coriander

Trent has gotten far in life by keeping quiet and without question, but the funeral of a distant uncle unravels glimpses of his silence's consequence. (a short story for pride month)

Funerals aren’t supposed to be cheery, I know that. There was definitely not going to be any cake and ice cream situated at the foot of Uncle Andy’s grave pit. Still, the only other funeral I’d been to wasn’t nearly as dismal. I questioned why I even came for just a second. My dad did make a bright comment that my cousin’s wife June was going to make her (apparently) famous potatoes for the wake. When I asked why we eat after a funeral, Dad gave me a sort of cloudy look, probably because t

Twenty years ago “...what the fuck, Omar!” “‘Ey, not so loud. He’s still sleeping.” Sebastian woke up again. What time was it? Why was he on the couch? With a big guitar in his hands… oh! Right, Dad was teaching him to play bass. Stevie Wonder. The living room was now dark-- the celestial turquoise glow from the television snuffed and shuttered away. The only light came from the kitchen. Sebastian rubbed his eyes, looking for the source of the voices. Dad was nearb

March 16th, 1:50AM Palms Boulevard, Sebastian realized, was familiar to him. Emile lived not too far off of it. As they only ever dated in secret, they’d only ever hang out at Emile’s place. Several times, Emile suggested that going back to Sebastian’s wouldn’t have been a big deal since Naveen already knew Emile, but he was far too afraid of risking any drawn conclusions. Perhaps it was sleep deprivation that made Sebastian think calling Emile was a good idea. It hardly even qualified

in a previous few chapters, it’s established Sebastian has a closely-kept interest in the muppets. his mom calls him “muppet” for a reason in the chapter “sisters,” chapter 8. as seen in the flashback in chapter four, “colorblind,” it’s even a nickname she gave him during childhood. also in that chapter, his ringtone for his mother is a song from Sesame Street (same puppetry company, jim henson). it’s not a huge plot point, but we will see this again later. i am glad you caught onto it, it’s a fun quirk. considering he isn’t working much at the moment, he has nothing but time on his hands so i thought it would be an apt little thing to show he is wasting his time going on YouTube deep dives.

March 15th, 8:09PM Sebastian felt restless this week. He didn’t realize how much he relied on work to provide a schedule, a routine, in his life. Tuesday he had no Miles to drag him out in the studio, so he just stayed home and worked on the digital files of his other smaller clients. Then Wednesday came and went. Then Thursday. Gone, too. At least he wasn’t borderline-comatose and moping like he was post-breakup with Emile. But finally, Friday came along. For once, Sebastian was

i think you'll find water is, and even already has shown up as, an interesting motif for Sebastian

March 11th, 6:36PM Naveen said no. So the two smoked a bowl. The early-March sunset had already passed by the time Sebastian had convinced Naveen to join him in his idea of a relaxing activity. Well, weed usually was Sebastian’s solution for “relaxing,” but there was this random urge to offer something he hadn’t done in a long time filling his lungs just after Naveen broke down in front of him— he coughed it up like poisonous fluid: “Let me take you to the beach.” Now, there

March 11th, 10:02AM This was exactly the day Sebastian was avoiding. This was going to be one of those awkward stories where he would want to be angry with Miles. He made out with Emile-- in front of him. He was his fucking ex-boyfriend for not-even-a-page-turn-of-a-calendar! That was the most frustrating part; Miles could just do that. Miles had that power in him that allowed him permission to just go forward and charm guys like that, whether they be Emile or someone else equally han

March 10th, 11:45PM “...inevitable. What is wrong with acknowledging what would happen!” “This isn’t even something we should be talking about so soon!” “You were the one who brought it up!” “Yeah! But I didn’t mean to turn it into a whole discussion!” “Pretty sure this has gone way past ‘discussion,’ Audrey!” “You were the one who brought up your dad like—” “Oh you’re not about to make that your problem!” “You know what, forget it. Right. This is my fault

and that's one of my issues with the chapter haha. i didn't feel like "a few days earlier" in the line before it did enough but i couldn't figure out what to put instead. that's exactly what i'm gonna do.

March 9th, 10:57AM Sebastian’s sister Stefani, though Sebastian inadvertently gifted her the nickname “Stef” early on, had apparently moved out to Anaheim. “Apparently” because they’d been rather estranged for eight years until around the start of the previous autumn, and Sebastian was still struggling to catch up with her life six months later. He stomached his anxieties from the night before and drove himself to the “Pop-Over Place,” a quaint brunch spot Stef had chosen that was swal

March 8th, 7:15PM The faint smell of turmeric and curry welcomed Miles and Sebastian in the apartment. “Mmm,” Miles hummed to himself, placing his record and paper bag of edibles by the door, “Who’s been cooking?” “No one! Just take-out!” a familiar female voice called from the living room. There on the couch sat Audrey and Naveen, with mostly-empty bowls of Indian food. Naveen had his arm around Audrey’s shoulder, and Audrey, who was now quarter-turned to face Sebastian and

something that I hope to keep relevant in this story is Sebastian’s lack of awareness of the world. I have plans to more directly address this in a future chapter, but Sebastian has chosen to keep himself removed from everything and everyone for multiple reasons. he has a lot of expectations of how the world works, through movies, tv, music, the media he’s consumed. now, he’s finally actually entering it — he’s taking risks. but where these expectations will fare compared to how these risks turn out is to come in later chapters. as for music stuff, i would like to think you won’t need to understand anything about it to enjoy the story. it’s just an added layer of frosting if you do. these songs all have meaning to each chapter, some even have meaning to what will happen later — chapter four’s song choice is a very good example of that. but i reiterate, getting this story’s narrative is not contingent on getting the music, especially to the extent of how many damn layers I feel Concrete had to this chapter and to this whole story.

March 8th 4:00PM Work with Miles was progressing slowly but surely. When in the recording booth, it was self-evident Miles was in his comfort zone. Sebastian watched him groove and shuffle his body behind the microphone more than he was watching the audio levels like he was supposed to. He looked much like how Sebastian imagined rock stars of years past would when they were recording. Sebastian had gotten to a stage with him where the two would start bickering over how songs should sound, a

March 5th, 8:45AM Sebastian dreamed he was drowning. He was trapped in a pit with walls slick as ice, but he tried to claw up them anyway. It wouldn’t have mattered; a comically large iron ball and chain tethered him to the ground. His skin was wet and cold. Faceless people above him were pouring water down the hole. First his feet were gone to the pool forming beneath him. Then it rose to his knees. His stomach. It tickled the tops of his armpits, then clasped around the whole of neck. Sti

March 4th 5:02PM Audrey had requested to meet at a bar in North Hollywood. Normally, a drive from Glendale to NoHo would take maybe fifteen minutes, but Sebastian wasn’t having a normal travel day. Los Angeles traffic was notorious for being as enjoyable as a root canal. On the wrong day, it could take a full episode of Ted Lasso just to get from one interstate exit to the next; Sebastian knew this, as he’d once done it. Today was one of those wrong days, perhaps because it was Monday,

March 4th, 9:56 AM Sebastian’s official job title was just “music producer” but one could easily find his name credited for writing and many other parts of the songs he’d worked on. Today was the start of a new project. Technically there was no regular schedule Sebastian worked by— no 9-5, no clock-in and clock-out situation, unless he were facing a fast-approaching deadline for a production project. However, he made it a point to have his weekends kept as time to himself. Now, it was

thank you again for your support. Sebastian is a character i've had in my pocket for a few years now but had been unable to figure out where his place in my writing could be. of course, he has always been an extension of myself.

March 2nd, 8:01PM Sebastian had to admit that it was high time to change out of the t-shirt, boxer-briefs, and comforter-shroud he’d been rocking for his totally justified and not all dramatic 24 hours of sulking. He had to be dressed better than that to face the dreaded “inevitable.” The “inevitable” was what would follow Audrey’s plan for Sebastian’s night. This story had played out a thousand times on screen -- Sebastian knew this, because he’d probably watched them all. The s

thank you. i try to write for what i'd like to see, and write what i feel seen by. no shade to them, but there's little substance i connect to in those "hormone charged teenager" stories you mentioned so i took it upon myself to show something different 🤭

March 2nd, 7:33PM Sebastian Santos imploded. He wrapped his comforter over him and rolled in his bed, burrito-ing himself in his blanket. On his side, facing away from the window, he stared through the blackness of his bedroom… The last hints of sunlight had now fully dissipated and, given his inability to leave his bed for the last six hours, he hadn’t turned on his bedroom lights for the incoming night. Now that the dark had come upon the city, it intruded in the room and shroud

Young music producer Sebastian Santos has operated on his own for as long as he can remember. He has found comfort in doing things for himself. However, one by one, the few relationships he has in his life begin to shift, starting with his first heartbreak, and now he must find a way to play on.