driftsintobuffetline

are there people who dont like ice cream?
not actual ice cream obviously but
ice cream of the interpersonal kind

[YOU KNOW.

Wow, though. That...is quite a list. Newt can't see his face, but Manolo gets progressively discouraged as it just.....keeps scrolling. There's no way he could even pay for a portion of that, and the amount is just too much to even ask from a close family member, let alone Newton or Joaquin.

Would Joaquin even want to go through all the trouble just to go star-gazing with him?

Still, he doesn't convey his doubts, instead typing:]

that is such a great list
thank you very much dr. gesizler
i actually dont think i
would have thought of even a third of those things

if dr. gottlieb would be okay with it
id love to borrow his telescope
whenever we go

and i will definitely send you a copy!
i actually finished the demo disc
not that long ago

Sure, welcome. And you know, if you JUST want to star-gaze...not camp...you can pack, like, not even a third of that. You could find a place you could sleep in your car (rent one), or just drive back on the motorcycle before you need to sleep. We did that for the Blood Moon. Drove back, I mean, not slept in the car. I'd rent a room before making Hermann sleep a night in a car. Right, but, as I was saying. Stargazing. It's like a picnic, but at night.

WAIT. HOLD UP. YOU HAVE A DEMO TAPE AND YOU DID NOT TELL ME? WAHT THE FUCK, MAN, I THOUHGT WE WERE FRIENDS. *GRABBY HANDS* GIMME A COPY. I just found the soundtrack for the lab for the next month.

Interpersonal Ice Cream. That's totally the name of my new band (not literally. figure of speech...) But yeah. There are people who don't like ice cream, people who HATE ice cream and want nothing to do with it, people who don't have an opinion on ice cream because they just don't have an interest in it. There are people who kind of sometimes like ice cream but are otherwise indifferent, or who only like ice cream if they develop an emotional attachment to the specific brand or whatever. And there are people only like to watch OTHER people eat ice cream and don't eat it themselves. There's a whole ice cream spectrum.

[That's much more doable, and Manolo breathes a small sigh of relief to himself.]

where did you go for the blood moon?

[For some reason, it didn't occur to him that Newt would be so eager to listen to his disc. The enthusiasm is flattering, but at the same time he's a little self-conscious about it.]

im sorry for not telling you sooner
you can definitely have a copy
but you should know
i didnt use equipment like
the professionals use
the quality isnt very good at all
i dont know if dr. gottlieb will like
hearing it in the lab

[Those are way more variations of ice-cream eating than Manolo even anticipated. He's a little overwhelmed, but...it sort of makes sense? Even if he can't personally relate to some of it.]

well
if he doesnt like ice cream
he doesnt need to be eating any with me
that much is for sure
it sounds like it would just make him sick

[See, so no reason to bring it up to him. Like, ever.]

Upstate New York, I think. Hermann picked it. He likes planning and shit. I'll ask him the specifics.

...Manolo, dude, DUUUUDE. You could be singing underwater with Graham Bell's first telephone for a mic and you will be a blessing to Hermann's ears. A) your singing is great and I want to hear it even if the audio file quality is not so great (I might be able to run it through a filter on Hermann's laptop to clean it up, if I can pry the computer away from him for 2 seconds, we'll see) and B) Hermann will complain about what I play in the lab just on principle. It's what he does. It's what WE do. But he's going to like it.

So don't eat ice cream with him.
But you can find out if he'll discuss ice cream with you. And maybe you'll figure out what his ice cream preferences are. Or inform him of the ice cream preference options available. I doubt he knows them, unless his life coaching job has led him to some human sexuality books. We know, obviously, he'll look at different flavors--

He never made a move on Hermann, I think. No, I'm positive. Like. He never made his interest clear with Hermann and I don't know if that was because he was too much of a gentleman or if he didn't actually HAVE interest. I am certain, though. He would not have kissed me if that were not the case. Hermann, I mean, would not have kissed me if Joaquin had made his interest/intent clear. Was he clear, ever, with Maria? Or was he only clear with you, because you were his rival?

i am honored by your kind words
it would give me satisfaction if dr. gottlieb
enjoys it as much as you say
and if you get a chance
to clean the songs
i would be most grateful

i do not think discussing
that kind of ice cream with me
is his idea of a good time but
i suppose it wouldnt hurt to try
if the time is right and
the topic naturally comes up

[His heart stops when Newt's words lead him to believe that Joaquin had kissed him, and his arms and feet turn to ice for an excruciating moment. But then Newt thankfully clarifies, and Manolo can breathe again...]

he proposed to her
the night she returned from spain
i dont think you can get
any clearer than that

Does he understand asking someone to marry them? I'm not saying he doesn't love Maria or feel something for her, but when he talked to me about me marrying Hermann, it felt more like "this is what you should do because this is what is done, so hurry up and do it because you are failing your social obligations (and if you won't, I will)" - check off a box--not what is right by the individual--even if, upon further consideration, I do very much want to marry Hermann, that is neither here nor there. I'm just saying, personally, it feels a little like Topol should be singing about tradition and the fiddler balancing on the roof, trying not to break his neck.

What WAS the view on marriage you guys were raised with anyway? Sexuality aside.

i dont know if
i understand the question

he bought her a ring
was willing to settle down in
san angel just for her

his way of going about it
probably wasnt the best
its not like i was there to see it
but i think it was at a party
in front of everyone in town

so
yes
that was a thing he did

who is topol?
why he is about to kill himself?

well anyway its true that joaquin
is the more traditional
out of the three of us

honestly it didnt even occur to me
to propose to maria until
joaquin did it first
but it wasnt much of a proposal
compared to his
no ring, i didnt even outright
ask her to marry me
i just wanted her to know
i would love her no matter what
she chose to do with her life

joaquin on the other hand
he is very amibitious
does whatever he sets his mind to
at the same time he is very sensitive to
other peoples expectations of him
he hates disappointing those he respects
and marias father, the general
was very open about wanting joaquin as a son-in-law

i dont know other views of marriage
to compare it to but
its something most people did
either for love or other reasons

generally speaking
if you ate ice cream with someone
outside of wedlock
it was expected that you would
get married to that person
maybe not right away
but soon enough

I see. One of these days I'll actually have a full picture of what happened. I think I'm missing whole chunks of this timeline and the perspectives are skewed by the storyteller.

That aside... Forget Topol. I probably can't even find that movie-musical here. Maybe I'll explain the opening number to you later.

Man it must suck to be Joaquin. He has a knack for inspiring people to sort-of-but-not-actually-propose to the object of his affection.

i dont know how much
you know about it but
its a long confusing story
joaquin and i both did things
we arent proud of and
our friend was caught in the middle

maybe i will tell you sometime
just not over the texts
my hand would start to hurt
from pushing all the buttons

if topol involves music
then i will probably like to
hear about it later

you proposed to dr. gottlieb
because of something joaquin did?

Fair enough, dude. And as a master of things I'm not proud of doing, you are not being judged. I know some of Joaquin's part of that anyway and... Yeah. You can lay the complicated story on me when you're ready.

Proposed is a strong word. I asked his opinion on marriage and weddings, and related things. And a consensus was reached that I would like very much to spend the rest of my life with him, come hell or high water, and he accepted that. And has no plans to leave, he says. That was the result of Joaquin's actions.

When I actually sort of proposed but didn't, Hermann told me it was too soon. So there's that, but that's not Joaquin's fault. I screwed that one up on my own.

i dont know what we did
to have good people like you and dr. gottlieb
look after us but thank you
very much for the offer

ive never told anyone
the entire story before
i didnt even completely understand
that i did a very selfish thing
until another import told me
my actions were not normal

so maybe it would be good
for me and my relationships with
the important people in my life
to talk about it sometime

i am happy to hear that
you and dr. gottlieb
are able to talk about the future
its okay if its too soon for marriage
what matters is you agree to
stand by each other
come hell or high water, as you say

the ring is just a symbol
a formality
important because of what it stands for
not because its on your finger
or how much it costs

you belong to each other
but neither of you own the other

ic contact

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject