Independent Will Graham RP blog, interpretation of both television and book characterizations.
I won't pretend to know exactly what I'm doing.
But I kind of know what I'm doing.
Ye.
drhanniballecter this is your fault
Cool squirrel!
Glad to hear you're settling in Baltimore alright. What does Beth do for a living, if you don't mind me asking?
- đ§ˇ
// ooc: I just watched Adam the movie the other day and I have so many feelings about it. Once again I applaud you on your amazingly canon-aligned depiction!!! Also p.s. my inbox at @safetypin-non is always open ^_^
Isnât he just?
At first, I suspected he might have rabies because he was unusually receptive for a wild animal. But then I realized he was probably already used to being around people. I wished I had something to feed him, but unfortunately, I only had pastries with me which you should never give to squirrels or ducks, for that matter. A lot of people make the mistake of feeding bread to ducks, even though it can ultimately be harmfulâeven deadlyâfor them. If you really want to give them a treat, you should offer peas instead.
And Beth is a teacher.
///thank u sm sweetheart! means a lot considering Iâve never done anything quite like this before. definitely let me know what you thought of the movie :)
I havenât had the chance to look for raccoons yet, but there are squirrels in a park nearby.
I donât like the filter Beth put on this picture, but the squirrel was fascinating.
Best of luck with the move, and don't forget to breathe!! I know moving can be enervating, and it's tempting to just shut everything off. I make that mistake sometimes, so you're not alone. You have a great group of friends, and you're a wonderful person, Adam! I hope you have a really good rest of your day. :)
This message reminded me of someone I know..
Although itâs not groundbreaking, youâre rightâbreathing is something I have to do more intentionally. Thank you for your words. I feel a lot warmer around my heart now, in the metaphorical sense.
I hope you have a nice day or night!, depending on where you live.
Hey Adam! Congrats on the new job and move to Baltimore. I think a change of scenery from the noise and excitement of NYC will be a bit less chaotic.
As a reminder, I'm here for ya. I know I'm not involved, not trying to be, but I'm here. People shouldn't pity you. But they also shouldn't walk all over you. I'm proud of you for setting those boundaries.
Never compromise your wellbeing, ever.
- đ§ˇ
Hello,
Thank you for your message.I mean that sincerely. I think youâre right about the noise. New York has been too much for me ever since my Dad died, though I got used to the overstimulation. Or I thought I did.
Baltimore will be different. Not necessarily quieter, but..slower, maybe. Which might be good for me.
I appreciate the sentiment. I understand your concern. But sometimes things appear different from the outside. Iâm doing what feels manageable for me at the moment. And that has to be enough, doesnât it?
Stillâthank you, again.
Hey Adam! How are you doing today?
Hello,
I did not manage to answer you in time. I do not remember how I felt on May 2nd.
But if I apply your question to today, Iâd say I feel desolation and a sense of culpability regarding my emotional state.As for what Iâm doing; Iâm packing boxes.
Iâve been trying to organize them methodically, much to Bethâs frustration. We argued about it yesterday. It makes my skin itch to watch her throw everything together without care.
Tonight, Iâm going to the park to watch the raccoons. I hope itâll settle my thoughts. I know it wonât, thereâs no magic in distraction. But maybe if I keep myself occupied long enough, I can crowd out whatâs pressing on me.
After all i understand that my routines arenât efficient for moving. So, Iâll dissociate as much as I can.
You do not understand me. You pity me.
I took the job offer in Baltimore.
I will be working as a guide at the Davis Planetarium. Iâm very happy it worked out. The planetarium has such a rich archive and so many exhibits in rotation! Iâll have a lot to learn and organize, and even more to share. I am already experiencing a lot of excitement about that.
That means Beth and I will be moving to Maryland soon, leaving New York behind. I will miss New York. But Iâm looking forward to seeing some people in Baltimore. And itâll make getting to Dr. Lecterâs appointments easier, once he returns from his retreat.
What made you decide to get back with Beth? I thought you were doing pretty well, especially with Nigel. I think we all just want to make sure you're truly happy with this decision.
I donât know. I think I want to be left alone. I donât want to answer any more questions about thisâŚ
Good luck with talking to Beth đ¤
If it goes south, just make sure you take care of yourself first.
- 𧡠(safetypin-non)
Thank you. It went well.
My head hurts and my hands are trembling.
Were not the bliss too often crost
By that unhappy vile distrust,That gnawing doubt, and anxious fear, that dangerous malady,
That terrible tormenting rage, that madness, jealousy.
It is love that tortures you, isnât it?
You donât speak of it but I know and so do you.
I did not like that.
I cannot keep going like this. I will drive over to Beth and her family.
Adam, have you ever seen Cosmos with Carl Sagan? I've always wanted to watch the original but I've only seen the reboot with Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
- 𧡠(safetypin-non)
Yes, I watched it many times. More than I can count. Itâs my favorite show.
You should watch it, I can only recommend it.
One advantage of communicating online instead of in person is that if something somebody says flusters or overwhelms you, you can just choose not to respond.
You can pretend you didnât see it at all. I think thatâs handy.
If you could assign constellations to your associates/friends what would they be and why?
I don't know much about constellations but I'd love to hear you talk about it :)
- đ§ˇ
I actually spent some time thinking about this. Itâs a interesting question, astronomy as a mirror for people. Itâs not the first time Iâve made that comparison in my head.
So Nigel would probably be Andromeda. Thereâs something about Andromedas story that reminds me of him , chained and waiting, not exactly helpless, but holding back. Andromedaâs one of those constellations thatâs easy to overlook unless you know where to look. But once you do, you stay looking. Heâs like that. Quiet and beautiful, and much more capable than most realize. Thereâs distance there too. Something unspoken and mysterious. And maybe thatâs part of it.
Abby is Lyra. Steady, constant sound in the background that makes everything else feel less chaotic. Sheâs the kind of friend that doesnât try to change the rhythm, she plays along, and somehow makes the melody make sense. She wonât try to change but instead accept the people around her. I trust her more than I trust most people. Probably more than I know to articulate.
Duncan is definitely Ursa Major. Heâs calm and grounded. One of those people you automatically listen to when they speak. Like the Big Dipper, Itâs just always been there. Reliable. Big presence. Never unpleasantly overwhelming.
I see Tonny as Gemini. There is some sort of double-sided energy to him. Always talking, always bouncing between ten things at once. Sometimes itâs annoying. But he makes things feel alive. That counts for something. Very unapologetically himself.
Beth⌠Sheâd be Scorpius..I think. There was beauty, but also something sharp underneath. I thought I understood her. Maybe I didnât. Itâs hard not to associate that constellation with betrayal once youâve been stung by someone you trusted. But I also think Scorpius is about change. You donât walk away from it unchanged.
Lastly Hannibal , Aquarius. Thereâs a logic to him that i understand. The kind of person who thinks about everything three steps ahead. Our conversations are always sharp. Always interesting. We donât need to be close emotionally to have a kind of mutual respect, and I appreciate that.
Thatâs how I see it right now.
That could change, maybe it wonât.
Thereâs been a recent development Iâve been turning over in my head for the past few days: Webb detected dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b. If that doesnât mean much to you, hereâs the part that matters
On Earth, both compounds are exclusively produced by marine life. Specifically, phytoplankton.This doesnât mean thereâs life on K2-18b!.But it does suggest a potential biosignature one we canât easily explain through geological processes. K2-18b is a sub-Neptune, around 124 light-years away in the Leo constellation. Its atmosphere contains carbon-bearing molecules, water vapor, and now these sulfur compounds. It orbits in the habitable zone of its star.
These are all promising conditions, though habitability and life are not the same thing!.Still, this is the first time weâve detected a chemical in an exoplanetâs atmosphere that we only know to exist because of biology. That alone is worth sitting with.
Iâm not someone who jumps to conclusions. But I am someone who believes in asking the right questions.
Is Nigel a Sheep or a Wolf ?
Nigel is a Human.
If you are asking what I think heâd be if he was an animal , which you shouldâve worded more precisely , I think heâd be a dog.
But I canât say for certain.
OOC: Have you ever written fanfic with Adam?? You rp him in a way that expresses his emotions and autism really well without infantilizing him or making him unfeeling and robotic, which is something I tend to see (they probably don't mean it in a harmful way, just misunderstood the character) and it's perfect! I really enjoy the way he's portrayed on this page, and I think the way you write in general is very pleasing
OOC: My god, this made me so happy to hear <3
I always try my best to immerse myself in his headspace.
And to answer your questionâIâve actually never really written fanfiction. Well, thatâs not entirely true, because I kind of did with my girlfriend years ago đ (lol). I do write a lot, but Iâve never really put anything out there.
I have been thinking about maybe posting something on AO3 (may I be protected from the writerâs curse), but my biggest struggle is coming up with a storyline. Once I have a rough idea of where the story is going, I can fill in the details and start writingâbut starting from scratch is kind of tough for me.
So if you have any ideas youâd like to see, please feel free to share! Iâd love to take any suggestions into consideration.
Understandable that you feel that way about the astronomical accuracies of minecraft. I wonder if there's pixelized constellations....
Off topic, but, as a fellow mac n cheese enjoyer, what is your favorite brand and/or recipe???
(I'm a big fan of Annie's white cheddar, it comes in a little purple box!!!)
- đ§ˇ
Amazing Question.
Iâve been eating Kraft Mac & Cheese since I was a kid. The kind that comes in the blue box. I like the shape of the noodles. I like that it cooks in exactly the same way every time. And I like that it tastes the way I expect it to. Every box. Every time.
For a while, I stopped buying it. I tried really hard to switch to Annieâs; those boxes with the little bunnies on them. It was organic. âHealthier.â Thatâs what Beth told me. She wanted me to try something new. Something better. And I did. I ate a lot of Annieâs. I kept the boxes stacked neatly in my kitchen just like I used to with Kraft. But it didnât taste right. It was okay. But not right.
After we fought, I went back to Kraft. I donât think thatâs symbolic of anything. Or maybe it is. I just missed the taste. I like knowing exactly how something will be. Itâs comforting.
Also, I like the powdered cheese. I donât care if itâs fake. Itâs familiar.
If you met an alien, what would you tell and/or ask them?
Okay. First off: how do you breathe? Do you breathe? What kind of atmosphere are you used to? Is oxygen poisonous to you? Do you metabolize something else entirely? And your gravity, how strong is it? Do you walk upright? Do you even need to walk? Whatâs your skeletal structure like? Do you even have bones?
Whatâs your biology based on? Is there a version of DNA where youâre from? Or is it something entirely foreign to us? Whatâs your body temperature? Do you even need to regulate it? Do you get cold?
Do you perceive time linearly? Do you dream? Have you categorized your stars yet? What are your units of measurement? Do you know what we are? Have you been watching us the way weâve imagined you?
And I think⌠after all that..Iâd probably just say:
Iâve been waiting for you my whole life. Not you specifically, maybe. But the possibility of you. And now I have about a million more questions.
I think we should send Musk into space. One way trip. He's a genius, I'm sure he can find his way back if he wants to.
How are you by the way, Adam? I've been playing a lot of minecraft and I've been looking up at the pixelated stars a lot. They're pretty.
- đ§ˇ
Despite this being an absolutely unrealistic idea I canât claim that I dislike fantasizing about it.
I am mildly melancholic at the moment, I have never played Minecraft but I donât think their depiction of space is realistic in any way. Arguably thatâs not the point anyway.
Do you like theater? If so, what are your favorite plays and/or musicals?
I donât dislike theater, but I struggle with the social environment around it.
Itâs loud. Itâs crowded. People clap too much. But I do like the mechanics of it the structure, the rhythm, the way a story has to rely on timing and restraint. I like plays that donât talk down to their audience.
Copenhagen is a good one,itâs about physics and ethics. The Effect by Lucy Prebble was interesting too, mostly because it plays with psychology and perception in a way that felt grounded. Musicals are harder. Most are emotionally overstimulating, but I think Hadestown had merit. I like mythology. And I appreciate when something ancient gets recontextualized in a modern structure. Thatâs how understanding evolves.
I canât say that I understand the current obsession with Elon Musk.
If you strip away the marketing, most of what heâs done in space science is either derivative, outsourced, or bloated beyond reason. He didnât invent rockets. He didnât pioneer space travel. He just made it more profitable to pretend he did.
There are people like Tiera Guinn Fletcher, who was designing launch vehicles for NASA at 22. People like Swati Mohan, who helped land Perseverance on Mars. People like Natalie Panek, who works on building robotics for future Mars missions.
But instead we elevate Musk who slaps his name on decades of actual scientific progress. There are real pioneers in this field out there. Just not the ones selling flamethrowers and rebranding physics as marketing strategy.
I also have a purely personal dislike against him. He annoys me.
Am I understanding this correctly? You have feelings for somebody?
I donât mean Beth. I have read the ask you send to Hannibal.
Are you in love, Adam?
From what I gathered so far, itâs possible Iâm falling in love.
However I want to avoid misreading things again.
Iâm also still emotionally tied to Beth, and I havenât fully ruled out the idea of reuniting.
I recently read about Tardigrades, also called water bears, they are micro-animals that survive things most organisms wouldnât even make it through halfway.
When conditions get extreme; dehydration, radiation, freezing, heat etc. they enter a state called cryptobiosis. That means they shut down almost all biological functions. No metabolism, no movement.
In this state, theyâre called tuns. They can stay like that for years.
Then when water is added, they pick up where they left off like itâs nothing.
Theyâve survived space exposure, temperatures from just above absolute zero to over 150°C, and pressure levels that would crush submarines.
Theyâre not strong in the usual way. Theyâre just built for their environment.
Thought youâd be interested in this, stea. You think Keats was talking about Polaris? Canât say Iâm well versed on the subject. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44468/bright-star-would-i-were-stedfast-as-thou-art
â Nigel
Fomalhaut was the first star that came to mind. People call it the lonely one, and that feels closer to what Keats was describingâânot in lone splendour hung aloft the nightââwatching in silence like some sleepless, distant observer. Polaris is constant, sure, but Fomalhaut is solitary. It sits far apart from the other bright stars in the sky. Easy to notice. Easy to feel something about.
It makes sense to me, logistically too. Fomalhaut is visible from Earth without much effort. But more than that, it carries the weight of solitude, of being out there and unmistakably alone.
I donât think he wanted to be the star. I think he recognized something of himself in it. When we admire things people, stars, itâs often because they mirror something weâre missing or trying to understand. Maybe he wasnât longing for distance, but for connection. To feel less alone by seeing that loneliness reflected back.
And even if theyâre separated by lifetimes of space, the star and the observer exist in that moment together. No one else might understand that connection, perhaps not even the two of them, but itâs there nonetheless.
Yes, I do have a comfort show.
Itâs âCosmos: A Personal Voyageâ.
I think I might just re-watch it today, maybe itâll temporarily help my brain calm down.
Nothing feels real anymore.
EVERBODY always lies to me and I am stuck feeling like an idiot because I care about honesty. Why does nobody ever mean what they say? What even is the point in saying anything then?.