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ouiagon · 2 years

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BYLER S4 ANALYSIS - Byler still has a good chance at being endgame and here's why (warning, this post is gonna be long)

Okay so, if any of you guys have been seeing my posts show up in the tags, you'll know that I was just as mad at everyone else after vol.2 dropped. We were immediately disappointed, angered, horrified, and depressed from what the last two episodes had to show - it was what everyone had started to call the worst queerbait in history (even though really there has been worse, we were just dramatic sdjfjg). I was on that boat initially - I literally felt knots in my stomach reading the liveblogged posts saying we lost. When I finally got the chance to watch episode 8 (I didn't watch both episodes at the same time), I sobbed at the scene with Will giving Mike the painting because it was just too painful. Using Will's beautiful love for Mike just to push El and Mike to get back together? There wasn't any worse way the Duffers could've possibly baited us, even if they killed Will or Mike off instead.

However, I finally got to watch episode 9 and I've been reading the analysis and hope-filled posts in the tag as well for the past couple of days. As a lot of people have joked we've been going through extreme versions of the stages of grief, but there really are valid points being made here and our emotional whiplash isn’t without good reason. And frankly, looking at S4 objectively, while it built up some great aspects about Byler I’m actually glad they’re taking the pace they are to build their relationship up. And that is the exact purpose of why S4 was left off the way it was - Byler is simply being built up even more to be endgame, and here’s why I think so based off of the evidence I’ve seen.

1. Mike’s monologue did not repair his and El’s relationship (romantically) and El has already moved on.

A lot of people think El as a character has regressed this season because of her relying on Mike again, and I thought so too initially until I actually watched the episodes for myself. This exchange in particular stuck out to me, and a lot of bylers have noticed the peculiarity of this as well.

If the writers really wanted us to believe that Mike’s monologue repaired their relationship, why would they write this line in? Sure, they didn't have to show them being all couple-y considering the serious events that were transpiring, but they could've easily left the line out to make us think everything was fine between them. They specifically wrote this line to clue us, the audience, in on the fact that Mike's monologue did not fix anything in regards to their romantic relationship. Of course Eleven needs time to take into account everything that’s happened to her and her loved ones, but personally, I think if Melvin really was endgame they’d show at least one conversation between her and Mike. If they had a conversation where El says “I love you” back to Mike and they smile at each other lovingly, I would have truly lost hope in Byler possibly being endgame. But they didn’t. Guess which pair had a heart-to-heart instead? Mike and Will.

The dialogue and framing they have here parallels the spy scene in S2 very heavily, and the fact that this is the lead-in to season 5 is pretty telling that it’s gonna have a lot of Byler focus.

Emotionally, El was much more focused on Max and Hopper for the whole season. Her letters to Mike were all filled with lies and she continued to lie to him in person. She and Mike are not connected on a deeper emotional level, and it seems like she had realized this during her time in the NINA project. Not even once was she shown to be thinking about Mike while isolated - she only showed concern for her friends in Hawkins, all of her friends as a whole. Her entire arc during the NINA project was her coming into her own, realizing she is not a monster but a human being and she is capable of making her own choices. When El was thinking about her memories with Max, she specifically thought of the moments Max was teaching her to be an individual in S3, to not rely on "stupid boys" to force what's right for her and to explore what she wants (”Not Hopper. Not Mike. You).

She had a much more emotional reaction to Mike’s words when he started to shout that she has to fight; she remembered her anger, her pain, but most importantly her true reason for fighting - to save her friends’ lives. El has realized that her "romantic" love with Mike has been holding her back, and what she wants more than anything is just familial and friendship bonds. This is also apparent when El went with Owens and left a letter for mike, signing it “From El” instead of “Love El” - I think she’s already moved on from loving Mike in that sense since episode 4. This is apparent in Eleven’s reunions with Mike and Will as well; Milkvan's reunion was sweet, but Will and El's was just as sweet and emotional. Both reunions were equally focused on and lacked any romantic connotations.

Mike parallels El’s father figures (something that has been noticed for a while now but is especially prevalent here).

A subtle but big reason why El has stopped seeing Mike in a romantic light is because he so often parallels the father figures in El's life. He is the only character other than Hopper to repeat "bitchin'" to her, he paralleled Brenner several times this season, and even his reunion with El in season 2 directly parallels with El's and Hop's reunion at the end of season 4.

The way Mike talks to El never comes across as romantic but paternal/brotherly ever since the very first season. In pretty much most conversations we see them have in S4, he’s either teaching her something new about the world or is purposefully acting more goofy and exaggerated to make her laugh while putting on a brave face (the skating rink “I’m like Bambi on ice” scene, the pizza sunglasses scene, and saying how the Benny’s Burgers T-shirt looked like it would swallow her whole during his monologue). He never wants her to see him looking weak, just like a father or older brother would. It’s undeniably sweet and shows he loves her in his own way, but he’s never acting honestly around her - he’s too afraid to show her his true self (which he’s admitted to during the van scene in episode 8). The costume designers talked about how while Mike is in California he’s wearing clothes he wouldn’t usually wear - clothes bought straight from the airport. He’s literally faking who he is around El. Meanwhile, it’s been shown time and time again that Mike and Will have a special relationship that can only parallel other romantic pairs in the show - one that shares emotional, deep, and honest conversations. They don’t parallel sibling relationships, they don’t parallel other platonic friendships, they are written like all the canon couples of the show, but especially Lumax.

El wasn't able to beat Vecna after his speech because Melvin is not what's gonna save the day, BYLER is. Ultimately Will will be the true key to everything in season 5, and he will only realize this once he learns that he is the one Mike has loved all along.

2. Mike could only say “I love you” to El because of Will, and Mike’s monologue heavily reflects Will’s words (and his own words from S2).

Mike was ready to give up until Will reminded him that Mike is the heart of the group. If Mike really loved Eleven, would he really need Will's words of encouragement to be able to say I love you to her? (It's also convenient that he could say I love you to her the moment her head was shaved again - almost as if he can only feel romantic love for El when she looks like a boy...) The speech seems to be a mix of a few things for Mike - a genuine fatherly/brotherly love for El, feelings for the El that Will built up in his head, repressed feelings for Will (best thing I’ve ever done vs my life started when I met you), and just saying the things he thinks El needed to hear in order to beat Vecna. Also, let's not forget the fact that the Duffer brothers have explicitly shown they do not believe in love at first sight, and even Mike himself seems to not believe in it ("that wasn't fate or destiny, it was just dumb luck"). Unless the Duffer brothers have changed their mind for some unfathomable reason, the fact that they deliberately made Mike say "the moment I saw you was the moment I knew I loved you" makes it pretty clear that entire monologue was built upon lies from the start. A lot of the monologue just doesn't really make much sense - he did not act in love with El at all at the beginning of season 1, he clearly wanted to use her to find Will and was ready to abandon her the moment she seemed useless/like a traitor. Almost everything he says to El only makes sense when you apply the same words to Will.

Everything about Mike’s monologue is in the shadow of Will - Mike’s words reflect his true feelings towards Will and Will was the one who helped him say these words to El in the first place by expressing his love through her. Will is constantly shown in the background of the frame while Mike is talking, and it’s symbolism showing where Mike’s heart truly lies.

And in Mike's monologue he is STILL idolizing El and putting her on a pedestal. He says he doesn't care whether she has powers or not, but he clearly contradicts himself within the SAME speech (and again paralleling Brenner by saying she can fly and move mountains). Mike has never shown any signs of actual romantic love for El - he's just confusing his admiration for El with romantic feelings, constantly calling her a “superhero” and “Superman”.

After everything she’s went through, El doesn’t want to be seen as a superhero or a monster, especially after Brenner’s talk with her about how human beings are more complex than the things spoken of in myths and fairy-tales. El is a human being, and while Mike does love and care for her, he isn’t letting her become whole.

3. The writers are obligated to address that the painting made by Will wasn't commissioned by El, and that’s going to open up a lot of possibilities for Byler.

It's clear to the audience that El had no idea what the painting was according to her letters to Mike, and considering the heartbreak they show with Will after giving the painting, they literally cannot ignore this plot-point. And some of you may be thinking "even if they do acknowledge it, couldn’t it just be confirmation for Will being gay and one-sidedly liking Mike?" and yeah, that's not impossible. However, Will is pretty much all but confirmed to be gay for Mike - even the writers and actors have fully acknowledged it at this point. Would they really use this as a "reveal" in season 5 when we already know this is the truth? No, this is going to be used as a reveal for MIKE'S feelings. He will realize that everything Will said in the van was about himself, and therefore the version of El that was built up in Mike's head was actually just Will all along. If Mike could only say “I love you” to the version of El that Will created by conveying his own emotions through her, this could only mean one thing.. The person he should actually be saying “I love you” to is Will. Will is the person he’s loved all this time, the person he can no longer live without.

How S5 will potentially use this plotline (the scenario I envision)

Mike and Will will be close friends still - best friends even, as Mike and Will clearly wanted in S4. Considering how S4 leaves off, they’ll likely be working together as a team like before. However, I think there will be a subtle but noticeable distance between them in S5, but this time it will be Will pushing Mike away. Of course Will wants Mike and El to be happy, but there's no denying that he's been hurt. He used his own love confession to repair the relationship between Milkvan, and Mike's monologue said a lot of things that were hurtful to Will (meeting El was the day his life began - AKA the same day Will disappeared). In this season we'll be seeing Mike chase after Will this time, similarly to season 2 where Mike initiates all of the Byler moments except with more angst and confusion between them. After this has been established, I think S5 will start with a Milkvan breakup initiated by Eleven. Mike will actually be hurt this time unlike season 3, but he'll be even more confused. Didn't El commission Will to make that painting? Wasn’t that painting in itself basically a love confession? Didn't Will say she's been feeling lost without me? Didn't she think of me as the heart of the group? Why would she breakup with me, especially after my own love confession? I finally said the words she wanted me to say! Mike will probably confront El about this with these thoughts racing through his head, but then everything will come to a head when El responds.

“What painting?"

After a LOT of initial confusion, this is where everything slowly starts to fall in place for Mike. He realizes the painting was NOT requested by El but it was all Will's idea, HIS gift for Mike. That entire monologue was Will's feelings. The person built up in Mike's head is not El, but Will. Will needs Mike. They both feel like freaks, and they need each other to not feel like mistakes. They make each other feel safe, normal, like someone else can actually understand them. They both feel lost with out each other.

Since Will will be a central part of the storyline in season 5, Mike will have to go through a lot of hardship in order to get back the person he loves and to prove his love - both emotionally and physically - and this will hopefully redeem Mike's character completely for us. Whatever Will is going to go through in the last season, he likely won't be able to do it alone, and once he realizes Mike loves him back he'll be able to save the day. This will directly parallel Mike’s monologue to El - the Melvin confession wasn't able to defeat Vecna because it was built upon lies, but the Byler confession will because both people GENUINELY love each other mutually.

I won't say I'm 100% confident in this theory, but a huge factor in it is that Mike (and arguably El) have no room left to develop unless their storylines are connected to Will. Sure, I'd love some development between Mike and his family, and that kind of plotline COULD work with Melvin... IF their relationship was healthy and built upon trust and understanding. But it just isn’t. El and Mike consistently keep lying to each other and just don't know how to communicate in a healthy way - but only in regards to the romantic parts of their relationship. When they're just friends/team-mates, they can communicate and work together just fine. They never open up to each other and get closer on an emotional level like Byler CONSTANTLY does - practically every time they’re on screen together! Unless the writing does a complete 180 and El and Mike are suddenly written competently as a couple, they are pretty much doomed to fail and the ending of season 4 is clearly implying that this is intentional. If Mike just ends up rejecting Will when he comes out in season 5, Mike will literally just become the most garbage human being on earth and nobody will be happy (and no, not because he can’t reciprocate Will’s feelings, but because he can’t even be a good boyfriend or friend if this is the case). It still stands that Mike’s character only makes sense if he’s suppressing his feelings for Will because of internalized homophobia. As I've seen quite a few people mention in their own theories, Byler endgame is the most satisfying conclusion to Will's, Mike's AND El's character arcs, and the angst in season 4 does not change that, it just sets it up even further. They've simply laid out the facts for us first - Will loves Mike, Mike loves the version of El that Will created by confessing through her, and El doesn't need Mike anymore (romantically) and values platonic and familial bonds more.

4. The placement of the pairings in episode 9 - Jancy, Jopper and Byler.

Unless the writers are just unforgivably cruel and are rubbing salt in the wound, this has to mean something. The couples are not anywhere NEAR each other and the placement feels way too deliberate, just like the grocery store scene in season 3. El is placed by herself in both scenes, pretty blatantly implying that she won't end up with anyone in the end. All of the couples are standing in the beautifully bloomed flowers and El is standing in the dead flowers - the same (or at least very similar) flowers that Mike picked for her. This is symbolism that their love has died and the other couples will be thriving in S5. (side note: really hoping this isn’t symbolism for Eleven dying though, I personally wouldn’t want Byler to happen at the expense of Eleven)

Themes of conformity

Speaking of Jancy, here’s an observation about the season’s themes I had thanks to the whole oddity of Stancy returning. Season 4 is about characters returning/losing to conformity temporarily - Nancy with Steve, Mike with El (and Will with Melvin), Robin with Vicky, and Lucas wanting to be normal/popular. But in the last episode Lucas has clearly moved away from that ideology, Vicky broke up with her boyfriend, and in the very ending shot of the season Nancy is standing with Johnathan and Mike is standing with Will. I know we’ve all been feeling like Stranger things has lost sight of what it’s supposed to be about, but the themes of the characters being outcasts and going against conformity is not lost! This season was just showcasing the characters' struggle and how hard it is to break outside of society's walls in the 80s. Very often you'll go against what you really want and lean back towards what's comfortable and safe for you, especially when you’re starting to doubt yourself and your relationships with others. Steve mentioned his dream of marrying someone and having 6 kids, the very image of a typical American dream for someone to have. Nothing against it, it's a really sweet vision to have for the future, but Steve is about as conventional a guy as it gets (bless him for being an ally though). For Nancy, Steve represents what it means to be normal, and El represents what it means to be normal for Mike. When Nancy got Vecna'd, it was a reminder to the audience that Nancy still feels guilty about Barb, specifically because she pushed her away and chased after being normal instead - being with Steve. Even though Nancy was starting to falter, she still cannot be with Steve even if she still feels attracted to him because it's what ended up hurting herself and others around her. When she's back with Johnathan and they make a remark about Argyle being a weirdo, Nancy says "welcome to the club", showing she's accepted she can't be normal/with Steve. The same thing applies to Melvin. Even when Mike sees El being bullied by other girls, Mike still fears that El will not need him anymore because he's a nerd and outcast. He has seen time and time again that she's an outcast just like he is, but she is still what is "normal" simply because she is a girl and being heterosexual is what was considered to be normal. Like Lucas, Robin and Nancy, Mike will learn it's fine to be an outcast (homosexual) in S5. Because as Lucas so eloquently put:

Conclusion

Of course all of this being the case won't magically mean the Duffers are good writers of course, they’ve disappointed us in ways even outside of Byler (*cough* Eddie’s death *cough*). But considering the seemingly careful and dedicated time they’re taking to build this up, it could easily be one of the best written slow-burn gay romances in all of history depending on the execution. It’ll definitely take a lot to fix Mike's character, but honestly considering he's a 14/15 year old kid in the 80s I can understand that he still can't get a grasp on his own feelings. If season 5 really does have a time-skip like everyone's been saying (I think it'll be 2 years and not 5 like some rumours have stated), Mike will hopefully be mature enough at this point to realize what an idiot he's been in season 3 + 4 and return to the Mike we all know and love (though I do think the time-skip may be mid-season).

In a recent interview it's been confirmed that Will will play a huge part in season 5, so as long as he's getting actual MC status again I’ll be as confident in Byler being endgame as I was during vol.1 of season 4 - that is to say, 100%.

A lot of people were confused about why the actors and writers were excited about Byler when it seemingly ended in heartbreak in season 4, but if you consider the idea that they already knew what’ll happen in season 5, all of their behaviour makes sense and it may have been completely unintentional to put our hopes up on the staff’s part. Season 5′s outline was written around the same time season 4 was being created thanks to the covid pandemic, so the likelihood of this is pretty high. And as I've seen some people mention, some scenes may have been moved to season 5 and/or scenes for both seasons were filmed at the same time (for example, the photo of Noah (in his season 4 outfit) in a harness was never explained). I can't really confirm any of this, but it definitely explains a lot if the staff aren't just completely blind to what queer folk actually want.

I’m genuinely hopeful now that season 5 will deliver on several of the ideas we were wishing for during season 4, and considering all of the brilliant analyses/theories that have been cropping up, it is definitely way too early to give up on Byler being endgame! Until the end all of us “delusional” bylers will be going crazy together 🌟

#byler #stranger things #byler is endgame #mike wheeler I know what you are #will byers #mike wheeler #mike wheeler is gay #stranger things theory #duffers please don't make me look like a delusional idiot AGAIN I beg of you #but I'll be riding this clown car to the ends of the earth

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most-tragic-character-tournament · 7 months

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Okay, Penny Polendina propaganda time because I just had a dream about her again and I wanted to rant about why she is probably the most tragic character I know.

Penny Polendina I'm sure you know represents Pinocchio in RWBY Lore. Penny Polendina's character contrasts with that of about every other character in that she is blissfully unaware of everything that goes wrong. Despite this, she is rather important due to her position as a private weapon claimed by Ironwood's military. Despite this, she was never developed as a weapon, but a daughter for her father, Pietro, whom sees her as his one and only real daughter.

He's very protective of Penny, and for a good reason. Penny's character arc not only revolves around her finding freedom and self-autonomy through Ruby, the protagonist, becoming her literal ONLY FRIEND, but choosing her one friend over the entire world that's used her.

Naturally, the response wasn't as good.

Penny ultimately ends up becoming the centerpiece for the Vytal Festival Tragedy where she is accidentally ripped to pieces by Pyrrha Nikos, who was set up to fight against her because her power is magnetism and Penny's a robot. This throws everything into disarray, and an all-out siege occurs in Beacon because the Grimm (the main monsters/antagonists) are drawn by negative emotion. Combined with the White Fang and Cinder's party being involved, Penny's death not only affected those who saw her on stage, but also those who saw her as important or not, as a friend.

Ruby was one of them. And it can be said that Penny's death was the catalyst for the turning point of the series where everything goes to shit. Yes, that includes Pyrrha's death, meaning Pyrrha's death wasn't the catalyst. I'm sorry Pyrrha stans.

Anyways, skip forward a couple of seasons. No, I'm not kidding, she doesn't get mentioned for 4 whole seasons after this. Albeit, not to a significant extent. Ultimately it becomes a story about the main characters fighting to survive in this world where everything is under siege. It's as if her character was forgotten entirely. As if Penny's fans meant nothing for 4 whole seasons.

I was one of those fans. And knowing how little the creators of RWBY cared about Penny's character hurt me. Furthermore, when they reintroduced Penny into the spinoff, RWBY Chibi, it added more salt to the wound, albeit I was glad Penny would be in a world she could finally be safe.

Though, not like it matters. Even in RWBY Chibi I wasn't free of feelings.

See, RWBY Chibi is a skit-based miniseries starring the cast of RWBY. It's not meant to be taken seriously. Hell, even with several jokes going off the fourth wall and Penny being one of the most ignorant yet aware characters in the whole series, this position was reserved for Nora. Penny felt like a bench warmer, reintroduced to make RWBY Chibi relevant again. And lo and behold, the Fireflies scene.

OOOHHHH THE FIREFLIES SCENE. Unironically awakened me to how romantic and sweet Penny could be, and revitalized hoe much I loved her character.

For those who don't know, the Fireflies scene is a scene where Penny and Ruby are in the woods at night checking out fireflies. Ruby points out how they're like little lights, and calls Penny a firefly. Penny returns the comment, albeit literally. But ultimately, after spending some time together bonding over the fireflies, Penny and Ruby ultimately realize they're calling each other 'their light.' Whether I'm remembering this right or not, not only was it FANTASTIC ship material, it showcased how Penny is happier with Ruby in her life in a world where nothing is asked of her.

Anyways, 4 seasons after Penny dies, she is rebuilt with her memories intact thanks to her father recovering it from the wreckage of the arena after the storm settled. There's a heartfelt reunion after Penny's redesigned self is unveiled, but now she reveals that she been employed as the protector of ALL OF ATLAS, she sadly reveals that there's not much time for reunion. To make matters worse, yet ANOTHER plot is under way with Penny as the center. Penny and Ruby, before then, find time to make up for lost time, albeit not under better circumstances. However, despite all that, Penny still proudly calls Ruby her first friend, and that she couldnt have pushed this far without her. Ruby feels the same, and vows to protect her.

It's this series of moments that really cemented for me my main thesis for this next part, leading into volumes 8 and 9 - that Ruby and Penny are quite literally Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers never meant to be, the TITULAR romantic tragedy. I'll get to that, however.

Anyways, the plot unfolds and Penny is framed for the murder of a ROOM full of executives, and Ruby and friends are labelled fugitives. Ironwood ultimately turns of Penny, and Penny struggles with the burden of having to protect Atlas despite her doing everything right. What happens next? Oh, I dunno, PENNY IS MOUNTED WITH INFINITELY MORE RESPONSIBILITY BY BECOMING THE WINTER MAIDEN.

I literally had a dream about that happening years ago after Penny died. I should've said something 💀.

Anyways, not only is she the protector of Atlas, Winter Maiden, AND framed for murder, but now she's INFECTED WITH A VIRUS THAT WILL KILL HER.

In a final bout, Team RWBY agrees to use the artifact they're protecting to use a loophole that will remove Penny's soul from her body, turning her into a real girl (completing the Pinocchio allusion), and Penny in what she doesn't know are her final moments hugs Ruby. She utters the words, "do hugs always make you feel this warm?" And ultimately is sent off with Team RWBY to stop Cinder's plan to destroy both Atlas and Mantle.

Penny becomes the main target due to being Winter Maiden, but since her human body is untrained and significantly weaker, she ends up fatally wounded. To make sure Cinder doesn't get Penny's Maiden Powers, she for the first time ever gets to make an order. She begs Jaune to kill her. And regretfully, he must.

Enter Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet are from two families set apart and destined never to make peace. However, despite that, Romeo and Juliet fall in love. Believing they will make it out and escape free, they fake their deaths of their own accord to fool their families and change their names. Penny is like Romeo, and Ruby as Juliet. Romeo was the second to choose death, believing Juliet had died by poisoning herself. Penny only chose death because she thought Ruby died. In circumstances that forbid her from being happy with Ruby, which is shown to be possible by Chibi, Penny chose death, losing her one chance to be happy. Ruby is unaware of Penny's Death, but the narrative leading into Volume 9 shows "death isn't the end," as evidenced by Little becoming Somewhat after dying. This is vital to the revival part of Romeo and Juliet.

In Volume 9, Ruby is overwhelmed by grief of the whole situation. During the Mad Teaparty where supposedly everyone who's died comes back to haunt Team RWBY, Ruby chooses death as well. She drinks the tea that kills her, believing it's her fault that Penny died.

How did Romeo (Penny) die? Well, after finding out Juliet supposedly killed herself (she didn’t, she would come back to life because the poison was temporary), Romeo ACTUALLY poisoned himself, dying for real. But what happened after that? Juliet, seeing Romeo dead for real, decides also to actually poison herself. They would die lovers, together in death. Ruby believed she would see Penny again for real, only to be given a second chance and ultimately overcome the Mad Teaparty.

The storyboards for the epilogue showcase that everyone knows Penny is dead, and Winter believes she's "never coming back." Since Ruby has overcome the story of Romeo and Juliet, it should be fair that life would somehow give Penny another chance like Little.

But what happened? Volume 10 isn't greenlit, meaning in the most meta way possible, Penny's chance (and yes. A SLIM chance) at life again is denied by REALITY ITSELF. All the cards point to it. Everyone knows it. Everyone wants it. But we can't have it.

And now Penny's story will go down as a tragedy, as Romeo and Juliet, forbidden to be. Is that how you want it to end? Ruby only loving Penny as a memory, when reality shows they can be happy, like in Chibi?

Do you want to see Penny have a chance? Vote for her. Penny did nothing wrong. Give Penny a chance.

Thank you for following my vague, incoherent interpretation of Penny's story.

[Propaganda]

#propaganda #penny polendina #tw death #tw suicide #goddam that was a long read #/lh

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alegje · 1 month

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I just finished a BBC show called Jack and Alice. This is the third thing I’ve watched recently that made me cry like it was my grandfathers funeral all over again. The first on was a movie called All Of Us Strangers. I was not expecting it to end the way it did and it utterly destroyed me. I cried so hard that I was heaving by the end. I ran to Gary to comfort me, but he did the exact opposite. We were in a little fight right before and he was still pretty angry with me. So instead of him holding me while I ugly cried, I rolled over and it just made me sadder and I cried even more. Not a great way to end the night. The next thing I watched that destroyed me was the remake of the movie One Day. I know I watched the original movie, but I don’t think I liked it that much since I never re-watched it. They remade it into a Netflix series and I binged the whole thing in one night. Their relationship was messy and complicated which I found to be more realistic of what actual real life relationships are actually like. One of them died in a tragic accident at the end and once again I found myself crying in a ball in our living room. I didn’t run to Gary for comfort this time since it was like 1 am, and honestly I didn’t want a repeat of last time so I don’t think I would’ve anyway. I’m sure I disappoint him daily, but he disappoints me when it comes to any kind of comfort or intimacy every time I try for it, so I’ve resigned to give up trying most of the time. I started Alice and Jack a couple of weeks ago and have been avoiding watching the last episode. In the episode before the last one Alice found out she had stage 4 cancer after her and Jack had finally decided to be together after them trying and failing miserably at it for the last l5 years. I knew the last episode was gonna be Alice dying and I didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to handle it until today. I was wrong of course because I blubbered through the entire episode. I appreciate how real these 2 tv shows and 1 movie have been, but for fucks sake!!! I can only take so much. And now I have to wait and see whether one of my favorite teen dramas is gonna disappoint me too. The final episode of Young Royals drops Monday. The last episode was Simon telling Wilhelm “Love shouldn’t be this hard. Maybe it just won’t work. I can’t take it anymore.” You and me both honey!!! I have this sinking feeling like they aren’t going to end up together in the end, but trying to be optimistic. This last season is so good but also devastating at the same time. They started out so happy to finally be together but slowly the happiness deteriorated because of all of the shit going on around. They have had completely different upbringings and now have so many rules to follow and expectations put on them that I’m afraid it will unravel their deep love for each other and they’ll decide it’s easier to not be together. I hope not. At least I know that Charlie and Nick are going to end up together since Heartstopper is based on books that have already been written. The news about season 3 will be coming next week. Maybe that’ll cheer me up. We shall see.

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thepodcasthoard · 3 months

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Podcasting in 2023: What You Need + 9 Steps To Get Started

Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l Part 6 l Part 7 l Part 8 l Part 9 l

The tenth article Sydney gave me is one with a broader scope. It covers not only how to start a podcast, but what one really is. Since you're here, I'll skip over that part. If you want to start one, you already know what one is.

The article covers basic things to get started- a microphone, a room to record in, editing software, headphones, and a hosting site.

Then it's time to cover how to start a podcast.

Pick a theme you're compelled by

Ideally, you'll have an audience or at least a potential one in mind. This article goes into more depth. It's geared towards brand and company podcasts, but it does talk in depth about the importance of niches.

The article urges you to take into account a few factors:

Has another podcast covered this podcast, and if so how can I make mine unique?

Is the topic still relatable?

Will the topic have an audience?

Is there enough meat on the bone for a season?

Now, I'll throw my two cents in here- no idea is original anymore, they've all been done before. You can bring the best uniqueness to your podcast by using your best asset- you. Be yourself, and your podcast will automatically be different. And as far as 'still' relatable, there are nerds out there that are super into neolithic stone tools, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. In my life experience, as long as you're passionate about the subject, people are attracted to that passion and are willing to hear you out. As far as the audience question, the same answer applies- if even one person likes it (that person is you, by the way), then others are no doubt into it. The last question is certainly more important- you want something substantial to talk about, so don't niche down so much you can only think of two episodes.

There's a video linked under this step, which provides more information on the article as a whole.

2. Decide on show format

There are a lot of formats out there, and each one of them is suited to that podcast for a different reason. So choose one that speaks to you and think about how your ideas can fit under that umbrella.

3. Use your existing network

Use your social media, talk to your friends and family. Also, try to reach out to communities that talk regularly about your topic- this article recommends facebook groups, but I'd bet reddit is also a good choice (I don't personally use reddit, so I can't say for sure).

4. Record and edit

Don't panic at this stage. Think of it as a trial run to get the kinks out. Just make sure you hit record- you can't edit what you didn't capture. You'll find ways to streamline as you go along.

5. Finalize name and artwork

This article recommends waiting until this point to cement your ideas, because as you worked on planning you might have pivoted slightly away from your original idea. Plus, once you have that first episode you might find inspiration in it.

6. Make a website

Consider this your podcast's home base. Anything related to it- transcripts, show notes, etc.- will have a central place to live.

7. Promote

The only thing I could think of when I was reading this section was 'If you build it, they will come.' But this isn't the Field of Dreams. You'll have to work to get ears on your podcast. Put it out there so people know it exists- it may be just what they're looking for. This article goes more in-depth on growing a podcast.

8. Track your metrics

Once your podcast is running, keep track of it. Note what works promotion-wise, and also see where your numbers are. As a side note from me- don't obsess over this. You might see 'only' twenty people, but those are twenty individuals who took time out of their day to listen to you.

9. Monetize

The article mentions that sponsorship, affiliates, and membership services are all ways to make money from your podcast. As an aside from me, I would caution you about doing this too soon- no one likes having brands shoved in their face, and most likely you won't get brands to partner with you when you're just starting out.

#podcast help #beginner podcaster

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fasa-umich · 1 year

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Caitlin Ruth Gines, FASA's 2022 - 2023 Co-Performance Chair

Performance Chair –– a board position that I have a love-hate relationship with.

What do I mean by this?

Let’s just say sometimes, the people that you love the most are the people you actually fight with most of the time and sometimes you hate them but deep down you really just hate them at that exact moment but you love them as a whole. You are grateful that you have them. Conflicts are inevitable but you get through it together…you grow together as it goes on.

That is the Performance Chair position for me.

There are times when I was like what if I just quit or I’m so tired of everything (as a whole) that I just wanted to just watch shows or play Call of Duty or play Genshin but thinking about FASA performances is what keeps me going. Thinking about the pride that the performers feel when they hear the crowd cheering, clapping, or even WOAH-ing keeps me going. Thinking about performers bonding and growing together keeps me going. So all year, I’m just GO GO GO!

Battle of the Bamboo Szn (2 week szn)

MoMA Spotted

This is MoMA. The girl who wears this MoMA jacket. I believe her name is Michelle. These are pictures of her. Let me know if you know this girl.

This girl. If we are going to make a movie based on the battle season, it won’t be “Michelle Saves the Day” but “Michelle Saves the Season”. I feel like I have not shown this girl how grateful I am for her for stepping up during the Pagapir practices and working with me in making the performance wonderful in a way that shows compassion to our performers. You played a vital role in keeping the performers’ morale high and making the performance amazing. THINKS!

OMG I FOUND HER!

Pagapiring: FASA, Back on Battle Stage

Performing in battle has become a core memory for me. It is not because Eric Solano gave a good comment on our performance, although it’s also nice. But my favorite part of it is the performers. Performers, I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know all of you. We had our highs and lows…and we bonded over it. Each of you have made this experience memorable for me. I love you all and I hope that you are all proud of yourselves. Ensemblers+Nate and Pagapirers slayed so hard on the battle stage.

My Co looks like Bry-Bry

I really think that this guy I’m working with is Bry-Bry from BO4RD*TOWN. He said no but I have a feeling.

To Bryson:

I am glad that you are my co this year.

I am glad that you are the person I grew with in this position.

I might not have shown it to you but you are one of my rocks this year.

I hope that you are proud of everything that we have achieved.

I cannot imagine being a performance chair without you as my co.

I appreciate you so much for all the things you have done in your position.

You have worked so hard and it shows.

You are one of the smartest and most professional people I know.

You are so cool.

Some people think we do not work well together because of our checkmate 1.5% compatibility. If that’s true, I wouldn’t have heard.

“It’s literally FASA’s Performance Era”

- Wesley Liao 3/8/23

A TUNE FOR FASA E-Board:

I wrote a song for you because this is what I think about working with all of you…

🎶(Instrumental)🎶

Here and now it's time for celebration

I finally figured it out (yeah yeah)

That all our dreams have no limitations

That's what it's all about

Everyone is special in their own way

We make each other strong (each other strong)

Were not the same

Were different in a good way

Together's where we belong

We're all in this together

Once we know

That we are

We're all stars

And we see that

We're all in this together

And it shows

When we stand

Hand in hand

Make our dreams come true

🎶(Instrumental)🎶

To FASA:

I am thankful that I am part of this wonderful community. Everyone is amazing and I love seeing us grow bigger and bigger! Knowing each and every one of you brings me different experiences. COZ Y’ALL ARE EXTREMES.

The freshies! I’m not one of them

Bakunawa Spotlight

The bestest and coolest lineage deserves recognition here. DA DAURGS!

Transitioning being COOLturals to being a PERPormance:

Quick sequence of “How’d I get heeeere” (s/o SZA):

Applied as an intern because I thought it was like a FASA resource for an internship opportunity in my field of study.

Getting accepted in the internship program and realizing what it actually was OOPS. (I loved it tho).

I decided to run for both Cultural Chair and Performance Chair positions.

I did all my coffee chat for both positions

Something happened in my life that made me feel more strongly about culturals at that time but I love both positions equally.

I messaged the Presidents, Ate Izzy and Ate Bea saying that I would like to revoke my candidacy for the performance chair and wanted to focus on culturals more.

I promised Ate Bea Fandino that I will run for performance.

Got the culturals position and the term went wonderful with the love of my life Miss Emily madlamba@um*ch.edu.

A year later and I ran for performance chair → PROMISE FULFILLED!

And now I’m here writing this testimonial.

Co-Cultural Chairs and Co-Performance Chair are positions who play very different roles in FASA although I got the chance to spread culture with all of them. I realized that the workload for each chair is very similar but in different ways. To give you a glimpse of it, being cultural is more research focus, you are mostly making documents or writing emails, and strict planning on everything. Performance on the other side is more work physically, has more informal communications, and planning that will allow flexibility. Also, my cos for both terms work in very different ways. For these reasons, I had to do a whole reset which was hard at first but I got the groove baby!

Key Advice to Future Performance

BE AMBITIOUS

BUT

MAKE SURE YOU MAKE DECISIONS YOU WON’T REGRET

Right now I am writing this and reflecting about my past 2.5 years on board. I am happy with all my decisions and I am happy that I got to work with two wonderful people: EMILY AND BRYSON.

AT LAST: I FEEL FULFILLED AND I WILL NOW BE MOVING FORWARD TO FIND MY NEW PURPOSE. THIS WILL BE A MEMORY THAT I WILL LOOK BACK AT WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE.

One last important thing to say is Bryson is the reason why I finished strong. WE DID IT CO! It was a pleasure working with you.

Thank you performers and everyone for being a part of this journey.

Signing out.

One of your co-performance chairs,

Caitlin Ruth Gines

#2022-2023 #FASAPerformance

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nfly5 · 1 year

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Secret Santa here! ^_^

First off, please don't apologise for your N.Flying SS event reblogs! It's my first time participating in this sort of event, but I understand the whole point of it is about sharing joy and appreciation to each other, so I was absolutely delighted when I saw you participating in another secret santa! Even more so when you told me you're part of the organiser -- that's amazing! You're great!! (੭ ＞▽＜)੭

Secondly, I'm not familiar with award show seasons, buuuutt, from Kokobop stage performances I saw when Baekhyun doesn't have that red hair, doesn't he rock the silver hair instead? Sooo 4 out of 6 looks you chose, he has silver/bleached hair. I think I figured out your type? XD

But anyway, on the topic of Baekhyun's looks and how they maaaaayyy or may not be related to the gifts (👀) this is just to be sure, like, I'm not even 100% certain this will be included but just in case: do you feel comfortable with potentially some NSFW stuff, such as nudity? Again, I'm not even sure I'll include anything like this, but just to cover all the bases, you know? 😅 And another question (which I think may be the last ... for now) I have is: do you have any favourite colour schemes? :>

I think that's all I got for now! And I think it's fine to say this? But I'll be getting into the planning and prep stage real soon. :3 I know my messages have been sporadic and not frequent, but just giving you a heads up they'll probably be even more sporadic and infrequent in the coming weeks due to the aforementioned reason. (°▽° ) I truly, truly hope you'll like them once they're ready. :3

I hope the next time we talk you'll be a lot better! I know how much it sucks to get sick back to back, it's so frustrating!! >_< I hope you'll get a lot of warm drinks and food, please do take care, and be well! <3

-🎅

thank you so much for understanding! recovering from this sickness has been so painful :( idk what's going on with my immune system it has completely hit rock bottom this year!! feeling much better now and finally back online! thanks for bearing with me, so sorry for responding slowly!

awww thank you, there's very little n.flying blogs & content on here but i was so happy to see some interest for it so went ahead with it heheh let's see how it goes.

yess during the awards season in nov-dec 17 he went back to silver. LOL i am literally a black hair advocate but baekhyun's silver hair is just such a look i find it very iconic! thanks for asking, if it's alright with you i prefer avoiding nsfw content! ohh favourite colour scheme is a tough one but i would say i really love pastel tones!! and green/blues?

hope you are taking care too! excited to speak with you again soon <3

#exoss22 #ask

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perpetual-stories · 3 years

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Story Structures for your Next WIP

hello, hello. this post will be mostly for my notes. this is something I need in to be reminded of for my business, but it can also be very useful and beneficial for you guys as well.

everything in life has structure and storytelling is no different, so let’s dive right in :)

First off let’s just review what a story structure is :

a story is the backbone of the story, the skeleton if you will. It hold the entire story together.

the structure in which you choose your story will effectively determine how you create drama and depending on the structure you choose it should help you align your story and sequence it with the conflict, climax, and resolution.

1. Freytag's Pyramid

this first story structure i will be talking about was named after 19th century German novelist and playwright.

it is a five point structure that is based off classical Greek tragedies such as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripedes.

Freytag's Pyramid structure consists of:

Introduction: the status quo has been established and an inciting incident occurs.

Rise or rising action: the protagonist will search and try to achieve their goal, heightening the stakes,

Climax: the protagonist can no longer go back, the point of no return if you will.

Return or fall: after the climax of the story, tension builds and the story inevitably heads towards...

Catastrophe: the main character has reached their lowest point and their greatest fears have come into fruition.

this structure is used less and less nowadays in modern storytelling mainly due to readers lack of appetite for tragic narratives.

2. The Hero's Journey

the hero's journey is a very well known and popular form of storytelling.

it is very popular in modern stories such as Star Wars, and movies in the MCU.

although the hero's journey was inspired by Joseph Campbell's concept, a Disney executive Christopher Vogler has created a simplified version:

The Ordinary World: The hero's everyday routine and life is established.

The Call of Adventure: the inciting incident.

Refusal of the Call: the hero / protagonist is hesitant or reluctant to take on the challenges.

Meeting the Mentor: the hero meets someone who will help them and prepare them for the dangers ahead.

Crossing the First Threshold: first steps out of the comfort zone are taken.

Tests, Allie, Enemies: new challenges occur, and maybe new friends or enemies.

Approach to the Inmost Cave: hero approaches goal.

The Ordeal: the hero faces their biggest challenge.

Reward (Seizing the Sword): the hero manages to get ahold of what they were after.

The Road Back: they realize that their goal was not the final hurdle, but may have actually caused a bigger problem than before.

Resurrection: a final challenge, testing them on everything they've learned.

Return with the Elixir: after succeeding they return to their old life.

the hero's journey can be applied to any genre of fiction.

3. Three Act Structure:

this structure splits the story into the 'beginning, middle and end' but with in-depth components for each act.

Act 1: Setup:

exposition: the status quo or the ordinary life is established.

inciting incident: an event sets the whole story into motion.

plot point one: the main character decided to take on the challenge head on and she crosses the threshold and the story is now progressing forward.

Act 2: Confrontation:

rising action: the stakes are clearer and the hero has started to become familiar with the new world and begins to encounter enemies, allies and tests.

midpoint: an event that derails the protagonists mission.

plot point two: the hero is tested and fails, and begins to doubt themselves.

Act 3: Resolution:

pre-climax: the hero must chose between acting or failing.

climax: they fights against the antagonist or danger one last time, but will they succeed?

Denouement: loose ends are tied up and the reader discovers the consequences of the climax, and return to ordinary life.

4. Dan Harmon's Story Circle

it surprised me to know the creator of Rick and Morty had their own variation of Campbell's hero's journey.

the benefit of Harmon's approach is that is focuses on the main character's arc.

it makes sense that he has such a successful structure, after all the show has multiple seasons, five or six seasons? i don't know not a fan of the show.

the character is in their comfort zone: also known as the status quo or ordinary life.

they want something: this is a longing and it can be brought forth by an inciting incident.

the character enters and unfamiliar situation: they must take action and do something new to pursue what they want.

adapt to it: of course there are challenges, there is struggle and begin to succeed.

they get what they want: often a false victory.

a heavy price is paid: a realization of what they wanted isn't what they needed.

back to the good old ways: they return to their familiar situation yet with a new truth.

having changed: was it for the better or worse?

i might actually make a operate post going more in depth about dan harmon's story circle.

5. Fichtean Curve:

the fichtean curve places the main character in a series of obstacles in order to achieve their goal.

this structure encourages writers to write a story packed with tension and mini-crises to keep the reader engaged.

The Rising Action

the story must start with an inciting indecent.

then a series of crisis arise.

there are often four crises.

2. The Climax:

3. Falling Action

this type of story telling structure goes very well with flash-back structured story as well as in theatre.

6. Save the Cat Beat Sheet:

this is another variation of a three act structure created by screenwriter Blake Snyder, and is praised widely by champion storytellers.

Structure for Save the Cat is as follows: (the numbers in the brackets are for the number of pages required, assuming you're writing a 110 page screenplay)

Opening Image [1]: The first shot of the film. If you’re starting a novel, this would be an opening paragraph or scene that sucks readers into the world of your story.

Set-up [1-10]. Establishing the ‘ordinary world’ of your protagonist. What does he want? What is he missing out on?

Theme Stated [5]. During the setup, hint at what your story is really about — the truth that your protagonist will discover by the end.

Catalyst [12]. The inciting incident!

Debate [12-25]. The hero refuses the call to adventure. He tries to avoid the conflict before they are forced into action.

Break into Two [25]. The protagonist makes an active choice and the journey begins in earnest.

B Story [30]. A subplot kicks in. Often romantic in nature, the protagonist’s subplot should serve to highlight the theme.

The Promise of the Premise [30-55]. Often called the ‘fun and games’ stage, this is usually a highly entertaining section where the writer delivers the goods. If you promised an exciting detective story, we’d see the detective in action. If you promised a goofy story of people falling in love, let’s go on some charmingly awkward dates.

Midpoint [55]. A plot twist occurs that ups the stakes and makes the hero’s goal harder to achieve — or makes them focus on a new, more important goal.

Bad Guys Close In [55-75]. The tension ratchets up. The hero’s obstacles become greater, his plan falls apart, and he is on the back foot.

All is Lost [75]. The hero hits rock bottom. He loses everything he’s gained so far, and things are looking bleak. The hero is overpowered by the villain; a mentor dies; our lovebirds have an argument and break up.

Dark Night of the Soul [75-85-ish]. Having just lost everything, the hero shambles around the city in a minor-key musical montage before discovering some “new information” that reveals exactly what he needs to do if he wants to take another crack at success. (This new information is often delivered through the B-Story)

Break into Three [85]. Armed with this new information, our protagonist decides to try once more!

Finale [85-110]. The hero confronts the antagonist or whatever the source of the primary conflict is. The truth that eluded him at the start of the story (established in step three and accentuated by the B Story) is now clear, allowing him to resolve their story.

Final Image [110]. A final moment or scene that crystallizes how the character has changed. It’s a reflection, in some way, of the opening image.

(all information regarding the save the cat beat sheet was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

7. Seven Point Story Structure:

this structure encourages writers to start with the at the end, with the resolution, and work their way back to the starting point.

this structure is about dramatic changes from beginning to end

The Hook. Draw readers in by explaining the protagonist’s current situation. Their state of being at the beginning of the novel should be in direct contrast to what it will be at the end of the novel.

Plot Point 1. Whether it’s a person, an idea, an inciting incident, or something else — there should be a "Call to Adventure" of sorts that sets the narrative and character development in motion.

Pinch Point 1. Things can’t be all sunshine and roses for your protagonist. Something should go wrong here that applies pressure to the main character, forcing them to step up and solve the problem.

Midpoint. A “Turning Point” wherein the main character changes from a passive force to an active force in the story. Whatever the narrative’s main conflict is, the protagonist decides to start meeting it head-on.

Pinch Point 2. The second pinch point involves another blow to the protagonist — things go even more awry than they did during the first pinch point. This might involve the passing of a mentor, the failure of a plan, the reveal of a traitor, etc.

Plot Point 2. After the calamity of Pinch Point 2, the protagonist learns that they’ve actually had the key to solving the conflict the whole time.

Resolution. The story’s primary conflict is resolved — and the character goes through the final bit of development necessary to transform them from who they were at the start of the novel.

(all information regarding the seven point story structure was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

i decided to fit all of them in one post instead of making it a two part post.

i hope you all enjoy this post and feel free to comment or reblog which structure you use the most, or if you have your own you prefer to use! please share with me!

if you find this useful feel free to reblog on instagram and tag me at perpetualstories

Follow my tumblr and instagram for more writing and grammar tips and more!

#writing #writing advice #writing tips #original writing #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writersconnection #writersofig #writersofinstagram #writings

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gifted-burnout-archive · 4 years

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Who Would’ve Thought

Requested?: yes! so this is a mashup of sorts. I got three separate requests: the first being an interview scene with a bitchy reporter, the second a y/n x luke with some enemies to lovers and an argument, but the actors get on really well, and the third was for a similar teasing, y/n x luke concept. This doesn’t quite cover every part of each request, but it gets a bit of all of them in, ya know?

Word count:

Author’s Note: i think this is the point where i just accept i am a jatp smut writer, right? i mean, it was only a matter of time before it happened... i liked this, writing it was so much fun, if you like this and want more send it in to me!

Warning: this became fluffy smut, you’re very welcome.

the masterlist is here, because i have more stuff like this.

“Ok, ok.” The laughs around set subsided after Madison’s joke, the reporter sitting up a little straighter and coughing to compose himself. “I have to ask, and I have to know since that trailer dropped last week… Y/N, I think everyone watching wants to find out a bit more about you and the character you’re bringing to season two?” He asked, turning his attention from the show’s star to the young woman sat beside her, who was wiping tears from the corners of her eyes, trying to stop laughing.

“What is it you want to know?” She asked, sharing a smiling with Madi as she too sat up straight in her chair once more, running a hand through her hair and crossing one leg over the other, all triggers to help her subside the giggles waiting to erupt from her chest, to calm down and get back to the professionalism she had practiced in her bedroom mirror.

“Well, for starters, what’s it been like, joining the Julie and the Phantoms crew? Am I right in saying this is your breakout role, just like it was for Madison last season?” He asked, and Y/N nodded, gripping Madi’s hand in hers.

“Yeah, it is. And I’ll tell you something, I wouldn’t have known what to do on day one without Madi. The closest I came to acting, to television, before this was when I played a tree in my kindergarten school play.” She explained, glancing past the reporter’s shoulder to see Kenny stood watching them with a grin, sending a thumbs up her way. Her body relaxed a little. “Yeah, I auditioned as a dare from a friend at college and, well…” She smiled wider. “Seems like the best decision I’ve ever made.”

“And from what I can tell, the rest of the cast sat in on your audition?” The reporter asked, looking to both girls for an answer.

“Not the first one.” Madi cleared up. “But Kenny and the casting team loved Y/N, and wanted to make sure she was the perfect fit. They had her perform on the sound stage, and the rest of us just sort of snuck in to watch.” She explained, letting go of Y/N’s hand to gesture as she spoke. “We were all just blown away, and Charlie was the first to shout out after she finished. He called out… What did he say?” Madi asked Y/N, who was laughing to herself at the memory.

“Kenny, will you hire her already?” Y/N answered, and the reporter chuckled again. “And from that moment on, I was Grace.”

“Yes, Grace, our mysterious new rebel child. What can you tell us about her?”

“Ok, so, we’ve got Kenny on standby in case I mess up and give away too much.” Y/N prefaced. “So, Grace is the new girl at Los Feliz High, Carrie’s cousin, and coming in with a bit of reputation where we left off season one. I think the best way to describe would be a musical influencer?” She glanced to Madi, who nodded in agreement. “Bit of a rebel, bit of a spanner in the works for Juke despite her and Luke quite adamantly disliking each other.” She added, and the reporter was nodding his head feverishly.

“Yeah, the trailer seemed to show it. Is that the character’s big goal, breaking up our OTP?” He asked, and Y/N bit her lip as she thought for a moment.

“I think she’s a character with a lot of growth, you get a lot from her in the season, which I was so honoured to bring to the table. We’re doing some reshoots tomorrow, finalising one of the big scenes the trailer didn’t show. I can’t say a lot, but Grace is definitely causing some tension this season, throwing in some music of her own too.” Y/N added, quick to change the subject of discussion to something she knew she was safe to talk on.

“What was it like, working with the rest of the cast on the new season’s album?” The reporter quizzed, taking the hint. “Madi, we heard you and Y/N singing together on the trailer, saw it in one of the stills, I can only wonder how two such talented singers get into each other’s rhythm, especially with the difference in genre. Obviously, Madi you have piano, but with Y/N on guitar, I just wonder how it all worked out while filming?”

“We actually wrote the song for the trailer, along with Charlie. The three of us brainstormed the thing for the first few weeks of filming, just like Charlie and I did with Perfect Harmony last season.” Madi explained. “And you know, we all come from very different musical backgrounds, and it allowed for this amazing mixture of pop and rock and grunge that just works. You only hear a snippet of our song, but just wait until you hear the full thing.” She was beaming, and Y/N couldn’t help but smile and nod along.

“The day we recorded it, man, we were all just electric. There’s this section with the guitars…” Y/N paused. “That I won’t spoil… You can tell this is my first press junket, right?” She laughed, earning chuckles from the studio. No-one blamed her for being new, she was learning quickly enough that it wasn’t a problem.

“So, on the topic of Charlie, who is waving at us right now from behind the camera,” The reporter paused as the girls laughed and waved past the camera recording them all at their co-star. “I have to ask about Julie and Luke, and now this new dimension of Grace.” The girls nodded, a question they both had expected and prepared for. “Madi, are we getting a Juke kiss this season?”

“I really can’t spoil it. It’s not fair… But their relationship does take a few turns, it’s a really interesting subplot.” She said with ease, a rehearsed line.

“And what about Grace? What are her feelings around Juke? Jealousy, perhaps?” The reporter questioned, and Y/N glanced over his shoulder to Kenny, who nodded for her to go ahead.

“Oh, she’s definitely jealous, though it might not be the reason you initially think of.” She said with a smile, quite proud of herself for keeping the answer vague enough, a light switching on on the camera to alert of their time finishing. Y/N smiled, getting herself ready to stand up, glad she had ended the interview on a good answer, when the reporter held up a hand for her and Madi to pause.

“And I mean, that chemistry seems to be translating off-screen too, no?” The reporter pressed on forward with his questions. “I mean, the chemistry you and Charlie have off-screen, Madison, is pretty clear. Is there jealousy off screen from you Y/N?” He asked, the questions turning from family-friendly to gossipy rather quickly. The executive producers stood behind the reporter had lost their smiles, Ortega and Becker ready to march forward and end the interview themselves.

But then, Y/N burst into uncontrollable laughter as a response, Madi quickly joining in one the sole base that Y/N was a rather infectious person. Soon, the whole cast was laughing along, the reporter left in the dark as the camera shut off and the girls left the press set stage in giggles, the crew suddenly moving quickly to start packing up for the night, the reporter being led off by assistants as the girls made their way over to their waiting friends and castmates.

The interview had been Y/N’s first and the team’s last of the day, and with the next day being their final shoot day for the season, the younger cast members had decided to celebrate and go out to dinner together, a pre-celebration to the wrap party the next day.

Stood by the studio’s exit was the rest of the dinner party: Jadah, Savannah, Owen, Tori, Sacha, Jeremy, Booboo, Tori, Kyra, Sofia, Halle, and Charlie, the last of whom swung his arm over Y/N’s shoulder as she and Madi joined the group, starting out for a restaurant on the far side of the lot.

“Not bad for a rookie, sweetheart.” Charlie spoke with a teasing tone, earning an elbow to the ribs from his friend. The pair had been inseparable for the whole year, since Y/N got the role in fact, and his arm across her shoulders was such a familiar and comforting feeling, that she found herself cuddling into him as they got out onto the lot and the Vancouver wind chill hit hard. Without pause, Charlie shrugged off his jacket and sat it over Y/N’s shoulders, the pair sharing a smile.

“You know, you should invest in shirts with sleeves, Gillespie.” She muttered, rolling her eyes as he responded with a smirk, flexing his biceps as his arm settled back over her, this time Y/N’s hand coming up and their fingers interlocking as they followed the group towards the restaurant. Madi and Savannah were up front with the other Dirty Candy girls, all singing one of the new songs from the show as they skipped their way across the lot, while Jadah, Sacha, Owen, Booboo and Jeremy were in the middle of the group, seemingly discussing what they were getting for dinner, confirmed when Owen started to rave about one of the desserts the restaurant had rather loudly.

Y/N watched the scene with a smile, watched all her friends with a smile. She knew she was lucky, she reminded herself of it every day she spent with the group of amazing people she had come to call her family. The move to Vancouver for filming was a huge shift, and she had initially thought she’d be alone and homesick, spending all her free time at her rented flat reading out scripts to her walls, but it hadn’t been the case. The cast had adopted her like she had been there since day one, they made her feel welcome and at home in the foreign city, Charlie especially. He was the one who got her out of her shell, who made sure to invite her to every dinner and party and hangout in the first few weeks of filming. He was the one who played guitar with her, who came and stayed with her for a week when she was unwell and stuck inside her little flat.

He was the one who was watching her at that moment in time, a dopey smile on his face as he pulled her closer into his side, pressing a kiss to the side of her head as they followed their friends round a corner, their destination that night coming into view, along with some extra familiar faces.

“Gotta be careful, Y/N, Charlie has a habit of passing on his fleas.” The teasing came from Charlie’s sister Meg, who slipped through the small crowd to hug her brother and his best friend hello.

“Don’t worry, I’ve been getting him treated.” Y/N responded with a grin, the pair sharing a tight hug before Meg moved on to squeeze her brother in hello, both girls smiling at his surprised expression.

“I didn’t know you were coming over.” He guffawed, his smile radiating as he hugged Meg tightly, Y/N moving off to greet Carolynn, Jeremy’s wife, who had also surprised with her appearance. By the look of pride on Owen’s face, it was pretty clear who had planned the gift for his friends. Y/N held out a fist to Owen, who quickly pounded his own against it before the girl continued walking, making her way to Savannah’s side as they found their table in the restaurant far corner, the pair getting themselves sat down. With the two playing cousins on the show, they had both made an effort to get closer, an effort Y/N had made with the whole cast, though her and Savannah got on like a house on fire: they were the same age, and had assumed the roles of big sisters to the younger cast members like Madison and Jadah.

“Charlie’s jacket looks good on you.” Savannah commented with a wink, and Y/N rolled her eyes, shrugging the item off just as Charlie and Meg entered the restaurant with Jeremy, Carolynn and Owen.

“You need to stop; you know Kenny has started commenting on what a good couple we’d make thanks to you?” Y/N questioned, and Savannah nodded with a proud smile. “I suppose you actively put the idea in his head?” She quizzed further, receiving another nod.

“We’re all just waiting for you to get together at this point.” Savannah said with a shrug, a few sets of eyes looking over.

“What, Y/N and Charlie?” Sacha asked from across the table. “Oh, yeah, definitely.”

“Every three months we start a pool and bet on specific dates for you two finally giving in and dating.” Booboo said through a mouthful of bread. “Whoever gets closest is going to be so, so rich.”

“How many people are in on this?” Y/N asked, wide eyed with raised eyebrows. It was new information, at least to her it was, but the rest of the table had heard it all before.

“Sixty three.” Tori answered, sending over a wink as the table burst into laughter, quickly shutting up as the final members of their party started sitting themselves down, Charlie sliding himself along the booth chair to sit beside Y/N, Meg on his other side.

“What’s the joke?” He asked with a cocked brow, and Y/N shook her head, warning him to not venture any further. “Better not to ask, got it.”

“So, we’re thinking of karaoke later?” Kyra spoke up from the top of the table, earning nods from around the table. “Perfect, I’ll book the room.” She said quickly, typing away on her phone to set the group’s plans for the evening in stone.

“Maybe Y/N and Charlie can give us their ABBA medley.” Jadah suggested with a wiggle of her eyebrows, sat on the other side of Savannah. Y/N gave her the finger while Charlie chuckled, throwing an arm over her shoulder.

“Come on, it wouldn’t hurt you, would it Y/N?” Charlie asked, using his best puppy dog eyes on the girl, who reached to grab a slice of bread before Booboo finished it all, chewing it thoughtfully.

“Only if Sacha is our Dancing Queen.” Y/N said with a happy sigh, the blonde boy across the table nodding quickly.

“Happy to do it. Yes. Yes.” He nodded fast, feigning a bow as the table cheered, Charlie looking over at Y/N with a soft smile. She smiled back before resting her head on his shoulder, a part of her still recuperating from the interview. How these guys had done multiple that day, how Madi had sat through almost every single one, Y/N couldn’t figure it out; but the thoughts faded away as menus were brought over and drinks ordered, setting the evening off on the right foot.

By the time food was placed down, the topic of conversation was focused on Carolynn and Jeremy’s dogs, the pair quite happy to show off photos of their fur babies as castmates ate around them, with brief interruptions to talk about the upcoming wrap party the day after, and discussions of the season two premiere plans the following month. With the filming almost finished up, everyone was making plans to head back home to families as they all awaited the news of renewal for a third season. Apartments in Vancouver were being packed up, Y/N herself had started the process of boxing up the life she had made over the past year in the city, with her friends, to ship back off home.

“You alright?” A whisper came into Y/N’s ear, pulling her from her zoned out state as she twirled spaghetti mindlessly round her fork, blinking a few times before looking over at Charlie, who watched her with concern in his eyes. She nodded a little, setting down her fork and taking a sip of her soft drink before shaking her head, lifting up Charlie’s beer and taking a swig, frowning at the taste but swallowing anyway.

“Just thinking about leaving is all.” She muttered back, shrugging a little before trying again on her pasta, eating a mouthful before continuing. “Just, what happens once we wrap for the season? What happens if the show doesn’t get renewed?” She asked quietly. “I don’t want to lose all you guys… I just got you.” She tried to make a joke of it, but the thought had been weighing on her mind for a while. Would they all stay friends? Keep in contact even though they would be spread over the globe?

“I can assure you, sweetheart, no-one will be losing contact with you. If any of these guys love you half as much as I do, they won’t be able to say goodbye to someone as awesome as you.” Charlie whispered in her ear, his hot breath fanning over her neck, and Y/N blushed a little, taking his free hand in hers and giving it a quick squeeze to say thank you.

“How’s it all going, everyone?” The server broke apart the moment and halted the rest of the table’s conversations, Y/N and Charlie quickly dropping their hands and turning back to their own meals as the rest of the table chorused compliments of the food, Booboo and Jadah insistent that dessert menus be brought along as soon as possible. A quick glance around the table revealed that Y/N was extremely far behind the rest of the table in finishing her meal, but her appetite had suddenly disappeared, most likely from the melancholy.

“Could I get a triple vodka coke?” Y/N asked the waiter before he left, smiling up at him as she closed her cutlery.

“Of course, miss. Anymore drinks?” He asked, jotting down a cocktail for Halle and another small glass of wine for Jeremy, disappearing back into the main body of the restaurant as the last few party members finished their meals, drinks arriving with dessert menus.

“A toast.” Jeremy raised his glass, prompting the rest of the table to follow suit. “To Julie and the Phantoms, to found family… And to another season.” He thought over the words as he spoke, Carolynn watching him with adoring eyes, their hands linked atop the table. The toast was met with cheers, Owen letting out a rather loud ‘Whoop!’ as glasses were clinked and drinks were sipped, the night only just beginning.

Kenny Ortega was rather glad he had left Y/N and Charlie’s big confrontation scene for their last day of shooting, and after walking into work the following day and finding, quite literally, everyone glued to their phone screens, he decided to check his own Instagram.

The night before had been a success for the young cast, and after dinner the group had travelled into the centre of town for a night of drinks and karaoke, the evening’s highlight being the video that was circulating that morning, of Charlie and Y/N sharing a mic as they sang ‘Waterloo’ by ABBA: Owen had caught the whole thing and put it on his story.

That video was also followed by a photo of Y/N and Charlie sleeping on the couch together at Owen and Charlie’s place later that night.

There was a level of professionalism that had to be maintained in a workplace for productivity, but the ‘something more’ friendship the two guitarists shared had caught the attention of the whole team. It had started betting pools and conspiracies and a game amongst the team to catch pictures of the pair acting like a couple. The kids had started it, of course, but seeing the way the two interacted both on and off-screen had gotten the rest of the crew involved. There was an undeniable connection there, and the waiting game was part of the fun.

And so, as the cast started to arrive for the 12 pm call time on location at the garage, all the reshoots that day needing midday sunshine, no-one was surprised to see Charlie carrying Y/N into work on his back as the pair shared a joke. In fact, they were quite excited to see how they would react to the final scene they had to shoot.

Kenny had given them both the script the week before, but refrained from discussing it with the pair until that day, partially pressured by the likes of Savannah and Owen, simply because an authentic kiss, without the practice or specific instruction from the director, would make for better tv. The plan was to get some close ups, positioning them for certain moments, then run it through once, getting as many extra shots as possible, with the hope being they could do it in one take. At best, it would work, and at worst, both Charlie and Y/N were still actors, and could make a kiss look real.

It took about an hour or so for the cast to get through the makeup, hair and costume departments, and Kenny pulled in Jeremy, Owen and Madi for some reshoots first, leaving Y/N wandering with a bottle of water in one hand and her script in the other, pacing back and forth as she ran the lines over and over again in her head.

The scene was an important one, the start of Juke’s conflict for the season, of Grace’s and Julie’s friendship being tested. From what else the girls had filmed over the past few months, it was clear that the season would leave their friendship on a cliff-hanger, this scene being the catalyst. And it was funny for Y/N, to go from her friendship with Charlie to being Grace, the girl that hated Luke. It took her a little while to get into the right headspace, though it wasn’t easy with all eyes on her, nor with the teasing she was receiving from friends about the night before, and her crashing at Charlie’s. It wasn’t news, Y/N sleeping over at Charlie’s, or vice versa; it was common place actually, after the first few months of friendship it just became a norm for them.

Grace’s character arc was one of reckless abandon, and she almost becomes a bad influence on Luke’s bandmates with her risky ideas and rebellious attitude. They had shot the previous scene, in which Julie falls down the school bleachers while with Grace and twists her ankle badly, the character very lucky it wasn’t worse. And Luke, already disliking Grace, confronts her when the girl comes looking to apologise. The tension that they had built over the season boils over, and Grace kisses Luke, the first time either of them have touched before.

Y/N was a little nervous about that last part.

She was an actress, but it would be her first on-screen kiss, and while the thought of it being with her best friend should have eased her mind, it did anything but. Kissing Charlie, whether she wanted to admit it or not, was probably going to be awkward, cause a rift between the two for at least a little while. And that would have been fine, if they weren’t all heading off home to separate corners of the world for however long.

“You look worried.” It was Owen’s voice that pulled her from her thoughts, the girl turning to find him leaning against the prop table nearby, arms folded and a look of concern on his face. “You alright?” He asked, glancing back over at the set. Jeremy and Madison were still getting some reshoots done, and Charlie was with Savannah and Booboo over in costumes, chatting away as the seamstress sat his clothes just right.

“I don’t really know…” Y/N admitted, looking back at Owen with a shrug. “I mean, I just…” She paused, letting out a sigh. “I’m worried things might be weird? Worried I might suck at the whole kissing thing, ruin the last scene we have to shoot?” She explained, glancing back down at her script as Owen watched on, thoughtful.

“Y/N, you’re a good actress. If the last year has proved anything, it’s that you are meant for this role. You’ve just gotta… You’ve gotta embody Grace, don’t think of it as you and Charlie anymore, because I know that’s what you’ve been doing for the past week. It’s Luke and Grace, yeah?” Owen stopped to make sure Y/N was following, and she nodded. “We need to get you into that headset before we start, alright? You know how to be Grace; you need to get into her before the cameras start rolling. I mean, you’re already dressed like her.” Owen gestured to the clothes she was in, and Y/N smiled.

She did already feel a bit like Grace in the outfit, style choices she had helped to make at the start of the season. To contrast from Carrie, she offset her cousin’s pink and preppy wardrobe with dark colours: Y/N was currently in black jumper with red detailing, paired with a short, tight black denim skirt and a belt that pulled in her waist, plus the fishnet tights and sturdy doc martens her character would soon be known for. Those shoes were the only pair she had worn all season. The makeup and hair team had left her looking flawless, with her hair curling and her eyeliner in a perfect wing.

The more she thought about Owen’s words, the less anxiety she felt.

The more she felt like Grace.

“Ok, ok… We’re getting somewhere.” She informed her friend, Owen holding out an arm for Y/N to link with, the pair beginning a sure march over towards the set, watching Madi finish the last few takes.

“You need anything else?” Owen asked, raising an eyebrow to the shorter girl when she nodded, watching her take a deep breath.

“Put on some music? Just… Something fun?” Y/N asked, having faith that music would completely rid her of her nerves for the scene. Kenny called cut, Madi and Jeremy making their way off set with smiles as they headed towards Owen and Y/N, the blonde boy connecting his phone to the nearby Bluetooth speaker while the set was changed for her and Charlie’s scene.

“I can’t believe this is the end of season two… Y/N? You ok?” Jeremy commented then questioned as he came over with Madison, the latter reaching a comforting out to Y/N’s arm.

“She’s getting in the zone.” Owen explained, finally deciding on a song, the music playing around them and earning a few cheers from the other cast mates, Charlie looking over from where he stood with Savannah and Booboo, his eyes landing on Y/N, who had begun swaying along with the song. She had a habit of this, using music to get into character, though it was usually through headphones in some far off corner.

“Loving you isn’t the right thing to do.” The speaker sang out the Fleetwood Mac hit, Booboo and Savannah beginning to dance along by Charlie as he watched Y/N from across the room, curious as to what she might do. “How can I ever change things that I feel?” Lindsey Buckingham’s voice resonated around the room, and Charlie took a step closer to his main castmates, watching as Madi held Y/N’s hand, quickly realising why the music was blaring.

Y/N was nervous.

“If I could, baby I’d give you my world.” The tracks vocals were overshadowed as Charlie began to sing, heads spinning to look at him as he spun himself around and started his way towards Y/N. “How can I, when you won’t take it from me?” He sang, holding out a hand for her to join him. They were both well aware that two things in particular made Y/N feel better: the first was music, the second was Charlie. With a push from Madi and Owen, Y/N could no longer hide the smile that was forming on her face, taking Charlie’s hand as he led her into a space in the room’s centre. While the crew set up for their scene, cast and producers watched on as the pair got into character.

“You can go your own way!” Y/N sang out, spinning under Charlie’s arm with a grin that scrunched up her nose and made Charlie smile right back, singing the response harmony of the chorus. “You can call it another lonely day!” The pair sang together, Kenny himself starting a clap in time with the music, the whole set soon joining in, cheering the pair on as they got themselves into character.

“Tell me why, everything turned around. Packing up, shacking up is all you wanna do.” Charlie sang scowling at Y/N with his rather adorable grumpy face, and Y/N held a hand out to stop him from coming any closer, playing the part of Grace.

“If I could, baby I’d give you my world. Open up, everything’s waiting for you.” She sang, bouncing a little as she sang, shaking away the last of her nerves as the second chorus came in, the whole room singing along now.

“You can go your own way, go your own way. You call it another lonely day!” As the crew finished setting up the garage for their scene, Charlie grabbed Y/N’s hand as squeezed it tightly.

“We’ve got this, alright?” He reassured, and she nodded, the pair getting into places as the music slowly died down and their fellow castmates and crew members cheered.

“Feeling better?” Kenny asked as the two got into positions, Charlie sat inside the garage as Y/N stood just beyond the doors, being handed a bouquet of flowers by the props manager.

“A lot, yeah.” She smiled, and Kenny gave her shoulder a pat.

“Just go for it, alright? Give it everything, give it electricity, you’ve got this.” His motivational words brought a smirk to Y/N’s face.

“I know I do.” She answered with a nod, Kenny walking back to behind the cameras and taking a seat, Y/N taking a one more moment to focus herself before Kenny yelled ‘action!’.

Grace wasn’t used to feeling guilty about anything, it just wasn’t a part of the life she enjoyed: she wasn’t an inherently bad person, though it could be argued she was a bad influence. As she stood in Julie’s driveway, a bouquet of flowers in hand, she felt like a bad influence. No, worse than that.

She felt like a bad friend.

Julie wouldn’t be in this mess if Grace hadn’t convinced her to go out with her the night before. Of course, she should have known that this time of year, with the uncommon rainfall and milder weather, that the bleachers would have been slippery. Grace should have suggested going somewhere else, shouldn’t have rushed up the steps and forced Julie to follow.

And while flowers weren’t going to help a lot with the twisted ankle, she hoped they’d lift Julie’s spirits a little. The doctors said it wasn’t serious, just a week or so in a pressure sock to stop anymore damage, and Julie had promised her the day before she was fine, but even so. Grace had picked out dahlias, Julie’s favourite, and was hoping to bump into Alex or Reggie or Carlos, leave them with her apology for Julie without much confrontation.

Instead, heading up the driveway and pulling open the garage door, she was welcomed by the sound of an acoustic guitar, and a frown settled on her features. Of course, of all the people it could have been, Luke was the one at home.

“What are you doing here?” He asked quickly, jumping up from the couch and setting down his guitar. Grace sighed, a roll of her eyes causing Luke to scoff.

“You know, I’d punch you if I could ghost boy.” She muttered, setting the flowers down on the coffee table. “I just wanted to leave something for Julie, alright? Don’t get your…” She paused, thinking for a moment. “Do you have underwear? I mean, ghost clothing isn’t exactly my specialty.”

“You’ve got some nerve showing up here after what you did to Julie.” Luke said coldly, arms folded across his chest as they stood at opposite sides of the room. He took a few steps to the side, lifting himself up onto the piano. Luke liked to have the high ground.

“What I did to her? Luke, she fell over. It was an accident!” She exclaimed in response, already riled up just being in the boy’s presence. She wasn’t quite sure why she had been cursed with the ability of being able to see Luke at all times, but she wasn’t going to let her annoyance with the guitarist go unsaid.

“An accident that could’ve killed her!” Luke snapped back. “What if she had hit her head instead of just twisting her ankle? Can you answer me that Miss Influencer?” He asked, and for the first time since the pair had met, Grace didn’t answer him back. Luke scoffed; quite certain he had won. “I don’t know what voodoo you put my friends under to make them like you, but I promise I see right through you. Through the clothes and the Instagram followers. All of it.”

“Do you think I wasn’t scared for her? Huh, Luke?” Grace snapped back. “I was the one there, watching her fall down the bleachers, the one who rushed after her and called her dad. Where were you, exactly?” She asked, a smirk settling on her lips. “You know, Lover Boy, if I remember correctly, you were off moping because I’m a better guitarist.” Her tongue came out to graze her bottom lip as she smiled, walking over to Luke’s electric that sat on a nearby stand.

“First off, you aren’t. It’s quite clear who’s better between the two of us.” Luke fought back, jumping off the table and marching over to pick up his guitar before Grace touched it. “And second, I wouldn’t have left her if you hadn’t been there. Because actually, Grace, it’s you that’s the problem!” He had raised his voice as he walked back across the room, setting his guitar atop the piano. Grace scoffed; he just didn’t want her touching his things.

“Right, because Julie can’t have friends if it’s not you, right?!” She was almost yelling now as well, but it was to be expected of the pair. Every conversation they had had was building to this argument. Every conversation they had shared was just bickering. “Hey Mr Invisible Man, news flash! Your crush is allowed to have relationships outside of you! I realise being dead is probably very boring, but Julie’s alive.”

“I just don’t think my friends should be associating with someone as infuriating as you, Grace!” Luke turned to face her again, all wide eyes and gestures. “I didn’t think I could hate people before I met you! I’ve had my music stolen; I’ve almost been enslaved for eternity; I died! And yet, the person I despise most in this world is you. Congratulations!”

“I take it as a compliment! You know, I’m honestly proud that I’m not friends with a self-centred, arrogant, inconsiderate, overbearing jerk. If anyone is fooling our friends Luke, it’s you.” The words were quick and cold, and Luke found himself marching forward until the pair stood about a foot apart, Grace forced to to look up at him, keeping big her chin high.The words were quick and cold, and Luke moved a few steps closer, and Luke moved a few steps closer, the pair a few feet apart, glaring one another down.

“They aren’t our friends, Grace. My friends are just too nice to leave you hanging.” Luke voice had lowered in volume, but the venom was still there as he took a step closer, then another. “You act all mysterious, but you’re an open book, Grace. You’re a lonely girl with a taste of relevance. That’s it.”

“Like you aren’t the same?” Grace asked, stepping forward so the pair were no more than a foot apart. “Quit pretending you aren’t still the lonely kid who ran away from home in 1995, give up the high and mighty act.” She paused, looking him over with a smirk. For a moment, she forgot he was just air.

“I know who I am.”

“Do you?” Grace asked. “That’s not what I see.”

“You don’t know anything about me.” Luke countered.

“And vice versa, ghost boy.”

“I know you’re manipulative, and cold. I know you’re insufferable to be around.” Luke stated firmly, his voice low and laced with malice.

“Anything else to share?” Grace asked. “Or are you done?”

“This is exactly what I mean.”

“You don’t know me!” Grace answered back. “You don’t know why I’m here or where I came from, or what I came from. You don’t get to tell me who I am or what I do or how I act when you have made zero attempts to check your information. I know you because I ask about you! I can call you an arrogant, self-serving halfwit because I actually have tried to figure out why you hate me so much!” She paused for a second, Luke watching in surprise. He didn’t quite feel bad for Grace, but something was building in him, something foreign he had buried away. “If you knew anything about me, you would know what I’m about to do next.”

“What? Leave?” He guessed, his tone still harsh and hostile, but his answer was incorrect. It was quick, something Luke couldn’t process fast enough; but within a second of his reply being given, Grace had somehow managed to touch him, holding her hands to his neck and pulling him down to her level before pressing her lips against his.

—

Y/N and Charlie both had plenty of experience kissing people, but neither of them had felt like that before.

The moment Y/N’s lips were pressed to Charlie’s, it felt like a thousand butterflies had exploded to life in her stomach, the feeling of his lips on hers making her lightheaded. Charlie’s hands immediately came to Y/N’s waist, pulling her so their bodies were flush and her fingers found their way into the curls at the back of his head.

There was a moment there, as the pair held one another, as they kissed one another, that the rest of the world melted away. One of Charlie’s hands moving from Y/N’s waist to her cheek set the skin on fire, had her heart pounding like it was trying to break out of her chest, had her knees going weak that the only way to stay upright was to pull back, to rejoin reality.

It was only as she looked up at Charlie, still dress like Luke, her peripherals reminding her where she actually was, that a shaky breath left Y/N’s body, and she took a step back. Out of Charlie’s embrace, towards the garage doors she had entered the scene through.

“Make sure Julie gets the flowers… I…” She spoke as Grace, shaking her head in disbelief before exiting out of the garage, leaving Luke, or Charlie, dumbfounded. She couldn’t tell anymore if it was real or acting, the lines had blurred a fair amount.

“And that’s a wrap!” Kenny yelled from behind the cameras, the deafening sound of the cast and crew cheering forcing Y/N to slow her pace, to quickly get accustomed to the noise before joining in. A rather large part of her head was telling her to run and hide, to disappear and never return, to book it for the airport and save herself the embarrassment of her flushed cheeks, of seeing Charlie after what she just felt with his lips on hers.

Her eyes eventually travelled up to see Charlie coming off the set with Kenny in one side of him and Jeremy on the other, Madi and Owen walking over to meet them, the latter waving her over quickly with a grin.

“That was amazing to watch!” Kenny was raving when Y/N arrived over, hands clasped behind her back as the director turned his attention to her. “What did I ask for? Y/N, you nailed it! You both did! The whole place was just electric.” He complimented, Charlie letting out a breezy chuckle as he raised a hand to rub the back of his neck.

“What can I say? You hired some great actors, Kenny.” Charlie felt off saying the words, glancing over at Y/N as he said them, the pair sharing a weak smile. What Charlie had felt while the cameras rolled was definitely not something he faked for the screen. His stomach was still in knots, trying to untangle itself after the way Y/N had kissed him left him speechless.

What exactly was he supposed to do? That information had the ability to ruin the friendship he and Y/N had, he couldn’t risk losing her so permanently. He knew Y/N, if they talked about how he felt kissing her and didn’t feel the same way, Y/N would distance herself from any and all contact, and with them all heading home by the week’s end, it was the last thing Charlie wanted to happen.

“That I did.” Kenny agreed, glancing at his watch. “Right, I’ll let you all go and get out of costume. Wrap Party begins in an hour.” He said with a nod, patting Y/N lightly on the shoulder as he left.

There was a moment of silence between the five of them, an uncommon occurrence, no-one quite sure who should speak first. Instead of speaking, Y/N gave Madi’s arm a squeeze before heading off to the costume department to get out of Grace’s head. Maybe the thoughts of Charlie would clear up once she was back in her own clothes, her own headspace.

The four friends watched her walk off, waiting until she had rounded a corner before Charlie received three pairs of hands punching his arms playfully and shaking him, all their of his on-screen band mates barely able to contain their excitement.

“What, what?” Charlie asked, taking a step back to avoid further battery.

“What?!” Madi exclaimed. “That kiss! Charlie, we all know that wasn’t acting.”

“I’m pretty sure everyone in Vancouver could tell that wasn’t acting.” Jeremy added with a grin, nudging his friend who was slowly getting some colour in his cheeks.

“You guys are all insane.” He said quickly, starting his way over towards makeup, but his friends were hot on his tail, none of them letting this budge. Not again: Charlie and Y/N had gotten away with their flirty behaviour plenty of times before, but this was different.

“You should at least talk to her about it.” Owen said with a grin, hands stuffed in his pockets as they entered the trailer and Charlie sat down, helping himself to makeup wipes and removing the thin layer of foundation on his face. “Charlie, come on… I know that your eyes were closed, but we watched you two kiss. If you’re feeling something, Y/N is feeling it too. There’s no way you both faked that.”

“I’m not ruining my friendship with Y/N over a stage kiss.” Charlie said quickly, pulling off his shirt and switching for his own clothes, looking up as the door opened and Sacha came in with Savannah and Tori, the seven all sharing glances.

“Convinced him to go for it yet?” Tori asked after a moment, and Charlie rolled his eyes, jumping out the chair and walking past his friends. “Oh, come on Charlie! It’s clear you both like each other!”

“Tori’s right!” Madi agreed, first in following Luke out onto the trailer lot. “Why are you so hesitant?” She asked, and Charlie came to a quick stop, spinning on his heel to look at his friends.

“I’m going to go see Y/N. Not because of whatever fantasies you all have in your heads, but because I want to make sure my friend is alright.” Charlie explained, though his words didn’t seem to convince any of them. That was fair, he didn’t convince him. “I’ll see you all at the wrap party, ok?” He clarified, but before he got an answer he made his way into the maze of trailers, taking the precise turns needed to get to Y/N’s trailer.

As he turned onto her row, Charlie found himself slowing to a stop about two trailers away, and taking a nervous gulp. Why, why had it taken so long for him to figure out his feelings? Why was it only once they had kissed that he felt all this emotion surging to the surface? For a moment he wondered if it was just his body reacting to kissing a pretty girl, but he knew that wasn’t the truth. Not in the slightest.

The truth was Charlie wanted nothing more than to feel that ecstasy that came with Y/N’s lips on his all the time, and he quickly formed a do or die plan in his head as his feet started back up, bringing him to the steps up to Grace’s trailer. Her name was pasted with gold sticker on the white door, the tension quickly building in Charlie’s chest.

Do or die.

The polite triple tap on the door hurried Y/N’s getting ready, the girl quickly zipping up her dress before slipping on her shoes for the night and answering the trailer door, the butterflies exploding in her stomach as she found Charlie stood in front of her door.

“Got a second? I was hoping we could talk…” Charlie said quickly, hands shoved in his pockets, a nervous smile on his face that had Y/N thinking the worst. This was about the kiss, it was about how awkward he felt about it, no doubt. She knew her anxiety before it was right, she knew that this would ruin things.

“Of course, come on in.” She said with a little smile moving back onto the trailer and allowing Charlie to make his way inside. As Y/N turned to pick up her phone off the table and place it into her handbag for the party that night, Charlie closed the door behind him with a nervous breath. He watched her for a few moments, smiling at her absentminded humming of the song they had sang together while she packed her things away for the party tonight. He took a step closer, running a hand through his hair and straightening his top up, psyching himself up for what he was about to do. She had changed for the party, and Charlie couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she looked in the baby blue sundress. “So,” Y/N asked as she started to turn around. “What is it you want to tal-”

Y/N was cut off when Charlie gripped her by the waist and crashed his lips against hers, not that she minded in the slightest. She was quick to kiss back, her hands coming to his neck as his hands pulled her closer until their bodies were flush. Whatever worry Y/N had been having about what their characters’ kiss would do to her and Charlie’s relationship was evaporated by the heat, the passion, the electricity of his lips on hers.

Charlie was hit with relief when Y/N kissed him back, when she pulled him closer, just thankful that she might have felt exactly what he did on set. He was about to pull away, apologise for what he was doing, for intruding and not letting her ask her question, but as he pulled back to take a breath, Y/N caught his bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, and Charlie was gone.

He pulled her close again, this time his tongue entering her mouth and starting a battle for dominance against Y/N. His hands travelled towards her ass, only gaining control of the kiss when he surprised Y/N by picking her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist as her dress rode up her thighs, hands moving from his neck to grip the front of his shirt, breaking off the kiss for a moment.

They looked at one another, breathing heavy and pressed to one another, both just trying to comprehend what they had done. Y/N was the first to catch her breath, looking up at Charlie with a blush across her cheeks and blown pupils.

“No-one’s ever kissed me like that…” She whispered out, smiling as a smirk played on Charlie’s lips.

“Same.” He responded, walking over and setting her down on the trailer’s kitchenette counter, a hand coming to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “We’re… We’re idiots, right? For not realising it before?” He asked, and Y/N laughed.

“The amount of time we’ve wasted…” She muttered before pulling him for another kiss.

It quickly became heated again, neither of them quite able to control themselves. It was tongues and teeth and moans, and it wasn’t long before Charlie was leaving a hickey on Y/N’s neck and she was pulling off his shirt, quickly reminded of her friend’s body… God, he was hot.

“How long until the wrap party?” Y/N asked through a moan as Charlie pulled away from her collarbones, marks scattered over the skin Y/N would struggle to hide. He pulled his phone from his pocket, checking the time before setting it on the counter beside her.

“About 10 minutes…” Charlie answered, raising an eyebrow when Y/N bit her lip. “What did you have in mind?” He asked, stepping closer, his hands running up the sides of her thighs as he did, pushing her dress up further until he could catch a glimpse of the pastel pink panties she had chosen to wear that day, causing him to groan a little. He could feel his blood rushing down, his jeans becoming tighter around the groin.

“Well, I mean… We’re two consenting adults…” She trailed off for a second, her hands starting on his belt buckle in an uncharacteristically bold move. Charlie’s head fell back as her hand brushed against his bulge, breathing getting heavier once more. “And I’m on the pill…” She added, pushing Charlie’s jeans down slightly, then his boxers, her hand circling his shaft and beginning to stroke it slowly. She was teasing him, waiting for a response, an innocent look on her face that drove Charlie wild. He quickly pulled her panties off, tossing them to the floor and bringing a hand back to her core.

“So wet… And all just for me.” Charlie smirked as Y/N’s expression changed from feigning innocent to one of pleasure: a whimpering moan passing her lips as her eyes fluttered shut, a reaction to Charlie’s thumb circling her clit. “You know, all you had to do was ask.” He whispered in her ear, more of a growl than anything, quickly lining his cock to her entrance and pushing himself inside.

They shared in a moan, Y/N adjusting to the size of his length inside her for a moment, her walls clenched tight around him. They stayed like that for a moment, both adjusting to the feelings, before Charlie’s thumb started up its lazy circles around Y/N’s clit once more. She gave a nod, and Charlie pulled back, this time sinking himself all the way inside her.

They started slow; Charlie enjoying the view of Y/N whimpering in pleasure as she held onto him, begging for him to go faster. He didn’t comply right away, teasing her further with his length, but when she managed to utter out a ‘please’, the bucking of his hips quickened, Y/N’s whole body soon dissolving in the pleasure.

Neither of them had any experience with heaven, but if it was even half as good as the sex they shared, the afterlife would be amazing. Their bodies just worked together, like they were made for one another, each thrust and moan sending pleasure shooting through their bodies. Charlie set the pace, making sure to watch Y/N’s reactions when he changed angle, quickly finding the thrusts that gave her the most pleasure through lidded eyes, and Y/N would tease him further, her walls hugging his cock just enough to have him slipping out curses mixed with her name. It didn’t take very long for Y/N’s legs to begin trembling, Charlie’s hands spreading her thighs further apart as the knots began forming in her stomach, one of his hands moving to hold the small of her back while the other returned to his spot over her sensitive bud.

“Charlie… Charlie I’m close.” Y/N managed to say through breathy moans as the knots in her abdomen got progressively tighter, Charlie moving slightly to find a better angle, beginning to pound mercilessly into her cunt, a smirk on his lips. Her mouth formed into an ‘o’, her eyes rolling back behind hooded lids dusted with eyeshadow for the party that night, the one they were meant to be arriving at 5 minutes earlier.

“Come for me, sweetheart.” He muttered, pressing his lips down on her collarbone as Y/N came undone at his words, the spasms of pleasure bringing forward Charlie’s own release, the smirk quickly fading as he felt his own climax approaching. “Fuck… Y/n, fuck…” Charlie muttered, his thrusts quickly becoming sloppy as he edged on Y/N’s climax, letting out a moan as he shot his load, his head rolling back and his muscles flexing as he filled Y/N, prompting an aftershock to run through the girl, eliciting whimpers from her shuddering frame.

Charlie soon stilled, both of them panting as they came down from their highs, Charlie’s hands on Y/N’s back the only thing keeping her vertical. He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead gently before pulling out, letting out a hiss from the over-sensitivity as Y/N giggled through a whine.

“Jesus…” She muttered, taking a moment before slipping off the counter, lifting her panties from the floor as Charlie tucked himself back into his jeans and grabbed his t-shirt, the clothing item having landed on the back of the nearby couch. “I’m… I’m gonna clean up.” She informed him, unable to stop smiling as she disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Charlie to smile to himself and fall back on the couch with a beaming grin.

How had any of that actually happened?

He sat back up when Y/N came out of the bathroom, her hair fixed and her dress straightened again, though the blush on her cheeks and nose still remained. Charlie smiled and pulled himself off the couch, walking over to her and quickly pressing his lips to hers. She kissed back, the action shared between them soft and sweet this time around, though it still caused butterflies to erupt in both of their stomachs.

“I was thinking… I know you’ll need to go back home and visit family, obviously… But maybe you could spend a few weeks at my place in LA?” Charlie suggested his thumb rubbing against Y/N’s cheek as they held eye contact. “Meet my parents, maybe?” He added with a nervous chuckle. They had planned for her to meet his mom and dad at some point, and him hers, more for the fact they wanted their parents to know their best friend, but that had obviously changed… Best friends don’t fuck half naked in a trailer on their filming lot.

“I would love that… But you have to come home with me afterwards.” Y/N said with a smile, letting out a sweet laugh as Charlie nodded vigorously, the pair locking lips once more.

That night, when Charlie and Y/N walked into the wrap party with their hands interlocked, there was a relief that sat in the air for the cast and crew. Finally, after a year of betting pools and theories and who only knew what else, it seemed the two had finally stopped being idiots and acted on their feelings. It was confirmed when during a slow song, Charlie pulled Y/N onto the dance floor, the pair sharing a kiss as the music played.

On the side lines, it was Meg, Charlie’s sister, of all people who stood collecting cash from crew members. She had got herself in on the betting pool last time she visited, and had guessed the exact date the pair would finally take their next step.

The question of Charlie and Y/N’s budding relationship should have been a ‘who would’ve thought?’, but, in reality, everyone knew. From Madi to Kenny to literally everyone on the entire planet…

Except for Charlie and Y/N.

Tags: @lord-of-the-fried @lolychu @deadashcapper5 @aliceinemeraldcity @eries45 @kristencoontz @walkingonshunshine @wxshing-aep @oswin05 @voguesir @delicatelukepatterson @reggieandthereggies @siennanoelle01 @dxsxstxrhxxd @reggiesleatherjacket @a-whole-a-lot-of-fandoms @thetattooink @futuremrsb-r-main @charliessunset @mlt2000 @overlyhypedup @fangirlanonimax @writerinlearning @dxlanhxlland @manaoioahilinai @cocobuttababy @rosiemay02 @crookedoperatoroperagarden @theatricalfangirl @middaydramatic @mloudfish @mps427 @sweetdayme4427 @anagc-09 @feliamtion @ohyoureaqueenbutuncrowned @caitsymichelle13 @amortiff @lovesanimals @crappy-unicorn @avs-hart @ghostlyb1tch @lukeys-giggle @aunicornmademedoit @carleywhittaker @crybabyddl @writella @isabellaskyliner @moonyxnights @dmcfarland1 @kiss-themoongoodbye @kcd15 @ellepscal @bookdealer5 @leahstypewriter

(i’m doing really badly at tagging everyone who asks, so i’ll be sorting out my taglist around halloween to make sure i can keep all of you up to date on my writing!)

#luke patterson #charlie gillespie #charlie gillespie smut #charlie gillespie x reader #luke patterson x reader #charlie gillespie x y/n #luke patterson x y/n #jatp luke #jatp #julie and the phantoms #smut #fluff #fluffy smut #charlie gillespie imagine

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myhumanweakness · 3 years

Text

I don’t want to be a huge asshole, but...

There are a lot of people trying to find a modicum of positivity in the finale. It’s not about this Destiel-Bibro war that’s happened over the years, it’s not about Cas, it’s not about any of the superficial drama. This finale was the weirdest mixture of OOC and in character writing I have ever seen.

Things that are in character:

The brothers put each other first. They are each other’s safe place and stability. Up until the very end. Sam respected Dean’s wishes, stayed with him in his last moments, and let him go gracefully. Sam even went on and had a full life so Dean’s sacrifices weren’t in vain.

For Dean, Heaven wasn’t perfect without Sam there. And he had this huge sense of relief and happiness when Sam arrived.

Jack deconstructed the walls of Heaven so that it was a vast place where everyone could be together. They weren’t living out their “best memories” anymore. They were creating new memories eternally with each other. And Bobby recognizing that Jack is like Dean’s son by saying, “That boy of yours...”

Cas helped build the Heaven that he always dreamed of. Cas always had such a high standard for Heaven, and it always fell short. He helped Jack build a home that was warm and comforting and beautiful and open and loving and true. Everything Cas stood for.

Bobby, the man Dean adopted as his father, was there to share a beer with him (just like Dean shared with his dad in his childhood). And Bobby was happy and confirmed that Dean is in a Heaven he deserves.

Sam mourning Dean’s death for the rest of his life, but also living his life to honor Dean. Classic Sam.

Dean using his last moments to tell Sam how much he loves him and how proud he is. Sam deserved to hear that because we all know Sam looked at Dean as a parental figure.

Things that are OOC:

Sam not marrying Eileen. The show created this HUGE story arc around Sam and Eileen and their real love and connection. And then they shoot this finale and couldn’t even get an actress that looked like Eileen to stand it the blurry background. Like, I don’t care what you say, it’s NOT open to interpretation. Sam did not end up with Eileen. All of you people who are Sam stans, who say you want your character to be happy and live a full life should be livid. Sam ending up with Eileen wouldn’t have canceled out the fact that Dean was/is his number one person. Dean gave his blessing for Eileen, and he loved her and welcomed her into their lives because he knew Sam loved her and had a genuine connection with her. Having them together would not have ruined the ending in any way. Sam still could have ended up with Dean on that bridge.

That woman with the blonde/light brown hair is NOT Eileen. They couldn’t even get an actress with dark brown hair to keep hope alive that they ended up together. Absolutely awful.

Dean just accepting Cas’ death and not even talking about it, other than to say, “Yeah I think about em’ too.” I don’t care if you don’t believe in Destiel or that the love was reciprocated. Dean EXCLUSIVELY said multiple times that Cas is a member of their family and a brother to the boys. He said the words, “YOU”RE MY BEST FRIEND.” I’m not saying Dean should have scarified himself to go pull Cas out of the Empty (because we had 40 minutes to wrap up 15 years). But the fact that Dean was like: I’m gonna eat some pie and just not acknowledge any feelings or thoughts and act like nothing ever happened is SO OOC. If your best friend died tragically, you’d have something to say about it or act like you had something to say about it. And that’s not to say I wanted Dean to be miserable and hurting. I’m happy he got a dog and found some normalcy. But they lost SO many people, and he’s just walking around cool as a cucumber? When every other season/episode where they lost someone important to Dean he was a mess. And I’m not just talking about Cas- we all obviously know how Dean behaved when Cas died/was missing/Lucifer was controlling him. But even when Jo and Ellen died. Even when Mary died. Even when Bobby died. Even when John died. Even when Crowley died. Even when Jack died, Dean was shown hurting. Suddenly everything is cool and normal there’s no pain or anything? The fuck? A brief moment of acknowledgement. That’s all it needed.

I will never forgive the writers for ending Dean’s story that way. A rusty nail impaling him (probably in his pulmonary arteries/aorta based on the angle) on some random hunt after he finally exhaled the episode before and said, “We’re finally free.” He sacrificed his ENTIRE childhood and life for his brother and the world and so many other people, and he didn't even get to enjoy being a human on the Earth and living a life for more than a week. What! Dean was always a character filled with tragedy, and yeah, maybe he did have to die. You can make that argument. But like that?! AND. AND! Sam held a funeral for Dean and DIDN’T INVITE ANYONE! What!!! No one was there to toast to Dean and share their memories and give him the send-off he deserved. Sam just burned his body alone. Never. That would have NEVER happened. Sam loved Dean SO much and looked up to him and thought the world of him. Dean was his big brother who was fearless and strong and the best hunter on this Earth (and probably every other planet), and he didn’t celebrate his life in the end?

Cas not showing up in Heaven is absolutely insane. INSANE. It doesn’t matter what you think of their relationship, the show has proven that Cas is important to Dean (even if you think Cas is way at the bottom of the list, he’s on it!). Dean’s ideal retirement/endgame was him, Sam, and Cas on a beach, drinking cocktails, with hula girls. That was the future Dean wanted for him and his family. And you’re telling me that Cas helped Jack build the best version of Heaven possible, and the minute Dean Winchester arrived Cas wasn’t there to greet him. Even just to say “Hello, Dean.” Even call Dean’s phone and say, “Welcome home.” Cas would have been the one greeting Dean in Heaven, with Bobby. Requited or not, it’s canon that Cas is in love with Dean. You don’t just ignore the opportunity to see the person you’re in love with. And... and! Even if Cas didn’t greet Dean in Heaven immediately, he would have appeared in the Impala during the drive. He would have met the brothers on the bridge to welcome them both home. Cas loved Sam too. He would have been there. The three boys together again. Team Free Will!

I love Cas, and I know a lot of Cas stans feel buried and betrayed and hurt over the show doing a “is he there or isn’t he?” thing. And that is completely valid. I can’t even express to you how sorry I am that so many of us in the fandom are hurting. But I know this show. And this show has always made it clear that it was/is always about two brothers. Fine. But Dean Winchester, the most caring and loving human in the entire universe, deserved better. I am so sick to my stomach that Dean’s whole life was him convinced that there was only one way for his story to end and it was him dying tragically. For years he never let himself even entertain the thought of living a life because he 1) didn’t think he deserved that or was worth it 2) it just wasn’t in the cards. We watched Dean grow so much, SO MUCH, that we finally saw him talking about the future and having hope for the future. And yeah, maybe he wouldn’t get the future he talked about with the retirement on the beach, but he would have lived long enough to experience life outside of just “playing whack-a-mole” and being God’s favorite story and puppet. Dean didn’t even get to enjoy his freedom and humanity. They took a character that they purposefully pushed through so many stages of character development to attain hope and faith and self-worth and promise, and killed him.

What the fuck!

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writethelifeyouwant · 3 years

Text

Everything's Bigger In Texas

Summary: You decide to drive up to Dallas to surprise your old high school buddy, Jared, while he’s there for a convention.

Pairing: Jared x Reader Rating: 18+ Tags: J2 convention hilarity, dick jokes, only one bed, high school friends, spooning, size kink Word Count: 3,504 Bingo Squares: @spnkinkbingo - Size Kink

A/N: Not set around any particular season. For the purpose of this story, Jared and Jensen are both single, non-fathers.

Commissioned by: @jbbarnesgirl She had a great prompt that this has now spawned a sequel (which will be a member exclusive on my website)! Thanks for letting my mind run wild on this one babe ❤️

You pull into the parking space the valet wrote on your ticket and park with a dramatic exhale of relief. You’ve actually gone through with it and made the three hour drive up to Dallas to surprise Jared at his convention this weekend.

It had been years since your last high school reunion in Austin when you’d run into each other and wound up drunk in a Waffle House at three in the morning, stuffing your faces with bacon and french fries. You and he were the kind of friends that were awful at keeping in touch but time traveled straight back to junior year anytime you ran into each other. You’ve always been able to talk and laugh like only a weekend had passed between visits instead of years.

You hope Jared’s happy to see you, because you’ve been bursting at the seams with excitement since you came up with your ‘surprise’ plan.

The hotel lobby is swarming with fans and you wonder how on earth you’re going to find Jared in all the bustle. Your plan is to find someone who looks like they’re working the convention and ask for directions to Jared and Jensen’s bodyguard, Clif, who you hope to God remembers dropping your drunk ass off at your apartment after the Waffle House incident. It’s not a very elegant plan but it’s all you’ve got. You spot someone with a lanyard and a walkie-talkie and beeline toward them, fingers crossed in your pocket.

Twenty minutes and several tiers up the convention staff hierarchy later you’re finally led to a service hallway and ushered towards a door, Clif standing guard stoically outside it. The employee escorting you speaks quietly to Clif while you stand there awkwardly, rocking back and forth, toes to heel, in an effort to contain your nervous energy. A look of recognition slowly dawns across the bodyguard’s face as he takes another look at you.

“Austin, a couple years ago?” he asks to confirm.

“High school reunion,” you nod in affirmation, relieved he actually does remember you.

“No getting Jared drunk until after the panel,” Clif admonishes, aiming a thick finger menacingly at your face, and you nod gravely before his face cracks into a grin and he swings the door behind him back on its hinges.

“Y/N?!” Jared’s facing the door and spots you immediately, his face breaking into a wide smile. The anxiety that had solidified in your chest with each passing mile on your way here disintegrates, carrying the tension out of your body as it melts away.

“Hey there, Hot Shot.”

Jared bounds forward and wraps you tightly in a hug, the muscles in his arms visibly bulging the sleeves of his t-shirt as he squeezes you against him, which you can’t help but notice because your eye level is at his bicep. You hug him back as tightly as you can manage, pressing your cheek into his chest.

“How ya doin’, squirt?” Jared grabs your shoulders and manhandles you away from him so he can get a better look at you, his eyes racing up and down your figure. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, Dallas is only a three hour drive,” you shrug. It’s no big deal really, you’d just wanted to see him. “Plus my mom cancelled our girls’ weekend, so I had nothing better to do,” you grin, your eyes twinkling up at him wryly. Behind you, you hear Jensen snort with laughter. Jared turns to his friend, giving him a withering look and Jensen chokes back another laugh, unable to hide his amusement.

“Dude, you were her back-up plan after her mom?”

“Shut up,” Jared rolls his eyes but you join in Jensen’s giggles.

“I’m Jensen, by the way,” the man in question raises a hand in greeting, and you smile back.

“Y/N,” you wave. “Went to high school with this nut case,” you jerk your thumb towards Jared.

“Feels like I do too,” Jensen laughs. “He still acts like he’s fourteen most of the time.”

“Hey!” Jared points an accusing finger at Jensen, “at least fifteen, thank you very much.”

“And what exactly is the distinction between fourteen and fifteen here, Jay?” he asks.

“He doesn’t pop a boner every time he talks to a girl anymore?” you offer, snickering. Jensen bursts out laughing, a full bellied, joyous sound that fills out every corner of the room. Jared is rolling his eyes again, but you spy the faint blush that’s started to creep up his neck, and based on the smirk Jensen’s wearing, you think he’s spotted it too.

“So,” Jared draws out the syllable, trying to change the topic. “Are you staying for the convention then?”

“Got my ticket and everything,” you wave your pass in the air. “But mainly I just wanted to see you, it’s been way too long.”

“Yeah, it has,” Jared squeezes your arm affectionately. “Where’s your seat? I think we’re getting called out soon.”

“Oh I’m with the plebs at the back, standing room. Seeing your ass is only worth so much money,” you tease.

“You’re standing?” Jared’s brow shoots up. “You won’t be able to see a damn thing,” he laughs.

“You’re tall enough to see from space, Bigfoot,” you try to hit him on the head but he easily stretches his neck so you can’t reach, illustrating your point.

“She’s gotcha there, J-Rod,” Jensen agrees, strolling forwards and smacking Jared on the back of the head for you, since your attempt was foiled. “But you don’t have to stand all the way back there, sweetheart,” Jensen adds. “Come out with us, we’ll have someone put you at the side of the stage.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine. I really don’t mind standing,” you protest. You didn’t want to take space away from the fans who had paid for the close seats. You’re only a casual watcher of the show anyways, ghosts and monsters aren’t so much your thing, you just watch it because of Jared.

“Nah, c’mon,” Jared ignores your protest, striding back towards the door and popping his head out to talk to Clif. “Can you have them slap an extra chair on the side of the stage? Y/N’s gonna stick around for the panel.”

“Sure thing,” Clif nods, and radioes a volunteer to get it done.

“Jared,” you roll your eyes at your friend.

“Too late,” he taunts. “You’re stuck with the fangirls now.”

“Just keep in mind all the shit I could tell them,” you threaten jokingly.

“Nah, you won’t do that.” Jared’s entirely unconcerned.

“Why not?”

“Because then I won’t pay for our drinks tab later,” he smirks.

You mime turning a lock and throwing away the key. “My lips are sealed.”

“You better tell me later though, sweetheart,” Jensen ducks his head to whisper in your ear as they usher you out the door.

“Buy me a couple cosmos, you can know anything you want,” you smirk, and let Jensen and Jared guide you out to the convention hall for their panel.

“I will definitely take you up on that,” Jensen’s breath ghosts ticklishly over your ear. He shoots you a wink as he ducks behind a dividing curtain and you wave back giggling, and make your way to the seat Clif is pointing you towards.

The panel is a whole lot of fun, and you have to admit it’s definitely better sitting up front than it would have been fighting to stay standing in the sea of hormones jostling at the back. This close up, you can see Jared and Jensen’s reactions much more clearly, too; every secretive grin between them, every twitching laugh line, every aborted glance back in your direction. Laughter rings through the crowd and you refocus your attention on the questions.

“Which one of us is the biggest what?” Jensen speaks into his mic, asking the girl on the opposite side of the stage to you to repeat her question.

“Well I’m the biggest,” Jared cuts in smirking, and the audience cheers and giggles. Jared flashes them a bright, goofy smile.

“Well, that depends on what she’s asking,” Jensen smacks Jared on the arm. The girl tries to ask her question again but she’s laughing through it and the words come out garbled again.

“Which one of us has the biggest pants?” Jared’s brow raises as he incorrectly repeats the question again. You know there’s no way that’s what the girl asked. “That’s still me darlin’.” He turns to your side of the stage goddamn winks, and you flush just as deeply as the girl asking her question. You roll your eyes at him, glad that he probably can’t see you very clearly due to the stage lights shining in his eyes.

“That topic is still up for debate, actually,” Jensen protests seriously.

“No it’s not,” Jared scoffs.

“Uh, yeah, it is.” Jensen’s not backing down. “Costume department compared our measurements bro, they’re the same.”

“You and I both know that didn’t include the measurement they’re talking about,” Jared glares jokingly out at the audience.

There’s wolf whistles and shrieks of delight from the crowd and Jensen bursts out laughing. “You’re gonna give them all aneurysms, man.”

You certainly feel like you might be having an aneurysm. Your blood is pumping hot and hard through your veins. You can actually hear it swirling around your body, leaking out into your capillaries, carrying burning embarrassment and desire to the tips of each vessel.

It’s a running joke, the size difference between you and Jared. He towers over most of the people he meets, so it’s not unsurprising that he towers over you as well. He’s called you ‘squirt’ as long as you can remember knowing him, and you’ve called him every name you can dream up, from ‘sasquatch’ to ‘jolly green giant’.

As you both grew older, and Jared’s physique caught up to his height, and your mind started to take up a more permanent residence in…ahem… lower places than it had inhabited in your youth, you began to wonder just how big Jared would be if you ever… You imagine big. Proportional, at the very least. Though, Jared has always been an overachiever, you imagine it might extend to this measurement as well. You secretly hope, anyway.

You gulp nervously. There’s a reason you and Jared had gotten so trashed the last time you’d hung out, and that was so you could drown your burgeoning crush in some socially acceptable poison and hope it didn’t break its head through the surface. Jared looks back at you and flashes you a smile, probably in relation to whatever he’d just said but you hadn’t been listening, mind too preoccupied thinking about the size of your friend’s dick. You let out a sigh of resignation – you were going to have to get smashed tonight, too.

“Oh,” Jensen’s voice rings through the auditorium as he finally understands the question. “Which one of us did the biggest prank?”

“Uh, Jensen,” Jared answers after a moment of dramatised consideration, “just now when he told you all he has a bigger dick than me.”

There’s an echoing thud as Jensen smacks Jared’s head with his microphone and Jared and Jensen both double up laughing, covering their mics so it doesn’t reverberate around the room. When things settle down after a minute you see Jensen lean towards Jared to say something privately. The mics don’t pick it up, but you’re close enough that you think you hear him say, “later tonight, we’re getting out the ruler.”

The hotel bar is basically empty, but you and Jared are still in a private room at the back so he doesn’t get mobbed by fans if they do happen to wander in. Jensen had joined you for a drink earlier, but he had to leave to perform at the Saturday night concert for the convention.

“Do you ever perform on Saturdays?” you poked at Jared, and both he and Jensen laughed wildly.

“Never in a million years,” Jared shook his head. “I just watch this guy give everyone in the room phantom orgasms all night.”

“Gross, dude,” Jensen shuddered as Jared guffawed but you had to agree, Jensen’s voice was orgasmic.

“Have fun with your ménage a several hundreds,” you waved Jensen off with a giggle.

“You’ll have to join in sometime,” Jensen backed out of the room with a wicked grin, wiggling his eyebrows ridiculously and leaving you and Jared laughing behind him.

“You want another one?” Jared asks, pointing at your nearly empty glass.

“If I have any more I’ll have to crawl back to Austin,” you hiccup, the alcohol making you giggle-y and unsteady despite your seated state.

“You’re not goin’ back to Austin, squirt,” Jared protests, drowning the remainder of his own glass.

“Am I being kidnapped?”

“Damn straight. You’re not driving anywhere tonight, don’t be stupid.”

“I was gonna dry out a little first,” you defend yourself. Of course you weren’t planning to drive home drunk.

“By the time you sober up it will be way too late to go back. Just stay the night here,” Jared shrugs, indicating it’s no big deal for you to crash. You think about it for a moment and then agree that staying over is a better plan. Besides, Jared will have a big fancy room since the convention is paying for them to stay here – he’ll have plenty of space for you.

“Fine,” you sigh dramatically but you aren’t all that perturbed, and Jared knows it too. “Thank you.”

“What are friends for?” Jared grins. “C’mon, I’ll grab a bottle from the bar and let’s go upstairs. I don’t want to get caught in the crowd after the concert finishes.” You also don’t want to be mobbed by hundreds of concert goers, so you happily follow Jared out of the bar and up to his hotel room.

Jared flops dramatically onto his bed when you get inside, but you stand by the door, taking in your surroundings. As you’d imagined, the room is lavish. Every piece of furniture is accented with metallics, and every soft surface is heaped with pillows, including the bed Jared is now snuggling back onto. But, you note with a bit of surprise, there is only one bed.

Apparently fancy doesn’t automatically come with multiple beds – and why should it? Jared hadn’t expected anybody to stay the night, he’d only needed the one bed. Had he known there was only one bed when he offered you a place to crash for the night? Or had someone else brought up the luggage that you could see piled at the foot of the bed, meaning he wouldn’t have known what the exact sleeping situation would turn out to be? You’re jolted out of your frenzied contemplation when Jared throws a pillow at your head, though it narrowly misses and hits the door behind you.

“Are you just gonna stand there all night?” he laughs, eyes crinkling.

“Uh, no, course not,” you scoff, hoping Jared assumes the flush creeping over your skin is from alcohol, and not embarrassment. Jared scoots over to one side of the bed and pats the empty space he’s just created. The bottle of whiskey he’d brought from the bar downstairs is propped next to him on the pillows and it bounces as you settle yourself on top of the covers. You reach for it and peel back the foil cap, pulling the cork free with a pop.

“Wanna watch something?” Jared rifles on the side of the bed, digging for his laptop in the bag on the floor.

“Whatever you want,” you shrug.

You inwardly hope watching something might help you control your drunk chatter. Your mind has been wandering to one specific place since the panel this afternoon and you’re hyper aware that when you get tipsy, your filter becomes non existent. You do not want to give Jared an unsolicited insight into your horribly inappropriate mind.

Your eyes shift from the bottle in your hands to Jared’s laptop, now open and sitting on his thighs while he surfs through movie options online. His hands overwhelm the breadth of the keyboard, the pads of each long finger almost bigger than the letter keys they’re hovering over. How far could those fingers reach if they were… No. You curtail that course of thought with a swig of whiskey straight from the bottle and flick your eyes away from his hands.

Jared’s legs are pressed together, gangly limbs and knees scrunched up and pushing the fabric at his hips into ripples. An unmissable bulge sits at the apex of his thighs, distending the denim so it’s stretched tightly across his cock while it’s bunched and wrinkled everywhere else. You swallow hard and tear your gaze away, forcing yourself to look back at Jared’s laptop. He’s stopped scrolling now, and after a moment you realise he’s asking you if the movie he’s hovering over is an okay choice. You nod mutely and take another drink.

“Woah there darlin’, save some for the rest of us,” he laughs, grabbing the bottle from your hands, fingertips brushing over yours as he wraps them around the green glass. You wonder if Jared feels the same pang of electricity that you do when you touch. He’s evidently curious as to why you recoiled so quickly, because he’s now carefully studying your hand and the fingers that had just brushed against his.

Your moment of thick silence is interrupted by the fanfare of opening credits as the movie begins to play, startling you. Jared smooshes himself further back into the feather pillows on the unfairly comfy bed and stretches his arms wide, patting the pillow he’s using as an armrest to summon you to him.

Nervous and giddy all at once, you tuck yourself into the crook of his arm, curling up against his side. Even laying down he feels so much bigger than you. Your eyes drop again, unbidden, to his lap and you rip your gaze away quickly. The whiskey must be settling in now, because you start to feel sleepy and because, for just a second, you think that the bulge in Jared’s crotch looks even larger than it had a few minutes earlier.

Jared pulls you close against him, offering you the whiskey bottle again, and you take it happily. The two of you lazily glug more booze and laugh along with whatever comedy is on the laptop, and you’re utterly content. At some point in time your neck loses its ability to support your head and you topple it sideways onto Jared’s shoulder.

“You comfy there, Y/N?”

“Mm-hmm,” you hum sleepily, snuggling even deeper into Jared’s chest, your arm winding itself around his waist of its own accord, and Jared squeezes you against him, laughing softly into your hair.

You aren’t sure when you fell asleep – you don’t remember the end of the movie at all. You don’t even remember how you’d wound up under the covers, cradled snugly in the bend of Jared’s body. Wiggling a little to reintroduce feeling into your left arm, you shift backwards into his chest, secretly hoping the arm currently resting on top of the covers might drop around your waist as you continue to sleep.

Arching out to stretch your legs a little, you wind up nudging your hips back into Jared’s and you freeze in shock. Here, pressed close beneath the confines of cotton-swaddled feathers, you feel it… and you can tell – Jared hadn’t been kidding at the panel earlier. He must be bigger than Jensen, because there’s no way anyone could be physically larger than what you feel pressing into the curve of your ass right now.

Your whole body flushes, but you’re too scared to move away lest you wake Jared, so you stay. You try to breathe, systematically unclenching the muscles in your body from head to toe and allowing yourself to relax against your bed companion. Darkness settles around you when your eyes drift shut again but the light from Jared’s laptop still casts a faint blue tint against your eyelids.

That comforting blue morphs into a shocking orange, and your eyes squint against the unexpected source of light now coming from the open door. Seconds later it’s even brighter as the lights in the room are switched on to reveal Jensen leaning casually against the back of the door, smirking in the direction of the bed. Behind you, Jared has jolted awake, sitting up and pitching you forward into the mattress with the force of his disturbance.

“Jay?” he asks blearily, yawning through the word.

“Why did I have a feeling this is what I’d be walking into tonight?” Jensen answers with a laugh and a kind roll of his eyes. You look sleepily between both of the men, confused as all hell.

Finally, it occurs to you why Jensen must be in the room – and why there had only been one bed.

Part 2 now up as an exclusive commission on my website!

We’re All Mads Here: @vulgar-library @tintentrinkerin @negans-lucille-tblr @fandomfic-galore @petitgateau911 @schaefchenherde @kickingitwithkirk @little-diable @laxe-chester67 @kassyscarlett @austin-winchester67 @flamencodiva @katbratsupernaturalwhore

All SPN: @cemini-winchester @akshi8278 @stoneyggirl @deandreamernp @lyarr24 @lovealways-j @slamminmine @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @eddiesgirl @raidens-realm @tatted-trina6 @defenderrosetyler @delightfullykrispypeach @05supernatural20 @sams-sass @calaofnoldor @thinkinghardhardlythinking

#spnkinkbingo #size kink #jared x reader #friends to lovers #surprise ending

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goldrockyroad · 3 years

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now that the season is over here are chuang2021 moments i cannot believe are real, a list that only gets longer and in no particular order:

- that entire bit of them choosing their dorm rooms, including but not limited to:

lin mo copping his double room only to lose it + his mental breakdown after that

almost 20 of them fighting to have hiroto stay in their room

nine and patrick's 'we break up' (only for patrick to move in after 1st round of eliminations)

ak: ‘does rikimaru snore?’ santa: ‘yeah, very loudly’ ak: ‘oh NOOOO i’m scREWED’

- hanfu shop owner liu yu

- han meijuan training base:

yu gengyin’s ‘i am a proud fishie swimming into your heart’

also yu gengyin: ‘i’m a little scared that the debut lineup will end up being 11 han meijuans’

zhang xinyao dropping it low. that’s it.

han peiquan: ‘look at that santa, he can dance so well but can he do this? he can play the drums but ask him to come here, can he do it? no way’

the entire “just go where you want” performance including their intro + mentors comments + xie xingyang’s slogans

but even more so “just go where you want” 2.0 LIVE AT THE FINALS

- the mentors dancing along to ‘vote for me xoxo’ during “just go where you want” 2.0 before carrying and promptly drOPPING zhou shen onto the floor before the rest of them pretend like nothing happened in time for the ending pose

- “when i’m with you”, “unbreakable love”, “just go where you want” > the actual theme song all day every day

- don't be shy @/tencent , give me all the clips of gan wangxing singing jing long's “lost you” (diu le ni) + more of the both of them dancing to crab dance backstage

- zhou shen, to shao mingming on the verge of having a meltdown over mean comments about him as practice for “i don’t care” stage: ‘do you want to hear the next comment?’ shao mingming, as the others start laughing: ‘plEASE NO’ zhou shen, reading the comment anyway: ‘he only knows how to cry’ cue maniac laughter from all of them

- just hanjiang, really

zhang xinyao, on “feng ding” stage: ‘it was so good. also i wanna add hanjiang you look like huluwa’

to wu yuheng after “i don’t care” team’s performance: ‘there’s only one word to describe you - handsome. first time i saw you i went, woah, handsome. saw you on stage performing - woah, handsome. seriously, handsome’

xue bayi, backstage: ‘i think he’s said that to me too’

when called up at 2nd eliminations: ‘what’s manga-like man?’ another trainee: ‘ means you look like you came out of a manga’ zhou zhennan: ‘yeah it’s like fei yang yang came out of the page into real life’

domineering ceo with all of them either screaming or looking mildly uncomfortable

literally scREAMING to get people to join “zui kuen” team

more importantly hanjiang’s dad imitating him scream to get people to join “zui kuen” team to a dAMN T

- patrick: ‘hello everyone i am your ocean prince patrick!’ wu hai: ‘and i am the ocean’ [for non-chinese speaking fans of chuang, the hai 海 in wu hai means ocean] + the continuation of this on wu hai’s dorm diary

- “unbreakable love” 2.0 !!!! put it on spotify right now !!!!!

- da-geTM bo yuan

fu sichao, on bo yuan getting 9th for 2nd eliminations: ‘that feeling when your own old man (laughs for a bit) when your old man gets a really good grade, it’s indescribable happiness’

amu: ‘bo yuan’s like my grandpa, and he might as well be’

eisho’s ‘bo yuan gege’

hiroto getting other trainees to call him da-ge on dorm diary but having bo yuan as his da-ge

or alternatively, yuan-shu [uncle yuan], as seen after using the term fanersai（凡尔赛）[literally means versailles, a slang that means the same thing as flexing / humblebragging in english]

- gan wangxing unintentional comedian

han peiquan, on his first impressions of gan wangxing: ‘he’s such so good-looking, and then he opens his mouth (disbelievingly rolls his eyes) i almost died right there’

on being 11th for 2nd eliminations: ‘in the past, my life plan was that after graduating from university, i’d find a stable job and live a nine-to-five life. and i used to fantasize that in my future i’d be able to find a wife early, drive a car to bring her travelling, we can listen to some music and lift our heads to see the stars’

other trainees: laughing and going ‘oOHHHH’, notably including xie xingyang: ‘he’s still fantasizing!’

also other trainees, after seeing the video his family sent to cheer him on: ‘where’s the wife? where’s the wife!’

also ‘hello, look at me’ coming up everytime he shows up

case in point - the mentors erupting into laughter when gan wangxing steps forward to do his evaluation, notably zhou zhennan: ‘kill me with it!’ [i’m not sure how to translate what he actually said in a better way than that], nene following up by simply going ‘hello’, zhou zhennan immediately picking it up while still laughing: ‘look at me’

holding the umbrella for nene at the end of “it’s raining and i’m thinking of you” stage just for all the trainees backstage to go ‘why’s it you!’

Very Passionately telling gong jun what jing long taught him on singing

- ‘andy lau has come to visit our zoo!’

- wu yuheng’s quest for chilli sauce in his dorm diary:

wu yuheng and fu sichao terrorising a staff member for chilli sauce until the staff goes to wu yuheng ‘if you wake him (fu sichao) up every morning i’ll make sure you get your chilli sauce’ to which fu sichao says to wu yuheng ‘you know what chilli sauce isn’t that great let’s go’

wu yuheng straight up drinking zhou keyu’s chilli sauce because i could never

- liu yu confessing to lin mo as a dare from shao mingming but lin mo’s in the toilet so liu yu has to awkwardly do it standing outside the cubicle door while shao mingming and xue bayi eat the drama up

- oscar’s reaction to people finding out his real name + the entire ‘xiong xiong’ saga

- lelush with a pearl earring

- rikimaru moments that deserve a segment of their own

having the first comment on his first solo performance be ‘drop your skincare routine’ [essentially] because the mentors didn’t have anything to critique on his performance

at the start of his speech at 3rd eliminations, when it was clearly evening: ‘good morning’

getting very sad over the fact that yumeri didn't send him a video to cheer him on + being jealous every time someone's sister showing up in the videos

- speaking of sisters, the guys simping over amu's sisters + amu, asking the mentors when trainees had the chance to dedicate a few words to each other during the final livestream: 'can my sisters come next year?'

- santa, on preparation for nana party stage: ‘she (mao xiaotong) learnt the choreography really fast, and even if she made mistakes she’ll be like *makes cute expressions* so even when she did i’d be like “it’s ok! no problem!” she’s so cute’ the staff interviewing him: ‘is this the santa we know?’

- “the adventure” team making fun of their female guest before finding out said female guest was meng meiqi aka goddess incarnate AND had been watching them make fun of her through the cameras

- lin mo’s bat song

- xie xingyang discreetly stealing food from the staff on their movie night that was originally supposed to only be for those who used their beans before a whole group of them [led by jing long, consisting of xie xingyang, wei ziyue, hu yetao and others] just go and outright take it with nine hugging the staff member to let them take the food that entire bts video is a mess and you know what? that’s what i’m here for

- zhou zhennan’s constant ‘wtf’ face

- that chuang x GQ beach video

- gong jun’s entire time on chuang, but especially the moments with zhou shen. felt like a fever dream tbh

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insanityclause · 3 years

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SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details of the first five episodes of Disney+’s Loki, & maybe the finale. Maybe.

EXCLUSIVE: “I have learned, at this point, having said goodbye to the character more than twice, two and a half times maybe, to make no assumptions,” says Loki’s Tom Hiddleston as the hours tick away to the finale of the Disney+ series drops early on Wednesday morning. “We’ll see where the ride goes now,” the Marvel alum adds.

As always with almost any project from the Kevin Feige run studio, that ride could continue, at least in some form or another. Certainly, the June 9 ‘Glorious Purpose’ premiere of the Michael Waldron penned and Kate Herron directed Loki proved to be the Disney+ and the MCU’s biggest small screen success so far. Also with any Marvel project, past Emmy winner Hiddleston was elusive on what could be coming next, be it in the Loki finale, another season or another appearance in the movies as the MCU shifts into its next phrase.

One thing is clear, after a decade playing the God of Mischief, Hiddleston still has a lot of Loki on the brain, in the best way.Leading towards the finale, I chatted with a UK-based Hiddleston about returning to play Loki and the search for who or what controls the seemingly all knowing, all powerful Time Variance Authority. The Night Manager star also spoke about filming during the coronavirus pandemic, working with Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Richard E. Grant, and Sophia Di Martino, who portrays variant and soulmate Sylvie, and his upcoming AppleTV+ series The Essex Serpent with Claire Danes.

DEADLINE: There’s a great line in this season’s penultimate episode where your Loki and Sylvie are stunned at watch Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki recreate Asgard to distract Alioth and you say “I think we’re stronger than we realize.” There seems to be a great resonance in the line that there’s a whole lot of Loki coming in the finale and probably more …

HIDDLESTON: I suppose it resonates with the theme that we all wanted to highlight about purpose and about meaning. Loki’s someone who’s probably been deluded by the idea that he’s burdened with glorious purpose, and that perhaps that purpose has been revealed to be fraudulent or meaningless, and maybe his self-image or the role that he has condemned himself to play is redundant.

His experiences through this story have shown him that there are actually more opportunities available to him, and you know, it speaks to this idea, like, can we change? Can we evolve, and in that evolution, is there room to grow? You know, so, I think the stronger than we realize I think is Loki finally understanding that, really, by caring for other people, that maybe there’s power in that, and I found that very touching, and the whole thing is an extraordinary dream.

DEADLINE: Speaking of an extraordinary dream, you have been playing Loki for a decade now, since the first Thor movie, We know you are going to do some voice work in the animated What If…? series, but how has it been having this series directly centering on him, in all his variants, so to speak?

HIDDLESTON: You know Dominic, I have enjoyed it so much, because I felt it was a gift and a privilege to be invited to come and sit at the table and think about what the show might be. Also, I suppose so many of the things that I’ve discovered about Loki as a character in the comics and a character in the Norse myths, in the canon, aspects that I’ve always thought were interesting, and understandably, there hasn’t been time or space in the movies to explore them.

DEADLINE: In terms of who he is?

HIDDLESTON: Those aspects of him have been externalized and embedded into this new story about identity itself and about integrating the disparate fragment of the many selves that he is or perhaps the many selves that we are. You know, we contain multitudes. Loki certainly contains multitudes. We have met many of those multitudes, including Alligator Loki (laughs).

DEADLINE: Sounds like you’re not done with those multitudes yet. From your POV, from conversations with Kevin (Feige) is there more that you see for the character as the MCU heads into its next stages?

HIDDLESTON: Well, I certainly don’t have Kevin’s brain or encyclopedic knowledge or capacity for invention. I’ve been on the ride for a while, and it’s been the most extraordinary journey, and to have lived through different iterations, different phases of the MCU, and I’m so grateful that I’m still here, and it’s been amazing to watch. I feel that the MCU is even more expansive, is even braver, more inclusive than it’s ever been.

DEADLINE: How so?

HIDDLESTON: I think the stories are getting really exciting. Not that they weren’t before, but I think they understand that the investment of the audience is very deep, and they don’t take it for granted for a second. So, yeah, I suppose the perspective I have on how Loki might affect the ongoing course of the MCU is this idea of the multiverse. People have already understood it when Miss Minutes is introducing Loki to the TVA. She talks about the multiverse and the war and that the sacred timeline, which is reality as we know it.

DEADLINE: It opens up the aperture certainly for new stories from all opportunities, doesn’t it?

HIDDLESTON: It raises questions of, well, maybe there are other parallel or alternate universes. Maybe there are other realities, and the possibilities there are endless. I feel that at the end of episode five, Loki and Sylvie are close to discovering the answers to the questions that they have of who is behind the TVA and that, somehow, this will provoke even more curiosity about…

DEADLINE: …Because in the Marvel Universe, answering one set of questions always leads to another set of questions, in many ways.

HIDDLESTON: Right. Yeah. Yeah, and I know that there are lots of, you know, interesting titles of movies that’ve been announced, which kind of hint at where it might be going.

DEADLINE: One of those that hasn’t been officially announced, but is rumored is a Season 2 for Loki, in gear under the temporary title of Architect on call sheets and the like …

HIDDLESTON: Well, yes, maybe, as I say, all the kind of multiple alternate realities are …it’s taken me 10 years to get a handle on this sort of mono timeline. The idea that this might be a multiverse is actually beyond my knowledge of physics.

DEADLINE: Well, I doubt that, but let me ask, and no spoilers for the finale or further, but if Kevin, Marvel, Disney asked you to do more Loki, are you game?

HIDDLESTON: (laughs) I have learned, at this point, having said goodbye to the character more than twice, two and a half times maybe, to make no assumptions. So, I’m also aware that I’m only playing him because of the audience, really. So, it’s not up to me. But I do love playing him, and every time, I seem to find new, interesting things about him. So, yeah, I’m a temporary passenger on Loki’s journey, but we’ll see. We’ll see where the ride goes now.

DEADLINE: On the ride, as the finale looms, there’s a ton of fan speculation out there and so much that people have hooked on to from the show. So, as the man at the center of it, what was your favorite part of Loki the series?

HIDDLESTON: That there was meaning in the making of it.That we crossed the finish line in the middle of a global pandemic and could create something, and more than ever, I felt really grateful for being able to do this job. I think in this there are some of those questions that we were all asking ourselves in the last 18 months in the show, you know, what do our lives mean?📷I love taking Loki in new directions. I love the contributions of my fellow actors, of Owen Wilson and Sophia Di Martino and Richard E. Grant and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Wunmi Masaku, they all brought so much to the table, and I’ll always remember that. You know, I’ll always remember just being in Atlanta with all of them and making our bonkers show. Yeah.

DEADLINE: Making your bonkers show in Atlanta as the world, as America was still in the heat of the pandemic. What was that like, because you were in production and then everything stopped and then you came back, right?

HIDDLESTON: I mean, people have used this word a lot, but it really was unprecedented. I think we did six weeks of filming before the hiatus, and then the production was suspended for four or five months, and we came back. At first, it was unfamiliar because we had to make adjustments, but the thing I remember most of all, quite honestly, is the diligence and resilience and spirit of our cast and crew.

DEADLINE: Really?

HIDDLESTON: Yes, and it remains extremely special for me, this project, for that reason.For me, it just demonstrated the character of these amazing people. It took a huge amount of planning and care and looking after each other. By that, I mean, being in the bubble. So, for many of us, the only other human beings we saw, really, were each other. So, we came to work, and we became a team, and the circumstances fostered this extraordinary team spirit, and so the memory of making it is really my incredible and deep respect and affection for my fellow filmmakers. People like Trish Stanard, our line producer. Richard Graves, our first AD. Kristina Peterson, our second AD. Autumn Durald, DP. Kevin Wright, our supervising producer, and so many others making sure everyone could stay safe and look after each other.It’s really…I find it…it’s very moving, and it’s remarkable, and I just want to salute them all because I couldn’t have done any of it without them.

DEADLINE: In that vein, you have just come off filming The Essex Serpent with Claire Danes for AppleTV+. Very different from Loki, and yet also a tale of what is real and who we are. Is that what attracted you to it on some level?

HIDDLESTON: I read it and immediately connected to it. Read the screenplay, the adaptation. It’s based on a novel by Sarah Perry, which was published in 2016 and is set at the end of the 19th century. It’s an extraordinary story about uncertainty and about our deepest fears and how sometimes our fears can distort our imaginings and how our minds can lie to us. About how we have to guard against that, and Perry sets it in this extraordinary time with a beautiful leading character of Cora Seaborne, played by Claire. Anna Symon adopted it.

There’s this community on the east coast of England who believe that an ancient beast has been awakened by an earthquake and that it’s dislodged all these fossils. But perhaps, it has also dislodged this ancient underwater monster, which has been used to explain certain unusual phenomena. This was in the era when Darwin had just been published a few decades before and people are starting to think, this Charles Darwin, he’s onto something. Still, fear spreads very quickly, and it’s a very fascinating time where science and faith are in conflict.

DEADLINE: When you describe it like that it sounds very Loki indeed.

HIDDLESTON: Maybe the themes are very Loki. Maybe that’s where they join up, but I’m playing a 19th century vicar who is trying to contain his community. You feel very destabilized by all these rumors. So, yeah, to go from Loki to a vicar was definitely new, a new territory.

DEADLINE: Literally and figuratively?

HIDDLESTON: Well, it’s my first significant time in Essex, where we filmed, which I feel embarrassed about. I’ve been to Essex before, but I’ve never been to the very, very eastern, most eastern coast of Essex. It’s the Blackwater Estuary, which then feeds into the River Thames, and it’s a very ancient part of England. It’s so marshy, it’s where in Great Expectations, that’s where Pip meets Magwitch for the first time. It’s all foggy and muddy and marshy and quite atmospheric and a perfect place to set a story about of uncertainty and fear and gothic romance. Clio Barnard directed it, and working with her has been amazing.

DEADLINE: You know, it occurs to me that of all the main Marvel characters, Loki has been such a constant, yet so ethereal in so many ways too. Is it jarring for you to jump back into the role with all the uncertainty it brings?

HIDDLESTON: You know, I’ve always seen it as sort of an extraordinary and surprising constant in my life for a decade. But, I don’t take it for granted because I don’t often…you know, it may end. It has actually ended, and those endings have been conclusive. I really thought a couple of years ago, after I made Avengers: Infinity War, you know, we all know what happens in that scene, and I thought, that’s it.I thought it’s over, and I was really proud to have been part of it. I was grateful for my time, but I thought that, my work would go off in a different direction. So, the idea that I got to come back and have another go was a complete delight, it truly was.

#Tom Hiddleston #Interview #Loki #The Essex Serpent

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