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marybeatriceofmodena · 1 year

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What did Andrew Lloyd Webber do to make Patti Lupone upset? Sorry, saw your tags and i was curious

Oh.

Oh honey.

You sweet child.

Anyway, get ready for one of the most infamous showdowns in all musical theatre history, with the guy who writes the straightest musicals on Broadway (derogatory) and the one and only, the matriarch, the queen, two three-time Tony award winner Patti LuPone.

So, Andrew Lloyd Webber was basically kind of a boy genius in his prime - he met his future collaborator Tim Rice when they were 17 and 20 respectively, he wrote his first big hit, Jesus Christ Superstar, at 22, with Tim Rice writing the lyrics. And it was kind of a big deal at the time because the topic was controversial (you know, the Passion with rock music), but also because Broadway wasn't that far off from its golden age and let's just say the music and style were very different from, say, My Fair Lady. Or The Sound of Music. Or Funny Girl. It was basically the Rent/Hamilton of its time. (Yeah, Stephen Sondheim was around at that time, he worked on West Side Story which was revolutionary in of itself, but he's kind of an oddball in this case. You'll understand why later.)

Their real follow up (I'm not counting Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for a variety of reasons) was a little musical called Evita, which you might know mainly because of a song called Don't Cry For Me Argentina. Or at least, your mom has probably heard it once at the very least. It's that song that's oversung from a musical while being out of context along with I Dreamed a Dream for Les Misérables. Or Memory from Cats.

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Evita tells the story of Eva Peron, the wife of an Argentinian dictator, who basically screws her way to the top and ends up becoming the mistress of Juan Peron and the most beloved woman in her country through guile and deceit. Yes, I know the historical accuracy is very much debated but I know jackshit about Argentina's history except the bare basics so don't come at me. It was first produced in the West End in London, with Elaine Paige in the role, but because of Equity issues, she couldn't reprise her role for the Broadway production. So a Julliard graduate who was mostly starring in David Mamet plays got the part instead, and that was Patti LuPone.

Patti... did not have a good time during Evita, because the part is basically the kind of score where you can tell the composer is used to writing male parts, but most female singers have a two-octave range (yes, you got Julie Andrews who used to have a three-octave range, and many others, but they're exceptions), so she struggled a lot. That being said, if you listen to live recordings of her, you wouldn't be able to tell, and it got a lot easier later on. But she had this to say:

"Evita was the worst experience of my life. I was screaming my way through a part that could only have been written by a man who hates women. And I had no support from the producers, who wanted a star performance onstage but treated me as an unknown backstage. It was like Beirut, and I fought like a banshee."

This is from Patti's autobiography, which she wrote in 2007 - 8 years after shit with ALW went down. With all that said, she won a Tony Award for Evita, and she pretty much became a musical theatre household name from then on. She played Fantine in Les Misérables, Nancy in Oliver!, Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes. Meanwhile, ALW's next big hits were Cats (I'm not even kidding, Cats was a hit), and, you guessed it, The Phantom of the Opera, which he wrote in part to showcase his then wife Sarah Brightman's triple threat talents.

So, you need to understand before I continue that ALW, from my perspective, has always had a bit of an inferiority complex. He's basically associated to writing these commercially successful musicals that show a big spectacle but aren't ultimately substantial. I'm not sure I entirely agree with that, but I do think that if he didn't have Hal Prince, Maria Bjornson, Charles Hart and Gillian Lynne backing him up for Phantom, it would have probably been a Rocky Horror Picture Show knockoff people would have forgotten about pretty quickly. This is what I mean:

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Yep, that was Phantom before any of the people I mentioned above (and Michael Crawford) were really involved.

Remember how I said Stephen Sondheim was an oddball? The thing with him is that his musicals weren't always commercially successful, but in general, in part thanks to being Leonard Bernstein's protégé, he was generally pretty well-respected and it was considered that his work was bringing musicals to a whole other level. Without Sondheim, you wouldn't have Jonathan Larson, and you wouldn't have Lin-Manuel Miranda. I am convinced ALW is resentful of that, and when you stop and think about it for more than 10 seconds, it's so obvious he REALLY wants to be Sondheim or at least command the same level of respect, but that's a story for another day.

So, after Phantom, ALW had other musicals that followed that either got a meh reception or outright flopped. Then there was Sunset Boulevard, which is based on the movie of the same name with Gloria Swanson. Despite all of her griefs for Evita, Patti LuPone agreed to partake in the musical as Norma Desmond, for its production in London, with the promise that she would transfer to Broadway once that production would open. And overall, after a string of flops, Sunset was actually doing pretty well.

HOWEVER. One day, while reading the gossip column of a newspaper, Patti found out that contrary to what she was promised, Glenn Close, who was meanwhile starring as Norma in the Los Angeles production, was to play Norma on Broadway. That was a complete surprise for her since no one on the production team had bothered to tell her it was happening - and keep in mind that for the news to come up the way it did in a gossip column, it probably would have necessitated a delay of a few weeks between the producers and the newspaper, which would have given them plenty of time to break the news to Patti. And Patti kind of needed the leg up because she was pretty bitter that a) Madonna was cast in the Evita adaptation instead of her; b) they actually lowered the key to fit Madonna's voice range, and she still had to expand her own to be able to sing the (lowered) score. And trust me, Patti is mad about it to this day.

So of course, she trashed her dressing room, the cast and crew weren't even mad about it because they were as shocked and angered as she was by the news. Patti sued Andrew Lloyd Webber for breach of contract, namely for 1 MILLION DOLLARS (yup, those are the real numbers), won, used the money she got from the lawsuit to get a swimming pool, which she called (and I SHIT YOU NOT) the Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool. Since then, Webber is dead to her, to the point rumor has it she had part of a building blocked during an event so she could get out of it without coming across Webber, because she hates him so flipping much she doesn't even want to be in the same building as the guy.

(There's also drama that happened with Faye Dunaway who was supposed to replace Glenn Close after she went from Los Angeles to Broadway, except they abruptly closed the show down after Close left, but that's a story for another day)

So with all the bad press, and with ALW forced to pay 1 million dollars for Patti's lawsuit, that led Sunset's productions to close earlier than expected. ALW has stayed around since, with... mitigated output, so to say. The lowest point for a lot of people is Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom, which some people love, and that's fine, but it didn't do well with either critics nor fans of the original show, which ALW is EXTREMELY BUTTHURT ABOUT. And like, there are so many stories I could tell about LND alone, but I will share my own crack theory about it, since it does relate to the ask.

Anyway, buckle up.

So. There have been jokes going around for years that the Phantom in LND is basically ALW's self-insert, where he displays to the world that he's totally not over Sarah Brightman leaving him (in part because making Phantom kinda ruined their marriage lmao), despite, you know, having married since. (Aaaaaakward.) So LND basically becomes this really uncomfortable therapy session where a man writes a self-insert musical about how his ex-wife made a big mistake of leaving a sensitive artistic soul such as himself. The characters from Phantom who appear in LND are all more or less unrecognizable as a result, and one who gets it worse (in my humble opinion) is Meg Giry, who was basically Christine's sweet and loyal ballerina friend who basically went into the Phantom's lair on her own to save her friend despite the danger. In LND, she's basically a bitter hag (because ALW hates women, guess Patti was right about that), who really likes the swim and even has a stripping vaudeville number about it, written in universe by the Phantom, no less.

For comparison, here's Don Juan Triumphant (the Phantom's opera in the original):

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And here's Bathing Beauty (the vaudeville number):

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Yeah, so... do you see why people hate LND already?

And that's not the only thing with Meg! She's also pining for the Phantom to pay attention to her and threatens to drown the Phantom and Christine's secret love child when he makes it clear that he's gonna love Christine for EVA AND EVA.

So, with everything we learned today about ALW, would someone like him view someone like Patti LuPone as some sort of crazy, bitter diva who's obsessed with him for whatever reason? Absolutely. Would he be petty enough to insert Patti LuPone into his self-insert musical, which gave us the version of Meg Giry we got in LND? Of course. Why does Meg love to swim so much and why does she drag Gustave out ostensibly for a swim? Is it a dig at Patti's Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool? Maybe.

I kind of hope we find out one day if that theory is true. And maybe start a kickstarter so Patti can add this painting from the 2004 movie in her collection.

Fun fact: during the process of casting for the 2004 movie adaptation of POTO, ALW allegedly suggested Patti LuPone to play Carlotta... only for Joel Schumacher to have to awkwardly remind him that they were not on speaking terms. The idea was therefore promptly dropped.

#YOU'RE WELCOME ANON #anon asks #Andrew Lloyd Webber #Patti LuPone #evita #sunset boulevard #phantom of the opera #love never dies

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herenemycherylblossom · 2 years

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What I find most funny about MoM is how it would have been 15 minutes long if any of those people actually knew how to have an actual conversation lmao 😭 Like even when Stephen asked Wanda what was she gonna do with the other wandas once she crossed the multiverse, you can see she was listening, her mind was processing and Stephen just straight up attacked her in the moment 💀 I face palmed so hard fr. All the other Wanda had to do was caressing her face and our Wanda immediately softened. I'm convinced they sit with that bitch and ask her about her feelings and you have her down in 5 min. Give her a hug and the scarlet witch powers will literally leave her body.

Also, she still has many untreated traumas, plus the influence of the darkhold, and 0 support. Totally insolated. 0 friends (that keep in touch with her anyways). Her mind literally invented children to try to cope and fill her emotional holes created by that untreated trauma. Pat her on the shoulder maybe, give her a call and ask how she's doing.

#i know the darkhold is what made wanda lose it and go full horror-movie-k¡ller mode so fast #but the trauma is there and wanda has never tried to work on it nor has she been offered the pertinent help to do it #it's what that doomed book feeds from #wanda maximoff #the scarlet witch #multiverse of madness #doctor strange #marvel #elizabeth olsen #MoM #just to clarify i did enjoy MoM and seeing wanda go insane horror style lmao #i'm simply pointing out it could have been avoided if superheroes in marvel did less punching and more talking 💀

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youcouldmakealife · 4 months

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LBTE: Jared (158-160)

In which there are meetings.

If you'd like to follow along, the series page is here.

158. Under Advisement

Sit down, it’s actually a good thing I have a chance to talk to you guys without PR breathing down my neck.”

“Um,” Jared says. Private meetings with GMs are not historically his favourite thing, even if Foster’s always been cool before. “Should we — maybe we should wait for everyone?”

“No, no,” Foster says. “Sit.”

Brian Foster: PR’s worst nightmare.

“Ownership’s explicitly told me you’re not currently tradeable assets — I didn’t need to be told that, by the way, I just want you to know that the first thing they said to me. Well, actually not the first thing, the first thing was — never mind, I’m rambling, I do that. It’s an annoying habit.”

“It’s not annoying,” Jared says, which gets him a grateful look from Bryce as well as Foster. “I think PR would have been pretty cool with that speech, honestly.”

“Are you kidding?” Foster says. “It’d be all ‘you can’t identify who asked for advice, Brian!’ ‘you can’t tell them about a private conversation with the owner, Brian!’ Though probably that’s more HR. Who are also going to be at the meeting, by the way. It’s an all hands kind of meeting. We probably should have booked a conference room. Not that we need to book, it’s — never mind.”

PR’s worst nightmare. Also there are three people in this room and maybe one functioning brain to mouth filter between them.

“Of course they do,” Foster says, then frowns at him. “I told you to as well. Anyway don’t tell them I told you that stuff. I shouldn’t have. That’s — I know the rambling is annoying. I’m trying to get better about it.”

I am very fond of this man.

“I couldn’t figure out how to book the conference rooms,” Foster says. “The system kept locking me out.”

“You’re the GM, Brian,” Dwyer says. “You delegate that. Stay here, I’ll find us a conference room.”

Everyone suddenly arrives, then they scatter, off on the hunt for a room big enough to hold everyone, then on the hunt for someone who has keys to the room, then calling Summers and Greg to let them know things will be delayed. Foster was right — everyone calls him Brian, and there are a lot of exasperated ‘Brian’s being said, while Bryce and Jared sit in Foster’s office, forgotten for the moment.

Very, very fond of this disaster GM.

“Babe—“ Jared says, then Foster’s coming in, saying, “Sorry to barge in!”, like they aren’t sitting in his office, then, “They found a conference room. I’m not allowed to organise meetings anymore. Did you guys want coffee? Shelley’s assistant is going on a coffee run.”

Every bit I write of Brian makes me smile. A little treat for me.

“Okay,” Foster says, then, retreats, mumbling something to himself that Jared can hear — he’s reciting Bryce’s drink order under his breath, presumably so he doesn’t forget it.

“Oh,” Foster says, bursting right back in. “You guys should probably come to the conference room, eh?”

He, like Greg, is doing his best.

So — small mercies, he guesses. They have supportive friends and teammates. His parents are giving him some distance because he asked for it, but they’re standing by. Bryce’s mom came with food and hugs. Their GM is behind them, as is their room, and they couldn’t have depended on that in Calgary or Edmonton. This could have happened earlier in their relationship, when Bryce was less comfortable with his sexuality and Jared had less faith in them as a unit. It really could have been so much worse.

Listing all sorts of possibilities that could have, but did not, occur in this narrative.

Do we need Dmitry as an annoying chaperone going forward Jared texts Stephen after Elaine heads out. He wonders after if that’s a confusing question, but then decides that Stephen pretends to be omniscient often enough that he can figure it out or be confused.

Gabe is much less annoying if you require a chaperone Stephen replies, which is comforting, and also true.

Yes but Jared doesn’t scowl the moment Gabe enters a room, so that will do nothing to mitigate Jared’s soppy face.

Also: confirmed, Stephen is omniscient. Or just very on Jared’s wavelength.

“What’s twitter saying about us now?”

“How should I know?” Bryce asks, but his guilty face gives him away and he knows it.

Someone must stop him.

“It’s not as bad as I figured it’d be,” Bryce says. “Like. I don’t know if I made it bigger in my own head all along, or if it’s like — it was that bad, the first few times players came out, and then time passed and it kept happening and people got used to it. I don’t know. There’s shit but it like — honestly people said worse shit about me when I got traded to the Canucks. By like, a lot.”

That’s weirdly unsurprising, and both depressing and encouraging at the same time. Like, sure, you can marry a dude, but playing for a divisional rival? That’s a bridge too far.

The conversation has significantly changed since Marc and Dan were outed (2010). There’s some extremely alarming backsliding happening, but all told, it would be a very different reaction than what Bryce witnessed as a teen.

Also seriously imagine if Leon Draisaitl joined the Flames or something. CHAOS. OUTRAGE!!

“And everyone’s talking about how hot you are,” Bryce says. “Which, like, obviously I agree.”

Jared rolls his eyes. “They are not,” he says.

They are. Incessantly.

And it’s kind of comforting to know that while Jared would get caught obsessing over all the worst tweets, Bryce is focusing on the ones that call Jared hot. Not the ones complimenting him — and if there are tweets about Jared being hot, there are probably twice as many about Bryce — but Jared.

There are not twice as many about Bryce.

“What’s that for?” Bryce asks when Jared kisses his temple, the crest of his cheekbone, his mouth as it curves up. He was clearly expecting that argument about cognitive bias, and he looks confused but pleased that he’s getting kissed instead.

“Nothing,” Jared says, and takes that golden opportunity, Bryce smiling, guard down, to confiscate his phone, because clearly Bryce needs to be saved from himself.

Bryce so touched he forgot about machinations.

159. Rehearsal

Bryce makes a noncommittal sound, and Jared breaks his own ‘don’t touch the driver’ rule, reaching out and squeezing Bryce’s thigh in a way he hopes is comforting and not like, grope-y. Not the time for grope-y. Kind of because of the general situation, but mostly because of the whole driving thing.

No groping in motor vehicles. This is not a lesson Jared needs to learn twice, unlike the shower lesson.

Jared wonders if they opted for a younger employee to make them feel less defensive, more related to. If there’s one department he can assume is always trying to spin something, it’s PR.

Yes.

Grace also does a lot of the social media stuff though, and they knew this wasn’t something they could handle exclusively via traditional media. So ‘relates to the youth’ but also ‘is the youth’. She’s in her late 20s, which they consider close enough. There are youth-ier employees, but nobody’s putting an intern in charge of this, even with supervision.

“Before we start discussing how the press conference is going to go, I want to hear from you guys, in your words, the answers to some of the questions you’re probably going to get,” Grace says. “And we can build on everything from there, okay?”

In other words: how much do I have to edit the words that will be coming out of your mouths?

Jared tries not to wince. He thinks he fails. Bryce glances over at Jared, and then gives a very tame, very redacted version of camp. Jared only sounds moderately dickish in it, which is impressive, really, because now that he’s no longer seventeen, he accepts that he was extremely dickish the entire time, and also extremely lucky that Bryce likes that about him for some reason.

I think this is the first time Jared admits, without caveats, that he was an asshole to Bryce at the camp. No ‘but he was a douche’ quickly following or the like, no defensive ‘he started it’, just ‘I was extremely dickish to Bryce’. Good work, Jared. (He’s still never telling Bryce he was right about that stretch, even though they both know he was)

“That’s how we met!” Bryce says.

“It sounds sketchy,” Jared says.

“It sounds so sketchy,” Grace confirms.

It was supposed to BE sketchy. Fucking Bryce, man.

“Great,” Grace says. It does not sound like she thinks it’s great, honestly.

“Jared was really mature for—“ Bryce starts, then quiets when Jared kicks his ankle before he makes things sound even sketchier.

NO, BRYCE.

“I’m not going to ask you to lie about how you met,” Grace says. “But I am going to ask you to not tell the truth, unless you want people to start talking about power differentials and the age of consent.”

“Not in Canada,” Jared says. “Age of consent is sixteen.”

Of note! Because of course Jared looked it up (there are also ‘Romeo and Juliet’ near in age exceptions that would encompass their relationship, because nobody wants that law getting used to harass a sixteen year old dating a fifteen year old.)

“It wasn’t sketchy,” Bryce tells her very earnestly. “I know it sounds sketchy, but it was like—“

Jared silently wills Bryce not to say ‘true love’.

“—true love,” Bryce says.

BRYCE. NO.

“Like, we’re married,” Bryce says. “We’re spending the rest of our lives together. It was like—“

Jared hopes ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’ isn’t leaving Bryce’s mouth next.

“—meant to be, y’know?” Bryce says. “Stop looking at me like that, J.”

“I’m not even looking at you,” Jared says. He is looking at the table, because he can’t bear to accidentally meet Grace’s eye while Bryce is saying these things.

Bryce is starting to warm up to this media business as he realises he can say things like ‘true love’ and ‘meant to be’ and nobody starts booing and face washing him.

“This is exactly the kind of dynamic we want. People tend to push back against the gross in love stuff when it seems manufactured, but it’s pretty clear it’s genuine. We can definitely run with this.”

This is a very kind way of calling Bryce gross.

“That’s not really Jared’s thing,” Bryce says.

“We could try?” Jared says weakly.

“No,” Bryce says. “That’s — that’s not J. We’re not like — we’re not coming out just to pretend to be people we’re not.”

Oh Bryce.

“Just because you’re stupidly romantic like, naturally, does not mean I can’t be just as gross as you if I want to be,” Jared says.

He doesn’t believe it even as he’s saying it, and neither does Bryce, judging by his face. Which is — fair. It’s fair. Nobody could compete with Bryce’s level of mushy, but Jared isn’t even in the running. Dmitry is mushier with Bryce in public than Jared is. And frankly Jared’s fine with that, but he can be mushy if he has to. He guesses.

“Doing this in public is also totally acceptable,” Grace says.

“Doing what?” Jared asks.

As Jared is feebly arguing he can be romantic, Bryce continues to have visible hearts in his eyes for his lying husband. It’s a great dynamic. Grace is excited about it. (she hasn’t seen them in front of cameras yet.)

They exchange contact information, making sure to CC Summers. Also Greg, though that’s more so he doesn’t feel left out. This is Summers’ show, and Jared thinks Greg knows it, and honestly doesn’t think he minds. Jared certainly doesn’t.

I cannot begin to express how relieved Greg is that this is Dave’s show.

“Absolutely no internet,” Grace tells them. “None. I mean, other than the email I’m going to send you, obviously.”

“Not even funny dog videos?” Bryce asks.

Bryce has to make sure after Dave’s ‘nobody but me and Greg’ somehow allowed him to take calls from his mom.

“Okay, fine, you can have funny animal videos,” Grace says. “But stay off all social media. Also anything to do with hockey.”

“Can I check the box scores, though?” Bryce asks. “It’s important to keep up with the rest of the league.”

Grace sighs. “Okay. You can have box scores and animal videos. And that’s it.”

“But—“ Bryce says.

Jared doesn’t see Bryce much in the context of ‘authority figures’ (loosely, in Grace’s case, but she is calling the shots), so beyond Bryce and Dave having a combative relationship, Jared misses part of the issue with Bryce in these situations is that he sometimes (often) pushes back just to push back. He’s gotten a lot better about it as he’s matured, but sometimes he can’t help himself.

“Everyone likes you best,” Bryce mutters as they’re walking to their car, but only after someone from security made sure no one was lurking in the underground parking lot hoping to ambush them for a picture or a scoop. Which is obviously such a fun thing Jared hopes will continue indefinitely.

“You’ve never checked the weather in your entire life,” Jared says.

“I could,” Bryce says. “Maybe I’m getting old and boring.”

“Knowing what it’s like out is not boring,” Jared says. “It’s preparation. Are you mimicking me right now?”

“No,” Bryce mutters, abruptly ceasing.

Jared elbows Bryce in the side, and Bryce hip checks him right into a pillar. Gently, but still: rude.

They don’t bicker much — it’s more Jared snarking at Bryce, but it’s fun when Bryce bites back. For me and for Jared.

160. Whirlwind

So Jared guesses they got engaged like, practically as soon as they got together. Like, boom, date three or something: engaged. Bryce moves fast in the storyline. Also in real life, but not that fast. Jared thinks Bryce in this storyline moves a little too fast, frankly. And it isn’t realistic that Jared in this storyline said yes that early in their relationship.

Nitpicking Grace’s storyline for OOC behaviour is peak Jared.

“Please,” Grace says, pinching her nose. “It was a whirlwind romance. Based on a friendship that grew out of shared interests and mutual respect and nobody being anybody else’s coach at the time.”

Jared would like to again point out that Bryce was a terrible couch who didn’t do anything but sulk, so it basically doesn’t count.

“You come here, wringing your hands about best business practices,” Foster says. “When a decade ago both Riley and Lapointe went to the Habs as a package deal. Did you forget about that or are you just coming here with a bullshit line of reasoning so you can pretend you’re not being homophobic as you’re asking homophobic questions? You don’t get to have it both ways. You don’t get to say their sexuality has nothing to do with this and then turn right around and ask me if I knew about their sexuality when I signed them. That’s not how this works.”

Brian Foster’s entire press conference was some of the most fun I’ve ever had writing a scene. Pure Id.

Grace finds a tweet with a longer clip, in which Foster manages to insult three media organisations, mock homophobic fans, swear at least half a dozen times, and reiterate the organisation’s support for Bryce and Jared. He also takes a question about the power play.

Love me a man who can multitask.

“I think you should probably give in and start calling him Brian?” Bryce says, looking over at Jared. Bryce caved to his demands the third time Foster explicitly told him to, but Jared wasn’t planning on it: it felt too weird. But he may have to revise that decision.

“He does keep asking me to,” Jared says.

Jared figures angry monologue defending him and Bryce earns first name basis.

He’s sure there’s already going to be ‘wow, Marcus is slumming with a middle sixer’ shit.

“Literally nobody is going to be saying that,” Bryce tells him. “Like. At all.”

Babe you’re the arm candy.

“Bryce!” Jared says.

Bryce very busily looks at literally everything but Jared.

“Stop going online!” Jared says.

He can’t help it!

“I mean, not by Joe from Kamloops who’s decided he can’t support the Canucks anymore, no,” Jared says. “And definitely not Jim from Red Deer who doesn’t give a shit about the Canucks, but has come to say he’s pretty positive your shoulder injury is proof that being gay is morally wrong, actually.”

No offence to Joes and Jims. Full offence to Kamloops and Red Deer.

And Dmitry will probably beat them up, judging by the text he sent Jared assuring him that he will beat them up, along with approximately seventeen emojis Jared didn’t bother trying to parse.

Look: emojis transcend language. A fist is a fist is a fist.

“Okay, then quit reading the opinions of people who are so miserable that the idea of two people in love with each other makes them furious,” Jared says. “It’s pathetic. They’re pathetic.”

Jared was at a very tender, vulnerable age when he saw some of the blowback of the OG coming out controversy. It didn’t make things easier for him as he started to come to terms with his sexuality, and it did not make Jared like people any more than he was originally inclined to.

“They’re planning on like, rainbow flags,” Bryce says. “Canucks fans. They’re coordinating it online. They’re planning on bringing rainbow flags. And supportive signs and stuff. Some have taken pictures. They’re — they’re really nice.”

It isn't all bad though.

“There aren’t any bad ones,” Gabe says, nudging Jared’s shoulder. “If that’s why you’re keeping your head down.”

“I wasn’t doing it on purpose,” Jared says.

This warm up scene is dialogue and action heavy because Jared’s trying really hard not to feel anything right now, starting with keeping his eyes on the ice so he can't see the crowd.

“There’s one behind the net that says LJBTQ,” Gabe says. “The JB is in a heart. I thought it was kind of clever, but you just know someone on the internet is going to say it’s bi erasure. Which, as a bi dude, I completely agree there’s bi erasure in the community, but — oh, that one says PB&J and peanut butter and jelly are holding hands. It’s adorable. I have no idea what the P could be, though. Maybe Pacific? That’d work, I guess, but—

The P stands for ‘we can’t make a PB&J pun without the P’, for the record. Sometimes it’s not that deep.

“Gabe,” Jared says.

“Okay, okay,” Gabe says, putting his hands up, and skates over to where Dmitry’s doing the ridiculous motions he calls stretches.

Jared looks up, but the lights are bright and his eyes are blurry and all he can see is a wash of colour, so he blinks and blinks and goes to find another puck to try to get in the back of the net.

God Gabe can’t you see Jared is trying not to feel emotions?

“If anyone says shit to you,“ Dmitry says. “Tell me. I will fight them.”

“I know,” Jared says.

“Even if they say ‘hello’ or ‘good evening’,” Dmitry says. “I will fight them.”

“Kind of sounds like you just want an excuse to fight someone,” Jared says.

Well. Yes. But also — got your back.

But something breaks through during a TV timeout, has him looking up at the Jumbotron, because the applause and cheers are louder than a kiss cam or dance cam or celebrity lookalike. The camera’s on Bryce in the press box, looking a little stunned. After a moment Leo elbows him, grinning, and Bryce raises a hand to wave at the crowd in acknowledgement, the sound intensifying in response. The Canucks all bang their sticks against the boards, and Jared is late to join them, eyes caught on Bryce’s face.

And Jared knows this is a home game. He knows it isn’t going to be anything like this in other arenas, knows other teams’ fans won’t be this supportive, that opponents are going to use this against them, that there are always going to be people that think less of Bryce, of both of them, simply because they love each other. He knows that.

But Jared also knows Bryce is looking bashful but smiling, a mixture of happiness and bone deep relief on his face, and in this moment, that’s the only thing in the entire world that matters.

The moment that Bryce gets everything he never even dreamed of hoping for. That he gets everything he never thought he could have.

This is the original ending, before one last arc decided to jump onto the back. I also consider it the end of the climax — it’s all denouement from here.

#liveblogging the end

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softpine · 2 months

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I just remembered you haven't seen Twilight but I'm going to ask anyway! Do you know what teams your characters would be? Like team Edward or Team Jacob? Oh! Actually I'm also curious what Fandoms would they be in? I recent realized im a Bielieber

oh i have seen the first twilight movie!! i just wasn't a fan. but it was my best friend's favorite series so i do know a lot about it! was anyone actually team jacob? he's like gale in the hunger games. the only reason anyone would actually prefer them is because they're Not the main love interest (sorry to any galeheads out there...)

anyway now i want to imagine what fandoms each of them would be in, so:

🎭 caroline: well, she's a great artist and a monster fucker.. i don't think i have to spell out what she was doing online fjkjsdsj and she loved comic books as a kid, so i feel like at the start of the MCU madness she was really hype and then she got more and more angry with the state of things

💬 beth: she's written some star trek fanfiction more highly researched than her master's thesis and she loved nsync because what is a baby dyke without her emotional support boy band / comphet crushes

🎸 danny: music is the obvious answer, but i'm not familiar with musical history so i can't go into detail 😭 but his dad introduced him to bob dylan and taught him how to play guitar, then he learned piano, then he taught himself how to produce his own music from scratch. this was in the 90s btw so it wasn't very easy to learn. also he used to seriously follow skateboarding

⛅ mikaela: she loved old school country music from female artists like tanya tucker, reba mcintire, loretta lynn, etc. she's less interested in modern country but she looooves shania twain. and she's worked nights (first as a bartender, then a nurse) for most of her life, so she got really into daytime soaps

🌲 asa: he's literally the only one on this list where i'm like...... stumped. he doesn't pay attention to anything online, celebrities, music (he'll listen to whatever), movies (doesn't care), could never commit to watching a whole tv show, etc. he's very floaty and daydreamy? lmao he just doesn't have the headspace to get attached to fictional media like that

🎥 finn: we know he's always been a harrison ford fan boy and in any universe where he survives past the 80s he's a huge nirvana fan!! (if he and jules had a son, they would've named him kurt... he's deeply serious) he's also read every stephen king book that came out while he was alive. he was a big reader in general, particularly horror

🧸 stevie: canon seth rogen super fan, has seen every adam sandler movie (every last one of them) and i knowww she knows the fnaf lore... as soon as she finishes a show/movie she likes to find the weirdest fan art to terrorize her followers. also loves musicals and wants to see cats on broadway someday (a girl can dream)

🎀 elaine: she loves following celebrity news but she watches them like animals in the zoo; ie. she's observing from afar, she has no personal stake in them. she's a frequent flyer on gossip forums like fauxmoi. she was on the ground floor of lipstickgate and was SEATED for dramageddon. and she had a serious twilight phase

🎨 jada: SOMEONE on this list had to get assigned supernatural... i'm not saying it just to say it, i really think she would connect with (early seasons) sam what with the dead mom... fear of losing their humanity... having powers they don't understand... a hot girl manipulating them to use their abilities in sketchy ways... yeah. i'm sure she has favorite contemporary artists (painters specifically) that she'd be able to talk about on end but sadly i don't know anything about that world 😭 oh and she's kind of obsessed with hate-reading booktok books to feel alive

🏈 casper: sports count as fandoms and i don't want to hear a word about it!! his team is the patriots but he's kind of a fairweather fan (maine doesn't have an nfl team so he doesn't have that state loyalty factor). miley cyrus is his problematic fave forever but he's kind of a pop girlie in general

💋 coco: in high school she was a speedcuber if that gives you an idea of what we're working with here.... she grew up with pokemon, naruto, dragon ball z, she collected trading cards, etc. she still likes anime and video games and stuff, she just doesn't have the time to get invested like she used to, and it makes her sad because it reminds her of her late best friend liam. she makes time to play fortnite and minecraft with his little brother and she plays other games on twitch sometimes. has done a LOT of cosplay. she's a huge nerd basically

#next time someone insinuates coco would bully you in high school please just imagine her naruto running through the parking lot #that should provide some clarity.#anonymous #asks #nonsims #brandi answers

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i-only-want-endless-happiness · 11 months

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Since Riordan attended the Eras Tour let's talk about pjo swiftie characters (according to me ofc)

Annabeth= you can't convince she isn't a swiftie i know she is, but not many people know cause she thinks it's lowkey embarassing to be into Taylor, but she's totally a Speak now, 1989 stan she was screaming "Better than revenge" every day and every night when Rachel was into the picture, also she totally made Percy listen to "You are in love" cause it reminds her of them. Also also "New Romantics" is her anthem. She also loves "This is why we can't have nice things" cause it remindes her of Luke. I could actually go on forever but i'm gonna stop here now

Piper = duh of course she is, she is a Lover and Red girly, confused, romantic, hopeful in true love even after being hurt, she's on the "Paper Rings", "Me", "Lover" the song, "The Man" "I think he knows" ecc side of Lover and on the "The moment i knew", "Begin again", "Everything has changed", "The lucky one" "Stay,stay,stay" side of Red

Frank= i know in my heart, soul and mind he's a swiftie too, he actually takes Hazel to Taylor's concerts and randomly sends her Taylor's songs that reminds him of Hazel, he's the kind of guy who proposes during "Love story" cause lowkey is an hopless romantic. He was screaming crying every liryc of "You belong with me" at night in the Argo II when he thought Leo had a thing for Hazel. He gifted Midnights to Hazel cause the album is so her according to him. To me he is a Speak now girlie

Will= he's one of the biggest swifties at chb, there's literally nothing you can say to convince me otherwise. He's into her country albums more but actually lover all of her music, Taylor is his comfort singer (besides his mom of course) he's a Fearless girly and listens to "Fearless" the song, during long operations cause it helps him, "Hey Stephen" makes him think of Nico as well as "New year's day" cause he's a simp and "Dancing with our hands tied" cause that's literally his pov in Tartarus,idc, and of course "The best day" makes him think of his mom. "Change" and "Jump then fall" are some of his favorite Taylor's songs ever. I know my boy cries to "Mirrorball" and "This is me trying". You can't tell me he didn't sing "Our song" to Nico at least once

Percy,Hazel and Nico are Taylor enthusiasts, not quite fans but their s.o introduced them to her so now they appreciate Taylor too

Percy= he's a 1989 girlie, he loves "Welcome to New York" and thinks "Bad blood" is one of her best songs ever. After Annabeth made him listen to "YAIL" he fell in love wih it and it's now their song, he screams to "Haunted" when he feels disappointed by his father or by the Gods in general. He loves "The great war" too cause it reminds him of Annabeth as well as "Mine". And he loves "Long live" cause it just fits him and his story

Hazel= she's into Midnights (not only cause Frank gifted it to her, even tho that definetly made the album gain some extra points) "Bejeweled" and "Karma" are some of her favorite songs of the whole album but she cried the first time she listened to "You're on your own kid" so it has a special place on her heart. She dedicated "Lavander Haze" and "Sweet nothings" to Frank and it made him a bit emotional. Also she loves "Paris" cause she has taste. She absolutely adores "The outside" and the Debut album in general

Nico= i know what you're thinking hes a Reputation supporter but i actually see him more as a Folklore/Evermore girlie and a Lover one too, unlike Piper he's more on "The archer", "Cruel summer", "It's nice to have a friend" and "Soon you'll get better" side of Lover cause u know my boy is a little bit of a mess, and of course he loves "Daylight", "Cornelia street" (actually this song is his religion we know he has low self esteem) and "Aterglow" cause they make him think of Will. He thinks "No body, no crime" is probably Taylor best dark bop and obviously he loves "Gold rush" but i think he relates it back to his old crush on Percy, "Evermore" the song, is one of his favorite on the whole album, as well as "Long story short". I know Nico secretely cries to "Tolerate it". He dedicated "Invisible string" to Will (actually if you read TSATS without being a fucking hater, you'll know this is lowkey, very lowkey tho, canon) he loves "Peace" and "The Lakes" cause he relates to them deeply. I still think he loves Rep too like "Look what you made me do" it's totally his jam "I did something bad" is his go to song when he wants to be in a good mood and of course "Gorgeous"and "Delicate" cause he's secretely a romantic and down bad for his boyfriend.

If you don't know Taylor this won't make sense but if you have time and want new music give those songs a go, cause they're really good trust me u will not regret it

Just few lyrics to some of the songs to let u know what i'm talking about

BETTER THAN REVENGE= The story starts when it was hot and it was summer and, I had it all I had him right there where I wanted him she came along, got him alone, and let's hear the applause she took him faster than you could say sabotage

YAIL= One night he wakes strange look on his face pauses, then says you're my best friend and you knew what it was he is in love

NEW ROMANTICS= We're so young but we're on the road to ruin we play dumb but we know exactly what we're doing we cry tears of mascara in the bathroom honey, life is just a classroom

TIWWCHNT= It was so nice being friends again there I was giving you a second chance but you stabbed me in the back while shaking my hand

THE MAN= I'm so sick of running as fast as I can wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man and I'm so sick of them coming at me again cause if I was a man then I'd be the man

TLO= And they tell you that you're lucky, but you're so confused cause you don't feel pretty, you just feel used

YBWM= I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night i'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're 'bout to cry and I know your favorite songs and you tell me about your dreams think I know where you belong think I know it's with me

FEARLESS= And I don't know how it gets better than this you take my hand and drag me head first fearless and I don't know why but with you I'd dance in a storm in my best dress

HEY STEPHEN= Hey Stephen, i know looks can be deceiving but i know i saw a light in you [...] cause i can't help it if you look like an angel can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain, so come feel this magic i've been feeling since I met you

DWOHT= I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us so, baby, can we dance through an avalanche? And say, say that we got it i'm a mess, but i'm the mess that you wanted

MIRRORBALL= I'm still a believer but I don't know why i've never been a natural all I do is try, try, try

TIMT= They told me all of my cages were mental so I got wasted like all my potential and my words shoot to kill when I'm mad i have a lot of regrets about that i was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere fell behind on my classmates, and I ended up here

Bad Blood= Now we got problems and I don't think we can solve 'em you made a really deep cut and baby, now we got bad blood

TGW= We can plant a memory garden say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair there's no morning glory, it was war, it wasn't fair and we will never go back to that bloodshed, crimson clover the worst was over my hand was the one you reached for all throughout the Great War

BEJEWELED= Best believe I'm still bejeweled when I walk in the room i can still make the whole place shimmer

KARMA= Ask me what I learned from all those years ask me what I earned from all those tears ask me why so many fade, but I'm still here

YOYOK= Everything you lose is a step you take so make the friendship bracelets take the moment and taste it you've got no reason to be afraid you're on your own, kid yeah, you can face this you're on your own, kid you always have been

THE OUTSIDE= I've been a lot of lonely places i've never been on the outside

THE ARCHER= Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay? Dark side, I search for your dark side but what if I'm alright, right, right, right here? And I cut off my nose just to spite my face then I hate my reflection for years and years

CORNELIA STREET= And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends id never walk Cornelia Street again that's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend

AFTERGLOW= I blew things out of proportion, now you're blue put you in jail for something you didn't do i pinned your hands behind your back, thought I had reason to attack, but no [...] Sorry that I hurt you i don't wanna do, I don't wanna do this to you i don't wanna lose, i don't wanna lose this with you

TOLERATE IT= I wait by the door like I'm just a kid use my best colors for your portrait lay the table with the fancy shit and watch you tolerate it if it's all in my head tell me now tell me I've got it wrong somehow i know my love should be celebrated but you tolerate it

INVISIBLE STRING= Time, mystical time cutting me open, then healing me fine were there clues I didn't see? And isn't it just so pretty to think all along there was some invisible string tying you to me

PEACE= All these people think love's for show but I would die for you in secret the devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me would it be enough if I could never give you peace?

LWYMMD= But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time i got a list of names, and yours is in red, underlined

#percy jackson #pjo #annabeth chase #piper mclean #frank zhang #will solace #hazel levesque #nico di angelo #percabeth #solangelo #frazel

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hunkahulkaaburningfudge · 2 months

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Hey, I’ve just seen this reddit post and thought you would be interested to see it! It’s quite the prediction of what the rest of the Marvel Studios projects will be leading up to Avengers 5 and beyond.

What do you think? I am probably also burnt out on Marvel projects, but I think I would be interested in most of this as long as it’s of a higher quality than Secret Invasion. 😅 I mean, I definitely would see this Young Avengers film for Kamala Khan… and I’m curious to see how Dr Strange is paired up with Clea. It’s just gotta be good, you know?

Also, I saw in a comment about the TV shows that save for Ironheart (which was filmed last year) all of those are going to be 9+ episodes long. Honestly, that just might be for the best — maybe they finally know what we want. 🤞

Doctor Strange 3 in 2027 😭 Looking at the list made me realize that I barely care about anything lol. I'm looking forward to some of them, but there's a lot in that list I'm not interested in.

Young Avengers...I don't know. I love them in the comics, but I'm not that interested in them in the MCU for some reason. I don't know if it's because of the lack of news about Hulkling, who should've been introduced in Secret Invasion or the Marvels, or a lack of faith in how they'll adapt the characters. I like MCU America, but that's not America Chavez. She's basically an entirely new character who's just America in name and powers, not personality. I have zero faith in their capability to accurately show Billy and Teddy's relationship if Teddy is even introduced. And it's wild if he isn't introduced; how can you have Wiccan without Hulkling? Plus, how are they going to deal with a Jewish boy (if the MCU doesn't erase that, too) having a mother who joined a Nazi terrorist group?

I'll be seated for Kamala (I'll always support South Asian characters), but the ages of the characters are so weird. Kate is 23, and she's supposedly a Young Avenger, but she’ll probably be like 25 by the time the movie comes out. Steve literally led the Avengers at 27. Plus, Peter was 16 when he became an Avenger.

Stephen and Clea have so much potential to be a great couple, but I'm scared that they'll mess it up because the MCU isn't great with romance. They already have family drama since Clea is Dormammu's niece, and the two entered the Dark Dimension at the end of DS: MOM. But I'm scared that they'll ignore that, like how they ignored the Mordo post-credit scene from DS 1. And they'd actually have to give a damn about Stephen instead of making Scarlet Witch ft Doctor Strange again.

I'm meh about Vision Quest right now, but I'll be the first one to watch it if they adapt Tom King's Vision comic for the show and introduce my funky robot daughter, Viv Vision. Vision (2015) is one of my favorite comics of all time.

Wonder Man...ugh. He's the worst, but Trevor Slattery is in it so at least it'll be funny. But he'll probably be very different in the MCU since he isn't connected to Wanda and Vision. He better stay away from Carol, too.

I honestly forgot Ironheart was coming out 😭 But yes, you're right. All of them have the potential to be great, but that's doubtful looking at their track record lately.

#ask

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vodika-vibes · 1 month

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Arachne + Sleepy Dogma = Extra Soft Fluff 😊

It's what they deserve!

But, I just had an idea~

Arachne wakes to the sounds of heavy steps through her home. Which is surprising, since Dogma is able to move very, very quietly when he has to. The loud steps don't get any quieter, so Arachne eyes snap open, to yell at Dogma for being so unnecessarily noisy so early in the morning, but the words die on her tongue as she stares at the ceiling. There are stars on the ceiling. Silly plastic glow in the dark things. Stars that she's not owned since she lived on earth. Slowly, with her heart sinking, she sits up and looks around the room. Pastel purple walls, a massive bookshelf covered in fairy tales and YA novels, and a dark purple comforter. She swings her legs out from her bed, jolting when her feet sink into a plush carpet rather than touch the cool wood of her bedroom. Silently she walks over to the window and rips open the curtain, and she immediately rips the curtain shut again when she sees the Empire State Building glittering in the early morning sun. "Oh, what the hell?" "Elena!" Arachne carefully opens the curtain again, her gaze landing on Avengers Tower in the distance, feeling kind of nauseous, "Elena!" The bedroom door slams open and Arachne jumps, and spins. Her mother is standing there, her hands on her hips, "Elena, do not ignore me." "I...sorry." Arachne never thought she'd see her mother again, and she has to blink the tears out of her eyes. Her mother is stunning, with dark skin and shiny black hair, and she's wearing a saree today. "You're dressed up today, mom." She looks worried for a moment, crossing the room to press her hands against Arachne's cheeks, "Are you alright, Elena. You look like you're about to cry." "I...I just missed you, is all." "Oh, lovey." She wraps her in a tight hug, "You saw me just last night. And you're just going off to college, baby, I'll still see you every week." "I know." Arachne wraps her arms around her mom in a tight hug, "So, um...I have to go and talk to Doctor Strange today." "Ah, what about Ai's piano recital?" Arachne is quiet for a moment, "If I can be there, I will be." "So this is important, then?" "Very." "Then go, Elena. Go and know that we'll be supporting you no matter what." Arachne smiles and presses a kiss to her cheek, "Ah, just make sure you dress nicely. He's a doctor after all." "Mooom." The older woman laughs and kisses her cheek, and then leaves the room. Arachne waits until they're gone, and then she pulls on her suit, and pulls some clothes on over it, and she hurries out of the house. Sanctum Sanctorum is less than 15 minutes from her home, 10 if she borrows her brother's skateboard. Which is exactly what she does, and she tosses the skateboard to the side as she enters the gate and hurries to the door to bang on it. Doctor Stephen Strange opens the door, stares at her, swears, and drags her into the house. "Have you spoken to anyone, Elena?" He demands. "My mom. She came into my room." Arachne frowns at him, "What's going on, Doctor?" "That is what I'm hoping to figure out. But I need to get you back before reality collapses on itself." Arachne blinks at him, "Yeah. You should do that." He thwacks her with a newspaper, "Ow." "I need to know everything that happened in the last week, Elena." "Ugh. Fine. Can I have some coffee at least?" Arachne asks as she drops on a couch.

#star wars #star wars au #Arachne AU #Arachne's birth name is Elena #She's Greek #Born in Greece but brought to the US as an infant when her adopted parents adopted her

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11x13kyle · 10 months

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what are the parents' honest thoughts on fireside and catg podcasts?? and how do linda and stephen react to butters cheating scandal

this is a GREAT question! i’m gonna expand to the nonpodcasters too btw.

butters’ parents: they are beyond humiliated by his very existence. the second he moves out their relationship starts to fizzle out, going from occasional talks and sometimes seeing each other on holidays to no contact at all and only linda acknowledging that he’s even their son. by the time the cheating scandal (and therefore his being gay) comes out, neither of them acknowledge him. as far as they’re concerned, he’s not their son anymore. when asked about him, they play dumb. he used to send them money but he doesn’t anymore. they never asked about this either because this requires contacting their son who isn’t their son. never an official disownment. and it hurts for butters even more because he didn’t even get the closure of his dad screaming at him about how much he sucks, it was just quiet. overall BAD situation.

kyle’s parents: they’re so embarrassed of him. constantly talking about how ike is a LAWYER and has a REAL job even though kyle is objectively more successful. sheila at least is occasionally nice about it because that’s her baby but gerald doesn’t even try to hide his disappointment. kyle is a failson to him and this kind of predated him doing fireside so now it’s just WORSE. permafailson. kyle tries so so hard to impress them and it does nothing, he will always be the disappointing son who had the potential to do so much more and instead is fucking around in los angeles with his bum musician boyfriend (as they see it).

cartman’s mom: cartman can do NO. WRONG. that is her baby. liane is so SO proud of him no matter what. he could kill someone and she wouldn’t give a fuck. she hates butters and kenny forever about the cheating thing too because they hurt her poopsiekins. she listens to fireside and swears to cartman that she thinks kyle’s jabs at him are awful, but secretly she finds them HILARIOUS and laughs out loud every time.

craig’s parents: cannot stress enough how little they give a shit. like, they love him and all, but his career is just so nothing to them. they sometimes even forget he has a podcast at all. their relationship is fine.

tweek’s parents: tweek’s parents are in jail. he visits them sometimes and they’re like “hey. we’re so proud of you for your podcast.” even though they don’t listen to it on account of they are in jail. they’re like “hey are you still gay? awesome. that’s so great. that must be fantastic for listenership.” tweek can’t bail them out because the charge is too big but they ask him every time nonetheless.

tolkien’s parents: they don’t get it but they try to be supportive anyway. he calls them once a week and they have a pretty good relationship. neither of them really attempt to understand his career and they don’t listen to the pod because they find it irritating, but if their son is happy, they’re happy! he doesn’t really discuss it with them.

clyde’s dad: he’s already a podcast listener, so when clyde told him that he was starting a podcast himself he was immediately supportive. he doesn’t really listen to catg because he doesn’t get it, but occasionally he’ll tune in and try to enjoy it a bit. it’s just not his thing, he’s more of an npr kind of guy. he also listens to mbmbam at his big age. but he gets a kick out of telling people about his popular podcaster son.

jimmy’s parents: they love him but they think his podcast and his comedy in general are so fucking dumb. his mom is more polite about it but his dad outright tells him that it’s stupid and unfunny. they’re very serious people so the shit that he does is unfathomable to them.

stan’s parents: i mean randy obviously is his producer so his take on what stan is doing is clear. sharon is SO SO PROUD!!!!! she is always showing people videos of his shows and playing his songs at work, telling people in the waiting room that that’s her baby singing, and look how talented he is! she doesn’t quite get it, and the music isn’t her style, but by god is she playing that shit anyway because stan is her little angel.

kenny’s parents: carol doesn’t care what he does, not in the enabling way that liane has, but more in the way of that’s her little boy and she’s happy that he made it out, regardless of how he had to do it. as opposed to stuart, who is actively resentful of kenny, kind of similar to the way he resents gerald. he sees kenny’s success as a betrayal to their family and the very fact that kenny is living well is as though kenny is basically straight up saying that he sees himself as superior. kenny tries to send his dad money multiple times and he always sends it back and tells him to fuck off with that.

#asks #microceleb au

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droids-in-disguise · 9 months

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Alright, RWRB movie: final thoughts.

Overall I had a good time with it. It was fun, cheesy, and heartfelt when it needed to be. Honestly a lot of the more emotional scenes hit way harder than I expected them to.

If you're going into it thinking it's gonna be exactly like the book, you will be disappointed. There are a fair number of changes in the supporting cast and the details of how certain scenes play out. Some of it I understand, having only 2 hours you kinda have to be a lot more direct with the kind of story you want to tell.

List of things I liked:

I know one of the things people were concerned about in the lead up to this movie was the chemistry between Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine and OMG it's there, I promise, they have it! They were great as Alex and Henry.

The way the opening "cakegate" scene was done. Brilliant.

Joan Jett for the opening credits.

Uma Thurman.

The texting montage at the beginning where Henry and Alex are getting to know/flirting with each other. I really loved how they staged that.

Zahra's Mitch McConnell joke.

Just Zahra in general.

Red Room scene

The one big sex scene in the movie was actually so good and sweet. I am not generally a person who feels this way but it actually made me a bit emotional.

Alex coming out to his mom. Yes, I know there was no Powerpoint but there spirit was there.

Stephen Fry as the King, notable gay icon plays homophobe, lmao.

List of things I did not like:

No June, obviously, knew this was gonna be the case. In the movie "Nora" really feels more like June than Nora tbh, but I did like her dynamic with Alex.

Why are Alex's parents not divorced? Was it because they didn't want to cast Leo? Or because there was only enough time to focus on Henry's trauma and not Alex's?

Not enough David! He was in one scene, not even wagging his tail.

Not enough Pez, once again, only in one scene.

Henry not saying Return of the Jedi was his favorite movie.

Not enough of the emails, like I feel like we only got a few pieces and it makes it not feel quite as impactful when they leak.

Where are the silly goofy group chats???

Ultimately I'm glad this movie exists. Most of the things I didn't like are really just nitpicky issues I have as a fan of the book. As the movie stands by itself, as its own entity I think it was wonderfully done. Alex and Henry's story is so very important to me and I'm excited for the exposure that a movie brings.

#rwrb spoilers #rwrb #rwrb movie #red white and royal blue #red white and royal blue movie

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celestialnxva · 2 years

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In Another Life

Stephen Strange x Reader: Chapter 4

( Strange Supreme from What If…? )

series masterlist. | part 1.

Summary: When all is said and done, you couldn’t help but feel pity for the man who lost it all. Despite the risks, what shall you do with the growing desire to stay in a universe you don’t belong in?

Warnings: Spoilers for MoM and What if…? 18+ themes. Angst, Cheating (?), Hurt/Comfort, Violence, Gore, Manipulation, Imprisonment, Non-con.

Strong hands shook you from your deep slumber. Groggily, you slowly opened your eyes to see who was waking you up this time. When you saw Stephen’s face, you immediately remembered what happened before you blacked out and you let out a scream, scooting away from the intruder as much as possible. “N-No, get away from me!” you cried out. You tried to run, but you soon felt the painful tug of the metallic chains against your skin. You looked around and not only realized that you were in a glass cell, but your wrists were chained down, special chains decorated in runes so you could not use any of your magic. You let out a sob and struggled against its hold on you, trying to get out. “Let me go! Please, let me go. I don’t wanna be here—”

“(Y/n), it’s me!” the other man shouted and gripped your arm so you could look at him. When you finally looked up, you started to sob but for a completely new reason: the man before you was your Stephen. Your husband. He came back.

When he heard your sobs, he immediately rushed to help you out, golden sparks flying around you as he mimicked a chain that could cut you free. You stayed obediently still and looked down at your position on the ground. Only then did you notice the chains on your ankles too. What the hell did the other Stephen do to you while you were unconscious? You started to hyperventilate while you thought about all the horrifying scenarios the other Stephen could have done to you. It took your husband shaking you to go back to reality and look at him in confusion. “What the hell are you doing here?” He didn’t answer you for a while, moving instead to hug you tight. “God, I thought he killed you,” he murmured into your ear, finally letting himself release some tension in his body. He finally found you and you were finally going home.

After he hugged you, he helped you stand up and gently put your sling ring onto your fingers as spoke. “We don’t have much time. I managed to put him in a pocket of the mirror dimension to keep him busy for a while. America will be meeting us upstairs.” Ah. So you were in the basement this entire time. At this point, there was no chance of the other Stephen ever redeeming himself in your eyes. This was traumatizing, to say the least, and you’ll never let him gain control over you again.

With newfound resilience, you persevered through the large basement with your husband supporting your body as much as he could, You used some of your magic to help you both teleport to the main room, not wanting to waste energy walking up the long flight of stairs. He let out a sigh of relief and flashed you a small smile before he rushed you over to where America stood in front of the star-shaped hole. “It’s so good to see you, (y/n),” she said quickly before hugging you close. You could tell from her behavior that she had been worried sick, just as much as Stephen was when he tried to find ways to get back to you. You were glad they came. It was dangerous, but they loved you too much to let you stay here forever. You were lucky that you could consider them like family to you. Stephen sighed and tugged on your arm. “As much as I would like to have a reunion party right now, we need to get back to our dimension before--!”

Stephen suddenly let out a piercing scream before blood spluttered from his mouth. America cried out in fear as she made her way towards his collapsing form. She took one scan of his body before noticing the giant spear piercing through his side. Her eyes widened at the horrific sight. “He’s awake, (y/n)! We need to get out of here!” You nodded and put up a shield of defense, not wanting any more onslaughts that could prevent you all from going back. You both dragged Stephen towards the portal, only to be met with the terrifying variant walking from the portal and towards you both. Screaming, America dragged Stephen’s body back while you lowered your shields and instead wrapped the shield around all of you. You all retreated back while the intimidating creature slowly made his way towards you.

“I see you’ve woken up from your sleep, my rose,” he cooed out to you, but it sounded like multiple creatures were speaking through him. The horns on his head and the tentacles surrounding his body were much larger and more present than during your own confrontation with him. You needed to be on full guard now. You don’t think he will spare you at all this time. Taking out your golden sword with your sling ring, you stood your ground once more. Though your sword was slightly fazing in and out due to your weakened state, you did not let it deter you from your one mission: keep your family safe. When Strange saw your sword faze in and out, he chuckled, giving you a patronizing look. “Darling, you know it’s futile to fight against me, right? You’re too weak.” He paused and then calmed himself down, the creatures moving back inside him when he morphed into the man that imitated the look of your husband. Not your lover, an imposter. You narrowed your eyes as he extended out his hand in compassion.

“Darling, I... really don’t want to kill you. Please, come back to bed?” Even despite everything, you were still curious as to whether or not he would actually hurt you enough to kill you. He almost did it before when you tried to rebel against his wishes. He continued. “Please, I cannot live without you. He,” he emphasized and pointed to your injured husband. “cannot give you the love and adoration that you want; that you deserve.” You knew what he was doing. He was trying to calm you down while appealing to your love of romance. He knew that your husband would never give you undying professions of love, never dedicate poems and music to you, never make you feel like the queen of the universe. You eyes wavered, only paying attention to him while keeping your shield strong. His gaze softened when he closed his hand slowly and put it to his side. It was as if he wanted you to feel pity for him. How ridiculous.

But your contempt for him didn’t last long when he spoke again. “I can give you everything I have within me. I can give up my desire to destroy other universes and give up my lust for power if it means having you by my side again.” He kneeled down, holding his hand out once more to you. This time, you almost had your walls down. “I would humble myself before you if I could see the look of love you have blessed me with during our short time together.” His words were told much for you to process all at once. You couldn’t say anything to deny his words because the worst part about his speech was that you could confirm all of it to be true. He worshipped your body and made you feel like a queen when he knew you held love for him too. You could make out the tears in his eyes as he approached your strong stance. He lowered his gaze down to the floor. “Please, (y/n). I don’t want to be alone again,” he whispered pathetically to you before he silenced himself so you could make a decision.

This was tempting. Not because you wanted the love Strange was offering, but because it was your chance to prevent this Strange from destroying the multiverse. You could protect your husband and America from the destruction this variant was capable of causing. You couldn’t let your husband die again.

You looked back at your family behind you. America was struggling to control her powers enough to open another portal while hyperventilating in fear of the variant’s violence. She needed to get her new family home and safe. You knew she couldn’t forgive herself for not being able to save you and your husband. Your husband was fighting to stay awake, one hand strengthening your shield despite his severe injury. Your eyes watered at the sight and you knew you had to make the most difficult choice in your entire life. You lowered your shields slowly as you walked over to where the variant was kneeling. His body was shaking from the tears he’s shed for your clear unreciprocated love, but he had to try. He had to beg you to stay. If you stayed, then maybe he could help you learn to love him for who he is. He was your Stephen. You only needed to give him another chance.

When you finally reached him, you looked down at him, your own tears falling gracefully down your cheeks. Even in pain, you looked as beautiful as the day he first met you. His eyes were filled with hope as you hesitated to speak. “If I agree to stay with you here forever, do you promise that you’ll keep the multiverse safe?” you asked tiredly, your emotions leaving your body in defeat. You could hear America scream at you to get back and come home with her, but you didn’t care. This was the only way for you to keep your husband safe. Your Stephen... you only hope he could forgive you for your sacrifice.

Meanwhile, the variant in front of you gasped in happiness, immediately reaching out to take your hand and kiss the fingertips. “I promise with my entire life, (y/n). I only want you. I don’t want anything else in the entire world except you,” he spoke earnestly, looking at you with that sickening adoration that you’ve grown to hate. Despite your disgust, you leaned down to his level and cupped his cheek. His gaze was solely on you and only you now. Knowing what to do, you nodded, sealing your fate. At your agreement, he let out a sob, resting your foreheads together. Finally, he had you.

The celebration was short lived as you saw this Stephen gasp, his eyes wide in shock. You felt something drip onto your pants and you looked down to see the sight of blood. You screamed, immediately pulling away from his embrace. You were just in time to catch the look of shock and defeat on his face before collapsing on the floor. Blood seeped out from underneath him while you finally saw what killed him. Your Stephen stood behind him, the spear that was once in his side now stabbed straight through the variant’s heart. He looked at the dead body with disgust and satisfaction before he looked at you with love in his eyes. He soon collapsed, holding onto his bloody wound. You shot up and collected him in your arms, tears in your eyes. When you finally looked into his eyes, it was only filled with love. It wasn’t intense, like Strange’s, but gentle. The soothing swirls in his eyes, though dull, helped you calm down again. The faint smile on his face told you that he still loved you and respected your actions. He knew you were trying to protect him. So much thoughts and emotions were conveyed between the two of you when looking at each other. This was more beautiful than any poem and song could describe. “You saved me,” you whimpered out, tears now falling onto his cheek. He chuckled brokenly, reaching up to caress the side of your head. “I love you, you idiot. I wasn’t going to let him take my partner away from me,” he choked out lightheartedly.

He coughed up more blood and you panicked. You looked back at America who was opening up the portal successfully. You sighed in gratitude as you helped your husband get up. As you went through the portal, you looked back at the dead body in the middle of the messy room. At the end of the day, you couldn’t help but feel bad for him anyways. He was and will always be a lonely man. Noticing where your gaze led, Stephen rubbed your side and kissed your forehead. “He did it to himself, (y/n).” You processed his words and nodded, helping him through the portal entirely. When the portal closed, you made peace in your mind with what you’ve experienced and now focused on getting Stephen to a hospital bed. Thankfully, America teleported you all to a hospital.

Letting the doctors take him away from you, you held onto America beside you, only hoping that he would be okay.

-------

Knocking on the wooden door, you opened it to find your husband sitting up on the bed. He was shirtless, the bandages on his body serving as the only reminder to you that all you experienced wasn’t a dream. Two weeks ago, you finally made it back to your reality, but in the time that you were gone, the Sanctum became a mess. Papers strewn everywhere and books misplaced, you called up Wong and asked him what had happened. He explained to you that there was a fight and that the Sanctum’s contents were all safe. The Sanctum was something to handle later. When you set Stephen down on the bed after he was discharged a week ago, you finally realized how little sleep you had gotten in the past few weeks. The next few days were spent recovering with sleep. These events led you to the present with you now relishing the safety within the Sanctum’s walls and the love of your life alive and recovering.

“Hellooooo, earth to (y/n),” Stephen said teasingly. The familiar phrase snapped you out of your thoughts and made you panic, your step faltering backwards against the door. He blinked and tilted his head, silently wondering what had caused you to react to an innocent phrase like that. You just remembered the variant Strange saying that to you before, which caused you to panic. Remembering where you are now caused you to relax a little and shake your head as you made your way towards the bed. “Sorry, just got a flashback to when he said the exact same thing.” He saddened at your words and took the tray of food into his hands. He made a mental note to ask you to go to therapy for your trauma from the other Stephen, but right now, he needed to comfort you and remind you that he wasn’t like the other man that tried to hurt you.

“Hey. Eat breakfast with me?” he offered, tugging your hand down gently. You smiled at him and settled into the bed with him. You fed some food to him with his teasing insistence and talked with him about funny stories with Wong and the Avengers. You couldn’t tell Stephen yet about his variant’s voice talking to you inside your head, but you knew that he would always be there for you no matter what. You both laughed with each other as he kissed your hand lovingly while the birds chirped in the distance. Sirens blared in the distance and you could hear the hotdog vendor across the street arguing with a customer. You smiled to yourself.

You were home.

A/n: Here you go, guys! Last chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this series and I cannot wait for you all to read my next series “Bridgerton x Marvel: The Race Against Time.”

#dr strange #dr strange x reader #fanfic #marvel #multiverse of madness #stephen strange #stephen strange x reader #what if #doctor strange x you #doctor strange x reader #doctor stephen strange #doctor strange imagine #doctor strange #strange supreme x reader #strange supreme #sinister strange x reader #sinister strange

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ilurvjohnoliver · 2 months

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hiii ig i should do a little get to know me type post so here we go 😇

my name is caitlin and ive always been a fan of john oliver and late night hosts since i was a kid. my mom got me into shows like the daily show, late night with stephen colbert, conan o’brien’s show, stuff like that.

I have watched last week tonight for awhile, probably since it came out in 2014. I basically fell in love with him when he spoke up about gay and trans rights on his show. being a queer kid and having a trans mom, it was rlly heartwarming seeing someone we liked support us on tv unabashedly.

recently i started rewatching lwt on youtube and i stumbled upon the public shaming segment which i remembered really liking. rewatching it made me fall in love with him alllll over again bcs of the way he spoke up about monica lewinsky and how her situation was really had to do with misogyny and sexism. i just love how he interviewed her and gave her an opportunity to speak on what happened to her.

and now im hyperfixated on him, currently learning anything and everything i can about him. i love him so much and he’s honestly such a genuine person and i think that’s why im so attracted to him. also bcs he’s really hot….like really hot.

anyways 🤭 ! thanks for coming and if youre a john oliver lover, give me a follow so we can be mutuals 💋💋💋

to sign off, here’s some of my fave pics of john 🫶🏻

#john oliver #last week tonight #get to know me

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qqueenofhades · 9 months

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RWRB film thoughts please and thank you!

Literally just, JUST finished it lmao, as in switched off the TV 5 seconds ago, so:

Zahra was the absolute best, every line delivery was /chefs kiss

"It was the most depressing sight of my career and I once saw Mitch McConnell eating a banana"

HERE QUEEN YOU DROPPED THIS 👑

As for Alex and Henry, CHAOTIC STUPID HIMBOS FTW, they were SO much like the book

Taylor Zakhar Perez truly has beautiful hands

I mean the rest of him too obviously, but yes

I was sad that they cut June, Ellen being divorced from Oscar, Henry's mom, the politics, the anti-British Empire digs, and various other bits, but then again I would have liked a whole miniseries and not just a two-hour movie

Stephen Fry as the king (Stephen Fry notably being a gay atheist Labour supporter) was a truly Inspired choice

Congrats to the casting director on that and also the fact that Alex's ex/the Politico reporter and Prince Philip just had SUPREMELY punchable faces

It all felt kinda streamlined and cut down and I would (again) have liked more of it overall, but what was there was really good

HOWEVER, my biggest gripe is the ending (possibly I am biased because that is my favorite part and it makes me cuh-cuh-CRY in the book)

We were sorely missing the whole tension and buildup and actually getting to SEE Texas turn blue and not just have Alex and Henry run in for 2 seconds when it's already over and then hurry out again

I wanted more focus/emotional weight on that and not just okay here's the end of the film now

But as I said, I am maybe slightly biased

Enjoyed the Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid cameos, ahem

Overall absolutely a great adaptation and supremely enjoyable

#anonymous #ask #red white and royal blue

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lyricfulloflight · 9 months

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RWRB thoughts

My thoughts after 1.5 viewings (yes, 1.5. I have watched it once and then re-watched certain scenes, but haven't made my way through a full re-watch yet.)

What I loved/like/squealed about:

nervous Alex at the wedding

Nora being all speechless when led away by Bea

The whole cake incident - it did not happened as I was expecting (don't ask me what I was expecting, I have no earthly idea), but I loved the whole thing

Zahra hitting Alex with the pillow. Perfect character moment

the silly height arguments that pop up several times. I think these are extra fun for book readers as it acknowledges the difference between the book and the actors in the movie but keeps the general teasing about height in the movie

Actually, Zahra in general was just so perfectly done

Amy being badass and also a loving dog mom (that wink at the hospital? the 'do I need to clear the room'? Amy is the best)

I still don't know what an equerry is. But I'll take a Shaan any day

The closet scene was really well done. It really allowed for the development of the rest of their relationship.

The way they did the texts with the voice overs and then Henry appearing in Alex's bed - I may have swooned a bit

The New Years party looked like what I imagine a cool party would look like (people do not invite me to cool parties and they never will).

All the representation in the film. Female black PM of the UK? Check! Gender fluid party attendees? Check? Some girl on girl flirting? Check! Trans actor? Check!

Percy's pink hair

Nora's red outfit. Damn girl.

Henry's reaction when Alex grabs his hips at the New Year's party - absolute gold

All of Henry's pining during the New Year's party was just perfectly painfully wonderful

The 'woah' of the woman who walks in when Nora and Alex are talking about his hook ups with men

Alex being totally distracted by Henry arriving at the dinner and looking every inch the son of James Bond that he is

That kiss in the red room was... hmmm... quite.... intense

Also Henry pointing at books after they were interrupted n the red room might have been the most ridiculously funny moment of the whole movie for me

Commanding Henry in the bedroom

Shots of Henry's ass bouncing on a horse being played between shots of the tack room rendevous. I think we all understand why Alex was so, motivated shall we say

The tenderness and intimacy of that Paris scene. Love making indeed.

Henry singing karaoke. Nora bopping along like all of us would like to be doing as fans no doubt

The Casey McQuinston book cameo!

Henry trying to make his burdens clear to Alex but Alex not getting it until they have their blow out. Also drenched Alex in this scene with Henry in his fancy housecoat was very visually appealing

The V&A scene made me cry. Henry talking about the only place he can find peace and have dreams of a happy life he doesn't think he'll ever have. Alex playing the song right away and making his dreams come true. Tears. Happy Tears.

The EXCHANGE! the signet ring. the house key. just kill me now

Seeing Henry's reaction to the email leak and how desperate he was to talk to Alex, how terrified he was, how betrayed. Hats off to Nicholas Galitzine for his acting (for the whole movie, but that scene in particular was just excellent)

Shaan and Zahra reveal! Yes!

Alex'a speech. Amazing.

Baby.

Stephen Fry as the king. What a choice. If you don't know how ironic this is, well go use your goggle skills.

Henry sticking up for himself. The tears in his eyes when he sees the public support

The way they show Alex's passion for politics and helping people.

The way they show Henry's passion for literature, history, etc. And also his frustration at not being able to make an impact and help people they way he wants to and how much he admires Alex for what he is doing

Things I missed/didn't love:

Alex not being a child of divorce. Also how his parent's relationship seemed ambiguous for a long time in the movie (for me anyway. Maybe I was just hoping they weren't together? like in the book?)

Not enough moments of Nora being a stats geek. She said she analyzed data but we don't get a moment where she gives Alex the odds. Sad.

Alex not having his sexual realization. I can see how this trims things down for the film, but I missed it

Not using the Miguel character as well as they could have. Again I can see this being trimmed out for time. I thought this was a reasonable replacement for the Luna subplot. Would have liked more in terms of fall out - did he have insider knowledge? Did he help get the emails leaked?

I would have loved more time of the texts to build the foundation of their relationship

I would have loved even more to have had more email time. I know this is tricky to get on film, but I really missed the sheer romance and intimacy we get in from the emails in the book. It makes the leak so much more impactful

I wanted more David. I love dogs people. I needed more beagle content!

Not enough Pez! Also why was he not Pez? Percy? Percy who? I loved when we saw him and I wanted more.

Same can be said for Nora

Did this film get an R rating from, maybe 2 'fuck's and one gay sex scene where no dicks or asses were shown? (Yes, one ass was shown, but it a completely different scene) Is that all it takes? Boo to the rating people. BOOOOOO.

The transition from the fight between Henry and Alex in his apartments to them leaving from to the V&A didn't feel quite right to me. It was awkward. Each scene itself was wonderful, just one right after the other felt like something was missing.

I honestly, completely, wholeheartedly loved this film. I know I will be watching it over and over. It will have a permanent place in my comfort film rotation. I think all the actors in the film did an amazing job. Both Nicholas and Taylor bought a lot of depth to their roles and really brought them to life so, so well. Their chemistry was completely believable and I rooted for them every step of the way.

For me, the book will remain my main source material for these characters and this story. But this film is such a great complement to the book. A different, but parallel story. I agree with director Matthew Lopez saying this was a work of fanfiction in its own right. It is not the same, but the heart and soul of the book and the two main characters is all there. Not sure I could have asked for much more.

(except for any missing scenes/extended scenes. i'm asking for those. please)

#rwrb #red white & royal blue #rwrb movie #rwrb movie reaction

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