Story of a Blind Date

It was Saturday afternoon and the boutique is quite crowded. Elza talked to some customers and helped them choose the clothes when suddenly,

"Elza, do you have a plan for next week on Saturday evening?" Ryan asked.

"Actually no. Wait, I'm talking to a customer, you mannerless spongehead," Elza then continued talking to the customer. 

After that, she approached Ryan and asked, "Why did you ask about my plan?"

"First thing first, I don't think it's a good manner to call me mannerless spongehead in front of customers. For your question, I'm going to reserve a table for you in the fancy restaurant on Fremont street, I forget the restaurant's name. Eh, you're still single right?"

"What the hell Ryan? Are you asking me for a date?" Elza rolled her eyes.

"Of course not me, duh. I'm setting you for a blind date," Ryan grinned in his usual childish expression.

"Is this part of a mission? Also, Ryan, everytime you make that face, I have bad feeling," said Elza.

"Relax. You prepare your dress and makeup then have fun," Ryan said then left.

A week later, Ryan drove the car to take Elza.

"Are you still sure that maroon is the right colour for the dress to wear on first date?"

"Ryan, if he's going to date me, he'd better get used to my style," Elza said.

"And you also wear maroon lipstick. Is that necessary?" Ryan asked.

"Yes. Problem?"

The car becomes silent after that.

They arrived at the restaurant then a host greeted them and showed them to the table.

"Rook? Roy?" Elza looked at the man who already sat at the table with a younger guy beside him.

"Oh, hi Rook. I see that my brother Roy took you here earlier."

"Explain this, Ryan," Rook glared at Ryan.

"You two enjoy your dinner. Eh, Roy, give your car key to Rook. I'll drive you home. Don't get involved in their adult business, kid. Now, do you want to play Mario Kart?" Ryan pulled Roy's shoulder after Roy gave Rook his car key.

"So, did Ryan..." 

"Yes, that spongehead told me that he set me up for a blind date," Elza cut Rook's question.

"And you agreed?"

"You also agreed."

"Well... Uhm, anyway, you look stunning in that dress," Rook said. "I still hate you, though," he added quickly.

"You also look fine in suit and I still hate you," Elza retorted.

They both ate in silence then Elza noticed that Rook started getting sweaty.

"It's hot, eh? I'm surprised that you don't take off your jacket."

"Ryan says that a gentleman should never take off his jacket. I'm a gentleman so I don't take off my jacket," said Rook.

"Correct. Ryan knows such rule but he doesn't follow it. What a spongehead."

Rook smiled hearing that. "Do you want to go somewhere else after this?" he asked.

"Yes, please. Take me to game centre. We'll rock the place with this attire."

"As you wish," Rook laughed.



P.S. This is another fanfic of "Children of Altar" (sorry, hahaha...). I struggle with description in this fic. I could imagine their dialogue but I had no idea what to write aside from the dialogue. If you can give me advice then please kindly comment. Thank you.

Also, that part where Rook didn't take off his jacket was inspired by a video of Patrick Stump getting advice from older gentleman.

I never go to formal dinner at fancy restaurant so if I make mistake in this story, please tell me. I did my research but I could still make mistake.

Swim!

It was a peaceful Sunday morning. Roy played the Witcher on his laptop and suddenly... "Roy, take a bath and let's go!" Ryan shouted.

"No."

"Come on!" Ryan wrestled Roy and managed to shut down the laptop in the process.

"I hate you! I was continuing my game and you shut it down."

"Take a bath, we'll go swimming."

"Why should I take a bath? I'll get wet again once I swim," Roy retorted.

"You stink," Ryan said.

They walked to the public swimming pool and Roy asked, "What is it Ryan? You don't like swimming."

"Are you scared? Don't worry, the pool is shallow enough for you."

"No kidding. I'm a better swimmer between us and seriously, since when do you get excited to swim?"

"Well, actually that's the point. We have to add swimming to our training regime."

"Sounds all right. But we don't really have to worry, do we? I mean, those Salty Spitoon visitors don't come to us and challenge to fight."

"What is Salty Spitoon?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan, you don't watch Spongebob?"

Dig the Ground, Satan

"By the way, I bought you a book today," Ryan handed Roy the book.

"Thank you, but A Clash of Kings? Why, Ryan? I haven't even read A Game of Thrones," said Roy.

Ryan answered, "Actually, I bought you A Game of Thrones long time ago. I buried it in our backyard."

"You what?"

"I put the book in a wooden box and bury it in our backyard. We have shovel or hoe there, take it. Consider it a game of treasure hunting."

"What the hell, Ryan? What mistake did I make to have a brother like you?" Roy groaned in disbelief.

"Just dig the ground, satan. Also please appreciate my effort to make the present more interesting."

Note: this story is continuation of my post, "Sunday Morning, 11 a.m." Well yeah, Ryan is so extra.

Train of Thought: from Irn-Bru to Orange Lipstick

Yesterday, I read a blog post by Joel Sorin entitled "Sail". That post mentioned Irn-Bru which, after I searched in the internet, is actually a Scottish soft drink. Then I remember something else: dandelion and burdock. How can people come up with good idea to name beverage? 

I first heard "dandelion and burdock" from the song "Suck It and See" by Arctic Monkeys. You can watch the official music video, or if you think that video is too sexy then you can watch Alex Turner perform the song in acoustic version, which is also sexy for some people. 

The song also has amazing lyrics. I like the lines, "That's not a skirt girl, that's a sawn-off shotgun. And I can only hope you've got it aimed at me." Usually I don't like lyrics with such "dangerous vibe" but those words are well-arranged and unexpected. I just can't hate it. 

Anyway, suck it and see means to try something you have not done before. When was the last time you tried something new? Was it a great deal that you had to pluck up courage? Or was it something simple that you did on impulse?

Asking that question, I then remember myself that I haven't done anything new recently. Well, I did try to wear matte orange lipstick last Saturday if that counts. 

I guess I'll try to do something new again this Saturday. But what?

Olive Oil on My Face

I mentioned Sarah Urie in my previous post. I you check out her instagram, you will notice that she sometimes promotes skincare product. 

One of the product she promotes is Omega 3.6.9. from LiftedSkin. I visited LiftedSkin website and found out that Omega 3.6.9 costs $39.00. That's expensive for me. However, I really fell into "Sarah Urie's trap" (in a good way) so I still wanted to have facial serum or facial oil. I then bought Wardah pure olive oil.

Wardah pure olive oil is not 100% pure, though. I read the ingredients and it has fragrance so I can't use it for cooking (okay, sorry). When I bought it, it cost Rp 25.000,00 (about $ 2 if I'm not mistaken) so it's quite affordable. 

The problem was, I had no idea how to use olive oil on face. Many sources say to use it for facial massage. Questions: How should I massage my face? Should I use only oil or with something else? How often should I massage my face? Some say to do facial massage before bedtime. Should I wash my face after massage or just let it be there and sleep then wash face after waking up? I know that last question sounds silly but still, please answer any of those question.

I "experiment" by mixing face moisturizer and olive oil then I use it to massage by following Annie Jaffrey's youtube tutorial. I usually do it in the afternoon before nap. How long I wait to wash my face depends on my laziness. Sometimes I fall asleep for about 2 hours then wash my face after waking up. Is my "experiment" right?

Does it give me glow or twinkle on my skin? (Imagine twinkle on the skin) I don't pay enough attention to that. However, it does make my skin smooth.

The Moon and Two Songs

The prompt is moon and I instantly think about a part in Northern Downpour lyrics, "Hey moon, please forget to fall down," and that part in When the Day Met the Night, "When the moon fell in love with the sun, all was golden in the sky. All was golden when the day met the night."

Also, the moon looks beautiful tonight seen from my place.

Whom Will You Listen to Music with?

A while ago, a friend of mine shared in facebook about his Spotify Game of Thrones character. It is to find out which Game of Thrones character you will listen to music with. If you're curious, you can try it here.

I tried that and my Game of Thrones match is Joffrey Baratheon. It was because my Spotify playlist was 65% emo. I laughed when I saw the result. After getting the result, I could see "The Honoured Playlist of King Joffrey Baratheon" and I found "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance. Great.

I actually hoped I shared music taste with the characters I admire, like Tyrion Lannister, Olenna Tyrell, or Podrick Payne. However, considering that Joffrey listened to My Chemical Romance, I don't mind listening to music with him as long as he doesn't harm me or my family. Oh well, he won't because 1) he's fictional, 2) he has joined the black parade (but not as the savior of the broken, the beaten, and the damned).

Now let's play the G note.

My First Ship

In fandom, there is the term "ship". This is where you want characters to have relationship. It doesn't only happen in fiction fandom but also in music fandom. It happens in most fandoms, I guess (I say most because maybe there is a fandom that doesn't have ship).

I don't like shipping. I once wrote in my post "Confession of a Fanfic Reader" that I prefer friendship. 

However, one day, out of nowhere, I got a shipping idea. I didn't even simply ship two fictional characters or such. I shipped an internet friend of mine with someone in one of my fandoms. For a few weeks, I searched in the internet for the right wedding dress and veil for the bride. I browsed wedding flowers and what kind of party they would have. I even came to the point where I imagined their wedding vow.

That imagination doesn't come to my mind anymore. Maybe the wind blows the ship to somewhere faraway. A good place, I hope.

Still, I prefer friendship to romance.

Slow Romantic Activity

Today's prompt is "slowly". I instantly think about romantic stuffs like slow dance and slow kiss. 

I'm not a fan of romance but still, I think those slow romantic activities sounds sweet, lovely, beautiful, etc. Although in some situation they make me cringe (sorry).

However, I don't think I will be able to do any romantic thing slowly because I'm awkward and sometimes overly excited. It means that if I have romantic feeling on someone, I would either do nothing (to avoid awkwardness) or do something silly (because I can't contain my excitement). That something silly includes me talking fast and trying hard not to grin too wide. 

My behaviour makes me wonder about some things. How can people dance slowly with their loved ones? You're couple and you don't hug and jump through the music? Even if the song is slow, you may want to jump a little? How can the bride in Western wedding walk down the aisle? It's your wedding day, you're getting married, you don't want to run or jump? How can you kiss slo... Oh wait, I don't even want to know about that now. 

Please be kind to answer my questions. This is for research (not really, I'm just curious).

Dress Shopping

"This dress looks funny," you pointed a dress.
"Oh, that mermaid cut dress?"
"It's called mermaid cut? Well, I want to try it."
You hurried into dressing room before I could respond.
"Do I look like Ariel now?" You asked while posing.
"Hahaha... Yeah, but instead of trying to be human, you ask the prince to be merman."
"That sounds like something you would do. Oh God, this dress is difficult to walk in," you said.
"That's a mermaid dress. Maybe you should swim instead?"
We wandered around the shop again. You tried on dress after dress while making some jokes (well, actually I made more jokes).
"You know, wearing these dresses makes me feel like a fairy tale character. Once I'm a mermaid, then I'm a princess with ball gown ready for masquerade, another time I'm a Greek goddess who blesses and curses anytime I want. I like them but I feel weird to wear them."
"Maybe we can try to look for tea length dress. It may suit your carefree vibes better. I mean, you don't have to wear long dress in your wedding," I offer.
"Really? I'm allowed to do that? Why didn't you tell me earlier? I thought those white midi dresses are for bridesmaids."
"I thought you knew. Have you ever read any wedding related stuff?" I asked in disbelief.
"Never. That's part of your duty as bridesmaid."
I facepalmed.

P.S. 
"Why isn't there any bridal shop assistant in this fic?"
"Because it's fiction (?) I want it that way."

Walk under the Rain (and Frog Quiz)

I'll walk under the rain in this journey with you. No, it won't be like that beautiful rainy scene in any movie. We will just be two people that dance and sing while getting wet, like frogs. You're a Pacific tree frog and I'm white's tree frog.

P.S. Find out what kind of frog you are in this quiz.

My Exam Hangover

I've had my comprehensive exams. I had comprehensive OSCE on Thursday, June 16th and comprehensive CBT on Tuesday, June 21st. Now I'm waiting for the result.

After exam I feel this condition I call exam hangover. I was curious to find out whether other people ever call it exam hangover so I google it. I found two proper results.

One result is from Urban Dictionary. According to Urban Dictionary, exam hangover is that period between the end post-secondary exams and the next day you can think. I also found an article, "A Remedy for Your University Exam Hangover".

I haven't done much during this exam hangover. I definitely don't study medical stuff (sorry). I borrow a novel from local library but I haven't even started reading it. I haven't written a letter for my German penpal (please wait patiently, dear). I want to buy flowers and arrange them but I'm currently saving my money for something else. 

In that article I share the link above, the writer experience 4 week exam hangover. I hope mine is shorter. Now I'm going to open the novel I borrow.

Talking about Fandom: Is It Just a Phase?

Oxford dictionary has some definition of phase. The first definition is "a distinct period or stage in a process of change or forming part of something's development". That definition has more sub-definition (I don't know what to call it): 1.1. a stage in a person's psychological development, especially a period of temporary difficulty during adolescence or particular stage during childhood; 1.2. a stage in the life cycle or annual cycle of an animal.

When I was a kid, I read and watched Detective Conan a lot. My dad told me, "You won't like Detective Conan anymore when you grow up." I responded, "I will like Conan until I'm old."

It turned out that my dad was right, partly. As I grew up, I became less obsessed with Conan but then a day came when my cousin let me read some Conan comics that she borrowed from her friend. I was obsessed with Conan again, for days, or weeks. I even considered naming my motorcycle Conan although I then put the idea at the back of my mind.

So my dad thought that my obsessive-fangirl-state is just a once-in-a-lifetime phase but it didn't turn that way. My obsession is a part of a bigger cycle which I call a fan cycle. It happens this way: I discover something good -> I become curious -> I try to know more about it -> I like it more -> I'm obsessed for a period of time -> dormant period -> I discover another something good -> repeat cycle. That's what happens to me. 

Fan cycle can vary to different people. Some people may stay in obessive phase forever. Some people exeperience multiple cycles at once, which means that they are into multiple fandoms with almost same amount of love and attention (or obsession). Some people don't go further than the discovering phase.

One cycle of specific fan cycle can stop happening then occur again after a long time. It happens to me with Detective Conan, as I mention above. I also experienced my My-Chemical-Romance-fan-cycle again after years of not really thinking about them.

Why and how a long forgotten fan cycle can occur again in our head? That's a topic for another post.

Out of Place

They stood in the corner. She wrote in her small notebook, he drew sketches. Both seemed out of place in the masquerade ball.

"Oh, you draw the lady with purple dress over there? Her hair is wavy. You draw her wrong," she said to him.

He retort, "Would you please shut up and go back to your writing? What do you write anyway?" Then he took her notebook and read while mimicking her voice, "A newlywed man play single on the dance floor."

Even when his face was covered with a mask, she could tell he was surprised. "What?" She asked.

"What was that supposed to mean? Play single? How did you even know that he's newlywed?"

"I just know," she replied. "Hey, would you like to dance? After that you can approach that lady in purple dress."

"I can't dance and I don't want to approach that lady."

"Put your paper and pencil in your pocket. I'll teach you how to dance and talk to a lady," she said while grabbing his right wrist.

"I talk to you all the time."

"All right, correction then. I'll teach you how to dance and talk to a lady other than me."

P.S. I've never gone to a ball or masquerade so if this story sounds unlikely, please tell me. 

By the Lake

The skirt flowed along her legs as she danced among the flowers by the lake. Grace.

A wizard shouted, told her to leave. She twirled. Then flew. Away.

And the flowers wilted.

I Love You for Sentimental Reasons

Reading the word "sentimental," I remember the song "(I Love You) for Sentimental Reasons" by Ivory "Deek" Watson and William "Pat" Best. I found three versions in YouTube. There are two versions by Deek Watson and The Brown Dots and another version by Nat King Cole. Nat King Cole's version was the one I knew when I heard this song for the first time.

Oxford dictionary defines sentimental as "of the emotions, rather than reason." I then realise that, many times, I fall in love without understanding the reason. I may learn why I love that person later but sometimes I just don't know. Does it mean that I love a person for sentimental reasons? Maybe. Or maybe there are reasons that my subconscious mind understands.

Now I'm in love again, for sentimental reasons, with Ryan Ross. Oh, it's not actual love, just another obsession. After Brendon Urie, now Ryan Ross. I'm not sure when this fangirl phase will end. It is said that once you enter a fandom, you will find it difficult to go out.

On Fandom and Beauty

I read the 133rd episode of webtoon comic "Family over Flower". That's the link for Indonesian version. I don't know whether the English version is available. 

In that episode, the headmaster said, "Kecantikan itu seperti pedang bermata dua. Orang yang melihatnya akan merasakan kebahagiaan tiada batas, tapi bila terlalu terjebak di dalamnya, jantung pun tidak akan tahan." In English, I translate it as, "Beauty is like double-edged sword. People who see it will feel infinite happiness, but if they're trapped inside, their hearts can't handle it."

Wait, what?

That's how I feel when I have my fangirl moment over fiction or band. I feel overwhelmed. Sometimes it seems that my heart can't handle so much feeling.

I guess fandom can also mean beauty.

His Name is Brendon Urie, Dad (This Post is not a Fanfiction)

I put the disclaimer in the title. Why would I mention fanfiction? Because it sounds like fanfiction title to me. 

Today I watched Brendon Urie on YouTube then my father came behind me and asked, "Who is that?" I was shocked because I was actually supposed to write my draft for scientific journal or to study for comprehensive exam, yet I watched Brendon Urie talk. I answered nervously, "His name is Brendon Urie, Dad." I thought my father would tell me that I should stop watching videos but instead he said, "He looks like your aunt's friend, but with glasses (in the video, Brendon Urie wore glasses). I just wondered why my daughter looked at her aunt's friend in the internet. Really, they look so similar." My response was like, "Huh?" And my father continued his story, "That friend of your aunt wanted to marry her but your aunt rejected him." I just said, "Whoa, really?"

So, today I found out that my aunt almost married a pseudo Brendon Urie. I also learned that I should be more careful when searching, reading, or watching random things in the internet or my parents would find out (naughty kid mode: on). Well, Brendon Urie video is not so random compared to other things I sometimes find in the internet, both intentionally or accidentally.

Now it's time to do what I'm supposed to do: studying, in Saturday night, with no snack to accompany me. How sad, but Brendon Urie says, "Smile even though you're sad."

Am I a Death Eater?

Gerard Way has just stated that he's sorted into Slytherin and his wand wood is made of yew. Then I remember something. Voldemort was a Slytherin and his wand was yew. The difference is, Gerard Way has dragon heartstring as wand core and Voldemort has phoenix feather.

Is Gerard Way secretly a Dark Lord? No, he's a Sleep Lord.

If he were Voldemort, would that make me, his fan, a Death Eater? No, I'd rather be a Pancake Eater.

Fandom Stuff Screenshots

Which quirky habit annoys you the most, and what quirky habit do you love - in yourself, or others.

I have the habit of screenshooting fandom stuff in instagram. I don't know if this habit is quirky or not but it makes me both annoyed and happy. 

It annoys me when I realise that I have screenshot too often and I need to delete some. Deleting fandom stuffs from my phone is more difficult that it sounds. Often, there are things that I can't let go but it's actually unimportant.

This habit makes me happy when I am sad or bored. Looking at the screenshots of fandom stuff can brighten my mood.