Melanie Ernestina

A bare stage. Slowly, a single pool of light to the far left side lights up. It is a perfect circle. Gradually, the intensity of the light brightens, threatening to blind us for a moment until it dims down to tolerance. We wait for a minute until a second pool of light comes up in line with the first on the right side of the stage. This does the same as the first light, brightening with much intensity but then returns to tolerance. Finally, the last pool of light glows in between the others far upstage and center, to reveal the silhouette of A NAKED MAN standing in a tub of water. His back is turned to us. The NAKED MAN can be a father, a brother, a lover, a rapist, or a photographer. We don’t know. What we do know is that the light he is in doesn’t get brighter. It just obeys the laws of darkness, and is barely lit, leaving the man in an uncomfortable night. From stage left, A GIRL walks in backwards, holding an empty leash in her left hand and a basket in the other. She seems to be looking for something, or searching for someone—perhaps the animal that belongs on the leash, or the food that belongs in the basket. This too, we do not know. What we do know is that the basket is white, and the leash is white with red. Both were made to be white, but a crimson design lives on the collar of the leash. The crimson is blood. A GIRL steps into the first stage left pool of light, and blinks eight times in an attempt to clear her vision. She inhales deeply. The sound of her inhale is magnified, and the tiny breath can be heard from six directions. A DRUNK enters from upstage, passes the NAKED MAN, and joins the GIRL, dressed in an elegant evening gown made of green silk. Her wet hair hangs on her cheeks, and she appears to be very pregnant, stretching the delicate fabric too thin around her swollen belly. The two speak.

Premiering on September 5, and with already 25+ million views, the "Old Town Road" top-charting artist Lil Nas X released the much-anticipated video for his song, "Panini."

They don’t get what you’re trying to say,

If you can't already tell, this is not an article in favor of the HBO series and no, ANDREW ALVAREZ (the boyfriend), I do not dislike it just because it is popular.

Let me first start off by saying, because my boyfriend is gonna feel some type of way if I don't, that I was not immediately sold on this show from the first three episodes. The beginning formula felt wrong. Like, yeah, it was a cute show and it had a POC cast that I'm always happy to see. But it was just a little odd at first because it has this weird Nickelodeon/Degrassi vibe. Like, it's too adult to be on regular television but it felt like Dan Schnieder from Nickelodeon had produced it. (Which he doesn't need to do anything involving children ever again.) Luckily, Dan's hands are nowhere near this project, but Eddie Gonzales and his team are heading this one up. Eventually, once we got past these episodes, the tone of the show began to shift and finally settle into a more mature script that allowed me to continue watching.

There was something in his kiss that told me that it would be our last. It would be the last time that we lie in bed together like this, his hand on the smalls of my back, my head resting delicately on his chest, his heartbeat echoing in my right ear. He breathed calmly. I sometimes tried to match my breaths with his. I couldn’t. His tranquility was far from mine.