The Nicholist #14

Family Meal, Bottoming, Boys Love

Welcome to The Nicholist! My weekly list of pop culture where I gush on everything that’s got me obsessed.

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Family Meal by Bryan Washington

Bryan Washington wrote my favorite book of 2020 (Memorial), and his newest effort might be my favorite thing I’ve read in 2023 too. Family Meal is set across Los Angeles, Houston, and Osaka about friends and lovers—and how the people who know us the best know how to hurt us the most. Get into this one, bookworms.

The Best Men's Stage Monologues 2023

I am published in Smith & Kraus’ annual The Best Men’s Stage Monologues! So, like, if you’re looking for something that’s best… 💁🏼‍♀️

Gameboys Level-Up Edition on Netflix

In a meeting recently, I was asked what I knew about the Boys’ Love genre (BL). I knew nothing. The executive thought, based on my style of writing (🚬🚬🚬), that BL would be a fitting lane for me. She tasked me with getting familiar with the genre and I realized there was a whole world of PG high-school-ish-boys-falling-in-love-with-each-other TV shows—and that they’re all like hella Asian (Heartstopper? Asians did that shit first!).

The BL series I settled on was the Filipino Gameboys Level-Up Edition on Netflix. It’s a really charming series, filmed during the pandemic, about two boys who meet in a gaming livestream and fall in love over Zoom, FaceTime, and social media. You can also watch the series (non-leveled-up) on YouTube.

B.A.D. by Denise Julia featuring P-Lo

It’s 90s R&B vibes (to me reminiscent of “My Boo” by Ghost Town DJ’s) meets Filipino excellence—with an Ariana tinge. I love it real bad.

Multiple Loads

Not enough of you read this post…