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bestillmyslashyheart · 4 years

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It’s @michaels-blackhat‘s birthday and she asked for Patrick in the Unexpected Tidings AU so that’s what she got. (If you haven’t read UT, just know that Michael grew up outside of Roswell but he and Alex still met and fell in love. This takes place after Michael comes to Roswell for the first time)

Maria, Liz, and Kyle were talking around him but frankly Alex didn’t care. The sun was warm without being too hot, the food was good, and Michael was beaming.

Alex couldn’t look away.

“Wow,” Liz said, long and slow. Something in her voice managed to snag his attention and Alex dragged his eyes away from Michael long enough to glance over at her. She was looking at him, a pleased smirk on her face. Kyle and Maria weren’t sitting next to her.

“What?” He looked back over at Michael.

“This is what love looks like, huh?” There was a teasing edge to her voice.

Alex glanced over at her, longer this time. “What do you mean?”

Her laugh filled the air. “You can’t look away from your boyfriend! He’s been here for four days and he’s not leaving for another three but you look at him like you can’t believe he’s real or like he’s going to disappear if you take your eyes off of him for a second.” She pauses. “It’s cute.”

Alex glared. “I am not cute.” He didn’t bother arguing her other points. He was looking at Michael like he couldn’t believe he was real mostly because Alex still couldn’t believe this was really happening. Michael was here, in Roswell, with his brother and sister.

There had been a moment, not too long ago, when Alex had been afraid he’d lost this. The way he’d left DC, the way he’d handled this posting, had been...not great. But they’d gotten through it. And Michael was here. Alex looked back over at his boyfriend and his lips turned upwards in a helpless smile. The sun was catching his curls and making them glow. It had nothing on his smile though.

Michael was standing a little ways away from the house, Max and Isobel crowded around him, as he demonstrated his powers. Well, they’d done the show and tell the first day Michael was here. Now he was mostly just showing off under the guise of ‘training’.

Liz made a sound. Alex turned to her with a raised eyebrow. “You’re not staying, are you? In Roswell, I mean.”

Alex furrowed his brow. “As soon as my enlistment is done, I’m going home.” He’d never said anything else. “You know that.”

“I know,” she agreed. “I guess I was holding off a little bit of hope that maybe you’d decide to stick around after.” She smiled. “But Roswell isn’t home anymore, is it?” Alex shook his head. “Unless Michael wanted to move here?”

“Michael’s moving?” Maria asked as she and Kyle rejoined them. She had two margaritas in her hand and deftly passed one over to Liz. Kyle handed Alex a bottle of water. Maria looked over at Alex then out at Michael. “You’re staying in Roswell?”

Alex laughed and shook his head. “No. Michael’s job is in DC and he loves it way too much to ever leave.” Laughter rung out loud and clear and Alex was captivated once again. “I have a feeling we’ll be back to visit a lot though.”

“Good,” Maria huffed. “No disappearing on us again.”

“Yeah, I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Kyle laughed. He nodded out at the trio. “You’re going to need a forklift to separate those three.”

Alex wanted to object but he couldn’t. Since they’d arrived, Michael had been spending a lot of time with Max and Isobel. Alex didn’t, couldn’t, begrudge him their time together but if Michael hadn’t been sleeping at his house, he wasn’t sure they’d have had any time alone together.

He was pretty sure that was the only reason Michael was staying with him and not crashing in Max’s spare room.

A crisp ringing split the air and Alex quickly dug out his phone. When he saw who it was he answered it without hesitation.

“Hey,” he greeted warmly. “What’s up?”

“Hey yourself,” he heard in response. “How’s life in the land of aliens?”

Alex looked out at his said aliens as Isobel visibly huffed and shoved Michael’s shoulder. Max stood next to them, laughing. “It’s good,” he replied. “It’s really good.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it.”

Alex frowned absently. “You haven’t heard it?”

There was a noncommittal grunt. “Been a couple of days since I talked to Michael. I know things were a little rocky after your relocation and I was trying to give you guys space in case you needed to work anything out.”

Alex tilted his head back to look at the passing clouds. “We’re good,” he promised. “Michael’s fitting in like he belongs. I hate that he’s leaving in three days but I’ll be home in six more months. We’ve made it through worse.”

“Yes you have,” came the instant agreement. “But don’t let it go six months without seeing him again, yeah? I can’t handle the stress.”

Alex laughed. “Oh you can’t handle it?”

“Who the hell do you think gets the middle of the night phone call when he’s paranoid and freaking out?” Alex might be worried if he couldn’t hear the teasing lilt. “He was really upset that you didn’t want him in Roswell.” That came out much more serious.

“I know. But I had a reason.”

“A good reason?”

“...a reason.”

“Manes,” came a heavy sigh.

“I know. It’s fine now, though. We’re good.”

“Uhuh.”

Alex sighed and looked over. “Michael!” All three aliens turned at his shout. “Your boyfriend’s worried I don’t treasure you enough!” A booming laugh came out of the phone, loud enough that Kyle looked at the phone in surprise.

Michael grinned and bounded over. He pressed a quick kiss to Alex’s lips before plucking his phone from his fingertips and pressing it to his own ear. “Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, you know exactly how well Alex treasures me.” He stepped inside as he continued to talk.

Alex’s eyes followed him through the glass doors. “Michael’s boyfriend?” Isobel asked, dropping gracefully into a free chair.

Alex hummed. “Best friend,” he corrected, turning back to the group. “But sometimes I think it’s only because Patrick is tragically heterosexual.”

“That doesn’t bother you?” Kyle asked.

“Not even a little bit,” Alex replied honestly. “He’s a damn good friend.” And he was. Despite Patrick being in the Air Force, Alex had actually met the man through Michael. Patrick had been another member of the bachelor party Michael had been in Vegas with when Alex crossed paths with them there. He was fairly certain neither of them spoke to the groom anymore but they’d formed a fast friendship that weekend that had lasted ever since. Alex was almost as big a fan of the guy as Michael was. In fact, though they’d never been posted to the same base, they’d been deployed at the same time during Alex’s last deployment and Patrick’s company had been one of the only things keeping him sane. Plus, he’d been the one to save Alex’s life by sacrificing his leg. And he’d called Michael to tell him when the Air Force refused to.

Patrick was good people. He’d fight anyone who implied otherwise.

“Good,” Max said firmly. “Michael deserves it.” Alex smiled over at (his future brother-in-law? Friend? Friend’s boyfriend?) him.

“He does,” he agreed.”

---

“You know I don’t want to hear about your sex life, Guerin,” Patrick whined in his ear as Michael escaped into the house.

“You asked!” Michael laughed.

“I distinctly did not!” Patrick grumbled. Michael flopped onto the couch gracelessly. Outside, Alex was looking in at him and Michael met his gaze, smiling warmly. “How’s New Mexico?” Patrick asked.

“It’s great,” Michael replied honestly. “Alex has been worked up over this thing with his dad lately but it’s all over now so he’s finally letting himself relax a bit and he’s good.” He smiled. “We’re good.”

“Good,” Patrick replied. “Now how’s New Mexico?”

Michael laughed. “Hot. It’s November, it shouldn’t be hot.”

“Man, I’m in Florida,” Patrick reminded him. “It’s hot and humid.”

“Yeah that sounds terrible,” Michael told him without sympathy. “Shouldn’t have requested Patrick just for the irony.”

Patrick sighed. “It was a good opportunity,” he insisted.

“You couldn’t resist,” Michael corrected.

“I couldn’t resist,” Patrick agreed. “And now I’m suffering for it.”

Michael hummed. “Hey, guess what?”

“What?”

“Alex found my brother and sister.”

There was a pause on the other end followed by a shuffling of fabric like Patrick had just sat straight up. “What?”

“Yup,” Michael smiled, looking out at Max and Isobel. “We got separated at a group home when we were kids but Alex found them.” He laughed. “Turns out he grew up with them actually. They’ve been here in Roswell the whole time.”

“Holy shit, Michael,” Patrick breathed. “That’s amazing.” He paused. “That’s amazing, right?”

“Yes,” Michael said emphatically. “It’s absolutely amazing. They’re amazing. Turns out they’ve been looking for me, too. As soon as I saw them, it just clicked.”

“I’m so happy for you, man,” Patrick told him. “Does Alex get along with them?”

“Yeah. I mean, they were never friends exactly but they seem to have always gotten along. And now my brother’s dating one of his best friends.” He paused. “He’s my brother.” He sounded like an idiot, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. For the first time in 20 years, he could talk about them. They were standing right outside, not trapped in his childhood memories.

Patrick laughed. “Guess you have to get used to the desert, huh?”

Michael groaned. “I’d rather they come up to DC but I don’t think that’s going to happen too often,” he agreed.

“You going to be okay to leave them?”

“Yeah,” Michael replied. Honestly, it would be a rough adjustment, he knew. Now that his connection to them was bright and shiny and intact, stretching it across the country would be a challenge but he didn’t have a choice. As much as their life was here, his was there. Well, it would be as soon as Alex came home. “I can’t wait for Alex to come home,” he confessed suddenly. “I miss him.”

“Isn’t he right there?” Patrick asked.

Michael looked out the window. Someone had clearly just told a joke as everyone was laughing. Alex’s head was thrown back and the sun was making his skin glow. “Yeah, he is.”

“Stop ogling your boyfriend.”

“I can’t help it!” Michael defended himself. “He’s so beautiful.”

“Yes, yes, he’s very pretty and love makes him even prettier,” Patrick grumbled goodnaturedly. They’d had this discussion before. “How do you miss him when he’s right there?”

“I’ve been spending a lot of time with Max and Isobel,” Michael admitted. “My brother and sister,” he clarified.

“Thank you, I managed to make that connection all on my own,” Patrick teased. Michael had the strange urge to stick his tongue out at the phone but he restrained himself. “So, what, you flew all the way there and now you’re ignoring him?”

“No!” Michael denied. “I’ve just been, I don’t know, busy with them. Getting to know them, you know? I haven’t been completely ignoring Alex.”

“Right,” Patrick agreed easily. “But you’ve been spending so much time apart that you miss him even though he’s right there.”

“Yeah.”

“Michael,”

“Don’t take that tone with me.”

“Don’t act like an idiot and I won’t have to!”

“I’m not!”

“Michael,” Patrick sighed. “I’ve known you for a long time. I’ve had a front row seat to the Alex and Mikey show for almost as long as you two have been together.”

“Your point?”

“My point is that the last six months have been rough,” Patrick didn’t sugarcoat it. “This might be the closest I’ve ever seen you two to calling it quits.”

“Hey, woah, we were not going to call it quits!”

“I didn’t say you were,” Patrick soothed. “I just said it’s the closest I’ve ever seen you guys get to that point. Maybe spend a little time with your boyfriend? Your brother and sister aren’t going anywhere, you know. You don’t have to spend every second with them.”

“It’s not every second,” Michael denied. But he could admit, it was a lot of seconds. Most of his waking moments, really. As soon as he walked through the door four days ago, Max and Isobel had hugged him then called out of work for the week he’d be here. Alex had taken off as well but he’d given the three of them their space to connect and get to know each other. “Okay you might have a point.”

“Of course I do.”

“Don’t be smug,” Michael rolled his eyes.

“It’s not smug if it’s deserved.”

“I think there’s a flaw in your logic.”

“Oh? Where?” He could hear Patrick’s smirk.

“I don’t want you to be smug.”

Patrick hummed. “I don’t think that’s a flaw in my logic.” Alex opened the back door and stepped inside. Michael looked at him and smiled. He looked good. Besides the sun kissed glow he wore carelessly, there was an ease to him that Michael hadn’t seen in a while. Alex hadn’t been this relaxed since they took that road trip down the Pacific Coast before his last deployment. “Alex is there, isn’t he?”

Michael startled. “How’d you know that?”

“Because you stopped answering,” Patrick laughed. “You get distracted when he’s around.”

Michael sighed dreamily. “He’s just so pretty.”

Alex rolled his eyes. Michael grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the couch with him. “Ok fine,” Patrick said in his ear. “I can tell when I’m intruding.”

“Can you really, though?” Michael asked. “Because I remember-”

“Goodbye.” Patrick hung up.

“He hung up on me,” Michael stared at the phone. Alex laughed and took it from him.

“You’ll get over it.”

Michael leaned over and kissed him. Alex was clearly surprised but immediately returned it, the phone slipping from his fingers as he dug his hands into Michael’s hair. Michael curled his fingers around Alex’s hips and leaned back onto the couch, pulling Alex with him. They exchanged long, slow, lazy kisses until the back door opened and let the outside world in.

“Really? On my couch?” Max huffed as he walked past them into the kitchen. A few days ago Michael might have been worried, might have taken Max honestly at his gruff tone, but now Michael knew enough to see the upturn of his lips, the amusement behind the gruffness.

“Really,” he replied, not letting Alex get up. He kissed him again. “Hi,” he said quietly.

“Hi,” Alex replied. He smiled. “What the hell did you and Patrick talk about?”

“I think I’ve been ignoring you,” Michael said instead of answering.

“That’s okay,” Alex assured him. It wasn’t a denial. “You just met Max and Isobel, I get it.” He ran a hand down Michael’s arm and squeezed his hand. “I don’t need to monopolize all of your time.”

Michael sat up. His movement pushed Alex away slightly and Michael pulled him back in. “No. Not okay. They’re great,”

“Hell yeah we are,” Max passed them again on his way back outside. Michael and Alex laughed.

“But they’re not you,” Michael continued when the door shut behind Max. “I came out here because I missed you and I feel like I’m still missing you. We need a day to ourselves.”

“We’ve got time, Michael. You only have a few days here, I don’t want to cut in on your time with them.”

“Fuck ‘em,” Michael grinned. “I met them four days ago. It’s been a great four days, and yeah I want to spend more time with them before I leave, but I came here for you. I want to spend time with you and I want you to show me where you grew up and I want to get to know Liz and Maria.” He leaned forward until his forehead pressed against Alex’s. “You got any plans for tomorrow?”

Alex closed his eyes and pretended to think about it. “I’m sure I could pencil you in.”

“Oh could you? Could you pencil me in?” Michael laughed.

Alex hummed. “Somewhere between watching Netflix and taking a long shower.”

“Room for two in that shower?”

“I think we could make it work.”

Michael kissed him. “But after that shower?” Alex raised an eyebrow in question. “Max has this hat…”

Alex pulled back to look at him in surprise. “You want a hat like Max?”

Michael’s eyes flicked over to where Max’s hung on a hook by the door. “Maybe not exactly like Max’s but I think I’d look good in a cowboy hat.” Alex didn’t say anything. “No?”

Alex brushed a curl out of his face. “Black, I think,” he mused. “You could make it work.”

“Hell yeah I could.”

#malex fic #my fic #rnm #patrick scott #HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTI

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subbyboymax · 4 years

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I want to ask you all of them 🙈🙈

So why won’t you ask all of them? Huh anon?

Jk I love you whoever you are. As requested:

1. Zodiac sign

Taurus. I don’t really pay much attention to zodiac stuff but I’ve heard from friends that I fit the stereotypes somewhat.

2. Sexual orientation

This is hard because I’m kinda questioning atm, but I would say I like women and identify as NB using male pronouns which I personally feel is accurate to me, but I still am unsure myself what that actually means. I am still figuring myself out.

3. Relationship status

Single and honestly looking. I’ve had one girlfriend in high school and I’ve had romantic interests since but I have such low self confidence that I end up being too nervous to really pursue a relationship.

4. Someone you miss

My friend Rebekah. I miss her a lot. She’s like a sister to me.

5. Person who’s arms you’d like to be in

Hmmmmmmmmm... anyone really...

6. What you find attractive in Men/Women?

Typically I find personality attractive and looks don’t really matter, but usually someone’s smile and eyes draw my attention the most.

7. How tall are you?

5’7 or ~170cm but I wish I was more smol.

8. What you love about yourself?

Already answered

9. What you’re doing tomorrow?

I’m probably going to exercise and play games with my gaming clan.

10. What are your future plans?

My goal is to become an electrician, but I also want to go to various Asian countries and try to improve my Asian cooking by studying the food culture all over east asia.

11. Your last night out in detail?

Oh god I don’t even remember the last time I was out at night... I guess it was last year when I had my heart broken and I went to a really nice bar and spent $200 on alcohol and was GONE. Never again. Ended up being hung over for the first time in my life.

12. Your favorite book?

Hmm... favorite book(s) would have to be the Ranger’s Apprentice series of books. Good story, good characters.

13. All of pets you’ve ever had?

I’ve had so many pets I could make a whole post about them and may do that later.

14. Something that changed your life?

Unfortunately too many things have happened to change my life more than I would like. I still can’t really answer this question fully.

15. Do you remember your last dream?

I was basically playing a game that turned out to be an isekai and I basically had a SMG and had to fight off a dragon. Shit was weird but very vivid. It’s weird because I don’t particularly like guns or dangerous stuff in general.

16. What your last text message says?

“Keep me posted! We should meet up and have a toast to it!” was sent to my friend Renè, who has been my best friend since birth pretty much. Our parents were close while they were pregnant with us and we are practically brothers. He’s getting a house near where I live and we will live in the same state for the first time since we were 8 years old. Obviously we will social distance but we still had to celebrate and see each other to mark the occasion.

17. Do you respect your government and the way your country is run?

Absolutely not. Please vote biden if you live in the US. Even if you hate the idea of voting for biden, he’s better than trump. If hillary had won, she would have been putting her third justice on the supreme court. Biden is the only chance for our freedom and for the freedom of many people. I am terrified of 4 more years of trump.

18. Where you would like to live?

South Florida, where I was born.

19. Your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Depends on my mood, but typically strawberry.

20. Last thing you ate?

Pizza that was left over from last night.

21. Which swear word do you use the most?

Fuck. Like I use it so much it’s stupid.

22. Your plans for summer?

Heh... plans...

23. Any upcoming concerts?

Bruh if only. Like I work as an usher and as a stagehand, so if any concerts were happening at all I would JUMP for joy. And I am CHONK so jumping is not exactly the most comfortable thing to do.

24. Something that you’re proud of?

That I am finally committing to getting therapy for my long list of traumas.

25. Do you still talk to your first crush?

I wish I could, but she’s not part of my life anymore, sadly. She was a good friend.

26. What language do you want to learn?

Japanese, because I really have a strong interest in their history and culture and want to go sightseeing there someday.

27. Where have you lived before?

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri.

28. Eye color?

I think it’s green or something but it changes depending on the light because it’s sometimes more silvery idk.

29. Favorite style of clothing?

Traditional Japanese formal wear. It’s always been an interest of mine.

30. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

All of one minute to throw on an outfit and get socks on. I wish I had an eye for fashion but hopefully if I ever have a partner, they will help me with my style choices a bit lol.

31. Where did you go today?

Nowhere, because pandemic lmao.

32. Where are you right now?

In my room wishing I could have cuddles.

33. How many countries have you visited?

None because money is not exactly a thing we have an abundance of.

34. Something old?

What does this mean? I guess I have my great grandfather’s old stamp collection.

35. Something new?

Hell if I know, I’ve had nothing new in months.

36. Something inherited?

My laptop.

37. Is death more scary than life?

Hell no. Death is easy. Life is scary and overwhelming but it’s worth living the life you have. You only lose out on life by dying before your time. You gain nothing in death, despite it being less scary and uncertain than living is. Keep living to experience everything you can and have no regrets once you do pass on.

38. Experience you’ll never forget?

The time my high school crush complimented my hair in physics class. I get very few compliments and I never feel that attractive so I hardly focus on my appearance but I had brushed my hair that day and the fact she commented on it made me smile very wide.

39. What’s your favorite part about today so far?

Honestly today has sucked and I have been dealing with depression but I am trying to stay positive. Hopefully the answer to this question changes later today!

40. Who is your hero?

My Great-Grandmother. She was part of my life until I was 17 and she taught me that kindness and compassion is the most important trait for a human to have. She was the most amazing woman I have ever met in my life.

41. Are you happy with where you live?

I love this house, but it’s definitely not perfect and I would love to have my own place someday.

42. Do you like your handwriting?

Ew no it looks like alien language. It’s so bad. I can barely read my own writing.

43. What do you wear to bed?

Typically just underwear, or in the winter I will wear a T-shirt and fleecy pants.

44. Tea or coffee?

Tea

45. Chocolate or Vanilla?

Chocolate hands down. It’s such a varied flavor imo.

46. Are you excited for anything?

Being okay someday.

47. How late did you stay up last night and why?

Midnight because sleep is hard.

48. What’s your ringtone?

I’m boring and keep my phone on vibrate so no ringtone.

49. Did you have a dream last night?

Yes, I said it earlier.

50. What keeps you going each day?

Honestly no fucking idea lmao.

51. Picture of yourself?

You’ll have to DM me for that one, friendo. Anons get no face pics!

Also for the other people who sent in asks, I saw them, but I figured I could just use this ask to consolidate and not spam posts. Thank all of you for sending in asks, you are the best <3

#Asks #Thank you anon

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beardbot · 5 years

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As pride month comes to an end, I wanted to post a thing. Please forgive the large amount of text in the thing! Also I tried to throw in a picture!!

So, I usually don't talk about sexuality or relationships. This is partially because I'm just reserved (and fine, a bit prudish too), partially because I've only recently figured out myself, and partially because I feel like I don't need these spaces as much as other people, and it's selfish to claim them.

On that last point, my own identities are more quietly invisible, and less under direct attack, than others. Asexuality is dismissed and erased, but people believing it isn't a real thing is not as damaging as actual physical harm or denial of human rights. It's "weird" but it's not seen as violating anyone's religion or "family values" or lifestyle, or whatever else is used to justify violence and bigotry against others. (Unless you count men who are offended you don't want to be Graced with the Royal Penis after getting an unsolicited dick pic.) Bi- and pansexuality are more dramatically erased, and with additional risks, but at least I'm placed under the umbrella of "has a serious boyfriend." Either way, I've either been pushed out of communities or simply felt like I didn't need them. The latter 90% of the time.

Regardless, here I am going on about it anyway! Placing my flag on pride month. My identity, what I joke about being my "alphabet soup version," is panromantic demisexual. If that sounds confusing to you, don't worry, I get it. I grew up in Florida 😂 seriously though, I didn't settle on this until graduate school. Once I even did figure it out, I didn't label it until later. Most of the time, my identity is bisexual when I don't want to argue about asexuality, and asexual when I don't want to argue about bisexuality. But I want to just be more open about it.

Panromantic demisexual. Panromantic meaning romantically attracted to anyone across sex and gender (not just men, or women, or exclusively men and women). Basically "bisexual" but with romantic attraction, and without a strict binary of men and women. Demisexual meaning only sexually attracted after being emotionally involved first, for me usually romantically attracted. Basically "not into one-night stands" you could say. I guess first you need to accept that romantic and sexual attraction are two separate things, which I was not even conscious of for the longest time. Shout out to terrible sex education! 👌

I grew up confused when lumping these two things together - having crushes and wanting to date people, but simultaneously being repulsed by the idea of sexual intimacy with them (or anyone), at least for a long time. Thinking I was broken, or indecisive, or unstable. But alas! Two separate things.

The easiest example is being sexually attracted to someone, but not romantically (you don't want to date them, have emotional intimacy, etc.) "Hit it and quit it" 😂 so then, why is it so difficult the other way around? It sounds so bizarre to other people, the idea that you can be romantically attracted to someone, but not sexually. That you maybe want to hold hands and cuddle and go on cute dates with someone, but that's not a ticket to ride on (no pun intended) the Train to Bang Town. But maybe you can think of examples yourself. Maybe you had a *very* close friend, whom you spent all of your time with, whom you shared all of your secrets with, who was the first person you thought of when anything important happened to you, but NO HOMO I'M NOT GAY LIKE THAT we're just close friends. Maybe you have crushes on men and women but you only want to sleep with women. All normal! TWO SEPARATE THINGS! They can be aligned but still two separate things.

I first identified as asexual. Nope, I'm just not into anyone in that way. Even celebrity crushes, I wanted to do things like walk through parks, hang out and eat ice cream, read them poems (emo kids unite?), a number things, but none of them sexual in nature. Later on, I would date boys, but either dump them or be dumped pretty early on ("prudes" unite). Something was "off," different. I felt different. Different from what I saw in TV and movies, heard in music, in conversations of other people my age. Still, I vividly remember the day I realized what people ACTUALLY mean when they say someone is "hot." (I was too old and too naive to not know, but my brain just didn't think that way.) Not just aesthetically pleasing. The older I got, the more I felt like an alien. Probably sounded like one. "Ah, yes, his face is indeed aesthetically pleasing." ... "Take me to your leader!"

You could call me a "late bloomer," but it's not even just that. Late introspector? Late learner? Yes, I eventually did go "farther" with partners, and have lovely relationships with people who are patient and put up with me. But I still wouldn't call myself "bloomed." I'm still different from most other people. And I'm proud to not be labeling myself with things that don't reflect me.

Going back to my own development. So, I settled on "ace" and anonymously joined forums and such. It felt right... but only for a time. Eventually I felt a little different from that too. I talked with people who were aromantic, and people who were sex-repulsed. Wait a minute, is that me too? No, I dont quite feel that way. Well, what the f-

Flash forward, I finally settled on "demisexual." Okay, I'm kinda asexual, but also kinda in my sexy feelings for someone after bonding and feeling emotionally safe with them. I want to be more than friends. Maybe try out some other things, but only with you. Today I feel like demisexual is the best fit. Maybe "gray" too but I think emotional closeness is the key for me.

But wait, do I like girls too? Or do I even care what sex or gender they are? Yes, I've had intense crushes on many girls. If you want to stick with socialized norms, I liked feminine girls, and masculine girls. Eventually I liked one woman, who later identified as a man, after having his own journey through gender and sexuality (which I think is especially hard in bible-belt Jacksonville). I still thought he was cute and smart and funny.

No, I don't really care about sex or gender - I just care that you like dogs and 90s music and video games like me. Neat!

I dont really know how to end this. I'll just say, I do consider myself a member of the LGBTQIA community, in which my B stands for bisexual (but actually panromantic) and my A stands for asexual (but actually the asexuality spectrum). I'm overjoyed to see more openness and acceptance in my lifetime, and I hope that continues for kids growing up now, who may be "confused" or "indecisive" - and maybe they will not have to wait until after college to figure it out. Nuance is important in something this complex and... well, nuanced.

Thank you to anyone who read this until the bitter end!

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geneticcatalyst · 7 years

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combination answer post! thanks my dudes

slorestgreen: 1. Are you happy with where you are in life right now? happy, yes, i can't believe how lucky i am. content? not quite, i still have goals and improvements to make beyond this, and hopefully always will. 2. What was most formative in your sense of humor? oh man, i love this question. hailstorrn already said monty python, but like, we were basically raised on Flying Circus. i actually don't remember seeing the movies until i was quite a bit older. i should really ask my parents where their senses of humor come from, because i've noticed that families tend to tell the same types of jokes. but yeah, british comedy- if i stayed up late as a kid my mom would watch Red Dwarf and Keeping Up Appearances too. shoutout to PBS. 3. 12pm or 12am? ehhh, both ok i guess, i'm not usually awake at midnight. 4. Do you believe aliens exist? i'm ambivalent about aliens- if they're out there, cool, if not, whatever. i have more definite opinions on ghosts. 5. What’s your favorite board game? jesus i don't even know what the last board game i played was. like, i literally don't know. trouble? i think it was kind of a knockoff of sorry. you popped the popper to roll the die and you could stick the little game pieces on your fingertips like claws. 6. Do you speak any other languages besides English? no :( i have some conversational french vocab but it's been six years and i never could conjugate very well. 7. What was the first piece of art that really stuck with you? this is a really good question but all i have is a really weird answer? i'm reading this as visual art for simplicity's sake. i used to hang out on deviantart before tumblr, and i followed a painter, and they did this piece that just captured me and i don't know why. so like, to this day that's the thing that comes to mind. https://hybridprocess.deviantart.com/art/Allison-54408850 8. What is one of your passions? i have two great loves in life; women and plants. so, intersectional feminism and plant science. those are my things. 9. Who is your favorite fictional character? sigh. i don't know fam. that's way too broad a category. 10. What’s a skill you know like the back of your hand? uhh. idk. i've been running pcr (polymerase chain reactions) since i was 18 at my first lab job, it's very simple when you know the steps.

hailstorrn 1. how would your friends describe you? i've been told i'm the badass who is actually a sweetheart. that's a lot nicer than anything i could say about myself, so. :) 2. what’s one experience that changed you (positively or negatively)? i guess over time it's been being part of certain groups that changed the way i saw myself. my high school cross country team, summer camp, etc. 3. favorite fast food chain? oh shit... hmm. i'm really boring... love pancheros, also pretty amenable to mcdonalds snack wrap and yogurt, subway. if i actually want a burger the only one i like is culvers (those cheese curds tho). 4. first fictional crush? ok i don't have a good answer for this, but if i think back as far as i can, robin hood? first the disney movie, then i got really into books about the character. robin hood was always my pretend boyfriend when we played princesses. 5. one thing about you that your followers might not know? uhh if you know me irl you know i was a sorority girl, which is something you might not guess if you didn't know. 6. favorite season? right now. lateish summer, with fall as a close second. 7. favorite place you’ve traveled? hmm i haven't done nearly as much traveling as i want to. the beaches in florida were amazing. i always enjoyed st. louis even though i havent been in years. 8. your most recent ‘best day of your life’ story? this is both really easy and hard. every time i get to hang out with my girlfriend. but sakuracon has been really fucking amazing the past two years, the kind of amazing where it's just like this little window in your life of 72 hours where everything went right, and everything is amazing and nothing hurts. 9. one thing you would say to yourself from 5 years ago? this is a loaded question, five or six years ago i was a mess. i really do wish i could talk to myself from back then. the only thing i could say that would mean anything would be 'you are going to make it. it's eventually all going to be okay, just keep going.' mostly i wish i could give my younger self a hug, because damn that binch needed a hug :( 10. something you’re looking forward to? i'm actually kind of looking forward to the adventure of job hunting when my current contract ends? i love love love my current job so i'm hoping i can talk my way into a different department of the same company.

questions: 1. what is on your perfect pizza? 2. what's your weapon in the zombie apocalypse? 3. do you have physical copies of your favorite movie/album/books or is digital just as good? 4. what genre of music are you most likely to be listening to right now? 5. what do you drive now/what was your first car? do you like it? 6. name a nervous habit of yours. 7. what's a skill that you learned later in life than other people? 8. what do you like to do on vacation? 9. what percentage do you keep your screen brightness at? 10. what are your most valued posessions?

@hailstorrn @slorestgreen @ohlurr @thislittlekumquat @rinthegreat if you wanna, no pressure

#gcat facts #i love talking about myself lmao

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find-your-rp-partner · 7 years

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heroes, aliens and attorneys, oh my! canonxoc search!

hey there, all! i'm hoping to keep this on the shorter and simpler side. my last roleplay search was all over the place and nobody enjoys that. so here we go! | cravings |

i'm starting with this because i don't want someone to read my entire post just to find that they don't want to write what i'm looking for. plus, it saves time for everyone involved! so, i'm currently searching for a few different canonxoc roleplay genres here. as with most canonxoc searches, the canon i'm seeking to pair my oc with is listed with the fandom. i will play any canon that your heart desires (literally anyone, as i love them all in these fandoms) anime: my hero acadmia: toshinori yagi trigun: nicholas wolfwood one punch man: saitama games: mass effect: garrus ace attorney: phoenix fallout: charon (3), joshua graham (new vegas), nick valentine (4)

| i am spooky |

folks call me spooky and that is the name i usually prefer to use for now, until we become pals. i have an intense passion for writing and have been roleplaying ever since i discovered it on neopets fourteen years ago -- holy cow. roleplaying is my main hobby and i make time for it - i usually get a reply out once a day, sometimes more if we're both on the same schedule.

before i get more into the writing stuff, however, i'll tell you a bit about me. i'm a 22 year old gal living in the massive orange grove that is florida. i'm in the middle of post gradation job searching -- it's killing me, man -- and i spend the majority of my non job hunting time playing video games, reading things, cracking stupid puns and just generally wasting time. i'm generally pretty chatty and friendly (at least, i think?) so if you're down with fangirl/boy/whatevering with me alongside writing, that would be ideal.

| rp details|

like i've said before, i adore writing. so my post length is on the higher end of the scale. i hover between lit+ and novella style writing. i range between 500 words a post to 1500+ at times. i tend to write a lot and put a big bit of detail into my writing. so if you're okay with reading what i write, then we're square. i expect my partner to at least get 200 words in. i never expect you to mirror me, however, and i just expect you to help move the plot along and enjoy what we're writing together. as for writing mediums, i'm fine with email, googledocs, skype or discord. i tend to chat with skype/discord and create a different thread/chat for our writing. whatever you prefer is fine with me as i have no real preference between where we write. as we're writing fandom things here, i expect us to double. i write a canon to pair with your oc and my own oc and vise versa. i have no preference as to pairings, but i tend to write mainly mxf or mxm. i will write whatever canon you desire and whatever pairing that entails. as romance is going to be involved in our stories, i'm fine with writing mature themes with those who are of age. i absolutely refuse to write any sort of smut without plot, however, and if that is suggested, i will block you. i will not write poly relationships, pedophilia, noncon or any sort of out there kinks. if i'm writing something that bothers you, please tell me, and i will you. i'm craving for a roleplay where we actively work to move the plot forward and build the story. i want to talk characters, throw plot ideas around, and plan for the future of the roleplay. i want this to be collaborative and fun for both of us. i will try my best to keep twists and turns coming in our story to keep it interesting and i hope you do the same. and finally, i hope to have a partner that will converse with me outside the roleplay. some of my best friends have started out as my rp partners and it would be amazing to continue that trend. we're writing these grand adventures and stories together and it seems natural that we'd form some sort of acquaintanceship outside of our writing. | means of contact |

if you're interested in writing with me, please send me a message telling me a bit about yourself and what you're looking to write -- tell me who you want me to play for you! i will promptly reply to any of these mediums:

email: [email protected] skype: [email protected] discord: ruach#8076

if you've made you way through this and don't hate me by now, then we're good to go! i hope we can craft up some ideas soon!

#rp partner search #rp partner ad #rp ad #rp search #fandom #anime #videogame #email #skype #googledocs #submission

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tearsareshootingstars · 7 years

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January 2017

hello.

when coming up with my little list of resolutions for this year, i was thinking about blogging - or keeping some sort of written record - about my “progress” weekly, but i have decided to commit to monthly updates. it is less writing and easier to plot the points of how i am doing.

if you are just tuning in to the life of ben, i write mostly for myself - these posts on tumblr, twitter, instagram, facebook; i like these platforms (especially now that it is so easy to look back on past posts) because they act as sort of a scrapbook. i enjoy “likes” and the like (haha) just as much as everybody else, but i don t post for them. (if you ve ever read/seen something by me online then notice it s deleted later, that probably means i realized i posted that for someone else, not myself)

so, if you re still with me, thanks! if not, you re lying, because you wouldn t be reading this if you were not.

my attitude towards my list going into January was to start knocking off some easier things. i wanted to gain some momentum with this see a new movie every week thing, so i asked folks about movies they like, and i got almost 52 responses, so that was a good start! some notables so far: Top Gun, Aliens, Brooklyn, George Lucas's American Graffiti. getting excited about seeing movies in theatres helps with this too: i get to enjoy La La Land and Hidden Figures, and also include them on my list of new movies!

i hope to find a 10k to run here in central Florida in the fall. i am stoked to purchase some albums from artists i have never bought from before this spring and summer.

i am nervous about the write a song and post it on the internet one, because that goes against what i said earlier - this would be for others, not me. but, maybe this WOULD be for me. hmm...

i m also nervous about the tattoo. i don t know about that one. there has been something that i have been feeling very deeply about recently, but on the other hand, tattoos hurt, they cost money, they take some research (the good ones probably always should), they make strangers and your relatives look at you more, and they make your friends pretend like they know about tattoo culture, or whatever. i just don t want to become ‘person with tattoos’ anymore than i want to be ‘guy who likes minions more than most children’ or ‘quiet ben.’ this one may take a while, but we re just getting started with 2017. it s okay.

my tone in that last section is a segue into this next thought. i have noticed that i have become quite defensive lately. i feel a lot like i am being attacked. physical space has been an issue for a while, but even recently just a question can kind of set me into a bad 5 minutes. every look in my direction or call of my name frustrates me. the people i have talked to about this and myself have concluded that i am a bit bitter due to not being in a place (not necessarily geographically) that i do not like. school was hard but i was a musician, i was an artist, i was a student, i was gosh darn bohemian. i had the freedom to create and explore. i do not feel that now. i feel stifled. i long for more, for other, for different. hence one of my other list items, apply or audition for something. this one may have to move up on the queue here pretty soon. i don t reeaally miss playing in church bands (sorry to sound like a brat, but that music does not interest me much anymore), but i would like to get involved in a local church, so we ll see about that one, too. i ll have to remember how to pray and then pray about that. (for my friends in the faith, maybe you could intercede on my behalf?)

what else is there? uhm, i m not going to say much about President Trump. i just wish people would stop saying things like “Fuck Trump” and then post about how “love is better than fear” or whatever. maybe i am out of touch with what love is (this is highly likely), but i think it s possible to root for Donald Trump AND ALSO stand/speak up when he tries to do something silly. sorry if it seems i am making light of something you think is much bigger, but if you attend rallies and marches and post things online, but then i see you treating your neighbor (again, not literal neighbor - anyone you interact with, the biblical neighbor, if you will) with animosity or a conditional love, your presence at those rallies means little to me. did i say i would not go too much into this? sorry.

i am ready for february. i mean, i guess i am. do i have a choice? i ll need to acquire a new vehicle in the next 4-12 months probably, i don t even really know what taxes are, i miss music, i miss western new york and the people there. but i am still grateful. my life the last maybe 6 years has been funny in that when something is bringing me down, i usually bounce back up after hitting the floor, which for me is gratitude. are you seeing the picture i am trying to draw? gratitude is my foundation. if i am acting shitty to myself (or to you) it is because i am either on my way down to ‘rock bottom’ (gratitude!) or i just hit and i am on my way back up.

make sense? no? that s understandable. i mean i m definitely not going to take the time to reread/edit all this. thanks for reading. see you in february!

much love

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thesnhuup · 6 years

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Pop Picks – May 24, 2018

May 24, 2018

What I’m listening to:

I’ve always liked Alycia Keys and admired her social activism, but I am hooked on her last album Here. This feels like an album finally commensurate with her anger, activism, hope, and grit. More R&B and Hip Hop than is typical for her, I think this album moves into an echelon inhabited by a Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On or Beyonce’s Formation. Social activism and outrage rarely make great novels, but they often fuel great popular music. Here is a terrific example.

What I’m reading:

Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad may be close to a flawless novel. Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer, it chronicles the lives of two runaway slaves, Cora and Caeser, as they try to escape the hell of plantation life in Georgia. It is an often searing novel and Cora is one of the great heroes of American literature. I would make this mandatory reading in every high school in America, especially in light of the absurd revisionist narratives of “happy and well cared for” slaves. This is a genuinely great novel, one of the best I’ve read, the magical realism and conflating of time periods lifts it to another realm of social commentary, relevance, and a blazing indictment of America’s Original Sin, for which we remain unabsolved.

What I’m watching:

I thought I knew about The Pentagon Papers, but The Post, a real-life political thriller from Steven Spielberg taught me a lot, features some of our greatest actors, and is so timely given the assault on our democratic institutions and with a presidency out of control. It is a reminder that a free and fearless press is a powerful part of our democracy, always among the first targets of despots everywhere. The story revolves around the legendary Post owner and D.C. doyenne, Katharine Graham. I had the opportunity to see her son, Don Graham, right after he saw the film, and he raved about Meryl Streep’s portrayal of his mother. Liked it a lot more than I expected.

Archive

What I’m listening to:

I mentioned John Prine in a recent post and then on the heels of that mention, he has released a new album, The Tree of Forgiveness, his first new album in ten years. Prine is beloved by other singer songwriters and often praised by the inscrutable God that is Bob Dylan. Indeed, Prine was frequently said to be the “next Bob Dylan” in the early part of his career, though he instead carved out his own respectable career and voice, if never with the dizzying success of Dylan. The new album reflects a man in his 70s, a cancer survivor, who reflects on life and its end, but with the good humor and empathy that are hallmarks of Prine’s music. “When I Get To Heaven” is a rollicking, fun vision of what comes next and a pure delight. A charming, warm, and often terrific album.

What I’m reading:

I recently read Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, on many people’s Top Ten lists for last year and for good reason. It is sprawling, multi-generational, and based in the world of Japanese occupied Korea and then in the Korean immigrant’s world of Oaska, so our key characters become “tweeners,” accepted in neither world. It’s often unspeakably sad, and yet there is resiliency and love. There is also intimacy, despite the time and geographic span of the novel. It’s breathtakingly good and like all good novels, transporting.

What I’m watching:

I adore Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 film, Pan’s Labyrinth, and while I’m not sure his Shape of Water is better, it is a worthy follow up to the earlier masterpiece (and more of a commercial success). Lots of critics dislike the film, but I’m okay with a simple retelling of a Beauty and the Beast love story, as predictable as it might be. The acting is terrific, it is visually stunning, and there are layers of pain as well as social and political commentary (the setting is the US during the Cold War) and, no real spoiler here, the real monsters are humans, the military officer who sees over the captured aquatic creature. It is hauntingly beautiful and its depiction of hatred to those who are different or “other” is painfully resonant with the time in which we live. Put this on your “must see” list.

March 18, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Sitting on a plane for hours (and many more to go; geez, Australia is far away) is a great opportunity to listen to new music and to revisit old favorites. This time, it is Lucy Dacus and her album Historians, the new sophomore release from a 22-year old indie artist that writes with relatable, real-life lyrics. Just on a second listen and while she insists this isn’t a break up record (as we know, 50% of all great songs are break up songs), it is full of loss and pain. Worth the listen so far. For the way back machine, it’s John Prine and In Spite of Ourselves (that title track is one of the great love songs of all time), a collection of duets with some of his “favorite girl singers” as he once described them. I have a crush on Iris Dement (for a really righteously angry song try her Wasteland of the Free), but there is also EmmyLou Harris, the incomparable Dolores Keane, and Lucinda Williams. Very different albums, both wonderful.

What I’m reading:

Jane Mayer’s New Yorker piece on Christopher Steele presents little that is new, but she pulls it together in a terrific and coherent whole that is illuminating and troubling at the same time. Not only for what is happening, but for the complicity of the far right in trying to discredit that which should be setting off alarm bells everywhere. Bob Mueller may be the most important defender of the democracy at this time. A must read.

What I’m watching:

Homeland is killing it this season and is prescient, hauntingly so. Russian election interference, a Bannon-style hate radio demagogue, alienated and gun toting militia types, and a president out of control. It’s fabulous, even if it feels awfully close to the evening news.

March 8, 2018

What I’m listening to:

We have a family challenge to compile our Top 100 songs. It is painful. Only 100? No more than three songs by one artist? Wait, why is M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” on my list? Should it just be The Clash from whom she samples? Can I admit to guilty pleasure songs? Hey, it’s my list and I can put anything I want on it. So I’m listening to the list while I work and the song playing right now is Tom Petty’s “The Wild One, Forever,” a B-side single that was never a hit and that remains my favorite Petty song. Also, “Evangeline” by Los Lobos. It evokes a night many years ago, with friends at Pearl Street in Northampton, MA, when everyone danced well past 1AM in a hot, sweaty, packed club and the band was a revelation. Maybe the best music night of our lives and a reminder that one’s 100 Favorite Songs list is as much about what you were doing and where you were in your life when those songs were playing as it is about the music. It’s not a list. It’s a soundtrack for this journey.

What I’m reading:

Patricia Lockwood’s Priestdaddy was in the NY Times top ten books of 2017 list and it is easy to see why. Lockwood brings remarkable and often surprising imagery, metaphor, and language to her prose memoir and it actually threw me off at first. It then all became clear when someone told me she is a poet. The book is laugh aloud funny, which masks (or makes safer anyway) some pretty dark territory. Anyone who grew up Catholic, whether lapsed or not, will resonate with her story. She can’t resist a bawdy anecdote and her family provides some of the most memorable characters possible, especially her father, her sister, and her mother, who I came to adore. Best thing I’ve read in ages.

What I’m watching:

The Florida Project, a profoundly good movie on so many levels. Start with the central character, six-year old (at the time of the filming) Brooklynn Prince, who owns – I mean really owns – the screen. This is pure acting genius and at that age? Astounding. Almost as astounding is Bria Vinaite, who plays her mother. She was discovered on Instagram and had never acted before this role, which she did with just three weeks of acting lessons. She is utterly convincing and the tension between the child’s absolute wonder and joy in the world with her mother’s struggle to provide, to be a mother, is heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once. Willem Dafoe rightly received an Oscar nomination for his supporting role. This is a terrific movie.

February 12, 2018

What I’m listening to:

So, I have a lot of friends of age (I know you’re thinking 40s, but I just turned 60) who are frozen in whatever era of music they enjoyed in college or maybe even in their thirties. There are lots of times when I reach back into the catalog, since music is one of those really powerful and transporting senses that can take you through time (smell is the other one, though often underappreciated for that power). Hell, I just bought a turntable and now spending time in vintage vinyl shops. But I’m trying to take a lesson from Pat, who revels in new music and can as easily talk about North African rap music and the latest National album as Meet the Beatles, her first ever album. So, I’ve been listening to Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy winning Damn. While it may not be the first thing I’ll reach for on a winter night in Maine, by the fire, I was taken with it. It’s layered, political, and weirdly sensitive and misogynist at the same time, and it feels fresh and authentic and smart at the same time, with music that often pulled me from what I was doing. In short, everything music should do. I’m not a bit cooler for listening to Damn, but when I followed it with Steely Dan, I felt like I was listening to Lawrence Welk. A good sign, I think.

What I’m reading:

I am reading Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Leonardo da Vinci. I’m not usually a reader of biographies, but I’ve always been taken with Leonardo. Isaacson does not disappoint (does he ever?), and his subject is at once more human and accessible and more awe-inspiring in Isaacson’s capable hands. Gay, left-handed, vegetarian, incapable of finishing things, a wonderful conversationalist, kind, and perhaps the most relentlessly curious human being who has ever lived. Like his biographies of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein, Isaacson’s project here is to show that genius lives at the intersection of science and art, of rationality and creativity. Highly recommend it.

What I’m watching:

We watched the This Is Us post-Super Bowl episode, the one where Jack finally buys the farm. I really want to hate this show. It is melodramatic and manipulative, with characters that mostly never change or grow, and it hooks me every damn time we watch it. The episode last Sunday was a tear jerker, a double whammy intended to render into a blubbering, tissue-crumbling pathetic mess anyone who has lost a parent or who is a parent. Sterling K. Brown, Ron Cephas Jones, the surprising Mandy Moore, and Milo Ventimiglia are hard not to love and last season’s episode that had only Brown and Cephas going to Memphis was the show at its best (they are by far the two best actors). Last week was the show at its best worst. In other words, I want to hate it, but I love it. If you haven’t seen it, don’t binge watch it. You’ll need therapy and insulin.

January 15, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Drive-By Truckers. Chris Stapleton has me on an unusual (for me) country theme and I discovered these guys to my great delight. They’ve been around, with some 11 albums, but the newest one is fascinating. It’s a deep dive into Southern alienation and the white working-class world often associated with our current president. I admire the willingness to lay bare, in kick ass rock songs, the complexities and pain at work among people we too quickly place into overly simple categories. These guys are brave, bold, and thoughtful as hell, while producing songs I didn’t expect to like, but that I keep playing. And they are coming to NH.

What I’m reading:

A textual analog to Drive-By Truckers by Chris Stapleton in many ways is Tony Horowitz’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize winning Confederates in the Attic. Ostensibly about the Civil War and the South’s ongoing attachment to it, it is prescient and speaks eloquently to the times in which we live (where every southern state but Virginia voted for President Trump). Often hilarious, it too surfaces complexities and nuance that escape a more recent, and widely acclaimed, book like Hillbilly Elegy. As a Civil War fan, it was also astonishing in many instances, especially when it blows apart long-held “truths” about the war, such as the degree to which Sherman burned down the south (he did not). Like D-B Truckers, Horowitz loves the South and the people he encounters, even as he grapples with its myths of victimhood and exceptionalism (and racism, which may be no more than the racism in the north, but of a different kind). Everyone should read this book and I’m embarrassed I’m so late to it.

What I’m watching:

David Letterman has a new Netflix show called “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” and we watched the first episode, in which Letterman interviewed Barack Obama. It was extraordinary (if you don’t have Netflix, get it just to watch this show); not only because we were reminded of Obama’s smarts, grace, and humanity (and humor), but because we saw a side of Letterman we didn’t know existed. His personal reflections on Selma were raw and powerful, almost painful. He will do five more episodes with “extraordinary individuals” and if they are anything like the first, this might be the very best work of his career and one of the best things on television.

December 22, 2017

What I’m reading:

Just finished Sunjeev Sahota’s Year of the Runaways, a painful inside look at the plight of illegal Indian immigrant workers in Britain. It was shortlisted for 2015 Man Booker Prize and its transporting, often to a dark and painful universe, and it is impossible not to think about the American version of this story and the terrible way we treat the undocumented in our own country, especially now.

What I’m watching:

Season II of The Crown is even better than Season I. Elizabeth’s character is becoming more three-dimensional, the modern world is catching up with tradition-bound Britain, and Cold War politics offer more context and tension than we saw in Season I. Claire Foy, in her last season, is just terrific – one arched eye brow can send a message.

What I’m listening to:

A lot of Christmas music, but needing a break from the schmaltz, I’ve discovered Over the Rhine and their Christmas album, Snow Angels. God, these guys are good.

November 14, 2017

What I’m watching:

Guiltily, I watch the Patriots play every weekend, often building my schedule and plans around seeing the game. Why the guilt? I don’t know how morally defensible is football anymore, as we now know the severe damage it does to the players. We can’t pretend it’s all okay anymore. Is this our version of late decadent Rome, watching mostly young Black men take a terrible toll on each other for our mere entertainment?

What I’m reading:

Recently finished J.G. Ballard’s 2000 novel Super-Cannes, a powerful depiction of a corporate-tech ex-pat community taken over by a kind of psychopathology, in which all social norms and responsibilities are surrendered to residents of the new world community. Kept thinking about Silicon Valley when reading it. Pretty dark, dystopian view of the modern world and centered around a mass killing, troublingly prescient.

What I’m listening to:

Was never really a Lorde fan, only knowing her catchy (and smarter than you might first guess) pop hit “Royals” from her debut album. But her new album, Melodrama, is terrific and it doesn’t feel quite right to call this “pop.” There is something way more substantial going on with Lorde and I can see why many critics put this album at the top of their Best in 2017 list. Count me in as a huge fan.

November 3, 2017

What I’m reading: Just finished Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, her breathtakingly good second novel. How is someone so young so wise? Her writing is near perfection and I read the book in two days, setting my alarm for 4:30AM so I could finish it before work.

What I’m watching: We just binge watched season two of Stranger Things and it was worth it just to watch Millie Bobbie Brown, the transcendent young actor who plays Eleven. The series is a delightful mash up of every great eighties horror genre you can imagine and while pretty dark, an absolute joy to watch.

What I’m listening to: I’m not a lover of country music (to say the least), but I love Chris Stapleton. His “The Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning” is heartbreakingly good and reminds me of the old school country that played in my house as a kid. He has a new album and I can’t wait, but his From A Room: Volume 1 is on repeat for now.

September 26, 2017

What I’m reading:

Just finished George Saunder’s Lincoln in the Bardo. It took me a while to accept its cadence and sheer weirdness, but loved it in the end. A painful meditation on loss and grief, and a genuinely beautiful exploration of the intersection of life and death, the difficulty of letting go of what was, good and bad, and what never came to be.

What I’m watching:

HBO’s The Deuce. Times Square and the beginning of the porn industry in the 1970s, the setting made me wonder if this was really something I’d want to see. But David Simon is the writer and I’d read a menu if he wrote it. It does not disappoint so far and there is nothing prurient about it.

What I’m listening to:

The National’s new album Sleep Well Beast. I love this band. The opening piano notes of the first song, “Nobody Else Will Be There,” seize me & I’m reminded that no one else in music today matches their arrangement & musicianship. I’m adding “Born to Beg,” “Slow Show,” “I Need My Girl,” and “Runaway” to my list of favorite love songs.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J from President's Corner https://ift.tt/2kobuOm via IFTTT

#President's Corner #SNHUblogs

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thesnhuup · 6 years

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Pop Picks – April 27, 2018

April 27, 2018

What I’m listening to:

What I’m reading:

What I’m watching: