#alex gopher

[wubbywubwub]

My House in Montmartre promo sticker sheet

[haikumixtape]

[xavierjamaux]

First track under my bangbang moniker on #sourcelab

with some other French Guys ...

[mistofthevalley]

it's wip wednesday

got tagged by the lovely @cainrising to share. pretend it's still wednesday.

thought about sharing more of slipstream 2 but I don't want to admit publicly how still in shambles that draft document is, so have some surprise oblivous galex x scheming carlando I wrote back in may instead!

----

At the press conference, Alex and George banter for so long that the moderator has to remind them that there are other people in the room. 

Lando is fine with that. 

At the padel court, Alex reacts horribly late and lets the ball sail past him every time George jumps because his abs peak out from under his shirt.

Hm, Lando is slightly more annoyed with that. 

At a party, Alex brushes a hand over George's elbow while they talk, and George nearly chokes on his French '75; the fizzy alcohol runs over his knuckles, and Alex watches the droplets run all the way down his forearm. They don't make eye contact.

Okay, Lando is getting quite sick of that. 

───

"I don't even think divine intervention would cut it, mate," Lando says in exasperation, folding himself dramatically over the couch in Carlos' hotel room. The Spaniard sits on the edge of the bed and watches his calf hook over the back cushion in amusement. 

"It's like, it's like—," he cuts himself off with a particularly flamboyant gesture of his hands that Carlos doesn't see, "—it's like God made two halves of the same soul and destined them to take the piss out of each other instead of like, fall in love or whatever." 

Carlos snorts. "Cabrón, I think you are getting a little too worked up over this."

Lando pops his head up over the top of the couch to stare at him like a gopher, wincing a little bit as he's essentially folded himself in half. "Come on, Carlos, are you telling me that they're normal?" 

Carlos raises his hands in defence. "Ay, I never said that. I'm just wondering what is the point of you getting so upset over it."

"It's the principle!" Lando shoots back, flopping backward once more. He traces upside-down patterns into the hotel carpet with the tip of his finger. "They've been doing this for something stupid like twelve or thirteen years now. And I've had to suffer through all. of. it." 

"Then do something about it, then," Carlos suggests, like it's easy. Lando slips off the back of the couch and wiggles around the corner to glare at him. He pretends it doesn't make his back hurt. 

"If you have any ideas, mate, I'm all eyes for it."

"Ears," Carlos corrects, picks at his nail, then adds: "Why do we not take them on a date?"

Lando blinks. "Wha, huh? A date, Carlos?" He rises onto his elbows, stomach flat on the floor. Carlos' big doe eyes and even bigger lips look particularly stupid from this angle, crowding the bottom of his face. Lando watches as they stretch into a predatory smile. 

"Yes, you have been on them, no? It's where two people who like each other very much—"

"—Carlos!" Lando interrupts in exasperation. He scrambles onto his feet and crosses the room to flick Carlos on the shoulder. Carlos falls back onto the bed, cradling his arm like he's been shot. Lando giggles, despite himself. 

"Just think!" Carlos pleads, straining his neck to lock eyes with Lando, despite being flat on the bed. "I take Alex, you take George, we bring them to a nice restaurant with lots of candles and wine and oysters and then we leave them there to stew."

"Huh." Lando thinks for a moment. That, that isn't so bad, actually. Maybe. 

"But how do we make them kiss?" He asks, finally. Carlos sits up on his haunches, meets his eyes with a manic sort of smile.

"Wine and oysters, Landito, wine and oysters," he singsongs, hands drifting through the air, mimicking waves, or perhaps a trapped mime. 

Lando doesn't know what an oyster is. He doesn't have much time to dwell on that, though, because Carlos seems to realize in that moment how close his hands are to Lando's ribs, and— much to Lando's horror—shoots forward to tickle him like a bull that's seen red. 

He screams, and then doesn't think about George and Alex again for the rest of the night. 

----

super-mega-no-pressure-tags for @idwly9, @larryhaylik and @cosmicscuderia if there's something in your drafts you'd like to share with the class :)

[randomvarious]

French Trip Hop Playlist

Well, folks, I'm a little annoyed here, because my general rule with these playlist posts is that a playlist needs to have at least 10 songs, and this one did have 10 songs at one point, but the powers that be at Spotify decided to remove a couple of them, and I can't replace them, so here I am posting a playlist that has under 10 songs 😣.

But I've got an update for it that brings us back up to 9: Paris native Kid Loco's "Flyin' on 747," a sweet, dreamy, and silky cut that first appeared as the closing track on his own brilliant DJ-Kicks mix for German label !K7 in 1999. Most of that mix is super duper, out-of-its-mind stoned, but this tune in particular is just a very relaxing and head-nod-inducing, cinematic piece of late 90s string-keys-and-hand-drum chillout 😌. And it has a little turntablism on it too. Currently at over 2.55M plays.

Kid Loco - "Flyin' on 747"

And I added this same song to the YouTube version of this playlist too. Normally I have other songs to add to these YouTube versions that can't be found on Spotify, but none this week. However, the songs that were removed from the Spotify version are still on this YouTube one, so if you wanna hear a couple more dusted, molasses-slow gems from the great DJ Cam, or a sweet, trumpet-laced groove from a guy from Versailles named Bang Bang, who was in a high school band with the two guys who would go on to form Air as well as Alex Gopher, give it a listen!

And this playlist is also on YouTube Music.

So this little update brings us up to 9 songs that clock in at almost 50 minutes on Spotify, but over on YouTube, we now have 13 songs that clock in at a nice 69 minutes 😎.

And I have some more French trip hop playlists too, in case you want to get more specific:

1990s French Trip Hop: YouTube / YouTube Music Île-de-France Trip Hop: YouTube / YouTube Music 1990s Île-de-France Trip Hop: YouTube / YouTube Music Paris Trip Hop: YouTube / YouTube Music

Leaving electronic music for a while with these weekly playlist posts after this one. Next week we'll have 90s punk rock!

Enjoy!

More to come, eventually. Stay tuned!

Like what you hear? Follow me on Spotify and YouTube for more cool playlists and uploads!

[ladylooch]

Letters in Your Last Name- Chapter 2

Visit the series page here.

Word Count: 3.0k

Warnings: None!

Avoiding Kevin Fiala has proven to be a big problem considering his close involvement with my brother and their team. I swear, I’m doing my best, but the guy seems to be everywhere! Every hallway, every parking area, every family lounge. It’s like he’s casually hovering around, tempting and taunting me to dip my feet into the warm, delicious pool of his brown eyes.

We are attending the annual Strike It Wild event that benefits the Minnesota Wild Foundation as well as the local children’s hospital. I’m here with Alex, Felicia and the kids, helping wrangle both Sawyer and Serena while their parents tend to their community service work. I always love attending events like these and interacting with the Wild fans. It’s an event filled with good purpose, good trash talking, and now, good looking hockey players.

Kevin is at a lane two down from us with Ryan Hartman, Jason Zucker, and Ryan Donato, who is also new to the team via a trade. They boys are laughing with a couple fans in their red and black bowling shirts, handing out autographs and smiling for pictures as requested. My eyes linger on Kevin, smiling as he hands a little girl back her jersey after her mom snapped a few pictures. He laughs at something the little girl says and his eyes slide my direction. Our eyes hold, the electricity pulsing between us like it did a week ago in my brother’s kitchen. His smile gets larger and he waves a hand in my direction. I give my head a slight nod in acknowledgement back. That is friendly but not too friendly right?

“Auntie Sam! It’s your turn!” Sawyer yells at me, exasperated at my inattention to the game. I pull my gaze from Kevin’s and glance at the screen. I’m going to need a Hail Mary if I’m going to come back from all the gutters I rolled the first two frames.

“Shit.” I mutter under my breath as my latest attempt skipped its way right into the gutter. Bowling clearly is not my calling in life.

“You’re not very good at this.” Sawyer points out to me. I let out an offended scoff.

“Hey! I don’t get bumpers like you two.” I insist to him.

“Sawyer, be kind to your auntie. She didn’t get the gift of athletics in this family.” Alex gives me a grin as he approaches, taking a break from talking to fans to check on us.

“Um, pretty sure both of us were all-conference in high school. Unlike our older brother.” I roll my eyes at him. I played hockey through high school and was considered to be one of the best in our program. I had a couple offers to join division III schools, but my heart wanted to be a Gopher and I certainly wasn’t good enough to play on the power house team at the U. “So if anyone is missing the athletic promise it’s him.”

“True, I guess you just suck at bowling.” Alex shrugs, looking over his kids. “Serena, eat some more of your dinner.” He points to her Kraft Mac and Cheese. Serena glowers at him and picks up her spoon, taking a bite of a single noodle. “Lord help me.” Alex mutters under his breath to me.

“Are you going to be here for a minute? I need to run to the bathroom.” I tell him

“Yeah, go ahead.” Alex waves me away and takes my seat with his kids.

I grab a sip of my water then make my way down to the bathroom, which just so happens to be by a certain, new member of the Wild team. As I walk, I can feel his eyes on me and a small smile tilts my lips. When I come out of the bathroom a few minutes later, I’m not surprised to see that Kevin has gravitated up to the area above the bowling alleys, casually leaning against the counter with a glass of water in front of him. I can’t help myself as I walk closer to him. There is this feeling of almost a gravitational pull to him. Even if I wanted to walk by him, I couldn’t. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself is the case.

“Woof. You should stick to hockey.” I laugh as I get closer to Kevin where I can see his score. It’s the 8th frame and he has more dashes than numbers.

“Hey, I’m working on a new spin with the ball.” He objects to my comment.

“It’s not working.” I tell him honestly, running my teeth over my bottom lip.

“Okay. What’s your score down there, bowling champ?” He asks, nodding his head in the direction of our lane.

“I am not a professional athlete.” I insist, hoping he can’t see my score from here.

“Uh huh.” He responds, scrunching his nose at me while nodding. “You know what they say about glass houses.”

“They bowl strikes?” I ask, tilting my head at him with a wide grin. I know I’m flirting with him and I should definitely stop, but I can’t help myself. He calls me to him and flirting is just the natural reaction to this feeling.

“Kev, it’s your turn.” Ryan Hartman tells him, motioning for Kevin to grab a ball and bowl his turn.

“I should get back anyway.” I say, stepping backwards towards where Alex is watching us.

“You’re intimidated. I get it.” He shrugs innocently at me.

“Hardly, FiFi.” I tease him before turning around. My eyes meet my brother’s briefly before darting away quickly. I internally insist that I’m not guilty of anything, but the back of my neck tightens as I rejoin the family.

“Sam.” Alex says in a warning tone.

“What? I’m not allowed to talk to him?” I ask, rolling my eyes. “You’re such a butt.”

“I have no problem with you talking to him.” He bends closer to me and says in a low voice so only I can hear him. Felicia watches us as she secures the lid to Serena’s water bottle. She looks a bit amused and I furrow my brows at her. “What you were doing was not just talking. Next time, don’t flip your hair and bat your lashes at him and maybe I won’t notice.”

“Why are you so obsessed with me?” I glare at him.

“Why can’t you listen and do what’s good for you?” He shoots back . He straightens and walks to the table where Sawyer is, giving his son a loving rub on his head before greeting a group of fans that approach from the left. I watch as Alex grins warmly, giving the little boy in the group a high five. I cross my arms tightly across my chest and huff out an angry sigh. Felicia lets out a low chuckle.

“This will be fun.” She announces, saluting her beer in my direction. “He is pretty hot.” She points the top of the bottle in Kevin’s direction. “And he hasn’t stopped watching you since you got here.”

“I’m not biting at that.” I insist, turning away from her and glancing at the direction of the bar. I need a damn drink.

“Sure you’re not.” She nods her head sarcastically at me.

“You and Alex are perfect together.” I say snidely.

“Hey, I’m on your side.” She insists.

“Well, can you get him on my side?” I ask her, “Because that man is something fiercely fine and I think I deserve a little bit of Swiss chocolate in my life.” She tilts her head back and lets out a hearty laugh.

“Some rich, Swiss chocolate.” We giggle together.

“He could be poor as dirt and I’d still sit on that face.” My voice has gotten low so the kids don’t hear, not that they would understand anyway.

“Amen.” She toasts to me with her beer, reminding me that I still need that damn drink. “As for your brother, you know he is a free spirit. I’m sure he would get over it if things were to happen by accident.” She shrugs her shoulders innocently.

“I’ll be back. Let Alex know I’ll be at the bar if he still wants to stalk me.”

I glide up the stairs and back across the bowling alley where the bar is located. I glance briefly in Kevin’s direction, where it’s his turn to bowl. I watch as he winds up and releases the ball where it instantly spins tightly to the right and into the gutter. I can hear Ryan’s laugh meet my ears as the boys heckle him in response. I grab a seat at the bar so the bartender can see me. I tell her I’d like a Vodka soda, heavy on the vodka. She grins knowingly and walks away to fulfill my request. In a minute, she places the drink in front of me along with the bill. I reach for my purse, searching through for my wallet. As I pull it out, a hand with a $20 bill extends in front of me, sliding that and the white paper across the bar.

“Keep the change.” Kevin tells her. She gives him a big smile and a wink in response before she is off to her next customer. “So, what’s your drink of choice?” He tilts his head as he studies me, just like he did the night we first met.

“Vodka soda. But heavy on the vodka.”

“Wow, that accent.” Kevin laughs at the hard O in Soda.

“You’re one to talk!” I laugh, shoving at his shoulder instinctively. My hand tingles from the warmth of his body and I curl my fingers tightly together to hold onto the feeling for a moment longer.

“I have an excuse. English is not my first language. Not sure what yours is.” He smirks as he sits in the seat next to me. It takes everything in me to not look around in guilt to see if Alex is actually watching me like I said to Felicia.

“I blame… my parents.” I shrug with a laugh. “They choose to live here with the heavily accented vowels.”

“I will give that to you, but only because I like you.” The way he says it has this weight and confidence to it.

“How can you like me? You don’t even know me.” I tell him, glancing over my shoulder and noting Alex is nowhere to be seen.

“We should change that.”

“Not interested.” I shrug

“That’s a lie.” He calls me out immediately.

“How would you know?”

“Because you’re still here talking with me when there’s a whole group of people you should be getting back to.” I stare at him silently, contemplating his words. I surrender with a nod and stir my drink slowly.

“How are you liking Minnesota so far?” I ask, changing the subject from what I want or what he likes.

“It’s good- a lot colder than Nashville. It reminds me of being back in Sweden.”

“I like that we have such a cold winter. It allows us to truly appreciate the other seasons we have. And it makes us tough.”

“I believe that.” He laughs. The waitress comes back over and asks if Kevin wants anything. He graciously requests a water. He doesn’t speak again until she has placed his glass there and left again. “So, maybe you can help me. We have a couple days off this next week and I need recommendations of things I can do. I want to get out and explore more.”

“Okay.. well are you going out places by yourself or with someone else?” I wonder.

“Hopefully with someone else.” He stares into my eyes without pause. “Where should I take a Minnesotan to impress them?” I turn away as a slight blush dusts my cheeks. Good lord, I don’t know how much longer I can hold him off. I should really get back to our lane.

“Okay… Um. Well, you definitely do not want to take them to the Mall of America.”

“Why not? Isn’t it one of the largest malls in the world?”

“Yeah. Except Minnesotans don’t go there by choice. They only go there when people from out of town are visiting.”

“Okay, not the mall. What else?”

“You could go to a Minnesota Gopher hockey game. That’s our largest University in the state. They’re good.”

“Is that where Alex played?” He asks, noting that Alex regularly wears Maroon and Gold hockey clothing.

“No.. well, the two schools are connected. Down here, it’s the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities. Alex played at the University of Minnesota- Duluth. It’s an extension of the greater University channel. But, please ask him that when you see him next. He will go into a twenty minute tirade of why the Bulldogs are better than the Gophers. He’s wrong.” I shrug.

“I sense that you were a Gopher.” He gives me a grin. “I think a Bulldog sounds tougher than a rodent?”

“Watch yourself, Fiala.” I warn him. He holds his hands up in surrender.

“A game might be fun. But for a first date it might be better if it’s more intimate.”

“Kevin.” I say warningly. His smile turns smug and he leans in a bit closer to me.

“I’m thinking a restaurant would be best. What is your favorite kind of food, ya Minnesotan?”

“Um, the good kind.” I shrug. “I’m not super picky. I won’t eat chicken feet or anything, but trying new things is fun.”

“Okay, what is the typical meal like here? In Nashville it was fried chicken, spice, and Macaroni and cheese.”

“We have those things here too. In the winter, Chicken Wild Rice Soup is popular. Or anything that involves throwing a bunch of ingredients into a casserole dish and calling it a Hot Dish.”

“What?” He asks, his nose scrunching in confusion.

“Trust me. It’s good. I make a really good Tater Tot Hot Dish.”

“Are you joking with me?” He asks. “That can’t be a real thing?”

“Yes! It absolutely is! I’ll make it for you and-” I cut myself off and remember the warning of Alex. Here I am, blatantly forgetting about what my brother said at an event that said brother is at.

“I’d like that.” His voice has turned into a murmur and he seemingly isn’t noticing this internal battle within me. When he says that, I realize that I want that to. I want to stay here. I want to keep this sarcastic battle of wit going between us. He compels and flatters me unlike anyone else.

“Oh! I know! Have you had a Juicy Lucy yet?” I ask him excitedly. He shakes his head no. “You need to try it! It’s a hamburger stuffed with melted cheese. It was created here in Minnesota. There are two restaurants that fight over who created it first and you’ll have to try them both to help us Minnesotans decide which one is truly the best. Matt’s Bar and 5-8 Club. Both are relatively close to the X.”

“That does sound pretty good. We should go together though. An outsider like me should be shown around properly by a local.” He smirks at me.

“I’m sure one of the other Minnesota players on the team would take you.” I say, breaking eye contact and glancing at the bowling lanes behind him.

“I’m not interested in going with them.” He tells me straight up. “Come on, I promise I keep my hands to myself on the first date.”

“Yeah, you look like a guy who does.” He shakes his head, laughing and folding his hands together.

“How about for you I will? Since you’re my teammates’ sister. All bets are off for the second date though.”

“Oh, there is already a second date?” I joke with him, rubbing at the condensation on my glass.

“Well yeah, we can’t eat two cheese stuffed burgers in one night. Or maybe you can.” He shrugs. “We can eat salads for our third date though to make up for the other two.” I giggle at his forwardness.

I take in his features and feel the buzzing of the connection between us. The conversation is free and easy. I’m reminded why I was so pulled to him the first night we met; I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve never felt an instant connection to someone I barely know. What I do know for sure is that I want to keep having this feeling. The buzzing and intoxication of his eyes on me has me drunk on lust.

“Okay.” I finally say, trying to control my face so it doesn’t break into a huge smile. “I’m free tomorrow night.” I tell him, knowing that Alex and Felicia will be out on their annual stay over, date night in Stillwater. The Stalock kids will be at my parents for a sleepover. The coast should be clear for us. "But only if we agree this is a friend showing a friend around his new city. We are… friend dating.” I finish confidently like I’m not secretly hoping he will end up in my pants.

“Is there such a thing?” He tilts his head in response.

“Definitely.” I insist.

“Hmm, okay. Well, we can pretend it’s a just friends thing if that’s what you need to do.”

“Wow, you are just so confident that I’m into you, Mr. 2nd and 3rd date guy.” I give him an incredulous look, watching as he grabs my unlocked phone from the bar, navigating to contacts and typing in his number for me. I watch as he opens a new message and sends the purple, smiley devil emoji to me before sliding the phone back across the bar to me.

“Aren’t you?” He challenges me playfully. His face is so close that I could easily reach out and pull him in. His smile is easy, his brown eyes glinting with mischief. The defined lines of his jaw tempt me to place my lips there just to see what he tastes like.

“Depends.” I respond casually, angling my head and narrowing my eyes slightly. “On what burger place you like best.” I finish with a coy smile. He leans in even closer, to the point that if I leaned forward a few inches, our lips would rest perfectly together. His eyes drop to my lips for a moment before his lips tilt into his ever present smirk.

“I’ll pick you up at 7.”

[away-ward]

I really don’t understand Alex at all and I genuinely don’t like her . From the first time she was introduced I didn’t like her. If she hadn’t become friends with rika she wouldn’t even be in the books so much . She’d just be wills friend . And I find it so weird how every single time she introduces herself she says “ Alex palmer . I’m wills friend “ like we get bitch you are close . And she was doing too much trying to become friends with banks . And why does Will admire Alex so much ? What about Emory like hellooooo. Idk it bothered me a lot how close will and Alex are . And also the fact that Will does NOT understand Emory at all . Don’t kill me but I think Damon and Emory would’ve made a great couple cause they actually understand each other idk .

I haven’t talked extensively about Alex in a while, so why not now?

I myself was pretty indifferent to Alex at first. She was just there – she was a tool to send a message. It’s one of the most annoying parts of Corrupt, in my opinion. We’re force fed PD’s thoughts on something through their characters, though Alex is a bit easier to swallow than Rika’s spontaneous class speech about the new generation.

In Corrupt, Alex is meant to be a role model for Rika, who wants to break out of this good girl mold she’s been forced into. Alex introduces Rika to the reality that girls can have sex, for a good time and/or for money, and still be a decent person. Girls can also have sex with girls! Novel thought, that is.

It’s through Alex that Rika is able to become a more realized version of herself. She’s opened to new ideas and experiences that she has always been thinking somewhere in the back of her head. Except now she can say them without fear of judgement, all thanks to Alex and Michael.

However, as has been discussed, Corrupt was written without the three follow-ups in mind. Alex’s progression with the group was never planned. But PD loved her and so did fans. There needed to be another reason for Alex to stick around. A common pick-me girl quality is that they can’t be friends with other girls, but this has never been a problem with Rika or Alex. There would have been no problem with Alex just appearing every once in a while, as Rika’s college friend.

This is where is starts to get irritating. In Corrupt, Alex doesn’t really do anything deserving of the horsemen’s favor. Will likes her, but Will likes a lot of girls. He brings her out to Thunder Bay but pays no attention to her (on page). It’s clear that she’s Rika’s friend, not theirs. Now that Rika didn’t need her anymore – other than a neutral friend she occasionally joked about having sex with but never actually engaged with despite the group’s dynamic – what was Alex supposed to do?

PD’s solution is to shift Alex’s mainstay in the group from Rika to Will. In Hideaway, Will is no longer paying Alex for her company. In Kill Switch, she’s his "best friend" to replace Damon. And in Nightfall, she’s his reflection. All the things it would be natural for Alex to do with Rika she now does with Will because Rika doesn’t need her anymore.

To be clear, I don’t think PD planned on Will and Alex becoming as close as they were. I think as PD started getting the sense of Will’s story, it made sense by that point in time, they'd have a strong connection. It also gave PD a chance to satisfy Alex’s fans demanding a HEA, and their own desire to see Alex happy.

When I say I don’t mind Alex’s role in the series, I am specifically talking about her friendship with Will and her role as the group’s gopher. That's not a bad role to have, and if executed well, could have been interesting. What I hate about Alex is that she has a habit of putting people in situations that aren’t always good for them, that they don’t want to be in, and she has plot armor. No character, but especially a side character, should have plot armor. It would be one thing if she crossed the line occasionally but also faced consequences for it. It would be one thing if there were things asked of her that she was never able to fulfill, either because of lack of skill or it made her uncomfortable, or she simply didn't want to. But it never fails, no matter what happens, Alex is perfect.

And perfect characters just aren’t interesting to me.

There is the additional issue that PD loves Alex, and therefore the narrative never implies that Alex can be wrong.

Take Rika for example. She and Michael frequently argue, and while it’s annoying, I can see both sides of their issues, and I’m never told who’s side I should be on. With Alex, the narrative always implies I’m supposed to see her point of view; I’m supposed to be on her side; for all her failings, she’s sympathetic.

Sorry, but I don’t buy it. Never trust a character that’s always right.

But that’s my thoughts. Let’s address some of yours.

She’d just be wills friend

I think it’s interesting how even though she’s been tied to Will, she’s still different. Kai, Damon, and Will sleep around until their love interest enters the scene, but we don’t see any of those girls sticking close. So why does Alex get the exemption. Until Hideaway, she’s not doing anything that make her invaluable to the group. And after that, she basically becomes whatever they need when they need it.

Kai needs a personal shopper? Well good thing Alex is a fashionista.

Rika needs a friend to teach defense classes with? Well good thing Alex has a deep interest in promoting women’s rights. Never mind how she had the time to reach the level that she can teach in less than a year. It’s Alex.

Banks needs a girl to help her get out of her shell, but she doesn’t trust Rika? Well, good thing we have Alex.

Alex’s character was never meant to go anywhere, and if PD didn’t love her so much, she wouldn’t have even been Will’s special friend. She’d be the escort that lives in the build that they occasionally hire to help in some circumstances because she’s discreet.

why does Will admire Alex so much ? What about Emory like hellooooo

My opinion is that Will equally admires both. That’s why Alex knows about Emory before they meet – Will’s already talked her up. But by the time Emory, Alex, and Will are in the same room, Will is already so angry at Emory that his admiration it can’t come through.

The boys like Alex because she acts and thinks like them – she has no shame, doesn’t need any one’s approval, does what she wants, and has a good time doing it. It’s what actually makes her a pick-me girl. If it weren’t for her being so highly feminine, she’d be just one of the guys.

Then, when they understand that she doesn’t come from privilege like them, but built herself up, they give her their respect. And to be clear: it’s admirable that Alex faced the loss of her friends and scholarship. That’s a huge blow, especially at 18, and the fact that she was able to find away to support herself without missing a beat is a feat that should be recognized. It’s everything else about her that I have trouble accepting.

But I’ve said this before and I still believe it, Alex’s success does not diminish Emory’s by any means. Just because Alex can do all that with a smile on her face doesn’t mean that Emory surviving is less noteworthy just because she’s depressed. Likewise, Emory being mean because her life is incredibly difficult doesn’t make her more realistic that Alex. They approached two difficult situations with different methods and both should be recognized for it.

Will just has an easier time with Alex than with Emory. Alex doesn’t challenge his view of the world or his circumstances. Alex doesn’t expect more from him. Alex puts up with his bare minimum effort. There’s comfort and resting, which we all need at time, and then there’s wallowing in self-pity. It’s easier for Will to appreciate Alex’s success because he never wanted to be apart of it. Emory also succeed on her own, but he wanted to be apart of that story and she refused to let him. He’s bitter for sure, but he doesn’t deny that she’s done it.

also the fact that Will does NOT understand Emory at all

I kind of do disagree with this take. Will understands Emory very well. But again, there are times when he’s too clouded by anger to accept her. To me, understanding and accepting are two different things. When Will accepts Emory for who she is, instead of what he tries to convince himself she is, that his understanding really shines.

Don’t kill me but I think Damon and Emory would’ve made a great couple cause they actually understand each other idk .

See, I only see Damon and Emory working under a very specific set of circumstances. But outside of that I think they’re too similar. Yeah, they understand each other because they went though years of abuse, but they both need people who live outside of that world. They’d find comfort in someone who can identify with and validate their experiences, but they also need people who will push them not to live only with that in view. For better or worse, Will and Winter fill that role for them.

But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t read a Damon/Emory fic! I’m so interested in seeing how someone else would make it work.

This is probably a lot more than you were expected. Sorry about that. I just had a few thoughts about Alex dying to get out, and with your message, they refused to stay in any longer. Hope you don't mind!

Thanks for the message. I know my opinions on Alex are a tad bit more relaxed than others, but it's still interesting to see how divisive she is as a character.

[mnfrostofficial]

Top 5 goalies of course 🤍

hehe thank you i did not think i would have this much to say on this topic

gimme answer: lev number 1 favorite because i'm not really a goalie girl but somehow she was still the One for me right off the bat. i miss my spa lev icon tbh. and i miss her and her fish pads.

2. nicole hensley. her first game of the season this year bewitched me body and soul

3. flower <3 honestly i thought he'd be lower on the list but i was at the home game where they did his 1000 game/500-whatever wins ceremony earlier this year and. honestly that was one of the most special hockey games i've ever been to so

4. alex stalock on account of he was fun and i miss him

5. first goalie to ever grace a poster on my wall as a pre-teen noora raty sdmfsjkd couldn't tell u anything about her these days but she was part of those unreal years for the gophers and i adored that team at the time

[beardedmrbean]

Oh what a darling, looks like one I had named Alex, he lived outside because he refused to be a inside cat quite sternly, but he never left the back yard and garage, lived a very long life even when compared to inside cats, was great at getting the gophers in the yard gone.

Skittish for a long time till he discovered that getting pet was nice, then that switched.

Please give some ear skritches from me to the pretty baby

[soul-dwelling]

I'm sorry if this question bothers you (you can ignore it if you want) but you recent post about Beyond the Boundary made me remember a personal question

I think you mentioned somewhere (correct me if I wrong) that the Fire Force prequel reveal soured you hunger for fanfics involving it and Soul Eater

What exactly did the metaphorical belly hungered for (Either Fire Force only or a crossover between the two) before the eventual ruin?

It's been easier by making it "what if" scenarios that don't have to follow any logic ("So, do they time travel, or is it alternate dimensions?").

For me, what I desire is less of any ongoing plot or story ideas (although, as some of the below shows, there are ideas) so much as just interactions between characters, the equivalent of quick gags of just, "What if this character was in the same room with this character, how would they interact?"

I wrote some of my own crossover interactions as gag conversations between Soul Eater and Fire Force characters over at @ask-a-meister. And I got to collaborate with my friend elliotthezubat on others. Here are some interactions that I've enjoyed, either stuff I wrote at the RP blog, stuff Elliot and I collaborated on, or any weird stuff that comes to mind right now:

"So if Huo Yan lost an arm, he's going to need medical treatment." "How about Stein do it?"

When working with Elliot, I love interactions between Tamaki and Kana: similar animal motifs, different ages and personalities, basically giving Tamaki someone to look over and Kana someone to gently snark at (which is an improvement given all the crap Tamaki has dealt with earlier). It's a different version of what Irregulars Productions has done with Kana and Maka in the Abridged series.

Similarly, Elliot has had fun ideas with Maki treating Tsugumi as a little sister. Then Elliot had an idea how they were related--and Anya has a freak out because it undermines her preconceived headcanon about Tsugumi as a common girl (and Anya may have been my own author avatar for how surprised I was by the revelation).

I did like Ohkubo's initial crossover artwork of Maka and Shinra both in the 8th uniforms. Elliot had staged it as a promotional photo shoot, which was a fun idea.

Soul and Arthur...Elliot and I wrote an interaction that I don't think matches who Arthur ended up becoming in the series, as we kind of made Arthur too much of a dick who needed a comeuppance, when that's not really who the character is in the manga.

But we did have Inca and Kim interact...and Kim was not taking her shit.

Patty and Juggernaut is a crack pairing.

And speaking of the Thompsons, some gags around Patty and Liz mistaken for Iris and Lisa.

There may have been a gag about Gopher and Yu--I don't remember.

Elliot and I had a very weird idea about the 8th running into the sloth Marianne from the Soul Eater NOT anime.

I have zero idea how Rekka would interact around the Star / Hoshi characters from Soul Eater--and given how putrid Rekka is, I'd rather not subject anyone to his bullshit.

Elliot and I had Free and Akitaru basically doing a flexing competition similar to Sig Curtis versus Alex Louis Armstrong in Fullmetal Alchemist 2003.

From working with Elliot on writing, if things had worked out completely different, and Fire Force somehow was just contemporaneous with Soul Eater (and we ignored all the post-apocalyptic setting), that club woman Assault spoke with would have been an employee at Chupa Cabra.

[angelloverde]

"Mo Soul" Player Playlist 30 June

Grant Green - The Final Comedown

Alex Gopher - On & On

The Brand New Heavies - Ride In The Sky

The Tarantulas - La Club Contemporaine

Ann Alford - Got To Get Me A Job

Leon Haywood - I Wanna Do Something Freaky To You

David Seeland Band - Beat Construction

O'Donel Levy - Granny

Shirley Scott - Messie Bessie

Bill Withers - Lonely Town Lonely Street

Ronald Snijders - Lenox

Barry White - Just The Way You Are

Marc Moulin - Le Saule

Colin James - Saviour

The Delta Rhythm Section - Funkin Fever

If you really want to enjoy music and help musicians and bands, buy their lp’s or cd’s and don’t download mp3 formats. There is nothing like good quality sound!!!

(Angel Lo Verde / Mo Soul)

[gpm-maam]

RC9 Article - June-July 2025

From Jay Friedlander, RC9

May was a month of parties across the Southland.

GLAAM LocSec Sam Moses generously opened his home for a Cinco de Mayo (OK Tres de Mayo celebration.  Sam’s parties are always well attended, and decorated to the pertinent holiday theme.  Plenty of food, a terrific holiday-themed cake, many stimulating conversations and fun.  Alan Stillson played Mexican themed-tunes (Besamé Mucho), and brainstormed with Alex, for the possible return of the Open Forum, where we present engaging speakers for a nominal fee.  The right venue to host the event is still under consideration, but if you have any ideas, please shoot Alan an email at astillson13@gmail.com.  Congratulations to long-time GLAAM Hall of Fame member Sam, who finally received his Hall of Fame badge. Orange County Mensa held its 45th Anniversary Celebration at the Orange County Mining Company in Orange, as 1980 was the year they spun off into their own independent chapter.  Delicious buffet featured an omelet and waffle station, roast beef, a variety of seafood, plenty of veggies and potatoes, mimosas and an ample dessert selection. OCM partially subsidized the cost, making it more affordable for all.  Challenging trivia contest, which my table didn’t win.  Last year’s Board of Directors welcomed the new Board.  Greg De Hoogh once again assumed the duties of President, while the 2nd Vice President and Parliamentarian were replaced by three new Directors-At-Large.  I made a few remarks about a direction for Region 9, and the talented Kevin Kelso closed things out with an entertaining musical program. San Diego Mensa took the spotlight for Region 9 with the San Diego AaaR-G!   The Friday festivities kicked off with Gopher-in-Chief Dave Bowles’ New Member Orientation.  I played Time’s Up, a variation on Colander with Nate Greengard, who hosted several games, as did Jim and Barbara and game room host Theresa Kasel.  Tasty tacos for dinner.  Edward Chu taught us the difference between fission and fusion.  Richard Lederer, sire of poker champions, indoctrinated a new generation to the joys of his favorite game.  There was a respectable number of Mensa Testers. One of them told me she was feeling confident, and they enjoyed their free day at the Gathering.  I held a Meet and Greet for the region, where we talked about subjects of the day, and the focus was on improving retention, and increasing attendance at Mensa events.  Melissa Reskoff spoke of converting from divergent to convergent thinking.  Steve Cross gave a riveting description of the evacuation of the US Embassy in Saigon.  Suzie Tell talked about the trauma of the adoption process.  The Two Chucks, Borough and Samples talked about overcoming regrets, and brewing and hot beer spots in San Diego.  (Maybe the 2nd could help with the first?)  Rich Lederer shared his best pirate puns, and he proved an ample warmup for professional punster and improviser Sarah Flocken’s pun class the following day.  Jenny Rankin talked about strange things our brains do, and had us match up images which best fit a descriptive word.  Iris Meyers hosted a popular chocolate tasting, but no first-hand report, as I’m doing Keto.  I did enjoy the Keto-friendly roast chicken dinner though.  And then it was time for the Pirate Murder Mystery.  The Pirate King was killed and whodunnit?  Each table was given only a couple of clues, not nearly enough. It required a lot of interaction and negotiations with the other tables to get enough clues to see the whole picture.  The Pirate cast from the repertory company provided additional clues, and entertaining repartee.  Congratulations to the winning table!  I’m afraid I had abandoned ship prematurely and was off enjoying Carnelli and Encore in the game room. The program continued on Sunday and Monday, but I had to leave after a nice brunch with old friends, and Sarah’s previously mentioned pun session.  Congratulations to Mensa’s games savant Gloria Greengard, for beating a formidable group, which included Richard Lederer himself, for the punniest performance and victory.  Congratulations to Captain LaRae Bakerink, a veteran of many an RG, and

her hard-working team for a great time for all!

Tucson Mensa has started a book club, and June’s selection will be The Battle for your Brain: Defending Your Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology.

Southern Nevada Mensa’s First Friday continues at Panera Bread for casual and unstructured discussion. This event is open to non-Mensans, so family, friends and co-workers can be invited to attend, and hopefully find it fun and stimulating enough to want to test and join.

And Mensa Hawaii announced its Mensa Hawaii’s Diamond Jubilee Celebration – May 7 to May 15, 2026! Celebrating 60 dazzling years of Mensa Hawaii with a spectacular cruise aboard the award-winning Celebrity Edge, departing from the stunning shores of Honolulu, Hawaii and arriving in the vibrant city of Vancouver, Canada. For Mensans and their friends.

[instanttunes]

Alex Gopher - Déstockage Massif

[subspeciehominis]

Let’s begin today with whispering, an unvoiced way of speaking. In a whisper, the vocal cords don’t vibrate, but air passes through the larynx with enough turbulence to be audible—at close range, anyway. People sometimes whisper due to laringytis or other disorders of the larynx. Usually, though, we whisper because we want to speak to one person, but not to everyone. To illustrate an example of a whisper, I’d like to tell you about the first time my daughter whispered to me.

I have a friend, Alex, who is one of those impossibly easygoing, imperturbable souls who can instantly recalibrate when faced with a shift in circumstance. But occasionally, when on a tight schedule, Alex will become visibly stressed and say things like, “We’ve got to get a move on.” Alex’s wife Linda calls this, “Airport Alex.”

Much to my chagrin, I am usually Airport Alex. I cannot stop worrying that the kids might be late for school, that the restaurant might cancel our reservation, that my psychiatrist will fire me for tardiness, and so on. Anyway, one morning when my wife was out of town for work, I was sitting at breakfast with my then three-year-old daughter, who is never Airport Alex. For small children, time is not kept by clocks, and so I always feel the need to be the Keeper of the Schedule, the Maintainer of Punctuality in the Realm.

It was 8:37. Twenty-three minutes from being late to daycare. My daughter was eating her toast very slowly. Long pauses between bites to consult with a picture book she’d brought down that morning. I kept urging her to finish eating. “This is your eight-minute warning,” I said to her, as if eight minutes meant anything.

I tried to line up everything for departure—the shoes, the coat, the backpack containing nothing but her lunch. Do you have your car keys? Yes. Wallet? Yes. Phone? Yes. Now only six minutes to go. For the love of God please eat your toast. I cut the crusts off. It is sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. All right that’s it we’re out of time we need to put on your shoes. And then at the pinnacle of my frenzy, Alice said to me, “Daddy, can I say a secret?”

I leaned in toward her and she cupped her hands over her mouth, and even though we were alone in the house, she whispered to me. I can’t tell you what she said, of course, because it was a secret, but I will say that the content of her message was totally unremarkable and related to the book she was looking at. What stopped me dead was the fact of her whisper. I had no idea she could whisper, or even that she knew what secrets were. And anyway, what she said wasn’t really about what she said. It was about reminding me that we were okay, that I didn’t need to be Airport Alex. Being busy is a way of being loud. And what my daughter needed was a quiet space, for her small voice to be heard.

Whispering is of course incredibly intimate. A whisper seems to be made not of sound but of breath itself. Our species has probably been whispering since we began speaking—in fact, we aren’t even the only animal to whisper. Some gophers and bats do, as well as some monkeys, including the critically endangered cotton-top tamarin.

Humans often use whispering to tell each other things that we don’t want say aloud—secrets, yes, but also rumors and cruelties and fears. I find it interesting that speech recognition software still cannot effectively decode whispers, so if you whisper to your smart speaker or virtual assistant, it will not hear you. It’s the last kind of talking that still has to happen between humans.

So when I was a kid, I didn’t attend church often; my family wasn’t particularly religious, but someone told me when I was little that God’s voice comes to people in a whisper. In many parts of the Bible, as in life, whispers mislead and wrongly condemn. But there is some scriptural justification for the idea that God’s voice can be quiet. One of my favorite lines from the Bible is First Kings 19:12. “After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” That’s how the Bible I read translates it, anyway; the King James Version calls it “a still, small voice.”

When I was 19 years old, long before I read that line in first book of Kings, I went on a road trip through Michigan with a friend, and we happened across a sign advertising the world’s largest wooden crucifix. I’ve always been fond of roadside attractions, especially world’s largest ones—I’ve seen everything from the world’s largest ball of stamps to the world’s largest ball of paint—and so we stopped at a place called Cross in the Woods. I was tired and a little bit hungover, but it felt good to stretch my legs after hours in the car.

Back then, I only wanted to enjoy things ironically. Ironic enthusiasm felt safer to me than sincerity, and also more honest—the world was a joke, and a cruel one. And as we walked toward the world’s largest wooden crucifix, it seemed perfect fodder for my world view. It was indeed huge, much too big, really. It was garish and over-the-top and totally American. Jesus was 28 feet tall. It was ridiculous.

And then, looking up at the crucifix, all at once I was overwhelmed by a feeling I could not name. I would later hear it described as the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, the mystery before which we tremble and are fascinated.

I was consumed by awe—not just wonder, but also fear. It wasn't a comfortable feeling, nor an entirely pleasant one, but I didn’t want it to end. I felt as if I were very small. I don’t know if that feeling came from within or without, and I don’t really care. Whether I created it in my brain or not, it was real. I literally fell to my knees. I couldn't help myself.

I don’t think you need to be religious to know the mysterium tremendum—maybe on a dark night you glimpse the Milky Way for the first time. Maybe you hear a song so beautiful you can hardly bear it. The distance you’ve tried to create between yourself and the world falls away, and you are left exposed to the beauty and horror of mortal consciousness.

So I was kneeling, looking up at this overwrought roadside attraction, and I heard a still, small voice whisper: You’ll be okay. That was it. You’ll be okay.

Of course, I know that I won’t be okay. But I also know that I will be, and ever since I visited the world’s largest wooden crucifix, I have been seeking the reconciliation of these two contradictory facts, both of which I know to be true.

Many years later, I would take the qualified reassurance of the word okay and use it in my book The Fault in Our Stars, and then came the surreal experience of seeing it become a tagline for a Hollywood movie. That whispered okay became a shout, and along the way it took on many different meanings for many different people. But for me, it will always be about the cross in the woods, and the experience that forced me to reckon not just with the sacred but also with the sincere.  

These days when my daughter whispers to me, it is usually to share a worry that she finds embarrassing or frightening. It takes courage even to whisper those fears, and I am so grateful when she trusts me with them, even if I don’t know quite how to answer. Often, I find myself responding to her whispers with the only words I’ve ever heard God say. You’ll be okay, I tell her. You’ll be okay.

I give whispering three and a half stars.

― John Green, "The Anthropocene Reviewed"

[priokskfm]

#MixOfDay #Podcast #Radioshow #LiveDjset Toy Tonics Radio Show 10 - Tribute to Paris Housemusic Pt. 1 1) Superdiscount: Prix Choc 2) Cassius: Feeling for you 3) Daft Punk: Teachers 4) Motorbass: Ezio 5) Joakim: Are you vegetarian? 6) Dimitri from Paris: Sacre Francais 8) Alex Gopher: Bull Worker 9) La Funk Mob: 357 Magnum Force 10) I:Cube: Adore www.priokskfm.online https://ift.tt/JCeKc6v