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multimetaverse · 3 years

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HSMTMTS 2x08 Review

Most Likely To was the best ep of S2 so far and ended one ship while launching another. Let’s dig in!

Gaston was super fun, a very nice showcase for both Larry and Matt. This is the kind of energy that early S2 was lacking. Also feels like the first ep where East High might actually have a shot at beating North High. Covid restrictions played a role but we really needed to see more rehearsal scenes and scenes of the wildcats just being theatre kids. This also may be one of the last times we see EJ perform as a student in the musical so I’m glad we got this.

EJ has been criminally underused for most of S2, he’s marketed as part of the big 4 along with Nini, Ricky, and Gina and Matt Cornett’s name is listed 3rd in the credits but in the early eps of S2 you’d think he was guest star. Lately he’s started to become more important and tonight was an excellent showcase of why he’s such an interesting character. I’m not gonna check but this feels like it’s the most EJ screen time in a single ep that we’ve gotten all season long.

Of course, the main reason for EJ’s increased screen time is because of Portwell. I’ve been neutral on them but tonight they really won me over’ their scenes were so sweet that they warmed even my cold black heart. Matt and Sofia are good friends irl and that shines through in their easy rapport and great chemistry. Gina snorting at EJ’s joke was cute and I loved the shot of Gina accidentally walking into the shot for EJ’s confessional. As an aside, they’ve been doing some fun stuff with the confessionals lately which helps add a bit of the metaness that helped make S1 so great.

The real big Portwell scene tonight was EJ and Gina talking on the couch at Ashlyn’s. Lot’s to love there. Gina’s speech to EJ about what she sees when she thinks of him was sweet and her saying that EJ tried to do the right thing and often failed but kept trying echoes what she said of herself during her confession to Ricky. Also when EJ asked Gina if she understood the feeling of having her life mapped out she replied, ‘’not really’’ which is almost certainly the inspiration for Gina asking a question to EJ and him responding ‘’not really’’ in their pre S2 face time call on the hsmtmts instagram.

EJ is still wracked with guilt for the guy he used to be but Gina reminds him that he’s grown and is a good guy which leads to her slip up about her seeing him that way vs the rest of the gang hinting that she’s beginning to catch feelings for EJ. Which leads to EJ complimenting her and them having a moment that could well have led to a kiss if Ashlyn hadn’t come home. And they cap it off with Gina falling asleep and EJ covering her with his Duke sweater.

It’s been nice not seeing Gina upset over Ricky these past two eps and it’s a damning indictment of the poor writing and pacing of S2 that her story in the first 6 eps can be summed up as Gina being upset over something Ricky said or did. Not only has Portwell allowed EJ to rise in prominence but also it’s allowed Gina to escape the rut her character was stuck in pining for Ricky.

I hope after S2 is over that we get an interview where Tim explains how the Portwell plot came to be. The S1 finale set up some possible interest between them as did the pre S2 face time call but nothing came of it during the first 4 eps, they stood next to each other a lot but barely interacted otherwise. Notably in 2x01, which Tim himself wrote, EJ tries to grow a beard and tells Ashlyn that he says her as so young which is extremely jarring now that we know that EJ is crushing on Gina who is Ashlyn’s age.

Was Tim not set on doing Portwell until he realized he needed to give Gina something else to do other than hopelessly pine for Ricky? Narratively, it made sense after Rini got together in S1 to put the other two Big 4 characters together in S2 but did Tim not want it to seem so obvious to the audience so he deliberately kept Portwell apart until 2x05 where EJ’s feelings make for a nice plot twist? Was he just reluctant to plug EJ back into the love square due to how much more complicated it would make things but later felt he had no other options? Or was it just plain old bad pacing and writing?

Of course, I wish that there wasn’t such a large age gap between Sofia and Matt but there are no Gina ships that avoid that problem, there’s also an age gap between Sofia and Joshua, just as there was between Olivia and Joshua and Matt in S1. Depending on when they film S3 there’s a good chance that most of it will be finished before Sofia even turns 18 which is deeply unfortunate. There’s a broader issue of teen girls being cast in mostly age appropriate roles while their male love interests are older adults and in particular it often affects female characters of colour. Netflix has a really bad track record with those kind of age gaps but Disney has problems too as we’ve seen on HSMTMTS and on GMW where by the end of S3 they had 18 year old Peyton Meyer as the boyfriend of 14 year old Rowan Blanchard’s character (not to mention canon Joshaya which didn’t have such a bad age gap between the actors but was problematic regarding the ages of the characters themselves).

A knock I’ve seen on Portwell is that EJ is just gonna leave for university next year but that was never gonna happen, Matt’s under the same 4 season contract as all the other mains and he’ll be sticking around in some capacity much like Sharpay ended up doing in the movies. It is true that EJ will probably have to move on at the end of S4 while Gina still has her senior year left but that will also happen with her and Ricky since he’ll be graduating at the end of S4. It was a big mistake to make EJ a senior but it also may end up being a big mistake to make Gina a sophomore. It would have been too messy to retcon EJ to be a junior but Tim probably should have taken the chance to retcon Gina into being a junior in S2.

That Rini breakup was so sad (missed opportunity for gotta go my own way). They managed to get in a Troyella reference with the treehouse. This was inevitable they just have not been communicating well though now that we know that Ricky thought Nini left YAC for him some of his desperation to spend as much time together as possible makes more sense. I think Rini is endgame if the series has 4 seasons but it wouldn't shock me if we never seem them dating again and they only get back together in the series finale. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Nini never dates anyone else for the remainder of the series or at least not seriously.

We’re not even halfway through the series so it’s way too early to permanently slam the door on Rini though this time apart will probably help Joshua and Olivia move on from their own bitter break up before it bleeds too much into their performances. I do wonder if Tim really has a clue what he's gonna do with them for the remaining 24-28 eps of the series, assuming S3 and S4 have 10-12 eps each.

Roman Banks killed If I Can’t Love Her and the montage of all the couples or ex couples was great.

It was nice to finally meets some parents other than the Bowen’s and Salazar-Roberts’. Kourtney’s mom was played by Dara’s actual mother and their dynamic was great as expected. It seems from their conversation that Kourtney's father is dead which I don’t believe has been mentioned before. Cash Caswell.... well it gets what the character is about across. He really looks and sounds like a rich Utah republican, I bet he knows Mitt Romney personally. I liked EJ going to tell his father that he’s not going to Duke and recognizing that he wants to build his own life on his own merits.

We saw a bit of that S1 Miss Jenn energy tonight which was fun though I didn't like how curt she was with Seb nor did I like how rude Carlos was to Seb although we know that blows up in 2x10.

Jazzara rising! I really liked how Jazzara and Portwell are sort of mirroring each other and since Mazzara knows about EJ’s feelings for Gina it wouldn’t shock me if helping EJ out is part of him showing a softer side in 2x12.

Of course Ashlyn is VP of the Nostradamus society. It's clear her family has some kooky new age beliefs (her parents are probably members of some naturopathic medicine group on Facebook that doubles as a gateway into Qanon)

It was nice to see Big Red being such a good friend to Ricky and the return of Ricky’s infamous pillow hugs. Lmao at Ashlyn just chilling while Big Red is comforting Ricky

Also Miss Jenn saying sexy and Big Red referring to pillow talk, the writers are adding a bit of spice when cooking up these scripts.

Looking Ahead:

Looks like Gina may be wearing EJ's duke sweater next ep according to some posts I saw. Jack presumably is there to somehow help Gina decide what she wants with Ricky and EJ though him having wanderlust might also feed into Gina’s thoughts on settling down in SLC or moving with her mom around the country.

Let's see what mom of the year, Lynne Bowen, has up her sleeves. Ricky’s bedroom at her place in Chicago looks much nicer than the apartment Mike Bowen has so perhaps she makes a lot more money than he does.

Not looking forward to the Zoom portions of the ep but I guess it was inevitable.

There’s only two paths for Gina’s story to go in the remainder of this season; either she decides to move on from Ricky and give EJ a chance or she decides that Ricky is worth trying again and squelches her budding feelings for EJ. The former looks much more likely after tonight’s ep but either way it needs to be handled with care. Inevitably Gina and Ricky need to talk about what happened between them but if Tim really wants Ricky to continue being a viable love interest or even a good friend to Gina then he needs to really have Ricky apologize and show a thoughtful, kinder side of him that’s largely been missing this season.

What I think Tim is doing is setting up Portwell getting together in 2x12 but Ricky pining over Gina until Portwell break up late S3 and Rina get together in the S3 finale before they break up later in S4 and Ricky gets back with Nini near the end of the series. If I had Tim’s ear I would tell him that he should pick which ship he wants to do, Rina or Portwell, but don’t do both. He wants canon Rina? Great then end Portwell before it starts and have Rina happen in S3 and introduce other obstacles to them getting together rather than having to damage EJ’s character and make him lose another girl he likes to Ricky. He wants canon Portwell? Great then have Gina and Ricky’s conversation be closure for the both of them and have Gina and EJ get together and break them up without Ricky being a cause of it or waiting in the wings to get with Gina soon afterwards. Doing both will be a disaster and I truly hope that Tim Federle carefully thinks over his mistakes in S2 and really plans out the remaining 2 seasons of the series while there’s still time to prevent things from going really off the rails like GMW and AM did thanks to the bad decisions of Michael Jacobs and Terri Minsky.

Until next week wildcats.

#HSMTMTS #Portwell #Rini #Gina Porter #EJ Caswell #Ricky Bowen #Nini Salazar-Roberts #Kourtney Greene #HSMTMTS Reviews

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pipes-loves-writing · 3 years

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second fic I’ve posted! I’m so sorry for being so inactive… with no new content I’m feeling very unmotivated. Thanks for everyone who stuck around and support me! I’m here if you ever need to talk. I love you all! :)

There is absolutely no problem with Seb and Carlos working together.

Nope.

No problem at all.

Oh, except for the fact that Seb has been in love with Carlos since before he even met him.

But that’s not important.

Not at all.

He didn’t mean to fall in love with Carlos, truly he didn’t. But, honestly, how couldn’t you?

Mr. Cilli clapped his hands together rhythmically. “Alright everyone, today we’ll be ending our civil war unit. We’re going to be doing a project, it being the end of the year and all. You will work with a partner to create a fake episode of a tv show based around the idea of the civil war. Any questions?”

`Natalie Bagley shot her hand into the air. “Will we get to pick our partners?”

“Unfortunately not. You’ll work with whoever is sitting next to you.”

Seb turned his head to the side and realized that no one was sitting next to him. How had he not noticed that earlier?

Carlos Rodriguez came running through the history door and dropped a few pieces of paper and pencils.

Every other group had started working on the project already. No one even noticed that Carlos was here.

Well, almost no one.

“Mr. Rodriguez, that’s the third time this week. Next time I have to write you a detention slip.”

“I’m sorry! It won’t happen again!”

Seb’s legs started moving before his mind did, and before he noticed, he had gotten up to help Carlos.

“Here. You dropped a few things.” Seb handed Carlos a pencil from the ground.

“Thank you,” Carlos paused for a second before saying, “Pencils, you know? They’re slippery.”

Seb smiled at Carlos. “Yeah, I guess.”

Carlos quickly nodded and went to sit down in the chair next to Seb’s.

Mr. Cilli scribbled something down in his notebook and said, “Carlos, I assume that means you and Seb are working together.”

Seb’s eyes widened. Carlos? Working with him? He had to stop himself from smiling too wide.

“I mean,” Carlos started, “is that okay? With you I mean?”

Seb allowed himself to smile. “Yeah that’d be great.”

Carlos took a notebook out of his backpack and set it in front of him. “I’m Carlos. By the way.”

Seb smiled a little wider. “Oh I know. I’m Seb!”

“You.. know?” Seb couldn’t entirely read Carlos’s expression.

Seb widened his eyes. “I meant,” he searched his mind for an excuse, “I know your name. Like the name Carlos. It’s a- it’s a pretty name.” Well played. That didn’t sound too creepy. Probably.

Carlos looked almost flattered? Seb still couldn’t entirely understand. He could definitely understand the blush running to his face right now though.

“Thank you.” Carlos hesitated for a moment. “You have a pretty name too.”

Seb finally broke free from eye contact. Wow. Carlos had really pretty eyes. They were almost… distracting?

“But also,” Seb started, “I’ve seen you on the color guard. You’re really good!”

Carlos didn’t answer for a moment. “You really think so?”

Seb was surprised that Carlos would doubt his talent even for a second. “I know so. My older sister was the captain of the color guard before you, and she’s very impressed with their new leader.”

Carlos furrowed his eyebrows. Then he lightly gasped. “Your sister is Georgie Matthew-Smith?”

Seb thought Carlos looked like a lost puppy when he looked confused. It was so cute, that he almost forgot to answer the question. “The one and only! I’m not as talented in the dance department though.”

Carlos laughed, “Maybe you’ve just never had the right teacher.”

Seb just hummed in response. “So what are we thinking for this tv episode project?”

“Hmm.” Carlos thought for a moment. Then he gasped, “We should do something similar to a Glee episode! Like maybe they have to do a week where they have to sing songs that talk about the civil war? Or something similar to that?” He looked over at Seb, who was looking at him in a way he couldn’t exactly place. Carlos blushed and looked away. “Sorry. I was just being a gleek. Please ignore the last 30 seconds of your life.”

“I love glee. It’s my favorite show.”

Carlos smiled wider.

“That’s a great idea, Carlos. Let’s do it.”

The next day, Seb walked into the classroom with a smile on his face. He had spent his entire class time with Carlos yesterday, and he couldn’t be happier about it. Sure, they were both a little awkward, but Seb found it almost endearing.

Carlos ran into the classroom again and put his papers on the desk next to Seb. The bell rang and Carlos texted something to someone. Seb got a glimpse of his wallpaper before he closed his phone.

“Hey. I like your wallpaper on your phone!”

Carlos looked at him. “You like Broadway?”

Seb scoffed, “Are you kidding? Who doesn’t?”

Carlos rolled his eyes. “You’d be surprised to know how many people did ‘Brigadoon’ and didn’t actually care for theatre.”

Seb pretended to look surprised, “You were in ‘Brigadoon’?” Of course he knew that Carlos was in this year’s spring show. He had been dying for a chance to have just one scene with him so they could talk.

“Yeah! I was ensemble.”

Seb smiled and said, “I was ensemble too! And I totally agree. If you don’t like theatre, why do the shows?”

Carlos smiled. “I didn’t even want to be in the show either. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love performing. But,” he trailed off for a second. “I actually wanted to be choreographer.” Carlos squeezed his eyes shut, fully prepared for Seb to start laughing.

“And they didn’t let you be one? That’s awful. You’re the best dancer in this school. In this city even! Anyone would be crazy not to make you a choreographer.”

Carlos looked at Seb for a second. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

“Okay everyone! You did some brainstorming yesterday. Today you’ll start the slideshow for the project. Then tomorrow we’ll present to the class.”

Carlos finally broke eye contact with Seb and looked down at his paper.

“So? What about you?” Carlos asked subtly.

Seb raised an eyebrow. “What about me?”

“Do you have a dream role?”

Seb hesitated. “Don’t laugh.”

“Seb. I’m not going to laugh at you.”

Seb looked up at Carlos. “Sharpay,” he says quietly.

“Sharpay? Like from High School Musical?”

Seb couldn’t look at Carlos. He was too scared to see his reaction. Would he change his mind and laugh at Seb?

“Wow. You’d be great as Sharpay!”

Seb listened for sarcasm, but he didn’t seem to hear any. He looked at Carlos.

Seb didn’t really know what to say, so he just blushed and hoped Carlos didn’t notice.

Carlos was too busy blushing to notice the other boy’s red face.

…

Today was the big presentation day. Seb was a little nervous, but he was a performer! He could do anything.

Mostly anything that is.

“Okay,” Mr. Cilli announced, “Today is presentation day! I’ll give you guys 10 minutes to review, and then we’ll start with Natalie and Kaden, Ashlyn and Steph, Seb and Carlos,” the teacher went on and on about the order of groups presenting, but Seb had been distracted. Carlos still wasn’t in class. He wouldn’t ditch on the day of presenting.

Right?

Seb took out his phone and texted Carlos.

‘Hey is everything okay?’ He sent the message and waited for a response. He checked his phone after two minutes. No response.

Seb shot up his hand and asked to go to the bathroom.

He ran out the door and speed-walked down the hall.

When he threw open the bathroom door, he saw Carlos pacing back and forth across the small space. He looked so panicked, it made Seb kind of want to cry.

Carlos heard Seb open the door and looked over at him. Seb’s eyes were filled with so much worry and another emotion Carlos couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Carlos stopped against the wall and slid down to sit. He could feel his breathing getting faster, and he tried to slow it down.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Seb said in a hushed voice. He walked over next to him. “What’s wrong ‘Los? Why are you pacing?”

Carlos threw his head back. He was so scared that he didn’t comment on the cute nickname. “I’m scared, Seb. The last thing I read in front of people was a report in February. And it was a group project with four people. I barely had to talk.”

Carlos’s hands were fidgeting so much that Seb reached over and grabbed both of them with his own.

Carlos was so nervous that he barely noticed.

Okay, that was a complete lie.

Seb’s hands holding Carlos’s and his pretty blue eyes made Carlos forget all his worries. Seb’s hands were warm and soft. You would think they’d be rough from all the farm work, but they weren’t for some reason. Carlos would have to ask him about them one day.

“That’s not true Carlos. You memorized all the songs in Brigadoon in under a week. You were the first one in the cast who was off book.” Seb thought for a moment. “Just imagine it being a performance. You’re really good at those.”

Carlos looks at Seb. But this time, he really looks at him.

Seb has a bit of acne. His eyes are a little darker blue than he’d noticed before. His hands are a little sweaty. And his hair is messed up a little.

And honestly?

Carlos thinks he’s so beautiful.

Before either of them notice, about 15 seconds has passed.

Carlos is about to say something, but Seb speaks up instead.

“We should probably get back to class. Our project isn’t going to present itself.”

When they get back in the classroom, they’ve been gone about 6 minutes. Mr. Cilli has always been lenient towards his students, so they only get a warning.

When it’s their turn to present, Carlos can’t stop looking at Seb. All he can think about is what he said earlier. And also, just him in general.

Seb isn’t looking at Carlos. He’s too worried that he’ll get lost in Carlos’s eyes, so he just avoids eye contact. Which pains him a little bit, but it’s alright.

In the end, their presentation gets a B.

They get points off for being distracted during the presentation.

And they’re both more than okay with that.

-pipes 🤍

#high school musical the musical the series #hsmtmts #hsmtmts s2 #carlos rodriguez #seb matthew smith #joe serafini #frankie rodriguez #seblos fanfic #seblos fic #seblos #seb x carlos #carlos x seb #pipes talks fandom shiz

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petersasteria · 3 years

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To Dye Or To Die - Holland!Reader

Pairing: None Requested? Nah 2,040 words

Holland!Reader Masterlist || Ultimate Masterlist || New Year, New Taglist

* * * *

As soon as you turned 20, you wanted to color your hair. You told your mum, Nikki, about it before and she promised that she’d take you to the hair salon herself to dye your hair. So, you asked her about it and she said, “When you turn 21, I promise this time. I figured that you’re still a bit young to get a hair dye.”

That made you furious. You’ve been waiting to dye your hair ever since you were 7 years old when you saw Sharpay Evans’ beautiful locks in High School Musical. Being the only girl in your family, this made you become your dad’s favorite.

“Dad, can you please take me to the hair salon?” You asked sweetly with the smile you knew your dad couldn’t resist.

Without looking at his phone, he asked, “What did your mum say?”

“She said no, but-”

“Then, I won’t take you to the hair salon. Sorry.” He finally looked at you and gave you a sympathetic smile. Your jaw dropped and went to your room. You were majorly annoyed and pissed.

On the way up to your room, you saw Sam getting ready for work. You knocked on his door and he looked at you whilst fixing his hair. “What?” Sam asked.

“I just want to say that out of all my brothers, you’re my favorite.” You smiled and Sam did too.

“That’s really sweet, Y/N.” Sam smiled.

“You’re also my most handsome brother and obviously the best Holland brother. You’re the superior Holland.” You rambled, getting on his good side.

Sam gave you a look and fully turned to you with his arms crossed. “Okay, now you’re just chatting shit. What do you want?” He eyed you suspiciously.

“What do you me-”

“You’re saying shit because you want something from me. What do you want?” He asked with a raised eyebrow raised.

You sighed, “Can you take me to the hair salon?”

“No.” Sam shook his head. “But I’ll take all the compliments you told me.”He took his backpack and walked to his door. You immediately blocked the way and said, “You know, I take all of those back because you said no.”

“Oh, gee. I’m scared.” He said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

“Just take me there and then you can leave me!” You whined.

“You’re so annoying, I swear.” Sam shook his head. “Move, you little shit. I’m late for work!”

You moved out of the way with a big frown on your face as you watched Sam leave. You called out to him, “I HATE YOU, SAM!”

“Love you too! See you tonight, sea monkey!” He shouted and left.

You groaned and went to your room and slammed the door. You grabbed your phone and called Harry. He picked up in the first ring and before you could say anything, he asked, “If you’re going to ask me to take you to the hair salon, my answer is no. Listen to mum, for fuck’s sake.”

“How do you know about that?” You asked.

“Paddy and Sam.” Harry answered. “Don’t ask Tom as well because his answer will be ‘no’ and he’s out at the moment.”

“You know, for brothers, you guys suck!”

“And you swallow, bitch.” Harry said nonchalantly.

“Dickhead.”

“Calm the fuck down!” Harry laughed. “I’m hanging up now. I have shit to do.”

“Fine. Bye.” You said coldly. Despite not seeing him, you could feel him rolling his eyes at you as he said goodbye and hanging up.

“You know, you can just do it yourself.” A voice said out of the blue which made you jolt in surprise. You looked at your door and saw Paddy standing there, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

“Get the fuck out of my room.” You said to your little brother. He didn’t listen, though. He proceeded to go inside your room, closed the door behind him, and sat next to you on your bed.

“I’m here to claim my title as the best Holland.” Paddy said confidently.

“Calm down, you’re not Tessa.” You told him.

“I assure you that Tessa can’t help you with your hair problem. With my help, not only will I be the best Holland and best brother, your hair will be dyed just like you want it to be!” He exclaimed excitedly.

“Why do you want those titles so bad?” You squinted at him.

He shrugged, “Bragging rights. If they ask me why, I can say it’s because I helped you ‘achieve your hair goal’ and that’s the best thing to happen, right?”

“I guess so.” You said slowly, falling into his trap.

“Our older brothers aren’t the boss of you, you know.” Paddy added.

“Fine.” You said and looked at him. “What do you suggest?”

Paddy grinned, “I won’t fail you with my idea, sis.”

“Just tell me!” You pleaded.

“I heard that Melanie Martinez colored her hair without telling anyone. So she just went to the hair salon and dyed one half of her hair. She walked in the house with her real hair color facing everyone and she turned to everyone only to reveal that half of her hair was dyed.” Paddy explained.

“And what’s your point? That I should dye half of my hair?” You furrowed your eyebrows.

“You’re so slow sometimes.” Paddy said. “I’m saying, you should just go out and dye your hair. You’ve been saving up, haven’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“So just go for it! Mum might kill you herself, but what’ll she do? Dye your hair like its natural color?” Paddy snickered.

“I mean… she might.”

“She won’t and I know that because she doesn’t waste money.” Paddy said and it was true. “Now what are you still doing here? Go out there and dye your hair blonde!”

You smiled at him and grabbed your jacket, phone, and wallet. With that, you’re out the door.

You arrived at your favorite hair salon and immediately told them what you wanted for your hair. Thankfully, there were only two other customers so they sat you down and quickly tended to your hair.

Unbeknownst to you, Tom was in the same area. He had a few weeks off and it was only his first week. He decided that it’d be a great idea to walk around town and relax. He walked out of Lacoste with one paper bag and his phone on the other. He called Harry as he walked around more.

“So, where are you? The thing you bought online just came and I want to open it.” Harry said on the other line.

Tom looked at the place behind him and said, “I’m in front of a hair salon at the moment.”

He looked through the glass and his eyes widened when he saw your hair which was practically white at this point because of the bleach.

“Oh my god, Harry.” Tom said in horror.

“What?” Harry said.

“I’m not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I think Y/N’s in the salon getting her hair dyed.”

“WHAT?!” Harry shrieked. “Mum’s going to kill her.”

“Not if I do it first on behalf of mum.” Tom said. “I’m going in there.”

“Yeah, you should. I bet you look like a creep just standing outside a hair salon. Can you imagine the headlines? ‘Spider-Man star, Tom Holland, found peeping at a hair salon’. That looks weird.” Harry said, laughing.

“Yeah, shut up. I’ll be home soon. Bye.” Tom said and hung up. He opened his phone’s camera and took a video. “Guess who I found.” He said as he filmed his way to you. The camera was facing you and you were too busy texting your group chat updates about your hair.

“I found Y/N!!” Tom said loudly, earning weird looks from people. You looked up with your eyes wide and you quickly turned to Tom.

“Tom?!” You panicked. He laughed and ended the video. He put his phone in his pocket and said, “Surprise, motherfucker.”

“You slumped in your seat and covered your face, “Oh my god.”

“You’re so grounded.” Tom cackled.

“Mum said I can color my hair when I’m 20 and I turned 20 already! It’s only fair for her to keep her word.” You huffed. Just then, the hairdresser called you to rinse your hair. You got up from your seat and walked to the area where your hair will be washed as Tom decided to sit in the waiting area.

An hour and a half later, you were finished and already paying. Tom looked up from the magazine he was reading and his jaw dropped. You were now blonde.

“Oh my days.” Tom said. “C’mon, I’ll drive you home.” He got up and walked out of the hair salon with you trailing behind, happy as ever.

Tom parked his car a little far away to enjoy his walk, so when you got in his car you were already tired.

“My sister’s fucking blonde.” Tom said as he started the car. “I mean, it looks good on you, but oh my god mum’s going to skin you alive.”

“Thank you.” You said with a smile.

Tom glanced at you with a weird expression before driving, “I just said she was going to skin you alive.”

“Yes, but you also said that it looks good on me. So, thank you.” You said playfully. “At least I’ll die with my dream hair color.”

“I’m disowning you as my sister. From now on, you’re Harrison’s sister.” Tom said.

“Meh, he’s cool anyway. I don’t mind.” You shrugged and unlocked your phone.

Tom was gobsmacked with your response, “Are you saying that I’m not cool?!”

You smirked, “You said that, not me.”

“You’re so un-fucking-believable.”

“I fucking know right.” You mocked.

In a few minutes, you arrive at home. As soon as Tom parked the car, you took a mandatory car selfie with your new hair color. Tom looked at you and rolled his eyes before getting out of the car. You followed after at least taking 10 selfies.

He went inside first and you followed and closed the door behind you. He stood in front of you, completely shielding you from your parents.

“‘Tom! What a surprise, love.” Nikki said happily as she gave your older brother a hug. Tom hugged back and pulled away after a while.

“Look who I found today.” Tom grinned and stepped aside for your mum to see you. “Your beloved daughter is now blonde.”

“Oh my god, Y/N!!” Nikki screamed.

You made a face as if saying ‘yikes’ and said, “Hi mum.”

“What’ve you done?” Nikki asked with her eyes wide in shock as she touched your new blonde locks. “Oh my god.”

Dom walked in with Paddy and both of them had different looks on their faces. Dom was just as surprised as your mum and Paddy had a proud look on his face because he helped you.

“I’m surprised that you went with that color, but it looks good, love.” Dom said and nodded in approval. “I like it.”

“Thanks, dad.” You smiled and looked at your mum. She nodded and said, “I mean, the more I look at it, the more I’m getting used to it.”

“Do you like it?” You asked.

She was silent for a while and everyone was waiting for Nikki to say anything. After a minute, Nikki said, “It looks good on you, sweetheart.” She smiled genuinely.

“Thank you.” You smiled and you glanced at Paddy who had a smirk on his face and gave you a thumbs up. Everyone went back to their business and Tom went home shortly after that. Paddy pulled you aside and said, “I believe a payment is due.”

You furrowed your eyebrows, “Payment? I didn’t agree on paying you.”

“My help doesn’t come for free, you know.” Paddy said. “You should know that by now.”

“No wonder our brothers don’t like you getting involved with their shit.” You shook your head.

“Yup.” He said, popping the ‘p’. “I’ll get your desserts for two months.”

“What? No! I love Sam’s desserts.” You exclaimed.

“Fine. One month.”

“Three weeks or nothing at all.” You said. “Deal?”

“Deal.”

* * * *

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃!𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @blueleatherbag @thatforgottenangel

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @holland-styles @trustfundparker @calltothewild @holland-parkers @hufflepuffprincess24

#holland!reader #tom holland #harry holland #sam holland #paddy holland #tom holland x holland!reader #tom holland one shots #in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh

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tkc-info · 2 years

Text

~Storytime~

I'll probably regret later but whatever I'm happy and feel like airing the dirty laundry. This is how TKC was born.

The Characters

I've written/thought of two different stories before coming up with tkc, which I consider my masterpiece because it's the only thing I managed to actually write. The first story came to absolutely nothing (though I can tell that the plot centred around a girl who travelled to Mercury to put an end to a war between two warring nemesis-kingdoms --I was 10 don't judge me). However the second story, let's call it wotf, planned during 8th/9th grade, was a little bit more useful. It actually helped create the basis for tkc.

For once, many characters were based off those on that first story:

Cal

She's my oldest OC, though her name has been changed because I can't remember her first name. I like Coraline/Cal better, anyways. Originally, she had the power of seeing the future (fun fact: I based doppelgängers off Naruto).

From the very beginning, Cal's been my twin. Not physically-wise because I'm not British, a redhead, nor that pretty. But our personalities are pretty similar; because, not to 'be like other girls' I have yet to read about a character I can empathize with on a behavioural level.

Oliver

He's been Cal's best friend from the get go. He's honestly remained pretty constant wotf vs TKC. His bisexuality, his coloured hair, his aesthetic, even his insignia (which wasn't called insignia at the time but whatever).

Wotf! Oliver was in the closet, had a different love interest --which I'll talk about later because damn-- and revealed his powers to Cal by possessing a random old lady in a park. He literally woke up one day and decided to tell wotf! Cal of his powers, don't ask me why, I don't remember.

Caleb

Oh, boy.

Caleb was, and in a way still is, the Badboy With The Dark Past™ of 14yo CK's dream. And, I mean, he looks like one: he's white, very pale skinned, has dark hair, and is gorgeous. There's a hundred other guys like him.

When I first created him original work-wise, I had no idea what his Dark Past™ was. Now I do, and let me tell you: I'm a bitch.

I will also say that he was, as Badboy With The Dark Past™ usually is, straight. The straightest straight to ever straight, which is funny.

Wotf! Caleb and Cal were endgame. 'Cal' saw the future one day and fell in love with him. From the very small draft I wrote, I don't think they ever even met?

Hunter

Allow me to laugh.

So, the Haos have changed the most. For once, wotf! Hunter was gay and Oliver's love interest. What prompted me to heterosexual Hunter like I queered Caleb? I honestly have no idea. At all. I think I just forgot, saw the potential he and Cal could have, and one night randomly remembered wotf! Hunter's homosexuality.

For real, though, Hunter has changed A LOT. I personally find him much better, because he's personality is more defined, and I just like how I reshaped his character into this elegant, kind-hearted, strong, power-seeking dude who has an idol crush on his crush's mother.

Fun fact: Morgan and him here twins in wotf. I have no idea how I came to the conclusion that he was three years younger than her.

--------------------

I feel like I need a section solely for Morgan. Where to begin.

She's also a character from Original Work, and let me tell you, she's *unrecognisable*.

Wotf! Morgan was:

Straight (17yo CK's writing became way gayer lol)

Girly in a conventional dress, I don't think I ever imagined her in anything that wasn't a dress

Had long hair a lo diva

Was the Asian lovechild of Sharpay and the basic mean girls from Disney Channel movies

A bitch, she just had an odious personality wotf! Hunter for some reason followed

How did Morgan Hao from tkc evolve from *gestures vaguely* that? Well, you have tsc and particularly gotsm to thank for that.

Current Morgan started as my personal interpretation of, as strange as it may sound, Mina Carstairs. I know, I know, we have virtually no information whatsoever because Mina is a toddler/baby, but I one day got thinking about how Mina could be.

So Mina became a tattooed punk motorbiker, yep. However, I will say that Morgan's favourite weapon being the staff/spear was influenced by Jem's silent brother staff.

I want to make clear that Mina was as much of a basis for Morgan as Plato's first material (?) is the basis for the establishment of reality: you can't see it.

Although that raise the question as to what other characters were created with the 'basis' of a tsc one. From weirder to 'meh okay':

Levi

No brainer, really. I took a look at Charles Fairchild and went: honey I'm going to fix you. I made him attracted to men his age, a great older brother (at lodgb we learn why), and a politician who first of all cares about his mother and would rather not become The Leader when she's the one with the position.

Also, while I was developing him away from his 'character base' I somehow had to come to the conclusion that he had very bad luck in love. Why? Spoilers spoilers.

Beatrice

Will anyone believe me if I say Barbara Lightwood? Their personalities are wholly different, Barbara ofc does not have literal horns and stuff. But two years ago I had this mind-fic-for-when-I-want-to-sleeo where Barbara somehow became immortal and then lived until the 21st century. And at the time her personality would be Beatrice's.

Also, Beatrice was created during an economy lesson lol

Elizabeth (the middle child among the Proudhons)

She started as my personal OC for sizzy's daughter. Don't ask me why and strangely her love for music has nothing to do with Simon's band.

Charlie

... Clace's daughter who I one day decided to make gender fluid? Charlie's a redhead with golden eyes for a reason, but her personality was created in the context of tkc

Leora

Now, this is very weird, but Sophie's long-lost twin. So not to mess with mental images of her character, but she's always looked like a non-scarred, gentlemanly version of Sophie to me.

Dahlia

And if Leora is Sophie's long-lost twin, then Dahlia has to be Sophie. Well, no. She only looks like Sophie because there was literally nothing else I took inspiration from aside from looks. Dahlia is Dahlia and Dahlia is unique.

Linette

You know which character in tid is also called Linette? So, while she wasn't inspired in Will's mother, that's a fun fact. Looks-wise, imagine a butch-but-not-really Ella Herondale.

Cyril

Will, but only because of his general looks (white, black hair, and blue eyes). Aside from that, Cyril and Will are hella different.

Violet

Cecily. Same as Will's case although her fiancé is nothing like Gabriel, for once he's French.

--------------------

Having stated the characters I based off a very liberal interpretation of tsc characters, let's move on to the main ones I came up with on my own, and little anecdotes about the time I mentally birthed them.

Dario/Areusa/the Carranzas in general

Primero de bachillerato's Spanish literature class, regardless of me having got a 10 in every exam. Basically, picture a fed up CK studying medieval literature and coming face to face with this:

La Celestina, the cheap version of Romeo and Juliet of Spanish literature actually it's older than Romeo and Juliet but whatever. Last-year me cursed this book 24/7, but have you seen the author's name? That's where I got the 'de Rojas' surname from. Basically Dario and later on his family were born because I thought the name of the bloke who wrote La Celestina pretty.

That's not everything.

La Celestina has prostitutes :) No, but for real, I created Areusa because:

It took me two days to learn her name, and as pay back for that I created a character with her name

I think it's pretty obvious that Saz like odd names

Dario needed a mother but not a father

After I created Areusa, I moved on to Elicia, her older sister who's named after the other prostitute of the book. Aside from that, Areusa's other sisters are named after characters from Lope de Vega's (one of the main authors of the 16-17th century; I kinda dream of going to his tomb because he wrote about feminism 400 years ago) La Dama Boba: Nise and Finea.

(In-universe I justify this by saying that their mother liked theatre from those times)

Aside from that, Leonila's --the Carranzas's matriarch-- name comes from another book character. This time from The Monk, which I read last summer.

Moving on because this is getting long: why are the Carranzas only women with the exception of Dario? You have my classroom to blame for that.

We are all women but one (1) guy who sits at the back of the classroom, in a corner hidden by the door who tends to say little to nothing. I just like that arrangement, so that's what I wanted the Carranzas to be.

Fun fact: the RAE (our dictionary/the dudes who control Spanish in Spain) says there are two gender in the Spanish language, which everyone calls the masculine pronoun and the feminine pronoun, but are actually the gender neutral pronoun and the feminine pronoun. In the Carranza family, it's the other way round.

Diana

I swear I don't know what led me to her creation. Diana was just a character that I felt I had to create. No explanation.

Selvar

He originally was the ghost of John lol. Not anymore.

Madeleine

Two summers ago I had a strong Victorian era phase I'm still somewhat in but not to the same degree. Madeleine was my way to make that Victorian obsession be used for something. I literally picked the fashion I liked the most and said: voilà.

The Woolahams/19th cenqueery gang

However I was not going to romanticise the Victorian era, because *no*. That's how the Woolahams were created (and later on, the Kirkhams). Of course there is variety within the 19th century characters that will be explored further in Sydney/Aaron's books: Marcus couldn't really be blamed for his bigoted views because he was seven and eventually came around, Madeleine's sisters went through deep shit for being women, the 19th cenqueery gang is me trying to represent how non-heterosexual/cisgender people survived (also it's funny that Marcus, a cishet men is there but hey), and Gaylord and his father and Mr Kirkham were simply monsters.

Atalanta

You know, I used to be obsessed with anime as a little girl. In a way, Atalanta's design is the oldest, because albino girls like Shiro from Deadman Wonderland are fucking cool. Then when I was in my Victorian era, I basically decided to make her a juxtaposition of albino anime girls and a Victorian lady.

However, Atalanta's albinism isn't glorified/fetishized/I think you get what I'm talking about --at least I think so. I actually did research on albinism, and what effects it would have on Atalanta. We'll see more of that when I get to writing her pov.

The Spawn

Genderbend this motherfucker and add in a few stitches:

It's a complete coincidence that this is evocative of a scene from the stolen child lol

Also, just because 12-13 yo me used to be aesthetically obsessed with this dude doesn't mean that I'm going to romanticise the Spawn. Listen up, villains are villains here. The Spawn has her reasons, but in no way do they justify everything she's done, nor the actions that will come as a result of the ending of the stolen child yes I'm talking about lodgb's ending

--------------------

Then there are other characters I made on the go, for no particular reason. Fumiko just happened. I originally was only going to have the Khosravis mentioned until I realised there was potential in their family dynamic. I made Sekros simply because I wanted a cishet man who defied gender norms. Yrah didn't exist until I saw a picture on Pinterest which screamed 'Yrah'. I can't even remember when/why I created Yitian, I only know that I love him.

Furthermore, many characters have undergone a lot of change. Charlie was originally a cis girl, then a trans girl, and I only realised she was gender fluid a few months ago (and that will remain like that because I already have her character arch). Sohrah being heterosexual/biromantic was not the original plan. The mystery of Dario's father was going to be *only* a mystery, now it's an important plot point for the future. Arash's gf was like an unplanned pregnancy which ended in a beautiful baby because quite honestly I love her and she makes so much sense.

Saz: Worldbuilding pt1

Before I mentioned wotf, and while that did give me a vague idea of what I wanted tk to be like, it really didn't give me much of an idea aside from the fact that I wanted super powers, and I didn't want to call them super powers, but something original.

Shall I talk about how the insignias/different Saz cane to be?

Puppeteer

The oldest insignia of all, and probably something very mainstream but I daresay I don't care.

However I will say I called them puppeteers because I imagine people are like puppets to them; they have strings they can only see and pull. At least, that was the original idea.

Doppelgänger

Okay, really: Naruto with a platonic twist and a dash of Jungian psychologist.

I'll explain.

Naruto can create illusions of himself, right? Well, I decided to make those illusions into one and make them solid. That's where Plato's philosophy comes in, more particularly his anthropology.

Plato believed the human was divided in two, the body and the soul. The body was, well, the body (subjected to illnesses, had to eat, sleep, take a shit every now and then, etc) while the soul was like a mini god; it didn't need to eat, sleep, nor was subjected to bodily needs aside from stuff like lust --like an animex in tkc.

I did not want to call this 'souls' souls, so I recurred to Jungian archetypes and practically butchered them. The terms anima (sort of like a female soul) and animus (sort of like a male soul) come from there, but they're gendered terms, so I needed to create a gender neutral term --I chose animex-- and then a plural form --and I chose animi, which I think it actually exists.

The idea of cryogenisation came later, to make a certain part of the stolen child make sense. I'm really happy with it ngl.

Conductor

Guess who had a crush on Nico di Angelo in sixth and seventh grade?

When I was making the insignias, I never once thought about Nico but his power probably was some indirect influence along with me eerie interest in necromancy stuff. In any case, apparitions are different than plain ghosts, since they're, let's say, the 'recordings of someone'.

I have never had the opportunity to mention this, but I've dwelled a lot on what it would mean to have a society where the conductor insignia existed. Thanks to those dwellings, I've come to the conclusion that Saz have a whole legal system around insignias. Allow me to explain.

Saz have an apparition-will aside from their normal will in which they state whether they want their apparition to be used, or not; and in case they do want to have their apparition be used, what they want it to be employed in. Apparitions don't retain any of the emotions of the person they once were, nor do they have a conscience, but still consent, right?

Obviously only Saz would be able to opt for this apparition-will but whatever.

Moving on, the name conductor came as a result of me thinking I want apparitions to make sounds and who's the guy who controls sound in an orchestra? The conductor.

Mirage

Ah, another prime example of one of my childhood fictional crushes (actually I don't know if this was a crush but we'll say it was for the continuity's sake). I present you Phoenix Ikki:

*Gorgeous*

Okay, so this guy was from the anime that marked my childhood, and I thought he was super cool. Long story short: he had a super move in which he touched someone with his finger to destroy their brain by making them relive their worst moments (five year old me seriously loved this). And that's kinda what mirages do?

Their powers certainly don't center around making someone live horrible moments of their lives, but still they can create those illusions along with others pertaining other senses. In my opinion, they're kinda cool.

Coming up with their name, however, was a pain in the ass lol. I spent way too long.

Historian

Remember when I said wotf! Cal could see the future? Historians were basically born out of me taking that original power and saying, "yeah how about we go the exact opposite way?"

Yep.

In any case, the historian insignia is kinda really complex time loops aside. Because reading the past isn't the same as understanding it, and the past needs to be understood. That's why, coming into my dwellings of the historian insignia (and this is a fun fact), I realised that they needed to be instructed in many languages, and they're hardcore of the copy-while-listen method in that weird writing that shows the pronunciation for every language. You know the one.

Wraith

Can I be honest? I don't know what made me think of the wraith insignia at all. I think I once saw a film in which a guy could portal places, liked it, and that idea stuck around in my memory enough to influence the creation of tkc.

I'm glad, because I can't think of any other insignia Morgan could've had, and I really like Morgan lol.

Imlium

Yes, this name was a keyboard smash but I think it looks kinda cool.

Imlia are shapeshifters turned into some kind of non-human creatures, because I really wanted to stress the fact that they willingly choose to look humanoid; there are imlia who look like fucking chairs and they're still imlia. Who knows, maybe Sohrab's aunt is an umbrella who lives in the Maldives.

As for why they were created, they are very useful plot-wise for *reasons* but really I just wanted to have characters who could turn their arms into swords, and then that idea evolved into what imlia are.

Symbiotic relationship

Well, well, well, what a surprise something that was influenced by tsc. Although, in my defense parabatai weren't the only difference. Story time!

I'm studying social sciences at school, so I don't take biology anymore (thank god), but I can vividly remember the lessons we took on symbiotic relationships. Basically, two creatures coexisting together, sometimes because their life depended on it (us humans are technically in a symbiotic relationship with worm-y things in our stomachs). For a while, the idea of symbiosis were something I liked, but wasn't story-worth.

Until I saw this movie

Played this video game

Played this other video game

And read about heronstairs and thought,

*interesting*

Symbiosis looking like they do is also a mix of the way venom looks, and the way the main from the video game I showed look (it makes sense if you play it).

--------------------

FAQ that CK has asked herself while creating tkc: Worldbuilding pt2

Why do Saz speak all the same language irrespective of whether they are from very different places?

Short answer: they have portals.

Seriously, distance technically isn't much of a problem when there is a way to connect them, and portals can make distance disappear. And Saz have had portals for millennia (that same unity was why I needed them to have portals lol).

Why has Sazla not evolved into different languages?

That is due to portals, as well. The fact that they have a centralised government a big sense of 'Saz-ness' also helps.

Why do Saz know so many languages?

They need to interact with humans.

Aboveground and Mirror have been interconnected for a long time, and since Sazla is a secret to humans, Saz need to learn human languages so that they know what to do Aboveground. Besides, using Sazla is mostly forbidden Aboveground.

That, however, doesn't mean that all Saz are fluent in their human native language. One of Oliver's cousin, for example, was held back a year because he failed English in his Spanish school. He knew how to speak English, though he hadn't interacted enough with the language to be able to write it properly.

Okay, but why do Saz speak so many dead languages?

Historians.

Dead languages never died because historians never stopped glimpsing into the future, ergo stuff like Latin, Ancient Greek or Ancient Chinese are still used (fun fact: Atalanta studies Ancient Greek and Ancient Chinese at school).

To the historian factor you need to add the fact that some doppelgängers have been around long enough to have those dead languages be their first language. The main example I can give is the Carranzas: Leonila's first language is Ancient Arabic because she was born in Al-Andalus, therefore she's raised her descendants into the language.

Why is Mirror underground? Why is it so large?

You know Journey to the Centre of the Earth? Yeah, I read the Geronimo Stilton version when I was little and the idea of a world underground being cool stuck.

As for Mirror's size, well, representation stuff. I just wanted The Kinship to be something all of the world was in on.

Why does The Kinship's government work so well?

I may be wrong since I know little to nothing about politics, but the fact that sentinels exist helps a lot.

The Boule is not a corrupt government. At all. And that's because there's an unmovable (up to a point) force that stops them from being corrupt, since they know the sentinels will go for them if they commit a crime. When people know they will face consequences for their actions, the think things twice.

Aside from that, not being corrupt is yet another thing that makes them better than humans, so there's this huge stigma around corruption.

How could Saz stay so open-minded?

They've never been influenced by the factors that led to human bigotry Aboveground.

Race-wise, there has never been a difference, in the sense that there was never conflicts between people who looked different (see, Persians and Greeks, or Moors and Christians). Furthermore, Saz have automatons, which means they've never had people doing 'lower jobs'.

As for sexism, queerphobia, etc, they've never been influenced by things like religion (*looks at Thomas of Aquina with the utmost hate*) and, again, what Saz looked for in a person was whether they could use their insignia correctly (for example).

Are Saz really this super great people when it comes to anti-bigotry (?)?

Nope.

A (long) while ago I saw a tiktok complaining about these queer people in the West who make fun of being illegal in a bunch of countries (Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc) because there were other queer people in those countries whose rights were being violated. That sums up the ugly part of Mirror.

(Some) Saz don't care that there are people who are suffering by unfair laws Aboveground, they care that they are better because they want to show their superiority off. They are fine, so fuck the rest.

By the way, this applies to literally every Saz. Irrespective of sexual orientation, gender, etc they can fall to this rhetoric.

How can The Kinship not have been at war in all its history (I think that sentence isn't grammatically correct)?

The Boule is a centralist government whose main concern is maintaining The Kinship together, and they know that to achieve that goal they need to make everyone happy.

Everyone happy = no revolution = no war.

Saz military training, in any case, helps them defend other Saz when a human conflict breaks out.

What the fuck does it mean that Saz don't have a culture?

I was drunk off philosophy when I wrote that.

There's this question (?) about a tree falling without anyone seeing nor hearing it. Did the tree really fall? Did it really make any sound? Or, in other words: if there's no one but Saz who know of Saz culture, is it really a culture? Was culture really there before there were other customs that presented a different belief system/way of life?

Why do they dress like they lived in the past? Why are their cities like that, too?

I was going through a peculiar phase; I couldn't choose what time period I wanted to base tkc on, and I didn't want to give up modern technology so I shoved it all into the mixing pot, and tachán.

Why do Saz need to hide from humans?

The consequences could be disastrous, and the Boule has always been scared of what would happen to The Kinship's peace if humans, who are constantly fighting over political hegemony, would react to them. Quantitatively, there are way more humans than Saz, and while Saz are strong as fuck because they have Morgan, there are still a lot of Saz that are defenceless. I'm pretty sure that humans would try to see Mirror as yet another country to rile into their conflictive politics. Plus, scientists would try to dissect Saz or something.

In all seriousness, though:

Tkc is set in 2020, can you imagine Trump reacting to The Kinship?

#ik I should be finishing lodgb #I *will* after the exams are over I swear no one wants that story to be over more than me #so have faith in me #might delete later lol

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ayoalex · 3 years

Text

No one asked but head canon that I have for some of the characters that shouldn't be a thing and I hope it never becomes canon.

Ruby:

- She's just a lamp at this point, it's good for practice tho

- Absolutely tried to adopted a Beowolf at one point in V4/V5 until Qrow made her stop.

- She can cook... Kinda she just know the basics. The only thing she knows to bake is cookies, like that's it.

- She listen to rock but her favorite band is One Direction.

- She may have cut herself way to many times while cleaning or maintaining Crescent Rose, she's still sad she didn't even got a cool scar put of it because of her aura.

- She once tried to cut her own hair in V4 and then gave up and just decided to wait till some actual decent hairdresser could do it for her.

- She doesn't know how to pronounce correctly some stuffs so she just call them "thingy"

- Tried to dyed her hair all red like Gerard Way... Yang didn't let her touch any hair products for 5y.

Weiss:

- Doesn't know how to drive a bicycle and at this point of her life she's just afraid of asking.

- "I don't cook, I don't clean"

- Later Yang taught her how to clean, so at least the dorm isn't as much of a disaster.

- "Yes I have a scar in my eye, no I'm not blind"

- The only fiction book she actually read was Sailor Moon manga and that's why she uses combat skirts.

- Her favorite character is Sailor Venus

- Ruby once showed her the anime and she just cried, cuz "goddamit there's way to many episodes Ruby".

- She fights everyone just for shit and giggles, she just enjoy the drama.

- She knows how to play the kazoo for some strange reason.

Blake:

- She will never tell anyone but she onced read an hentai by accident at the age of 12 and since then she has a phobia of tentacles.

- Is a bad influence... Specially to Ruby.

- She once skipped an entire day of classes because she was sleepy, Weiss was really mad at her.

- "Men, I wish I had the money to buy that" Proceeds to hack the system so the company sends her shit for free

- Yang has to tell her she can't just continue doing illegal shits now that's she's at school and out of the White Fang.

- Sometimes she just look directly at Weiss eyes and just break some shits to make her upset.

- "Blake, isn't your abdomen too exposed on battle?" "I want them to know I'm hotter than them Illia"

- "High boots? Check. Skinny pants? Check. Fat ass? Check. Ok I'm ready to fuck shit up"

Yang:

- She loves every type of music but she only knows how to twerk with classic music.

- Knows every word of "Bet on it".

- Used to watch Turtle Ninjas and Michelangelo is her favorite.

- The hot lesbian weeb, geek, nerd and jock everyone loves.

- For some reason she knows ton shit of History and Philosophy.

- She once made an essay about High School Musical named "Sharpay Evans was the real victim."

- She is a fanatic of car/bike video games like Need for Speed, etc

- Absolutely loves GTA and she used to play with Velvet and Blake all the time in Beacon

- She and Nora once went outside on a stormy day to see if by Nora activating her semblance she could electrocuted Yang so she could activate her own semblance... It strangely worked.

- She can't really cook but she's an amazing baker... Tho she only bakes on Ruby's birthday

- She has a whole archives of blueprint of some motors, cars, bikes, weapons, etc.

- Yang and Blake just used to go to clubs or bars to bet money on some dudes in pool and blackjack knowing damn well Blake was an expert on both.

- Yang knows different instruments, her favorite song to play is the Wii Sports song

Jaune:

- He loves romantic movies, The Notebook always makes him cry

- He learned to play guitar to impress girls to make him look like a tough guy, now he just play acoustic covers of Britney Spears discography.

- Circus is a personal favorite of him.

- He knows how to dance, used to do ballet with his sisters and once a boyfriend of one of his sisters taught him hiphop

- Has a teddy bear that he brings everywhere with him.

Nora:

- Fav food is pancakes but she absolutely loves eating pizza

- She always gives strange ideas to Yang since she knows Yang is a closet nerd and geek.

- She saw Pokemon once and since then have tried to imitate Pikachu attacks.

- Power Ranger is her shit.

- Hot girl shit

- If Ruby is a lamp, then she's a charger.

Ren:

- He did tried to dyed his hair pink but didn't like the result so decided for just a part of his hair pink.

- Everyone things he's the normal one of the group until you listen to him in a deep discussion with Weiss about Sailor Moon.

- Him and Blake casually bond once because of tea and now they just recommend each other new teas they have tried.

- He absolutely loves cartoons, Samurai Jack is one of his fav.

- The emo kid that is also a sunshine.

Oscar:

- "I cook and I clean"

- He just think Yang is cool and it doesn't matter how much Weiss tries to make him stop thinking that Ruby just tells some cool story about Yang.

- "Sir, they are my found family, can you please take me back to them?"

- Loves talking with Blake, she's always giving him books recommendations and she's one of the few that don't strictly treat him like a kid.

- He tried playing video games with Ruby... Let just say he prefers spending time with Ren now.

- Knows every word of Short King Anthem, he sings the chorus while Weiss and Nora rap the other 2 verses.

- He watch Love Island religiously and even has the game in his scroll.

Bonus:

- Sun made a GC with only Illia and Yang on it so they could talk about Blake but he forgot they don't have international communications anymore.

- Coco and Yang and Blake used to go to the same gay bar.

- Summer used to curse when playing video games with Qrow and one day Ruby heard her. Since Ruby could barely talk she didn't cared until at dinner Ruby said "Fuck" In her tiny baby voice and that's the first word Ruby said... Also Qrow was banned of playing video games with the girls in the same room because Summer blamed him.

- Phyrra was a musical fanatic that she and Yang just watched a musical every Sunday.

#rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #jaune arc #phyrra nikos #nora valkyrie #lie ren #oscar pine #summer rose #qrow branwen #sun wukong #illia amitola

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purple-phantoms · 3 years

Note

Hi lovely!

Can you please do a Nick imagine where the reader is a really shy piano player with anxiety? Like maybe she has to perform in front of the class and after she’s done she runs out crying?

Thanks bb!

The Pianist

Nick x Female!Reader

Thank you so much for requesting this! I totally love this idea and I think it’s so cute. I’ve experienced that kind of anxiety before when singing in front of people I’ve just met and it just sucks. I tried including a bit of that in this, so I hope it worked out well! Again, I’m writing this on the mobile version of tumblr so this will not be properly edited for a little bit. Enjoy!

Masterlist

Being in the music program was hard. You’d think that all you have to do is to just create music. That part is just fine for her. But then you have to perform it in front of your class or sometimes in front of an audience. Performing in front of one or two people that I know isn’t bad, but when when it’s a big group of people, it just gets bad.

She was an outcast in school and didn’t mind. She had a few friends here and there, but nothing to big. Never anything to draw attention to herself. She never had the courage to talk to people like Julie Molina or Carrie Wilson. They were always the ones to volunteer to go first on days where they had to present their work to the class. Julie was always nice to her. She sometimes tried to bring y/n out of her shell. She’d invite her to eat lunch with her and her best friend, Flynn, sometimes but she always declined the offer. Carrie was like Chris Hargensen (from the movie Carrie)... except she wasn’t that aggressive. Carrie loved making fun of her in class by saying things like, “are you going to talk today, y/n?” she just wished you were more sociable like Julie. In theory, it would be so amazing to be a part of Dirty Candy. Even if you hated Carrie, there was no denying that their music slaps. But she would never be able to perform with all those people staring at her, so instead she just opted for teaching herself their choreography in the safe space of her bedroom. That way she wouldn’t have to experience the stares of her peers.

Today was Wednesday, a.k.a., the day her parents were always a little bit late for picking her up. she preferred staying away from the crowds of students who were also waiting on their parents. Dirty Candy always practiced right after school on Wednesday’s in the dance studio. Their practices were closed to everyone but Nick, the guy Carrie said was off-limits to anyone but her. They weren’t dating, but everyone expected them to be like if Sharpay and Troy dated. Nick was the cool guy who everybody liked. He was the star of the lacrosse team and an amazing guitarist. Carrie, on the other hand, was the girl most people feared. You’d never see her wearing an outfit in a dark color or without her backup dancers. Anyway, back to business. The door to the dance studio was always locked, but there was a tiny glass frame in it where you could easily use your phone to record their routine. They were dancing to their new song, Wow. It was her favorite so far. Well, she says that about all their songs.

They finished and paused for a couple seconds to catch their breath. She ended the video and started walking away, only to bump into another person, making her drop her phone. She leaned down right away to avoid any sort of eye contact or conversation with that person, but they just had to speak, “sorry, y/n.” It was Nick.

She looked up at him in shock. “You-you know my name?” Barely anybody acknowledged her existence in the school.

“Of course I know you,” he chuckled. “You’re the girl in class with the killer vocal chords.” His smile was contagious. Wow, she now understood what Carrie saw in him.

“Um, thanks, Nick,” she muttered. Then her phone went off, her mom was finally in the parking lot. “I gotta go-“

“Hey, what song are you doing tomorrow?” Nick asked. Did he not hear her say that she had to go?

“Uh probably just something by Adele,” you smiled. “Sorry, my mom’s here to pick me up.” This was probably the fastest she’s ever speed-walked away from someone before. Talking to people is weird. If it had been any other guy, she wouldn’t have had to get into a conversation. Nick is great and sweet and cute and all of this is besides the point. Nick is a nice guy but she just wanted to pick up her phone and leave.

When watching someone play the piano and sing at the same time, it looks so effortless. Nobody takes into account what they’re really doing. Nobody considers how long they must have trained to learn all the right chords and memorize the ones that go with their song. Nobody considers how long it must have taken them to perfect their song, whether it be alone or with the help of anothe person. Nobody considers what goes on inside the person’s head. Nobody considers what they think of themselves as they play. Nobody notices that maybe that person wants to be invisible.

The next day was the day of class performances. Per usual, the teacher allowed volunteers to go first. Julie sang first, then Carrie, then Flynn and so on and so forth. It got to the point where everybody who wanted to perform had already performed, so her teacher started getting frustrated. “Guys, it’s just two minutes of spotlight.” Silence. “Y/n, how about yo give it a go?”

Her head shot up so quickly at that and just froze. The teacher knew about her situation and has let her perform just for her during lunch. It just made things easier. “Ms. Jacobs, can I just perform during lunch,” she asked timidly. Everybody was staring at her, expecting her to go so that the teacher wouldn’t call on someone else.

But Ms. Jacobs shook her head. “Sorry, y/n. You’ve got to get over that stagefright somehow.” But did it have to be now!? There was no way she could argue with her without causing a scene. Come on, y/n, don’t cry.

Within what felt like a lifetime, she stood up from the chair and lifted her feet, one by one, to walk over to the shiny black piano. It was brand-new, just bought buy the school that summer. It was sleek and clean, practically begging to be used to make music. The walk to the piano’s bench felt exhausting and slow. It was silent, you could easily hear a needle hit the ground as her classmates waited on her to play. But oh god, what note does she even start with? What’s the first line of the song?

“Ms. L/n,” her teacher called. “Any day now.” Y/n looked up-nope, big mistake. Why is everyone watching her so intently? Ba. Did she just press a note? She looked at Ms. Jacobs, who gave an encouraging smile in return. Okay, y/n. Just pretend nobody’s watching you. Pretend you’re just singing in your room.

Her fingers started playing as if it was the only thing they knew to do. They couldn’t stop. She couldn’t stop thinking.. Just get it done, y/n.

When will I see you again?

You left with no goodbye, not a single word was said.

No final kiss to seal anything.

I had no idea of the state we were in.

I know I have a fickle heart and a bitterness

And a wandering eye and heaviness in my head,

But don’t you remember?

Don’t you remember the reason you left me before?

Baby, please remember me once more.

Y/n closed her eyes and sighed as she finished. That wasn’t that bad.. Then the applause came and her perfect setting of playing the piano at home where nobody could hear her was gone and was filled with people. People who knew her were staring at her and applauding her. Performing in front of a random audience is one thing, because you have no idea who’s in the audience. You’ll never know (until afterwards at least) if your best friend happened to be in the crowd, or if one of the Kardashians were there. Plus, you’ll never have to worry about someone saying things about you when you’re right next to them because they don’t know you and you don’t know them. When you’re performing in front of your class, there are no rules. Anybody can think anything they want about your performance and nitpick it in their heads or out loud and that’s just how they’ll look at you. She was brought out of her thoughts by Ms. Jacobs talking to the class again, “see folks, this is what I’m talking about!” She looked like she had just met the queen of England. There’s no way she’s smiling like that after her performance. Was she really that good? This is too much.

Y/n managed to slip away from the classroom unnoticed as Ms. Jacobs kept talking. She couldn’t breathe. Oh god, why couldn’t Ms. Jacobs just let me perform at lunch? That was so bad. Does google offer tips to give yourself amnesia? Because she just wanted to forget about all of that mess- “Y/n?” Oh no, it’s Nick again. “What are you doing out here,” he asked.

“I just needed to catch my breath,” she muttered. Why is a cute guy paying attention to me like this?

“Wait, why are you crying, you were amazing,” he said. What? She wasn’t even crying. Oh, there we go... Why am I crying!?!

“I don’t know,” I sobbed. “I hate it when people are watching me.” She didn’t understand why the majority of her classmates could perform efortlessly and not even consider that they did badly later on. Why couldn’t she feel that way?

Nick put a soft hand on her shoulder. “But if nobody watched you, nobody would know how great you are,” he proclaimed. Woah, headrush. He thinks I’m great now? She nodded and smiled. Maybe he was right. “What if we work together next time,” He offered.

“But we don’t even know if the next project will be a group one,” she chuckled. People never wanted to work with her. They always thought that she’d never do the work because she couldn’t even bother to speak, or she’d just take over the entire project.

“Let me at least get your number,” he replied. He seemed genuine, there was going to be no foulplay in this, so she agreed to that and to him walking her home from school. And on the next project, they got to work together and y/n got through it wih his help. They did it together.

Taglist:

Add yourself to my taglist!

@flashoe @carnationcreation

#nick x reader #nick nolastname #nick jatp x reader #julie and the phantoms #julie molina #carrie wilson #jatp fanfic #purple-phantoms

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shuahoonie · 4 years

Text

everyday. [tom holland]

PAIRING: college!tom holland x female!reader

SUMMARY: somebody call disney because you and tom met in the cheesiest way possible. karaoke was involved. so was high school musical. you could say it’s pretty meta.

WARNINGS: swearing, i think? some alcohol. hella fluff yall. like sickly fluff.

WORD COUNT: 2639

SONG INSPO: everyday (from disney’s high school musical 2) - troy & gabriella

A/N: hiya babes! get ready for a long ass note! first off, with everything that’s happening around the world, i hope that you guys are safe and you’re taking good care of your health!! i’m sorry if i’ve been away for quite a while, i’m really trying to be better at this.

anyway, wrote this lil’ imagine for you guys since i can’t get this concept out of my head. i based it off on the tiktok that i saw and i just couldn’t help but write about it. i hope this piece provides a short distraction, something that we need from time to time. thanks and enjoy!

stay informed. stay safe. wash your hands, people!

(also, the next chapter for the “you” series is still under works and i’m not entirely sure when that’ll be up. hopefully by the end of this week!!)

gif credits: @loooo-lou

vanessa’s masterlist

“It’ll be fun, Y/N,” Your friend Kimmy said with a huge smile, dragging you to the student lounge located on the west side of the campus.

"You’re just saying that because you’re part of the organizing committee,” You mumbled as you tried to hold on to your binder full of this week’s readings.

You were basically camping in the library the whole day as you tried to conquer the list of things that you had to do for the whole week. You were already knee-deep with your readings just for that research paper from one of your psych classes alone so what more from the other classes right?

It was already a rough couple of days for you and you definitely needed this as a break-whatever this is. Kimmy was basically doing you a favour.

“Okay, but you like High School Musical that’s why you had to go.” She pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I enjoy it,” You stressed, “To say that I like it would be an exaggeration.”

“Bitch, please” Kimmy snorted as you two found an empty booth at the lounge. “You can practically quote the whole trilogy and you can sing the songs like ABC’s.”

You just glared at her and made yourself comfortable, “This better be worth it, Kim. I am losing sleep because of my research paper and I can’t spend my spare time doing other things.”

“Honey,” Kimmy gasped as she put both her hands on top of your shoulders “Are you even hearing yourself? You know you can take a break, right?! No, actually you have to take a break.”

You sighed and just succumbed in defeat as your friend clasped her hands in excitement. “This is going to be great, Y/N.” She said in glee. “The org’s providing dinner tonight so you don’t have to worry about that. Also, we have karaoke set up and you can win at least a £50 gift card if you scored like a 90 and above.”

“Wow, free dinner and a gift card?!"

“The org’s also serving alcohol if you really want to take an edge off,” Kimmy winked giving you a light nudge.

“Now, there’s alcohol? Why didn’t you lead with that, you bitch!” You gasped, jokingly.

Kimmy rolled her eyes, “Okay, I’ll get back to you later. I have to check with the others if the food’s ready.”

“Mkay,” You murmured as you pulled out your readings and took out your stack of sticky notes. “I mean, I think I can squeeze a bit of reading.”

You tried to do a bit of your reading but with how they set up the lighting at the lounge, it was nearly impossible. They dimmed the lights and set up a few red lights in the corners of the lounge, the red popping out and setting the tone for the whole event. Fairy lights were put out as well, giving enough light to see the decorations that they did.

It was High School Musical themed so you did expect a whole lot of red and white colours popping every now and then. Boy, you were definitely feeling the wildcat spirit.

Knowing well enough that you weren’t going to accomplish any of your research work, you made the decision to scroll on your phone. After spending a good few minutes scrolling on Instagram, you’ve decided to take a quick video to post on your Instagram story.

You posted the story with the caption saying: “high school musical karaoke night! @/kimmydelacruz thnx also u have to sing with me, i can’t possibly do it myself.”

Kimmy was in the kitchen when a pair of arms snuck its way and were wrapped around her waist, “Hi babe, you okay?”

“’m okay, love. Don’t worry,” Kimmy replied as she viewed her friend’s story, rolling her eyes in amusement. “Hey, Haz, did you manage to bring in more people?”

“Uh, not a lot. Tom and a couple of mates from my kinesiology class are here though,” Harrison settled his chin on the crook of Kimmy’s neck. “What’cha watching, babe?”

“Oh, it’s just Y/N’s story. She posted about our HSM-themed karaoke night and she wants me to sing with her, hoping that she can claim that gift card.” Kimmy replied as she continuously tapped on her phone, skipping a lot of stories from other people.

Harrison hummed, “Babe, you know we can’t participate right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You know, Tom really wants that gift card too, he wouldn’t stop saying how he would risk his reputation for that 50,” Harrison pointed out. “Tom’s gone mental, I’m telling ‘ya.”

Kimmy locked her phone and shoved it in the back pocket of her jeans. She turned to Harrison with a smirk playing on her face. “Haz, my love, has Tom ever met Y/N before?”

Harrison took a good look at his girlfriend, he knows that devious smile anywhere. “Babe, what are you planning?”

“You are the music in me,” A couple was on stage, trying their shot on the karaoke. The karaoke was now jumbling to flash the scores, the couple were both waiting in anticipation.

“A bloody 81?” The girl yelled, appalled. She was trying to pull a serious face but a laugh was threatening to come out. “I have harnessed my vocal cords for this and all I got was a bloody 81?”

The crowd couldn’t help but laugh at her comment. Their singing wasn’t bad, “maybe it was just the machine” as they said.

“Why don’t you give it a go, mate?” Harrison nudged Tom, who was taking a sip of his beer. Harrison dropped by to check up on his mates when he found Tom, who was sitting at one of the booths along with a couple of mates from class.

“Haz, mate, are you sure you want me to go up there?” Tom asked, laughing. “Might I remind you that you were the same person who practically begged me to not embarrass you in front of people.”

“Yeah, ’m starting to regret even saying a mere word,” Harrison muttered to himself. “But I know you're not one to turn down karaoke, let alone have the opportunity to get £50 along innit,” Harrison said, placing a hand on Tom’s shoulder.

“Alright, c’ mere, mate.” Harrison stood up and walked towards the karaoke machine. He punched a couple of numbers to a song and gave Tom the mic.

“Mate, you are making a big mistake.” Tom chuckled, happily grabbing the mic. As soon as Tom saw the song that was playing on the screen, he quickly pressed the ‘pause’ button and grabbed Harrison’s arm before he left the stage “Mate, hold on, this is a duet.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Oh, so you know, do ‘ya?” Tom mocked. “Well, come on, mate. I am not going to sing this alone, ‘cause ‘ya know, a duet means two people.” Tom laughed, doing an impression of Sharpay’s infamous line. Tom loves binging the High School Musical movies and he isn’t afraid to say that.

“Absolutely not, mate,” Harrison stressed, making Tom raise his brow. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, Tom, but there’s no way I’m singing tonight. Why did you think I volunteered to be part of the organizing committee?”

“Uh, because you couldn’t say no to Kim?” Tom countered.

“That and I’m not allowed to participate. Mate, if you want to win the gift card, you would have to find someone else to sing up here with you,” Haz explained.

Tom let out a sigh, “I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” Harrison pointed out jokingly.

“Alright, but who am I-” Before Tom even got the chance to finish his sentence, Harrison quickly left the stage. He looked over at the table where his friends were and asked, “Connor, mate, do you want to sing up here with me?”

Connor shook his head insanely fast. “Absolutely not, Tom. Have you forgotten that I am tone-deaf? I do not want to embarrass myself in front of people.”

Tom turned towards Brandon and he shook his head as well. “Mate, I only came here for the food and drinks, remember?”

“Great,” Tom muttered. He looked around the crowd, trying to figure out if he even wants to even push through this at all.

“You still doing okay, Y/N?” Harrison asked as soon as he approached you. You just saw Harrison walk off stage after he finished talking to some guy who was about to sing.

You gave him a nod as soon as you took a sip of the hard lemonade that they were serving at the bar. “Shouldn’t be drinking, but I really wanted one so...” You trailed off as you raised your cup at him. You wanted a drink but not something that would give you a headache after.

“Eh,” Harrison shrugged. “You deserve to relax from time to time. Heard from Kimmy that you’ve been stressing a lot on that research paper of yours.”

“Thanks,” you muttered. Harrison quickly excused himself, saying that Kimmy was looking for him, which you just dismissed him anyway.

You were scrolling on your phone when you heard someone clear their throat. “Sorry, but have you seen Harrison?”

You looked up and made contact with a gorgeous pair of brown eyes. He was the same guy who was on the stage not too long ago. You recognized him from the photos that Harrison posts on his Instagram.

One drunken night, you were sitting next to Kimmy as she mindlessly scrolled through her boyfriend’s photos on Instagram. You both came across the photo of Harrison and his friends, sitting at a luxe sofa, assuming that they were at an event. Harrison was sitting next to his friend who was wearing a white button-up shirt, his legs sprawled. This was the same night you admitted to your best friend, that you found Harrison’s friend cute.

Well, he looks cuter up close.

“Uh, yeah, he just left and said that he has to meet Kimmy. Think they’ll be back quick though, I practically begged Kimmy to sing with me on stage.” You explained.

He nodded understandingly. “You here for the 50 quid?” He asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

You gave him a sheepish smile, “Yeah, I’m in university and am broke. I’d do anything for that 50.”

“Oh, I hear ‘ya,” He laughed “However, I do remember Haz telling me that the organizers aren’t allowed to participate though.”

“You’re kidding,” You said in disbelief. This was news to you as you were really looking forward to singing up there and getting that prize money. Well, you were looking forward to singing with someone to get that prize money.

“I’m afraid not, darling.” He chuckled. “Trust me, I asked Harrison to sing with me as well.”

“Well, that’s a shame,” You muttered. Well, tonight could be worse. At least you had a free meal.

“Hold on, what would you say if we both get up there and sing?” He asked with a bright look on his face.

“Are you joking?” You asked, taken back with the idea that a stranger (sort of) is asking to sing with you.

“Absolutely not,” He insisted “It’s not like we have anything to lose-”

“Besides my dignity” You claimed.

“C’mon,” He laughed “If anything, we can only gain from this moment.”

“Which is?”

“That prize money,” He listed off using his fingers. “A night to remember,” He continued.

You nodded after every point until he said, “Maybe romance?” He suggested cheekily.

“Shut up,” You murmured shyly, feeling your cheeks burn. You took a minute before you grabbed your cup of hard lemonade and finished the rest of your drink. “Alright, loverboy, c’mon.”

You stood up and followed the stranger to the karaoke machine. You couldn’t believe it, you’re actually singing with someone you don’t know.

He handed you a spare mic before he pressed the ‘play’ button and not long after, you heard the intro to the song that brought you nostalgia.

“Once in a lifetime, means there’s no second chance

So I believe that you and me, should grab it while we can,” He was looking at the screen to guide himself with the lyrics and started singing, surprising you that he had a wonderful voice.

He was becoming more and more attractive to you and you didn’t even know his name.

“Make it last forever and never give it back,” You sang into the mic, reading off the screen as well. You know this song by heart so god knows why you’re all of a sudden reading off the screen.

This was a whole new experience for you. You usually do karaoke in a private room with a couple of very close friends, and this is the complete opposite: you were singing in public with a stranger.

“Because this moment’s really all we have,” Your voices melded together smoothly, which shocked you if you were being honest. It’s as if you were both meant to sing together.

“Every day of our lives,” He was now facing you, stepping a bit closer to you.

“Wanna find you there, wanna hold on tight,” You faced him and did the same thing as well, taking a step closer to him.

“Gonna run,”

“While we’re young and keep the faith,”

“Every day,” He took another step closer. “From right now, Gonna use our voices and scream out loud.”

“Take my hand,” You sang, holding out your hand. At this point, you were convinced that the spirit of Gabriella Montez has taken over your body. Y/N Y/L/N would never be this bold.

He gladly took your hand, a smile was permanently painted on his face, “Together we will celebrate.”

“Oh, every day.”

The instrumental kicked in and you two were really feeling the music when he leaned over into your ear and said, “Never would’ve pegged you to know this song, darling.”

You laughed softly and said, “I should be the one saying that.”

You two carried on singing, having an absolute blast. Never in a million years would you have imagined for this moment to happen, it felt too good to be true.

“Every day,” You both sang the last line with your faces in close proximity. How did this happen? Maybe it was the alcohol? Maybe you two were just so into it that it felt right? No one knows.

As you two were waiting for the karaoke machine to show your score, the guy leaned in and said, “Darling, I don’t think I even got your name.”

“Y/N,” You said with a smile and offered your hand.

“Y/N” He repeated with a warm smile, shaking your hand. “What a lovely name, darling, I’m Tom.”

“It was a pleasure to sing with you, Tom.” You said, laughing softly.

Tom brought your hand up to his lips, “Oh, trust me, darling, the pleasure is all mine.” He disclosed placing a gentle kiss on the top of your hand, leaving your cheeks burning.

Maybe you and Tom were so into the moment that you didn’t even realize that Harrison and Kimmy joined you on stage. “Alright, give it up for tonight’s real-life Troy and Gabriella!” Kimmy yelled to the crowd, in which they happily obliged and gave you and Tom a thunderous cheer.

“Okay, lovebirds, in case you didn’t notice-which I know you didn’t,” Harrison pointed out “You two scored a 91, so here are your gift cards.” He handed you both a gift card each.

“Use it well.” Kimmy teased, in which you rolled your eyes and nudged your best friend.

“Well, I guess this is our start of something new, huh?” Tom whispered in your ear, a teasing smile playing on his face.

TAGLIST: (if u guys are interested hehe)

@thomasthetankson @autty0314 @marvelous-tswiftfan @averyfosterthoughts @theolwebshooter @jackiehollanderr @sltwins @herondalescecilys @notjustpenandpaper @ihopethatwemeetinanotherlife @gothicwidowsworld @heartofholland @stxfxniexreads @peruvian-bae @hollands-osterfield @thenoddingbunny-blog @galacticstxrdust @sweartomendes @itsjstz @muade-mua-de @hayoosh2

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hsmtmts-fangir1 · 4 years

Text

Stand Up (Nini Salazar-Roberts x Reader)

Masterlist / Prompts

Request 55 with nini ?

“That was kind of hot.”

Nini is already a shy person. So when she started to date Y/N. She always relies on Y/N when people stare at them. Y/N always gives them a look and they look away. Nini quickly learns Y/N hates bullies. Y/N is not afraid to give them a piece of her mind. She always defends people who need to be. Nini likes that about Y/N. It's one of the many reasons why Nini has a crush on Y/N.

“So I was thinking, we should go bowling. I know that you love it” Y/N spoke as they were in Nini’s locker. “We should. We could invite the theatre kids” Nini suggests. “Afterwards we could go and grab some ice cream,” Y/N replied. “Yes,” Nini agreed, nodding. They continued to plan until Carlos and Seb walked by them.

“Hey guys” Nini spoke when she saw them. “Oh hey,” Seb replied sadly. “What’s wrong,” Nini asked. “It’s nothing” Seb dismissed it but Carlos sighed. “Jose told Seb why he is wearing boys’ clothes if he’s trans,” Carlos answered, making Seb look down. “Jose as football Jose,” Y/N asked. “It’s nothing” Seb spoke. “It’s not nothing Seb. Why would he even ask you that” Nini spoke closing her locker. “Because he saw me as Sharpay” Seb answered. “That’s not the first time he tells Seb something,” Carlos added. “Why didn’t you tell us Seb,” Nini asked softly. “I thought he would just go away if I ignored him,” Seb answered shyly. “Well, he didn’t. So now Y/N’s way.” Y/N spoke walking. Nini quickly gave Carlos and Seb a confused face, then following Y/N.

Y/N saw Jose talking with some girl. Y/N walked up to them. “Did you know that Jose almost got STD. I know it's disgusting.” Y/N told the girl, who quickly gave Jose a nasty look and walked away. “Why in the hell would you say that,” Jose asked. “It’s true anyways” Y/N shrugs. “What is your problem?” “My problem is that you’re bullying Seb.” Y/N answered, crossing her arms. “Because he deserves it. You saw him in the musical” Jose answered leaning the wall with one leg up. Y/N quickly nudges the leg down making Jose almost trip. “Well, you’re going to stop,” Y/N replied. “Look L/N. You and me we’re cool. Don’t get involved with something you don’t belong.” Jose replied. “I am because you’re just going to keep doing it. What’s your problem anyways Seb. So he played a girl. How does it have to do with you?” Y/N questioned. “It’s wrong,” Jose replied. “No, it’s wrong. It’s different. Small-minded people can’t handle different.” Y/N said shaking her head. “I’m pretty cool with you dating a girl” Jose spoke, making Y/N roll her eyes. “It’s because you get off by it” Y/N answer. “Look, I'm not into a nerdy girl like your girlfriend,” Jose replied, making Y/N grab his shirt and push him into the wall. “You don’t say anything about Nini or Seb. And you stop bullying Seb or anyone. Cause we both know that the football coach is one more accident close to kicking your ass off the team.” Y/N whisper making Jose stay quiet. “Yeah I didn’t think so” Y/N replied walking away.

“That was kind of hot.” Y/N heard Nini said beside her. She noticed that the three saw everything. ”Thanks Nini,” Y/N replied, wrapping her arm around Nini’s shoulder. “Thanks, Y/N” Seb whispered. “It was nothing Seb. You didn’t deserve that dude bullying you” Y/N replied. “Well you’re pretty cool” Seb spoke nodding. “Let’s go to class” Nini spoke as they all walked to their classes.

#nini salazar icons #nini salazar roberts #nini salazar roberts x readers #nini salazar-roberts #nini salazar-roberts imagines #high school musical the musical the series #high school musical #high school musical: the musical ; the series #HSMTMTS

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retvenkos · 4 years

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amends pt. 4 // ricky bowen

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series - Slow Burn Ricky Bowen x Stage Manager!Reader Fic. Summary: That’s asking a lot of the theatre gods. Then again, it does include a lot of drama, so maybe it might just work out. pt. 1 // pt. 2 // pt. 3 // pt. 4 // pt. 5 // pt. 6 // pt. 7 // pt. 8 // pt. 8.5-ish // pt. 9 // unfinished

To say that you had been having a hectic week was a gross oversimplification. Ricky and Nini drama aside, the entire main cast was at each other's throats. Gina was sabotaging Nini by making the role of Gabriella an oversaturated triple threat with dances that were impossible to memorize, Ricky and EJ were trying to give each other concussions with basketballs, and at any given moment, all four of them would jump at each other’s throats to secure the lead. Part of you was glad that you never became an actor yourself. Underhanded tricks and backstabbing blows were not things that you were eager to have on a daily basis. That doesn’t stop you from being in the middle, though. Perks of being in charge! You get to deal with everyone’s drama.

To top it all off, you had two essays due the next day, and you had only started on one.

The only one thriving was Seb, who was perfect every time you saw him - onstage and off. You tried to figure out what his secret was, but according to Carlos, there wasn’t one. Perfection simply happens to ‘unproblematic cinnamon rolls’ naturally. What a concept.

But all shows hit stormy, turbulent waters at some point in the rehearsal process. Hopefully, it would be smooth sailing from that moment onward. You didn’t think you could handle much more. That’s why you were so relieved when you got a text from Ricky’s friend, Big Red, asking if he could be a part of the crew. An extra pair of hands was just the thing you needed.

Turning the corner to where Carlos had said rehearsal was going to start, you almost ran into a few, wide-eyed ensemble members. It was only after you started to weave your way to the front of the group that you realized why they had looked so shaken.

Nini and EJ. Standing a few paces away from the group, a pointed space between them as they argued. Their voices were low, but any conversation that had been happening in the hallway had stopped as everyone listened to them with bated breath. You moved to stand next to Big Red, vowing to talk to him after you finished listening to what happened between Nini and EJ. In your defense, it was your job to know what was happening between your leads chemistry wise. After all, Ricky had texted you to let you know that he was going to be late to rehearsal (it was a group text to you, Carlos, and Miss Jen. It’s not like he had any reason to text you personally. It’s not like the two of you had been texting all week and he was the only reason you were sane or anything…). So Nini and EJ were going to have to be Troy and Gabriella, and this betrayal of trust was complicating things.

“Summer’s over.” The tension in the hallway was palpable. Nini’s face was set in harsh lines, and although you couldn’t see his face, you could imagine his eyes widening in panic as his jaw worked soundlessly, trying to come up with an answer.

You turned to Seb as he pretended to be reading from his binder. He looked at you, his head never moving. “Are they…?” you whispered, trying to remain inconspicuous as Nini now faced the group. His nod was almost nonexistent, but the look in his eyes told you everything. Great. So much for clear skies and smooth sailing. You looked at how EJ looked at Nini longingly, the realization of how badly he messed up dawning on his face. Then you looked at Nini, her face solid stone while her head and heart raged within. A hurricane was coming, that much was certain.

Carlos and Natalie ran out of the room that everyone was waiting outside of, effectively disrupting the dark mood that hung in the air. You took that as your cue to start getting Big Red up to speed on where the musical was. If there was going to be a disaster, you needed all hands on deck.

…

“Since when was blocking like going to hell in a handbasket?” Gina chuckled slightly at your remark as you watched scene seven of your beloved musical crash and burn. Well, not the entirety of scene seven. The first part was great. The ensemble did a killer job being comically terrible at their audition. They Sharpay and Ryan audition was ridiculously good, and Ashlyn killed it as Ms. Darbus. But then it happened. Miss Jen (insisting on using the names of the characters) ushered Sharpay and Ryan offstage and called for Troy and Gabriella to enter stage left. That’s when it all started to go downhill.

You looked down at your notes for the scene as Miss Jen tried to work with the lovely couple onstage. Was it even worth fixing? Part of you wanted to scrap the scene entirely. I mean, sure, maybe it was worth mentioning to Nini that she needed to be more natural in her movements, but did you really need to tell her and EJ to actually look at one another when they sang? If they couldn’t pretend to even be apathetic strangers, could they really transform themselves into being pretend lovers by opening night?

“No, dear, that would be upstage.” You looked up as Big Red furrowed his brow, moving so that he could push the piano in the correct direction. Another note: make sure to teach Big Red blocking terms. Nothing would ever get done if the basics couldn’t be handled.

Your phone buzzed and you tore your gaze away from the mountain of corrections you had. It was from Ricky.

from: ricky

(3:15 p.m.) i’m on my way. my mom got an earlier flight, got held up with family stuff.

You bit your lip as you read his text. Things were very confusing with his family, but you didn’t exactly know how. There had been hints of it at auditions and when the two of you talked about meeting up to practice lines or study for math on the weekends (not that you would ever have the courage to actually get together with him), but Ricky had never explicitly told you much. Not that he had to or anything - you were just worried about him. You could tell that it bothered him. You figured that you would get there in time. Friendship takes time to grow, and personal stuff like that was usually disclosed later on.

to: ricky

(3:17 p.m.) we’re in the little theatre. get here as soon as you can.

Your fingers hovered over the keyboard. Should you tell him that Nini and EJ broke up? You fought with yourself; it wasn’t your business to tell, but it would give a reason as to why he was needed so badly. But then again, if Ricky thought that Nini was available, wouldn’t he try and pursue her again? And wouldn’t that cause her to quit the show from the drama? Wouldn’t that then lead to EJ dropping out too? The last thing you needed was people dropping out or calling it quits. There were only so many actors, and the last thing you needed was a change in dynamics this late in the game.

(3:18 p.m.) miss jen is about to go off the deep end.

Ricky texted back a panicked emoji and you smiled as you locked your phone. It wasn’t a lie, that much you realized as you watch Miss Jen try and salvage the scene with some good, old fashioned girl talk.

Carlos turned around to look at you, a distressed look on his face. “If we can’t get this together soon, we’re going to be behind your schedule.” You sighed, flipping to the schedule at the front of your binder. You had spent hours making sure there was a time for everything. You even color-coded it.

“Maybe we could get some of the individual choreo learned outside of rehearsal time?” You gave Carlos a knowing smile. “You and Seb still have to learn Bop to the Top.” You winked at him jokingly and he laughed, a blush growing across his face.

…

You and the copy machine were good friends. Especially at this point in the rehearsal process. So when Ricky said he needed to borrow someone’s copy of scene seven, you had grabbed Miss Jen’s key off of her desk and made toward the copy machine in the teachers' lounge. Most of the teachers recognized your face in there at this point - you had been making copies for teachers since your first year as a TA for Psychology.

You grabbed the warm pages off of the copy machine and made sure to align them before stapling them in the correct order. Then you sat down at a table and (getting out your pens) started to mark down the entrances and blocking for Troy. Lord knows EJ wouldn’t help Ricky - especially after what went down earlier.

You felt bad for what happened if you were being honest. EJ and Nini were never the perfect match. They both needed someone different. You just weren’t sure if that someone that Nini needed was Ricky or not. They had history, sure; they also had chemistry in spades. But it takes more than that. You knew that. Love was hard.

You let your mind drift to Ricky, with his small smiles and sad eyes. You remembered how happy he used to be. All you wanted was for him to be that happy again.

A teacher walked into the lounge and pulled you from your thoughts. The scene. Ricky.

You quickly finished writing the blocking with a few additional notes and stuffed your pens in your backpack. You made a mental to-do list for when you got home as you walked back to Miss Jen’s office. You stopped outside and rose your hand to knock, but heard something inside before you could make a sound.

“My parents are splitting up.” You knew that voice. It took everything in your power not to gasp. “For real.” You stepped away from the door slowly, letting the voices from inside the office muffle with each step.

You weren’t meant to hear that. You shouldn’t have been listening in on their conversation. If he wanted to tell you he would have. But poor Ricky. It all made sense now. What he said at his audition. The snippets of conversation you heard when he and Nini fought. The reason he could be so despondent. Why he was so afraid of losing people.

You looked down at the copied scene in your hand. Rifling through your backpack to get a pencil, you wrote a note at the top corner of the last page.

--- taglist:

@snowman-spidey, @dinsey-chanel, @ruefulposts, @mightdielater, @ggukstoe, @wallacetdog, @onceuponafanfiction, @goodnight-n-dayglow, @prttybitchin, @loyalucas, @hxney-bunches-x, @hxzstxles, @parkeroffline, @madamestarlet, @parkerharrington, @fudgemesteveharrington, @hobistigma, @farfrom-peter, @fangeekkk, @tori-marie, @amxx44, @onceuponafanfiction, @softpeteparker, @filmqvakers, @wcnderwoo, @stitch-flo, @liberty01, @kxhliforniaa, @ilymarkchan, @complete-trash-101, @dystopianchic13

#hsmtmts #high school musical the musical the series #ricky bowen #ricky bowen x reader #x reader #fic #fic series #slow burn #stage manager! reader

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lauren-lopez-owns-me · 4 years

Text

I’m watching High School Musical for the first time in ages and these are my thoughts:

Why on Earth was Gabriella so embarrassed about being smart?? We love a smart girl!!

And why did Sharpay find that a brilliant way to ruin her “oh she’s smart?? Haha what a loser!!” Like huh?

Why are the people who are off key always sing so confidently??

But I a person who is able to hit notes alright sing like I’m having a concert for mice?

Alan deserves better #alandeservesbetter

Cyndra was just at the just at the wrong place at the wrong time

Dance guy!!! Amazing!! Hope he’s okay!!

The kids with the poetic reading of it probably thrives in college and I’m here for it!!

Ms. Darbus acts like she is an actual Broadway casting agent and I am here👏for👏it👏

Sharpay and Ryan May have been the antagonists, but they were actually really talented and should have gotten the leads!

Their whole lives are about theatre and then some jock and mathlete show up late to the auditions and they get the leads??? As a theatre kid I am mad!

The bidazzled mics!!!

SPORTS POSSE!!! I love that

Musicale!!

Ms. Darbus is my favourite character!

The slower version of What I’ve Been Looking For is so good!

Kelsey is me

“CALLBACK!! AAAAAHH” me

“Maybe we’re being punk'd” me

Stick To The Status Quo is starting and I am ready

Why does my school never break out in song

Zeke is my dream man

Nobody thought about Zeke's home baked goods after a game...

Is that even legal?

“Awesome what is it?” Me

“A SAW?” Me

Boy just whipped out a whole ass cello!

His friend in the back is playing his skateboard like a cello and I am here for it!

They have fries in the cafeteria in america??

Sharpay is an ✨ACTRESS✨

Troy is a great friend

Chad is a snob and I don’t like it

The pink locker!!!!

Zeke has his feelings on the outside and I love it

“Evaporate tall person!!” I don’t think that was an insult more like a “I have power and you don’t” move

The rooftop!!!

Yes Troy tell us how you FEEL

Troy is a comedic god

Kelsey is ✨TALENTED✨

Ryan's a spy look at that guy... I HAD TO

Why won’t Troy’s friends just support him!

I feel like “hook up” should not be a phrase that should be used in a children’s movie, but since we didn’t understand it at the time I guess it’s fine

An intervention? JUST SUPPORT YOUR FRIEND GUYS!!!

So you guys just want him to end up like his dad? Quite the aspiration you have for him

Okay the pep talk that the Smart kid club is giving Gabriella is so much better! It has female inpowerment

Yes Troy!

NO TROY! BAD TROY!!!

YES GABRIELLA

The best song!!!

Gabriella is so dramatic and I love it

Let him talk!!

What does Troy’s mom do? Cuz they do not afford that house with a basketball court on high school coach salary

My mom would never lie to someone for me #honestyisthebestpolicy is her motto

One lamp lit up the entire room?

He really just started singing didn’t he?

Troy has a lot of baseball shirts for a basketball boy

Why do Sharpay and Ryan have the power to change the day of the callbacks??

Why does everybody care so much about height “do you know something about this, small person?”

HE BAKED A PI PIE!!! I LOVE ZEKE

Now that my friends is school spirit, something my school has none of

If all he wants is for Troy to have fun, then why couldn’t he do the musical??

Warm ups are a must!!

The trust fall?? Amazing

Bop To the Top is a bop

Taylor is a hacker?!?? How did I miss this as a kid??

How long is that song if all that happened in the second chorus??

My anxiety is very high right now

They are here!!!!

Miss Darbus is biased

Kelsey is a great composer

They are good, but are they better than Sharpay and Ryan?

When did Troy have time to change clothes?

KISS KISS KISS KISS

He kisses her cheek?

LET THEM KISS CHAD!!!!

Stop calling her a playmaker!

This song is so good

Is it weird I know the choreography after like six years?

RYAN DID A STAGE DIVE!!

This is the best movie ever!

YES GET IT MARTHA!!!

SHARPAY STOLE MY MAN!!!!

#high school musical #hsm #troy bolton #gabriella montez #ryan and sharpay #sharpay evans #ryan evans

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iridescentides · 3 years

Note

hi again dia! happy first day of december ❤️💚 i wanted to ask you what, in your opinion, are the 5 most underrated dcoms? i remember you saying before that you've watched all of them so i'd love to hear your opinions 😊 - 🎅🎁🎄

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH secret santa you are so good! asking me all the best questions 💜

okay so i literally had to make a list of all the dcoms i consider underrated and then narrow down a top 5. theres lots of dcoms that i love, but that i think got the right amount of attention and care (like lemonade mouth and the teen beach movies, for example), so this list just focuses on ones that deserved more hype for their quality level.

5. The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008)

okay so even as i type this i feel like a hypocrite. i have only watched this movie one time. BUT i can acknowledge that its one of the most criminally underrated dcoms ever, tons of people didnt watch it simply because raven wasnt in it. thats why i avoided it as a child, and i didnt get around to watching it until i did my big dcom binge in 2016. and it was so good. theres a really long post floating somewhere around tumblr full of specifics on why its actually the best cheetah girls movie (my favorite is the second one purely out of nostalgia), so to paraphrase some points from that post:

its a solid example of cultural appreciation, rather than appropriation, as the girls go and learn about bollywood and indian culture together

the indian characters arent treated like props or unimportant sides, they get their own agency and storylines that are important

the songs are good!!!

basically this movie was overlooked and slept on even though in terms of role modeling and social value, and just like the first two cheetah girls movies it was important and impactful.

4. Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011)

okay so as someone whos very neutral and occasionally negative-leaning towards the hsm franchise (mostly bc its overhyped and not really representative of all dcoms), i was pleasantly surprised by sharpays fabulous adventure. this is another one that i know lots of people skipped right over and dont hold with as much esteem as the main hsm franchise, and that doesnt sit right with me.

i do not agree with the “uwu sharpay was the real victim in hsm” arguments bc in their efforts to look galaxy brained the people who say that overlook the fact that she was a rich white woman who used her power and status to exercise control over opportunities that should have been fairly and freely available for all; they were not “making a mockery of her theater” in the first movie, they were literally just kids who wanted to try out a new school activity that everyone was supposed to be allowed to participate in; and despite allegedly learning her lesson and singing we’re all in this together with everyone at the end of the first movie, she literally showed no growth in the second movie as she fostered an openly hostile environment and favored troy so heavily that it literally cost him his friends, all as part of yet another jealous plan to take things away from people who already have less than her. she was NOT the victim in the main franchise, and she did not seem to exhibit any growth or introspection either.

and that!!! is why sharpays fabulous adventure was so important. in focusing on sharpay as the main character, they finally had to make her likeable. they did this by showing actual real growth and putting her outside of her sphere of influence and control. we saw true vulnerability from her, instead of the basic ass “mean girl is sad bc shes actually just super insecure” trope (cough cough radio rebel), and this opened us up to finally learn about and care about her character. throughout the movie we see her learn, from her love interests example, how to care for others and be considerate. she faces actual adversity and works through it, asking herself what she truly wants and what shes capable of. and in the end, when she finally has her big moment, we’re happy for her bc she worked hard to get there. she becomes a star through her own merit and determination, rather than through money and connections. this movie is not perfect by any means, but it is severely underrated for the amount of substance it adds to sharpays character.

3. The Swap (2016)

okay i know im gonna get shit for this but thats why its on this list!!! just like sharpays fabulous adventure, its not perfect and definitely misses the mark sometimes, but it deserves more attention and love for all the things it did get right!

the swap follows two kids who accidentally switch bodies because of their emotional attachment to their dead/absent parents’ phones. and while i normally HATE the tv/movie trope of a dead parent being the only thing that builds quick sympathy for a young character, they definitely expanded well enough to where we could root for these kids even without the tragedy aspect. we see them go through their daily struggles and get a feel for their motivations as characters pretty well. as a body switching movie, we expect it to be all goofy and wacky and lighthearted, but it moves beyond that in unexpected ways.

the reason the swap is on this list is for its surprisingly thoughtful commentary on gender roles. its by no means a feminist masterpiece, and its not going to radicalize kids who watch it, but it conveys a subtle, heartfelt message that deserves more appreciation. the characters struggle with the concept of gender in a very accurate way for their age, making off-base comments and feeling trapped by the weight of expectations they cant quite put their finger on. we watch them feel both at odds with and relieved by the gender roles they are expected and allowed to perform in each others bodies, and one of the most interesting parts of the movie to me is their interactions with the other kids around them. as a result of their feeling out of place in each others environments, the kids inadvertently change each others friendships for the better by introducing new communication styles and brave authenticity.

the value of this movie is the subtle, but genuine way it shows the characters growing through being given the space to act in conflicting ways to their expected norms. ellie realizes that relationships dont have to be complex, confusing, and painful, and that its okay to not live up to appearances and images. jack learns that emotional expression is good, healthy, and especially essential to the grieving process. one of the most powerful scenes in the movie comes at the end where, after ellie confronts jacks dad in his body, jack returns as himself to a very heartfelt apology from his father for being too hard on him; the explicit message (”boys can cry”) is paired with an open expression of love and appreciation for his kids that he didnt feel comfortable displaying until his son set an example through honest communication. this is such an empowering scene and overall an empowering movie for kids who may feel stuck in their expected roles, as it sets a positive example for having the courage to break the restrictive societal mold. for its overall message of the importance of introspection and emotional intelligence, the swap is extremely underrated.

2. Freaky Friday (2018)

this is my favorite dcom, and probably my favorite movie at this point. ive always assigned a lot of personal value to this movie (and i love every freaky friday in general), for the message of selfless familial love and understanding. i know i can get carried away talking about this topic; i got an anon ask MONTHS ago asking me about the freaky friday movies and i wrote a super super long detailed response that i never posted bc i didnt quite finish talking about the 2018 movie. and thats bc on a personal level, i cant adequately convey all the love i have for this movie. so i will try to keep this short.

first lets state the obvious: the reason people dont like this movie is bc its not the lindsay lohan version. and i get that, to an extent, bc i also love the 2003 version and its one of my ultimate comfort movies, and grew up watching it and ive seen it a billion times. i even watched it a couple days ago. but the nostalgia goggles that people have on from the early 2000s severely clouds their judgement of the wonderful 2018 remake.

yes, the 2018 version is dorky, overly simplistic plot wise, a bit stiff at times, and super cheesy like any dcom. the writing isnt 100% all the time. the narrative takes a couple confusing turns. the song biology probably shouldnt have been included. i understand this. but at the heart of it all, this movies value is love. and its edge over all the other freaky friday movies is the songs.

on a personal level, the movie speaks heavily to me. i cried very early into my first viewing of the movie bc i got to see dara renee, a dark-skinned, non-skinny actress, playing the mean popular girl on disney channel. that has never happened before. growing up, i saw the sharpays and all the other super thin white women get to be the “popular” girls on tv, and ultimately they were taken down in the end for being mean, but that doesnt change the fact that they were given power and status in the first place for being conventionally beautiful. so, watching dara renee strut around confidently and sing about being the queen bee at this high school got to me immediately. and in general, the supporting cast members of color really mean a lot to me in this movie. we get to see adam, an asian male love interest for the main character. we have a second interracial relationship in the movie with katherines marriage to mike. ellies best friend karl is hispanic. and we see these characters have depth and plot significance, we see them show love, care, and passion for the things they value. the brown faces in this movie are comforting to me personally. additionally, the loving, blended family dynamic is important to me as someone in a close-knit, affectionate step-family.

but on a more general level, this movie is underrated for its skillful musical storytelling and the way it conveys all kinds of love and appreciation. in true freaky friday fashion, we watch ellie and katherine stumble and misstep in their attempts to act like each other. its goofy and fun. but through it all, the music always captures the characters’ intimate thoughts and feelings. the opening song gives us a meaningful view into ellie and katherines relationship and the fundamental misunderstandings that play a role in straining their connection. ellie sings about how she thinks her mom wants her to be perfect, and her katherine sings about all the wonderful traits she sees in her daughter and how she wants her to be more open and self assured. this is meaningful bc even as theyre mad at each other, the love comes through. the songs continue to bring on the emotional weight of the story, as ellie sings to her little brother about her feelings of hurt and abandonment in her fathers absence. the song “go” and its accompanying hunt scene always make me cry bc of the childlike wonder and sense of adventure that it brings. for the kids, its a coming of age, introspective song. for katherine who gets to participate in ellies body, its a reminder of youth and the rich, full life her daughter has ahead of her. she is overcome with excitement, both from getting to be a teenager again for a day, and from the realization that her daughter has a support network and passions that are all her own. today and ev’ry day, the second to last song, is the culmination of the lessons learned throughout the movie, a mother and daughters tearful commitment to each other to love, protect, and understand one another. the line “if today is every day, i will hold you and protect you, i wont let this thing affect you” gets to me every time. even when things are hard and dont go according to plan, they still agree, in this moment, to be there for each other. and thats what all freaky friday stories are ultimately about.

freaky friday 2018 is a beautiful, inclusive, subversive display of familial love, sacrifice, and selflessness, and it is underrated and overlooked because of its more popular predecessor.

1. Let It Shine (2012)

this is another one of my favorite dcoms and movies in the whole world. unlike the other movies on this list, it is not the viewers themselves that contribute to the underrated-ness of this movie. disney severely under-promoted and under-hyped this movie in comparison to its other big musical franchises, and i will give you five guesses as to why, but youll only need one!

let it shine is the most beautifully, unapologetically black dcom in the whole collection. (i would put jump in! at a notable second in this category, but that one wasnt underrated). this movie was clearly crafted with care and consideration. little black kids got to see an entire dcom cast that represented them. the vernacular used in the script is still tailored mostly to white-favoring audiences, but with some relevant slang thrown in there. in short, the writers got away with the most blackness they were allowed to inject into a disney channel project.

the story centers on rap music and its underground community in atlanta, georgia. it portrays misconceptions surrounding rap, using a church setting as a catalyst for a very real debate surrounding a generational, mutlicultural conflict. this was not a “safe” movie for disney, given its emphasis on religious clashes with contemporary values. it lightly touches on issues of image policing within the black community (cyrus’s father talking about how “our boys” are running around with sagging pants and “our girls” are straying away from god), which is a very real and pressing problem for black kids who feel the pressure (from all sides) of representing their whole race with their actions. its a fun, adorable story about being yourself and staying true to your art, but also a skillful representation of struggles unique to black and brown kids and children from religious backgrounds.

on top of crafting a fun, wholesome, thoughtful narrative and likeable protagonists, let it shine brought us what is in my opinion the BEST dcom soundtrack of all time. every single song is a bop. theyre fast, fun, and lyrically engaging. “me and you” is my favorite disney channel song of all time due to its narrative significance; i will never forget my first time watching the movie and seeing that big reveal unfold onstage, as a conversation and a plot summary all wrapped into a song. the amount of thought and care that went into the music of this movie should have been rewarded with a level of attention on par with that of other musical dcoms.

if disney channel had simply cared about let it shine more, it couldve spanned franchises and sold songs the way that other musical dcoms have drawn in success. i would have loved for a sequel that explored and fleshed out cyrus’s neighborhood a little bit more, and maybe dipped into that underground scene they caught a glimpse of. i wanted a follow up on the changed church community once cyrus’s father started supporting his sons vision. i want so much more for these characters and this world than disney gave them in just one movie.

for its bold, unabashed representation of blackness and religion, subtle, nuanced presentation of race-specific issues, strong, likeable characters, and complex, thoughtful songs, let it shine is the most underrated dcom.

and because i made a full list before i started writing this post, here are some honorable mentions:

going to the mat (2004)

gotta kick it up! (2002)

tru confessions (2002)

dont look under the bed (1999)

invisible sister (2015)

#this took me embarassingly long to write #i cant help myself i literally think about this all the time #youre doing a great job with these questions secret santa!#dcoms #disney channel #answered asks #anons #gcwca secret santa #Anonymous

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