don't fear the sun.

Title: The Last Stage of Grief Is Drowning
Author: sunfright
Artist: pattrose
Fandom: Napoli (ballet)
Characters/Pairings: Giovanina/Teresina, Teresina/Gennaro, Gennaro/Giovanina (one-sided), Giovanina/Luigi
Rating/Category: Teen/femslash + het
Genre: Literary, slice of life, romance
Word Count: 45k
Warnings: Major character death, period-typical homophobia/gender roles, internalized homophobia, very stereotypical Italian-ness (in the vein of the original ballet), mention of alcoholism, portrayal of aborted suicide attempt (drowning), grief and depression, loss of parents, loss of partner... I think that's it.
Summary: It has been ten years since Gennaro saved Teresina from the depths of the Neapolitan Gulf and the two have lived happily together as husband and wife ever since. Meanwhile, Giovanina's and Teresina's friendship has been falling apart, due to Giovanina's feelings for Gennaro - and because of the forbidden secret she shared with Teresina when they were teenagers. But when suddenly, the Gulf claims Gennaro's life, leaving Teresina alone in her grief, Giovanina feels herself slowly circling back to her old friend who has given up all her will to live, because now they have both loved and lost, and perhaps love and loss are things that should tie two women together rather than tearing them apart.
Author's Notes: A huge thanks to pattrose for making a moodboard for every single of my chapters for this fic as well as a cover! Remember to drive by their art and give them a shout-out.





Link to fic master post: This way to read!
Link to art master post: This way to see!




I'm just putting this up here for anyone who isn't following smallfandombang, because I am so damn proud of this fic. I wrote it in a frenzy over the course of a month back in October and have been sitting on it ever since, what a wait that's been!

I hope some of you will check it out, despite being unfamiliar with the canon, as most of you probably will be. It reads more like an original work than fanfiction, as it takes place ten years after the events of the ballet. I've tried capturing the mood of "tourist postcard" that Hübbe's adaption of Napoli was, so all stereotypical-ness and such is to match the aesthetic of the original material. Also, I know "Giovanina" should ideally be spelled "Giovannina", but in the original libretto for the 19th century Bournonville performance, it is rendered like the first rather than the second, and Hübbe hasn't changed that, so neither have I. Just know, I am aware.

All that said, give a kudos or a comment if you feel like it! I'm so excited to share this baby with the world. It's been a long time in coming.

Because it's April in a couple of hours, I decided spontaneously to change my Camp writing project to something, haha, more manageable. And true, 10k words is easier to do than 40k words, but when the project is poetry, Sappho-inspired and rhymed, I am questioning all my life choices right now.

As a warm-up and to get a sense of Gorgo, a character in Sappho's fragments, who will be the lyrical I and narrator in these poems I'm writing, I wrote the first poem already and because I regret absolutely everything, I think you should all regret everything with me, too.

Any comments or critique welcome!

It's been a quiet Sunday. Both K. and I are knackered after yesterday, so we've had a slow start, just hanging and doing whatever the hell we had the energy for and wanted at any given time. I've lit tealights and candles, I've picked up the most necessary groceries and we'll have dinner delivered tonight, leftovers from her parents who wanted to share with us. That's a lowkey, very relaxed day.

I woke up early this morning, no surprises there, but have slept okay-ish throughout the night. Only been up once, for an hour. That's a brief stint for me, comparing to the usual way of things.

However, as I sat up this morning, waiting for K. to wake up, I suddenly had an urge to do collage art and I found all my stuff (I have a bunch) and made a collage inspired by the main character, Sylvie, from Lest They Leave. It's made from a postcard I bought yesterday at our local luxury teashop, another version of the same postcard is seen on the right next to it. I'm really happy with this, the pink and green colour scheme reflects a scene in the book where Sylvie is wearing a pink and green spring dress. And it just gives off her vibes a lot. Happy and spritely.



My first attempt at collage art in five years' time (I stopped doing it after we moved, because all my materials got lost in storage) is this, however, a Lady of the Camellias (ballet)-inspired one that I'm also really satisfied with. I made it at my friend's diy-themed birthday party and had a lot of fun with it!



They've both been framed and decorate my office right now. Makes me feel at home.

That's pretty much gonna be the vibe today.