#mario is supposed to be philip

[marytudorqueenofengland]

I saw this picture and I had a divine vision ….

So I present to you all …

[phregnancy]

i saw someone say they blanked on coming up with tit preshow questions so here are 40 questions i would ask that you can take

- does phil consume cannabis in any form for his migraines

- list three book recommendations

- will sister philip made an appearance for halloween this year

- will phil try a slutty halloween costume from spirit halloween

- if you had to change your height, what height would you be

- who bought the precious baby angel shirts

- can phil walk us through his philognese cooking process

- are you ordering deliveroo multiple times a day or do you get enough for leftovers

- what was dan’s clumsiest moment recently

- phil what are your favorite musicians/bands that aren’t muse

- dan what was the last song you learned to play on piano

- what is one aspect of your personality that you feel has changed the most over the last fifteen years

- phil once said he knows how to make salad, what does he put in his salads

- what is your least favorite liquor

- what was the most sentimental gift you’ve received recently

- has phil hurt himself since the rib breakage

- dan have you taken any color blindness tests since hearing about this theory

- phil shares little linguist facts every now and then, dan, is there anything you learned in university that’s worth sharing

- when was the last time you cried and what prompted it

- fmk: chappell roan, janelle monáe, kehlani

- who is your favorite character from scott pilgrim, and you can’t pick wallace

- what bingeworthy tv series have you watched recently

- if you couldn’t get a corgi or a shibe, what type of dog would you get

- how would you cope with going bald

- if you could each change one thing about each other what would it be

- has phil gotten more comfortable around babies since becoming a guncle

- what are your most embarrassing food moments (public spillage, being caught eating something you shouldn’t, etc)

- can’t be career related, what is one thing you both are looking forward to

- what studio ghibli character do you most relate to

- what is something not many people know about you / would assume about you

- what is your favorite quality in the other person

- has phil always been a gentle princess or is this a phlonde-era development

- when eating cereal, do you prefer to use a tablespoon or a teaspoon

- if dan is concerned with phil stealing his cereal, why doesn’t he start buying two boxes

- phil have you had any interesting dreams lately

- if dan has to cook, what is his go-to meal

- where did you get your mario piranha bouquet from

- you two have gone to many award shows and events wearing two button suits, with both buttons buttoned. are you aware that you’re always supposed to leave the bottom button open

- any nailsinki plans? will phil get his nails painted this time?

- what do you like more about manchester than you do london

[theneighbourunderthebed]

Uhm. Have a note I made whilst sleep deprived a few like.. weeks ago

Yes, I did edit it. A lot

Favorite longform characters because I can't sleep

(LONG POST!! ↓)

Father Andrews

A Christian with Buddhist beliefs? Normal AJ shenanigans. No but tell me a time where he hasn't mixed two things together, confusing the crowd and the other guys.

I'll wait.

Alexa

Look, Tom characters always have my heart, soul and wallet, okay? Alexa is just so :) I love her :)

Don Cicicio

Was torn between the two Tom characters. I absolutely adore Jimmy but ough Don Cicicio my beloved... He's so morally wrong but he's so silly I love him. Fucking indirectly liked AJ's head.. So silly.. So evil..

André Betroot (+ his tutu wearing assistant)

The only reccuring character I can think of. He's so iconic that he just materialized into a different play. I'm his biggest fan I adore him so much!! (Somerset Beetroots! & Bobsleigh Bobsleigh! have been stuck in my brain to the point where I have to blurt it out every time I remember it and I blame Luke for that)

Witch Finder General

I don't make the rules. The one with the most lines that end up stuck in my brain becomes my favorite. I love WFG so so so much he's so so so silly yet so so so morally questionable.

Inga

Became my favorite because she knows what to do with wolves and is the only character I can think of that isn't German in this play. Her different accent gave me mild whiplash and I love that.

Mary

WOMEN IN STEM!! LOOK I DON'T MAKE THE RULES. THE MOMENT A CHARACTER IS MY TYPE IS THE MOMENT THEY BECOME MY FAVORITE (+ she also has the most lines I have ingrained in my brain). I LOVE MARY SO SO SO SOOOO MUCH!!

Mario The Sheep

Again, the moment a character has the most lines stuck in my brain is the favorite. Mario has me baa-ing almost every time I talk. I blame him for all the weird looks my mom gives me when I go "🐑Inbred?🐑"

Philip + Derek

Philip spoke one time, never appeared again. I love other assistant Philip so much. That one audience member has my wallet because I willingly gave it to them. But of course, assistant Derek has my heart. Love the Woodmans so so much.

Troll Mother

Obvious pick was Troll Son BUT I love Troll Mother purely because she appeared twice and only spoke in one of those appearances.

Juliet

Obvious pick. I love homocidal women who are pretty :) She's just so :)

Sherlock Holmes

Shirley Houses is my favorite detective!! Or was it Sherry Lots? Uh... BASTA!! THEM!! MY FAVORITE!! That's all :)

Priscilla's Mother

I forgot her name but I love her so much. DO NOT INSULT HER STAGECRAFT!! She's doing her best :) But anyways, most lines remembered = favorite :)

Marty jr.

First character that I've thought about for hours after watching the play, probably because TEMAWK is the first play I finished. So so chaotic and so so homicidal. I love that little bastard :)

Derek

The way I went "DEREK SPOTTED!!" when he was introduced should be concerning. No but he's so silly and I love him. We love a man that isn't toxic like his best mate is :)

Justin Willoughby

I already put André so!! More Tom characters!! Justin is coping terribly and I want to give him a hug for it. He's just so :( I love him so so so much :( My poor boy :(

Peter Steven

This is the 10th Tom character on the list. There are currently 16 characters as of writing this. I'm not sure if I just love Tom or just really love Tom. Anyways, FREE MY MANS!!! HE JJST WANTS TO PLAY OUTSIDE AND BE A HEALTHY CHILD :((

Johnny + Janae

Look, I know this is supposed to be favorite character and not favorite characterS but.. I love both of them so so so much they're my bebes.. You cannot have one without the other and you cannot convince me otherwise. They're just so me-core I lav them :)

Mrs. Xavier

Certified 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴 seven days a week </3 She just put the thought of her child fucking her other child's husband in her mind, let the chaos happen, and then just took the thought back in her own because "it's good".

James James

He's like. The only character I genuinely remember from The Prime Minister's First Day (I definitely need to rewatch this one) but he's just so sillaye I love him.

Theresa May

Important character that knows how to defeat the antagonist, dies immediately. I don't know why but a character being introduced as important but then dies almost immediately is so funny to me and bumps them up to favorite character status.

That one person who scrum

Genuinely the only thing I remembered from The Ingredients is the scene where Sam just SCREAMS.

Marie-Claire

Was only mentioned, but Cliff and Chip talking about her death immediately shot her up to favorite character status. No but the idea of her just going "wee!!" when she threw herself off a cliff, while depressing, is incredibly funny to me.

Persephone

ANOTHER Tom character. I'm so so sorry but I love Tom so so much he's just so good at any role he assumes and just.... Persephone is not an exception to this.

Fullset O'Hands (+ Caravan Hutch... Or is his name Lots?)

Okay. These two freaks are just so :3 I'M SORRY BUT YOU CAN'T JUST GIVE ME TWO WEIRDOS AND EXPECT ME TO BE NORMAL ABOUT THEM. THEY'RE SO ME-CORE I LOVE THEM SO SO MUCH.

Andrew

SAVE MY BOY!!! HE DID NOTHING WRONG!!! HE WAS JUST A BIT EAGER!!! FREE HIM!!!

Magnus O'puss

Don't give me Tom playing a character like THIS and expect me to act normally. I'm sorry but sometimes I can't tell if I want to be them or if I want them. Tom playing the fandom's queer icon definitely makes it harder for me to decide.

Pointy

Again, you cannot give me a weirdo and expect me to be okay about it. He's just so :) I lav him :)

Scottish Batman

YOU DON'T TELL SCOTTISH BATMAN TO FUCK OFF!! HE IS THE NIGHT!!! HE IS VENGEANCE INCARNATE!!!!

That fucking kid

I'm sorry but that little "Rapier!! :D" got me. WHY ARE TOM'S KID CHARACTERS SO :3 YET SO D: I'M SOBBING ON THE FLOOR HE CAN'T DO THIS TO ME

The barkeep

"Be careful™". That's. That's all. That's all you need to know (PS. The way he fucking fell omfg)

The French kraken

It's uh. The only character I can remember at the moment so uh. Half-mime half-giant octopus my beloved 🛐

The blond dog

Again, only "character" I can rember atm. Luke was 100% going for horse. Nooo noo, that's blond dog 👍 (was this even in this play? i don't know)

D.I Mannering

You can't just give me a character that goes against their sibling and ends up killing them because they're on opposing sides and expect me NOT to imagine terrible tragedies happening

The witches

Fucking freaks. Absolute weirdos. I love them mfs </3

Amanda

I don't really remember this play but I remember really liking Amanda for some reason

Don Juan's wife

I forgot her name but I LOVE HER SO MUCH RGHHSSGHD. She just slays so much ough.......

Xavier

The obvious choice. 19th Tom character on the list btw. Anyways. C'est Xavier!! C'est Xavier!! Aaaaaah!! *fains cutely*

[misfittoy15]

"Im glad we booked this room. We both needed a shower not in a dank theater basement." Dan says as he picks up his phone after toweling off his hair. "Dan? Did we ever post that video for the seriously imagine it thing?" Phil asks, checking his Twitter notifications and being swarmed with mentions. "Oh shit, you're right. Those nerds are going to go feral over this." As he gets the posts ready to go. Phil also gets everything ready for his own profiles, smiling as he says, "Do you mean... Pheral?" Dan rolls his eyes so hard he has to put his phone down for a second as he tries and fails not to laugh. "Shut up, you. Let's post at the same time. Which platform are you doing first?"

As everything gets posted they both put their phones down in anticipation for the flood of notifications and queue up a new Mario kart match. Part way into the second race of the grand prix, Phil glances at dan and decides to say something. "Are you seriously imagining it?" Dan's focus breaks and he runs into a banana peel on the track. "God damn it, phil! I was winning!" They both laugh as phil pulls ahead and dan gets his bearings back on the track. "Yeah, you WERE." They clutch their way through the rest of the grand prix with plenty of jabs and remarks that leave them both with smiles as the trophy scene plays.

"Okay, but are you?" Phil dramatically side eyes dan as he's scrolling furiously on his phone. Dan is silent for a moment while he continues looking for whatever it is that's got him for focused on his screen. Phil sighs and decides to let it go, and starts checking his own phone, skimming the insane amount of replies to their video. Their fans are being absolutely unhinged just as they expected.

Dan finally says a whispered "yes!" Right before some tinny fall out boy starts playing from his phone speakers. Phil looks at him quizzically and then realizes dan has found someone who is live streaming from When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas. The two make eye contact and dan remains silent for a beat, before Phil raises an eyebrow.

"Phil.. do i seriously /need/ to imagine it?" He's surprised for a moment forgetting about the comment he made earlier and then he breaks into a laugh. "I mean, that's entirely up to you, isn't it, daniel?" Dan turns his phone a bit to show Phil the screen. "Okay but look, they're playing through the album and this is the last song before MCR comes out." The two watch the set together despite the terrible quality. "Recpetion must be terrible there." Phil remarks. "Gotta be. There's so many people in one spot. I'm kinda glad we didn't go." Phil casts as glance at dan, "you would be. Mister "don't talk to me" cross body bag. " "you and I both know we would get SO SWARMED. I'd rather just relax on our day off of tour." Fall out Boys performance finishes and it's the break before MCR.

Dan looks up and meets Phil's eye, lowering the volume on his phone and setting the device down. "You know Phil, earlier I asked if I had to imagine it. But I know I don't need to, now do i?" The intensity of his gaze makes Phil stammer a bit and struggle to form a response. "I, i , well, I um, suppose not, huh? We didn't end up going." Dan tilts his chin down and his gaze deepens, "you know that's not what I'm talking about, Philip." Dan leans closer to the man next to him and tugs on his shirt collar where it dips beneath his chin, "I've got you all to myself tonight. Let them imagine it all they want." The first note of My Chemical Romance's set plays as their lips touch. Once, then twice.

"Now, let's watch the rest of this stream until the signal fails." Dan nestles into the seat and picks up his phone, facing it toward Phil and increasing the volume again. Phil adjusts too and smirks when he notices the pride flag they filmed with tossed over the back of the couch they just kissed on.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 06/03/2024

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and the days of high quality rips?

Season 7 Featured on: Rips of Christmas Present

Ripped by berg8793

Requested by itsyeeted! (Discord)

Funny thing - I was supposed to have posted this far closer to new years, but then somehow convinced myself that I'd...already posted it? Just marked it as done in the spreadsheet and everything. Bizarre. Well, its never too late to celebrate the new year, is it? Especially not with a rip as sincere, wholesome, downright pleasant as Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and the days of high quality rips? - This is the kind of rip to remain on the laid-back playlist all year long.

I'm sure a lot of people were a bit puzzled to see a game like Tetris on CDi even *get* rips, let alone any form of non-ironic memes. I mean, its the Philips CDi, it's the meme console with Hotel Mario and the bad Zelda games! But this is another case of what I brought up back in Viva La Robocop, another case of one of SiIva's most fascinating phenomena: when otherwise wholly obscure games are kept in discussion through the surprising quality of their music. With only some exceptions (such as the games composed by the Follin brothers) that discussion seldom becomes widespread, usually staying contained to enthusiasts of VGM: such as the very people behind the SiIvaGunner channel itself! And while many of these soundtracks are kept relevant by chiptune artists, with examples like the aforementioned one, Never Gonna Give Up Mahjong and Beautiful! ~ Curveball of Sean Kingston - Tetris on CDi is, as the name of the console suggests, full-on CD quality, with a sound so stunning beautiful and atmospheric for a game series otherwise so content in reusing and remixing the typical Tetris theme. In the words of Jack Yarwood - "Before 'Tetris Effect,' There Was the Vaporwave Bliss of Tetris on the CD-i".

The wonderous atmosphere of this otherwise entirely obscure release of Tetris has kept its heart beating ever so faintly in the 32 years since its release, and Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and the days of high quality rips? feels just as much like a love letter to this game's vibes as it does a soothing celebration of the new year's beginning. Level 6's soothing tune is used as the backing instrumental to an original cover of the Scottish folk song Auld Lang Syne, one typically sung to inaugurate the beginning of the new year. And it's one that I, despite being from all the way over in Sweden, swear I must've heard in a film or show at some point - its lyrics and melody felt immediately comforting and familiar as soon as I started listening to the rip. Part of that comfort is of course the vocals, berg8793's vocal performance is positively soothing, but it may also be from how the vocal performance is implemented into the rip. It's given a layer of compression to it that matches the quality of early CD games, and indeed the quality of the CDi games' soundtracks themselves, a comfy faint noise and static stitching the two pieces of the rip together as a seamless whole. berg8793 has previously mostly been featured on here in rips that appeared as if they were borderline painful to make, such as Banjostruck and Kirby Joins the Circus!, so it was a delightful surprise to see him having made a rip like this. Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and the days of high quality rips? not only feels like a welcome break in energy from the guy's typical output, but also shows me that he's got a genuine talent for singing - one I hope he finds use of in rips to come!

There's little else to say - Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and the days of high quality rips?, much like Wham! Into Dreams, feels like a cover from the heart, a cover made with the intent of pure celebration, to band us faithful viewers together for the new year in the comments section. Amidst all the shitposts and insane-scale collaborations, it's...nice, to have rips like these to return to for the quieter moments in life.

[tsunflowers]

my thoughts on main riders as gamers, heisei to present

godai: not really a gamer but will play a mario party or something if people have it. pretty good at various arcade games, pinball, pachinko, etc

shouichi: good at rhythm games. likes farming sims although he says it's not as satisfying as gardening irl. he likes to decorate his house and farm. probably has maxed out hearts with all the non-romanceable housewife npcs

shinji: loves gaming, is very bad at it. he doesn't own a console so he never has time to practice

takumi: I wanted to say I didn't think takkun would be a gamer but then I remembered he has depression. probably goes into a haze where he sinks hours of his life into an rpg and doesn't come up for air

kenzaki: absolutely a gamer but kind of a normal guy type gamer. if there's no guns or cars he's not interested. I think he's the type to main a fighting game character he's not very good at just bc he loves the character so much

hibiki: no interest, no skill. unless it's taiko no tatsujin

tendou: not really interested, only plays games with juka and hiyori. you will be astounded if you see him and hiyori playing ddr together bc I know she is a mid 2000s scene kid who lives for the ddr machine in her heart

ryoutarou: I dont think ryoutarou owns a console or has any friends so he's stuck with either arcade or phone games. I can see him idly playing candy crush and getting really far

wataru: gamer alert. lots of rhythm games, stuff like the sims and zoo tycoon, and picks rpgs based on character designs. he plays a lot of dating sims but he thinks they'll teach him how to interact with people and doesn't realize no one in a dating sim has ever been normal

tsukasa: I feel like he's naturally good at every game he's ever played but if he plays with the rest of the squad they team up against him and he loses for once

shoutarou: not really a gamer. he probably makes excuses about how he would prefer to be reading a book, on paper, bc he was born in the wrong century, but he mostly just doesn't have the hand-eye coordination for it

philip: loves games but often misunderstands them in weird ways. like when you hear about a guy who beat a game but he never realized you could equip different weapons so he just played with the starter weapon for the entire game. that's philip. if he played one of the recent fes he would map out the most advantageous marriages though

eiji: probably just an idle phone game guy, i don't see him as a gamer. offers intentionally stupid advice to ankh when ankh is gaming just to make him mad

gentarou: obviously a gamer. does try to befriend enemies that can't be befriended and has to be talked out of it. safer to play games that are less combat oriented with him. I also think he doesn't really play game on his own but likes to play party games or sit and watch kengo or tomoko game

haruto: probably not a gamer. I think he's really good at carnival and arcade games though. like if a game is supposed to be unwinnable by design this guy can walk in and win in one try and he just says "it's magic"

kouta: he'll play smash or mario kart but he's not really a gamer. I don't know if he'd be good at ddr or not bc it's not really like dancing

shinnosuke: I think he's the type to have one game or one series he's really interested in so when people try to get him into something else he's like "no thanks I already play a video game"

takeru: I think he is a gamer but decidedly casual. he loved undertale

haruka and jin: not gamers

emu: emu's gaming habits are explored in canon

sento: definitely a gamer, probably loves older rpgs and metroidvanias. the type of guy to try to exploit cheats and make up rules for himself to make the game more challenging, eg nuzlockes

sougo: plays games but always makes the worst and most evil decisions bc "it's faster" and it's like sougo. the game all but told you flat out that this was the morally wrong thing to do and here you are

aruto: certainly a gamer but fairly casual. probably deeply into one rpg series and can just spout off trivia about it

touma: i dont know that guy

ikki: plays fifa

ace: ace's gaming habits are also canonical

[lampmanliveblogs]

Absolutely amazing. It could not be more perfect.

I’m gonna headcanon that Camila’s reaction to seeing Luz’ little ”Hi! I’m bi!” drawing was to respond with a ”Hi Bi, I’m mom!”

(as none of you may remember, I did say that I had an idea for something I’d do for this moment. I was gonna do another Engelsofors quote ((the scene where Vanessa tells her mom that she’s dating Linnéa, which effectively doubles as her coming out as bi))… but looking at the actual scene, it really wasn’t as funny as I remembered it as, soooo… i’m just not gonna do it)

I love this screenshot, it looks like the other palismen think Flapjack has gone crazy. By the Titan! He’s pecking at the floor! What new spore of madness is this!?

Seeing all the palismen together like this does remind me of one of the predictions I was going to make in that post I was supposed to post before this liveblog but never did.

Assuming that Philip (what’s left of him anyway) still has enough of his mind left to form coherent thoughts and plans, his first priority will likely be to regain some of his strength. And would you look at that, there we have four yummy palismen ready to be cracked open like some radioactive coconuts. Even if he wasn’t seeking revenge on the kids (which he most certainly will be doing), those palismen alone are enough of a motivation for him to show up and cause trouble.

Now, I’m not sure what exactly he could do to cause trouble, but I’m sure he’ll find a way.

Amity. Sweetie. Luz already loves you. You do not need to try this hard.

Hm… can I wring some symbolic meaning out of these outfits? Of course I can. Observe:

Gus At first glance, it’s easy to conclude that Gus probably just picked out what he thought looked cool and that’s most likely the case. But you’ll notice that out of the four newcomers to the Human Realm, he’s the one who’s got the most ”normal” outfit. Which makes sense. His knowledge of the Human Realm has often been played for laughs, but he’s still very passionate and interested in everything human. And his stated wish back in Hunting Palismen was to become an ambassador to the Human Realm. With this in mind, it makes sense he’d try to assemble what might be considered a ”normal” human outfit, to blend in and show respect for the human culture.

Willow Seeing as there is no flyer derby in the Human Realm, it seems Willow opted for the next best thing and is trying her hand at roller derby (which, fun fact, the only reason I know that sport exists is thanks to a Steven Universe fanfic I read years ago). Despite her threatening pose with her hands balled up into fists and the intimidating spikes on her helmet, she is still smiling brightly and her outfit is brightly colored. Willow is at heart a very caring and kind individual, but when need be, she can be tough and powerful, This is a theme we’ve seen repeated several times with her character.

Amity The events of Clouds on the Horizon saw Amity more or less disowning her mother (take note of the absence of Odalia in the drawing of her family in one of the previous shots*). There wasn’t much time to process the meaning of that at the time, since they were a bit busy dealing with the end of the world and everything. Now, however, Amity is finally free of her mother’s overly controlling attitude and enters her rebellious edgy phase. These are all likely clothes Amity would not be allowed to wear if Odalia had a say in the matter. ”Ripped jeans? Not in this household, young lady!”

(*speaking of the previous shots, before I forget… when the mutant rat from Yesterday’s Lie bursts through the board, we can briefly see Hunter’s hands without any gloves. I’m fairly certain that’s the first time. I didn’t notice any scars)

The hat looks familiar to me. Is there a character in one of the Mario games that wears a hat like that?

Hunter Sorta similar to Amity, but even worse, Hunter likely never had any say in what kinds of clothes he got to wear growing up. Having been raised the way he was, he likely has no real grasp of what his own identity is (no doubt made worse by the grimwalker revelation and finding out he’s a clone). Thus, he can’t really express himself through his clothing the same way the other kids can. But one thing he does realize is how large part of him Flapjack has become. Flapjack, in many ways, has become a part of Hunter and a fundamental piece of his identity. Flapjack is symbolic of Hunter beginning to stray from the path created for him by Belos and him eventually breaking free of his control to become his own person.

That’s why he’s dressed as a giant red chicken.

And Vee coming in with her new form as well! I don’t even care that I was spoiled on her new look, I’m just so happy to see my snake daughter thriving.

Speaking of which, there is a noticeable difference between Vee’s Luz form and her new form. The difference in appearance is obvious, but if we look at this before and after, we can see some important differences in how she carries herself.

Luz!Vee still looks a bit timid and with a very neat appearance, much like how we saw her in Yesterday’s Lie. In her new form, she looks a lot more confident and her clothes & hair are a lot less neat and picture perfect. Her eyes and hair are also closer to her eyes and hair* in her basilisk form. She’s still disguising herself as a human, but it’s closer to the real her. In some ways, I think Vee has become herself.

(*well… reptiles don’t have hair. It’s as ridiculous as feathers on a mammal. Maybe the ”hair” basilisks have are closer to the pycnofibres you’d find on pterosaurs)

(i am honestly surprised at how good this edit turned out. especially seeing as I don’t have any actual image editing software. no, i did this in pages.)

Honestly? Same, Camila. Same. You love to see it.

[katwriting]

Fic: Man's Best Friend

Red, White & Royal Blue // One Shot

5+1 moments of Henry and David through the years. Featuring Arthur, Bea and possibly some Alex.

Word Count: 8.4k // Read on AO3 or continue reading below

One

Norfolk, December 2014

Sandringham is as gray and dull as ever. It's raining and there is barely any light coming through, which makes the ancient walls appear even more daunting than usual. 

When Henry gets out of the car, he feels like the walls are staring back at him, the high windows a glassy copy of his grandmother's most judgmental stare. She's waiting there, behind one of those windows, expecting them all for the annual Christmas celebrations. Henry would much rather be anywhere else, literally. With Pez in the Maldives maybe. Or just back at the country house in Wales with his family.

Behind him, the car trunk slams shut and slow steps walk up behind him. His father comes to a stop next to Henry, pulling Henry's suitcase behind him over the gravel. 

They look at the ancient brick in front of them for a moment until Arthur lets out a sigh. "You know," he says, "if it were up to me, we would be in Wales right now. Just the five of us. Let you all have a proper family Christmas for once."

Henry laughs at the thought. "I bet Gran would be thrilled about that."

Arthur pats his shoulder. "Don't worry. I have annoyed your grandmother so many times over the last twenty years. One more time really isn't going to matter."  

He winks at Henry, then starts walking towards the main house. "Come on, son. Let's get this over with."

They don't get a moment to themselves for the next approximately 48 hours. Between the official family reunion, the photo session, the stiff, black-tie event that is Christmas Eve, and the photographed walk to the church service on Christmas morning, Henry feels like he doesn't get a moment to breathe either.

So when Arthur suggests going for a walk on the early afternoon of the 26th, Henry doesn't have to think twice. He makes sure to drive Philip off Rainbow Road one last time for good measure, then hands the controller to Bea and abandons their heated game of Mario Kart.

"Make sure to bring a scarf, you two. I don't need either of you to get sick," Catherine calls after them from where she's snuggled up in the window seat with a book and a fluffy blanket. Arthur makes a show of rolling his eyes, but begrudgingly grabs thick scarves for the both of them from the wardrobe by the door.

When they step out of the castle and the crisp December air hits them, Henry feels like he is taking his first proper breath in days. He lets out a sigh, his breath forming a little cloud in the cold air in front of his face.

Arthur looks over at him and smirks. "I suppose you are about as tired of all of this as I am?"

"You have no idea," Henry says, his shoes scuffling over the pebbles. "Sometimes I wish I'd stayed at Eton for the holidays. But then again, Pez is not coming back until the new year, so."

Arthur makes an offended noise. "You wound me, son. First you stay away from us all year, and then you can't bring yourself to show some excitement about seeing your old man. I can't believe I raised such an ungrateful traitor. I must speak to your mother about this, maybe there's still a chance we can return you."

Henry laughs and bumps his shoulder into Arthur's as they continue walking down the misty trail.

They walk for about an hour and venture into the public area of the Sandringham Estate, their PPOs walking discreetly behind them. Arthur has been working with the same ones for years. He trusts them, so Henry trusts them too. 

(He might also trust them because they discreetly got him out of a number of potentially very embarrassing situations over the past year or two. Anyway. Details.)

They are about halfway on their way back to the castle, when an elderly man with a dog walks by. A beagle, fur already slightly gray around the eyes. When they pass, the dog ventures over and barks at them accusingly. 

"Dolly, stop it!", its owner says and closes the distance between them. "I'm terribly sorry, she's usually nicer to people. But you know, when they are in one of their moods," he says, completely unaware of who he is talking to.

"Oh, it's quite alright," Arthur says and crouches down to scratch the beagle between its ears. It stops barking immediately. "I used to have one just like that when I was young. Had him for almost fifteen years, he was a good lad."

The man nods. "Oh yes, if you are lucky they get quite old. Dolly here is turning 12 next month, aren't you, girl? I got her as a present for my wife, and after my Nina passed away last year, the old girl has been keeping me company."

Dolly has now moved on from enjoying Arthur's attention to giving Henry her best attempt at puppy dog eyes. And despite her obviously old age, she is still quite effective. Henry laughs and crouches down to scratch her between the ears. The dog positively melts at the attention. 

Arthur watches him with a fond smile. "They make for great friends, don't they? Especially when you're lonely. I always wanted to get our kids one, but never got around to it."

"You know, it's never too late for a belated Christmas present," Henry jokes from the ground. He gets up and brushes the dust of his pants. "Or you could put it on the list for next year. I'm sure Mum would be thrilled."

When they have walked on and the man and his dog are out of earshot, Henry leans over to his dad. "Also, having a dog running around Sandringham on Christmas Eve would make Gran go so mad. Just imagine that."

Arthur laughs loudly. "It would, wouldn't it? Even more reason to get one. Maybe next year."

+++

Two

Wales, December 2015

They don't go to Sandringham next year. 

In fact, they don't really do much for Christmas at all. Neither of them feels like celebrating, given the circumstances. If Bea hadn't called Henry and practically begged him to come home for the holidays, Henry would have stayed at Oxford. Even the Queen, despite her longstanding indifference towards Arthur, respects their choice to stay away from the extended family celebrations without comment.

They go to the country house in Wales instead, just the four of them. But they don't get much into a holiday spirit there, either.

The thing is, while Catherine found some hiding places back in London, the country house was all Arthur. It's not even an official royal residence, just an old house near a small town that Arthur bought some time after his first Bond movie and used as a hideaway whenever the press and the attention in London got too much. Henry has heard many stories about how he and Catherine would camp out here when they were younger, get to know each other without the scrutinizing glances of the public and the even more scrutinizing glares of courtiers and the queen. He found out later that this was also where Arthur proposed to Catherine, way before they had even thought of asking for the queen's official approval. The movie star and the rebel princess at their best.

His presence in the house is everywhere – in the fluffy old rugs that he picked, the old chimney he'd light a fire in whenever they were here in the winter, the family photos on the wall. He is everywhere and nowhere at all, the memories of him light as the wind drafting through the hallway, yet weighing heavier than the old bricks that carry the roof.

Maybe that's an appropriate analogy, Henry thinks – his father was the foundation that kept their family together. Now that he's gone, they stray apart, like a home that's been dismantled by a storm. 

And in in the eye of the storm, there is nothing but quiet. Cold, empty, suffocating quiet. 

When Henry feels like he can't take it anymore, he grabs Catherine's keys to unlock the backdoor and steps out into the garden. There are a few concrete steps leading down from the patio to the lawn – his siblings and him spent many summers drawing on them with chalk – and Henry almost slips when he walks. He catches himself on the railing – Arthur put it there after he almost broke a leg once slipping just like Henry almost did. The backyard is abandoned, the grass more brown than green. The sky is covered by heavy clouds and there is thick fog clouding Henry's vision.

It almost feels like Wales misses Henry's dad too. 

Henry steps over the wet grass towards the old oak tree in the corner of the garden. There is a swing hanging from a strong branch that he remembers building with his father and Philip, back in the day. Before.

Henry's stomach lurches as he realizes that this is what his life is going to feel like from now on – split into a before and an after.  

He leans heavily against the tree and squeezes his eyes shut to fight back the tears. It's ironic, really. Considering the amount of crying he has done over the past months, he should be out of tears by now. But apparently life won't even grant him that small favor.   His gaze drifts over to the swing. It's still there, swaying softly in the wind, just like it has for years. For winter holidays, autumn getaways, long weekends in early spring when it was still too cold to stay outside for too long. But it no longer reminds Henry of all those happy memories. Instead, the sight of it just stings. 

He remembers building the swing as clearly as though it happened days, not years ago: His dad coming home from an incognito trip to the hardware store, searching in the shed for the right piece of wood. Picking the right tree with his dad and Philipp. His mom's voice calling from the patio, warning them to be careful. Philipp spraining his wrist anyway when an attempted jump from the swing went wrong one day. Himself sitting on the swing, his legs dangling in the air and Arthur next to him on the ground, flipping through an old script. Bea and Philipp playing ball in the grass, Catherine sunbathing nearby.

Just a few short months ago, those moments were memories he looked back on fondly. Now, they feel like relicts from a different time. Henry looks at the old swing, contemplates sitting on it to see if it will make him feel any different, any better, make him hurt any less. 

Instead, he sighs because he already knows the answer. 

He turns his back on the tree, the swing and the memories, and heads back into the house. His jacket is still on the armrest of the sofa, just where he has carelessly left his stuff for years. His mother would always playfully scold him, tell him to clean up after himself. This year, she doesn’t. Henry's not even sure she realized the jacket was there. Just another one of those things that Arthur's death ripped away from them. 

He passes through the hallway and walks out the front door. The PPOs are stationed outside the fence as usual. Henry throws their head of security a hopeful glance. She doesn't acknowledge it, but when her colleagues set off to follow him, she holds them back.

Henry shoots her a little smile. His favorite person on the royal staff might be Shaan, but there is a reason she comes in at a very close second place.

He's made it just a few steps down the road when someone calls his name. When Henry turns around, Bea is following him with quick little steps, bundled up in that ratty trench coat she claims is vintage and a scarf that could better be described as a middle-sized blanket.

"Going somewhere?", she calls after him.

"Can't stay at the house," Henry mutters. His soles drag over the wet pavement. He kicks a rogue pebble out of the way.

Bea catches up to him in a matter of moments. She stops and looks at him for a moment, really looks at him. It's one of those looks she gets when she sees right through him. He hates that look. 

"Mind if I join you?"

Henry shrugs and doesn't say anything. But he doesn't send her away either.

They walk in silence for a while, passing by a house or a street sign every now and then, but otherwise not running into a single person. This is what Henry loves about this place. The remoteness of it all, the ability for them to be just them, away from the prying eyes of the public and the even more prying eyes of the people at Gran's court.

They make it to the little town's center and are walking down the main street lined by little shops and a handful of pubs and coffee shops. There are a few more people here, but they don't recognize them. And if they do, they have the decency not to bother them. 

"He loved this place so much," Bea says.

Henry sighs. "I know. We came here so often."

He looks around the familiar shop displays decorated with Christmas lights, the coffee shops selling gingerbread flavored everything, the warm light that comes out from the pub windows. 

It's almost like nothing changed. Except everything did.

His throat closes up and he takes a deep breath to swallow down the wave of emotion that suddenly hits him. 

Grief really is the most unpredictable bastard.

Bea doesn't say anything, but takes his hand and squeezes it gently. 

Suddenly, she stops and points at a building that's still brightly lit although it's past 4pm on December 23rd.  

Maisie's Pet Shelter, the sign across the door says.

Bea frowns. "Well that one's new for sure."

She nods towards the place. "Wanna head in?"

And Henry would do just about anything to get away from the kind, but still curious eyes from the old ladies having coffee in the little shop across the street. So he nods.

"Sure."

***

There's nobody there when they walk into the shelter – just the front desk, a computer, a bunch of flowers and a few pictures of all kinds of pets on the brightly colored walls. But as soon as they walk in, a bell chimes over their heads and announces their entrance.

"Be right there!", a bright voice calls from behind the doorway that leads out of the reception area and is covered with a colorful curtain. Quick steps approach and a moment later, a young woman walks through, auburn curls bouncing with every step. She smiles at them when she sees them standing in her shop. "Hello, welcome! I'm Maisie! How can I help you?"

Bea smiles at her. "Oh, we just stopped by to check out your shelter. Are you new here?"

The woman – Maisie – nods. "I am, I just opened it a few months ago. Would you like a tour?"

Henry nods and speaks up for the first time since they entered the shop. "Why not?"

Turns out a tour through a shelter full of adorable pets of all ages is exactly what Henry needed. Maisie happily shows them around the different rooms and introduces them to all kinds of animals – from adorable hamsters and rabbits up to pigs, a pony and even a donkey that's deaf and half-blind, but no less adorable. With each kennel they visit and each animal they get to pet and coo over, the iron grip of sadness around Henry's heart seems to lighten a little more.

That is, until they make it to the part of the shelter that houses the latest arrivals and a kennel with a tiny beagle inside. As they walk up to it, the dog rises up on its chubby little feet and pads over to the kennel door. He yaps excitedly at Henry, even though it doesn't quite carry yet. 

Henry laughs and crouches down in front of the kennel. "Hello there," he says and reaches a finger through the bars. The beagle taps his cold little nose against them. 

"That's one of our newest arrivals," Maisie says from behind them. "We got him just a few days ago. He was supposed to be a Christmas present, but you know how people are sometimes. A friendly guy, that one. He made friends with all of our other dogs. Even with Mr Wobbles over here. They have been inseparable ever since the little guy arrived here."

Henry looks up and sees her pointing towards – well, the most giant cat he has ever seen. It is sitting in the corner, preening and waving its tail, just a few feet away from the little beagle's bed. Henry can't quite pinpoint what it is, but something in the cat's glare unsettles him.

Bea, not so much.

"Oh my god", she coos as soon as she sees the cat. She walks over and starts petting it. Henry can hear the cat's weird purrs all the way from over where he's still busy petting the dog. "Mr Wobbles, though?," Bea says, "what a funny name for a cat."

Maisie grins. "His previous owners named him. A lovely old couple, but they were moving to a retirement home and couldn't bring him with them. They said their grandkids named him and the name sort of stuck."

She tells Bea more about the cat, but Henry is only half listening. The little beagle has now moved on to sniffing Henry's hand, the one that isn't busy scratching the dog's ears. When Henry stops for a second, the beagle nudges its head against his had – as though it wants to tell him to go on. When he does, the puppy lets out a satisfied little noise and settles down next to Henry, looking up at him his enormous dark brown puppy eyes.

Henry is melting.  

Maisie's voice draws him out of puppy heaven and back to the present. "They are both still available for adoption, you know? Just in case that is something you both are interested in," she adds, smirking. 

Bea looks at him from where she's still snuggling the gigantic cat, its hair all over her coat and a mischievous glint in her eyes. "What do you say, brother? Fancy being reckless?"

Two weeks later, Kensington Palace gets two furry new residents and Maisie's Pet Shelter receives a sizeable donation. Along with it, she's delivered a giant flower bouquet with a card and a photo. It's Bea and Henry in the music room back at Kensington Palace, the young beagle snuggled up in Henry's lap and Mr Wobbles sitting next to Bea, eating what appears to be an entire box of…Jaffa Cakes?

"Merry belated Christmas! Thank you for introducing us to the best Christmas presents we have ever gotten for ourselves. Love – Henry, Bea, Mr Wobbles & David"

Three

London, Summer 2016

Henry never thought of himself as a dog person. Or just a pet person in general. 

All of that changed once David came into his life – all soft fur, floppy ears, midnight cuddles and that adorable glance he gets when he wants a treat. Ever since, Henry's world absolutely revolves around his fluffy new roommate. And David quickly turns into much more of a friend than Henry expected.

He is there for everything – the good times and the bad, the happy and sad days, the first anniversary of Arthur's death. Henry's dating disasters and subsequent breakups, Bea's relapse, Philipp's stubbornness. Catherine's empty glance, the Queen's snide comments and Henry's bad moods about her snide comments. He is there when Henry feels like ranting, when he needs someone to listen, when could use a run to clear his head, or when he just needs to curl up in his room and shut the world out for a while. 

Most importantly, David is there when Henry comes home from Rio.

His time in Brazil passed by in a whirlwind of heat and handshakes, drinks with important people, polite smiles and meaningless conversations. A toxic mix of smiling for the cameras, discreetly accepting the pills Shaan hands him, just as discreetly taking them and all the while making sure nobody notices how he really feels just about a year after his father's death. 

But then, in the middle of it all, shining bright like a lightning rod and just as electric: A head full of dark curls, a yellow flower tucked into the pocket of a loose button-down shirt. A Texan drawl. A smile so bright it stood out even among the most flashing of camera lights around them. 

Alex Claremont-Diaz.

The son of the woman who might be America's next president. Radiant, confident, unapologetic, and without a single ounce of doubt the most gorgeous human beings Henry has ever seen. And thus, completely off limits. 

At least that's what he has been telling himself to at least somehow justify the fact that he behaved like an absolute idiot when Alex simply wanted to introduce himself.  

He's back in his room at Kensington, sitting on the sofa by the window, wrapped up in his oldest cardigan and stress-eating a truly embarrassing amount Jaffa cakes. David is curled up by the fire place, and has been listening to him ranting about his fabulous first encounter with Alex Claremont-Diaz for the better part of an hour now. 

Every now and then, he gives Henry a sympathetic wince or barks a little. Henry tells himself that's David's way of trying to cheer him up. Maybe he also just wants to go for a walk. Unfortunately, neither scenario is in the cards until Henry has found a way out of his predicament.

"Can you believe it?", he goes on. "For once in my life, I meet this absolutely gorgeous, charming person and all I can do is make him believe I'm too arrogant to talk to him?"

David gives him another little sympathetic wince. He pads over from his spot near the fireplace, eyes the distance between the floor and where Henry is sitting, then hops up and into Henry's lap. David has gotten much better at that, Henry realizes – when he was a puppy, he could barely climb over the edge of his dog bed. Now, he jumps onto the couch or Henry's bed like it's nothing. 

Henry scratches him behind his floppy little ears. David stretches out his paws and yawns in satisfaction. 

"And you know what's the worst bit?", Henry goes on. "I had a plan, David. I was going to get the Olympics over with, preferably without completely embarrassing myself and then go on a nice holiday or something. Just…get away from everything for a while. Think about what I'm going to do next. No drama allowed. And yet, here I am."

David looks at him from his big brown dog eyes. Henry thinks there's something understanding in them. 

He looks at his dog, who from the looks of it, couldn't be more comfortable if he tried.  "You're such a good boy, aren't you? I wish I could switch places with you sometimes. You don't have to worry about gorgeous Americans who will probably never talk to you again."

"Well that sounds depressing," a voice chirps from his door.

Henry jumps and turns around to see his sister standing in the doorway. She's got a smug smile on her face and that awful cat of hers on her arm. Henry swears Mr Wobbles gained at least another five pounds since he last saw him before Rio.

"You know, you need to stop feeding Mr Wobbles so many treats."

"Nonsense. He's a little small for his weight, is all."

Scoffing, Henry looks at the frankly gigantic cat who, even though he is a goddamn cat, manages to somehow stare right back at him. Smugly. 

"Anyway, stop trying to distract me from the giant rainbow-colored elephant in the room. Why don't you just apologize to Alex?"

"How would you know I was even talking about Alex?"

Bea shoots him a look. 

Henry sighs. "Fine. But seriously, how would I do that? It's not like we exchanged contact details before I behaved like an absolute arse to him."

"You know, there's this thing called the internet," Bea deadpans, "and another one called Instagram DMs. Welcome to the 21st century, brother. I'm starting to think all these books about regency England are starting to rub off on you."

Henry grabs the nearest pillow and throws it at her. "Stop Austen-shaming me in my moment of crisis. Her books are still better than whatever you're reading. What was that again? People and the latest trending threads on Twitter?"

Moments later, the pillow comes right back at him. "Stop trying to change the subject, then!" 

Bea walks over to the couch and sits down next to him, reaches for his Jaffa cakes and feeds one to Mr Wobbles. "So. What happened with the American?" 

Henry sighs. "Where do I start? We were at the diving finals, and I ran into him backstage and he introduced himself and wanted to shake my hand and I…well, I wasn't really in a mood to talk to anyone because that day was absolute hell and packed with boring people, and then there was Alex and I sort of panicked and I sort of…asked Shaan to get rid of him?

Bea gives him one of those looks she always gives him when she knows he fucked up, but doesn't want to tell him so. "You did not."

If the floor was so kind as to open a hole for Henry to jump into, he would do so without a second thought. Right about now. "I did. And I could punch myself in the face for it. But I still did and now the possible future First Sone of the United States it going to hate me for the rest of his life."

"You're an idiot."   "I know." 

"Also you are gone on him."

"I know. A terrible decision, really." 

Bea chuckles and feeds Mr Wobbles another one of Henry's Jaffa cakes. Henry is so distraught he doesn't even bother telling her off. 

She looks at her obese cat for a moment, then back at him. "I mean, now that I heard the story I have to admit you're right. You did behave like an arse. And Alex might hate you now, sure. But who knows – you might get lucky within all of this."

Henry frowns. "What do you mean?"

"His mum is just a presidential candidate for now, isn't she? Maybe she ends up losing and you'll never have to see him again. Presto, problem solved."

"Maybe", Henry concedes, picking at a loose thread in the couch cushion. "I'll just hope for the best."

He doesn't tell her that never seeing Alex again is the absolute last thing he wants. But then again, it would make things a lot easier for him, wouldn't it? So maybe it would not be such a bad thing. Maybe Bea is right after all.

Six months later, Henry wakes up to the news that the next president of the United States is going to be Ellen Claremont. 

Upon reading the news, he drops his phone on the mattress next to him and yells into his pillow. Apparently, easy isn't in the cards for him for another while. 

Certainly not for the next four years.

Four

London, Summer 2018

It is, indeed, everything but easy. But thankfully, David is there to listen to Henry as always. 

Even when he's acting like a hopelessly lovesick fool. 

Especially then. 

Five

London, December 2020

It's another one of those early, gloomy winter mornings and Henry is out at the park with David. David is antsy today, tugging at his leash, wagging his tail, and barking at every other tree they pass. His excitement proves to be contagious – even Henry finds himself in quite a good mood today. Ever since the disaster at Philip's wedding (Martha has been dragging his ass for weeks about it), him and Alex have been talking more or less every day. Alex's texts come in at all hours of the day and night, sometimes at such an ungodly hour that Henry gets slightly worried about Alex's sleep schedule. Or just…his general ability to sleep.  But nevertheless, they are a beacon of light in otherwise dull days and Henry would not miss them for the world. Even if his own sleep schedule has to suffer for a bit. 

As they're walking, Henry's phone chimes with a new message. Given that it is just past 6 am on a Sunday and there is no humanly possible way Pez has risen from the dead yet, there is only one person the message could be from. 

ACD 🦃 I have a situation. Some help please?

Upon reading the message, Henry lets out an exasperated sigh and tries to ignore the treacherous warmth bubbling up in his chest. He sits down at a park bench and clicks the extend button on David's leash. On second thought, he lets out a sharp whistle and waits until David abandons the puddle he'd been inspecting and trots over to him.

"Sit, David", Henry says and scratches David behind the ears. He unclicks David's leash altogether and takes David's favorite toy out of his messenger bag. He tosses it out into the meadow. "Go on, mate. This might take a while."

As David trots away, tail wagging happily, Henry hits the video call button on his phone and waits for it to connect. Ever since The Great Turkey Calamity, they found that video calls were a lot more convenient for them. Alex says it's because he needs Henry to "see my goddamn face and gestures" for him to really get his point across. Henry just happily obliges him. 

When Alex picks up, Henry spots familiar glass paneling and a stack of comic books in the corner.

"The solarium this time?"

Alex sighs and runs a hand over his face. He looks tired. "Yeah. I needed somewhere quiet. Leo's on some engagement with mom tonight and June rarely comes up here. So."

"Hm."

A beat. Alex twists one of his curls around his fingers. It's only then that Henry realizes that he is once again perched upside down on one of the chairs up there. It makes Henry smile a little.

"Where are you? That doesn't look like Kensington Palace to me."

"Just out for a walk."

"Before 7 am on a Sunday." Alex doesn't even try to make it sound like a question.

Henry raises an eyebrow. "You're one to talk. What time is it now for you, 2 am?"

"Point."

Henry shrugs. "So what was that situation you talked about?"

Alex runs a hand over his face. "The fucking color scheme for New Year's."

Henry raises an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"The color scheme for, you know, the New Year's Young America Gala? The party we use as a ruse each year in order to get absolutely fucking wasted with half of the hottest young people of the country? The one we throw literally every year and that's like…the hottest New Year's Party in the country? Come on, Henry, pay attention. I can't do all the work here."

Henry rolls his eyes fondly. "Alright then. So what's going on about the color scheme?"

"It's more like what isn't going on about the color scheme at this point, man. Nora wants rainbow colors, June wants pastel, the PR department wants red, white and royal blue…and for some reason, everyone keeps annoying me about it. Do I look like  a goddamn expert on fuckin' party confetti colors to you?"

"Well you are one of the hosts, so…"

"Ha ha. Very funny. You know, if I wanted someone to be all smart about it, I could have just talked to June."

Henry smirks. "Where is she, anyway?"

"Fuck if I know. She's been obsessing over the guest list all day and now her and Nora have gone MIA, but left me pretty clear instructions that I am to take care of the confetti thing."

"So I am your lone help in solving this color-coded matter?"

"Sort of."

Letting his gaze wander over the meadow, Henry smirks. David is apparently done inspecting  a pile of leaves and is now coming back towards the bench. 

"Well, lucky for you I shall not be the only one you have to rely on in this very delicate matter. We got some help." He whistles sharply and David's little feet speed up as they close the last few steps up to the bench. He hops up and nudges Henry's elbow, making the hand holding his phone wobble a bit. 

Alex's tinny voice perks up as he puts two and two together. "Oh wait, is David here too? Let me say hi! Hi David!"

Henry sighs fondly. "Alright. Say hi, mate." He lowers the phone so Alex gets a screenful of adorable, slightly muddy Beagle. "Alex has an issue that he would like to discuss with us. And we need your help since you're the best with just about everything."

"Hey little buddy," Alex coos through the phone, "God, you're so adorable. Okay listen, I gotta pick colors for this party thing and your dad is no help, so you have to help me out here, alright?"

David tilts his little head to the side a little bit, just like when he's listening to Henry. If Henry weren't so absolutely gone on Alex, he would find it a little disquieting how easily David opened up to him. But then again, he's one to talk.

Luckily, Alex doesn't notice any of Henry's internal turmoil. Instead, he is busy explaining the New Year's Party to David, in all detail.

"…So, we got option A, rainbows. You know, the colorful things on the sky when it's just rained and the sun comes out and it looks all pretty and colorful and –"

"Dogs don't see all colors, Alex", Henry chimes in.

"-don't listen to your dad, I think that you could do anything you want to do. Anyway, so we got the rainbow option…"

David stays silent.

On the screen, Alex grins. "Hm, no? Okay, then the other option would be pastel colors, you know like flowers in the spring when they're just coming out and-"

A bug flies by. David tries to eat it.

"I see how it is then. Okay, David, so last option – we got this dark blue theme going on with like –"

At that, David barks and tries to lick the screen. Henry pulls his phone away at the very last second, but there's still a bit of dog slobber all over the screen.

Alex laughs. 

David blinks.

Henry melts. 

He clears his throat to cover it up. Luckily, it's Alex who keeps talking and Henry doesn't risk embarrassing himself any further.

"Well, looks like we got a decision. Thanks David, I appreciate it," Alex says, smirking. "You've been a great help. Much better than your dad."

"Hey! I brought the two of you together, it's not like I didn't do anything at all", Henry says to cover up the fact that he didn't do anything at all. 

On screen, Alex is now telling David how good of a dog he is and absently running his hand through his hair, making it just the tiniest bit messier than usual. A stray curl falls into his face.

Henry is officially going to die. 

Mercifully, Alex decides that he has tortured Henry enough for one day. 

"Alright y'all, thanks for helping me. I'm gonna let you all go continue your walk and pester June some more about the guest list. Talk to you soon."

When he hangs up, Henry lets out a sigh. He looks over at David, who is still sitting on the bench next to him and is looking at him quite quizzically. 

Henry sighs. "Stop looking at me like that. I already know I am in so much trouble."

***

The next day, Henry receives an email from Shaan.

June Claremont-Diaz has invited you to the Young America Gala on New Year's Eve. Would you like to attend? The invitation includes a plus one. Maybe Mr Okonjo would be interested in joining you?

Attached, as always, is a calendar invite. Shaan likes to have these things in order.

Henry has never clicked "Attend" to one of Shaan's calendar invites faster.

When he looks up, David is back by side, looking up at him with that slightly judging look he sometimes gets. Mostly when he knows Henry has done something stupid. Henry is sure he got that look from Mr. Wobbles.

He lets out a sigh and pets David's head. "Stop it. I'm only human."

And instead of pondering on it for much longer, he opens his chat thread with Pez and starts typing a new message.

What are you doing for New Year's?

Five

London, January 2020

He should have known.

Nothing good ever came from him actually being excited about something. About someone.

Henry really needs to stop putting himself into miserable situations like that. Well, actually, he just needs to stop kissing gorgeous Americans at New Year's and then running away.

He's back at Kensington, has been for a few days, but his mind is still under that Linden tree at the White House. Never actually left. At this point, Henry has some serious doubts that it ever will.

He gets up. Paces through the room. Sits back down. Yells into one of the ugly pillows on the even uglier couch. Makes a note in his mind that he needs to get a new one. If he doesn't die of embarrassment first, that is. Starts pacing again. 

However, none of it will make what happened on New Year's go away. It's all like a slow, torturing movie playing in the back of Henry's head – with the sole purpose of tormenting him and making him feel even more miserable about the whole thing. And if that doesn't suffice, there's always Alex's texts and phone calls.

He has been ignoring him for days now. Which would be fine if there weren't the state dinner later that month. Which Henry needs to attend. In person. And can't back out of because of their stupid best-friends-rouse agreement that's got him into this fucked up situation in the first place. 

It's not that Henry didn't try to get out of the state dinner. He actually talked to Shaan about it. Or at least, tried to. Until Shaan raised one unimpressed eyebrow and reminded him that unfortunately, Henry was bound to the agreement and there was nothing he could do "unless you would like to discuss this personally with Miss Bankston, sir."

Henry very much wouldn't.

He hates his life a lot of the time. But today just a little extra.

Even more so when the stylist calls and asks him what he would like to wear for the state dinner. When Philip texts and reminds him to make the new prime minister look good. When Shaan forwards him a briefing by the Downing Street press team about the photo ops they're going to have to do at the White House. When he finds a staged photo with the Prime Minister, the President and the White House Trio at the top of that very list. And just a little more when he learns that he is being sent on another one of those fake dates with some model or aspiring actress to keep up appearances. Which is of course going to be photographed and put into the press. For all the world, including Alex Claremont-Diaz, to see.

Henry is so royally fucked.

Even David winces a little when Henry tells him about his situation. When Henry eventually slouches on the couch, David hops up into his lap and snuggles into him. Henry lets out a sigh.

"You know, I'd like to tell myself that there's nothing that could possibly go wrong", he muses and scratches David's head, "but that's what I told myself last time. And now here we are."

David winces in support. He climbs into Henry's lap and lays down, rolling into a ball of fluff. His cold little nose touches Henry's hand. Somehow, it's a little soothing. 

Maybe there is a way to get through this. It's only a dinner, after all.

+ 1

New York, June 2021

"Love, hurry up. We're going to be late."

There's a curse coming from the vague direction of the bedroom, then the thud of footsteps rumbling down the stairs. Well, one footstep. Because for some reason, Alex is still pulling a sock over his other foot as he descends the staircase.

If they weren't almost late already, Henry would take a moment to appreciate that level of balance. 

Instead, he cocks an eyebrow at Alex from opposite the stairs, where he's leaning against the wall and waiting. Shoes (and socks) on, jacket in hand, ready to go.

"You're going to trip and break your neck at some point."

Alex grins smugly. "Perhaps. But at least I know you'll write me one hell of a eulogy."

Somehow, Alex makes it to the bottom of the staircase without breaking his neck. Henry is secretly glad for it. Not only because he intends to keep Alex around for the rest of his life, but also because – well, it would be quite the situation to explain to paramedics et al. Henry would much rather avoid that.

"Besides, what do you mean we're gonna be late?" Alex asks as he pulls one of Henry's old Oxford hoodies over his t-shirt. He walks over to the hallway closet and starts rummaging around for something. Henry internally winces as scarves, caps and the occasional dog outfit start dropping out at random. He just organized that closet the other day. "We're talking David for a walk. Last time I checked, beagles don't know how to read a clock."

"Excuse you, I did raise him to be very punctual," Henry counters.

Alex scoffs from where he's halfway disappeared into the closet. "He's a goddamn dog, H."

At that, David winces. 

Immediately, Alex steps away from the closet and crouches to the floor to pet David's head. "I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't mean that. You know I think you can do anything you set your mind to."

"You better," Henry mumbles. He and David take a step closer to the front door. Alex, not so much. 

Henry pointedly checks his watch again. "Come on now, or we're going to be late for real."

"It's still a walk, H. The two people and one dog involved in it are right here. There's no way we can be late", Alex mumbles, his voice muffled because he's back to rummaging around their winter clothes.

"Well, there is if two of the three involved individuals made lunch plans with June and Nora after."

"They're used to me being late. It's fine."

Henry rolls his eyes again, but relents anyway. It might have to do with the fact that Alex finally emerges from the closet, all soft eyes and even softer smile. After all, Henry is only a man.

So, he extends the arm that isn't holding David's leash and lets Alex step into his embrace. He pulls him close, breathes in the familiar scent. Alex wraps his arms around Henry's waist and lays his head against his shoulder. 

Henry drops a kiss on Alex's curls and lets himself enjoy the familiar warmth of Alex's hug for a minute. 

Until David yaps again, that is.

This time, Alex lets out a laugh. "Alright, alright, buddy.  Message received. We're leaving."

He leans up and kisses Henry softly, then plucks David's leash from his hand and steps away, towards the door. He shoots Henry a smirk. "You coming? I don't wanna be late."

It's only been a few months since Henry and David moved across the pond, but thanks to their daily walks, they have been able to explore plenty of nice routes in nearby parks. They are close enough to be enjoyable, but far enough away from the main trails to allow them a modicum of privacy.

Henry walks David before he leaves for the shelter and then once again after he comes home. Alex joins them often enough, particularly when he needs to clear his head, rant about his day, or both.

Today, however, is the rare kind of weekend where neither of them is all that busy and they can take a walk just for walking's sake. No deadlines, papers or exams breathing down Alex's neck (yet), no thoughts about the shelter occupying Henry's mind. Just the two of them and David, relaxing and enjoying the summer sun. 

Henry has David's leash in one hand and Alex's hand in the other, the sun is shining, but it's not unbearably hot yet. Later, they're going to meet June and Nora at a restaurant June has been dying to try out. And maybe check out the new Bond movie Alex has been nagging Henry about for weeks. But other than that, their day is blissfully empty.

Henry could get used to this.

He smiles softly at the thought. Because he does indeed get to get used to this. 

Alex's voice brings him back to reality and the track ahead of him. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking."

"Wanna share with the class?"

Henry gently shakes his head and lets go of Alex's hand so he can wrap his free arm around his shoulder. "It's nothing, really. I was just getting a bit sentimental. About how nice this is, you know? Taking David for a walk, meeting up for lunch with friends, and doing whatever we want, just because we can. It's a nice change."

Alex's arm snakes around Henry's waist and squeezes. "You deserve it."

Henry smiles. "I know. It's just sometimes a little hard to wrap my head around. But I do know."

He looks to Alex and meets his gaze. Alex's brown eyes are all soft again, and filled with pride. 

"Freedom looks good on you, baby."

The raw, honest emotion in his voice gets Henry a little emotional too, so instead of replying, he leans down and presses a soft kiss to Alex's lips. And Alex is right – there is something to be said about having the liberty to kiss his own boyfriend on a sunny day in a public park, just because he wants to. Especially when said boyfriend runs one hand through his hair and uses the other one to pull him closer, and they can let their kiss become slightly more involved than Henry initially intended. 

It's only when David pulls at his leash and barks that Henry pulls away to see what's going on, half alarmed that it might be something bad.

It is, actually, quite the opposite. A few steps down the path, David is approaching a puppy that looks heartwarmingly like David when Henry first met him. David barks once more, twice, then starts playing with the puppy as though they have been friends forever.

From the opposite end of  the pathway, a young woman comes running, looking alarmed and slightly panicky. When she spots the puppy playing with David, she slows down. 

"Sorry," she says towards Alex and Henry as she approaches, panting and face bright red. "I'm still trying to get him to get used to staying by my side, but it's a bit of a struggle."

"It's fine," Henry replies. "David here doesn't mind meeting new dogs."

 "I'm glad," the girl says. She's now caught up to them and stands next to them, watching the two dogs play. "You named him David? That's adorable."

"After Bowie," Alex chimes in. "My boyfriend here is a huge fan."

The girl laughs. "That's adorable. Mine's called Abby. Not after anyone. I wish I had a story as fun as yours, though," she says. "He's a beagle too, isn't he?"

Henry nods. "He is. I got him a few years ago when I was…not having the best of times. But he's been my best mate ever since."

His heart sinks a bit at the reminder of why and when he got David. As though he'd sensed it, Alex's hand sneaks into his, squeezing lightly. Henry squeezes back and clears his throat. 

"How long have you had yours?" he asks.

The girl laughs. "Oh, just a few weeks actually. I just moved to the city and didn't know anyone, and I was feeling a bit down and all, so I went to the shelter one day and there she was. And what can I say, that little rascal has been with me ever since. She's a piece of work sometimes, but she's a sweetheart. And she keeps me company through everything."

Henry hums and nods. "They are great company, aren't they?"

His gaze wanders over to David, who is still busy playing with his new friend. His tail is wagging, his little ears are flopping around and he's barking and yapping as if he's having the time of his life. Just like every time he's having a good time – whether it's out at the dog park, meeting new dogs on a walk, or just hanging out with Henry and being there for him whenever he needs him. 

Henry's thoughts travel back to a moment from years ago in a park far, far way. A cold winter morning, fog hanging in the air, pebbles crunching under his shoes – so different from the current warm, airy summer day. A warm, familiar voice that he still misses, but whose memory doesn't hurt as much as it did years ago.

They make great friends. Especially when you're lonely.

Turns out his dad was right. David is, without a doubt, just about the greatest friend Henry has ever had.  From an outsider's perspective, he may be just a dog – but Henry knows that it's to a considerable part thanks to his (most of the time) unwavering support that he was able to turn into the person he is today: an Oxford grad, a Star Wars Nerd, a part-time prince, a full-time Austen fan, a still relatively new New Yorker. A brother, a son, a boyfriend.

But certainly no longer lonely.

[gardenofkore]

Queen Elizabeth II at Capaci, May 28th 1992

I am tragically shocked by the atrocity which emerges from the death of Judge Falcone, of his wife and the men who accompained him.

On May 28th, 1992 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip landed in Palermo. It was supposed to be a quick stopover since the royal couple was meant to embark the royal yacht Britannia (which was waiting for them in Palermo’s harbour) headed for Malta.

No festive welcome for them as the city was mourning. Five days prior anti-Mafia Jugde Giovanni Falcone, his wife Judge Francesca Morvillo and three police escort agents had been killed by the mafia. Their cars were blown up on the highway, in the area of Capaci (nearby Palermo).

Originally the plan had been to do a quick tour of the city (they had already visited it in 1980) and greet the Mayor at the port, before sailing. But the terrorist attack had changed everything.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had been discouraged from staying longer than necessary in Palermo by the British Secret Services and the Italian authorities had too tried to talk her out of her idea of visiting the site of the massacre (apart from security issues, and the ongoing surveys in search of key clues, the affected area looked more like a battleground and they feared the sovereign could trip and hurt herself), but the Queen wasn’t having any of it.

The royal couple headed for Capaci escorted by 50 cars. The stopover only lasted about ten minutes. A shocked Prince Philip asked a few questions to Palermo’s Prefect Mario Iovine. The Queen donated a wreath of flowers which were deposited near the one which had previously been donated by the then President of the Italian Republic, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, and then silently paid her respect by bowing her head before the tragic scene.

Soon after they returned to Palermo and embarked the Britannia as planned. No official statement was given, apart from offering her condolences to the Italian people and especially the Sicilian people at that tragic moment.

[fictionz]

New Fiction 2022 - December

The Chimes at Midnight by Geoff Trowbridge (2008)

It takes its time to get to the meat until there’s more to chew on in the latter half. Most of these TOS alternate histories were mildly interesting but this one is a cut above.

A Gutted World by Keith R.A. DeCandido (2008)

"What if the Cardassians discovered the Bajoran Wormhole?" This is the question that got me reading all these Myriad Universes novellas in the first place, but because I’m me and a completionist, I couldn’t just skip past the others in the series to get here. I come to Star Trek expanded universe stuff with a DS9 first approach so I was keen to read how the author spun out this alternate history in which the Dominion gets their foothold in the alpha quadrant if they met the Cardassians first. It had a little too much TNG cast for my taste (especially since those characters dominate so many of these stories), but it’s a worthy DS9 tale.

Brave New World by Chris Roberson (2008)

Now we get to a whole lot of Data, so more of TNG. The courtroom stuff doesn’t hit the same way in these stories as it does in the TV episodes, and then all the implications of androids woven into the fabric of the galaxy is strangely not that compelling.

The Embrace of Cold Architects by David R. George III (2010)

Another Data-heavy story. I think these novellas introduce interesting directions with how the Federation will absolutely exploit artificial beings if they have the slightest excuse, but this particular one needed to be its own novel. It ends just as things get interesting.

The Tears of Eridanus by Steve Mollmann & Michael Schuster (2010)

A TOS story that deviates from the prime universe thousands of years before the era we know. It revels in an alternate history in which the Andorians made first contact with Earth, and the Vulcans and Romulans never parted ways.

The Last Generation by Andrew Steven Harris, Gordon Purcell, Bob Almond, Terry Pallot, Mario Boon, John Hunt, Robbie Robbins, Chris Mowry, Neil Uyetake, Andy Schmidt, Scott Dunbier, Justin Eisinger, Mariah Huehner, Bill Tortolini (2009)

I could’ve done without Data and the TNG cast at the center of things (again), but it’s cool to see Sulu flying around being a badass in his Excelsior ship. All these TNG tales feels like the higher-ups asking “Ey, where’s my TNG (money)? I gotta have my TNG (money)!”

Strange World dir. Don Hall (2022)

I loved it, but then I’m a sucker for perilous adventure tales across strange new lands.

Violent Night dir. Tommy Wirkola (2022)

Die Hard meets Home Alone with a blend of Bad Santa and maybe God of War?

Empire of Light dir. Sam Mendes (2022)

I was there for it all the way. Sometimes I remember I’m a normie-ass man but that part that feels like I’m a distant weirdo never goes away, and this movie’s for that guy.

Demon Wind dir. Charles Philip Moore (1990)

I watched this movie within a video game along with its MST3K-style commentary at 2 AM with my youngest brother and what a thing to do and write down.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio dir. Guillermo del Toro (2022)

I mean, of course it’s great. I haven’t read the original story and it sounds like this hews closer to that than the popular perception from Disney’s takes.

Babylon dir. Damien Chazelle (2022)

This could've been dry but instead it’s constantly running at full charge, and even when we slow down to the granular level of filmmaking commentary it’s still a high pressure romp.

Jack and Jill dir. Dennis Dugan (2011)

Eh, I suppose the most impressive thing here is that Sandler sells the idea that’s he's own twin sister to the point that you consider them separate people.

The Whale dir. Darren Aronofsky (2022)

This had the potential to be bleak but instead it’s just genuinely hopeful. The performances come across a little too staged, as does the whole movie I suppose, so it’s no surprise to learn than this was originally a stage play.

The Outer Limits - "The Sandkings" (1995)

Here we go! I’d been thinking about watching the entire 1995 reboot of The Outer Limits and it’s everything I could’ve hoped for. All the 90s actors I remember from Saturday afternoon sci-fi TV, dated effects and production techniques, stories about man’s reach exceeding his grasp. This first episode even features three generations of the Bridges acting clan. The thing about intelligent alien bugs isn’t so compelling, but the overall production makes up for it.

The Outer Limits - "Vanishing Act" (1996)

I was looking for an episode that features New Year’s Day and found this story about a man who time jumps forward by ten years every time he falls asleep. It’s a sci-fi sort of twist on It’s a Wonderful Life and very reminiscent of something you’d see on Star Trek.

Tales from the Crypt - "And All Through the House" (1989)

And since I plan to also watch Tales from the Crypt after TOL, I skipped over to this story about a bad Santa stalking a bad mom.

The Outer Limits - "Valerie 23" (1995)

Here’s a reminder not to fuck around with robots. Don’t do it! Especially not if they’re hot! There’ll more fucked up robot tales in the seasons ahead...

The Outer Limits - "Blood Brothers" (1995)

We get a few stories here about rich assholes trying to live forever. This one does also present an interesting idea: what if we could all be cured of all ailments and live twice as long in the process? What happens when no one’s dying and the population count explodes? In any case, that’s more thought than what goes into the episode’s story. It’s mostly about a rich guy jumping the gun on proper medical testing and getting screwed as he should.

The Outer Limits - "The Second Soul" (1995)

Oh man, I was definitely on the paranoid side of this story as the events unfold. It was nice to get one of these where it isn’t a bleak or worst case ending.

The Outer Limits - "White Light Fever" (1995)

Another rich asshole who literally wants to live forever. And that’s it. Spoiler: he doesn’t get to.

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared - Series 2 (2022)

I wanna love this because I loved the original web series, but binging a bunch of TV-length episodes just felt like too much of it. I liked them when they were shorter and spaced out more. Binger beware, I know.

[extremefrogrefrigerator]

Black lives matter.

The current and recent and past events that have been occurring absolutely disgust me. Here’s what I’ve got to say: 

The role of a cop has always been said to be a trustworthy source of protection. But how is this supposed to be true when the police are murdering black people? How is this supposed to be true when people of color can’t trust the police? How is this supposed to be true when many black people, including George Floyd, were murdered by cops? How is this supposed to be true when a large number of cops have, over and over again, proven that they are NOT a trustworthy source of protection? 

Enough is enough, and now is the time for a change. The past few weeks have been hell, but so have the last 100 years. 

I am not proud to live in a place that doesn’t treat black people right. I refuse to let it happen and let it continue. We shouldn’t just let this happen. We have to take a stand. 

As for all of the protests and the riots: People are doing this because they are angry and they want to be heard. There has been a large wrongdoing, and so the people are going to clap right back with something large as well. It’s a way of showing that this is a big issue. The riots and the protests are  way of screaming in the systems face: THIS NEEDS TO STOP. The people are angry and know that enough is enough, and they need to get that message through as LOUDLY as they possibly can so that people can really listen for once. Because this injustice needs to stop. 

This is the last straw. Everyone and anyone can make a difference and an end to injustice against black people if they take a stand and use their voice.Even if you think that this doesn’t affect you, it does. It doesn’t matter who you are or what race you are because nobody should be living in fear and injustice just because they don’t have the privilege of a lighter color of skin. Now is not the time to just stand by. We MUST take a stand and we MUST make change in ANY WAY THAT WE CAN. 

George Floyd. Trayvon Martin. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Tamir Rice. Oscar Grant. Eric Garner. Philando Castile. Samuel Dubose. Sandra Bland. Walter Scott. Terrence Crutcher. Stephon Clark. Yassin Mohamed. Troy Robinson. Eric Harris. Philip White. Nathaniel Pickett. Akai Gurley. Brian Acton. Jemel Roberson. Brian Day. Markus Clark. Darrell Brown. Anthony Hill. Eric Logan. Curtis Jordan. Finan H Berhe. Norman Cooper. Kris Jackson. Spencer McCain. Mario Woods. Lavall Hall. Darrius Stewart. Kevin Bajoie. Jordan Baker. Donald “Dontay” Ivy. Jamarion Robinson. Sean Reed. Walter Scott. Christopher Kinble. Freddy Gray. Christpher Whitfield. Leslie Sapp. Ronald Mdison. Felx Kumi. Kendra James. Sean Bell. Alfred Olango. Richard Perkins. Philip White. Darius Tarver. Gregory Hill Jr. jaQuavion Slaton. Brandon Webber. Nathaniel Pickett. Maurice Granton. Julius Johnson. Vocto Larosa III. Ryan Twyman. Jermaine Benjamin. Emmet Till. Botham Jean. Roy Stoddart. SarahReed. mark Duggan. Sheku Bayoh. Christopher Adler. Christian Cooper. Atatiana Jefferson. Johnathan Ferrell. Renisha McBride. Jordan Edwards. Jordan Davis. Alton Sterling. Aiayan Jones. Micheal Brown. Regis Korchinski-Paquet. 

Here are some links and resources: 

PETITIONS: 

https://www.change.org/p/change-org-the-minneapolis-police-officers-to-be-charged-for-murder-after-killing-innocent-black-man?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22409600_en-US%3Av3&recruiter=1056925194&recruited_by_id=8e7bd720-6a75-11ea-8dea-81bb02f7ab49&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_abi&utm_term=psf_combo_share_abi

https://www.justiceforbigfloyd.com/

https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/justiceforfloyd_george_floyd_minneapolis/?source=dm_sms_optin_5-26-20

DONATE: Official George Floyd Memorial Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

Minnesota Freedom Fund: https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/donate 

BLACK LIVES MATTER: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_... 

BLACK VISIONS MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/4omQDA... 

RECLAIM THE BLOCK: https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4pr... 

 IF YOU CAN, PLEASE JOIN/DONATE 

http://aclu.org 

http://joincampaignzero.org 

http://nlg-npap.org 

  http://blacklivesmatter.com 

http://advancementproject.org

http://changethenypd.org 

  http://M4BL.org 

  http://themarshallproject.org 

Text FLOYD to 55156

[posted on 5/30/2020]

[gascon-en-exil]

The Philips CD-I had a few great games on it, but it was actually mainly a DVD player with gaming being secondary. The Zelda & Mario games on it were done on a low budget & the cutscenes were done by 2 animators flown in from Russia. Nintendo was almost entirely offhand on their development, oddly they were mainly concerned with the artwork on the game's covers. All in all, I feel bad for the programmers, just imagine having to do a LOZ or Mario in those conditions?

I suppose, and yet now that its sole legacy. Sometimes memes outlast everything else.

[itcameuponamidnightqueer]

a happier 2019 wrap-up

every year for new year’s, my mom gets everyone one-a-day calendars tailored to their interests. for 2020, she got me a calendar of funny/stupid answers people have written on tests. 

but for 2019, she gave me a calendar with a different trivia question every day. i had two rules for this calendar: 1) i had to write down an answer for each question, even if what i wrote down was the dumbest shit in the world, and 2) i wasn’t allowed to look at the answer until the day after. 

i saved up all of the ones that i got right bc i like to quantify things, so if nothing else, i know 93 things—

january 18: many musicians have recorded and performed the song “hallelujah.” who wrote it?

january 29: thurl ravenscroft was an accomplished voice actor who sang “you’re a mean one, mr. grinch.” however, ravenscroft was best known for voicing which TV commercial icon?

february 7: who was the first african american appointed to the US supreme court?

february 12: mount rushmore features the giant carved faces of george washington, abraham lincoln, thomas jefferson, and which other US president? 

february 13: what is ninjitsu? 

february 26: mae c. jemison went into space in 1992 aboard the endeavor, earning her what distinction?

february 27: who wrote and first recorded the song “big yellow taxi”?

march 2: what is the longest running show in broadway history?

march 5: what is the largest library in the world?

march 8: what two novels did the lesser-known brontë sister, anne, write?

march 12: which reptile can breathe through its rear end?

march 16: the winner of best picture at the 2017 oscars was moonlight—but, in an historic mix-up, the announcers initially declared which other nominee to be the winner?

march 21: which is the smallest planet in our solar system?

march 22: why is a pound cake called a pound cake? 

march 23: the hit musical wicked is based on a 1995 novel by which author?

march 24: billy eichner, comedian and host of billy on the street, once had a role on which beloved NBC sitcom?

march 27: name the star who plays offred in the hulu series the handmaid’s tale?

april 6: the 2015 song “fourfiveseconds” was a collaboration between rihanna, kanye west, and which other legendary musician?

april 8: why do apples turn brown when sliced?

april 16: what is a pooh-bah?

april 19: what is the belgian town of duffel’s claim to fame?

april 29: what ancient babylonian king created a compendium of 282 laws to guide society in 18th century BCE?

may 2: what is the name for the condition in which a dog’s feet smell like corn chips? 

may 5: in mary shelley’s frankenstein, which character is named frankenstein?

may 7: name the australian pop star whose debut studio album blue neighborhood included hits “youth” and “wild”.

may 10: which superhero did british actor benedict cumberbatch play in a 2016 film?

may 16: which american film tradition began this day in 1929?

may 17: in science, what does “triple point” refer to?

may 26: what function do cats’ whiskers serve?

may 27: where is the tomb of the unknown soldier located?

june 1: which cult classic film popularized the red swingline stapler? 

june 3: who is barbie (the doll) named after? 

june 4: eid al-fitr is an annual muslim festival that marks the end of what?

june 10: which actor was offered a role on the o.c. but turned it down for a role on one tree hill?

june 11: the sport that americans call soccer is known as football in many other countries. where did the term “soccer” originate?

june 17: there is a species of horsefly known as bootylicious. which celebrity inspired the nickname?

june 18: the amc series the walking dead is based on a series of comic books penned by which accomplished writer?

june 24: which actress played wonder woman in the 2017 film of the same name?

june 27: what makes chili peppers hot? 

june 28: which architectural engineering feat allowed the ancient incans to cross canyons and rivers with ease?

june 29: the word “scuba” is an acronym. what does it stand for? 

july 3: who is the bestselling fiction writer ever? 

july 5: which animated film was the first to be nominated for best picture at the oscars? 

july 9: which item did women living in the dust bowl during the great depression commonly fashion into clothing? 

july 16: in nintendo’s mario video games, the nefarious wario is mario’s foil. who is luigi’s foil and archrival? 

july 18: pop stars taylor swift and zayn malik teamed up to record the song “i don’t want to live forever” for which 2017 film soundtrack? 

july 22: which is the only letter that doesn’t appear on the periodic table? 

july 23: which novel is considered frank herbert’s masterpiece? 

july 25: name the three women who were cast in the first season of SNL in 1975. 

july 26: during which years did the olympics award official medals for the arts, including painting, architecture, sculpture, music, and literature?

july 28: what are the ingredients of a moscow mule?

august 2: which “luxury” music festival was supposed to take place in the bahamas in april 2017 but dissolved into chaos and was eventually canceled after attendees began to arrive?

august 3: what is the claim to fame of anchor bar in buffalo, NY? 

august 8: the la brea tar pits are a popular tourist attraction and fossil excavation site. what does “la brea” mean in spanish? 

august 9: the popular board game clue goes by which other name in the UK, where it was invented?

august 11: what is earth’s largest ocean? 

august 12: who wrote johnny cash’s “a boy named sue”?

august 13: what were the original 3 pokemon that players could choose from at the start of pokemon red and pokemon blue, the first pokemon video games released internationally?

august 14: what kind of music did katy perry release as a teenager before she became a pop star? 

august 20: philip k. dick’s novel do androids dream of electric sheep? inspired which 1982 film with a different title?

august 30: batman is to gotham city as superman is to what? 

september 6: what is the hottest planet in the solar system? 

september 9: the first book of the “his dark materials” trilogy is known as the golden compass in the US, and what in the UK? 

september 15: one of the classic monopoly player tokens is a dog. what breed is it?

september 16: why are spiders technically not considered insects?

september 22: on her debut album, lily allen included a song called “alfie” about her little brother. alfie allen is best known now for his role on which TV show?

october 2: a killer whale isn’t technically a whale. what is it?

october 8: name the breed of large domestic cats native to new england 

october 10: which company uses the slogan “because we’re worth it”?

october 12: which female pop star had a brief stint in an R&B group called basic instinct in the 1990s?

october 16: if you ordered a berliner in a cafe in wisconsin, what would they serve you?

october 21: in 1943, when many NFL players were drafted for service in WWII, which two teams combined forces and formed a team called the steagles?

october 25: virginia was the birthplace of 8 US presidents. which state follows close on virginia’s heels as the birthplace of 7 US presidents?

october 28: bram stoker’s legendary vampire dracula is widely thought to be inspired by which real-life romanian prince?

october 30: in european folklore, what is a familiar? 

november 1: what does nanowrimo stand for?

november 13: name the movie that imagines how playwright j.m. barrie came to write peter pan.

november 14: which US state has the smallest population?

november 16: who technically owns all of the unmarked swans in england?

november 19: which entertainment icon was offered the role of phoebe in friends but turned it down?

november 22: robert louis stevenson’s novel treasure island features a cast of colorful characters, including the infamous long john silver. what is the name of the novel’s young protagonist, an innkeeper’s son who ends up serving as a cabin boy on a sea adventure?

november 23: where is dollywood?

november 28: not surprisingly, americans eat more food on thanksgiving than they do on any other day of the year. which day boasts the second-highest food consumption?

november 29: “swish swish”, a song on katy perry’s 2017 album witness, was rumored to be a diss track about which other pop star?

november 30: which actor wore a hairpiece every time he played james bond?

december 2: in greek mythology, perspehone was the goddess of the underworld and the wife of hades. who were persephone’s parents?

december 3: which prominent magazine declined to run an excerpt of the catcher in the rye on the grounds that the characters were unbelievable and the writing was “show-offy”? 

december 12: which comic book series featured batman’s first appearance? 

december 14: what was elvis presley’s natural hair color?

december 21: a 16th century da Vinci manuscript known as the codex leicester sold for over $30 million. who was the wealthy buyer?

december 23: ancient egyptian queen cleopatra had relationships with both julius caesar and mark antony. which of the two men was she buried next to?

december 27: which of the following hollywood stars did not get their start on the disney channel—shia labeouf, hayden panettiere, keri russell, ellen page, ryan gosling

december 29: technically, peanuts aren’t nuts. what are they?

[conifersncoasts]

Recently listened to the Acquired podcast and learned so many new (to me) interesting facts about Nintendo and its early years.

- Started off as a concrete company in Japan, but through sheer luck (or misfortune however you wanna label it), the company's CEO didn't have a male heir to take over for him. The company is passed to a son-in-law who wants to get into the Japanese gaming market. Though video games would be far off, the new CEO gets into card games, which at the time anything like that was illegal in Japan.

- The first smash hit that got Nintendo started, Donkey Kong, was a game that got imported into arcades out of complete desperation and almost by accident. The company had a crap ton of arcade cabinets with a crappier version of Space Invaders that was going to be an absolute flop. A young developer introduced DK and the game exploded.

- After the success of the Famicom in Japan, the CEO of Nintendo of America was eager to launch the first NES in the United States. So eager in fact that when developers and board members told him not to in 1983 because the video game market in the US had just tanked after the Atari success and economic slowdown, the CEO almost branded the first NES as an Atari gaming platform! The deal was in place. Nintendo execs flew down to California from Seattle and were ready to put pen to paper. The first NES would be branded as Atari, but Atari would turn and pay royalties to Nintendo. It was then they got a closer look at Atari's books and saw they were hemorrhaging money, so Nintendo backed out and launched the NES as we know it today in 1985.

- The Sony PlayStation got its name from Nintendo. The two companies had a deal in place to launch the first CD rom compatible gaming console in what would be an attachment to the current Super Nintendo and known as Nintendo Play-Station. After seeing the failure of both the Sega 32X and Sega CD, Nintendo balked. At a gaming conference, Sony announced their plans of their partnership with Nintendo, but Nintendo refuses to acknowledge and eventually gets out of talks with Sony and dealt with their competitor Philips instead. Sony furiously develops their own game system and launched the Playstation in Japan in 1994 and US in 1995. It explodes and the follow-up PS2 becomes the highest selling video game console of all-time. Nintendo scraps their CD based idea and focused on the Nintendo 64, launched in 1996-97.

- The original Super Nintendo (SNES) was supposed to have the ability to play both NES and SNES games. The reason was genius, to keep their current fan base while also pushing them along to the new system. However the price point was thought to be too high for consumers, which at the time would have added $75 on top of a system that was already easily $150. Going over $200 would have been completely unheard of at the time and frankly, probably the right move. The hesitation cost them though, as the Sega Genesis launched and stole half of Nintendo's insane 95% market share.

- As successful as the PS2 was, no company has been able to replicate the handheld gaming system like Nintendo. Between the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Switch, they've sold almost 400 million consoles.

- Before the Switch was launched, there was real concern that Nintendo would cease to exist as a gaming console company. The company was losing ground hand over fist in the console wars against Sony and Microsoft due to the utter flop of the Wii U. Some board members wanted to simply be an IP (intellectual property) based company as they were making heaps of money on the Mario, Zelda and Pokémon franchises. When the Switch was announced, the stock price of the company immediately fell off a cliff. The Switch would go on to become the 3rd best selling console of all-time, and counting as it enters its 7th year of its life cycle.

[a-wilde-oscar-appeared]

I posted 51,183 times in 2022

17 posts created (0%)

51,166 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@elositomorado

@readytoplaygod

@testosterowned

@tori-smorey

@cassandrasroguelevels

I tagged 922 of my posts in 2022

#0 - 6 posts

#blazed - 136 posts

#noice - 10 posts

#noice! - 6 posts

#me - 4 posts

#yes - 4 posts

#same though - 4 posts

#yeah... - 4 posts

#hell yeah! - 4 posts

#so cute! - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i use spell slots but unfortunately a wizard is constantly casting a curse on me so don't get my higher level slots back throughout the day

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Harambe's the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of this century.

1 note - Posted October 30, 2022

#4

Holy shit, man. You are a hell of a beauty. I’m filled with a breathlessness that is either intense attraction, gender envy, or both. Enjoy being gorgeous.

Thank you! My gender got lost in the main and I keep forgetting to order another one.

See the full post

1 note - Posted April 9, 2022

#3

Fuck I love that sports shirt so much

Same! It's from one of Philip Defranco's merch drops. I'll try to remember to message you if it's released again. I love going to a bar and yelling "Sports!" when every-one gets loud.

2 notes - Posted January 23, 2022

#2

sir you’ve turned my dash into post after post about horse plinko how do you plead

Not guilty on grounds of insanity.

2 notes - Posted January 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I haven’t watched the Mario trailer but the idea of anyone in the world wanting to be Mario since childhood, even as a lie, is going to linger with me forever. Doctor bandaging a kid’s head and telling him to stop leaping at low-hanging bricks and the kid just silently clenches his fists. Parents send him to therapy because they’re alarmed by the number of crushed turtles showing up in their yard. The local video store bans him from hiring The Shawshank Redemption because he keeps wearing out the tape on the scene where the guy crawls through a pipe. His first crush invites him over to her place but when she answers the door he just looks disappointed and says ‘you were supposed to be in another house’ and leaves.

Oh my god, I didn't think about it like that. That's such a hilarious visual. He even forgot the word Koopa, he's supposed to be an actor and he couldn't even pretend to care about this role.

6 notes - Posted October 7, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[archatlas]

Is architecture basically just finding inspiration in something and constructing a building based on that inspiration?

Nothing is further from the truth. 

Architecture is…

1. “Architecture is definitely a political act.” - Peter Eisenman in Haaretz

2. “Architecture is unnecessarily difficult. It’s very tough.” - Zaha Hadid in The Guardian

3. “Architecture is by definition a very collaborative process.” - Joshua Prince-Ramus in Fast Company

4. “Architecture is a way of seeing, thinking and questioning our world and our place in it.” - Thom Maynein his Prtizker Prize Acceptance Speech

5. “Architecture is the art and science of making sure that our cities and buildings actually fit with the way we want to live our lives: the process of manifesting our society into our physical world. - Bjarke Ingels in AD Interviews

6. “Architecture is merciless: it is what it is, it works or doesn’t, and you can clearly see the difference.” - Jacques Herzog in a lecture at Columbia University

7. “Architecture is always related to power and related to large interests, whether financial or political.“ - Bernard Tschumi in The New York Times

8. "Architecture is a good example of the complex dynamic of giving.” - Jeffrey Inaba in World of Giving

9. “Architecture is too complex for just one person to do it, and I love collaboration.” - Richard Rogers in The Guardian

10. “Architecture is the most powerful deed that a man can imagine.” - Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bosin Volume

11. “Architecture is an act of optimism.” - Nicolai Ouroussoff in The LA Times

12. “Architecture is an artificial fact.” - Mario Botta in Perspecta

13. “Architecture is full of romantics who think that even relatively small changes to the built environment create the aspiration for a better society.”  - Mark Wigley in Surface Magazine

14. “Architecture is for us, the public, and it is going to get scuffed.” - Alexandra Lange in Design Observer

15. “Architecture is the work of nations…” John Ruskin in Stones of Venice

16. “Architecture is always dream and function, expression of a utopia and instrument of a convenience.” - Roland Barthes in “Semiology and Urbanism”

17. “Architecture is an expression of values – the way we build is a reflection of the way we live.” - Norman Foster in The European

18. “Architecture is the real battleground of the spirit.”  - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in “ID Merger Speech”

19. “Architecture is not a question of the purely theoretical if you’re interested in building buildings. It’s the art of what is possible.” - Paul Rudolph in Chicago Architects Oral History Project

20. “Architecture is geometry.” - Álvaro Siza in Imaginar a Evidência (Imagining Evidence)

21. “Architecture is about improving conditions: environmental, social and sometimes also political.”  - Arjen Oosterman in Volume

22. “Architecture is not just one thing. It is not just an art. … It has to deal with the real situation; it has to do something good for the society.” - Xiaodu Liu in “What Can Architecture Do? An Interview with Xiaodu Liu” on ArchDaily

23. “Architecture is much more than the building of an object on a site: it is a reinvention of the site itself.” - Sean Lally in The Air From Other Planets

24. “Architecture is a language: new designs should abide by grammatical rules to avoid dissonance with existing structures.” - Prince Charles in The Architectural Review

25. “Architecture is an untapped source of magnificent stories waiting to be imagined, visualized, and built.” - Matthew Hoffman in “Blank Space Launches Architecture Storytelling Competition”

26. “Architecture is about serving others through the design of the built environment.” - Kevin J Singh in “21 Rules for A Successful Life in Architecture”

27. “Architecture is a very complex effort everywhere. It’s very rare that all the forces that need to coincide to actually make a project proceed are happening at the same time.” - Rem Koolhaas in Co.Design

28. “Architecture is intended to transcend the simple need for shelter and security by becoming an expression of artistry.” - Jay A. Pritzker in his 1985 Pritzker Ceremony Speech

29. “Architecture is the only art that you can’t help but feel. You can avoid paintings, you can avoid music, and you can even avoid history. But good luck getting away from architecture.” - Philippe Daverio in Humans of New York

30. “Architecture is the petrification of a cultural moment.” - Jean Nouvel in Newsweek

31. “Architecture is characterised by endurance and longevity: a long education, long training, long hours and long lives.” - Catherine Slessor in The Architectural Review

32. “Architecture is a muddle of irreconcilable things.” - Juhani Pallasmaa in The Architectural Review

33. “Architecture is, in many ways, a very specific type of science fiction; it is its own genre of speculative thought,” - Geoff Manaugh in Architect

34. “Architecture is largely irrelevant to the great mass of the world’s population because architects have chosen to be.” - Bruce Mau in Architect

35. “Architecture is becoming less about a single walled-off phallus on the horizon, and more about parks and public spaces which engage with the city.” - Alissa Walker in Gizmodo

36. “Architecture is most often a victory over the process of creating architecture.” - Sam Jacob in Log

37. “Architecture is capable of mounting a profound critique of the status quo.” - Reinhold Martin in Places

38. “Architecture is such a conspicuous immensely physical object in space its presence is bound to influence everyone.” - Gautam Bhatia in India International Centre Quarterly

39. "Architecture is not just about building. It’s a means of improving people’s quality of life.” - Diébédo Francis Kéré in Washington Post

40. “Architecture is a physical experience — it needs to be seen and touched to be wholly understood.” - Nicolai Ouroussoff in Los Angeles Times

41. “Architecture is really difficult. I realized that only very recently. It’s like music. You can enjoy it but — to know it — it’s a different story.” - Diana Agrest in nprEd

42. “Architecture is capable of absorbing anything, and hence tends to dissolve into everything.”  - Ole Bouman in Volume

43. “Architecture is not just a matter of technology and aesthetics but the frame for a way of life – and, with luck, an intelligent way of life.” - Bernard Rudofsky

44. “Architecture is a discipline where you can have multivalent interests. You could be a philosopher, a geographer, a scientist, an artist, an engineer; you can be poetic about it.” - Toshiko Mori in Metropolis

45. “Architecture is supposed to be about a higher purpose.” - Stanley Tigerman in Newsweek

46. “Architecture is the most public of the arts, and the public are severe critics.” - Eric Parry in The Guardian

47. “Architecture is a form­maker, problem‐solver and environment‐creator, and the international exposition is its laboratory.”  - Ada Louise Huxtable in New York Times

48. “Architecture is supposed to complete nature. Great architecture makes nature more beautiful—it gives it power.”- Claudio Silvestrin in Elle Decor

49. “Architecture is a small piece of this human equation, but for those of us who practice it, we believe in its potential to make a difference, to enlighten and to enrich the human experience, to penetrate the barriers of misunderstanding and provide a beautiful context for life’s drama.” - Frank Gehry in his 1989 Pritzker Prize Ceremony Speech

50. “Architecture is not a private affair; even a house must serve a whole family and its friends, and most buildings are used by everybody, people of all walks of life. If a building is to meet the needs of all the people, the architect must look for some common ground of understanding and experience.” - John Portman in “The Architect as Developer”

51. “Architecture is a social art. And as a social art, it is our social responsibility to make sure that we are delivering architecture that meets not only functional and creature comforts, but also spiritual comfort.” - Samuel Mockbee

52. “Architecture is too important to be left to men alone.” - Sarah Wigglesworth in Parlour

53. “Architecture is not a purely private transaction between architects and clients. It affects everyone, so it ought to be understandable to everyone. - Blair Kamin

54. "Architecture is vital and enduring because it contains us; it describes space, space we move through, exit in and use.” - Richard Meier in his 1984 Pritzker Prize Ceremony Speech

55. “Architecture is more about ideas than materials.” - Qingyun Ma in Los Angeles Times

56. “Architecture is not just for big star projects like museums. It’s for the slums around them, too.” - Juan Ramon Adsuara in npr

57. “Architecture is bashful about reality.” - Wouter Vanstiphout in Archis

58. “Architecture is just background. The beauty of architecture is that it brings people together and can create public constructs.” - Ben Van Berkel in AD Interviews

59. “Architecture is about hope, about change—it makes life more exciting.” - Lars Lerup in Architect

60. “Architecture is blessed and cursed with more dimensions than its greats know what to do with: the three of sensible space, the celebrated fourth of travel through it; and others, ineffable, beyond—the fifth of utility, say, the seventh of happy accident, the ominous eleventh.” - Philip Nobel in Metropolis

61. “Architecture is a mystery that must be preserved.”  -  Jean Nouvel in Huffington Post

62. “Architecture is only as great as the aspirations of its society.” - Lisa Rochon in Globe and Mail

63.“Architecture is like the picture of Dorian Gray: It can look beautiful in public, while somewhere out of sight its true soul withers and rots.” - Lance Hosey in Architect

64. “Architecture is about reason-right?” - Alfred Caldwell in Chicago Tribune

65. “Architecture is a profession of optimism.” - Johanna Hurme in spacing

66. “Architecture is about the manipulation of light: both artificial light and day lighting.”- Tom Kundigin Architectural Record

67. “Architecture is expected to carry too much weight in many cases.” - Patricia Patkau in Globe and Mail

68. “Architecture is not a goal. Architecture is for life and pleasure and work and for people. The picture frame, not the picture.” - William Wurster

69. “Architecture is the most obvious flower of a society’s culture.”  - Alan Balfour in Art Papers

70. “Architecture is more than making a statement from the street. It’s making an environment for living.” - Dion Neutra in Los Angeles Times

71. “Architecture is a translation process.” - Fernando Romero in Metropolis

72. "Architecture is quite a narrow, obsessive business.” - Nicholas Grimshaw in The Guardian

73. “Architecture is perplexing in how inconsistent is its capacity to generate the happiness on which its claim to our attention is founded.” - Alain de Botton in The Architecture of Happiness

74. “Architecture is a kind of urban ballet.” - Aaron Betsky in New York Times

75. “Architecture is a history of style written by the victors.” - Herbert Muschamp in New York Times

76. “Architecture is driven by belief in the nature of the real and the physical: the specific qualities of one thing - its material, form, arrangement, substance, detail - over another.” - Kester Rattenbury in This is Not Architecture: Media Constructions

77. “Architecture is not always synonymous with building.” - Francisco “Patxi” Mangado

78. “Architecture is complicated and like other complicated things it is prone to entropy from the outset.” - Guy Horton in Metropolis

79. “Architecture is where imagination meets life.” - Kazuyo Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa in their 2010 Pritzker Prize Ceremony Speech

80. “Architecture is an incredible ego trip. You get things done, you build them, you look at them. That’s why I enjoy life and don’t have an ulcer. - Stanley Tigerman in the Chicago Tribune

81. "Architecture is a strange field where we’re constantly asked to demonstrate over and over why design matters, to everyone, all the time. It’s exhausting.” - Amale Andraos in Metropolis

82. “Architecture is about the lack of stability and how to address it. Architecture is about the void and how to cross it. Architecture is about inhospitability and how to live within it.”  - Geoff Manaugh in The Guardian

83. “Architecture is both an art and a practical pursuit, and the profession has always been divided between those who emphasize the art, that is pure design, and those who give priority to the practical.”  - Paul Goldberger in New York Times

84. Architecture is one of the reflections of the permanence of a civilization. - Charlie Rose

85. Architecture is not a profession for the faint-hearted, the weak-willed, or the short-lived. - Martin Fillerin The New York Review of Books

86. “Architecture is a very dangerous job. If a writer makes a bad book, eh, people don’t read it. But if you make bad architecture, you impose ugliness on a place for a hundred years.” - Renzo Piano in Time

87. “Architecture is the pathology of the contemporary era.” - Forensic Architecture

88. “Architecture is a discipline directly engaged with shaping enclosure, of erecting and toppling barriers or—more explicitly—of extending and limiting ‘freedoms’.” - E. Sean Bailey & Erandi de Silva in “BI’s First Print Edition Released - FREE: Architecture on the Loose”

89. “Architecture is interesting, but by itself it means nothing.” - Massimiliano Fuksas in New York Times

90. “Architecture is an art, yet we rarely concentrate our attention on buildings as we do on plays, books, and paintings.” - Witold Rybczynski in Metropolis

91. “Architecture is aligned with and implicated in the systems of surveillance and control.” - Eric Howelerin Volume

92. “Architecture is 90 per cent business and 10 per cent art.” - Albert Kahn

93. “Architecture is probably the subject of more theorizing, navel-gazing and introspective agonizing than any of the other arts.” - Paul Gapp in the Chicago Tribune

94. “Architecture is invention.”- Oscar Niemeyer in Newsweek

95. “Architecture is always political.” - Richard Rogers in Financial Times

96. “Architecture is a frame of mind, it’s about ideas; the profession is about how to translate those ideas into the real world.” - Christopher Janney in Architectural Record

97. “Architecture is an active participant in the interactions of people within it.” - Jonathan C. Molloyin ArchDaily

98. “Architecture is not only developing in its own realm, it is constantly assimilating achievements from other fields.  - Maya Engeli in Volume

99. "Architecture is first and foremost about serving people and society.  This is an architect’s responsibility: to design buildings that fulfill their practical purpose, bring people together, and connect us to the natural world while preserving precious resources.” - Steven Ehrlich in Metropolis

100. “Architecture is about building a place in the universe, not about mimicking a depleted, decrepit reality.” - Stefanos Polyzoides in The LA Times

101. “Architecture is a public commodity, and as such invites public scrutiny.” - Reed Kroloff in Architecture*

102. “Architecture is not about the creation of newness but rather about the fulfillment of needs and expectations.“ - André Tavares in Forbes

103. "Architecture is the same as advertising for communicating the brand.” - Patrizio Bertelli in The New York Times

104. “Architecture is not just about accommodating very prescriptive demands—it’s doing it in a way that stimulates the unfolding of life. - Bjarke Ingels in Co.Design

105. "Architecture is exposed to life. If its body is sensitive enough, it can assume a quality that bears witness to past life.” - Peter Zumthor in Thinking Architecture

106. “Architecture is flexible.” - Krzysztof Wodiczko in St. Louis Post - Dispatch*

107. "Architecture is a combination of science and fiction.” - Winy Maas in Domus

108. “Architecture is the art we all encounter most often, most intimately, yet precisely because it is functional and necessary to life, it’s hard to be clear about where the "art” in a building begins.“ - Jonathan Jones in The Guardian

109. "Architecture is not an inspirational business, it’s a rational procedure to do sensible and hopefully beautiful things; that’s all.” Harry Seidler in the Sydney Morning Herald

110. “Architecture is used by political leaders to seduce, to impress, and to intimidate.” - Deyan Sudjic inThe Washington Post

111. "Architecture is a paradigm for reconsidering research.” B.D. Wortham in Journal of Architectural Education*

112. "Architecture is about giving form to the places where people live. It is not more complicated than that but also not simpler than that. - Alejandro Aravena in his 2016 Pritzker Prize acceptance speech

113. "Architecture is generally a poor relative to things like film, fashion and product design. Even though it is economically more important, for some reason it is not getting the recognition.” - Tamsie Thomsonin The Architects’ Journal

114. “Architecture is a complex and articulated process but if you lose the process and only keep the form you lose the core of architectural practice.” - André Tavares in Wallpaper*

116. “Architecture is practical poetry.” - Bjarke Ingels at the New Yorker Festival

117. “Architecture is the sum of inevitable negotiations.” - Felipe Mesa in Domus

118. “Architecture is more than just buildings; these structures can inspire and motivate people to do great things.” Fisk Johnson for the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial

119. “Architecture is one of those disciplines that has no shortage of voices.” - Guy Horton in Metropolis

120.“Architecture is always a temporary modification of the space, of the city, of the landscape. We think that it’s permanent. But we never know.” - Jean Nouvel in The New York Times

121. “Architecture is like life: a matter of trade-offs.” - Paul Goldberger  in The New York Times

Quotes via

Paper Architectural Models via