#thanks for the existential crisis lovely quiz

[faeryarchives]

it's not me, it was my inner demons

gn!reader x dorm leaders (part two) - kalim al asim, vil schoenheit, idia shroud & malleus draconia

it's just your typical hangout with your lover, but then you suddenly decide to act on your thoughts out of the blue.

dorm leaders part 1. || vice dorm leaders part 1 (soon)

note: I JUST FOUND OUT LIONS DO NOT PURR 😭 thank u for @lavenderr-starrs for telling me ueueue but yes let's just imagine they do just for leona

✰ kalim al asim - captivating eyes

i know his eyes are closed in the picture but his garnet-red eyes seems to always pull you in every time he would invite you to go with him doing something

riding magic carpet with him? sure! building a water park behind ramshackle dorm? no problem! burning the school kit-

yes its hard to say no to him 🥹

like him doing the blink blink blink then all your arguments are gone because there is not a thought behind those beautiful eyes 🥺

"ok for my new year's resolution is to be able to fight my hardest battles." not a minute after, kalim's head popped out out of the corner of your eye - seeing you standing still, the dorm leader revealed himself and start to run towards you.

"(naaaaaaaaame) ~ !"

"hi kalim ~ and no i won't be able to hangout at scarabia today, i have a quiz tomorrow in music!" you can feel your boyfriend grabbing a hold of your arm from behind. kalim let out a wail, turning you around to face him to see him eye to eye.

"then i'll teach you instead! you know my best subject is music, pleaaaaase." you stared at each other, (eye color) eyes clashing with garnet-red ones. and are those sparkles around kalim's head?

'you know what, there is always next year.' sighing in defeat, you linked your arms with him as the two of you walked back to he scarabia dorm.

you two did study real! it lasted for an hour 🤓 but he is a good teacher though with the sound effects

there is not a day where you do not cheer up when seeing kalim looking at you with much love and care in those eyes

yes his eyes are the prettiest imo 🫡😤 wait what if i create a poll for that omg?

✰ vil schoenheit - their existence + debates

i did not lie ok !! vil's entire existence just gives me beautiful and elegant vibes 😫

and the effort vil put in his routine? get a notebook ou and take down notes because its a real deal!

its not like you act on your thoughts - it is more like vil can read your thoughts - staring at their hair? sit down, vil would gladly style yours. talking about their nails? they would teach you how to do it.

"potato, you are spacing out again. what is on your mind?"

"how come you always know what i am thinking? i can't even surprise you!" vil chuckled before giving you a peck on the forehead.

"you are just like an open book." and that is one of the things vil find so peculiar about you. rather than keeping anything hidden, even though you tried, you would still be see through.

"don't worry about surprising me with something. because you already are with your interesting choice of everyday topics."

the interesting topics in question are - is cereal soup? what would riddle feel when he is given a riddle? if you have described something as indescribable, haven’t you already described it?

tldr: you are giving vil existential crisis everyday 😊

vil doesn't mind though they actually find it entertaining on how you think of such topics

"vil, do you think if anything is possible, it’s still possible for anything to be impossible?"

"(name), potato. for the love of the great seven. it is three am."

"but like hear me o-"

they always love to hear you ramble but as much as possible. let us not do that in early morning 😭

✰ idia shroud - fluffy hair

ok i remember i asked this before if touching his hair burn your hands but it doesn't (if it burns, let's pretend)

when the two of you started going out + going on gaming nights as dates, you both just lean next to each other and screech - or criticizing that certain character in a movie

but one day, you discover that is hair in fact is quite ... unbrushed for days ...

"idia?"

"i did not eat the last pizza slice earlier. that was not me."

"... come here." after mentioning the pizza you've been also searching for an hour, you quickly grabbed the third year's shoulder and forced un to sit on the nearby chair with a brush on the other hand. his eyes stared as if it is his worst enemy.

"i think it's time for you to have a little cleaning up as punishment don't you think?"

at first he seems pretty reluctant, trying to avoid the direction of the brush but in the end he let you do so

and ngl, it feels so nice to have his hair brushed - idia even start to doze off midway

that is how relaxed he is during the process and wouldn't mind if you do it every one in a while

or maybe everyday 🥺

"idi-"

"i bought some new ha-hairpins that i thought you would like... i-it's right over the drawers"

yes. new daily commission unlocked - decorating idia's hair with anything you like

idia doesn't mind you styling his hair, and maybe he would even go on his day being proud of your artwork

✰ malleus draconia - the cowlick, the horns, THE FANGS !!

ok i do not have favoritism but i cant just choose one 🥹

malleus would notice how you would just stop replying to his stories and always catch you staring at his face

deep inside he was like "did he not like the story? was it strange?" but no !!

"child of man, what is wrong? did i said something wrong?" you blink twice before waving your hands in front defensively.

"ah! it's nothing, i was just wondering if i could do something for a second." malleus tilt his head to the side, curious. "and that is?"

"if i can touch you for a minute."

"..."

"... treasure we should not do that before marria-" you cut him of before he could finish his sentence, you cheeks flushing red.

"th-that's what i meant! i was just curious if your horns are as hard to touch as it looks." his eyes widen for a second before he closed his eyes - grabbing your hand and putting it on his horns

"there you go, treasure. you can touch them any time"

they are cold and hard to touch but it still feel fascinating + leads to head pats in which the dragon enjoys

what i mean enjoy it. malleus loves it very much

if there goes a day if you don't pat his head, he will pout. shocking your friends but who care he want your attention 🤬

and when he pouts his little fang pokes out

🥺

"(name), malleus-senpai have been staring at you for a while now."

"oh mal? that is his way of asking for head pats. i'll be back in a second"

it was not in fact a second because malleus didn't let go of your hand and laid down on you lap while enjoying the scenery

he needs his daily pats 🤬 he likes it too when u slightly play with his cowlick it feels ticklish

i do not have favorites i just have many words to say

and that is it for dorm leaders!! i pretty much wrote this brain empty again so if there is any correction to be made feel free to tell me i will check it immediatelyy 🫶 I MISSED UPDATING EVERYDAY ACTUALLY but naur my brain said no bitch u don't have any ideas for a scenario 🥲 i am thinking to write for genshin soon !! feel free to send me your thoughts abt it ueueue

[redmemoirs]

You caused me to have existential crisis with asking what character I'm most like so I'm returning the favor <3

Give us 10, 4, 18 and 14 girlie!

why fear when tomo's quiz exists 😌 fhsjfjf thanks for asking <3

4. Character with the best hairstyle

look im biased as hell and think haki is absolutely rocking that super elegant updo. aside from that tho i love yuzuris hairstyle! its sooo cute and fluffy

and ofc my biggest loves these two are... dare i say, serving. i really like that short bob(?) on the second girl its super cute and i want more short haired girlies

10. Ships or characters who you think deserve more love

i want to say haki so bad but a big part of my obsession with her is literally the fanon ive invented for her so... mitsuhide, honestly. im getting a little obsessed with that guy and his never making the top ranks with the rest of the ot5

14. Most hated arc

ahhh i dont think i have any arcs i hated! maybe the mihaya miniarc? it did feel a little ridiculous with mihayas abandoned castle haunt and zens perfectly timed perfect shoujo prince-esque rescue but i didnt really hate it. shirayuki actively escaping and fighting back was really fun. i guess in general i just prefer the later story to the early one

18. Your favorite rare pair

KIKIYUKI... WHERE ARE MY GIRLS. i love them and im dying for content of them i cant wait for my exams to end so i can go on a fic binge. maybe even write stuff myself hopefully! obizenyuki are too canon to be a rarepair <3

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Responses from the Opera Screencaps Captioning Quiz

Hello, everyone, and thank you for taking my quiz! I had SO MUCH fun reading your captions-- there were several times I literally started crying from laughing so hard at the amazingness of your work! With that in mind, the captions (which I will continue to add onto as more people take it):

(also, thank you to @dichterfuerstin​ for translating the German captions I got)

originally taken from: the Wiener Staatsoper’s 2020 production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, featuring Regula Mühlemann (center) as Blonde, Michael Laurenz (right) as Pedrillo, and an unnamed extra (left) as the Grim Reaper

Responses:

(Backstage warm-up) “ok so someone dropped the pulse”

me and my friends watching the fire burn after doing arson

Introducing the polycule to the parents

*boom* ... did...you guys hear that too?

Ma Signor !

Knight in whinging armour gone wrong, look at how he holds the egg. Polyamory with weird knight and death.

the father, son and the holy ghost are very gay

the gays meeting for brunch, 2021, colorized

chicken lady forces death and a very flamboyantly homosexual anthropomorphized pink bird to be parents of her egg (they dont want to be)

That’s just me and my friends on our night out (before covid rip)-- closest

A Good Friday night

good omens (2019)

["the pocket guide to boy/girl/mischief" meme] who's the boy and who's the mischief though????

Papageno and Papagena take their first-born egg trick-or-treating

Angry Birds - The Musical. A pig stole an egg and the bird unites with death to take revenge.

I love my bird wife

Someone got murdered during the funky chicken dance

throuple murders child and steals sibling of said child

When you and your friends have widely different tastes in literature

angel leading twink to his rightful place (hell)

draco malfoy from a very potter musical and a death eater are very much in the wrong show

What have I gotten myself into

Mlm/wlw solidarity but I’m not telling who is who

A woman stands with a pink dipshit with an egg and a reaper.

A bird-couple makes a pact with Death, sacrificing their first-born bird-child in order to bring good luck upon their unborn bird-baby

There are three types of people on Halloween:

Uh oh, I don’t think the mother hen is very happy about this...

oh god, they’ve invented seussical. It’s too early!

gay brunch

Three little maids from school are we

guys maybe if we dress gay enough we can distract everyone from the dead flapper bee in the back

those three killed a duck for her egg and are facing the conswquences.

Duck has egg with human, shocked and upset due to biological impossibility

When you bout to make a banging omelet so you invite your fellow queers

"No mortal man could pass that egg, but heaven shall repair your rectum."

originally taken from: the Salzburg Festival’s 2007 production of Hector Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini, featuring Maija Kovalevska (left) as Teresa Balducci, Laurent Naouri (center, in chimney) as Fieramosca, and Burkhard Fritz (right) as Benvenuto Cellini

Responses:

“In this same interlude it doth befall That I, one Snout by name, present a wall; And such a wall, as I would have you think, That had in it a crannied hole or chink, Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisby, Did whisper often very secretly. This loam, this rough-cast and this stone doth show That I am that same wall; the truth is so: And this the cranny is, right and sinister, Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.” - a midsummer night’s dream, act v scene 1

"ah yes a prime specimen. see here, right in this box is our one of a kind hob goblin that can be all yours for the low low price of your soul"

what, YOU don't have a special eavesdropping chimney window?

Hänsel und Gretel plotting against the witch

man takes a wrong turn and ends up in a chimney, catches his girlfriend cheating-- closest

when you end up third wheeling the straight couple

lady cheats on her leather jacket wearing scummy boyfriend and when he unexpectedly comes home she hides the lover in the chimney

A straight girl and her gay best friend gossip about stuff idk

Idk Shakespeare?

experimental couples therapy feat. the chimney mf from mary poppins

Area Couple Inadvertently Traps Santa-in-Training in Chimney as they Attempt Rooftop Flirting

Landlords laugh over student renter's misfortune

I never asked for this

Ay yo lil mama lemme whisper in your ear

voyeurist listens to sandy and Danny from grease

Psssst! Did you hear about Susan? You won’t believe it!

lady and the tramp meets beauty and the beast?

human trafficking

And for just $30 you too could have your own tiny brick cage!

Psst I’m wearing assless chaps under this dress

A couple tortures a man in a box.

It's all fun and games being stuck in a chimney until your greasy uncle steals your crush from right above you-- okay ngl this could actually be a great Don Pasquale concept

Taking eavesdropping to the next level

Will you two stop being lovey dovey and let me out? SUMMER LOVIN, HAPPENED SO FAST— 

overhearing how people talk about you when they think they're alone puts you in the shithouse 

Does he know we can see him?

dear god, i am so fucking hungry, yall please just do whatever heterosexuals do so i can go eat a popsicle 

the human version of the trash man from sesame street is realizing that those two are going to fuck on his trash can 

Tmw you capture an angry short dude and start trashtalking him where he can hear 

Omg what if we kissed but we actually kissed the lil goblin man under us

"Remember, don't feed him after midnight"

originally taken from: the Théâtre de Capitole du Toulouse’s 2017 staging of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Le prophète, featuring Leonardo Estevez (right, on fake horse) as Le Comte d’Oberthal

Responses:

“When I said we needed to drain the swamp I didn’t think there were people actually living there”

horse? what horse? no sir i dont know what horse youre referring to.

definitely don't have a napoleon complex going on

King stole La Scala‘s Lohengrin set

king breaks all his horses, has to use statue dragged by servants as transportation because he’s too kingly too walk

Emperor Söder and his subjects on a carnival procession

man on horse makes a big deal out of being on a horse

That’s not Zeffirelli because the horse is not alive

Who the fuck put a horse on the stage

isn't this that picture of napoleon on the horse

Area Count Thinks Citizens will be Intimidated by his Extremely Fake-looking Horse Statue-- closest

Everyone wants their turn on the giant plaster horse. Police are there to make sure everyone waits their turn.

Night out with the lads

Local royalty horrified at the state of his own damn kingdom

gay army fights different gay aesthetics-- hi author how does it feel to be the funniest fucking person on this quiz

Well at least I LOOK badass

ceasar if he hadn't gotten stabbed (colourised)

some soldiers jumped out of my kindergarten fairytale collection book to burn the don carlos flemish deputies at the stake

It’s just a model

Is that how you feel pulling up in your Honda Civic, Madge?

Someone rides a horse statue in public.

Just a normal party with the bros.

what is this, some kind of crossover episode? 

Terribly sorry for all the fuss, it’s just, that is, my horse is afraid of neck ruffles. I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he’s—whoaaa there—he said he was a french courtier in a past life and he’s allergic to English fashion 

Horse seller, listen to me! I am riding into battle. I need your strongest horse. - We have horses at home. - The horses at home: 

All hail Incitatus the king 

we are not ripping off shakespeare’s henry viii. what the fuck. this is about lenny xi you uncultured swine, go drown in a pit of your own farts 

oh god is that hamilton 

Guy Removed From Art Museum For Sitting On Statue, more at eleven 

Gay <3

Officer: This horse... is a virgin! Crowd: *cheers*

originally taken from: the Parma Verdi Festival’s 2017 staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s Stiffelio, featuring Maria Katzarava (left) as Lina and Luciano Ganci (right) as Stiffelio

Responses:

That One kid in class

its a mEntAL BreAkDowN *final countdown but kazoo*

*record scratch* yeah, that's me. you're probably wondering how I got here-- closest

Dad keeps monologuing, teenager is done

left: all of my concerned friends, right: my emo ass having a very public mental breakdown

the demons in the corner of my room when im just trying to sleep

lady gets mansplained to (do i need to say more, we've all been there)

It’s probably an area baritone telling off an area soprano-- sorry; it’s a tenor. soprano is right though.

That was a fake horse in the last photo right?

child comes out as gay to father at a particularly bad time

dissociation solves everything

I can't believe it's not butter

Honey we talked about this

My sleep paralysis demon is Crowley from supernatural

child has nightmare of boring job

When you start dating a singer but he won’t stop practicing at night

just an average day in a hetero marriage

what do i do my wife's having period cramps again

Stop having an existential crisis. It’s time to sing!

“No son of mine will kin Gomez Addams under MY roof”

Crowley stares into space while a teen has post nut clarity.

When he wont stop reciting jordan peterson monologues!!

Do you realize how effed you are?

Ugh, not this lecture again! Dad’s Practicing For His Experimental Indie Band Again 

asking your parents for help with your own personal situation and them just ranting off about what they went through instead of helping in any way 

Will he shut up already!

no one tell him he’s yelling in the wrong direction, no one tell him plnsbdjddhdj 

this kid is tired of his dad listening to rush limbaugh (a man who claimed to be pro life but died anyway) 

Me internally vs externally 

Daddy issues

originally taken from: the Grand Théâtre de Genève’s 2020 staging of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots, featuring several chorus members

Responses:

It’s the deadly eye Of Poogley-pie. Look away, look away, As you walk by, ‘Cause whoever looks right at it Surely will die. It’s a good thing you didn’t … You did? … Good-bye. - shel Silverstein

why the fuckith? my good sir, i beg of you to put your pants back on

I hate this itchy hat

Titanic Extras hear that they have to do extra hours

people waiting to board the titanic watch someone fall off the plank

pov: you’re a time traveler

guy in the flatcap is embarrassed by patriotism and pathos

No idea. For some reason Le Marseillaise comes to mind

Is this from Harry Potter?

disneyland main street usa workers on strike

local tries to hide behind Newsies cap to avoid unpleasant but inevitable conversations. meanwhile, some very fashionable ladies look on.

"Thank fuck, 2020 was just a dream after all"

“We gather here today because this bitch got exactly what she deserved” “heaven!” “Stfu Stephanie she’s going to hell and we all know it”-- not quite but this basically happens later on in the opera (and act) so yeah (except the person in question very much Did Not Deserve It)

dc movie filter on bridgerton

america?

looks like my history teacher paused the prohibition documentary again

Who still wears page boy hats bro?

Coming out to a room of people who Already Knew That

Bitches are relieved at some party.

Several drunk people exiting getting off the subway attempting to seem sober and rational but realizing they have somehow lost all of their possessions

How tf do I act natural in this situation-- closest

“do you think any of them noticed that I don’t know the pledge of allegiance” 

It's too fucking hot outside for this outfit 

?

when hyyh yoonkook ending just hits different 

pedestrians watch in horror as the triangle shirtwaist factory burns and the workers throw themselves out of the windows from a dozen stories up 

Starting the pledge of allegiance be like 

He's having a heart attack oh no oh god oh fuck

originally taken from: if I remember correctly, the Semperoper Dresden’s 2018 semi-staging of Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, with Jonas Kaufmann as Gabriel von Eisenstein

Responses:

“William Shakespeare wrote: "To thine own self be true And it must follow, as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man" I believe this wise statement best applies to a woman A blonde woman Over the past three years she taught me And showed us all That being true to yourself never goes out of style Ladies and gentlemen Our valedictorian: Elle Woods!” - legally blonde the musical

eat ass, suck a dick, and sell drugs

woooooorrrrd

Finally Jonas has graduated! It’s about time, considering he’s an international star.

what my professors think they look like

Prof. Dr. Dr. When someone tells him there are more than two genders

'and since you've now graduated high school, you'll be entering college etc. blablabla' .........meanwhile, there's a whole row of graduates daring each other to chug the cheap vodka one of them has brought in gallons (yes that happened at my graduation, lol)

Jonas darling baby <3-- can’t argue with that

I just realized I have no idea what the actual fuck happens in an opera

ok this one is just what jonas kaufmann always wears you can't fool me.

"as valedictorian i will share with you the importance of loving the floor"

"Yes, mother, my art degree will make me money!"

Graduation speakers are out, singers are in

Senior year takes a new meaninbg

mansplainer professor explains the concept of feminism to women

Your Prof when you finally turn in that missing assignment be like

younger boris johnson (derogatory)

jonas kaufmann retires from opera and takes up motivational speaking

What a fine graduation evening we’re having today

-70 points for slytherin you all have no swag

A man with a college hat sings.

An obviously greying actor trying to play a university student in a low-budget porn parody

How it feels to graduate high school after being held back for years

East High is a place where teachers encouraged us to break the status quo and define ourselves as we choose. Where a jock can cook up a mean crème brûlée, and a brainiac can break it down on the dance floor-

I may not have been "cool" in high school, but in ten years you will all be working for me!

I finally got my GED!

that one guy in ur intro to cultural anthropology class who mansplains to the professor somehow fucking graduated

he;s just graduating and taking his speech too serously idk

Graduation speeches with that one dude who got held back 3 times

Smrt

originally taken from: the Metropolitan Opera’s 2011 staging of Gioachino Rossini’s Le Comte Ory with Joyce DiDonato (left) as Isolier, Diana Damrau (center) as Countess Adèle, and Juan Diego Florez (right) as Le Comte Ory (disguised as a hermit)

Responses:

There is something very [disturbing grunts] About polyamorous couples - polyamorous, Chris Fleming

jinkies

femme fatale (including to herself)

I’ll have a threesome soon !

Hot guy walks by, everyone swoons.

thirdwheeling friend does not realize the other two are having sex

When your girlfriend had „just two beers“ again

jesus is exasperated about having to drag the two ladies towards doing what he needs them to do instead of purple dramatically declaring suicidal intent over the smallest trivial matters and red being equally dramatic about declaring that it's not the way! stay alive! i love you!!

The throuple is thriving

Get off the milf

orgy

my last three braincells because im a horny slut

countess receives too much love and is confused on how to react

Rasputin's lesser known romp with a much older czarina of russia

Woman's soul leaves body

Jesus and co. are worried after another woman gets pregnant without having sex

bisexual looks at photos of celebrity couples

When you go to the party to socialize with new people but your weirdo friend group starts getting clingy

Jesus cumming

one of those weird church christmas pageants but everybody's drunk

What have I done

Hozier??????????

Jesus assfucks some purple lady being hugged.

This time, the chick IS the magnet

An affair/threesome gone awry (2019 colorized)

What do you mean they canceled GLOW?

“I TOLD you it was cashmere!”

Are you wearing the - - The Gucci dress? Yes I am.

It's not what it looks like!

jesus is fucking that one cheerleader who grew up to be a suburban mom with one (1) super cool dress she stole from her kid who is desperately hugging her middle begging for it back because the spring fling is coming up and jason might actually make eye contact with her for more than three seconds.

jesus and mary magdaline and some other bitch

I’m at a bar and these drunk girls are flirting with me, do I lOOK GAY?!

Shrek 5, jesus's return

c. 2025 First attempt of an Officer and his Wife with a Handmaiden (colourized)

just about all of these are close lol

originally taken from: the Bolshoi Theater’s 1993 staging of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orléans, featuring Nina Rautio (left) as Joan of Arc and Vyacheslav Pochapsky (right) as Thibaut d’Arc

Responses:

Don’t look, I’m still pooping

yall, the audacity of this man. he fuckin talked to me

*i can't even tell you how wrong you are* *it would be insulting to ME*-- closest

Cospeto!

„No I’m not talking to you, you keep cracking bad jokes!“ - „But I got another!“

when you’re mad at him but he says he’ll buy you food if you cheer up

When I’m wallowing in self-pity but my friends won’t comfort me

right: wanna fuck ;) left: yeah, fuck OFF lmao

Her face is screaming “don’t tell me what to do”

Yeah I got nothing

gay man tries to hit on a lesbian bc he thinks she's a twink. she's not amused but she's watching this happen anyway

me tired of MET's bullshit and them organising a Netrebko, known blackface apologist, a recital during Black History Month. (sorry im still fucking salty lol)

"stop smiling at me like that I'm trying to pout over here"

"I got fleas, you got fleas... wanna fuck?"

I have the best idea!

Haha nooooo don’t hit me with that bat you’re so sexxyy

lesbian is bothered by dilf

Me trying to flirt

if call me by your name was hetero and set in america

how many more dad jokes can i take before i explode

So. You’ve gotten yourself in a little pickle again.

What if we fought in the Russian revolution together ✨???????... unless??

Two people flirt in a poor place of town/

"If you ask me what I've got under this dirty, shapeless tunic one more time I swear to god I will kick your rotting teeth in"

You look like ur gonna kill me but ok

Really? You again?

Okay, I’ve been sitting here for 20 minutes, do you think it’s safe to—oh god, he’s still there.

Have you seen Godot?

she is tired of everyone’s shit. she has done so many derivatives it physically pains her to see a variable. dont test her. ur icarus rn.

idk pick better pictures-- I HAVE DIED THE SHEER AUDACITY AND HUBRIS I LOVE THIS

200% done with your crap 

Homeless man has fucking legs of steel n is gonna show off his Russian dance moves

originally taken from: the Théâtre de Capitole du Toulouse’s 2019 staging of Paul Dukas’ Ariane et Barbe-bleue, featuring Sophie Koch (right) as Ariane and I don’t remember who the person on the left is rip me

Responses:

The knight who wore this into battle sure was swaggy

dear god its hiddeous

Capitalism

Knight in shining armour gone even more wrong.

ghost contemplates the safety of spiky motorcycle helmet

„Stop! He feels bullied!“

'this is my newest take for jesus's crucifixion crown ...... what do you mean they already put him up'

That’s probably a really expensive magic helmet idk. IDK-- closest

Omg I love the adventure zone!

minesweeper (windows xp)

"Okay whatever you do don't touch the shiny spiky ball" "It's so shiny I wanna touch it"

Taking down the trash way too late

IT'S NOT A PHASE MOM

Darth Vader got stuck in the freezer.... again. Leia isn’t happy

Star Wars 2030

“And here is the very latest in motorcycle helmet trends” “Look, I only came to the mall for a pair of socks “

futuristic kkk

long-suffering jewelry store attendant really wants to retire

Put it down put it down put it down

“Hmm no you should see a doctor about that”

A weird ass crown is presented

The creation of sars-cov-2: an experimental Eurotrance nightclub art piece gone horribly wrong

How it feels to want something that u cant have

AND WE WILL CALL IT—SPIKE MAN actually do you think that’s too obvious?? Because of the—yeah, because of the spikes?? See, that’s what I’m worried about. I want it to be SCARY

I know it's risky but... lube me up

?

use the force luke.

that is a weird fleshlight

When you get an ugly gift and need to find a way to get rid of it, so your family member/friend offers to smash it

Touch the orb

originally taken from: the Opera Vlaanderen’s 2019 staging of Fromental Halévy’s La Juive, with Nicole Chevalier (left, with bottle) as Princess Eudoxie, Enea Scala (center, under table) as Prince Léopold, and Roy Cornelius Smith (right) as Éléazar

Responses:

When no one comes to your birthday party :(

fantastic, day 487 of mischief and they have yet to find my masterful hiding spot

i really wonder who he thinks he's playing footsie with

Marriage crisis. Reason sits under the table-- closest but not in the way you think (after all, the man under the table IS a tenor).

the last supper afterparty after jesus left

When you order the last supper on wish

espionage at the Politischer Rosenmontag

Probably the wrong opera but is that Leporello under the table

Now THIS is a Good Friday night

this was every birthday party i went to between the ages of 5 and 11

that awkward moment when you drop your fork under the table but when you re-emerge everyone else has left except one drunk lady and the guy trying to deal with her

After the last supper

Tfw you arrive to the dinner party too early and have to hide until a more fashionable hour

When the cishets aren’t home

waiter hides from customers

Nobody: My dog every time I’m eating:

what's left of the homies Jesus had dinner with

university chem lab experiment gone terribly wrong

I’ve been under the table FOR 30 MINUTES

Set your friends up by tossing them off under the table, they’ll think it’s each other n fall in luv

Someone hids under a table

"You're about to see an surreptitious-under-the-table-dick-sucking master at work"

5 yr old me trying to eat the desert under the table without my parents finding out be like:

They never invite me to their parties!

Just another girl’s night in

Oops! Didn’t notice you the table.

dionysus - bts (2019, colorized)

just a normal episode of eric andre (eric is the one under the table)

Just a normal day with the boys

Thievery

originally taken from: the Théâtre de Capitole du Toulouse’s 2017 staging of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Le prophète, featuring Kate Aldrich (left, surrounded by women in white) as Fidès and John Osborn (center, looking like a Jesus doppelganger) as Jean de Leyde

Responses:

Hold up, is that Eggman above Jesus?

holy disco

Looks like Tannhäuser. Our lord and saviour Richard Wagner. Now I need to be saved from that.

catholicism

me defending pineapple on pizza (THANK YOU)

jesus but hes about to be abducted by the alien ufo above him

Emmmmmmm Heaven? Idk

Lord of the rings?

ewww christianity gross

"behold, I am Important"

"Seriously?? It's not ACTUALLY pyjama day? Fuck you guys!"

Jesus at the Disco

Jesus Finds The Molerat People Who Live Under Bethlehem

disco is heaven

Want to join my new religion?

the kkk

church christmas pageant where everyone's sober but it's based on the director's fever dream

Am I the only one who sees the giant demon? Just me? Okay...

“Oh god I think I’m starting my period”

A party is held with a priest in the middle

"Let's get this secret Vatican sex party rolling!"

The new avengers endgame set is looking great!!

You know, guys, I try not to be a bother but...I can’t help but feel like I missed a dress code memo for this wedding??? It’s cocktail, right??”

Jesus visits Hogwarts

I must really stink if no one will even come close to me

the extra ass funeral i DESERVE

star wars life day

A cult at it’s best-- closest

Shrek 5, Jesus is still there I guess

originally taken from: the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden’s 2013 staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes, featuring Bryan Hymel (left, standing) as Henri, Lianna Haroutounian (center, kneeling in the black gown) as Duchess Hélène, and Erwin Schrott (kneeling to her right) as Jean Procida

Responses:

When the director’s like “great rehearsal guys, just a few notes before I let you go” but it’s already 9:13 and your mom’s waiting in the parking lot

loyalist of subjects

bow before your queen

They forgot to take down the stage boxes after the Vienna opera ball but the show must go on.

somebody forgot to book chairs for this funeral

Me sharing God’s (Hayley koyoko) word on the discord server

mass execution bc the oboe solo sucked ass-- closest

That’s too many black suits I can’t see shit

I can’t even tell what’s going on here

8th grade school assembly about how it's uncool to shit on the walls at school

let's all get fancy so we can go to the opera and sit on the stage (idk this one's hard lol)

"Yes i am a time traveller, now don't freak out"

Tfw you forget to pay your lighting bills

White guys make decisions that will benefit them and screw someone that’s not a white guy over-- OUCH but that is too real (although not really in context here)

dead man gives speech at his own funeral

brotus and the boys ??? last meeting before the stabbing

high society social function ends in mass murder-- right opera, wrong scene

Someone walks into the talent show stage with a dog

Black-dressed bitches worship a man.

Worst school assembly of all time

POV:You're the window in the classroom and someone said "its snowing"

When the conductor shows up fashionably late to the orchestra concert

That's what you get for choosing the cheapest ticket option, get back in the mud where you belong

?

theyre just trying to jump into a grave at a funeral leabe them alone this is normal

oh my god he really whipped his dick out in front of everyone, this is just like in 1776 guys, except some women are actually in the room this time,

A funeral, stop wearing so much black

I want to slap their bald heads like rice

originally taken from: the Teatro Real Madrid’s 2018 staging of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, featuring Roberto Tagliavini (right) as Raimondo

Responses:

Crowd “haha!! Looks like someone missed the all-black memo!! Now it’s laugh-in-your-face time! / Guy on the floor (whispering to guy against wall): go, save yourself! I’ll hold them off...”

if i leave now i wont be a witness and can tell the police i had no idea

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times

Guy in the back pretends to help but is to far away to even know what’s going on.

priest walks in on beginning of an orgy, contemplated joining but is too scared-

when someone brings up capitalism but you’re just trying to play minecraft

lol lets trample this guy while the judge isnt looking

Again. Too many black costumes

Loved this Dostoevsky novel

i would know if opera directors were more creative with clothing choices ngl

me on parties lol

"imma just sneak out of here while everyone else is distracted"

"Where did he get this flooring!? Amazing!"

Everyone act normal!

The tell tale heart but they got REALLY drunk

man tposes to ward off vampires after being caught undercover

boys ???? night

the priest really shouldn't have visited the insane asylum-- closest

He’s FINE everyone’s been hit by a car before

Something happens in a room.

Perks of being a wallflower

There's always that one person in the fight whos trying not to get involved when they really wanna

Oh good, they’re all posing for a Rembrandt painting, I can just sneeeeaaak out the back here...

The gamer livestreaming Resident Evil + everyone watching the stream ? waiting for him to open the door just knowing it will trigger a chase scene

Quick!

the guy t posing in the back is regretting his every decision.-- also accurate

the us senate jumps ted cruz, some other wack ass gop senator is trying to sneak away

...I spoke too soon, however this is a James Bond mission

Queers help fellow queer do math but it's a struggle

[emgoesmed]

I posted 194 times in 2021

183 posts created (94%)

11 posts reblogged (6%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.1 posts.

I added 1,317 tags in 2021

#emgoesmed - 185 posts

#studyblr - 173 posts

#med student - 161 posts

#med school - 161 posts

#studyspo - 160 posts

#med studyblr - 160 posts

#productivity - 111 posts

#days of productivity - 96 posts

#coffee - 64 posts

#my honest studyblr - 46 posts

Longest Tag: 110 characters

#these aren’t isolated events and horrible things have been happening for a really long time to a lot of people

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

4/5/2021

The start of a new week, feeling refreshed. I watched the sunrise this morning and I love when the sky looks so gentle and soft.

185 notes • Posted 2021-04-05 12:19:36 GMT

#4

8/6/2021

Another day, another cafe. No class today because of the holiday, thank God because I am still trying to catch up on studying.

241 notes • Posted 2021-09-06 15:17:20 GMT

#3

9/13/2021

I decided to do a mini experiment this week and try going to all the lectures in person, and see if my performance on the weekly quiz improves.

This means I’m starting off with 6 hrs of lecture today but I’m feeling refreshed from the weekend and ready to go 😌

266 notes • Posted 2021-09-13 14:50:52 GMT

#2

5/25/2021

Savoring my chance to rest and relax before things get busy again.

I met with my summer research advisor this morning and I’m so excited to get started on my project in a couple of weeks!

🎧 Moon Flame - Andro

286 notes • Posted 2021-05-25 19:38:43 GMT

#1

4/14/2021

Now that I'm vaccinated I decided to go to a local cafe. It's my first time studying in a cafe in over a year.

I think I expected it to feel like a "return to normal" but it actually feels strange...I'm not used to being around strangers anymore.

Well, my small existential crisis aside, the coffee here is really good.

665 notes • Posted 2021-04-14 15:14:45 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[painted-crow]

Submission Time #21

SHC submission :)

Hey! Ive been pretty stuck on my primary for a while (which is making me think i might be a bit burned) so I thought id send in some of my answers to the quiz questions. (p.s. i know i have a snake model for my best friend, who id do anything for :] so if theres a bit of snake flavour, that might be why)

Hi there!

1. If people in your family or community disagree with you, is it hard to act against their wishes?

I always say “If the people close to me are against it, I’m less likely to go through with it” because, if I’m making a big decision, i would have done a bit of research/thought about it a lot before hand, so my family being against it would cause me to recheck my thinking. i might have missed something.

That sounds pretty Birdy so far!

2. Top priority?

i say making the world a better place. thought id include this q because i have a weird bit of unhealthy mentality (I’m working on it, don’t worry!) where i feel like i have to do something to help people/be remembered or im not doing enough with my abilities? which sounds strangely unhealthy badger-y now that i write it down?

Having this as a priority/motivation isn't bad! It becomes unhealthy if you start to hang your self worth on it, which it sounds like you're aware of and working on. This could be Badger, but it could also easily be Bird.

The other thing that sounds Bird about this is the way you seem to be watching and analyzing yourself as you write this. Like, the gap between you saying something and then talking about what that might mean is very short. That does seem to correlate with Bird; Birds tend to have a strong "observing self."

3. lie to an acquaintance to save their piece of mind?

yeah i would, without a doubt. if i thought i was doing what was best by lying and saving their feelings, i wouldn’t feel bad. but if it was something important that they needed to know, id tell them.

So like, a reasoned judgment call.

4. Listen to your intuition?

Yeah. Its important and knows things you don’t imo. For regular decisions id feel comfy going solely off intuition, but for big decisions id probably need to find other data or research before id feel comfortable. side note, if my intuition and information were telling me 2 different things, id hate that. id probably end up going with my information, but heavily on lookout for anything that would tell me otherwise

Ooh, interesting! You've got some Lion to you. I have posts about telling the difference between Bird modeling Lion and the other way around--but just from this so far, I'd say Bird might be your main House. You seem satisfied using it, and you’re willing to drop Lion for it if you really have to. But you don't ignore your intuition as a data source/way of parsing a situation through your system.

5. What if everyone you loved left you? They betrayed you, abandoned you, or died, and you're hurting. What keeps you moving forward?

Theres still so much to see and do. even if i was by myself, theres still so many amazing experiences you can have and things you can do on our beautiful planet.

:)

6. You can’t help everyone in the world who needs it, but you wish you could.

yeah. i wish i could, but thats just not how the world works? do i feel shitty sometimes? yeah. but if i help who i can, I’m fine with that.

It's also this pulling from Badger that makes me think Bird, if that doesn't sound too contradictory. Like, you've got these Badger ideals, but you kinda argue with yourself about them! Yet they're still wired into your emotions.

But you seem to talk to yourself like a Bird, making decisions about what's practical and how much weight you want to put on these ideals.

I totally get why you're confused, though. So far you've shown Lion, Badger, and Bird in this submission, and you've also said you have a Snake model for your best friend.

Birds are notorious for pulling in bits of other primaries we like, though, so I see this as more of a hint in that direction than anything else.

7. You've changed your mind about an old belief or moral stricture that you used to value. You got new information and you've tried to update your way of thinking, and you think (hope?) you're a better person for it. Do you feel guilty about the old belief you've abandoned?

i might feel a bit guilty, but if i updated my thinking/beliefs to be better then I’m fine with a bit of guilt. ill get over it. its for the best.

Solid Bird answer here.

8. When you sit down and consider the terrifying lack of objective truth in our reality, how do you feel?

haha oh god don’t get me started on this, ill be sent into a spiral of existential crisis—

:p yeah this doesn't contradict that theory either lol, I think you're a Bird. Still up to you ultimately, but!

Hey again! thought id put a little thank you at the end- you don’t need to include it if you don’t want to! :) Thanks for everything that you do for the shc community. you blog and awesome write ups have helped make me feel better when I’m sad and brighten up my day. thanks for all you do, you’re amazing!!

🥺🥺🥺 you are so sweeeeet! thank you ☺

Thanks for your submission, hope this helps!

- Paint

[mouseclub]

hi! i took your quiz and got "i hear a symphony" and i'm curious about the other results, but taking the quiz repeatedly is a hassle. could you post them or something? idk man

if you’d like me to, then sure!! fair warning though, i can’t remember if i mentioned it in the results page but the rest are nowhere near as pretty and are mostly kindof silly stories and memories about weird things that have gotten me disproportionately emotional lol. either way, i’ll put them all under the cut :)

claire de lune (but specifically from the danganronpa v3 ost)

CONTEXT: i'm the type that can listen to a song on repeat for literal hours while drawing/writing but one time i listened to this for around 40 minutes while making a drv3 animatic and it ended up throwing me into an existential crisis so fuckin hard i started questioning what i was doing with my life and why i was drawing and i had to turn everything off and go to bed. what this says about you is up for interpretation. godspeed

fuyunohanashi - given

CONTEXT: the last few episodes of given were coming out when the 19-20 school year started and the episode with this song in it came out while i was in class. naturally, i sat there in my 7th period AP lang class and watched it on my phone. problem is, the scene when this song is played shatters me like 50 stacked panes of glass under a hydraulic press and i needed to cry but couldn't because the room was PIN-DROP SILENT. needless to say the moment class was over i made a run for it and cried like a little baby to my confused but ultimately supportive friends. you're a core high school memory and an Emotionally Taxing Bop and you remind me both of wintery cool tones and the silly school memories i wish i hadn't taken for granted. like a snow day except i'm from california so i've never had that sauce. i respect it regardless

everything she wants - wham

oh god the memories. this one was from when i was really head over heels obsessed w this dude and at my peak yearning hours i wrote a wattpad journal entry saying i was gonna listen to this song on repeat until i "fell out of love with him." i forget the details but i guess i did? what this says about you i have absolutely no idea but the song is still a whole vibe and you remind me of funky shades of pink and purple so i respect u immensely

unforgettable - natalie & nat king cole

this ones SUPER fuzzy in my brain but the weird nostalgia from my childhood combined with the weird movie end-credits vibes of this song make me forget that i'm a person when i'm listening. plus the weird calmness but sense of Oh God This Feels Like It Belongs At The End Of A Movie makes me feel like im about to get game-ended which is unnerving. probably the most subtle yet deeply cursed entry in this quiz. i see you

this side of paradise - coyote theory

CONTEXT: this song reminds me very specifically of a few of my comfort characters/ocs and when i heard it the first time it shattered me like glass (but in the good way). im telling you right now youre a BEAUTIFUL soul this is the one entry that's in here not because i was overwhelmingly sad but rather overwhelmingly Oh God Im So Fucking Soft And I Need To Cry About It For Twenty Minutes. anyways i care you thanks for quizzing

jet lag - nct 127

CONTEXT: last summer i got on a flight for the first time since i was a small child and i was STUPID scared but i listened to this during takeoff all 4 flights and let me tell you. did not help. the song itself is chill and you probably are too, but there's always a lingering sense of dread underneath i simply can't shake. do with all this information what you will.

verbatim - mother mother

i used to listen to this song to cheer up bc the lyrics are Haha Funny and it fucking bops but then i got evicted from my childhood home and it... stopped working. this breakdown is one of my core memories so congrats! ur one of the only motherfuckers in this joint that can handle me. if you take anything away from this know your vibes are IMMACULATE and i appreciate you

heaven - exo

CONTEXT: my synesthesia used to go absolutely bananas to this song bc its so YELLOW and the shapes that bounce around in my brain are very pleasant, but a few years ago i was writing fanfic and i wrote the scene where i killed off a character to this song on repeat for an hour and it has never been the same since. it's like when you look at something's surface and it looks pristine but you just Know there's something writhing underneath... but a less intense version of that feeling, because i know it's just the memory i tie to it that makes me feel this way and the yellow vibes cancel it out yknow

scrawny - wallows

this one's pretty short and stupid. i started thinking about a stupid anime boy that i thought had basically died while listening to this song and fuck bro. he really was a scrawny motherfucker w a cool hair style. cue the waterworks. but then after an entire day of on and off mourning i found out he turned out ok and stopped. no i will not elaborate on which boy i am holding onto my last shred of dignity here. what this says about you i'm not sure BUT youre probably cooler than me and your vibes are immaculate i know it in my heart

i hear a symphony - cody fry

this breakdown was yesterday! i was reccommended this song by a friend and immediately fell in love, but it didn't fully hit until the song's climax. and let me tell you. it BROKE me. the a capella beginning, with the piano slowly coming in, then the strings, and suddenly it's growing and crescendoing and-- there it is. my synesthesia goes wild and i lack the language to describe what it looks like other than absolutely grandiose and gold and christ i'm rambling but despite it's simplicity-- or maybe BECAUSE of its simplicity-- if love were a song, it'd be this one. almost all of the other entries are funny anecdotes where i seem to cry about the silliest things but this one i genuinely cannot come up with a joke for and i'm probably biased right now because i'm listening to it on repeat again but damn. you won. you're golden.

[thelifeoftuan]

Journalism Hell

There’s a little known fact about me. Or a fact that is usually forgotten. Either way. In college, apart from my Biochemistry major and pursuit of a career in medicine, I was also a Journalism major.

We’ll backtrack a little bit. Spring 2010 of my sophomore year of college, following a meeting with my advisor within the College of Arts and Sciences for my Biochemistry degree towards the end of that semester, I sort of spun out of control into this existential crisis. Hahaha! Why, you might ask? Well, it was at that meeting that my advisor was reviewing all of my credits and told me that I was on track to graduate the following Spring. And I was like, “What?” He looked over all of my requirements and said that with some good planning, I am set to graduate the following year. And in my head, I, for some reason, started to panic. Hahaha! I was like, “Um, excuse me dude, I’m only a sophomore. I haven’t even taken the MCAT yet, let alone apply for medical school. I’m not ready to graduate.” I remember asking him what my options were, and he was like, either book it and take the MCAT two months ago and apply to medical school yesterday then saunter on over to the commencement department and get ready to apply for graduation... or, do something else. I went home and stewed. ...like stewed to the point where the stew burned. And I was like, “what the shit! I didn’t plan for this!” Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, why am I complaining, right? The prospect of graduating a year early from college isn’t something to be butt-hurt about. But at that time, I was definitely not ready, mentally or emotionally. Not to mention I was nowhere near ready to really plunge into the horrid process of applying for medical school. That would have required me to get together letters of recommendation, transcripts, take the MCAT (and do somewhat well), apply for our pre-medicine committee interview (a stupid and unnecessary process, honestly, in retrospect), decide where I wanted to try to go to medical school and get those applications together... within a matter of weeks, because if memory serves me right, the application cycles started in the summer. So after I (rather unnecessarily, I will admit) agonized about this, I was like, “nah bro, we’re staying the full four years.” And it was at that time that I then embarked on my existential crisis. What the crap was I gonna do that will effectively prolong my stay in college to the appropriate four years? And it took a couple of days. I didn’t want to squander my time (or money, to be honest) doing something that wasn’t worthwhile. But I also didn’t want to over-tax myself. At first, I was like, well? I’ve always seen myself as a writer, maybe I should delve down that route. I initially thought about picking up an English major or minor. I spent hours and hours pouring over the coursework and projecting my class schedules and how that would pan out or if it would even work. And I discovered that it would if I picked up an English minor. And this department was within the College of Arts and Sciences, and so I wouldn’t have to really branch out too far from “home base.” But then I delved further into the required classes and read up on the syllabi (syllabuses? ...silly buses?) and looked up the instructors on the university online database, and review after review for course after course... they were all mostly bad with, at best, a B- average for grades, and I was like, “...I actually don’t think this is for me.” Being a literature buff was not my thing, and I think the English minor/major at my university trains students for that... which, in my opinion, was not worth my time or energy. I barely knew how to read, let alone critically analyze literature. I definitely was not going to risk something that would take shots at my already teetering GPA if I could help it, especially if it was something additional I was taking on. At that point, I would’ve rather graduated a year early and figure it out from there. So I scrapped that idea. And then it was back to the drawing board. Another several days of searching and seeking counsel... and then one day, a random thought came into my head. There was this nice building at the southern corner of the campus that was one of the newer colleges of our university, the College of Journalism. I would always walk by this building but never ventured in. One nice summer day that Spring semester of 2010, I did. And immediately, I felt sort of the same “at home” vibe I had felt all those years ago when I decided I wanted to become a pediatrician. Another little known fact. I actually started writing (for lack of a better term, honestly) before I even decided medicine was my calling. I remember in kindergarten, I had started writing and I remember my teacher reading some of my stories to my classmates. It wasn’t talent. It was a whim. Some sort of strange whim that has carried me forward throughout the years, just like how my aspiration for a career in medicine did. Within the College of Journalism was a major known as Professional Writing. I went home immediately after that day and did all the research I could on this. There was, unfortunately, no minor offered for any of the journalism majors. But the more I read about the Professional Writing track, the more and more I was sold. This major would train me and give me the skills I needed to become a more proficient writer and actually give me an avenue and motivation to continue writing as a potential career. None of that literary crap that made me despise high school English class, but stories that I would actually enjoy writing. I meticulously planned out my current coursework remaining for my Biochemistry major and overlay the required coursework for a Journalism-Professional Writing major... and it was like over-packing for a trip (another one of my wondrous qualities), borderline impractical and insane, but doable if done correctly. I asked myself, “how invested are you in this, Tuan?” I remember taking an afternoon to think about this, seeking opinions from some of my friends. And then, by the end of the day, I decided to go for it. I scheduled a meeting with an advisor at the college who, honestly and I think appropriately, questioned my sanity. I concretely remember him, one, looking at me with his eyebrows raised when I told him my background and experience (or lack thereof), and two, asking me repeatedly, “Are you sure about this?” But when I expressed my extreme interest and drive, he complied and laid out the requirements for me. I would have to take an entrance competency exam (basically a reading and writing exam). Thank goodness the foreign language requirements were the same among colleges, because I was not about to go down that route again (Spanish 3 is a story for another time...). That summer of 2010 would end up being my busiest summer. Because I picked this new major, I would have to get the required prerequisites out of the way before I could even think about starting any Journalism classes. So this required me to take two journalism classes over the summer. And I had also enrolled in a Biochemistry course that summer. So, three classes during that fateful summer of 2010. Hahaha! Not my smartest decision. But it felt like this new endeavor into the world of Journalism breathed new meaning in my life, and I felt rejuvenated and excited. Well, that feeling did not last too long. Hahaha! Mind you, yes, the entire way until I graduated college, I loved my Journalism major and classes, and it was definitely a reprieve away from my science classes and the stress of applying for medical school. But the very first class I had to take, and I will always remember the course ID to this day, was JMC 2033: Writing for Mass Media (JMC stood for Journalism and Mass Communication and was the ID used for all Journalism classes at my university). This was the introductory “weed-out” class for Journalism majors... which shocked me when my teacher, an impassioned writer and, in my opinion, rather poorly directed masters student who took pride in making this class the hardest it could ever possibly be, said to us on our first day, “If you are taking this class in the summer thinking that it was going to be easier, think again.” In my head, I was like, “oh shit.” No biochemistry professor of mine ever said that in any of my classes on the first day, and here I am, at a place I thought was the greener side of things, and there’s this crazy 20-something-year-old lady with an ego the size of the screen projected at the front of the classroom ready to skewer each and every one of us for the next 8 weeks. ...and skewer us she did. She definitely found some sick joy torturing us students in that class that summer. And I was so out of my element. I knew that I had a disadvantage and that this wasn’t something I had a true strength in. Other people in my class seemed to have read all the time and knew how to pick apart articles, had an eye for ads and design, understood the basic workings of PR and broadcasting. Me? I was the lowly writer who really only had the skills of an unpolished kindergartener. ...but I will be damned if I let my first step into the Journalism world be a misstep. So that summer, even more than my Biochemistry class, I worked my ass off more than ever before. Because it was a summer class, we crammed 16 weeks of work into 8... which was not the healthiest thing, honestly, because that required working and studying every single night, because this lady would present us with quizzes almost every single day of class. And this class was Monday through Thursday. Not to mention you had to make a C average or above in this class to be accepted into the College of Journalism (which, yes, is a given for anything, really), but as you will see from the quiz averages of this particular class, that was kinda touch and go, and I feared for my life and the life of my classmates at several points. And thus arrives the main topic of this post. Hahaha! (That took a while, right?) These quizzes we were subjected to tested absolutely everything (but truthfully, essentially nothing) about the supposed skills a journalist should have. Looking back... honestly, it was mostly hogwash, as you’ll come to see. Hahaha! This class was so bad and so hard that I ended up making daily Facebook status posts about it and then compiling them all together in a singular post titled “Lessons in Journalism Hell” posted on my Blogspot exactly 9 years ago today. I think the funniest (and frankly most appalling) thing this teacher did for this class was each morning, she would post the quiz averages of the day before on the large projector in front of the class, which I always wrote down so that I could relay how horrid this class was, and she also put the highest score and the lowest score on the projector and always, without fail, revealed to the class who made the highest score. ...if she had revealed who made the lowest score, she probably would’ve been murdered, honestly, because no one in the class liked her. And if someone made a perfect score, she would put the student’s name up there for all to see. ...it was kinda insane what this lady did. I look back on this course with such comical contempt, because I was like, “if all of my Journalism classes are going to be like this, I have made a grave mistake.” Thankfully, this was not the case. JMC 2033 is, notoriously, and especially when taught by this one particular crazy lady, is the hardest class in the college. I think what made it hard was it was an introductory course that attempted to teach all Journalism majors the basic concepts of journalism and mass communication, which included advertising, broadcasting, PR, and professional writing, and incorporated the necessities of media literacy and competence. I will say that I learned a few things from this class. But was any of it particularly useful? I mean, a good majority of our assignments and preparation for quizzes was to read or watch or listen to something that was published within a specific time window the day/night before and remember every single goddamn detail we possibly could and hope that we even read, watched, or listened to the right thing so that we could answer quiz questions the following morning. ...perhaps that only useful thing I did pick up from this class was a stronger resilience and work ethic than what I had previously. Haha! And so, without further ado, I would like to repost my Lessons in Journalism Hell on my tumblr today, to commemorate a rather miserable yet pretty laughable time in my life 9 years ago when I decided to pursue a Journalism major the summer before my Junior year of college. Each lesson is numbered and dated with a short sentence or two I devised to describe what the quiz was about, followed by the class average (and often my own personal commentary on such average). I don’t remember my own grades from these quizzes, as I didn’t write them down. It felt like it was poor form. Also, the teacher took back our quizzes after we had five seconds to review them (for some dumbass reason I will never understand), so I don’t have them in any archives of mine. But anyway, I present to you, Lessons in Journalism Hell, June 9 - July 29, 2010. June 9 | Journalism Hell Lesson #1: Copy-editing marks. A journalist MUST learn how to copy-edit using the CORRECT symbols and marks. Class avg: 57.7/100 ...HOLY CRAP! June 10 | Journalism Hell Lesson #2: Making distinctions. A journalist MUST learn how and when to use who vs. whom. Class avg: 79.6/100 June 14 | Journalism Hell Lesson #3: AP Style. A journalist MUST learn how to use AP (Associated Press) style of writing. Class avg: 63/100... and teacher said she expected great things from this quiz -.- June 15 | Journalism Hell Lesson #4: Newspapers. A journalist MUST learn how to read a newspaper--and figure out what content the teacher will quiz over. Class avg: horrendously low... T_T June 16 | Journalism Hell Lesson #5: Language Lapses. A journalist MUST learn that you feel bad NOT badly, that mobs are always angry and beatings are usually brutal, and finally, that you are usually nauseated, NOT nauseous...unless you make OTHER people want to vomit. Class avg: 97.3/100 :] June 17 | Journalism Hell Lesson #6: Newspapers Round 2. A journalist MUST learn how to read the newspaper (again), analyze it, memorize important facts, and rely on sheer gut about what the heck the teacher will ask on the quiz. Class avg: 68.2/100 ...my Buddha. -.- June 21 | Journalism Hell Lesson #7: Diversity. A journalist MUST know the difference between an oreo and a twinkie. Enough said. Class avg: 75.7/100 June 22 | Journalism Hell Lesson #8: Diversity Part 2. A journalist MUST learn how to read online news sources about blacks, Native Americans, and gays. Class avg: 43.7/100 ...OH MY SNAPS! We're getting killed by these quizzes! June 23 | Journalism Hell Lesson #9: It's anyone's guess. A journalist MUST know that if he/she WERE smarter, he/she would have made a better grade on this quiz. Class avg: 77/100 June 24 | Journalism Hell Lesson #10: Huffingtonpost.com. A journalist MUST... oh, what the hell. This quiz was completely insane and taught me nothing besides how terribly vague and untimely the quiz content was. All I learned was that huffingtonpost.com updates multiple times and the time frame we journalism students were given was within a 10-hour time span. Class avg: 58.8/100 -- I'm starting to get worried... June 29 | Journalism Hell Lesson #11: AP style round 2. A journalist MUST continue to learn how to use AP (Associated Press) style of writing. Class avg: 70/100 June 30 | Journalism Hell Lesson #12: The Week (online magazine). A journalist MUST not give up. As we are all getting tired of this, refer back to lessons 4, 6, and 10. Class avg: 71.9/100 July 1 | Journalism Hell Lesson #JUST KIDDING: There was no quiz today. WHOOPEE! July 6 | Journalism Hell Lesson #13: Us Weekly. A journalist MUST not let his/her brain melt while reading this tabloid-esque trash. Class avg: 78.1/100 July 7 | Journalism Hell Lesson #14: AP style round 3. A journalist MUST continue to learn how to use AP style of writing. Class avg: 93.2/100 ...WOOHOO! July 8 | Journalism Hell Lesson #15: Pluralizing. It's bitches and hoes! Class avg: 85.9/100 July 12 | Journalism Hell Lesson #16: AP style round 4. Class avg: 85.9/100 July 13 | Journalism Hell Lesson #17: AP style round 5. Class avg. 82.1/100 July 15 | Journalism Hell Lesson #18: NPR. A journalist MUST listen to 20 stories of Morning Edition on NPR (National Public Radio) and remember all the details. Class avg. 76.4/100 July 19 | Journalism Hell Lesson #19: NBC Nightly News @ 5:30 p.m. A journalist MUST watch the 5:30 p.m. programming of NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Class avg. 89.3/100 July 20 | Journalism Hell Lesson #20: AP style round 6. Class avg. 85.7/100 July 21 | Journalism Hell Lesson #21: Advertising Age (AdAge.com). A journalist MUST be familiar with AdAge.com. Class avg. 70.9/100 ...and we were doing so well. -.- July 22 | Journalism Hell Lesson #22: PR Newswire (prnewswire.com). A journalist MUST be familiar with a PR tool website. Class avg. 72.9/100 July 26 | Journalism Hell Lesson #23: ESPN.com. A journalist MUST ...seriously?! This is by far the stupidest thing I've studied. Class avg. 75.4/100 July 27 | Journalism Hell Lesson #24: The First Amendment. A journalist MUST memorize the First Amendment... word for word. Class avg. 81.5/100. Awesomeness! July 28 | Journalism Hell Lesson #25: TMZ.com. A journalist MUST read more trash. Ugh. Class avg. 68.6/100. ...GEEZ! July 29 | Journalism Hell Lesson #26: Gawker.com. And so, the last lesson in Journalism Hell before the shit hits the fan. A journalist MUST read even MORE trash. -.- Class avg. 71.2/100 Hahaha! There you have it. Needless to say, I got through this class with an A (thank Buddha. I honestly would have been a little upset if the decision to pick up a second major in college brought down my GPA and further hurt my chances of getting into medical school). My teacher called out my name a number of times because I had made the highest grade on a quiz, and I think my name showed up on the board twice because I had made a perfect score on two quizzes. Each time, I just sunk into my seat and avoided eye contact. I definitely did not take these instances as accolades, because it made me feel really bad because the class averages were so low, and my classmates honestly were not having it with this lady, so I definitely did not appreciate her putting me on the spot. But regardless, I persevered and left JMC 2033 in the rear-view mirror as I started my actual Professional Writing classes the following fall semester. It gave me a giggle to go through this post again. Some comical memories of a pretty grueling summer, for sure, but productive and successful nonetheless. In the end, I definitely enjoyed my classes at the Journalism college, and it was definitely a decision that I did not regret. Anyway, just thought I’d trek through memory lane for a bit on this late night. Till next time. :]

[musicallisto]

Ok so I took your quiz and I was gonna submit a song but accidentally skipped it, but shim al yasmine by mashrou’ leila is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard and I j wanted to recommend it lol

hmmmm brother??? i have just listened to it (with a translation of the lyrics, because I unfortunately do not speak arabic) and!!!!! opening a song with "smell the jasmine", and not expecting me to love it? impossible. the vibe of the song is immaculate and very sorrowful, and I'm absolutely adding it to my late night drive / existential crisis playlist. thanks for the rec♥

[legend-waitforit-harry]

Blame this on @hestylesno as she’s the one who sent me this pic from which this concept slew and then this… yeah. Also totally her fault for encouraging me further into it. So here you have it!

Featuring alien!Harry, scientist!Ed and a girl torn between her protective brother and a really beautiful stranger.

  Harry has always been curious. Always taking the less traveled path, always peeking inside the haunted house, always eating that one thing his mother asked him not to. He wasn’t a rebel. No, Harry didn’t like to be called so. He was just curious, at times too curious for his own good. And that was everyone’s main concern when like all his other brothers and sisters he was to join the survey ship and take rounds of the neighborhood. Coming of age, it was a ritual for everyone on their planet to know their surroundings, which extended all through the Milky Way. He as a child, as a very very curious child, loved to know about his neighbors. Especially the ones from whom he got his name.

It is an interesting story, because it wasn’t supposed to happen, like most of the things that happened to Harry. He, like all the other children, learned to run before speaking. And running he was when he ended up in the radio centre. To his luck, the chamber was unguarded making our little mop of curls smile bright. With a keen interest in the galaxy, this opportunity was no less than any treat his mother could ever give him. And so he gladly took it. When the men in duty came back they found two stray messages aired in the vacuum of Space and a kid listening into the receiver intently. Now as much as it is a joy to see a child of his age sit so calm and quiet, it is never a good thing to intimate others out there of their presence without thorough research and a number of meetings of the Supremes. So the terror of the scene struck the men immediately as they tried to erase the stray messages and pull the kid off the receiver. But they realized it’s too late when there was a sweet voice coming through it calling for “Harry, Harry! Is that you?” And the little mop of curls bobbed in rhythm with a wide smile as he chanted, “Ha-ry, ha-ry”, his first words.

Those stray messages were never recovered and at last were left at the mercy of the Divine Star. The radio waves he caught on were traced to be from the blue planet, the noisiest planet with the most restless creatures, though nobody dared to reach out for it again. The whole incident became a matter of existential crisis as they hoarded in the craters waiting for the extra terrestrial beings to come invading their mother planet like one of them other ones who totally mistook their hospitality for submission. Thank the stars they were half their size. But this time they had someone else to blame and everyone was furious with this little boy who couldn’t hold on to his curiosity and has to go on endangering everyone’s life. Some said that if the aliens come they’ll trade him for their lives while others just wanted to throw him into the oblivion of Space already. But all he did was sit on his mother’s lap as he kept on chanting his new favorite word, “Ha-ry, Ha-ry”. And after about a year of waiting, when at last the Supremes decided that they were safe, the same people who wanted to trade the kid for their life boasted they knew it all along that they were safe. But none of that actually made his name Harry, except for the fact that he just won’t stop chanting it.

And due to all of this, on the day that the ship on task was about to leave, not only did he get kisses and words of advice from his mother, but also side glances and snarky remarks mixed with desperate pleads from all of the community. The Supremes nearly kept him from boarding but some rules even they couldn’t break. Thus letting Harry reluctantly embark the ship. And as it took off, everyone prayed to the stars to knock some sense into the curious boy and not let their own children die in the process.

But as it was, the stars had something else in store for him.

///

It was dark, too dark for your liking. And the candle melting on your hand didn’t help you much. And neither did your fuming rage. If blowing up the transistor and sucking in the power of the entire village wasn’t enough for your brother, he even had to forget where he left the torch. Cons of having a scientist for a brother you assume. But that doesn’t justify you haunting around the house with a candle like a ghost. And he deserves to know it.

With that thought, you pull down your hair and wrap a white sheet around you as you creep to his mini lab in your backyard with a candle in your hand. Even though he is a scientist and all, he has an active imagination when it comes to these things. And you would also like to think that you’re quite a convincing ghost with your preparations. Though you didn’t plan on the pitch black of the new moon making everything eerie, your own footsteps giving you goose bumps making you mutter all the prayers you know under your breath. But when the bushes behind you rustle and you could hear someone else’s breathing you couldn’t hold it anymore.

“Ed! Ed, I know it’s you.” You call for your brother taking cautious steps towards that corner. “Ed, that’s not funny. At. All.” You say sharply, sounding braver than you feel. But all that bravery drains you when Ed does reply to you, from behind.

“What’s all the ruckus for?” and you jump out of your skin. Turning around to find him at the threshold of his lab with the candles from inside marking his silhouette. “It’s-“

The sudden movement make you both turn to look at the figure emerging from the bushes and a scream instantly leaves both of your mouths soon joined by a third voice. Lifting the candle after you register the fact that the other person is as scared as you. You find a boy of your age, with a mop of curls, shining eyes and a bright red nose. As if on cue, he sneezes and you look down at the flimsy pink night gown he is draped in, which even in the dark you can say belongs to Mrs. Carlson down the street. You burst into a fit of giggle as he rubs his nose, eyes bouncing between the two when your brother at last recovers from the scare. “Whoa, mate! Could have given me a heart attack there. And what’s that you’re wearing?”

You examine the stranger’s confused face and decide that he might still be in shock thus turning around beckoning both inside the house. “I’ll find you proper clothes” you say going inside to dig for something fitting.

“Yeh new here?” Ed asks eying the guy as he looks around still rubbing on his red nose. “What’s your name, mate?” Ed tries again. But their guest just tilts his head staring at the ginger head like he is from another world. “I’m Ed.” He extends a hand which makes the guy recoil before taking it cautiously. Lips part and close as he tries to bring out a word but fails.

“Ha-ry. I’m Ha-ry” he says at last, slowly like he is testing his own voice. And surely he was as he recollected all the things they were taught in preparation for something like this.

“Ah, I thought you’re dumb or something. No offence!” Ed raises his hands in mock surrender.

“Ed, don’t scare him!” you come from inside with arms full of clothes which you dump on the couch. You look up at him smiling as he reciprocates with his own bright smile. Extending his hand, Harry mimics Ed’s previous actions and repeats himself, now with a higher pitch testing his voice.

“Harry!”

You giggle at his sudden surge of excitement introducing yourself. He joins you in as you both laugh with his freezing huge hands wrapped around yours seeking warmth.

But your brother butts in pulling you away.  “Now that everyone knows everyone” he says a bit harshly as he stands between the both of you. “What were you doing in our backyard, Ha-ry?”

You look at the confusion clouding his face again, his cheeks pink from the cold. “At least let the guy dress up, will yeh?” You say elbowing Ed aside as you lead Harry to the other room to change.

Though you were less worried about the stranger in your house than fixing up dinner in the dark, Ed won’t stop mumbling things like if he is a thug, a serial killer, a runaway prisoner, a psychopath and his most favorite, an alien. You role your eyes at all of them, and specially the last one, though the fact that you are feeling so at ease about the whole situation itself is a bit disturbing to you.

“We are two. We outnumber him.”

“What if he has a weapon?”

“The guy hardly has clothes, Ed!”

Harry enters the room dumbfound staring at the both of you as you siblings stare back at him trying to calm down from your argument. “Wait, you gave him my clothes?”

“It was either that or Grandpa’s old dress shirts and sweater vests.” You speak taking in the sight of Harry drowned in a yellow sweater with skinny jeans and though the sweater is gigantic for him, the jeans just fit him perfectly. He catches your eye with his eternally confused look, “Huh?” And you think maybe he’d pull off your Grandpa’s clothes too.

“So, quiz time.” Ed claps his hands stepping forward, “Where are you from and what are are you doing here?”

“Ed!” you warn him and he looks back at you ready to defend himself but you beat him to it. “Not everybody is a genius like you. Let the guy be. He clearly looks traumatized enough without you giving him the third degree.”

Ed’s mouth opens ready to give a speech of his own when Harry chirps in, softer than before like he is talking to himself. “Trauma-…genius?”

Though he is just picking up the words trying to make sense about everything, his words comes out as a question which in turn elates Ed giving him a chance to re-introduce himself. “Dr. Ed Sheeran, you must have heard about me. The only one with a doctorate in a hundred miles radius and a thriving astrophysicist on his way to the millennium’s greatest discovery. I won’t have to be giving these introductions once I track those buggers up there” he mutters the last part to himself.

Harry takes his hand recognizing this gesture with another surge of excitement as he congratulates himself at knowing it. But Ed, in his moment of fame, mistakes the excitement as having to do something with his declaration. And his genius mind runs at the speed of light as he puts two and two together. “Are you by any chance one of them young boys pursuing to be in this field?” “What now?” you croak from behind, your mouth stuffed with cheese and crackers.

“Don’t you remember? The boys from the Catholic school, who wanted to get into research instead of living the mundane life of a teacher or a factory worker and then were shunned by their parents?”

“You mean the scandal that accused you of starting a cult? Yeah, sure.” You laugh thinking about the various accusations on your brother just for being different. Your all time favorite being him turning into Frankenstein.

Ed turns to Harry guiltily while Harry just tilts his head giving a nervous smile starting to pick up bits and pieces of the conversation, more to the credit of his devoted time with the radio than to his lessons. “So…. Are you?”

Harry looks between both of your awaiting faces and does the only thing he feels natural. Bob his head in a rhythm as he smiles bright. You both let out the breathe you didn’t know you were holding, laughing at the tension that settled in the room. But soon that takes over with Ed’s eagerness as he drags Harry back into the garden shed that he made into his lab, ignoring your calls for dinner. Harry stumbles all the way to the lab, tripping over his gangly human legs as he is pulled into the cramped space. The wooden shack is spacious inside though is crowded with instruments and machines and the rest of the open space covered with research papers. Ed quickly apologizes clearing the papers before going on to explain about the various devices though Harry gets caught with the flickering flame of the candle. He raises his arm to touch it when the power comes on and everything in the room burst into live. A small shriek leaves Harry’s lips, mainly at the surprise of the artificial light though Ed takes it as a scare from his robotic arm. “I’m sorry. That’s Thing.”

Harry gives a quizzical look to Ed which makes him wave his hand in the air. “I know it sounds stupid. But I thought it’d be fun, you know like from the Addams’ family? Mr. Thing T. Thing? I know it’s not very original and all. But-“he switches it on as the hand springs up and waves at Harry. He looks at it confused and mimics the action. “It makes me coffee when I’m working! That little missy in there can be very moody when she wants.”

Harry smiles and nods again but then his eyes lock on the screen over Ed’s shoulder. And as Ed goes on to explain the mechanism of the arm, Harry zones out to the night sky showing on the big screen, with all the stars twinkling on its black canvas. And amongst it all is the one tiny dot that hardly seems any different but means the world to him, literally. His home.

Harry burst into tears soon after seeing his home as a tiny dot, instantly missing his people and feeling guilty of whatever happened. Thinking about how he screwed up yet again and was lost on this strange planet all alone. And the thought of it all was tolling on him. After his break down, without much of talking, you and Ed thought it’s best for him to be tucked in the guest room, only thing being that the guest room wasn’t a guest room but a store room cum library with a mattress. Ed explained to you, what he thought, was an emotional outburst from being overwhelmed to be so close to your dream. And though it did sound very absurd to you, you guess there wasn’t much you understood in this field.

Harry at last stopped sobbing but by then the whole house was silent with slumber. But that didn’t bother Harry as much as the fact that he didn’t know where he was. And in the darkness, without the knowledge of what the Earthlings call ‘electricity’, Harry resolved to use his absorbed solar energy, thanking the Divine Star as always before radiating the light he absorbed then embarking on the journey. The room immediately lit up to be a dusty old storeroom with boxes stacked in one side and cupboards covered in cobwebs but Harry found it all amusing. Being immune to the dust and dirt of this world, he eagerly dug into the boxes despite of the small voice in his head warning him that this might be dangerous, as if he ever listens to that.

Some boxes were less dirty and disheveled, filled with clothes that smelled the same as he was wearing, thus concluding they were procured from there. The others filled with odd little boxes which opened to thinner layers and a lot of tiny drawings scattered on them. Harry being a stranger to this mode of information keeping, didn’t understand the significance of the books he was holding, though he has always been faster in reading than speaking, being the youngest of his species to learn their letters. By the age when others were learning their alphabets, he already moved on to his mother’s literature collection. So even if he didn’t understand the concept of books, he understood the concept of reading and by the time the sun came up he was done rummaging through most of the books there, gaining enough knowledge to address a roomful of university students the Theory of relativity and at least explaining Shakespeare’s sonnets to a high school class.

The next day, Harry, though quite, seemed to be very fluid as he adjusted easily into your routine. He did his dishes after breakfast, cleaned up the guest room before taking a bath and was outright polite around you both, excusing the fact that you found him lying on the roof early in the morning. And though Harry easily pleased you with his polite but quite demeanor, Ed didn’t think so when Harry was taken to work.

“Can you not-“Ed has to rush around each time when he looks up to see Harry fiddling with a machine, his voice raising immediately making Harry jump a foot high. “-touch that please. The wiring is very delicate.” He finishes in a more calm tone once the tool is in his hands. But it is repeated all over again and again as Harry couldn’t keep his grabby hands to himself.

At last Ed makes Harry do the regulation of the radio waves instead of demonstrating them himself, knowing that this kid of a man couldn’t sit still until kept occupied. But to Ed’s surprise Harry is in fact an expert at radio communication tuning it in the accurate angle to acquire the right frequency at the first trial, something which even Ed has not mastered yet (he should have just hired an astro-radiologist). When the radio livens with the heavenly sound of cosmic blur Ed couldn’t stop from hugging the life out of Harry as he announces him in-charge of the radio and the best apprentice ever! (Which was pointless considering the only other assistant he ever had was you though you never agreed on anything like that)

Ed rambles a lot of half finished sentences trying to pick up his lecture from last night but getting distracted with his calculations every now and then. More often than none, he gets so engrossed in his research that he forgets to even straighten his back, let alone get out of the shack. But Harry doesn’t mind as he tries to focus and grab the waves from his vessel or his planet, whichever comes first. But it seems like a harder task than what he just did for Ed as the equipment given to him are way outdated than the ones he had back at home, at last these were running on ‘electricity’.

Truth be spoken, Harry was banned from the radio centre, or anywhere near it after the first incident. No one with sound mind would let him in that area and it killed Harry from inside because he didn’t have a good relationship with closed doors for obvious reasons. And with his petulant whining and pleads he landed with a radio receiver of his own, specially designed for him with only and only the facility of receiving waves and his family has never known silence since then.

But Harry couldn’t be more grateful about landing here out of all the places. He didn’t know much about the rest of the humankind but he knew for sure that Ed was one of a kind. And with his obsession with, indirectly, Harry’s life gave him a strange kind of security. He just felt assured that this is the best place he could be right now. So, all he focused at the moment was to find his ship.

When the sun set, you had to practically drag them both out by the collar for dinner when you stepped in the dark lab to switch on the lights, which obviously both of them couldn’t bother to do themselves. Ed couldn’t stop gushing about how Harry was so handy with the radio and all his new hypothesis though you couldn’t care less.

“I had to go around apologizing on your behalf again. The grocers said nobody would sell us anything if there’s another power cut because of you.” You lean on the counter trying to act stern though you have to hold your laugh when Harry gets cross eyed examining an egg like it was a dinosaur’s instead of a chicken’s.

“Those ignorant brats, they are! They’ll all be scattering around us for a piece of me once I’m done with this project.”

You sigh letting your chin drop. He is always so sure about his work but it has been years and there is just no progress and-

“Hey, you! Don’t get all sad on me. You do believe that I will get it through, right?” Ed stands by you squeezing your arm in assurance and you have to nod, at least for his sake. “I’ll prove that extra terrestrial life exists and all these are not just myths. And then NASA will be begging me to join them and then these people will miss us to bits. I’ll never let you and Professor Enoch down. He spent his whole life doing this, can’t let it waste now, can we?” he says chucking under your chin and you nod again with a bit more assurance though you doubt if it’s convincing. But you didn’t get to worry much as there is a cracking sound behind you and you turn around to see Harry’s cheek dripping with the egg yolk.

///

It is quite surprising how a third person fit in the small world of you both. Ed eases into the idea of having an apprentice and often in their breaks, you’d find them on your ragged couch sipping on tea with Ed rambling how penguins have individualistic sounds to recognize each other or how George Reeves is the best Superman ever(!) And Harry filling in a few words here and there in his slow drawling voice, which doesn’t only keep Ed occupied but also entertains you when Harry would take a break after seeing nothing but spots in front of his eyes from focusing on the screen for too long. You also love how Harry actually listens and even more how he takes pauses between words like every word he says has been delicately constructed just for you and how he gets animated with his hands and eyes when he tries really hard to explain something. And it gets even more interesting when he stumbles upon your Grandma’s stashed gypsy jewels and now more than often his lanky fingers adorned with gypsy rings are flashed all over your face.

Harry has also taken more of a liking to your dad’s shirts, not that you mind. And anyway, when he asks for kale juice in McDonald's, his exotic dressing sense is the last thing you’re worried about.

“You should hang out less with my brother. He is getting in your head.” You say sipping on your chocolate shake.

Harry just tilts his head frowning at you and you let out an exasperated sigh.

“He has adopted these strange things over the time. At least, now he isn’t eating his apples with ketchup.” You cringe a bit with the thought.

“And….. that’s weird?” Harry’s genuine confusion nearly makes you spill your drink.

But that never stopped you from dragging Harry along with you whenever you got a chance to. With your friends gone to uni and spending hours of looming around the empty house, it was good to have company. Though to no one’s surprise that led Ed to take over his brotherly duties of tormenting Harry each time he’d be around you. Like the time Harry was explaining you evidences of the existence of Atlantis (which vaguely sounded like a Vernian thesis your Granddad owned) while you were doing laundry in the basement and Ed busted in dragging a very confused Harry claiming that he really needs a tea break though he already took one not even fifteen minutes ago, leaving you to roll your eyes.

But anyhow, you know Ed loves him to bits. May it be the time you walked in the lab to see them subconsciously coordinating into a routine like an old married couple or when you trudge by the living room at midnight, sleepy and thirsty, to find them drunk and teary watching Downtown Abbey.

And if you still had your doubts, it vanished the night you three decided to binge watch movies. And you obviously insist on horror movies not only because you know full well that Ed is an easy scare but also because Harry starts boasting that it couldn’t make him flinch (though in reality he had no idea what a horror movie is) and you want to test his words. And true to his words you find him giggling away half way through the movie, but soon you join in as you notice that Ed sitting between the both of you is jumping at every little thing happening in the movie. But then your eyes meet behind Ed’s back and a devilish grin pull at your lips as he catches on your thoughts and reflects your grin.

You hold up your hand counting backwards from three and Harry mouths the numbers as you both pounce on Ed shrieking at the end scaring the daylights out of him. Even his red face and ragged breath and gushed cusses couldn’t stop you from literally rolling on the floor laughing. Making Ed dump all the pop corn on you both and vanishing into his room.

Though, overnight guilt takes over you and the first thing you want to do the next morning is apologize to your brother, except for he is not in any of his usual places. And worried you enter Harry’s room to wake him up when you find a sleeping Ed cuddling his pillow with a mouthful of Harry’s hair with one of Harry’s arm thrown across him as if he is protecting Ed from all those ghosts in his dream. The scene is so endearing that you’d have just stood there cooing at them all day but then again you had to take a photo to torment them both later.

It’s good to see Ed at last opening to someone after being a recluse for years following the demise of his mentor, Professor Enoch. He always was a misfit, with his red head and spindly limbs, and would be pushed around by the other guys. That was until he met Prof. Enoch, who also happened to be your Granddad’s best friend, and all of a sudden everything fell into place. With the telescope he got for his tenth birthday and books about stars and galaxies crowding his shelf, Ed became a favourite of Professor Enoch. And that was the first time he felt like he belonged somewhere. But the thing with them just so happened to be that both gave in to social isolation locking themselves in the Professor’s mansion for days on end and nobody would know what they were up to. And that’s why it hit him hard after the Professor’s death and Ed again confined himself, this time, to his make shift lab.

So after months of seeing your brother shut himself off, when the other day you went to the market without knowing that there were whiskers drawn on your face, you couldn’t be really angry on the red faced giggling duo of Harry and Ed. At least seeing him easing around someone, even at your own cost, it’s worth it. And just the fact that Harry spent the rest of the evening following you like a kitten and apologizing with a little pout wasn’t helping your anger either.

On the other hand, Harry is having a blast. To his great pleasure, he has learned a lot of new things. Starting with speaking skills to better ways of cracking an egg rather than to slap it on his face, though he still struggles with the idea of electricity and where in space Krypton is.  But by far the best thing is the food. It’s all so different that he couldn’t have enough of it and that makes him utterly thankful for the metamorphosis adaptation enabling him to enjoy it all. Though when he tried the shorter green leaves from the lawn when the ones inside finished, all hell broke as you went off on Ed for starving your guest to madness.

And to think about it, you weren’t that far off with your accusations. Since just the other night, Ed was so engrossed that they completely forgot about dinner and Harry would have not noticed either if it weren’t for his grumbling stomach, which by now he has learned is his human body’s way of reminding him to eat. But with Ed busy and you asleep, he helplessly wanders in the kitchen sniffing every bottle and jar trying to find one of those things that you people make him to eat. And then he realizes that for the first time in his life he actually didn’t dig in and thus has no idea about cooking. But it seems that his luck was with him as you walk out drowned in a night shirt and PJs with printed cheese and bananas all over, making his stomach growl even louder which makes you chuckle knuckling at your sleep ridden eyes.

“Hungry, Harry?”

And he just stands nodding at you as you turn to the fridge to take out the frozen soup that you had for dinner. But by the time you prepare to heat it, you look up to find Harry licking off sugar syrup off his fingers.

“What are you doing?” You narrow your eyes at him with a smile creeping on your lips and he stops mid lick looking at you like a deer in the headlight. The sight makes you burst out laughing. He is about to scratch his head in embarrassment before remembering about the syrup on his fingers and you both cringe at the thought of what could have happened and then break into laughter again. Mid-laugh it strikes you and you switch off the heat turning to him with wide eyes as if you’re conspiring something and as always he is all ears for any and all of your conspiracies.

“Do you have a sweet tooth, Harry?” He tilts his head blinking at you for a while before deciding that agreeing would be the best way to go and he nods.

With that innocent look on his face, you feel wicked to pull out the bottom drawer and reveal your secret stash of chocolates. But it does not feel all that wicked when Harry looks into it with wild eyes as if you have just lit the Christmas tree. Picking a Hershey’s bar you give it to him as you pick a kit Kat and lift yourself on the counter with your legs dangling. Harry leans on the closed fridge door carefully unwrapping the bar and your eyes fix on the curls falling over his eyes and the shadow of his cheekbones lit by the dim light of the hall.

Your concentration is broken by a long moan as Harry tilts his head back with the first bite of the chocolate. A chuckle slips out of your lips and Harry looks back at you even more embarrassed now and immediately the guilt of laughing at him hits you.

“How long has it been since you last had a chocolate, Harry?”

“Too long.” He lies through his teeth.

“Strict parents?” And Harry nods without even thinking as he takes another bite.

“Our Mom was also strict about sugar in the house. Chocolates were only for Halloween. But dad was cool with it. He is the one who’d encourage us to have a secret stash, guess I’m stuck with the habit.”

“Where are they?” Harry asks with a frown stopping mid-bite. But when you hesitate he retracts. “You don’t-“

“Oh, no. It’s fine. We just don’t talk about them anymore.” You shrug, your chocolate long forgotten. “Our parents died in an accident when we were in our teens. But we didn’t know them very well anyway. Mum had a traveling job and dad traveled with her. To be honest, I don’t remember much from the time when we used to live together.”

Harry frowns at you with disbelief and you wonder if he is really close to his family.

“Do you miss them?”

And now it’s you frowning as you think back to the time when you last thought about them. “I think so, sometimes. I was really young when we were together. I remember at that time, whenever someone would ask me what I wanted to become when I grow up, I’d say ‘my dad’. And my mum hated it. My dad was a writer, would sit at home all day surrounded by crumpled paper and ink stains all over him. His mind was always in a different world, always lost, a bit slow to catch on things but had the wittiest comebacks when he actually listens. I just… don’t know why I said it. Maybe it was just that, you know? To be able to lose yourself in a different head-space. Now I know why Mum hated me for saying that, I mean, she’s one of the strongest and the most ambitious women this small town has ever seen. Well, guess where Ed got his determination from?” You let out a breathy chuckle looking at Harry, but he is still frowning, listening to you intently, so you continue. “And dad on the other hand was just…. Nice, you know? Quite, always polite and… he was in fact the nicest person I have ever known. I think somewhere I still want to be like him.”

And you run out of words. This is a revelation to you as well as you think back to what you just said. You didn’t know how much you actually missed them or how much you remembered, but talking about it aloud brought back all the feelings and it is like your father is right there in the room with you.

“You’re nice too.”

Harry chirps in your thought train and you give him a wide smile. “Aw, you’re not bad yourself Harry.” You say patting him on the shoulder as you get off the counter heading to your room stowing away the intact kit kat back in its place.

“Thank you.”

You look back to see Harry watching you with soft eyes and a small smile and then at the half eaten chocolate in his hand. “It’s cool. You can grab one anytime you feel like. Just don’t tell Ed, I don’t share my secret stash with him, that’s why it’s a secret.” You end with a wink. But Harry just shakes his head.

“No, I mean everything. Thank you for everything.”

This makes you stop and stare at him for a while. His warm smile, glowing eyes and just… him. He feels so familiar but then again maybe it’s just memories fogging your emotions.

You nod with a small smile tugging at your lips as you turn to head back again.

“Good night, Harry.”

///

Between working with Ed and hanging out with you, Harry doesn’t regret much about all the mistakes that has led him to here. He would miss home, true. But in those times you’d hand him a glass of hot chocolate (he can never have enough of that) and start blabbering some anecdotes from your childhood to ease him which would inevitably lead to Harry teasing and cracking really bad jokes about it. And at last you decided to just stick to Ed’s embarrassing stories instead of yours (which you learned the hard way after bringing up the story where you accidently killed a spider when you were 7 and were scared for days thinking the giant mother spider will come to eat you and Harry, being the sweetheart he is, took it upon himself to scream “SPIDER!!!” pointing at your feet when you’re mid step often ending up with you falling on your ass). But he did appreciate it, the way you would rub his back when he was particularly feeling low and sad or just tired when your brother exhausted him by being the workaholic he is. He loved it how you would stay up late at night saying that you are reading a book or binge watching a show when you’re actually waiting for them and to remind them to have sufficient amount of sleep. And at those times, how your lashes would stick together refusing to open your eyes and you rub your eyes sighing (because you obviously cannot yawn when you said you’re not sleepy). And how you would leave sticky notes all over the house threatening them to take care of themselves and not burn the house down while you’re away.

But there is also something bothering him, the things he can’t explain. Like that small flutter in his chest when you’d smile at the ground thinking about something and when you cringed your nose when he cracked a joke, though he knows you like it and you’re suppressing a smile, and the way you look at him when he is talking even when he can’t remember the right words. And that flip in his stomach when you laughed at something he said wrong about some Earthling thing about society (why is everything so confusing here?) and then you would patiently correct him when it is not completely absurd, and if it is utterly absurd, that would earn him a slap to his chest and narrow eyes.  And the sudden feeling of burning up when you would give him a sly smile and a wink when you both teamed up against Ed in a joke. Or the need to hold on to you when you would hug and his hands would trace over the soft bumps and curves of your body or when you rested your head on his shoulder after a long day and would nuzzle against his neck. And to add on, he couldn’t find a remedy in all of those books which was driving him crazy.

Not that Ed helps either. With his brotherly instincts kicking in, he just stands there throwing daggers at Harry when you both are giggling away at some inside joke. And more often than none he’d come in dragging Harry because “What if our brothers up there are calling us and we’re not there to pick up the damn phone!”

So Harry is just on his own in this one.

///

Ed has eventually relaxes around him over the time and trusts him with the lab and maybe even more. Harry has picked up on your habits and often takes on your job to remind Ed to eat in time and sometimes to even take pee breaks (because Ed is just so engrossed). He has taken Ed to be like a brother he never had. Where in his planet he never fitted in, with his long history of mishaps and different, often daring, thinking left him with no friends, here Ed didn’t care much about his mistakes and surely appreciated his thinking, especially when it was proving to be beneficiary to both of them.

And though he has always been a workaholic, breaks with Harry were surely becoming one of his favourite things. Usually in his breaks he’d opt to do some mindless TV surfing with a cheese steak and some beer, but Harry surely adds spice to his mundane routine. It turns out Harry was not very acquainted with any TV series or movies, which was strange since his knowledge of music wasn’t only varied but dated over decades (thanks to his radio). So, you and Ed took upon yourselves to update him with all your favourite things, starting from the superhero movies since Harry couldn’t shut up about Krypton (though Ed thought he was only ribbing him). But somehow they end up watching Before Sunrise with beer and nachos at their disposal.

“You know, this movie broke my heart for the first time.”

Harry didn’t know he was smiling at the screen until he turned to Ed with a frown. “What? How?”

“I mean, not the movie. Because of this movie. This point” he says pointing towards the screen with his beer bottle as they hop off the train in the movie, “where he says that ‘think of this as time traveling’ and I thought, you know I don’t want to have to do that. And I…  had this girl in my class who was always my lab partner and she won’t do a thing and I’d do the whole thing and at the end she’d thank me with a smile and that’d be enough for me.” Harry chuckles shaking his head at Ed which Ed mimics, “Yeah, I was pretty whipped for her. So anyway, after I watched this I was like, what is the worst thing that could happen anyway? And now I can safely say that spaghetti stains on my favourite Heisenberg t-shirt was so not worth it.”

Harry burst out laughing with crinkles forming by his eyes and Ed just sat there shaking at himself.

“You know, I just realized you have never said anything about your childhood. You’re living with us and I don’t know a thing about you.”

Harry’s smile slid down his face as he thought back to the big secret that he is holding. He really wanted to spill the truth already trusting you both enough now. And the thought of tonight being the night makes his insides gooey.

“What do you wanna know?” he asks with a straight face, still considering if he should tell Ed about him already.

“How about…. Tell me how you got into this field, for starters?”

He had to squint his eyes considering the question. It’s not like he lied about that before, he has surely always been into this even back at home. But he doesn’t remember how it all started.

“I think… I was very young. My mum would tell me stories about people from faraway land as bedtime story and I just… wanted it all.” He ends with a shrug. That wasn’t hard, neither a complete lie. He does remember her telling those stories, though it was mostly because he urged her to.

“Your mom sounds very cool, Harry.”

Harry smiles thinking about her starting to miss her again but then he notices Ed’s face fall and his mind goes back to the story you told him a long time ago and he knew he somehow had to bring that smile back.

“You know once, I stayed up all night to see where the sun goes.” Harry said looking at Ed nudging him with his socked feet that lay upon the coffee table beside Ed’s. Ed looks up to him with a questioning look. “And then it dawned on me.”

“Was that a joke, Harry?” Ed narrows his eyes as Harry stares at him with wide eyes holding his breath. And Ed couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh shaking his head because it is just like Harry to say something like that and Harry joins in.

“I have another one!”

“No!”

“This one’s good, I swear. Okay, how do you know the moon is going broke?”

“It’s down to its last quarter.” Ed says with a smile already pulling on his lips.

“You knew that already!”

“It wasn’t funny anyway!” But he was still laughing as Harry whined and pouted.

And surely Harry was much more useful than just to crack really bad jokes when he is piss drunk (or not). And it all came to a result when one evening the radio starts beeping and all his gadgets blurring the red light. Ed and Harry jump to their feet looking at each other with matching expressions. They did it! At last they got something in return, they don’t know what yet but they did!

Both the lads couldn’t help but launch on each other with a tight grip jumping around in victory when the beeping increased to a shrill sound and they released each other looking around.

The heat meter was going mad, Ed noticed and turned to tell that to Harry but he was already heading to record the signals that made them dance to their victory.

“Good thinking, mate! But you should really-“

Ed leaned in beside Harry looking at the screen with it’s ECG like marking when the whole system blew off due to overheating. You entered on time to see their darkened ashen faces staring at you with matching pouts and hair stood on attention. And you barked out in laughter. That is until the lights went off with a distant burst.

“EDDD!”

///

You were pissed off, no doubt. No matter how many times Ed apologized for blowing out the transmitter, again. He knew that you were so pissed that he even made Harry apologize to you with all his charm and “we’re so sorry, love. To make the current a history.”

But all the charm and jokes couldn’t have persuaded you, especially since you were the one who went out to the city for about everything and were answerable for all their acts. You warned them and they had to learn soon.

And that’s how the socially awkward duo found themselves walking to the market the next day. Ed remembers your outburst from the last time he blew the electricity and he totally gets it. With the side glances and whispers storming around him, he can feel the heat raising his neck already. This was most probably the best way to punish him. 

And if that wasn’t enough, the first shop that Ed goes to, just to hide from others, turns out to be Steve’s. The same Steve who in school used to hide Ed’s books and call him names and pull ridiculous pranks on. And the smirk that pulls on his lips tells that he hasn’t changed much.

“Look, who do we have here? The crazy scientist and… who’s this? His lab rat?” Ed gulps cowering into himself, memories from his childhood flashing in front of his eyes.

Harry looks at Steve then Ed and then back at Steve. “He’s not crazy! Don’t look at him like that!” ‘Cause how dare someone look like that at his human?

“Harry, don’t.” Ed mutters trying to keep Harry from pouncing at Steve already which just agitates the bully more.

“Oh, so have you got yourself a boyfriend here, ginger? Is he the alien that you’ve been waiting your whole life for? You really had to summon someone from the another planet ‘cause you couldn’t get any on this, didn’t you?”

And that was what triggered Harry because no one should ever put anyone down for their passion, and this was Ed we were talking about.

With all his concentration Harry had to pull that one trick that he hoped he’d never had to, the heat of the Divine Star that he had absorbed that morning focusing on his target to form a laser like beam. To be honest it’s more like a magnifying glass focusing the sunlight at a point but it’s enough to burn and burn it does as Steve feels the heat on his head with the smell of burning hair overpowering his senses. His hand immediately clutched his head holding on the wrinkling hair patch as Ed laughs out at his plight despite of not understanding it. And soon the rest of the crowd that gathered around starts laughing at Steve’s misery as Harry and Ed moves on with the shopping taking advantage of the shifted attention.

“Thank you for standing up for me, mate.” Ed says to the ground on their way back. Harry shrugged not thinking much of it. “No, I seriously mean it. I’ve never had a friend, so it’s nice to have someone by your side, you know.”

Ed looks up at Harry when he nods urging him to go on. “I’ve spend my entire lifetime dreaming this one dream that I never got to really live, you know. And I don’t regret that! But yeah, it’s nice to have someone.”

“You spend your whole life on this one project?”

Ed nods looking out in the distant like he can look back at the small kid with specs bigger than his face drowning in books heavier than him. “I’ve been curious about the universe since ever. But when I learned the possibilities of life outside the Earth, it got me even more excited. I think it was partly because I felt like I didn’t fit here and maybe… That makes Steve right, doesn’t it?” His laugh was empty and it saddened Harry. But he couldn’t do much then bump his shoulder against Ed’s and that was enough to earn him a smile.

“Why are you so sure that there is anyone there?” Harry asked again changing the topic. And it did wonders as Ed looked at him with a smirk of his own.

“Can I let you in on a secret?”

Harry frowns at that, his stomach flopping in a not so good way. But he leans in anyway, all ears.

“So I was living with my Professor, yeah? We were doing really well on this one project, it wasn’t a big deal. Just some model radio thingy. It wasn’t even supposed to work as an astro radio, you know, like the one we have back in the lab. It was more for the microscopic range. But one night it just started beeping all strange. The maid thought it was possessed. Turns out it caught some signals, which was strange since it didn’t work properly. And it didn’t, not at least like it was supposed to. Instead it caught radio signals of macroscopic scale and we found two different records. Now we never deciphered them, so it wasn’t really viable officially. But we knew it was from them and that’s why I just need to get them again this time around and decipher it. If we have a record to present later, no one can discard that!”

All through that, Harry thinks he might have an inkling of what Ed is on about. But he refuses to believe that his childish mistake can shape out someone’s entire life, so he pushes that thought back in his mind and grabs at everything else.

“So if you were to find someone out there you’d befriend them?” Harry asks to distract though he also wants to test the water if he can at last reveal his identity. He has been itching to do so every time he realizes just how much he has come to adore the both of you.

Ed bursts into laughter that sparks hope in Harry before Ed continues, “yeah sure. Once I dissect them to see what all the buzz is about” and that makes Harry freeze.

///

With the whole system blown off, there wasn’t much to do in the lab for them. But Ed was determined on getting it fixed as soon as possible to check if the signals that they got yesterday could be retrieved at all. And as much as Harry wanted to help, he couldn’t bear to be in the same room as Ed after his intention of cutting an alien into pieces. Even the thought makes Harry shiver. And miss home. So he heads out to his favourite secret spot (as he had to sneak out every time after the first time he got caught), the roof.

He laid there, his limbs sprawling out as he stared at the stars above, naming all of them thinking back to their atmosphere and the people out there. But mostly, that one small star that looks like it forgets to twinkle, the place that he calls home. He is just about to get teary eyed when you find him. Clearing your throat you announce your arrival and he nearly tumbles off the slant. And though he feels like he could have died with a heart attack, the sound of your laughter eases the pain a bit and a soft smile settles on his lips.

He helps you out to lie on the roof as well, staring at the sky without saying anything. And he wonders what you think of the tiny star that is his world. But before he could say anything you start.

“Thanks… for what you did today. Ed told me. He’s really happy to have you here, you know?”

“I know.” Harry replies on autopilot though he can hear the warmth of your gratitude.

“You’re like the brother he never had and he’s really grateful for it.” Your words make Harry soften from his previously rough mood and he wants to tell you that he is grateful too, to have you both.

“So am I.” But you beat him to it as you turn your head to see Harry looking at you from your side where he is laying.

Harry opens his mouth and closes, words barely forming. And you couldn’t help but stare at those lips thinking how soft they would feel on you.

“I am grateful for you lot too. I never really had friends.” And Harry turns back to look at the sky. You sigh shaking your head lightly laughing at your own thoughts.

“I did. Loads of them. But now here I am, stuck with two dorks.”

Harry chuckles before saying, “What happened to them?”

You sigh, unknowingly playing with your hair. “Nothing. After school everyone moved to uni and nobody remembers the girl left behind with her excuse of a gap year to take care of her up-to-no-good brother”

You laugh again as you say that though Harry is frowning at you. “Really?”

You at last catch on what he is saying, “uh no. I mean, I didn’t just stay back because of him, of course. I didn’t even know what I’d major in. Growing up I’ve seen Ed and…. He has always been so ambitious. He always knew what he wants from life. Me on the other hand, I have no idea. I couldn’t even decide on my major.”

“Maybe you can become a writer… with all your crazy stories about giant spiders.”

That earns him a slap to his chest making him chuckle. The vibrations in his chest forming a sweet hum under your fingertips and you leave your hand there.

“Yeah, right. After staying with my brother for so long the only thing I’d be able to write about is alien invasions.”

“That’d be great too!” he exclaims with a spark zipping through him.

But you dismiss it with a “Nah, that’s overdone.” He falls back.

He is just about to start whining that if you don’t show them as invading but just visiting with warm hugs and treats that’ll make it more interesting (and realistic), when you  call his name softly. He’d have thought it is just the wind but he can feel you tense up beside him, your words just sitting at the tip of your tongue.

“Do you think anybody’s really out there?” you ask just above a whisper.

You know that’s a stupid question to ask him since he is also working towards the same goals as your brother. But you need to know what he thinks. So you hold your breath.

“Why, yes! Of course.” He says after a dramatic pause. And his declaration knocks the air out of you and makes you look up at him with wide eyes.

“Who, Harry?” you say quietly as if the air around you is fragile and might break if you speak any louder.

But Harry doesn’t seem to care about any fragility as he sits up and makes a gesture that was too fast for you to follow. You sit straight and lean closer to examine his clasped hands that he is offering you. And when he opens his palms slowly there is a small yellow light sitting right in the middle.

“This little fella.” He says softly as the firefly lifts up from his hand lighting up both of your faces as you both look at his blooming and dimming tail as he flies off.

As the light gets distant your eyes fall back on Harry and you can feel your blush creep on your face when you see his eyes trained on your lips. His smile wavers, just a bit, when he looks up at you to see that he is caught. But then ever so cheeky, he just licks his lips and smirks at you melting something inside you.

You don’t even realize you’re leaning in until you feel his breath hit on your Cupid’s bow and you close your eyes. And right then, you hear Ed’s voice bellowing from downstairs calling for Harry, just the perfect timing. You internally groan as Harry helps you off the roof and you pretend to not notice the slight tremor in his structure.

///

You and Harry stand facing a very red faced Ed sitting stupefied in front of his monitor thingy. In the clouding confusion, you want to ask him what’s up when you notice that he isn’t even looking at you. Following his line of vision, you look at a very timid Harry, equally red faced though evidently for a very different reason. On instinct you step towards Ed trying to defend Harry for whatever it is that is brewing between them when Ed speaks up in an accusing tone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Harry gulps. He knew. He obviously knew! He knew it since the time he got the signal; it was his ship contacting him. They were coming they said. And that’s why he was more interested in reading the rest of the message rather than manage the overheating machines. But he never got to read it completely and from then he is just counting the time that he has left with you two.

And apparently, Ed has not only fixed the system but retrieved and  deciphered the message as well.

“I wanted to.”

“What’s going on, guys?”

“Why didn’t you?” If Ed were a cartoon, there’d be steam above his head. And you’ve never seen him like this. But the part that breaks your heart is the teary eyed Harry who is choking on his words as he tries to explain.

“I wanted to! I just… you were about to dissect me.”

“How could you think like that, you fool! You’re like my brother. I’d never. But I don’t think I mattered at all anyway. This whole time you were just using us to get back, weren’t you?”

“GUYS! Will someone tell me what’s going on?”

You stand between them looking at both of them with bewildered eyes. Your stomach knotting fearing the unknown.

“Ask him.” Ed says looking away. And you turn towards Harry who couldn’t meet your eyes either.

After a few seconds pass by Harry starts with his voice shaking. “I didn’t come from that village you thought I did… I don’t even remember what was the name you said. But… I just didn’t know what to say at the time. I couldn’t just trust anybody… and I was scared. I mean… it is normal to be scared if you end up all alone on a different planet, right?”

Harry looks at you with red rimmed bleary eyes when you gasp in realization and disbelief.

“I was so so so scared. It was all my fault. I wanted to look closer so I got my cousins to fly the ship lower and lower. And then I was peeping out though we were never supposed to be this close to any planet without instructions. And I just… I think I miscalculated the force of gravity of Earth. I fell and everyone panicked and they kinda… left me. I mean, it was just my cousins actually, the elders didn’t even know, or else they’d never let us so close in the first place.”

“And it was so dark and after the metamorphosis, humans are really weak, no offense. I couldn’t see in the dark and it was freezing and I… was all alone. I don’t think I’d have survived if it weren’t for you guys. But I was just scared…. And by the time I got used to you, I didn’t know how you’d take it. So, I just waited.”

“Waited for?” You couldn’t stop yourself before asking.

“For you to find out.” He shrugged though he was anything but non chalant.

Harry’s eyes lingered on the both of you. A shocked you and an angry Ed, and he could feel another wave of fresh tears forming in his eyes and Ed chuckled dryly.

“And we did! Cheers mate.”

“I’m sorry.” Harry begged but you looked away.

You couldn’t let his big eyes, pout and broken voice get to you right now when you had a crisis in hand to handle. You looked at Ed who was already on his machine working something and you had an inkling of what it might be.

“What now?” Your question comes in a sharp breath, though you don’t feel as in control as you sound.

Ed sigh running his hands over his face and you couldn’t even imagine what he must be feeling right. You ignored the blabbering mess that Harry has reduced to as Ed frowns down at his equipment.

“I can try sending them a message telling them where to find us.”

He breathes out and your heart swells with pride for your brother as Harry stands still realizing that Ed indeed would help him out despite his personal feelings.

“You… You will do that for me?”

“I don’t know what you thought of me, mate. But I can never cause you any harm.”

You hold on to Ed’s arm feeling his anger pulsing under his skin.

“I… I really didn’t want to hurt you. Trust me.”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you, Harry. The point is you never trusted us!” And your grip on him tightens with your own heart breaking at the thought.

“I don’t want to leave like this.” His voice watery as he looks at the both of you with pleading eyes.

Ed looks at you for a second and you, for the first time this whole evening, notice that it wasn’t anger at all that was coursing through him, but sadness.

“Then don’t leave.” Ed whispers looking at Harry that makes him gasp with a sob. And before you could blink, Harry launches himself on Ed enveloping him in a bear hug and Ed reciprocates as you see his face reddening with his own eyes brimming with tears.

You wait beside them grasping your chest as the impending farewell dawns upon you as well. But you don’t get to shed a tear as Ed looks at you from the side and invites you in their hug. You’re all a teary mess when there is a loud chaos outside.

You break away first to look at the home made analog clock sitting on the shelf.

“I’ll go look what’s happening, you both get working on the message.”

The words coming out of your mouth wilts something in you but Harry already knows that as he reaches up for your hand squeezes it and you offer him a small smile before you can break down already.

The noises from outside gets louder as Ed clears his throat getting your attention and lifts his chin directing you and you couldn’t help but roll his eyes at him.

It turns out that the noises were only getting louder because it was the whole village heading towards your house with torches and what seems like sticks and weapons and you shiver to your bones. It won’t have threatened you as much as it does if it weren’t the incoherent chants about your brother and his alien friend. You don’t know how they’d know if you both found out just right now. But then the crowd was led by Steve and you never expected him to follow logic anyway so it didn’t matter. You bolted across the house locking all doors and windows before heading back to warn the guys. But Steve already spotted you.

“Tell your brother his secret is out. You cannot hide that thing out here forever.”

You keep on reminding yourself that you don’t need to listen to him and your top priority right now is Harry and your brother’s safety but Steve always brought the worst out of you.

“If anything that should be hidden is your ugly mug.” You spat out.

“Always the feisty one, aren’t you? Go get that creature and hand him over to us or we’re burning down the house.”

You were done taking threats and you head out right to the front yard facing the crowd, staring down at their leader who was double your size.

“Try stepping into my Granddad’s house and see who’s the one burning into flames.”

This agitates the crowd into a chaos making Steve sneer at your helplessness as you are outnumbered. But you don’t care as long as you get to land a few on his smug face but you stop when your hear our name being called out from behind you and you turn to see Ed and Harry looking at the crowd.

“There is that pest. Get him!”

Ed grabs Harry’s hand and pulls him towards the forest though Harry’s eyes are trained on you as you try to ward off the crowd unsuccessfully. When at last you realize that you were clearly outnumbered and you couldn’t save them, you head towards the other way into the forest where they disappeared.

You can hear some people following you as well and you try to outrun them by taking the rough route that you are used to since your childhood. Anything that keeps them off Harry and Ed’s tail. And you are successful until you hear others through the woods and you don’t know where they are.

You stop to catch your breath and look back trying to locate the noises. Until someone bumps into you from the back and you turn around to see Ed about to scream and you have to clamp his mouth before he can.

“Ugh disgusting” you remove your hand when you could feel Ed’s tongue graze your hand and clean it on your cloth. He mutters an apology before looking up to watch the crowd on the other side who were still looking for them.

“Now what?”

“I have an idea.” Harry mutters before focusing on the opposite way.

“What are you on about?” Ed asks frustrated, fixing the strap of the bag that he is carrying.

But before Harry could reply the woods where he was looking at starts crackling and smoke fills the air. You watch the trees catch fire as Ed turns to Harry in awe, “Wow that was you?”

Harry shrugs, “I’ll teach yeh that the next time.”

“Wait; is that what you did to Steve in the market today?” Ed looks at Harry suspiciously. “We should go! We’ll be late!” Harry says with wide eyes as if he just got caught red handed.

“Wait, what?!” You ask totally lost on what the guys are talking about but you don’t get to ponder upon as the people on the other side notice the fire and erupt into shrieks followed by instructions.

Ed leads the way as Harry pushes your shoulder slightly in the direction to distract you from staring at the blazing forest fire and the people across it.

“Let’s go.”

///

You have no idea where you are heading as Ed leads the way and you reach a clearing. You people at last stop as Ed looks at his watch.

“They must be here anytime now.”

“Not so soon, bugger.”

You watch in terror as Steve crawls out of the woods drenched in water and out of breath. You look behind him but can’t see or hear anyone else. Relief washes over you as you check nobody was following him but not for long as you watch him head towards Harry with anger burning in his eyes.

“Do not go near him.” Ed threatens standing in front of Harry.

Steve’s eyes flicker between the both before bursting into laughter. “Or what? You’re gonna throw a punch, Edward?”

And you prepare to step up before you watch Ed pull back his arms.

“Oh piss off!” and with that he actually throws a punch knocking Steve out.

Ed stands there surprised by his own strength clasping his bleeding fist as Harry and you throw your arms around him in congratulatory hug.

Your shrieks of rejoice are soon overpowered by a strengthening breeze and increasing buzz from above as you turn around to watch the distant light growing brighter.

Ed turns to Harry, his arm around his neck as he squeezes his shoulder.

“You’re going home.”

Harry couldn’t help but bury his face on Ed’s shoulder with a silent “I’ll miss you.”

“yeah, right. Obviously you will. Who else will argue with you about penguins and octopus now?” he jokes but you can hear his voice cracking. “You are the best apprentice I can ever ask for.”

“Heeeey” you say with mock offense just to realize that you’re choking on tears as well.

“I thought you didn’t want to be my apprentice.” Ed says wrapping his other arm around you when Harry looks at you.

Your heart skips a bit as he smiles at you, his eyes looking right into yours. And you don’t know how will you ever let him go.

Ed backs off, awkwardly heading towards the approaching ship, for the first time ever giving you both privacy.

“I’ll miss you.”

You both say at the same time and burst out laughing before catching your breath and looking at each other again. Harry’s eyes slide down to your lips and there is the flutter in his chest again. He doesn’t know if he is allowed to, now that you know who he is. But you just roll your eyes with a smile, “Come on, now!” and pull him by the lapel of his shirt until his lips smashes on yours.

Your teeth knock and your nose bump and you both feel each other shake with  laughter. But soon taken by the warmth of your skin and the softness of his lips and the smell of your shampoo and the taste of his mouth, you couldn’t stop your fingers getting tangled in his curls as his hands rest on your waist. You tug his hair, he pinches your love handles and you have to pull away because you know that’s all you’ll ever get together.

He rests his forehead against yours and you breathe in the same air.

“You can be anyone you want” he whispers against your lips, his thump stroking your skin. “Just follow your heart, love. It might not always be right but you’ll never regret it. At last, that’s how I found you, the nicest person I know.”

He smirks repeating your once said words to you and you have to grip his shoulder because obviously he has to say something like that right before he leaves. But instead of allowing another tear to fall, you steal another kiss and pull away completely.

Ed stands there capturing photos of the ship that has landed twenty feet away from you and you have to hit him on the shoulder to stop being so inconsiderate.

“What?! He doesn’t mind.” You look up at Harry and he shrugs.

This was the least he could do to thank you both for everything.

You look up at the not so gigantic ship with all the intricate details that pretty much makes it look like a cartoon space ship, though not the typical one, as Ed hands Harry his bag and a last hug.

The door of the ship opens slowly, with the light increasing to a blinding point and Harry couldn’t contain his excitement anymore. There are the silhouettes of his people on the entryway to welcome him and he happily walks towards them with a pep in his steps.

Ed keeps on snapping photos and only stops to wave Harry bye before the door closes. And just like that, the ship prepares to take off.

You both look at it as it lifts off the ground with smiles on your face and tears in your eyes. Until there is a meek voice from behind. You turn around to see Steve looking at the ship as well, “What is…” And he faints again out of shock making you both burst into laughter.

///

Ed at last got the recognition from world renowned scientists and organizations. His research published into books and he was in news as the potential Noble recipient of the year. He credited his professor in his research and a certain curious child who couldn’t keep his hands off the radio and send random messages about banana and candy floss into the universe because of whom it all started. Among all the invitations of universities and research laboratories that he received, Ed got a lot of offers to choose from where to continue his research. But instead he opted to buy and transform his respected Professor’s house, his first research lab, into an institute and encourage young scientist to believe in their dreams. But only after a long and well deserved break in Hawaii.

Whereas for you, you at last decided on your major and went back to the social life you once had, now that Ed can afford real assistants to take care of him. You didn’t exactly take up writing as a livelihood, no. You were majoring in psychology to be able to understand how on earth your brother is still considered a human, though you might or might not have a secret stash of stories about unrequited love and fireflies.

But wherever you both are, one day every year, you both meet up in the small shack in the backyard of your granddad’s house to tune into the cosmic blur and listen about all the mishaps that goes on in the other end of the universe until your stomach aches from laughing and face hurts from smiling.

a/n: Shoutout to @twistofpayne for going through the 12K+ words of mess that it is, over and over again. And to the lovely @stylessemantics for keep on telling me that this isn’t completely crazy.

[aqua-harry]

She’s Just Not That Into You » Part II (A Harry Styles Miniseries)

Miss the first part? Find it here.

Even if Nick did piss him off, Harry couldn’t help but be proud of his best friend whenever he was awarded opportunities. He worked hard, and it was nice to see that hard work pay off in the end. So, when Nick mentioned that you were having a viewing party for his appearance on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, Harry feared that he wouldn’t be able to celebrate the milestone with him.

“Ask her,” he demanded one afternoon.

Nick laughed, his eyes widening at Harry’s insistence. After little pleading from his friend, Nick sent a text asking you if Harry could be his plus one for the dinner party. Once he’d sent it, Harry forced Nick to show him the text for proof, figuring that it was just like him to say he’d asked you when he didn’t, instead showing up to the party with Harry anyway, thinking it was funny to throw both of you for a loop. Nick’s phone dinged minutes later, your name lighting up the screen. Your response of “Sure.” had caused Harry to go into an existential crisis, the wrinkle in his brow deep as he pulled at his lips.

“She doesn’t want me there,” he grunted. “‘m not goin’.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Harold,” Nick tried to console him, patting his head. “Go with me. I want you there, and ‘m sure she does, too.”

“Would’ve invited me in the first place if she did.”

“She’s not close with ye’,” Nick explained. “She would’ve invited you if she knew y’better, right? But she doesn’t. So I’m invitin’ ya, and I know she wants it to be everythin’ I want it to be. Even makin’ my favorite meal, so quit worryin’. You’re going.”

And, really, it wasn’t the blasé, one-word response that threw Harry off. It was the period at the end of it. So final, so complete. Sure. An exclamation point would’ve been appreciated, considering it was a party. Parties were supposed to be happy; they were supposed to be exciting, and the punctuation should match, if you asked Harry.

And yet, on the night of the party, he still picks up Nick, driving across town to your place, letting him talk his ear off while Harry focuses on the road. Hopefully, through his chatter, Nick doesn’t notice how nervous he is as he pulls at his lower lip. His oatmeal-colored sweater was appropriate, right? It was winter, after all. But Nick was wearing a typical button-up from Topman, paired with a leather jacket, and that made Harry feel bulky in his cable knit jumper. He should’ve known better - he should’ve worn that black shirt he had eyed after getting out of the shower. Stupidly, he thinks, he went for the sweater, worried that he might get cold throughout the evening and wish he’d gone for layers, rather than fashion.

“This is her building,” Nick says, breaking Harry from his self-deprecation. “Right here on the left.”

As the elevator rises higher and higher, Harry’s heart sinks further into his chest with every ding indicating that your floor was nearing. Pulling the cuffs of his sweater over his hands, he chuckles at Nick’s comment that he didn’t fully catch, his stomach dropping when the lift stops and the doors open.

“...think it’s probably more of a dog thing than a cat thing, but who knows?” Nick says over his shoulder while Harry follows him down the hallway, stopping in front of a door with a Christmas wreath hanging upon it. “How nice! She left the holiday wreath up for the cheeky viewing party!”

Harry clears his throat when Nick knocks on the door as he’s opening it, sing-songing his arrival through the laughter of the couple guests who had already arrived. It smells incredible, your apartment. A mixture of home and something else that he’d come to learn as your own unique scent wraps around Harry, and he instantly feels at ease. Following his friend’s suit, he kicks off his boots and lines them up neatly by the door, causing Nick to chuckle at his politeness.

“Always the gentleman,” he chortles, wrapping his arm around his best friend’s shoulders.

Harry chooses not to respond and instead lets himself be lead into the kitchen by Nick, where you’re carefully pulling a standing rib roast out of the oven like some sort of domestic goddess straight out of a housewares magazine.

“See?” Nick elbows Harry. “Told ye’ she can cook.”

Harry takes a second to eye your kitchen. He can appreciate how you’ve mixed the industrial feel of the appliances with the dark marble countertops, the white cabinetry bringing the room together in a way that he’d come to know as your personal style. You had a bowl of assorted fruit on the island, along with a bouquet of what looked like real flowers placed in the middle of the table that occupied the breakfast nook in the corner. He remembers reading about how you swapped counter clutter out for a simple bowl or vase when it came to your own kitchen, preferring to have your workspace clear for all of the cooking you did. It was in one of those articles that you had up on your website - one of the spreads that tried to get more personal than you were willing be - and he takes a second to remind himself not to mention how closely he’d been studying you over the holiday.

“Hi!” you grin, quickly pulling off your oven mitts and tossing them on the counter. “The man of the hour!”

“Didn’t ‘ave to go through all of this for lil ol’ me!”

“Oh, yes I did,” you laugh. “It’s not everyday one of your best friends is on the biggest show of the year!”

You kiss Nick on both cheeks, holding his face in between your palms. Harry looks on as you pull him in for a tight embrace, rubbing your fingers across the back of his neck and tucking your face into his shoulder. And, yeah, Harry will admit that it stings a little when all you do is grace your cheek against his and give a half-hug to greet him, instead of the obviously warm greeting you’d provided Nick.

“How was home?” you ask Harry. “End up getting Mum something special, then?”

He’s surprised, to say the least, that you remember whatever he was rambling about at Nick’s impromptu dinner party he’d met you at. He looks at you, your bare feet charming against the dark hardwood floors of your kitchen, your toenails painted a holiday red to match the mood. Your cheeks are a bit flushed, probably from the pressures of hosting, but you look refreshed and happy. Harry can’t help but want to kiss you, not only for remembering your previous conversation, but for looking so damn good in a simple pair of black jeans and a cream-colored blouse.

“Yeah,” he nods. “She loved it.”

“I’m glad,” you smirk, patting his shoulder before reverting your attention back to Nick.

Harry grumbles to himself in his head as he follows you and Nick, linked arms and all, into your living room. A pat on the shoulder? You might as well be wearing a chastity belt with a sign that read, “Anyone but Harry Styles!” in bold black letters pinned to your front. He hadn’t a chance with you - not a single one - so he might as well just give it up now. Throw in the towel and never look back.

When he enters the living room, three people he doesn’t know look up, including a clean-cut man who introduces himself as Cam. As he’s shaking everyone’s hand, he can’t help but notice the familiar scent of cinnamon enveloping the room. He scans the area until he spots it - a Diptyque candle lit in the center of your coffee table.

“You know about Diptyque?” he asks, not paying any mind to whatever conversations may have been going on around him. “They’re my favorite!”

“They’re the best,” you nod. “Can I get you something to drink? Stocked the bar…”

While you fix Nick and Harry their requested drinks - vodka soda for the older one and straight whiskey for the boy - Harry inspects your living room, noticing your vintage tour posters from the likes of Pink Floyd and the Eagles, tastefully framed and hanging on the largest wall of the room. He wondered if you just liked the look of the art or if you actually listened to the bands. Figuring you weren’t the type to choose something like a tour poster just for the aesthetic of it, he ponders your possible music tastes. The large bookcases that fit into the wall like they were made for it - were they? - house more books than Harry had ever seen in a home. A full set of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and every other periodical imaginable rests upon the shelves, and Harry enjoys picturing you delicately opening each atlas and planning on where to travel next. Humming, he sits down next to Nick on the plush velvet sofa that’s decorated with a bounty of throw pillows.

“Love the new rug,” Nick comments, running his sock-clad feet over the high-pile material. “Where’s the old one! Said I wanted it when you were bored of it.”

“I’ve got it,” Cam, the well-dressed man speaks up from his spot on one of two armchairs. “She gave it to me, mate.”

“Figures she’d give you her rug before I got a chance at it.”

Harry is immediately envious when the three of you - Cam, Nick, and yourself - erupt in laughter. He smiles, accepting his whiskey from you with a nod and a small thanks, keeping a keen eye on Cam.

He settles into the couch, observing and listening, smiling and nodding whenever the conversation called for it. Normally, he was the center of attention. Normally, people looked to him to keep the conversation going. Normally, he didn’t have to feel awkward about not exactly knowing anyone. But, tonight was different. It was about Nick, and even though Harry had met you and a handful of the other guests who hadn’t shown up yet, he didn’t want to outshine his best friend in his moment of glory.

And, maybe...maybe he didn’t want to say anything that would embarrass himself in front of you.

You seem to be the perfect host, putting out a charcuterie board with beautiful meats, cheeses, and chutneys to occupy the guests who continue to arrive - the final number totalling twelve, by Harry’s count. You have a propensity to please, sitting on the arms of the couches and armchairs instead of fully settling in, offering to refill everyone’s drinks without coming across as pushy. You stock the platter with more options whenever it was looking sparse, encouraging everyone to eat more, as eating a fancy meat and cheese plate by yourself would be too depressing to bear.

When you announce that dinner is ready, everyone begins to move to the dining room as you apologize for having to split up the party - you don’t have a table big enough to sit thirteen, so some guests will have to sit at the smaller breakfast nook in your kitchen while the majority of guests will be sat at the large dining table.

“Loo?” Harry whispers to Nick, and he points down the hallway in response. “Thanks. Be right back.”

He knocks on the door, frowning when he finds it occupied. He leans against the opposite wall, picking at his nails while he waits. You appear at the other side of the corridor, stopping abruptly in front of another doorway, gripping the wooden frame to pause and look at Harry in question.

“Occupied,” he smiles, pointing to the closed bathroom door.

“You can use the one in my bedroom,” you point in front of you.

“Oh,” Harry stutters, walking forward and then stopping himself. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course,” you nod, beckoning him over. “Just in here to the right,” you indicate with your hand, stepping aside so he can enter the room.

He thanks you quietly, noticing as he closes the door that you leave the room to give him privacy. He takes his time scanning the small powder room, noticing how organized it is, with your toiletries lined up neatly and the hand towels folded perfectly. He smiles at the small Diptyque candle next to your hand cream, this one rose-scented instead of the cinnamon fragrance that was burning in your living room. When he washes his hands, he takes note of how soft the towels are and how lovely the soap smelled. He flicks off the light, stepping back into your bedroom, smelling the lingering aroma on his hands.

Before he heads back to the party, he walks into your room, inspecting the details of your life. Yet again, a candle is lit on your dresser - pomegranate, now - next to a small vase of fresh flowers. He’d seen fresh flowers in your living room and kitchen, as well. He wondered if you always had real bouquets around, or if you’d wanted them for the party. He hopes it’s the former as he pictures you walking into a small flower shop every Monday, excited as you pick out a new arrangement for the week, thanking the florist you were on a first-name basis with.

A small stack of books occupies your nightstand, causing Harry to smile at the thought of you not being able to decide which one to read first. A pair of glasses sits on top of them, and he questions what you look like with them on. Do you need them only to read, or do you wear contacts during the day, switching them out for your glasses at night? Your bed looks comfortable - too comfortable - and for a moment, Harry allows himself to imagine what it would be like waking up next to you under the delicate white linens, your warm body stretching out against his own while you convince him to stay under the covers for a bit longer...

Whiskey serving as his bravery, he steps further into your room and stands in front of the vast bookcases that were clearly custom-built. Matching the shelves in your living room - save for the white-washed wood instead of the deep cherry that was in the hub of your apartment - he smirks as he inspects the items you’d placed upon display with intent. Not only were the shelves filled with books of every size, color, and genre, you’d also integrated frames sporting pictures of you and your friends or family, along with other mementos from your life.

He looks over those frames, trying to get a feel of who was most important to you. It seems as though you had siblings - maybe a sister and a brother. There’s a picture of you and what looks to be a younger version of yourself on either side of a tall man who shares your smile, all in front of a Christmas tree. Had the picture been taken back in Devon? He hopes he’d eventually become close enough to you to find out who everyone in each picture was. Maybe even be featured in a couple, if he’s lucky enough.

“Like what you see?” your voice coming from behind startles him. Lightly grasping his chest, he turns around and hopes his skin doesn’t look too flushed. He’d been caught.

“Don’t think ‘ve ever seen so many books outside of a library before,” Harry saves himself, pointing towards the bookshelf as if he needed evidence. 

You speak briefly about your collection, knowing that it probably isn’t healthy to have so many books, especially when it was time to move. But, you’d said, they were a comfort. And you had read most of them. Some were there just because they were a good deal or they were gifted to you. You’d tried to get rid of some, you explained to Harry, but they had become an extension of your home - almost like they were a permanent fixture - so you’d kept them, regardless of how much space they took up.

“And you always have fresh flowers?” Harry inquires. “Or is it just for the party?”

“Always,” you smile. “Don’t think a room is complete without them, really. The florist down the way from my shop - his name’s Raul - he always gives me a good deal.”

Of course he does, Harry thinks to himself. Must have everyone under your spell.

“C’mon,” you motion your head towards the door. “Let’s get some meat on those bones.”

Dinner begins and Harry is unsurprised to find that everything is delicious. He’s sat at the larger table with Nick while you sit in the kitchen next to Cam. He’s almost thankful that he can’t see the two of you from his position, but every now and then, he’ll hear your distinct bubbly laughter which causes a pang in his chest. He’s not the one getting such a reaction out of you.

But did he even have the right to?

After dinner, once everyone is settled back into the living room to watch Nick on the television, you busy yourself with making tea and coffee for everyone. You pop up from your position on the couch during a commercial break, nearly running into the kitchen so you can quickly return to the party without missing any of the show.

“Need any help?” Harry peeks his head into the kitchen, endeared with how quickly you’re plating small pastries onto a ceramic tray.

“Yes!” you sigh, thankful for his offering. “Could you grab a spoon out of that drawer?” you point vaguely with your elbow, your hands preoccupied with petit fours.

He nods, opening the wrong drawer, hearing you audibly wince from behind him. You quickly wipe your hands on the tea towel next to you, placing soft hand on Harry’s shoulder while you reach to open the proper drawer.

“Now you know one of my dirty little secrets,” you smirk, winking at him as you pull a spoon from the cutlery drawer. “Everyone’s got one, yeah?”

He doesn’t know whether you’re talking about a dirty secret or the junk drawer, but he agrees anyway, as the only thing he’s able to properly focus on is how good you smell. You’d only been pressed up against him for a millisecond, but he’d give nearly anything to feel you that close once more.

It might be the drinks he’s consumed over the last couple of hours, or it may be your perfume completely mystifying him, or even all of the blood rushing to his crotch that he hopes to god you don’t notice, but Harry somehow gains enough courage to ask you - right then and there - to work with him on decorating his new house. Neglecting the fact that the house wasn’t even technically his yet, he blurts out the request, hoping that his broker is cinching the deal on the new property as he speaks.

“Sure, sure,” you nod, licking a bit of cream off of your thumb. “Call the store and Megan will take care of you. Set up an appointment and all that,” you slide past him and rifle through your junk drawer, which is less of a junk drawer and more of an organized catch-all. “Here’s my card.”

And while Harry is somewhat disappointed you didn’t give him your personal cell phone number, you’re professional, and he respects that. You’d had no indication that he was looking for something more than an interior designer, and if he’d learned anything during his time off, it was that he should take what he can get, in terms of most things.

Nick runs the rest of the evening, giving the party guests the play-by-play of what happened during commercial breaks. Harry’s proud of his friend - he can tell that he’s comfortable in this setting of people Harry has never met, which opens up another side of Nick he’d never seen before. A tasteful, more refined side, and Harry decides that it’s all because of you, whether that’s true or not.

Cam stands up almost immediately after the show is finished, announcing that he was in for a long day tomorrow. He shakes Nick’s hand and gives him a pat on the back before bidding goodbye to Harry. Harry sticks out his hand, noticing that Cam hadn’t offered his own first, and tells him that it was nice to meet him. The conventional man smiles and nods his head but doesn’t say anything in response - no, “You too, Harry.” or, “Likewise, mate.”

It ruffles Harry’s feathers a bit, although he’s not certain why.

He watches as you say goodbye to Cam on the outskirts of the party, but thanks to Nick’s boisterous cackling, he can’t hear the entire conversation. He does, however, catch Cam’s question of, “Still on for coffee tomorrow?” with a confirmation from you, followed by a kiss on the cheek and a tight squeeze, your head tucking into his shoulder.

With fully-ruffled plumes, Harry turns away from the intimate exchange and pretends to follow whatever topic the conversation had turned to. It’s a strange feeling for him - jealousy, was it? - and he’s not quite sure how to handle it. He certainly had no right to feel this way. No claim was made upon you by him, and you had definitely not staked one on him.

But, there was an undeniable pit in his stomach, indicating that he wanted that right. Harry wanted to be allowed to feel jealous. He wanted to be wary of every straight man within the tri-city area because he knew what a great catch you are and you were all his. He wanted to put his arm around your waist when he found others staring at you, wondering if they had a shot. He wanted to be the one to kiss you goodnight and confirm plans for coffee the next morning. He wanted to know whether your coffee order was contingent on the weather, or if you got the same drink year-round.

He wanted to be in Cam’s place, even if the man didn’t have the ability to be polite to someone he’d just met.

“Ready to go?” Nick asks him an hour later, after you’d begged them not to help you clean up, instead offering to make them another drink along with some light conversation.

“Yeah,” Harry nods. His desire to stay in your apartment any second longer had left as soon as he saw the way you laughed at whatever Cam had whispered in your ear.

And even though Harry had no right to be jealous - even though he barely even knew you, save for the glimpse into your world he received from looking at your bookshelves - he wanted to know you. He’d not felt anything resembling what he’d felt that night for, quite frankly, years.

As Nick thanks you for the party, giggly and clearly intoxicated, a book on the shelf next to Harry catches his eye. He thumbs the binding, tilting his head to read the title. A Little Life. He carefully removes the large novel, running his palm over the agonized face of the man on the cover.

“Have you read that?” you ask once Nick has successfully put his shoes on.

“No,” Harry shakes his head, looking up. “Been meaning to, though. My sister read it last year and wanted me to, but I never got around to it.”

“It’s one of my favorites,” you raise your eyebrows.

“One of hers, too,” he smiles, flipping through some of the pages. “Can I…”

He stops himself, not knowing if he knew you well enough to be borrowing your favorite books. But, then again, he was going to be seeing you a lot after he makes the appointment, so he looks up and gains momentum from your inquisitive smile.

“Would you mind if I borrowed it?”

“Of course,” you nod. “Just be sure to tell me what you think of it.”

His heart jumps in his chest with the certainty that yes, he will be seeing you again and yes, you will have something to talk about other than paint samples and cabinet finishes. He can hardly wait to get home and begin reading, picturing how excited you’ll look as you talk about your favorite parts in one of your most-loved books, maybe even over a cappuccino in a small cafe.

Tucking the book underneath his arm, he leads his best friend out of your apartment, waving goodbye to you with a knowing smile as Nick babbles on about one thing or another in slurred words, the alcohol he’d consumed making his accent thicker than usual.

“How well d’you know Cam?” Harry asks Nick as he drives away from your building.

“New friend,” he shrugs, tapping his fingers against the door.

“Mmm,” Harry gives a short nod.

“Why?” Nick hiccups.

“Wasn’t all that nice,” he shrugs.

“Nice t’me.”

“Well, she deserves someone who’s nice t’everyone,” Harry tries to mask his contention with a cough, running his index finger under his nose as he furrows his brow.

“‘arry,” Nick groans, running his hands down his face. “Ye’ really want ‘er that bad?”

“Why’re you yelling?” Harry avoids his best friend’s concentrated gaze as he turns a corner, speeding up as he drives down the less-crowded side street.

“Scale o’ one-to-ten.”

“‘m not gonna scale it.”

“Do it!”

“‘m not going to scale it,” Harry repeats, more forcefully this time. Sure, he introduced the two of you, but he had no right to demand such information out of him. Harry didn’t owe anything to Nick, regardless of how close the two of them were.

“Thought ye’ didn’t like ‘er.”

“I don’t,” the green-eyed driver frowns.

“Then why does it matter if Cam is nice to e’ryone or not?” Nick slurs.

“I don’t ‘av to like her to think she deserves t’be with someone nice.”

Nick’s quiet then, mulling over the thought of Harry concerning himself with the man you wind up with. Harry will be the first to admit that it looks suspicious - his want for you to be with someone respectful and kind - but even if he didn’t have a certain keenness for you, he would still want you to end up with a man who was pleasant on all accounts.

That’s just the kind of person Harry was.

“Issat why ye’ asked for th’ book?” Nick chortles, slapping his hand down on the center console. “‘Cause y’wanted t’ see ‘er again?”

“‘m gonna see her again without the book,” Harry clears his throat. “Made plans to meet with her for m’new house. Thinking she’s going to be th’ right fit.”

“Mmm, yeah,” Nick shakes his head. “Sure is gonna be th’ right fit.”

Harry makes a point of not saying much else for the rest of the drive, answering Nick with sounds and one-word answers rather than anything incriminating that he could use against him in the future. He shakes his head as he watches his friend fumble with the keys to his front door, waving wildly at him from the threshold while Harry drives away.

On the way back to his place, he replays the evening in his mind, wondering if he should’ve done anything differently. It had ended well, save for the exchange between you and Cam. What had he said that made you laugh so beautifully? Would Harry ever be able to elicit such a sound from you? He wonders, with a wrinkle in between his eyebrows, if he should’ve been more charming - he should’ve made more jokes, he should’ve been more insistent on helping you clean up the mess from dinner...he shouldn’t have snooped.

His house is dark when he arrives, the lack of light only magnifying how empty it was; how very much alone he was. He fantasized about how easy it would be to come home to you, lounging on his couch and telling him that you’d saved some dinner for him. He’d kiss the top of your head before walking into the kitchen, shouting to you over his shoulder, questioning about how your day had gone.

As he gets ready for bed, Harry recalls the hug you gave him goodbye, reminding him to call your office to set up an appointment. He memorized the way your cheek felt against his and how you squeezed his bicep before stepping away.

He could tell, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he’d already become addicted to that feeling. That want. That need. And he was looking forward to getting to know it very, very well.

[colonelkepler]

Odds!

ok i’m putting this under a read more as there’s lots!! thanks for asking!

1. what is your middle name?victor maxwell! i have two!

3. when is your birthday?6th june :)

5. what is your favourite colour?orange! which if you’ve seen my theme or know me in any discord servers you’ll be painfully aware of this

7. do you have any pets?i do! i have a bunny called hazel, she’s a demon

9. how tall are you?5′2 or 5′3 i think! i’m manlet representation

11. how many pairs of shoes do you own?a weirdly high amount, though i have like 2 pairs i wear regularly. i have i think 11 or 12?

13. what talents do you have?i’m really good at self-deprecating humour and not much else. i guess i’m also a good roleplayer/writer and gm, and i have good pitch! i’m real good at hearing songs and being able to replicate them near perfectly first time without knowing anything about music

15. favourite song?ohhh this is a toughy. it always changes. i think sway by dean martin will always be a massive fave

17. who would be your ideal partner?hmm. a creative soul, who is okay with me not talking all that often and not being massively into hugs, cool with not having sex, enjoys cooking together and going to museums together, with a similar sense of humour to me!

19. do you want a church wedding?yessss

21. have you ever been to the hospital?yup, a few times! to visit people, to get stitches in my head when i was a kid, to get my blood tested, and one gruesome time i had to go to a&e due to the flu and was there for like 7 hours

23. have you ever met any celebrities?not really! i’ve met a few youtubers like jack&dean, tomska, and a few cartoonists like humon!

25. what colour socks are you wearing?i’m barefoot right now :(

27. would you like to be a big celebrity?idk if i’d like to be a BIG celebrity but i would love some fame please

29. have you ever been skinny dipping?no way i’d get too cold

31. what position do you usually sleep on?on my front, one arm hanging off the bed, the other usually cuddling something, head resting on my left cheek

33. what do you typically have for breakfast?i’m boring and routine, i’ll usually have a bowl of cornflakes and milk

35. have you ever tried archery?a few times! i’m fairly good at it but finding left handed bows is hard

37. favourite swear word?i have to go with “bastard”, i know it’s lost its edge nowadays but it’s a very good word

39. do you have any scars?i’ve self harmed in the past and i have severe dermatillomania, so i’m covered in scars

41. are you a good liar?nopeeeeee i don’t think so

43. can you do any accents other than your own?extremely badly!

45. what is your favourite accent?australian or scottish

47. what is your most expensive piece of clothing?omg i don’t even know, i never really buy expensive clothes! i think it has to be a dress i got from san francisco for like 40 dollars, whatever that is in pounds

49. are you an innie or an outie?innie!

51. are you scared of spiders?no! which is good, since i’m the one who gets rid of spiders in both of the houses i live in, and so many spiders gather in my room

53. favourite foreign food?BAKLAVA… anyone who’s been to a market with me will know how obsessed i get with it

55. most used phrase?god it’s probably gotta be “what you chatting” or any of the stupid phrases my uni friends use

57. how long does it take for you to get ready?without makeup, like 10 minutes. with makeup, anywhere from 1 to 3 or 4 hours

59. do you suck or bite lollipops?suck! make em last!

61. do you sing to yourself?CONSTANTLY, i’m sure it’s infuriating

63. biggest fear?uhh i’m pretty extremely claustrophobic, and i think my biggest terror is getting lost somewhere and not being able to get home

65. best dramatic movie you’ve seen?hoooo i’m not sure. i really liked tim burton’s sweeney todd, idk if i’d call it Best but it’s the one i got the most obsessed with back in my day

67. can you name all 50 states of america?lol no

69 (lol). introvert or extrovert?i’m seriously a true ambivert. every quiz i take puts me at exactly 50/50. if i HAD to pick one, gun to my head, i’d say introvert though i used to be much more extrovert

71. what makes you nervous?everything, but especially one on one conversations, noises i didn’t make myself, fire alarms (they give me massive massive panic attacks)

73. do you correct people when they make mistakes?big or dangerous mistakes, yeah! something they could live with getting wrong, no!

75. have you ever started a rumour?yeah in primary school i started a rumour that a ghost lived in the supply cupboard in the girl’s bathroom

77. have you ever drunk underage?yeah, like once, when i was about 16 i think

79. who was your first real crush?i think, probably, it was someone from an old friendship group i no longer talk to that i met on msparp lmao

81. can you roll your Rs?no :(

83. how fast can you run?pretty fast! but not for long

85. what colour are your eyes?that REALLY dull blue, that looks grey

87. do you keep a journal?yeah, i keep a practical fatigue+nausea journal to track my health, a bullet journal which i forget about a lot, and a diary which i haven’t filled out for months

89. do you like your age?20? eh it’s the existential crisis age, but at least i’m not a teen anymore

91. do you like your own name?yeah! i picked it out myself!

93. do you want a boy or girl for a child?i do not mind at all

95. what are your weaknesses?uhh i’m really distant, prone to isolation, prone to self-pity and narcissism, i used to tell a lot of lies when i thought people would benefit from it, i let people take advantage of me a lot, there’s a lot of weaknesses haha

97. were your ancestors royalty?maybe, if you go far enough back! i have no idea, tho

99. colour of your bedspread?mainly grey!

[cafephan]

dan and phil play my horse prince #3: a summary

two seconds in and already a questionable horse impression okay time to strap in for another weird one 

"i knew you were going to start clopping" 

clopping??? klopping???? clopping looks better so i'm going with that 

"cloppity clop when will we stop.... is the question many of you have been asking" aw they saw my tweets 

dan licked his lips as he looked over to phil SAME 

he is wearing the ladybird jumper so i agree 

remember the ladybird jumper selfie??? let's take a moment 

okay back to the video 

it was a nice moment of remembrance though right 

anyway 

"i like a good divisive series" 

"this is our great youtube controversy, phil" 

those people that are uncomfortable, it's legit the same level of sexual tension dnp have on a regular basis just in the form of a girl and horse like,,, it's 2017 the hat/cherry/lung/milk/kitten/whatever else fic exists there are more disturbing things out there

they're validating those of you though, good for you i'm happy for your notices

"it's not literal bestiality" // "it's just a lol" "a nice little lol... just a casual lol" 

"i think we should do this one and see how we feel" i mean finally putting that positions book to good use 

there's not much eye contact so far are they okay 

i think recently we've been spoilt with eye contact and now we're feeling like something's wrong because they're not gawking at each other 

"so whether you want to or not, strap yourselves in for ten minutes of erotic equine roleplay"

phil demonstrating that sweet sweet hand porn 

"i don't think we should've encouraged you with the fanart" story of your life innit lads 

congrats to those phanartists that got noticed!! you're very talented and i appreciate you!!! 

i appreciate the last one which highlights the shaved sides i liked that a lot ty

"the less we talk about that the better" legit the phandom about 2012 

dan's reaction to the fanart,,, get those screenshots 

"keep it coming.... or don't, it's up to you" phil pls you're making it too easy for me 

"do you need to do that though?" // "i do, it's a thing now" living for the little domestic i feel deprived 

"dog. dog has a moustache." 

"phil that makes no sense" as if u never make any mistakes howell phil's waiting to call you out like the absolute savage that he is 

remember the thomas the tank engine fuck-up, phil was right on that 

phil's laugh my ears are blessed 

they have two very different reactions to a horse making breakfast 

i found another of dan's kinks who's keeping tabs on them all we've got another to add to the list 

"what's a good... lad? one that makes breakfast, the morning after" is that a subtle wink wink nudge nudge, daniel 

"i'm hyped. this, this is, this is a soap." dan is so excited he's tripping on his words 

he's staring at phil okay world order has been restored 

"you know you love it, stop lying to yourself" // "you love it. just thumbs it up anyway, if you don't like it" 

i love the detailed hair angles we get when they both look down on the screen i appreciate it a lot 

do you think phil will ever ditch the straighteners 

"that's really posh" phil the savage already getting his revenge

congrats hp stans for phil dropping that reference 

did they just compare all of our mums to a horse 

"anyone that exudes glitter and makes sure that you're resting on the weekend... that's who you need in your life" 

"maybe susankun's on the crunchy nut like us" i bet you both are 

maybe see a doctor about that 

i'm not sorry 

"am i the dog? i think i'm the dog" phil says after barking and effectively claiming the role of the dog 

"you just frickin volunteered" dan the savage 

"that was some good borks" so any excuse to compliment phil huh

"what is this video" me every time i read these summaries before posting them, i relate phil 

"some good pottery" 

"unless this is a magnetic knife, how is the horse holding it? with that horse thumb he's just gonna grow?" 

dan demonstrates the claw technique 

look at that hand movement fluidity this ain't his first rodeo 

dan... are u ok.... you've just been in this position for four seconds... 

turned into seven seconds, the longest seven seconds of my life.... is it one of the new 7sc they tweeted out for

“can i stroke him?” // “i’ll give him a stroke”

lanky emo lads fawn over hairbrush functions

that sounded like a weird porn didn’t it oh god no

“look at this roleplay, we nintendogs now”

“oh yeah, feel my brush” 

dan gives that side-eye, he doesn’t like phil saying that to anyone else

the singing quota for this video has been filled

thought they were going to give us a sweet harmony for don’t speak and do no doubt proud but nope dan decides to parody it

this is not the harmony i wanted stop singing a weird cult theme or whatever the fuck it is

leek or spring onion will we ever know

phil is intent on killing simulations recently is he ok

“sorry guys” dan is on hand to comfort us

may need to rethink some comfort fic prompts i have

“is it okay? is anything about this okay?” if the existential crisis branding was still relevant he’d be on the floor rn

“shall we have a chat? a little horsey chinwag?” yes phil come back to your northern roots i’ve missed you

“a really long-faced chinwag” you tried dan but you will always be a southerner you can’t pull off chinwag

“is a carrot a fruit?” mister university asking the real question

is dan actually googling it

“AHA it was to catch us out for being an idiot!” i mean, you googled it so.... aren’t you still an idiot

phil is an orange kinda guy, dan is a grapefruit kinda guy...... explains a lot if you think about it

“he hates me again!” // “i can’t believe he hates me again, straight away...” pretty sure i’ve read that exact line of dialogue in a fic before

“what can i say? i’m more in tune with my inner.... horse... man”

casual head scratch as he silently prays for nobody to pick up on that quote

“deep fry anything, and that’s a winner”

“the choices hurt me so bad”

trying to justify this game just falls flat

no amount of meaningful speeches are rectifying it dan

but it’s not stopping him trying

oh he’s stopped now

“i think we should get our things back”

“this is our life” enjoy u demons

“great. i love my life” phil i just don’t even know what to say stop looking like you’re showing a lemon a good time 

take out the lemon and stare at your wavy haired companion

if i used that line in a fic would you disown me

what kind of accent did dan just try to say field in because he sounded like me

“a horse can’t go on rollercoasters is what i’m thinking” // “can a horse go to the cinema?” “no, he’s going to get in the way of everyone’s screen” wow dan and phil, damperers of horse dreams since their corresponding years of birth

“yes, dan’s credit card is about to spend more money on this horse app” of course it’s dan that volunteers his card, phil would never 

he’s the voice of emo goose he only spends money on luxury apps

mister moneybags high brands stan has no problem forking it out tho good for you son get some

“i am this entire developer’s number one supporter” me when dapg was announced

the frenzy time music is something special

“phil you’re doing the impossible quiz again and that is like ten out of ten banned” younger kirsten is crying

phil’s real laugh comes out to play again welcome back old friend i love you

“is she falling in love with the dog? is that what we’re asking?”

phil’s voice is like monotone throughout all of these videos he couldn’t give less of a shit

he’s just humouring dan’s kink(s)

dan stop criticising phil’s horse voice you can’t have it all for yourself all of the time we need as much of it as you do

“i am ready for this” me whenever they upload on a day that’s not the same day i’m posting a fic

there are very different theories about the multitude of onions

again phil’s includes death

i’m beginning to expect it

“oh he’s gone a bit sassy”

“passive aggressive.... okay” dan we feel the same way when we found out phil’s sent a dm

“i feel it coming.... i feel it coming... are you ready? am i ready?”

“that’s just dreamy. i’m in love with that” // “that is dreamy. i’d like that as a poster in my bathroom” 

“that is the thickest spring onion i have ever seen in my entire life” // “it’d take a lot of gnashing” phil demonstrates said gnashing thank you for showing those teggies

“look at the girth on that one” you know what you did dan don’t blame us when the fics come rolling in

the onion fic

“how do you not love this? people, i mean come on, this is better than the current season of the walking dead”

uncomfortable fidgeting as dan realises he’s pissed off hundreds of thousands of people

staring at phil again yes i’m living

“this is better than the wire” phil doesn’t want to leave dan all alone in the opinion firing line

“it’s turning into that cake outtake from tatinof” HOW DARE YOU.

feeling less guilty having watched it now u fuckers

“it’s literally the cake situation”

seriously i’m going to watch it again just to spite you both

“imagine a horse pushing you against a wall and force-feeding you spring onions” dan i love you but i’m going to have to reject this prompt

the game turns sinister and they both look the most excited they’ve looked for the entire video

“this is fulfilling every kink that our audience might have” in which dan tries to push his weird kinks onto us out of fear phil will judge him

“is the next one set in the afterlife?”

“i feel like i went to a place i didn’t think i was going to”

“so real talk, let’s get real” phil i like that you’re trying to get close to the camera but you’re still too far away it’s not doing what you think it’s doing

“if you don’t want us to do this ever again...” “what’s wrong with you” honestly dan same

they’re literally encouraging thumbs down??? how long have they been in the youtube game???

“tell us your opinions down there” oh dear god they’re encouraging the fanfiction

“if you want the horse, we want to give you the horse. you know what we’re saying?” 

it’s hard to quote when they’re both talking at the same time BE POLITE AND LET EACH OTHER SPEAK 

“this is a two way relationship...” why did phil’s smile grow when dan said that

“slice our subscribe button like a spring onion” // “please don’t stab your laptop and/or mobile device” // “trot over to our other channels”

danisnotchoking (but he wants to be)

AmazingSpringOnion

[solivagantis]

Okay, now that this minor existential crisis is out of the way

Godly parent quiz

tagged by: @calystegiaidol, thank you! tagging: available for stealing

Result: Hades (of-fucking-course)

Your godly parent is Hades, The God of the Dead and Wealth, Lord of the Underworld.

Children of Hades usually are isolated and used to doing things alone. Your solitary existence makes you susceptible to being very wary of strangers, and while you appreciate and crave kindness, you might feel offended as you believe you don't need any special treatment. Children of Hades appear calm and quiet, but can be passionate with joy, love, or rage when situations arise. Because Hades oversees law and conduct, children of Hades tend to have a set definition of acceptable morals, and require a lot of help to change their perspectives. You are extremely protective of the small circle of people that you trust, and any insult to them is an insult to you, which you will not forget anytime soon. Despite being honorable, misunderstood, lawful, intelligent and hardworking, children of Hades can have a darker side too, warping these traits into cunning, ruthlessness and deviousness. More often than not, the good rules over the bad, and children of Hades operate in gray areas to ensure that they achieve their end result.

Qualities

Maturity, protectiveness, camaraderie, reason, harmony, athletic, outgoing, wild, unforgiving

[starsinursa]

Shout-out to @saminzat for tagging me! Like I needed an excuse to waste time. ;)

LAST

1) Drink:  Coffee... it’s like 10 p.m. at night, but I’m trying to stay awake to finish some work from the office (and yet I’m on tumblr doing this quiz instead, oops).

2) Phone call: A coworker called me so I’d have her new phone number.

3) Text message:  “FYI, they don’t give you the money right back, you have to wait 4 - 6  WEEKS for a check in the mail, uggggh”. I bailed the same coworker out of jail about three months ago and went to the city municipal court today to get the bail money back... turns out things aren’t that simple.

4) Song listened to:  Umm...so I’ve been listening to the Moana soundtrack pretty much non-stop for the last week. :D

5) Time you cried:  A couple of weeks ago, reading the fic “Cursed or Not” for the first time (hey, you get to chapter 18 and try not to ugly cry, okay?).

HAVE YOU EVER

6) Dated somebody twice:  Yep. Good ol’ high school.

7) Been cheated on:  Not that I know of.

8) Kissed someone and regretted it:  Yep. Good ol’ college.

9) Lost someone special:  Yes, a couple of times.

10) Been depressed:  Yep, special shout-out to my Prozac and Wellbutrin, love you guys. ;)

11) Gotten drunk and puked:  Yes, a few times, unfortunately. Again, good ol’ college (although I can’t use that excuse for the last time because I had already graduated... to whomever had to clean out that train car up in Minneapolis, MN, about 2.5 years ago: I am so, so sorry, I’ve learned my lesson about taking it easy on the Everclear, you have every right to hate me).

THREE FAVOURITE COLOURS

12) Green

13) Purple

14) Blue

IN THE LAST YEAR YOU HAVE YOU

15) Made new friends:  Kind of? Do work friends count? 

16) Fallen out of love:  Nah, gotta be in love for that

17) Laughed until you cried:  Yes, most recently was while watching “Impractical Jokers” with my aunt (they took a guy who is terrified of cats and made him teach an improv “how to bond with your cat” class, okay, I found it hilarious as a cat-owner).

18) Found out someone was gossiping about you:  Yeah, there’s a lot of gossip about everyone at my second job. Look, I’m sorry I go through all the water bottles, okay? I drink a lot of water...

19) Met someone who changed your life:  Not anyone specific in the last year that I can think of...

20) Found out who your true friends are: Meh. I’ve always kinda known.

21) Kissed someone on your Facebook list:  Nah

HOW MANY/MUCH

22) Facebook friends:  256

23) Pets:  Two! One dog, one cat, the best of both worlds.

24) Want to change your name:  Nah, I like my name.

WHAT

25) Did I get for my birthday:  Books, I always ask for books.

26) Time I woke up:  Around 8:30 a.m. this morning

27) Were you doing at midnight: Probably surfing tumblr, tbh, I am sadly predictable

28) Can’t you wait for: MY VACATION THIS NEXT WEEK

29) Was the last time you saw your mom:  A couple of weeks ago when I went home for a dentist appointment

30) Is something you wish you could change about your life:  I need to buckle down and really focus on paying off a couple of bills. It helps having a second job, but I’m just so impatient.

31) Are you listening to right now:  Nothing at the mo

32) Gets on your nerves:  Whiners. Don’t get me wrong, I love to bitch and complain as much as the next person, but people who blame the world/ everyone else for their problems? Just....yeah.

33) Talked to a person named Tom:  ...this question doesn’t make any sense. “What - talked to a person named Tom”? Also, no, I know several Tims, but no Toms.

34) Is your most visited website:  Pffft, tumblr, of course, is that even a real question

35) Elementary school/primary school:  [Name of my hometown] Elementary School

36) High School:  [Name of my hometown] Jr./ Sr. High School

37) College:  I’ve already mentioned in a couple of posts where I went to college, so I guess I’ll just say it: Kansas State University. EMAW!

38) Hair colour:  Dark brown

39) Long/short hair:  Long! It’s currently the longest it’s ever been in my entire life, I’m so excited (although holy shit, I shed a lot).

40) Crush:  Nah, not for a while. I creeped on a cute security guard a few months ago, but he turned out to be a jerk with a classic “crazy ex-girlfriend” (I put that part in quotation marks because I have no idea if she’s actually ‘crazy’ but he kept insisting she was...which is, just, y’know, a red flag on his part).

41) Do you like about yourself:  I’m actually pretty fond of my hair now, after a lifelong love/hate relationship. I also like to think I’m okay at singing sometimes.

42) Piercings: None at the moment, actually

43) Blood type: A+

44) Nickname: My family has always called me “Foo” (as in, “little bunny foo-foo”)

45) Relationship status:  Single, ayyyyy

46) Zodiac: Leo (pffft, but not really)

47) Pronouns: She/her

48) Favourite show: Supernatural (of course!), Psych, Once Upon a Time, Firefly, Scrubs, Nikita, Game of Thrones

49) Tattoos: None. I’m too fickle, I’d get one and then change my mind two weeks later.

50) Left or right handed: Right

FIRST

51) Surgery:  I had my tonsils out when I was 17 thanks to multiple bouts with strep throat. Oh my god, never wait until you’re that old to get your tonsils removed, it was absolute hell. 

52) Piercings: My ears. If we’re talking unusual piercings, I had a “nape piercing” for a while in high school.

53) Best friend:  Probably my cousin Kayla, since we grew up together

54) Sport:  I played softball for several years as a kid, until I got a bloody nose when the ball hit me in the face. Then I had to quit because I was gun-shy. To this day, I’m still afraid of balls flying at my face (hehehe).

55) Vacation:  I visited my dad in San Diego, CA for a week when I was ten years old

56) Pair of shoes:  First pair of shoes? I don’t know, I was a baby. Probably some over-priced cutesy pair that never even got any use because I was a baby.

RIGHT NOW

57) Eating: Spicy Doritos

58) Drinking:  Still drinking coffee

59) I am about to:  Sort through my tumblr “Saved Drafts” and add tags for everything, then try to get some writing done

60) Listening to:  Nothing at the mo (this is the same question at #31?)

61) Waiting for:  Saturday when I leave for vacation! *o*

62) Want to see: Honestly can’t think of anything. I’d like to watch Moana again but it’s not on DVD yet?

63) Want to get married:  Sure, someday

64) Career:  Human services/ social work-ish? Basically, I work at a non-profit agency helping adults with developmental/ intellectual disabilities to get/ maintain services. Oh, and I also have a part-time job at an adult store. Gotta make ends meet, y’know.

WHICH IS BETTER

65) Hugs/kisses:  Really depends on who they’re from. Probably hugs for the most part. :)

66) Lips/eyes: Aaagh, I don’t know... I love gorgeous eyes, but I also love me some tasty lips... y’know what, I’m gonna go with lips. Yep.

67) Taller/shorter:  Taller

68) Younger/older: Older

69) Romantic/spontaneous:  I can be romantic when I have someone to be romantic for, but I’m not the most spontaneous. :D Like, let’s just stick to the PLAN, okay?

70) Nice arms/nice stomach: Arms. I like squishy cuddly tummies anyways.

71) Sensitive/loud: ...I don’t know. Sensitive, I guess, because being around loud people wears me out pretty quickly. But sensitivity needs to have limits too...

72) Hookup/relationship:  Relationship. Been there, done the hook-up thing, not worth it. Good ol’ college.

73) Troublemaker/hesitant: At this point in my life, I’d say hesitant. Trouble-making was fun in the past, but, like, I’ve got an actual career now that I could lose if I go around trouble-making/ hanging out with trouble-makers.

HAVE YOU EVER

74) Kissed a stranger:  So, so many times. Good ol’ college.

75) Drank hard liquor:  Yep. Still love me some vodka. It just mixes with everything, y’know?

76) Lost glasses/contact lenses:  Contact lenses, yes, but luckily I’ve never lost a pair of glasses

77) Turned someone down:  Yes. I hate doing that. I’m a horrible, cowardly person who would rather “ghost” someone than have to deal with an uncomfortable confrontation. 

78) Canoodling on a first date:  Depends on the definition of “canoodling”. Are we talking cuddling or snuggling up during a movie? Sure. Making out? Maaaybe, depends. No copping a feel on the first date though, c’mon now.

79) Broken someone’s heart:  Yes. Breaking up with someone in high school is intense. 

80) Had your own heart broken:  Kind of, not really? The only person I legitimately had feelings for, I never told them how I felt, so they never really had the opportunity to break my heart but it hurt like hell anyways. Have I mentioned I’m a cowardly piece of shit? :D I mean, that was like 10 years ago in high school, but I haven’t changed that much.

81) Been arrested:  No, thank goodness. There were a couple of close calls during my partying days, I’ve definitely been luckier than I probably deserve.

82) Cried when someone died:  Yes. Doesn’t happen often, luckily.

83) Fallen for a friend: Not really? Had crushes on friends, had friends-with-benefits, yes, but never technically “fallen for” a friend.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN

84) Yourself: Depends on what we’re talking about here. In general, yeah, I like to think I do okay...

85) Miracles:  Ehhh, I can’t decide. It’s a wonderful thought but I’m also kind of a pessimist realist. You know what they say: “hope for the best but prepare for the worst”.

86) Santa Clause:  Not for many, many years

87) Kisses on a first date: Sure! End-of-the-date kisses are sweet.

88) Angels:  I...think so. 

89) Love at first sight:  I don’t know? It’s a wonderful thought but I’m just not sure. Maybe not love at first sight, per se, but I think there are definitely people out there that you can just tell right away they’re going to be special to you.

OTHER

90) Best friend’s name: None, at the mo

91) Eye colour: Brown

92) Favourite movie:  That’s a tough one... I think it depends on my mood. Do I want to laugh? Something trashy like “Sorority Boys”. Do I want to cry? Probably something steeped in existential crisis like “A.I.”. Do I want a feel-good adventure with talking animals? “Homeward Bound”.

Holy crap, that took like 1.5 hours. Anyone need an excuse to waste some time/ procrastinate/ be distracted? Tagging @magnificent-winged-beast, @helianthus21, @destielmixtape, @beesandangelkisses, @emotionally-compromised-idiot, @castielsgracex, @apritelleorai, @honeybee-and-batman, @sunshine-hunters, @waaaaaayward-assbutt, @cool-fallen-angel , and anyone else who wants to do it. :)

[somniiari]

Days is my favorite Kingdom Hearts game but I haven’t played it in a while and I don’t think I ever watched the movie version all the way through! So I watched it and liveblogged it.

I basically have the Saix’s monologue in the beginning memorized

Axel has said “got it memorized” at least 6 times within the first 10 minutes of this movie

Hayner, Pence and Olette run past these literal cult members without even looking

7! 7 times Axel please!!

Quinton Flynn’s delivery seems pretty weird and flat now, which is weird cause I know he can do really well. maybe it was intentional, cause Axel hasn’t started developing a heart yet?

I forgot that my pronunciation of Xion is technically wrong

Footsteps in The Castle That Never Was sound so strange. like they’re walking on metal suction cups.

Axel: Wait did you want me dead? Saix: ... *walks away*

Ah yes Xion’s creepy hood thing that I thought was a glitch until later in the game

What was Organization XIII doing in the 10 years before a Keyblade weilder was available to them?? I’m sure they had plenty of scheming and experiments and mischief but 10 years worth?

THEY LEFT OUT THE BEST PART

THEY DIDNT ANIMATE IT

“ROXAS THAT’S A STICK” I NEEDED IT

“As long as we keep each other in our thoughts, we’ll never be apart!” yall forget each other

8 times

Axel is so bitter about/to Saix oh my god tone down your salt man

The Chamber of Repose and the Chamber of Waking. I don’t remember which is which but one houses Aqua’s armor and the other is Ven’s body, right? So one’s in TCTNW and the other is in Castle Oblivion.

It just clarified, Chamber of Waking is Ven, and in Oblivion

Can Saix and Axel’s objectives  really be a secret from Xemnas? Saix is norted after all, and even though he has most of a free will at the moment, he’s still possessed.

IT STARTED PLAYING THE OLYMPIUS COLISEUM MUSIC AND I HAD BAD FLASHBACKS

“[the memories of my past] have never done me any good” because they instilled loyalty to a norted jerk?

“i can deal with 7 days maybe” well just break my heart roxas why dontcha

Axel spends his rare days off sleeping #relatable 

9 times

“try not to bungle everything-” WHAT KIND OF WORD IS BUNGLE

ARE YOU GONNA ASK THEM NOT TO RUSTLE ANYONE’S JIMMIES TOO AXEL?

“you’ve changed” i can vividly remember Axel saying “i’m not the one who changed, you did” in response to that, but its not in the movie. maybe it was actually a journal entry?

“why are you dressed like one of us?” Xion, honey, your uniform is the most well known form of protection against dark corruption of the heart

Of course Organization XIII has no way of knowing that, bc they were deliberately lied to

This is the scene that made me hate Riku. Watching it again after i’ve fallen in love with him is quite the trip

“You’re the real sham!” “Fair enough” Riku bby no your self-hatred is showing

*Xion screams* BBY NO

“’Special?’ Isn’t that another way of saying I’m a mistake?” XION BBY NO but also #same

“According to Axel, girls are complicated and there are buttons to avoid pressing” ah yes, i forgot this part. don’t worry Roxas, she’s just upset because she’s a girl and girls are weird, she’s not having an existential crisis or anything! 

“Roxas ate alone after missions.” where’s Axel though??

the love conversation may have been a great thing to animate but that’s fine square, just tell us about it

And so Axel’s lies begin. He was just trying to give Roxas hope, I can’t wait to remember how this all got twisted and horrible.

Did we fight the Zipslasher in this time skip? I think we did. I hated the Zipslasher gdi

Axel bridal carrying Xion is what got me started shipping AkuXi. Don’t ship it anymore though, really. Maybe in AUs when they’re closer to the same age

Saix: “Did it break again?” Me: XION’S NOT AN IT

Roxas: “Xion’s not an it!” oh yeah thanks Rox

“does the past mean nothing to you” Saix you’re the one being an ass

10 times

omg please tell me he does it 13 or 14 times

Almost all the books in the Organization library look the same; plain white binding. y’know, cause aesthetic.

Flying in Neverland would have been a nice animation too but whatever

This is why you dont hang out in high places kids!

the scene with Axel and Xion in Castle Oblivion is one of my favorites

Story time: Axel’s explanation of the sunset helped me pass an earth science quiz, cause i was out sick when we learned about light but i was playing days while in bed

THE MINDSCREW DREAM

i still have no idea what it means!! or even who was having it!

Neither Xion nor Roxas knew Zexion that well, and that seemed like Riku’s memories, not Sora’s! so WHY

aw i was too angry as a child to realize that Riku was looking for a way to save them

what has Saix done that make you think he has any mercy Roxas

Xion, Axel probably wasn’t gonna fight you if you hadnt attacked him, the first chakram was a warning not to stab Roxas

“i’ll bring her somewhere safe” thats all you had to say Axel

So Xemnas did call him Sora. Way back when I thought he may have said Ventus.

now you screwed up Axel

DiZ is the worst

"i know you’re not just a puppet.” ;~;

11 times

“I saw a boy today who looked just like Roxas” i thought she meant Sora but Xigbar was spying so was it Ven? I mean it should be Sora but....

Also, Xigbar spying!

“nor become the person we see” not everyone sees Xion as anything though, not even at this point. What do you see, Xemnas?

just kidding i’m pretty sure its Ven

why wouldnt you want two Sora capable people?

like tbh if you spent your time balancing Xion and Roxas’s powers instead of pitting them against each other they would have both stayed in the Organization at least a little while longer

the older i get the more i relate to Xion, bc i too am afraid that i will wreck everything

“do you hate me for taking your friend away from you?” “nah. i guess i’m just sad.” ;~;

now i see why people ship RikuXi

i can dig it now that i love them both, still a little weird to me though, i gotta warm up to it

Riku is projecting, i never realized

“you have to do what’s best for everybody” cause so does he, even at the expense of his own life

and he doesn’t want to have to tell Xion that, but he does, and maybe he can do it to someday

that illusion would have been a nice thing to animate, especially since i forgot it happened holy crap

leave it to Axel to do his best to save the day

Give me Lea sadly turning in the WINNER stick in KH3

or even better, give me Lea cheerfully turning in the WINNER stick with Roxas, Xion and Isa at the end of KH3

Xion said it this time but i’m gonna count it, 12

im super mad about the fixation on memories making everything okay in the end because EVERYONE FORGETS AND I HURT

I KNOW ITS ON PURPOSE BUT PLEASE

what is Diz’s purpose, just to order these kids around? he’s a huge jerk, why do you listen to him

he’s telling you to murder people

i mean they need to die i guess but wouldn’t both of you feel better if you came to that conclusion yourselves instead of this asshole telling you you gotta

though they are both kids and i guess there’s a comfort in an adult getting a final say

still DiZ is bad news and i don’t like him mistreating all the young’ins

Axel’s dancing between the truth, trying to be gentle and trying not to care too much resulted in literally the worst explanation ever no wonder Roxas got pissed

Why was Riku just chilling outside Beast’s Castle and how did Xion end up in just the right place to portal in front of him

i don’t REMEMBER XALDIN’S VOICE BEING THAT ODD

also #rude Xemnas, Xion is a she!

good to know most of the Organization thought of her has a person though. or a Nobody at least. an equal.

Were there more than 2 Replicas? oooooh that could be a good plot twist

Xemnas was insistent on calling her an “it” but uses “she” again when giving Axel the task of getting her back, a dialogue inconsistency or a deliberate manipulation?

There’s an implication that Demyx and Xion talked a lot thats adorable

At least now we know why they were insistent on having 13 people even before they had 13 Nobodies

Axel walks away from conversations almost as much as Vax’ildan

Roxas: “Could it be that you knew for a long time, and never told me anything?” Axel: I walk away

I still don’t get why Riku transforms without the blindfold, and how “his eyes couldn’t lie” is a valid explanation

Riku was projecting, he thinks he has to die

13 maybe? Roxas said it, but also accusing Axel of not memorizing it

Axel told Xion the truth and she left. Axel kept the truth from Roxas and he left.

That sucks.

~cause i’m leaaaaaavin, never to come back again~

“you’re Kairi as Sora remembers her” come on you can’t tell her she became her own person before she dies?

Namine is being kind in general though

I ship it

“i know. i’m ready” ;~;

they’re solving the problem themselves and DiZ walks in pissed that they’re doing what he asked. Almost like a real parent!

MY FAV SCENE IN THE WHOLE GAME

THE VOICE ACTING

THE BODY LANGUAGE

YOU CAN HEAR MY HEART BEING RIPPED OUT

you can also almost hear Axel’s abandonment issues developing even further!

this day is just titled “Tears”. Accurate

I just realized Xion was trying to get Axel to kill her first

but he couldn’t do it

she got Roxas to do it instead

Memories of Xion going static and fading are the WORST

Roxas did break Riku’s arm or something

yes hello i look eerily like your boss now

I wonder if Axel/Lea ever looks back on his conversations with Roxas and notices a hole. An awkward silence where he and Roxas are just listening to nothing. Laughter after a beat of quiet. Looking at something that isn’t there.

literally why is everyone just okay with DiZ he’s a total jerk

in II DiZ acts like he figures out that Ansem is actually Riku. Here he doesn’t question that Riku is 2 heads taller and his voice is 2 octaves deeper.

The rooms in KH are so nice

Well there it is. the end.

WAIT

“Got it memorized” and close variations were said a total of 13 times in this movie

11 by Axel, once by Xion, and once by Roxas, as a denial.

I’m so mad