carmy rodriguez

Ah, caught a glimpse of the action Since that day, I felt the passion Don't just talk, go make it happen Three points in the clutch, John Paxson But I'm maxing everything out, damn And the same doubts Keep weighing on my brain

[daikunart]

[carmyrodriguez]

at danny's acknolwedgement, carmy just shrugged. he knew, and there were days where it haunted him until he closed his eyes at night, but she didn't need to know all that. besides, the kindness in her tone let him rest a little easier here and now. she'd seen something behind those words and chose not to dig deeper. another point in the this girl kind of rocks column. the interaction was young, but carmy had to admit, danny was racking the points up quickly.

"culinary olympics sounds kind of terrifying. the fire power alone," he said, pulling his knees to his chest and forming a table with his arms to rest his head on, turning it to give her his full attention. not that it was hard. carmelo had always loved watching people talk about the things they loved. it brought something out in a person, something sacred. the things someone truly loved, the hard-won passions that they developed on their own, that anchored them when the flimsy charade of things-you-like-because-people-you-like-like-them had long since flitted away on the wind? that was the stuff he lived for.

"sounds like you're more than a hobbyist, there," he added, but left it open, more of a door for her to walk through than a closed statement. if she wanted to keep talking about it, he was more than happy to continue listening. hell, he might even learn something, as he wasn't much of a whiz in the kitchen himself.

carmy waved off the offer of aloe gently. "nah, it's all good for now. i appreciate it, though," he added with a soft nod. "gotta admit, i don't know many people who just carry aloe around."

and, just like that, it was his turn to have that internal shine pull through. yes. she got it. or at least had her own point of reference strong enough to connect the dots. surfing was like church to him, the waves his own religion. there were times when his life was truly in shambles (so, pretty frequently over the last year or so if he was being honest) where the only thing that could keep him from losing himself to the spiral was the focus a stormy wave required, the necessity of being fully present to beat the barrel to the end.

"yeah, yes!" he said excitedly, "like don't get me wrong, i love a good nature walk or a mountain hike but this is just. there's no halfway. you have to fully be there, you have to be willing to give up as much control as you're trying to take or you're gonna have a bad time. makes me feel actually connected to everything." aaaaand now he was rambling. he flushed a little and looked down at the sand with a small shrug. "it's just a cool feeling, is all."

[liadanashford]

To anyone who didn't know her, she probably sounded like a madwoman every time the conversation even brushed up against the topic of food. A frenzy of expertise and delight took hold of every inch of her, lightning in a bottle, until it crept out of each word, every fingertip, anywhere it could make waves. But his posture changed - knees in, arms up, head down, turned, seeing her - and a balm spread over her worried heart. A rare early investment, seemingly not only in what she had to say, but her experience of it. Most people brushed it off as might as well be speaking another language, because she was - but the light that shone in his eyes seemed to say I'd like to be bilingual.

His joke earned a chuckle, and she shook some fallen ends of hair out of her eyes, setting the book down beside her. "It's the highest accolade a chef could hope for," she nodded. "Competition's intense. Only the best of the best even get to that level, let alone compete. It's a global cuisine phenomenon." In a similar way, Danny found herself curling up, heels in, arms low, resting her cheek on her knees to keep the sunlight from interrupting her gaze on him. "Mm-hmm. I'm a chef."

When he dismissed the offer, she sent him a flattened look through the shelf of her brow, skeptical but tolerant. She dug through the pouch in her bag anyway, and set it between them, a silent open offer. "Comes from being graced thirty years with the most Anglo complexion on the planet."

The universe projected through his eyes all at once. As if the sun, moon, and gods conjoined to overtake his nervous system, an undeniable soul connection to the way he felt about his craft. Instantly, Danny became infected, and turned her whole body toward him without a blip of a thought or touch of indifference. "No, no, don't stop," she chuckled, giving his arm an encouraging tap. "It's not just a cool feeling. That's how I feel in the kitchen. Everything connects on its own when you get into the flow. It's like a tunnel or a wormhole. You understand how the entire bloody cosmos work together because you're out of your conscious head and connected to whatever's up there - and to everyone else, it looks like you've just got the flavors right or plated something perfectly - or, found the right wave, or something."

[carmyrodriguez]

these chance encounters had been so far and few between for him as of late that the raw earnestness of it took him by surprise. he felt like an asshole, really, for even thinking that he was tired of being recognized, tired of wondering what someone new wanted from him, tired of having to zero in on intentions with the speed of a goddamn cheetah. those were just a part of the parcel he'd spend so much of his life working for. but unless danny was incredibly skilled at hiding something, or he'd hit his head hard enough in the wipeout to notice ulterior motives, the ease of this exchange was like gulping in a lungful of fresh air after being forced underwater for a few wave-crashes too many. his entire body felt properly oxygenated again, like the colors of the world around him got just a touch more vibrant.

maybe that was just what happened when two passionate people came to the table open enough to talk about what made the world tilt on its axis for them, but whatever it was, carmelo thought he could get used to it. "what does intense cooking competition look like? i'm just seeing big flames like iron chef style in my mind and somehow i don't think that's quite right," he asked, laughing a little sheepishly at his own lack of grounded knowledge in the area. but somehow he didn't think danny would mind being the one with the lion's share of the knowledge in this arena.

carmy pulled a water bottle from his own bag along with a liquid IV and tore open the small pouch, dumping the powder into the bottle while she set the aloe between them. he nearly choked on the small cloud of powder that plumed from the top of his water bottle with laughter at her comment on complexion, knowing his deeper skintone was even more apparent in the depths of summer like this. "that is....definitely a problem i've avoided," he said, wiping a mirthful tear from his eye.

"yes!" he agreed emphatically again, finding a ballooning feeling in his chest at her encouragement to continue. he was far too used to editing himself for others, for the press, per his publicist's request. he couldn't quite recall the last time his bubbling love for the way he believed everyone was part of the same cosmic ecosystem in a tangible way was desired. or, maybe he could, but the way it had ended made him want to forget. "it's just so easy to get caught up in a bunch of stuff that doesn't matter. and i realize i sound like a huge stoner, which i'm not, nothing against it just can't take much of the stuff myself, but that connection is. like. what it's all about. it's the only thing that really matters, at the end of the day. and i wish it wasn't so easy to lose."

[carmyrodriguez]

As a bit of a horror movie buff himself, Carmy couldn't help but laugh at Sarah's fall movie choice, but he couldn't fault her for it, either. Addams Family was a classic. "The things I would do for Morticia's sense of confidence," he said shaking his head. "And honestly, who doesn't want a man that worships you the way Gomez does?"

"There's no one to cover for you or anything?" he asked, tilting his head to the side like a curious puppy. He had been in the film industry for so long he had next to no idea how other professions operated, but dear god, he hoped the conditions weren't so bad in corporate america that someone couldn't even use the restroom if they needed. "Was there like, a theme with the calls being so hectic or just one of those days?"

[rainbowxsouls]

"Right? Like he's so loving and supportive and adventurous. It must be so nice to have someone so devoted to you. I wish I could make a man go crazy by speaking Yiddish. I actually know Yiddish, so I could give him multiple sentences!" Maybe she could throw a Halloween party, invite everyone over and try watching a real scary movie.

"No, I'm the only receptionist, since it's a smaller firm. We don't get enough calls to need another. Basically we're handling a large case with multiple plaintiffs, like a class action thing, so everyone was calling for updates. Eventually, I answered the same question so many times, I didn't have to transfer to anyone, I could just tell them and end the call faster."

[carmyrodriguez]

"you know yiddish?! i thought it was a dead language!" he laughed, the mental image of sweet, sunshiney sarah tossing a paragraph of yiddish at a deeply gothic man in a double-breasted suit rocking a pencil mustache like no one had any right to rock a pencil mustache searing into his brain.

"like one of those things where kellogg's gives everyone $3.42 from an expired batch of corn flakes from seventeen years ago?" carmy had gotten little postcards in his mailbox on occasion touting that he was entitled to compensation from a giant corporation for some class action lawsuit that had been filed, but he always kind of thought that was spam mail. like if he actually tried to obtain his $3.42 he would end up accidentally wiring all his savings to an account in the cayman islands or something. "they need to hire you some back up, that is crazy! or promote you, at least!"

[wb-javiacosta]

Closed Starter: @carmyrodriguez Location: Coral Cove Beach

Javi strolled along the beach, a bag slung over his shoulder and his board tucked under his arm, his bare feet sinking into the soft, warm sand. Surfing was a passion of his, and lately, he had been prioritizing it over gym workouts whenever he found the time. In the early morning hours, or Dawn Patrol as it was called, Javi believed it was the perfect time to catch some waves during the summer, as there were fewer beachgoers to compete with, and the day's heat hadn't yet peaked. He cherished these moments, where the calmness of the ocean matched the serenity of the morning.

He set his bag down in a chosen spot and embedded his board into the sand. His bag was filled with the standard gear for surfing: a towel, boardshorts, a ding repair kit, wax, and a first aid kit. Additionally, it housed his diabetes essentials, such as extra Omnipods, Dexcoms, beverages, and snacks. The activity of surfing would likely lower his blood sugar, so Javi made it a point to be well-prepared, just like he was during his gym workouts.

For a brief moment, he gazed at the horizon, where the sun was ascending in the sky, painting a stunning scene. Javier pulled out his phone and snapped a photo. Thinking he heard footsteps approaching, he turned around and welcomed Carmy with a broad smile. "¿Hola, qué tal?" His Spanish wasn't as fluent as his English or Portuguese, but he had a grasp of conversational Spanish.

[carmyrodriguez]

it was probably borderline insane, but lately carmelo had been rather fond of the hours before the sun truly rose. when the sky wasn't dark, but wasn't fully lit up yet, either. dawn, but not quite. a sort of in-between that felt, safe some how. like a mystic barrier kept him free from some of his more persistent worries. so when javi had suggested a morning sesh the previous day, carmy had been more than happy to agree.

a board, the ocean, and some conversation with someone who loved the water as much as he did, and who had yet to exist in his world with a sneaking ulterior motive? count him all the way in. he'd packed up that morning and headed beachside with his gear, a thermos of yerba mate, and that kind of sparkling feeling of promise that existed at the start of a day, before anything had come into view to force a more pessimistic outlook.

he grinned at his friend, reaching out an arm to pull him into a brief embrace. "he estado bien, no me puedo quejar. ¿y tú? ¿listo para salir?" he dropped his own bag and board to reach down and grab a few preparatory things out and pull on the legs of his wetsuit.

[carmyrodriguez]

Fall was a superior season. Some of the best surf of the year came about in early fall, the change in current temperatures with the seasons made for some of the sickest swells. Surf capabilities aside, fall meant long sleeves and layers and scarves and anything that gave him a better chance at going about his daily life unnoticed was up there on the list of positives in his mind.

"Oh my god yes, a good horror movie is kind of best. Even if I have to watch some of it through my fingers. What's your favorite?" he asked, returning his own tastebuds to the sweet-tart tropical bliss of his chosen drink. "I promise not to call for your public stoning so long as you promise not to call for mine for being the total Neanderthal who took this long to ask why YOUR day was crazy."

[rainbowxsouls]

"Oh, well I was going to say The Addams Family. So not exactly scary, though it's definitely spooky. Oooohhhh!" Sarah said, wiggling her fingers. She loved the Halloween season, but usually had to look for her movies in the kid's section. Though there were a few that she could handle. Like the Universal Monsters.

"It's alright, we were talking about something else. I'm not mad you got distracted for a moment. My day was crazy mostly because of the phones. I don't know what was going on, but the calls never seemed to stop. I could barely find time to go to the bathroom!"

[carmyrodriguez]

As a bit of a horror movie buff himself, Carmy couldn't help but laugh at Sarah's fall movie choice, but he couldn't fault her for it, either. Addams Family was a classic. "The things I would do for Morticia's sense of confidence," he said shaking his head. "And honestly, who doesn't want a man that worships you the way Gomez does?"

"There's no one to cover for you or anything?" he asked, tilting his head to the side like a curious puppy. He had been in the film industry for so long he had next to no idea how other professions operated, but dear god, he hoped the conditions weren't so bad in corporate america that someone couldn't even use the restroom if they needed. "Was there like, a theme with the calls being so hectic or just one of those days?"

[carmyrodriguez]

"who's got the time" was a question carmy wished he did not have an unfortunate and hope-in-humanity-diminishing list of answers to, but life in the spotlight had taught him that far too many people had the time, and then some, and the ones with time to spare seemed offensively skilled at finding you on your worst days. it may have seemed like nothing to her, having not filmed his sorry ass getting handed to himself courtesy of mother nature herself, but it meant a lot to him all the same. "you'd be surprised," was all he said with a sad-but-true shake of his head followed quickly by a it-is-what-it-is shrug that was a practiced disarming combination he'd concocted as a survival instinct from years on talk shows and youtube interviews.

"what are you reading? or, pretending to read, at least?" he asked, his tone lightening to the playful timbre typically reserved for those he knew already. there was something about danny that made it easy to feel at ease. "if you don't mind me asking." probably, it was just the knowledge that she did not have incriminating footage on her phone paired with the fact that she was making kind, normal conversation with him rather than asking for a selfie or finding ways to namedrop his latest project in search of identity confirmation.

"if it helps, i was also genuinely worried for a minute there. thankfully, it seems like i avoided major injury. a little rug burn from the leash and probably a couple bruises heading my way tomorrow, but i think it looked a lot worse than it was. hopefully." he offered. did it make sense for him to comfort her when he was the one who'd inhaled a good half gallon of sea water not fifteen minutes ago? no, of course not, but that was. well, that was just carmy. "hobbyist, definitely just a hobbyist. i dunno, i've always kind of loved the way surfing forces you out of your head and makes you take the whole commune with nature thing really seriously."

[liadanashford]

Danny cocked her head at the seemingly throwaway comment - she'd be surprised. It led her to believe his experience ran deep, unseen tunnels, like an ant farm, underneath the surface of the remark. A sympathetic wrinkle formed between her brow. "Sounds like you know," she passed along, as an olive branch, an open palm.

To his question - an expert pivot away from the first topic, but one she was happy to take with full force - she held up the hefty volume, oversized and well-worn, as if it'd been thumbed through dozens of times and loved on each page. "Bocuse," she replied with a high-spirited, sparkle-eyed grin, "Christophe Magnette. It goes through the entire professional career of Chef Paul Bocuse, the founder of the Bocuse d'Or. It's, like, the culinary olympics. Plus it's got some forty of his favorite recipes - I've tried all of them at least three times up til now."

His reassurance made a sound come out of her that crossed between a laugh and a groan, both amused and sad. "Well thank goodness you've already taken inventory of the damage," she chuckled, eyes taking a quick scan of him and spotting the beginnings of a prickly red-brown rash, the perpetrator still wrapped around his ankle. "I've got some aloe if that might help, if it's burning."

Danny lifted her chin in understanding, her eyes brightening some. Kindred spirits always seemed to stumble together, rather than clash or saunter. A messy two-step of fate, a conversation about the oneness of earth nature and human nature falling into her lap. "I never thought of it like that - forcing you into the relationship with nature out of sheer ferocity. I kind of bloody love that."

[carmyrodriguez]

at danny's acknolwedgement, carmy just shrugged. he knew, and there were days where it haunted him until he closed his eyes at night, but she didn't need to know all that. besides, the kindness in her tone let him rest a little easier here and now. she'd seen something behind those words and chose not to dig deeper. another point in the this girl kind of rocks column. the interaction was young, but carmy had to admit, danny was racking the points up quickly.

"culinary olympics sounds kind of terrifying. the fire power alone," he said, pulling his knees to his chest and forming a table with his arms to rest his head on, turning it to give her his full attention. not that it was hard. carmelo had always loved watching people talk about the things they loved. it brought something out in a person, something sacred. the things someone truly loved, the hard-won passions that they developed on their own, that anchored them when the flimsy charade of things-you-like-because-people-you-like-like-them had long since flitted away on the wind? that was the stuff he lived for.

"sounds like you're more than a hobbyist, there," he added, but left it open, more of a door for her to walk through than a closed statement. if she wanted to keep talking about it, he was more than happy to continue listening. hell, he might even learn something, as he wasn't much of a whiz in the kitchen himself.

carmy waved off the offer of aloe gently. "nah, it's all good for now. i appreciate it, though," he added with a soft nod. "gotta admit, i don't know many people who just carry aloe around."

and, just like that, it was his turn to have that internal shine pull through. yes. she got it. or at least had her own point of reference strong enough to connect the dots. surfing was like church to him, the waves his own religion. there were times when his life was truly in shambles (so, pretty frequently over the last year or so if he was being honest) where the only thing that could keep him from losing himself to the spiral was the focus a stormy wave required, the necessity of being fully present to beat the barrel to the end.

"yeah, yes!" he said excitedly, "like don't get me wrong, i love a good nature walk or a mountain hike but this is just. there's no halfway. you have to fully be there, you have to be willing to give up as much control as you're trying to take or you're gonna have a bad time. makes me feel actually connected to everything." aaaaand now he was rambling. he flushed a little and looked down at the sand with a small shrug. "it's just a cool feeling, is all."

[carmyrodriguez]

Location | The Beach Open Starter | @windsorbaystarters

carmy righted himself in the water, tugging himself back to his board by way of his still-attached leash and grabbed hold of the resin, pulling himself up to straddle his trusty board, splaying his hands in front of him on the cream-and-navy-colored surface. he shook his head, sending droplets flinging in a 360-degree halo from the ends of his dark curls. the solid surface of the board beneath his fingertips helped steady his nerves after the absolutely monumental wipeout he'd just experienced.

after a minute of letting himself sway with the undulating ocean and regaining his understanding of up and down, he paddled back to the shore, unhooking his ankle from the leash and hoisting the board under his arm, the soft-warm-staticky grains of sand attaching themselves to his wet feet as he scoped for a proper place to take a rest and enjoy the morning warming-but-not-oppressively-hot sun's rays before his day really needed to get underway. he spotted a familiar face along the shore and made his way over. "please tell me you didn't see that embarrassing spill," he said, setting his board down and lowering himself to the sand beside it.

[sebasticnsteele]

Sebastian stayed perched on his beach towel as he took in the views around him. The tranquil sound of crashing waves clashing with caws of the nearby seagulls offered a calming atmosphere. It was pretty much a perfect beach day, which meant it was also the best time to people watch. His gaze floated from a group of friends bopping a volleyball back and forth to a small family that was spending quality time together building a sand castle. His gaze flicked to the water, taking note of the various people riding the waves with both their bodies and surf boards. He couldn't help but notice someone in the water clumsily struggle with their board for a moment. It wasn't until the person made their way out of the water and drew nearer, that Sebastian recognized just who it was. "Would you rather me lie to you?" Sebastian teased with a chuckle as he welcomed the familiar presence joining him. "Honestly you're a hell of a lot better than what I'd be doing if I got out there."

[carmyrodriguez]

at fully taking in sebastian's presence, carmy sprawled out on the sand, shielding his eyes against the sun's bright rays with the bend of his elbow. "i dunno. you're a great actor, but not a very good liar, so i'd probably see through it anyway," he replied, knocking his foot against the side of sebastian's leg playfully. "i fudged the kick out and it all kind of went south from there. aw, well, i'll assess the damage and try again tomorrow if i'm not too bruised."

after a moment of centering himself, he propped himself up on his elbows, glancing up at his friend. "at least tell me the paps aren't out this early?" he asked with a heavy sigh. "i do not need that plastered all over the internet right now."

[carmyrodriguez]

carmy's shoulders visibly slumped with relief when the young woman admitted that the video he'd imagined horror headlines about and had already ticked his blood pressure up a couple of points did not, in fact, exist at all.

"ohmygodthankyou," he said in a rush, resisting the urge to lay himself down and just become one with the sand entirely. "seriously, you have no idea how great that is to hear. bless you for being one of the few humans left that don't constantly have their phone cameras on in the name of 'capturing content.'"

not that carmelo really had much room to talk. he made his living in front of cameras (albeit, typically ones whose price outpaced the latest iphone by at least a measure of 10). but influencing as a career path had done nothing but make his life more difficult over the last handful of years, and especially since the breakup. he didn't personally understand the fascination people seemed to have with dissecting the heartbreak of others and seeing someone's worst days played out in grainy, far-away shots made with cheap, amazon-ordered telephoto phone lens attachments, but even if he had understood that kind of warped schadenfreude, his attitude toward it would have significantly cooled in the last 12 months.

"well, danny, nice to meet a fellow nickname-preferrer," he said, offering a soft smile as his heart rate returned to its normal state. glancing back at the ocean from whence he'd come, he winced a little. "was it really that gnarly?"

[liadanashford]

His dramatics earned him another hearty laugh, and Danny shook her head with a throwaway toss of a hand, as if discarding the notion altogether. "Who's got the time? I'm a millennial, we're not as lifeless without our phones glued to our palms. Actually, I was giving my eyes a rest from staring at a book I haven't so much as taken a decent bite out of yet, so you were doing me a favor."

Were she at home, the English politeness disease would have taken over, and she would have sent him off with some sort of stupid, self-deprecating comment like I'm sure your girlfriend is wanting to know you're okay after that wipeout, but American culture was different. Strangers hung about for conversation. They could make friends with fenceposts, a trait she lovingly admired beneath her otherwise buttoned stoicism in public. It was only ever family or dear friends who saw the collar flipped, the shirt untucked, the stains and smears and tears of her full persona.

"Only way to fly, babes." The gentle smile returned to him like the easy lob of a tennis ball arcing over the net. In reply, her mouth shrugged, and she shook her head. "Naw. Though you did disappear for what felt like more than a few beats. I was genuinely worried for half a second." Danny jutted her chin toward his surfboard. "Hobbyist or something more concrete?"

[carmyrodriguez]

"who's got the time" was a question carmy wished he did not have an unfortunate and hope-in-humanity-diminishing list of answers to, but life in the spotlight had taught him that far too many people had the time, and then some, and the ones with time to spare seemed offensively skilled at finding you on your worst days. it may have seemed like nothing to her, having not filmed his sorry ass getting handed to himself courtesy of mother nature herself, but it meant a lot to him all the same. "you'd be surprised," was all he said with a sad-but-true shake of his head followed quickly by a it-is-what-it-is shrug that was a practiced disarming combination he'd concocted as a survival instinct from years on talk shows and youtube interviews.

"what are you reading? or, pretending to read, at least?" he asked, his tone lightening to the playful timbre typically reserved for those he knew already. there was something about danny that made it easy to feel at ease. "if you don't mind me asking." probably, it was just the knowledge that she did not have incriminating footage on her phone paired with the fact that she was making kind, normal conversation with him rather than asking for a selfie or finding ways to namedrop his latest project in search of identity confirmation.

"if it helps, i was also genuinely worried for a minute there. thankfully, it seems like i avoided major injury. a little rug burn from the leash and probably a couple bruises heading my way tomorrow, but i think it looked a lot worse than it was. hopefully." he offered. did it make sense for him to comfort her when he was the one who'd inhaled a good half gallon of sea water not fifteen minutes ago? no, of course not, but that was. well, that was just carmy. "hobbyist, definitely just a hobbyist. i dunno, i've always kind of loved the way surfing forces you out of your head and makes you take the whole commune with nature thing really seriously."

[carmyrodriguez]

Carmy chuckled at the reminder that their planet was skidding headlong into something akin to another ice age level catastrophic change. He chuckled because the alternative was too depressing to entertain, and they were just trying to have a good time, right? No need to bring his nearly omnipresent existential dread into the equation. “No kidding,” he offered instead, shaking his head ruefully, “Impending climate collapse aside, I’m deeply Team Fall, so hopefully you’re right and the heat wave breaks soon.”

They swapped drinks, and Carmelo couldn’t help but hide a little smirk at the slightly puckered face she made when the tropical fruit flavors hit her palate. He guessed the contrast from the sweetness of her own choice was probably a little jarring, like drinking orange juice directly after brushing your teeth. His experience was a little more forgiving. In his opinion, passion fruit and chocolate paired beautifully, and strawberry was a match made for guava. Sure, all four of the flavors together was a little strange, but going from tart to sweet was always a little less jarring than the opposite. At least to him.

“You’re anti-guava?!” Carmy joked, feigning scandal. “I don’t know if we can be friends with someone who doesn’t appreciate the full spectrum of tropical fruit.”

[rainbowxsouls]

"Ooh yes, I love the fall. Like I think my favorite time of year is spring, but i love a good cozy fall. You can wear cute plaids and watch spooky movies and drink warm coffee and cider. And for us, where we are, we have a long autumn season. So you're in luck." She said, crossing her fingers with him.

"No, I like guava. I'm anti-passionfruit. So still don't appreciate the full spectrum of tropical fruit. Feel free to hate me forever and call for my stoning in the town square." She teased, taking her smoothie back to get the delicious tase of chocolate and strawberry back on her taste buds. "I don't know. Something about it grosses me out. Passionfruit just looks so yellow and pulpy with the seeds inside, it looks yucky to me. Maybe that makes me not like the taste."

[carmyrodriguez]

Fall was a superior season. Some of the best surf of the year came about in early fall, the change in current temperatures with the seasons made for some of the sickest swells. Surf capabilities aside, fall meant long sleeves and layers and scarves and anything that gave him a better chance at going about his daily life unnoticed was up there on the list of positives in his mind.

"Oh my god yes, a good horror movie is kind of best. Even if I have to watch some of it through my fingers. What's your favorite?" he asked, returning his own tastebuds to the sweet-tart tropical bliss of his chosen drink. "I promise not to call for your public stoning so long as you promise not to call for mine for being the total Neanderthal who took this long to ask why YOUR day was crazy."

[carmyrodriguez]

Carmy lifted his passionfruit guava smoothie and tapped the plastic cap against Sarah’s, nodding in wholehearted agreement. “Honestly, when I moved up here I kinda thought I’d get to escape the SoCal summer heat. But woof, today’s been brutal.”

He slid into the plastic bench at a nearby umbrella-ed patio, eyeing the woman’s pink-brown concoction warily. “Mmmm I dunno Sare, yours looks kinda nasty,” he teased kindheartedly, taking a big swig of his own before sliding it across the speckled Formica table to her. “If you promise it’s not poison I’ll take a chance,” he added, chuckling lightly.

[rainbowxsouls]

"Global warming man, it'll get ya. But this isn't that normal, so hopefully it's just a fluke heat wave." She said, squinting out into the sky before sliding her sunglasses on. Pursing her lips in mock annoyance, Sarah slid her smoothie over to him. She took a sip, the fruity flavors nice and tangy. "Not bad. I'm not a big passionfruit person but I like the gauva part. It's tart and juicy." Sarah added, smacking her lips a few times before trading back. Hers did kind of look a like vomit adjacent. But hey, no one would ever steal it from the pick up window.

[carmyrodriguez]

Carmy chuckled at the reminder that their planet was skidding headlong into something akin to another ice age level catastrophic change. He chuckled because the alternative was too depressing to entertain, and they were just trying to have a good time, right? No need to bring his nearly omnipresent existential dread into the equation. “No kidding,” he offered instead, shaking his head ruefully, “Impending climate collapse aside, I’m deeply Team Fall, so hopefully you’re right and the heat wave breaks soon.”

They swapped drinks, and Carmelo couldn’t help but hide a little smirk at the slightly puckered face she made when the tropical fruit flavors hit her palate. He guessed the contrast from the sweetness of her own choice was probably a little jarring, like drinking orange juice directly after brushing your teeth. His experience was a little more forgiving. In his opinion, passion fruit and chocolate paired beautifully, and strawberry was a match made for guava. Sure, all four of the flavors together was a little strange, but going from tart to sweet was always a little less jarring than the opposite. At least to him.

“You’re anti-guava?!” Carmy joked, feigning scandal. “I don’t know if we can be friends with someone who doesn’t appreciate the full spectrum of tropical fruit.”

[rainbowxsouls]

Starter for: Anyone! @windsorbaystarters

Location: The Juicy Details

"Hey, cheers! We definitely deserved this little treat, today has been crazy." Sarah said, taking a sip of her chocolate and strawberry smoothie. Very cool and refreshing. "Wait, let me have a taste of yours. It sounded good when you ordered it. We'll do a little trade."

[carmyrodriguez]

Carmy lifted his passionfruit guava smoothie and tapped the plastic cap against Sarah’s, nodding in wholehearted agreement. “Honestly, when I moved up here I kinda thought I’d get to escape the SoCal summer heat. But woof, today’s been brutal.”

He slid into the plastic bench at a nearby umbrella-ed patio, eyeing the woman’s pink-brown concoction warily. “Mmmm I dunno Sare, yours looks kinda nasty,” he teased kindheartedly, taking a big swig of his own before sliding it across the speckled Formica table to her. “If you promise it’s not poison I’ll take a chance,” he added, chuckling lightly.

[carmyrodriguez]

At the sight of the phone in the woman’s hand, Carmy’s insides tightened. The last thing he needed right now was a meme of him getting absolutely barreled spreading across the internet. He could see the headlines now. “Carmelo Rodriguez’s Surf Life Mirrors His Love Life: A Total Wipeout” or “Netflix Heartthrob (Almost Literally) Drowns His Sorrows.”

He grimaced a little, his hand tentatively raising to the back of his neck. “Damn. I don’t suppose there’s any chance I could talk you into, y’know, not blasting that out to the vast and unforgiving expanse of the internet?” He asked, feeling unbelievably sheepish as he did. “Sorry, that’s a terrible way to introduce myself. It’s just, I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping my head down lately and I was kinda starting to dig the quiet.” Wiping a sandy hand on his board shorts, he stood and offered it to the woman. “But my mother would kill me if I let my first interaction with someone new amount to me just a few breaths away from a bribe. So, um, hi. I’m Carmelo, but honestly pretty much only my mom calls me that. Mostly it’s Carmy.”

@liadanashford

[liadanashford]

All right, so she enjoyed watching a handsome man squirm a bit. His immediate recoil and subsequent pleading, as if his mouth got in the way of what his brain was really trying to say, was nothing short of blundering and adorable. Each line more polite than the last, every chance taken to save his dignity - if she had any of it in her possession to begin with - caused her smile to creep higher and higher, curl more and more inward, until finally she broke into sympathetic laughter, unable to uphold the charade against his duress any longer. "I'm totally kidding, I didn't do that," she giggled, shaking her head and opening her phone's photos to prove it. "I actually was worried you were quite dead in the water and almost hollered at the lifeguard to get his arse in there and pluck you out." To his outstretched hand, Danny lifted herself to her feet and received it, holding on a beat longer than maybe she would normally have if the person in front of her weren't dripping wet and glistening against the sun. "Liadan. Pleasure, Carmy, glad you've not drowned. Likewise, only my mum calls me by my full name. Mostly I go by Danny."

[carmyrodriguez]

carmy's shoulders visibly slumped with relief when the young woman admitted that the video he'd imagined horror headlines about and had already ticked his blood pressure up a couple of points did not, in fact, exist at all.

"ohmygodthankyou," he said in a rush, resisting the urge to lay himself down and just become one with the sand entirely. "seriously, you have no idea how great that is to hear. bless you for being one of the few humans left that don't constantly have their phone cameras on in the name of 'capturing content.'"

not that carmelo really had much room to talk. he made his living in front of cameras (albeit, typically ones whose price outpaced the latest iphone by at least a measure of 10). but influencing as a career path had done nothing but make his life more difficult over the last handful of years, and especially since the breakup. he didn't personally understand the fascination people seemed to have with dissecting the heartbreak of others and seeing someone's worst days played out in grainy, far-away shots made with cheap, amazon-ordered telephoto phone lens attachments, but even if he had understood that kind of warped schadenfreude, his attitude toward it would have significantly cooled in the last 12 months.

"well, danny, nice to meet a fellow nickname-preferrer," he said, offering a soft smile as his heart rate returned to its normal state. glancing back at the ocean from whence he'd come, he winced a little. "was it really that gnarly?"

[carmyrodriguez]

Location | The Beach Open Starter | @windsorbaystarters

carmy righted himself in the water, tugging himself back to his board by way of his still-attached leash and grabbed hold of the resin, pulling himself up to straddle his trusty board, splaying his hands in front of him on the cream-and-navy-colored surface. he shook his head, sending droplets flinging in a 360-degree halo from the ends of his dark curls. the solid surface of the board beneath his fingertips helped steady his nerves after the absolutely monumental wipeout he'd just experienced.

after a minute of letting himself sway with the undulating ocean and regaining his understanding of up and down, he paddled back to the shore, unhooking his ankle from the leash and hoisting the board under his arm, the soft-warm-staticky grains of sand attaching themselves to his wet feet as he scoped for a proper place to take a rest and enjoy the morning warming-but-not-oppressively-hot sun's rays before his day really needed to get underway. he spotted a familiar face along the shore and made his way over. "please tell me you didn't see that embarrassing spill," he said, setting his board down and lowering himself to the sand beside it.

[liadanashford]

At first, she expected the lifeguard to start sprinting toward the water - the area wasn't particularly choppy, but the waves were monumental and seemed ruthless against the swimmers - and the poor soul that was just buried underneath the latest onslaught couldn't possibly have been all right. But a head of thick, dark hair emerged, hands desperate for the board he took with him, and her heart moved from her throat back into her chest. Danny was just about to return to her book, reminded that she had come here for a little color on her morning off, when the sea's soppy victim came trudging up to her, dripping wet and grinning like a boy proud of his death-defying sprawl. A wee grimace found her face, and her shoulders scrunched toward her ears. She held up her phone, a child caught with candy. "And recorded it." A luscious, wry smugness spread her lips into an impish grin. "Sorry."

[carmyrodriguez]

At the sight of the phone in the woman’s hand, Carmy’s insides tightened. The last thing he needed right now was a meme of him getting absolutely barreled spreading across the internet. He could see the headlines now. “Carmelo Rodriguez’s Surf Life Mirrors His Love Life: A Total Wipeout” or “Netflix Heartthrob (Almost Literally) Drowns His Sorrows.”

He grimaced a little, his hand tentatively raising to the back of his neck. “Damn. I don’t suppose there’s any chance I could talk you into, y’know, not blasting that out to the vast and unforgiving expanse of the internet?” He asked, feeling unbelievably sheepish as he did. “Sorry, that’s a terrible way to introduce myself. It’s just, I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping my head down lately and I was kinda starting to dig the quiet.” Wiping a sandy hand on his board shorts, he stood and offered it to the woman. “But my mother would kill me if I let my first interaction with someone new amount to me just a few breaths away from a bribe. So, um, hi. I’m Carmelo, but honestly pretty much only my mom calls me that. Mostly it’s Carmy.”

@liadanashford

[carmyrodriguez]

Location | The Beach Open Starter | @windsorbaystarters

carmy righted himself in the water, tugging himself back to his board by way of his still-attached leash and grabbed hold of the resin, pulling himself up to straddle his trusty board, splaying his hands in front of him on the cream-and-navy-colored surface. he shook his head, sending droplets flinging in a 360-degree halo from the ends of his dark curls. the solid surface of the board beneath his fingertips helped steady his nerves after the absolutely monumental wipeout he'd just experienced.

after a minute of letting himself sway with the undulating ocean and regaining his understanding of up and down, he paddled back to the shore, unhooking his ankle from the leash and hoisting the board under his arm, the soft-warm-staticky grains of sand attaching themselves to his wet feet as he scoped for a proper place to take a rest and enjoy the morning warming-but-not-oppressively-hot sun's rays before his day really needed to get underway. he spotted a familiar face along the shore and made his way over. "please tell me you didn't see that embarrassing spill," he said, setting his board down and lowering himself to the sand beside it.

[carmyrodriguez]

[      ✱      ] is  that  taylor zakhar perez ? no,  that’s  carmelo rodriguez,  a thirty-three year  old  living on the coral coast  who  uses he/him pronouns.  he  currently  works  as  an actor   and  has  been in windsor bay for about a year. he  loves  surfing, being on set, and sharing a meal with someone he cares about and  the  character  he  identifies  with  most  is  finnick o'dair from the hunger games.

⋅˚₊‧ ଳ ‧₊˚ ⋅ the basics ⋅˚₊‧ ଳ ‧₊˚ ⋅

full name : carmelo joseph rodriguez

nickname(s) : carmy, carm, melo

hometown : la mesa, california

languages : english, spanish, some portuguese

gender : cis man

⋅˚₊‧ ଳ ‧₊˚ ⋅ relationships ⋅˚₊‧ ଳ ‧₊˚ ⋅

orientation : bisexual

relationship status : single

family members in play :

none atm

other family :

mia rodriguez (mother); florist

fredrico rodriguez (father); investment banker

juliana rodriguez (younger sister); request coming soon!

⋅˚₊‧ ଳ ‧₊˚ ⋅ history ⋅˚₊‧ ଳ ‧₊˚ ⋅

[daikunart]

GQ China | TZP

[daikunart]