrong with more confidence. “Will be quite sweet no matter the order it is assembled.”

Minoru took the hint. “Okay, okay... I’ll do one third strawberry, one third apple and one third plain so I don’t overpower all of your lemony goodness.”

Isamu nodded his approval, and picked up a piece of reindeer meat to sample as well. He turned to Aarne and politely asked, “What part of your heritage are you celebrating at this festival?”

[suomi_thunder]

Aarne offers him a glass jar of fresh honey. "Rik is the same. He'd add sugar to his sugar."

Aarne repeats tippaleipä for Isamu to help him with any part of the word he's still struggling with, it's not an easy word. "If you put the sugar over the fruit then it pulls the juice from the fruit and spreads the sugar. It ends up tasting sweeter."

He lets the twins mill over how they are going to construct their tippaleipä while he pulls the few out he is making to leave for others if he gets busy.

"I am Sami." He mentions but then considers that he might be asking what the celebration itself is for and not the culture. "We're animists and shamans, this time of year is when the sun stops setting and it's important to us because our deities are solar."

[itmeanscourage]

“Ooh, thanks!” Minoru made a beeline for the honey, and Isamu just shook his head. Of the two of them, Minoru definitely inherited their mother’s sweet tooth.

“Sami... I must confess that I am not familiar with your beliefs and practices.” Isamu made a mental note to do some light reading and learn more. “Though, if this is a festival to mark the sun not setting, I can at least assume that you hail from the half of Norway above the arctic circle. The twenty three degree tilt of the earth’s axis does produce sone intriguing anomalies for those living at its poles.”

[suomi_thunder]

"Finland." He corrects. "Vars is the Norwegian."

"Some people call us Laplanders but we don't like that term because it means our way of life and not our people." Aarne nodded in agreement. "There's nothing like looking at all the stars with the Auroras."

[itmeanscourage]

“Oh, pardon my inaccuracy.” Isamu blushed slightly, realizing now that being asked if he spoke Norwegian earlier applied only to his bandmate, as they did not hail from the same country.

“I would imagine that is quite a sight. I have not had the opportunity to view the colorful disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by solar wind. At least, not in person. They truly are a fascinating phenomenon.”

[suomi_thunder]

"We're all from different countries." Aarne clarifies when he sees the pink of embarrassment on the twin's cheeks. "I'm a Sami from Finland. Rik is the Dane. Hunter is a Swede, and Vars is from Norway. I think everyone in the other bands are from Britain."

That should clear up things for both of them. "If you take a radio receiver out during them, you can hear the lights. I think the radio sounds are related to the color and brightness of the aurora."

[itmeanstruth]

“You mean the hissing noise created by charged particles in an inversion layer of the atmosphere discharging when hit by particles from the sun? That can be heard via radio at least 230 feet below their actual location?” Isamu asked, somewhat impressed.

“Better question.” Minoru walked back with fruit-laden dessert in one hand and honey-laden mead in the other. “If it makes noise, have you recorded it and used it in your albums yet? Because that would be pretty cool.”

[suomi_thunder]

"It is the sound of the Earth protecting us as our Mother or sister." Aarne knew some of the science but had his own beliefs about the nature of the aurora and their sounds.

"We haven't. I'm not sure that the music we make is discordant enough to sound right with it." But this does have Aarne thinking about discordant drumming in a way that would follow the sounds. It was definitely a thought to tuck away for his next trip home.

[itmeanstruth]

“There’s got to be something you can do with it.” He grinned, holding out the plate so Isamu could try some of the plain side first.

Rather than put his foot in his mouth, Isamu opted for Tippaleipä.

He eagerly complimented the chef of the night, “oh, this is quite good!”

“Come on, Bro. Let’s find a spot to sit back and enjoy this before it gets cold.”

[suomi_thunder]

"I'll ask the band." It was worth a try, maybe someone would have some ideas.

"I will be around if you want more." Aarne is happy to let them go off to one of the tables or chairs nearby and enjoy their food without hovering. They can always talk more later since Minoru would obviously be around Ziggy in the future.