mxharleyhua - Tumblr blog

[mxharleyhua]

"Evangeline sounds like verbal keyboard smashing to me." As soon as he heard his own words, he felt like he had just stuck his foot in his mouth. "Sorry! I didn't mean it as an insult. It's just - like you said, it's a long name. And I can't hear the consonants very well and it's not a name I heard a lot before I lost my hearing. I have to really focus on making sure I say it correctly. So I think I'll stick with Evie." He briefly rambled, then took a deep breath. He was thankful to be talking about the menu again instead. "They do a good caesar salad here too, but definitely get the fish and chips." He smiled. "My day's fine. Had a client no-show me, but then you came over here so I guess it all worked out."

"I do. It has it's pros and cons," Evie admitted with a light chuckle. She wasn't offended by any means that he hadn't remembered her name. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't even sure she had offered it. The brunette smiled and nodded reassuringly. "Yep, just like that. But like I said, Evie's fine too. I know it's kind of a mouthful." The problem with coming to a new place was that she wanted to order one of everything, and that just wasn't feasible. "You know, that was my initial thought, but I just wanted to make sure it was a solid choice. You know, sometimes these places have hidden gems that you wouldn't expect," she pointed out playfully. "But thank you, that's what I'll go with then. How's your day going?"

[mxharleyhua]

As Elliot confessed to dating his twin sister, Harley let out a loud laugh. "Wow, that's some tea!" He exclaimed. Thank god his high school crush didn't have a brother close to them in age, although Harley had a tendency to avoid relationships with men back then. He felt jealous and hurt seeing their bodies, in a way that only made sense in hindsight. "Did you like his twin sister or did you just like that she was related to him?" Harley asked. "I wasn't proud of being deaf when I was growing up. Everyone around me treated it like a bad thing, so I did too. And I didn't want to be butch, or gay or Chinese or Jewish back then either. I thought that if I was a blonde, white, straight, hearing girl then I'd automatically be a lot more confident. But when I got to college in New York, and realized nobody gave a shit about that stuff, it felt so freeing. And that was when I came out of my shell, and the closet. The terms pansexual and transgender came later for me, but by the time I realized those things I was a lot more comfortable with being queer and everything else."

It made sense Elliot was so used to simcom because that was what his large, hearing family mostly used. "I think when people that are stronger in English simcom, we tend to care more about getting the English right. And that includes me. When I'm not wearing my CIs, ASL and PSE are a lot easier to to understand than simcom." Much like his hearing friends did with him, he had a tendency to follow the other Deaf person's lead since he was comfortable with so many different ways of communicating. "When I simcom I listen more than I watch, because usually English is the first language for both of us. But having the sign language to support the verbal language makes it a lot easier for me to keep up and then I'm not so drained afterwards."

Elliot explained trying to get her name figured out without tipping off his family, and Harley mentally played through half a dozen names matched with Newman. "I feel like not a lot of names clash with Newman. It's two English words, so it just rolls off the tongue and you can't go wrong with first names that match it. He smiled at the mention of it being gender neutral, as that had been one of the big perks when he picked the name Harley for himself, and then fingerspelled Sawyer to himself in his lap where Elliot couldn't see it. "You did a great job picking out her name."

"Well, I couldn't have been happier that he didn't know sign-" Elliot started with a grin when asked about what happened between with him and the boy. "And then you know, I started dating his twin sister two weeks later." Letting out a laugh as he admitted it. Knowing that teenage him hadn't exactly been the smartest. "But then as I got older and dated more, I got more and more comfortable in my own skin. I've always been so damn proud of being deaf and then I started to see my sexuality in the same light. It's all just part of who I am." It had been a tough journey for Elliot, there was no denying that. But truly accepting who he was, well, it had helped so much over the years. To the point where now he didn't think twice about it, just dated whomever made him happy. No questions asked.

He gave a nod of his head as Harley mentioned that he loved Simcom. "I have some friends who hate Simcom but honestly, I don't mind it. That's what I was used to growing up, what my parents and siblings used the most. Though for whatever reason, my brain processes just normal ASL much easier." Elliot signed with a laugh and grin on his face. Though truth be told, any means- whether Simcom or ASL or whatever, he was just glad when he had that chance to communicate with people in a language he was comfortable and used to. Knowing that he missed so much when lipreading but he was always trying to accommodate other people, never putting himself first, despite what might be the easier for him.

Elliot watched as Harley said Sawyer's name, able to catch the familiar movements of her first and last name. His eyebrows raising as Harley told the story, his lips quirking with amusement as he kept his eyes on his friend's hands. "That's what I was so scared about when it came to naming her." He admitted, laughing as he did so. "And I wanted to surprise my family with her, with her name so I didn't have anyone to bounce names off of to make sure the didn't sound bad. Especially with our last name." His shoulders giving another shake with a laugh. "Alright, maybe not the meaning of it. But I knew I wanted something gender neutral, something a bit nature inspired, and as soon as I saw Sawyer as a name, it was perfect. And I loved the way it flowed when finger spelt." Explaining how he settled on her name, which was a bit different than someone who was hearing probably named their child by. Especially since he had no concept of how her name would even sound. "I honestly didn't make the connection to Huck Finn until after I announced her arrival. So probably a good thing that I've always liked that book."

[mxharleyhua]

Harley simply liked to go on adventures and get away from the hustle of his life sometimes. Although Merrock was nowhere near as populated as New York City had been, he still preferred to live downtown. The downside to that was a lack of space, especially of the outdoor variety. "Well, just remember, if something does go wrong in the middle of the night, there's a very good chance I'll sleep through it. So we'll make sure that everything's set up correctly the first time." He half-joked, although there was some truth to it. "But on the other end of things, you can snore or loudly get up in the middle of the night and I'll never know."

The most important part of camping, in Elena's opinion, was being able to roast a marshmallow. Whether you were camping in a tent, an RV, nestled in a cabin, or out under the stars, as long as you could have a fire going and a stick to toast a sweet treat over it, then it was going to be a success in her book. "Good," she grinned, hefting the tent out of the back and looking over at him. "I go camping quite a bit, too, but I'm always that person waking up in the middle of the night having to secure something," she admitted, carrying the tent over and setting it down carefully on the level space nearby the cabin. "Better to have two sets of hands and eyes, so we can be safe, rather than sorry."

[mxharleyhua]

Happy birthday @mxharleyhua! Got you a few things that I hope you'll like! A stylus paint brush that you could use on your phone or tablet, a portable easel, and finally an easel that uses water instead of paint to draw/paint with! Hope you have a great day!

Your friend,

JD

[mxharleyhua]

Harley wasn't much of a lip reader, but even if he hadn't been able to hear James he still would have understood thanks. "Thanks," He repeated, showing James how to sign it as well. He repeated the sign as he said "You're welcome," to show that the same word was used for both phrases. He noticed James continued speaking, and was doing well enough that Harley could keep up with him. "LA? I lived in New York for five years....does this make us rivals?" He joked, but his interest was piqued at the mention of a sister. It was possible Harley knew her, with it being such a small town. "Do you mind if I ask who your sister is?"

"Thanks." James said out loud, making sure to do his best to not mumble. Maybe if he kept his sentences shorter and to the point, he would be easier for Harley to understand. More than willing to give it another shot, to see if it would make the conversation flow easier for the both of them. Though if need be, he would go back to writing, no questions asked. "I'm from LA. Just moved in with my sister about a month ago." And it by far had been the best decision he had made, beyond glad for the laid back atmosphere of Merrock. Not quite sure he would be able to handle the hustle and bustle of LA after everything.

[mxharleyhua]

"That makes sense." Harley knew that those events had medics, but he never thought about them being actual people with lives outside of the event. So a small part of him felt surprised to learn they weren't all NPCs. "Oh...I mean, I'm competing against myself. I have to beat my best time from high school this year. Do you think you can keep up? Cause if you can't, I'm sure I can find someone else to be your guide."

"As a participant? A few times. I was usually just the medic on site," he gave a small grin before shrugging. His target for this 5K was just finishing it so he wasn't really worrying about time or pace. But he had to be physically fit for his job so even though the last time he took part was a while ago, he figured he'd do okay. "Sorry. That's a bit out of nowhere," Sam then said with a small smile, noticing the surprise. "It's just that I'm still not that familiar with the countryside and kind of wondering if I can be your running partner? You can run at whatever pace you want, I'll keep up."

[mxharleyhua]

Harley laughed at the image of Owen playing on the equipment instead of cleaning up. "Why didn't I think of that?" He joked. It had been nice to chat with Lara for awhile, even if not much cleaning got done. With verbal communication, it was easy to work and talk at the same time. But sign language meant stopping, talking for two hours, and forgetting to do any cleaning while you were chatting. But Harley and Lara both had busy lives and didn't catch up as often as he would have liked. "Hopefully." Harley nodded. He wasn't interested in getting a bike or anything - but maybe his mind would be changed once he got on it. "Yeah...not having to clean up is great, but also...I was doing a picnic as fast as I could to mark it off the list, and barely took the time to enjoy that I was doing it. Definitely can't approach it all that way next year."

"No, I was playing on the jungle gym," he admitted with a laugh, shrugging his shoulders. Okay, so he had also been working at cleaning up around the jungle gym, but if one was right there by the bars, they were going to reach up, grab on, and do a little bit of climbing, right? He wasn't immune to how that went. Everyone turned into a kid when they were faced with the fact that they had hours to spend in a park and not much else to do. "Someday," he smiled when Harley said that he still hadn't been on a motorcycle, knowing that it wasn't for everyone, truthfully. Actually, more and more, it seemed like they were for less people, when they realized how dangerous they could be, but. Ryder didn't have much of a brain, anyway. "Yeah, I get that," he nodded, lazily dragging his brush in a swoop across his painting, "but I guess on the upside, now the town should be pretty, so you can go out and do something and not feel like you need to clean first, yeah?"

[mxharleyhua]

Harley laughed at their admission to just winging it. "Hey, if it works then it works." He agreed. He definitely had art projects that started out that way and turned out okay. His mouth hung open for a second at the mention of people not putting together their outfits beforehand. "How? Why would someone not wanna look good in pictures?" He really couldn't understand that mentality at all. He didn't always plan his everyday clothes out, but for something like this? Why would anyone not want to do that. As Harley looked through his phone, he glanced up to see Stelly's reaction. "Thanks" He signed at her saying he had a good eye.

"Trust me, most of my best photoshoots have no plans," they admitted on a laugh, shrugging both shoulders. But it was the truth, sometimes things just turned out better when you went into them with an open mind and ready to have some fun with the situation at hand. "Trust me, it's appreciated," they gestured to Harley's suitcase, as well, "sometimes as photographers, we have people show up who really haven't put thought into what the clothes they pick out actually look like on themselves, or even paired together, so when someone does the research and figures it out ahead of time, it's a godsend." Then they didn't need to worry about whether or not something was going to look awful. Looking at the phone as he pulled it out to show to them, Stelly grinned, "oh, see, this is going to be fun! You've got a nice eye for fashion."

[mxharleyhua]

Coming in regularly for services sounded so nice, but it didn't feel particularly realistic to the young artist. So as the question was returned to him, he shrugged. "I get nail art done here before big events. Especially the galas." Harley explained. "But I can't remember the last time I got other stuff done here. Probably when I was in high school."

Rafael had never struggled with confidence, that was something he could say with, well… confidence. His parents had raised him to take pride in himself, in every aspect, and even into his fifties now, that did include taking care of himself physically, as well. "Often," he replied with a laugh, nodding his head. "I normally come by once every two, three months for a facial, manicure, maybe get in a massage," unless he had some sort of big event that needed his attention, and then he had no problem coming in a little sooner than he had originally planned. As long as he felt and looked good, that was all that he really worried about. "What about you?" he asked, relaxing back into the seat as much as possible, and turning his gaze over to Harley. "Do you come here often?"

[mxharleyhua]

"It's alright. I'd love to have a pet, but my apartment doesn't allow them. So I'm happy to pay attention to yours all night." Harley grinned. As she said the one named Cosmo didn't have brain cells, though, he laughed. "I'm guessing you named him after the flower...but not having brain cells sounds a lot like Cosmo from Fairly Odd Parents."

"I can't remember the last time I played Sorry or Trouble. Never understood Parcheesi. But I gotta warn you, I'm the Hua Family Champ at Life and Candyland. And Monopoly, but you vetoed that one already."

"Perfect," she replied when Harley said that he wasn't allergic to anything, offering him a grin. Not that she wouldn't be accommodating to someone's allergies in any way that she could, but… it was a little hard to do anything about pollen and flower allergies when she lived amongst the flower fields, and her cats did love to be around people who could at least tolerate them. "They probably won't be too in your face," she explained with a smile. "Friendly, but not pushy." She was careful to choose words that she could pronounce well enough that he could read her lips, "Cosmo has zero brain cells, though." Like most orange cats.

"I will," she laughed, nodding her head. Once they got to the actual sleepover part of the evening, she had no problem surrounding herself with her favorite stuffed animals that she maybe hadn't seen in a while. They were always fun to pull out, remember the good times. "I'm a sucker for the classics," she craned her neck to look at the different games that Harley had brought. "I love Sorry! and Trouble and Parcheesi, Life… Candyland. Chutes and Ladders. Basically anything but Monopoly."

[mxharleyhua]

may twenty sixth - june first; fun spot

What are your plans for Memorial Day this year?

Well, this year Memorial Day happens to fall on my birthday! My parents are taking me out to dinner at Sandcastles. I think we're doing a bonfire after that, but nothing fancy. And then I need to go home and work on an art commission

[mxharleyhua]

Happy birthday @mxharleyhua !!!

I am so, so thankful to have you in my life! You are an amazing friend and person and I hope you have the most wonderful birthday ever. First I saw this shirt online and there was no way I could pass it up! Got you a nice carrying case for all your art and supplies and of course had to get you a gift card to The Supply Shack!

- Elliot

[mxharleyhua]

It had been a lot to juggle his gender and sexuality while also still slowly adjusting to life with cochlear implants. He's only had them for a couple years at that point. He had also been the only Asian or Jewish member on the squad for awhile, so he always felt like he stuck out like a sore thumb. He probably didn't, but it was only because he tried so hard to be just like his friends. As he got older, he learned to love and embrace the things that made him unique. He watched as Elliot talked about the gay panic of kissing a boy in secret, remembering how well it mirrored his own experiences with a girl at the time. And then he explained figuring out he was pan... "I get all of that. I was the deaf, Jewish, Asian-American cheerleader. I was not adding lesbian to that list. So...what happened with the boy? Did you talk to him again after that? Did you have an affair? Did you avoid ever making eye contact with him again?"

Harley knew lipreading was mostly guess work, but Elliot seemed so good at the guessing part of it that it was almost surprising he didn't pick up more of what people were saying. While Elliot was so fast to accommodate hearing people by trying to read their lips despite the difficulty of that task, Harley certainly didn't have that patience or perspective. He had spent most of his life speaking, using a hearing aid or cochlear implant, and trying to read lips when none of that worked. Even after he embraced Deaf culture, his parents still didn't know any sign language and a lot of hearing people still assumed he would wear his cochlear and speak with them. It wasn't that he hated oral communication - it was just as natural to him as signing was. However, it could be exhausting to 'hear' constantly and put in all the work. So when he needed a hearing break, or his cochlear implant battery needed to be charged, or it was too noisy for him to rely on it, the least his friends could do was write or type what they wanted to say. He nodded as Elliot explained how simcoming helped. Despite the fact that Harley's preferred method of communication was signing and talking at the same time, he had never thought of how they would make it easier to learn lipreading. "I love simcom. I know that's not a capital-D Deaf answer, but as someone who grew up kinda-late-deafened and oral? It's champ. I'm glad it helped you learn lipreading, too."

He laughed at the idea that Elliot could never say his name. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, most hearing people can't say my last name either." Harley shrugged. He did not miss hearing all the creative ways people came up with to incorrectly say 'Hua'. With his cochlear implant, speech was just robotic enough to hide most of those mistakes. "I have an idea in my head on what you saying 'Elliot' sounds like." He admitted with a chuckle.

Harley was slowly forgetting what things used to sound like, and that sucked. But before he had time to dwell on it or mention it to Elliot, the father was talking about naming his kid. Harley wasn't wearing his cochlear implant, but he still said "Sawyer Newman" out loud to himself to get a feel for how well it flowed out of his mouth. "I can tell you that it's easy to say. I knew this Deaf guy in New York - whole family was profoundly Deaf. His parents had no idea the first and last name they gave him was a tongue twister when it was said out loud. So, you avoided that trap! What does Sawyer mean, anyways? It made me think of Huck Finn the first couple times I heard it."

When asked about his sexuality, Elliot gave a nod of his head. Paying close attention as Harley signed, sharing his experience about what high school had been like for him. Trying to wrap his head around what it must have been like having to deal with all of that at one time. Figuring out your sexuality and what gender meant while also juggling being deaf. When asked about his, Elliot gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "I kissed my friend on the baseball team behind the stands after a game then went into panic mode. I was already the deaf kid, I couldn't be the kid that liked boys too." He began to explain. "But then as time went on, I figured out I liked everyone, that their gender didn't mean a lot to me. What mattered was their personality, how we connect, and all of that." Elliot went on, it was hardly something he gave much thought about these days.

As they moved on to lip reading, Elliot gave an amused laugh. "Trust me, my lip reading skills aren't that good. I get like twenty, maybe thirty percent of what's being said when I read lips, the rest is sort of filling in the blanks." He made a slight face as he admitted to it but Elliot knew that it was more convenient for people if he did try and read lips. Never giving much thought about what the easiest was for him. "I really think my family simcomming and signing growing up helped a lot with me being able to read lips at all. Sort of just connected the signs to the movements their mouths were making." Which also probably explained why he was better at reading their lips when he needed to compared to struggling reading those of a stranger or someone he wasn't as close with.

"See, I'm just doomed to never being able to speak your name." Elliot teased with a grin, not wanting to pry and what what Harley's deadname was. Frankly, it was none of his business, and Harley was simply Harley to Elliot. "Trust me though, if you ever heard me say my own name, just know that most of it is indeed me missing sounds and hell, probably letters." Having felt himself stumble over his own name quite a bit, having his youngest sister telling him how just badly he was saying. Not that he minded, it was just the reality for Elliot. Some words were easier for him to say and others, well, there was no chance in hell for him.

Not for sure why he was surprised when Harley mentioned that he could hear perfect English in his head. Though at the same time, it also made sense, since at one time Harley had been able to hear sounds. That he would still be able to recall sounds and words whereas Elliot had never heard a thing in his life. Another example of their different situations and experiences when it came to being deaf. "Oh, gotcha. That would make sense, you being able to hear it in your head." He signed after a second when a smile on his face. "See, I struggled when I was picking out a name for Sawyer. Since I have no idea how her name sounds when spoken. I had to go off of the finger spelling of it and meaning. I'm just out here hoping that its at least a decent sounding name." Elliot admitted with a laugh, shaking his head some in amusement.

[mxharleyhua]

Harley watched as James nodded at his name sign, and then started writing. "It's nice to meet you too, James. Welcome to Merrock." Harley smiled, curious about how he ended up here and from where. It was cool to see so many people moving to the small town that he had always called home. James started writing again, and Harley nodded once he read the paper. "I am! I was born here and I've been here my whole life - except for college and a year after I graduated. What about you, then? Where are you from?"

James was about to turn and go through some of the vinyl's that the other's niece might like when his voice caught his attention once more. With his brow furrowed, curious more than anything, as the other signed as well, he gave a nod of his head. Nice to meet you Harley. James quickly scribbled his reply back out, slowly getting used to their rhythm for communicating. I'm James- still pretty new to town. He added a few seconds later, turning the paper back around so that Harley could see what he had written. Knowing he needed to find music for the other, he was also interested in striking up a conversation with Harley as well. Are you from here? James asked curiously.

[mxharleyhua]

As Elena got out of the car, Harley looked over at her. He was already on the drivers side, getting out one of his bags. "I'm okay with cabin 'camping'" He nodded. As far as plans like these went, he was pretty flexible. If he was camping with someone who didn't know sign language, he needed to have access to somewhere to plug in his cochlear implants every night. But otherwise, he was good with whatever; cabin, tents, RVs…as long as he got to have a good time. As she asked him if he knew how to put up a tent, he nodded. "Of course! I go camping a few times every summer."

WHO: Lena & @mxharleyhua

WHERE: The Glen, countryside

WHEN: springtime

"So, I was torn between a tent or a cabin," Elena explained as she stepped out of the car, having volunteered to drive them both to the Glen, knowing that she had plenty of room to throw bags and supplies inside. "But then I figured we could go with a cabin, and if we get brave enough, pitch the tent outside?" It wasn't like it took up that much room, and if they got caught in a rainstorm, or ended up wanting to sleep on a mattress, they had the opportunity. Smart thinking! Or at least she hoped so, anyway. As she stepped around the back of the car, she pushed the button to open it, reaching in to start to haul everything out, and looking over at Harley with a wide grin. "Although I guess that begs the question -- any good at putting up a tent, by chance?"

[mxharleyhua]

"That's true. I was up by the pavilion with Lara a lot of the time, too. So if you weren't over there, then there's no way we would have run into each other." Harley explained. It had been awhile since he got to chat with her and catch up. Ryder mentioned his motorcycle and Harley nodded, he knew Ryder really liked that thing. "Still haven't been on one before." He replied, having told his friend that fact the first time he mentioned his bike to Harley. "I spend a lot of time at the beach in the summer. But the rest of the time, I feel like I'm always doing things and don't stand still long enough to enjoy the outdoors. Even this week, it was all a checklist of things I had to do so I feel like - well, I did enjoy it. But I probably would have been able to relax more if I didn't treat it like some kind of challenge, you know?"

"Could have been," he nodded his head thoughtfully. "The park's pretty big, but it feels even bigger when you're dragging trash around and there's about two dozen other people doing the same thing." It was a lot harder to spot individual people that way, peering through the crowds; especially when everyone was handling garbage bags and wearing gloves and moving fast. Still, it sounded like Harley had a pretty good time, had done a lot to keep himself busy. "The bike ride was almost enough to convince me to get a bike, but… think I'll stick with my motorcycle." Once he managed to get it out of the garage and tuned up for the season, that was. "Well, you did a pretty good job, then," he gestured towards the art supplies that Harley had brought with him. "But I feel you. I'll go outside still, but like… in the yard, at home," he laughed.

[mxharleyhua]

"Oh good, I kind of thought there was a plan but that I wasn't paying attention when you said it or something." Harley admitted with a chuckle. It wasn't that he didn't care what she had to say, but he was already planning outfits in his head the moment he said yes to doing this photoshoot. As she asked about his clothes, his expression lit up even more. "I had a photoshoot of my own at home last night before I packed everything up" He explained, gesturing to his nearby suitcase. He took out his phone and showed her few pictures of several different outfit changes that fit a variety of styles. He hadn't told Stelly this yet, but he also watched quite a few tiktoks on how to pose.

One good thing about having the friends that they had: Stelly never had a drought when it came to people willing to volunteer for photoshoots. Friends, co-workers, even people that they barely knew would jump at the opportunity to get all dolled up -- or not -- and get in front of the camera. Given that they had been working so hard on assignments lately, or pulling extra shifts at the bar, it was nice to have an afternoon off to just shoot and have some fun, and that made them extra glad that Harley was down for the adventure. "Hey!" Stelly returned the greeting with a grin, hefting their camera bag a little more and shrugging, looking around Paradise Gardens, "no plan, flying by the seat of my pants," they grinned. "But I kind of figured I'd see what you brought to shoot in, what kind of outfits you had in mind, and go by that, figure out what areas of the garden would match with each, you know?"