
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
KIROKAZE

@theartofmadeline
wallacepolsom
RMH
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
h

JVL

blake kathryn
🪼
occasionally subtle

⁂

Product Placement
Jules of Nature
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
taylor price
Three Goblin Art
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
Claire Keane

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@gabrielspecter
sethbanoub:
Seth smiled at the other and nodded his head easily. “Oh yeah! Not in the city, but they live up in Albany. My brother too. I’m the only one who lives here.” He shook his head slightly. “Not death penalty. But recently there have been some real witch hunts. Homosexuality isn’t illegal but violating honor and debauchery is so… basically it is.” He frowned slightly. “Almost everyone there thinks homosexuals shouldn’t be accepted.”
Gabriel nodded. “What made you move to Little Italy?” He sipped his drink, absently twirling the liquid around the glass. “I get that. Iran has zero tolerance for homosexuality. I didn’t know what it was until I moved to England, which was perhaps a blessing more than anything else. But unfortunately, Iranian law is based on Islamic law, and as with most religions, Islam doesn’t hold homosexuality in high respects.” He shrugged and set his glass back down on the table.
jordan-jx:
Jordan could sense the other’s hesitance when it came to recreational drugs. Maybe the guy was a lot more straight edge than most people he knew, but that was okay. “It varies by person. Some become more productive, others just… take it easy. But I can’t imagine that working yourself into blackout exhaustion is very productive either,” he said, raising his brows and shrugging lightly.
“Surfing is amazing. But aside from that, I like to write from time to time. Nothing incredibly interesting, mostly observations on climate change and how it affects us immediately. I thought about writing a book on it, but I’m not very confident in not boring the reader to death with facts. I’ve thought about collaborating with a friend to create a comic book hero, but even that’s kind of just an idea that’s up in the air,” he admitted, chuckling quietly as he led the way to his apartment. Even in his hobbies, conversation wasn’t far from his mind.
Gabriel shrugged. “If you can’t be productive without drugs, you’re doing something wrong.” If he was being honest with himself, he knew that working himself to exhaustion was neither necessary nor good for him, but he was very rarely honest with himself, so he would admit to neither of those things. “Tell that to my grades.”
Gabriel raised his eyebrows a little when Jordan mentioned climate change again. He certainly was passionate about it, that was for sure. “If that’s something you want to do, you should do it. Thinking about doing something doesn’t get you very far,” he tilted his head a little, “unless you’re a philosopher, I suppose. Thinking gets you very far as a philosopher. But that’s neither here nor there.”
sethbanoub:
Seth smiled as the other finally gave him a smile back. “Nope. And I don’t think most people are like my parents… not that they’re the most accepting. They have an open offer to pay for therapy for my ‘issue’.” He laughed softly, shrugging easily. “But they’re nice and love me.” He took a small sip of his drink and chuckled easily. “I agree. But that’s how it is. And I’m happy here. I love New York.”
Gabriel couldn’t help but roll his eyes when Seth mentioned his parent’s offer, but he still had the faintest smile on his lips, finding himself enjoying the other’s company more than he’d anticipated. “Does Egypt have the death penalty for homosexuality?” Iran did, and it was certainly one of the reasons Gabriel’s family would never find out about his sexuality. “I’m glad you get on with them. Do they still live here in New York?”
jordan-jx:
“Please don’t tell me you’ve passed out in the middle of a Wal-Mart from having overworked yourself. I don’t know if I can forgive you for that,” he mused. “At that point, I’d just be having a smoke-out. Maybe taking a little Easy breezy to just relax. You’ll fuck up your balance and energy working yourself to the ground,” he said, offering that sunny smile of his once more.
“Alright, awesome. I don’t have any pets at my place, so Mao can have total run of the place if he wants,” he said smiling and leading the way towards the building he had pointed to earlier. “So, what kind of things are you into, Gabriel? You into any physical sports or games or anything?” he asked, looking towards the man as they walked.
Gabriel hummed disapprovingly when Jordan mention smoking and rolled his eyes to himself. Having grown up in Iran, and being as pretentious as he could sometimes be, Gabriel was very firmly against any kind of drug usage and didn’t have much of a tolerance for people who used them. But, to be fair, he was very firmly against a lot of things and didn’t have much of a tolerance for people in general. “It wasn’t a Wal-Mart, but yeah.” Gabriel shrugged. “I’m not sure getting high is exactly a better way to spend time than working, but whatever works for you.”
Gabriel attached Mao’s leash back to his collar and set the puppy down, walking with Jordan towards his building. “I don’t have time for sports.” As if he would actually play them if he did. Gabriel had never been one for sports, with the exception of track, but he’d been forced to quit that early on. He still ran a lot, but he didn’t consider that an answer to Jordan’s question, so he kept it to himself. “I like reading, I guess.” Gabriel shrugged. He wasn’t the most interesting person out there, and he knew that. “What about you? Other than skateboarding and saving the world?”
jordan-jx:
“It’s a great way to keep busy, but you’ve gotta have a balance. Overwork yourself and you’ll burn out.” Jordan felt like he had finally balanced his home and work life to a point where he wasn’t working too much or not enough. He felt successful and not suffocated, which was incredibly important to him.
“I was just heading home from work, but I don’t have a whole lot going right now. I live in that building there. If you’re not busy or anything and if it doesn’t seem, like, weird… you wanna come up for coffee or something?” he asked, pointing to a building adjacent to the park. “Speaking of, do you live around here, too?”
The corner of Gabriel’s lips quirked into a small smile at Jordan’s statement. "Or you go for over-over-working yourself. It’s the stage after you reach burn out, where you just keep working harder to ignore how burnt out you are, and then continue onwards until you collapse in the middle of Walmart.” He gently rubbed the top of Mao’s head, and looked back over at Jordan, “not that I’d ever do something like that, of course.”
Gabriel considered the offer for a second. He was halfway through an essay he wanted to be finished this evening, but he was also all out of coffee back home, and this stranger was offering it to him. Gabriel glanced back at the building and then nodded. “Why not.” He needed to make friends anyway. Not that he necessarily wanted to, but he was aware that he needed to regardless. “Somewhere ‘round here, yeah.”
jordan-jx:
“Thanks. I’m gonna need it with as many projects as I’m juggling right now,” he said, rolling his shoulders lightly. “It’s fine though. The more work, the more money, and that doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure does a lot to help,” he admitted. He couldn’t wait for his vacation in a couple of months.
“I don’t know you well enough to make a suggestion, but maybe that could change. You’re absolutely right, though. Humanity is certainly interesting,” he said, flashing that sunny smile of his. “So… you’re not from around here, are you?” he asked. “I noticed your accent. English maybe?”
Gabriel brushed his messy, blond locks out of his face. “More work is never a bad thing. It’s good to keep busy.” Although, he supposed most people weren’t struck by crippling guilt if they stopped working for more than a few hours, but he stood by his statement regardless. Work was never a bad thing.
“England, yeah,” Gabriel hummed. He gave a small nod. “I moved here about a year and a half ago.”
jordan-jx:
“A little of column A and a little of column B. Think about electric cars. Ten… twenty years go, people laughed at the idea of cars powered by a rechargeable battery instead of fuel. And now look at Tesla. It’s a slow, creeping change, but it’s happening. I’ll never spend another dollar on fuel at a gas station again,” he said nodding. “Darwin construction is going to revolutionize the way buildings are powered. By using solar panels to generate and sustain free, renewable energy. We’re aiming to cut down emissions on greenhouse gases and lowering the cost of living. It seems like a lost cause, but for someone in ten, twenty years from now, it might mean everything,” he said, shrugging his shoulders lightly. He chuckled quietly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, not tryin’ to pitch a building to you, but you did ask!”
Jordan smiled at that. “Are you going to be a professor of psychology, then?” he asked. That sounded pretty fascinating to Jordan. “Understanding the human psyche is a big mystery. It sounds interesting as hell, though.”
Gabriel shook his head when Jordan apologised. “It’s fine, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want an answer.” He really wouldn’t, either. If he was asking, then he wanted to know. “Perhaps it won’t turn out to be as big a lost cause as originally considered,” he mused, tilting his head a little, “lots of small actions can build up into something bigger, and that’s when you start seeing real change.” Gabriel gave a small nod, “I wish you the best of luck with saving the planet.” He smiled slightly.
“I don’t think I’d make a very good professor of anything else,“ Gabriel shrugged. He quite liked psychology, and even if he wasn’t necessarily passionate about it, he would be quite happy teaching it for the rest of his life. “It is interesting. Humans are interesting. A bit of a headache if you think about it too much, but mostly just interesting.”
jordan-jx:
Jordan smiled again, somewhat relieved that Gabriel hadn’t dismissed him as some fucking lunatic in a suit. That happened every once in a while. “Exactly. If we don’t try, nothing will ever change,” he said, shrugging his shoulders lightly. He ran his fingers through his sandy blonde hair.
“Hey, you’ve got your whole life to figure that out, right? Psychology, though. That sounds pretty awesome, dude. Are you going into being a therapist or something?” he asked curiously.
Gabriel hummed. “Do you think what you’re doing is going to make much of a difference? Or is it a case of simply refusing to give up?” He was curious. From where he was standing, it seemed a pretty lost cause, but it also wasn’t something he knew much about.
“I would not be a good therapist,” Gabriel smiled slightly, the thought quite amusing to him. “I suppose I’m passionate about education, not the subject in and of itself. I’m aiming to be a professor once I finish my doctorate in a few years.” He wasn’t necessarily passionate about that either, it was just a way of never having to leave the safety net of education.
suttonfoxworth:
Sutton was out walking Ramsey, the puppy was growing fast. Nearly twice the size of when Jack first got the pitbull puppy. The boy took Rams to the same park they go to every time they’re out for a walk. Watching him bounce around with other dogs, yipping at them playfully.
“Aye–” he called out, “Watch it.” Sutton snapped when the other kept on walking. The boy scoffed but his anger nearly subsided when hearing the other speak Persian. Catching his interest instantly. “No, it’s fine,” he said in return, kneeling down when Rams came pouncing towards him. “You were speaking Persian, correct?”
Gabriel nodded in response to Sutton’s question. “I was, yes.” It was the language Mao was trained in, and unfortunately, the puppy would very rarely respond to any commands made in English. “Do you? Or can you just recognise it well?” Even the latter would somewhat impress him. Most people couldn’t distinguish between languages so well.
kalcbulrich:
Kaleb had taken his dogs out for a walk through the park today. Letting them get some fresh air. After the move in to the new apartment, things seemed to ease up for Kaleb and he was less stressed. He was closer to work, they were closer to the park. Everything seemed better and as Mystique and Vixen pranced happily with him, they ran into another pup and as soon as his dogs saw him, they were twirling around his legs and wanting to play with the other dog. “Hey-Myst! Vixen! Calm down” He called to his dogs. Looking up to see Gabriel he laughed and soon his dogs were calming down. “I’m sure he is.” Kaleb spoke. “Seems like my girls are excited too.”
Mao seemed delighted at the sight of other puppies for him to play with. The tiny, little pug jumped up and sniffed them. Gabriel watched him in amusement, before looking back up at the owner of the other puppies. “I think he might like them,” he quirked a small smile, watching Mao play with the two dogs. “What are they called?”
sethbanoub:
Seth ordered with a happy smile, grinning up at her and looking back to Gabriel with an easy smile.
“Well… I don’t know. I mean moving here afforded us so many opportunities. And I couldn’t have been myself in Egypt so for that I’m so happy.” He shrugged easily and smiled softly. “I would have loved duel citizenship, but apparently when you apply for citizenship here, you forfeit it there… At least in Egypt.” He shrugged easily.
Gabriel hummed. Seth’s smile was contagious, and he couldn’t help but smile a little in return. “That’s true. Egypt’s laws on homosexuality aren’t ideal. Neither are Iran’s for that matter.” Thankfully, he hadn’t properly realised he was gay until he moved to England, so that was never much of a problem for him. “I don’t understand the reasoning behind that, if I’m honest. You shouldn’t have to give up who you are and where you came from in order to seek out a better life.”
sethbanoub:
“Oh, don’t worry about me. Obsession is my bread and butter.” It was true. Seth could focus on a single things for days or months, and then stop cold turkey. He was good at both being obsessed, but never getting sucked in too deep.”
“Nope. New York. My dad was this big neurosurgeon so we got into the country fairly easily. Him and my mom became citizens when me and Osiris were still teens so we then became citizens.” He chuckled softly. “But we lost our Egyptian citizenship which kinda sucks.”
Gabriel looked over as a waitress approached them. He ordered his meal, and then waited for Seth to order his meal as well. He thanked the waitress and then turned back to Seth.
“Did you want to move here? Or would you have prefered to grow up in Egypt?” Gabriel was curious. He brushed his fingers through his messy blond locks, and covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he yawned. “That’s unfortunate. Having dual citizenship is nice, and it certainly makes it easier if you wish to visit.”
jordan-jx:
“Nice to meet you, Gabriel. People never really ask me that question, but I’m glad you did. A forest fire ravaged my childhood home and problems avalanched from that. Not just for me. Global warming is causing droughts all over the world. Ice caps are melting and sea levels are rising. Storms are getting worse every year. We are destroying our planet, and unless we do something about it now, there will be nothing left–” he stopped when he realized he was getting on his proverbial soapbox. “Sorry, I’m really passionate about that,” he admitted with a soft laugh. “Are you passionate about something, Gabriel?”
Gabriel listened as Jordan talked, nodding every couple of sentences. It wasn’t something he thought about much, but he supposed it was good that people like Jordan cared as much as they did. “Don’t apologise. The world would be in trouble if people like you didn’t care as much as you do.” He tilted his head a little. “Well. The world’s already in trouble, and that probably won’t change, but it’s better than not trying at all.” Gabriel considered Jordan’s question for a moment. “Psychology? Maybe? I don’t know.”
sethbanoub:
Seth smiled at the other and nodded his head. “Well perhaps I should try giving it a read. Though perhaps I should be worried about what it might do to me.” He grinned. “Two films! One from 63 and one from 90. And I suppose there’s also a Filipino version, but I never watched it. The 63 movie is closer to the book and better in my opinion.”
“I have been. It’s just… a lot of money.” He chuckled and shrugged. “I’ll go one day. I’m sure.”
Gabriel nodded. “You should. Just don’t let yourself get too sucked into it.” He shrugged. The book was depressing, but Seth seemed a pretty happy person, and Gabriel doubted it would have much of a negative effect on him. “Perhaps I’ll watch it at some point.” He picked a menu from the table and opened it.
“That’s good,” Gabriel hummed. “So did you move to New York when you were ten? Or somewhere else in America?”
sethbanoub:
Seth frowned and tilted his head. “How did it cause suicides? That’s so sad.” He couldn’t help but to laugh as they other then brought up Lord of the Rings. “And here I was expecting you to say Lord of the Flies. But I like Rings. It was a fun read and the movies are just… beautiful.”
“I suppose money? And… I don’t know. What if it’s nothing special? Plus no one in my family would sponsor me so I guess it’d have to be like… in a hotel.”
Gabriel sat down at the table. “It’s depressing. It plays mind games with you. I should not have read it as young as I did.” He shook his head, and smiled at the mention of Lord of the Flies. “I liked that book too. Has it been made into a movie? I’d watch that.”
He hummed quietly as Seth spoke. “You should consider saving up to go. It’s important to see where you came from.”
What is your favorite food?
“Tahdig. It’s a crunchy fried rice dish from Iran.”