#it’s like that scene from mean girls where Cady is like ‘I can feel people getting annoyed but I can’t stop talking about it’

[daddy-long-legssss]

my love for arctic monkeys seems so normal to me and then I start talking to my family and I’m like ‘wow I sound fucking insane’

[heathersproship]

I WENT AND SAW MEAN GIRLS YESTERDAY

Went in with low expectations, but hoping to like it. Listened to some of the soundtrack a few days ago and wasn’t exactly impressed. But I didn’t blame the rearrangements—not entirely. Some of it was questionable, but maybe it’d be like with NPMD where I’d like it more when I had the visuals to go with it (I vastly prefer The Summoning live, and also High School is Killing Me, rather than the studio audio). And for the most part, I was right! I had a nice time.

See below the cut for my thoughts on the songs, other details, and some Janis analysis.

First Things First

We started off strong with the garage setup and Cautionary Tale. The vertical screen on a horizontal one doesn’t bother me, so I love the whole bit with the phone, and Janis plays guitar!

What Ifs was a song I didn’t listen to beforehand, and I understood most of it til Cady got to school. Then I had no idea what she was saying, either because the music was too loud or she was singing too softly, or both.

Meet the Plastics (though really it’s just Meet Regina) was good. Loved the lights flickering and Regina’s hypnotic voice like a siren luring the unsuspecting Cady in. Or an anglerfish.

Stupid With Love was actually not that bad... in the first half. Once we were out of the classroom, it fell off for me. I suppose they were going for a dreamy walking-on-air cloud nine “too in your own little world to notice the world around you” vibe, especially at the very end, but Angourie’s soft vocals didn’t do it for me. I expected a burst of energy since they’re outside and have the freedom to move and be loud with it.

Apex Predator was beautiful visually. Musically, I’m still not sure what to make of Damian singing Cady’s lines when they were about Janis. It’s strange. Couldn’t even have her think them? Record Angourie in a booth to get a feel for how big she can go, play it over a few shots of Cady’s face or the scene in front of them, Cady looking at Janis as she secretly compares Janis and Regina while Janis and Damian are warning her about Regina? No?

The build-up to What’s Wrong With Me was good—love the usage of the music box—though the song itself was a bit awkward. It’s sad all the same though, and that’s the point.

Sexy was good. Blink and you’ll miss the Easter egg.

Someone Gets Hurt was visually stunning. My one gripe is that Aaron has ONE line. Just one. And he doesn’t even sing it because the actor just doesn’t sing (did they hire him for his looks? The fact that he was in TSITP, which I haven’t seen? Why hire someone who doesn’t/can’t sing... for a musical??). Couldn’t they get someone to dub him? It’s just one line. Was that too much to ask? Disguise Damian’s voice if you have to. Giving it to Regina was certainly a choice they made.

Revenge Party was a fucking banger. It’s so fun and hella camp, and I love that they reinstated one of the OG verses (two if you recognize the piñata line from another verse). Also like how the “yes, bitch!” line was also back, unlike in the Broadway recording, though I don’t think that exchange needed to happen twice. I love Janis just loudly popping up with “And ugly crying!” during the bit with the sprinklers like girl shut up you’ll blow your cover! But then there was also that weirdass decision to have it go handheld when Cady goes to get the candy cane. Did not like that, what the hell was that?

Damian singing the iCarly theme in French lmao okay sure.

Someone Gets Hurt Reprise was just as good as the original, I love it. My only nitpick is the wording. “Obsessed” rather than “in love with” though that might have something to do with the doll.

World Burn was epic. Except... okay. Regina waltzed right into school with the Burn Book in hand. What if someone saw her? And then her just deliberately dropping and leaving it on the floor. And people really walked past it before someone finally picked it up? Really? The payoff is excellent, just the setup was... questionable.

Now that I’ve seen it, I definitely like this version of I’d Rather Be Me a lot more than I did before. Especially how it ends. (Though Barrett is still bae.) There’s possibly an allusion to the music video with the running in the halls and going about the school. But my God, Auli’i fucking did that! And again, very glad they kept the curse in the OST.

If that was a reprise of Stupid with Love... here’s an idea: just stop. The horse is already dead.

I See Stars was? Fine? Tbh I don’t really remember it. Probably because the girl who doesn’t go there takes over halfway though. Way to pull your weight, Cady. Angourie did well for some things, but singing really isn’t her strong suit. Again, why hire actors who don’t have the range for a musical?

Other things:

I love that Janis does embroidery here. It just fits.

Did not like the sanitization. How can this be Mean Girls without one mention of “social suicide”? You can keep the bouncing boobs thing and blatantly asking if Cady wants to have sex with Jason, but the band geeks are “corny-horny” and not “sexually active”?

Heyy Ashley Park!

Cady scaring the shit out of Janis and Damian will never not be funny. They were even watching the same scene of the same movie!

I was really hoping to get a flashback of Regina and Janis, with Janis actually burning the doll, rather than Damian acting it out with the toys. Or at the very least, a shot of Regina’s backpack on fire (that would’ve been a great teaser image). So we can get an idea of what Janis was like before, if she went along with the fashion rules like “pink on Wednesdays” or if she was always a little off-beat and Regina pushed her further into it. Maybe even see if she was the queen bee as some people believe was the case back in the day.

Love the bit with music people in the tree and Janis telling them to stop lmao. I love when they do things like that.

Analysis:

So one of the main differences between this Janis and her predecessors is that once this Janis gets to a certain point, she’s satisfied and actually wants to stop so she and her friends can just enjoy their time together rather than asking Cady to take a single night off before, presumably, letting it go on longer. This makes the party betrayal hurt worse when Cady says she wants one more lunch with the Plastics, as it looks like she made the active choice to trade up rather than just forgetting about Janis and Damian in her attempt to ensnare Aaron. Janis’ satisfaction also makes her singing IRBM more justified than in the musical because the movie took away a crucial aspect of her character which made her a Mean Girl to begin with: her anger.

This iteration of Janis just doesn’t have the same level of pure rage that drives her the way Regina does—rage which made them two sides of the same coin—because in this version, Janis is actually gay. The whole conflict in the original was Regina labeling Janis as something she wasn’t, and 2004 being a more homophobic time in history was how it was able to fly. In the 2018 musical, when that was no longer the case, they had to add in another layer with Regina pretending the issue was that Janis couldn’t accept she wasn’t one of the six people invited to her birthday party, before revealing the real issue was the same as the first: Regina pushing a label onto Janis (though Barrett says she played Janis as a lesbian, this was not explicitly confirmed nor acknowledged within the show itself, and is therefore no more canon than Regina being queer because Renee Rapp says so, closeted or not). With Janis being canonically queer here, this takes all the power out of Regina labeling her a lesbian in the first place because yes, yes she is, and? Rather than the problem being about the label, now the problem became Janis’ reaction to the bullying that ensued.

While she had to leave school due to how bad the bullying was in all versions previously (frozen out in the original—according to Regina she dropped out; and having “space dyke” Sharpied on her locker in the musical—according to Damian her parents pulled her out) this is the only time we know of where she retaliated. By burning the plush (and also Regina’s backpack) with a Bunsen burner. Her own actions resulted in her getting kicked out rather than being forced out by circumstances beyond her control, and the choice to do it this way shows that a) while what happened to her was more insidious, she’s also slightly less of a victim than her predecessors, and b) she knows better than anyone actions have consequences—a line of dialogue explicitly absent in the movie’s opening number. She was content to stop where they were at, quit while they’re ahead, because her desire for revenge was satiated and she was ready to move on. Have lunch with Cady and hang out like they always meant to. She’s no longer a Mean Girl. While there was an injustice done upon her, she’s not so scarred by it she’s letting her rage get the better of her to the point it spirals out of control. She was ready and willing to stop. But Cady wasn’t.

And I don’t know how to feel about that.

I think that’s it.

[acetone4veins]

About me and links to my writing and hcs!!

Andi, she/her, 19

Latina - fluent in English and Spanish

Currently studying Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience

This blog is primarily for all iterations of mean girls

Will also probably post anything related to Reneé, including slocg

You can find me on my main blog here where I mainly reblog random text posts or things for other fandoms I'm in

Multishipper!!! You'll see me reblogging posts for a variety of mg ships because I love all of them

Always willing to talk so feel free to send me messages or asks or prompts about anything!!!

Click read more for an updated list of my works and hcs!

Navigational tags

#andi speaks for text posts #andi writes for fics #andi answers for responses to asks

was i born with this longing inside me? (will it ever go away?)

30k word Regina character study about her relationship with touch over a span of 10 years, no ships but explores her relationships with her parents, little sister, Janis, and the plastics, lots of angst and hurt/comfort but happy ending

all i want is her to get lost in

Regina/Janis established relationship, 4k oneshot, fluff and minor hurt/comfort, scenes of them and the five love languages plus a bonus at the end, this is literally so soft

feel the music more (when i’m with you)

Regina/Cady, multichapter au, cady’s a dedicated student who has to learn how to dance in order to get into her dream college, regina’s a former prodigy who’s been missing from the dance scene ever since an injury, based off the movie Work It on netflix

someday i'll be falling without caution

Regina/Gretchen, 1.9k words where they talk about what they mean to each other before senior year, hurt/comfort with a hopeful ending

Headcanon posts

Regina angst Regina fluff Gen Regina hcs Regina's chronic pain Gretchen's anxiety ADHD Regina Autistic Cady Rejanis Autistic Regina More autistic Regina Enby Regina Gen Gretchen hcs Autistic Gretchen Gretchen + giving people nicknames in Spanish

Characters/Relationships + quotes I relate them to

Part 1 Part 2

I'm always happy to accept requests and prompts, or even just asks about hcs for certain characters or ships - and like I mentioned before I am a multishipper! Willing to write for pretty much any combination of the female characters (including poly ships!!), especially any Regina ships since I find it easiest to write from her pov. Also willing to take asks about slocg! If you're wondering whether I'd write for a certain ship - go ahead and send it and I will tell you!!

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

Mean Girls 2024 reviewed by this random girl with weird thoughts

(Although I think my thoughts for this aren’t that weird).

Spoilers!

THE GAY ENERGY. THE QUEER GIRLS ENERGY. How many girls are smitten with Regina?? Cady had heart eyes the first time she saw her, GRETCHEN is… oh my gosh. Plus all the random girls in school.

I feel like lots won’t bring this up cause sadly Rise of the pink ladies were not that well marketed (PLEASE WATCH IT AND WATCH IT NOW!!), but when I saw ARI NORTATOMASO in the classroom I was like CYNTHIA’S DESCENDANT ??!! >:0

CANON LESBIAN JANIS!!!!! Finally!! But I am not sure how I feel about just giving her this random girl as her date to the spring fling.

I kinda wish to get more scenes with Cady and Janis. Idk personally ever since I read this chatfic from 2018 where they got together over this conversation I’ve kinda had a thing for them

(I’m not joking when I say this fic has been a huge inspo for me to start writing fics of my own. Like. Thank you person who wrote it. You’ve orphaned your account now but this fic will always be in my memory)

I’m not saying I needed them to be gfs in the movie just that I wanted some more moments :>

So the movie lacks a lot of the iconic moments from the 2004 film, but it’s supposed to be an adaptation of the musical anyway. Also if they just said every iconic line again it would just feel like an exact copy of the movie and that wasn’t the point.

Cady’s songs lack a bit for me. In the musical, she sang so loudly and expressed so much, but she sings so… quietly… here. I guess it’s a sort of choice for her character, and maybe this worked better for the movie format - musicals become different on stage and in movies, you can’t always be as theatrical on film as you can on stage. But, I just didn’t feel her emotions at all in the same way.

REGINA AND JANIS’ SONGS, THO? YEA. THEY SLAYED. I do feel sad they cut Gretchen and Karen’s parts out of Meet the plastics. Also that they cut Damian’s songs… Stop is literally such an important song because it gives advice not only to Cady but also to everyone watching?? I remember hearing it in 2018 and I personally felt like it could help me to not send too many texts to people, because when people didn’t answer I got nervous and sent even more. But then… some songs maybe don’t work as well in movie format, I don’t know.

Also because Janis is canonically gay now, I’d rather be me is officially a queer anthem!!!!! 😁😁

Not sure how I feel about changing ”Janis is a space dyke” to ”Janis is a pyro-les”. It doesn’t sound as good in the song lol. But, in the musical, Janis’ sexuality was more ”up to interpretation” and so got called that because when asked if she was a lesbian, she replied ”I AM A SPACE ALIEN AND I HAVE FOUR BUTTS”. An incredibly funny line and really had the early 2010s random humor going for it. But, when wanting to make her explicitly gay, they needed something better, and I understand that.

Now, many people see Regina as a closeted lesbian herself. I get it, since she has no chemistry with any boy and it seems like she just dates them for publicity. No boys except for Damian have personalities (did Shane even have a line?? He was just. There.) But, I am a bit insecure. Because at times it seems like she was one of those homophobic girls in middle school. I’m just gonna go from this movie alone, as I feel like in the Broadway show and in the 2004 movie that’s other kinds of discussion (the 2004 movie especially feels more like she actually was homophobic tbh). In the 2024 movie, Janis came out to Regina, and Regina put a rainbow pin on her stuffed animal as an ”ally”. Also Regina and Janis kissed. Regina did it to see how her boyfriend reacted, and it was at the expense of Janis. Regina then had her stuffed animal with a pride pin talk in a mocking voice and it was clear this was to make fun of Janis. Janis then got so mad over this that she set Regina’s backpack on fire (ok Ámbar Smith whatever works for you). From this story, I am a bit unsure if this came from a place of Regina maybe wanting to tease her boyfriend and then it got out of hand, or maybe she was curious about kissing Janis but she was like 12 and repressed those feelings. Because she supposedly wore a Pride pin as an ”ally”, that’s much more than what a homophobic would do - but, her bullying of Janis definitely contributed to homophobia. Regina is a mean girl, so we should not excuse her actions even though she is slaying. Closeted lesbian or not, she did some homopbic and harmful things.

Regina in this movie sometimes felt like she was just doing a bunch of things without care. In some ways, I think Regina is just living on some sort of cloud and there was all this anger inside of her and she didn’t know what, and it’s possible she just does not know how to handle all the popularity because she’s like 16. So she hides behind a lot of layers and just does stuff for the thrill of it, maybe trying to get some sort of enjoyment in life, but nothing is enough. And eventually she snaps and watches the world burn. Maybe this is why all the songs she has in the movie, including the ones that originally had more singers, only had her singing now. Showing that, even when she is around people, she is alone… (yes, the other girls sing in world burn but they don’t sing to her in the same way) and she has not found her real place in the world and she acts like she knows it all but she doesn’t really. And everyone keeps telling her how great her life is. If her life is so great, why does she feel so unsatisfied?

They didn’t ruin Revenge Party which I appreciate. I also loved that they added the deleted lines from the musical. I wish that Cady has more power in her voice when she shouted ”ONE CANDY CANE PLEASE” but oh well.

The way they all reported on the incidents at North Shore high like it was national news… like, my schools has meme accounts and stuff, but never that we reported on the stuff like it was celebrity gossip lmao. Then again I don’t even live in America so idk what’s going on over there.

I do like how Janis and Damian are the narrators. It’s possible a lot of things that happened was their overexaggerated retellings of what actually happened. Maybe this is just them telling freshmen about tales everyone tells them as they start high school.

School buses keep being the top 10 scariest jumpscares. Laughed out loud tho that instead of focusing on Cady and Regina’s argument, they just argued in the backround and then Janis finished up her song as Regina just gets hit by the bus in the background

I’ll probably have more to say in the future.

[remcycl333]

https://at.tumblr.com/remcycl333/httpsattumblrcomremcycl333httpsattumblrcomre/qvjcncd4oymo

I love how we can have anyone we want now but our conscience/heart is like "no😃lemme make you feel bad,"(which there's nothing wrong I can definitely see where you're coming from) and you ARE a good person, you know that reminds me, I HATE how when someone says they're a good person or pretty or sweet, someone, just some freaking idiot or idiots say " no you're not, stop being so arrogant," I just wanna 😃🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪😒.

I can guarantee you ARE most definitely a good person even though I know in those messages you say it in a joking way😂 I just know there's probably those people in your asks saying "nO sHeS nOt," or "you're this or that," like just STFU 🙄🙄(I can just FEEL it from here).

Omg yea I remember that girl so well, she ended up getting close to a YouTuber I had a HUGE crush on and I remember being so upset, I was literally in tears😭😂 he found out eventually from fans sending all her horrible shit to him and stopped being friends with her afterwards, I knew how much she messed Luke up, that was horrible, she's such a horrible person.

-🥺💖

LOVE YOU!!!! that always makes me think of that scene from mean girls where regina is basically saying cady is arrogant for thinking she’s pretty 😭

omg the youtuber thing is ringing bells but i can’t remember exactly who it was! i remember when luke started dating her everyone was exposing her for basically robbing this girl she used to be roommates with and we were all like no those are just rumors!! let luke be happy with her!! if only we knew what we know now 😭

[dollythesheepp]

Endless Forms Most Beautiful, Chapter 7.

You can read it on ao3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39467289/chapters/105647448

Janis doesn't think much of it at first. Not until the road starts looking familiar. Her panic begins to grow like wildfire as Heather dodges a pothole, then drives past a large sideroad tree followed by a 'No Trespassing' sign; the same places Janis drove days prior, with a dead person inside the car.

The closer they get to the scene, the more desperate Janis becomes because she knows what to expect, and she has no clue as to how she will explain to Heather and the police why there's a woman identical to her buried on the ground. The thought of jumping out of the car crosses her mind more than once, but she shoves the idea and the evergrowing dread deep down inside of her. Heather parks the vehicle next to two police cars. That night, the place was empty, except for Janis and Edith Becker's dead body; this time, however, there are people everywhere.

"Something wrong?" Chandlers pick up on her distress.

"No, I'm fine," Janis answers back, the words coming out choked as she tries to swallow down the lump in her throat. She tries to keep her expression nonchalant even though inside of her, her guts are roilling. Janis follows Heather's lead and walks out of the car, her steps heavy as if she has a bucket of cement stuck on each foot. She gives the scene a once over in search of a camera hidden in a light pole or a tree, but to her relief, she doesn't find anything. In the dark, and with worry clouding her senses, Janis had failed to notice the large pit just meters away from her, but in daylight, it was hard to miss it. The rustling of the mining machinery mixes up with the rustling of the cops as they run around like worker ants, taking pictures and dodging the yellow tapes that barricade the scene.

Both women stop at the edge of the pit, next to a tall, lanky man with a camera in his hand. "Good, you're here. And look who's back!" he ht, them, last part regarding Janis specifically. Clipped to the pocket of his dark brown blazer is an ID card with the name Andrew McCord and Coroner Investigator written under his very unflattering picture.

"Thanks," she says. She follows Heather's and McCord's gaze to the dumpsters on the bottom of the pit, there are three of them total, and in each of them people are digging through the mountain of dirt and gravel; Janis doesn't understand what they're looking for exactly until one of them fishes out a severed arm.

"The body is chewed up pretty badly," McCord says matter of factly. "And we also found tire prints over there," he points his dainty finger to a spot on the road, where Janis had taken off with Veronica's car.

"Reconstructing the face is gonna be a bitch," Heather says. Janis feels a pang of relief when she realizes that there's a chance Edith's face will be unrecognizable, but that goes away quickly. Even in those circumstances,  they have enough of her body to get her DNA and find a connection between her and Janis; that is if what Denise and Lizzie told her is true, Janis is still having a hard time coming to terms with human clones.

Janis excuses herself from the conversation to make a phone call. Denise doesn't pick up so she Janis her luck with Cady Heron instead, who picks almost immediately.

"Hi, Janis," she says.

"Hi, can I ask you a question?"

"Hm, sure."

"If the whole clone theory is true, does that mean that our fingerprints match?" Very aware of the other people near her, Janis tries to speak as softly as she can while still being able to be heard by the other girl.

"They wouldn't be identical but could be close enough to flag a match, yeah. Why?"

"Because the police found Edith Becker," Janis tells her. "Part of her, at least."

"Part of her?" Cady repeats confused.

"I messed up when I buried her and now they have fingerprints," Janis explains, sparing Cady of the gorier details and the ones that make Janis look like an idiot.

"Wait, are you being Veronica right now?"

"Yes, I'm at the goddamn crime scene pretending to be a goddamn cop, so I need to know if the goddamn fingerprints will flag a goddamn match!"

"Whoa! Ok! Don't freak out," Cady tries to calm her, but from the tone of her voice, it's clear she is just as worried. "Edith was german so they're gonna need Interpol for this. Now if one of you has a criminal record, then that would make things a lot easier for them," there's a pregnant pause on Janis' part and Cady is quick to notice it. "Wait, do you have a criminal record?"

"Just petty fraud, assault, whatever..." Janis grimaces, thinking back about her wasted youth and how it has come to bite her in the ass once again. Because if the body matches, the police will see a picture of somebody named Janis Sarkisian who looks like Veronica Sawyer, but Janis Sarkisian is already supposed to be dead.

"Shit," Cady says.

"That is not helpful!" Janis tugs at her hair as she fails to contain her desperation. "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know... but they can't run prints instantaneously so you still have some time."

"How much time?" Janis asks. Cady takes a second to answer.

"Bring me the briefcase and we'll talk."

***

When Janis arrives at the bar that night, Cady is already there. She's seated at one of the stools, with a drink in front of her, gazing at the other customers without much interest. Janis greets her with a quick smile and sits on the stool next to her, the briefcase is on her lap and Cady's eyes go straight to the object. "I said I'd bring it, but I want answers first."

"That's fair," Cady nods her head. "If I found out I was a clone I would have millions of questions."

There's that word again. The word Janis can't stop thinking about since it was first mentioned the night before. Not twins, not relatives that coincidentally look alike, not doppelgangers who found each other thanks to a glitch in the matrix. Human clones.

"You're all set on this theory aren't you?" Janis mumbles. "I don't even know if I believe that."

"How many more women do you have to meet?" Cady questions her with one raised eyebrow. Janis winces, remembering how unpleasant all of those meetings were.

"God, seven is enough."

Cady chuckles. "I'm really glad you called, Janis," she says. Under the dim light of the bar, her dark blue eyes appear to be almost violet, and for some reason, Janis can't stop staring at them.

"It was either you or Denise," she shrugs. She had thought about calling Lizzie instead but then remembered she had said she would be in Long Island, so Cady was the next best thing. "I figured you would be less likely to yell at me."

Cady gives her an apologetic smile. "Don't let Denise bother you, she is not usually this bitchy. There's just a lot going on."

"Like Veronica's suicide and the fact that someone is killing us?" Janis asks. The mood surrounding them is suddenly heavier as they are reminded of the reason for their meet-up. A sorrowful expression takes over Cady's face and she nods yes with her head, her lips pursed into a thin line.

"Do you know who?" Janis leans in closer to her, begging with her eyes for whatever Cady can give her. She hates feeling this lost, as if she was thrown into the dark, bumping and stumbling around blindly for answers to questions she never pictured she would have until a week ago. "Or why?"

"No, I don't," Cady adjusts herself on the stool, she ditches her laid-back position, with her elbows on the bar counter and her head leaned on one of her hands to face Janis completely. Their eyes meet again but this time Cady wears a much more serious expression on her face. "Everything started around 10 months ago when Edith Becker contacted Veronica with this crazy story about her genetic identicals being hunted down in Europe."

"Hunted?" Janis echoes, shivers running down her spine when the word comes out of her mouth.

"All murdered within weeks from each other. Edith thought there would be more of them in other continents and feared they were in danger too," Cady continues. "So Veronica used this facial recognition software to find driver's licenses across the US, and she got two matches."

"Lizzie and Denise."

"Yep. So she reached out to them and told them what she knew at the time."

"And how exactly do you fall into the mix?" Janis asks with furrowed brows. Then quickly adds: "No offense."

"I'm just a friend. I met Lizzie in college, we were both microbiology majors," Cady explains, she doesn't appear to be upset by the question. "But then she quit starting a band with her friend Genie."

"So you're the scientist Edith told me about?"

"Yes. Well, Ph.D. student. Immunology," Cady says enthusiastically. Janis gets the feeling that if given the chance she would rant about that for a long while. "I don't know if you know this but Edith was very sick."

"Yeah, I got that when she started coughing up blood in front of me."

"She was having respiratory problems, and she said Maya Wagner, one of the clones she knew, was showing the same symptoms before she was killed, so Edith was worried the disease could be genetic," Cady continues. "That's when Lizzie asked for my help because they didn't trust anyone else to give their genetic material to. But it was hard to give them answers when I didn't know what to look for, so eventually, they told me everything."

"But they have no clue as to who is behind the murders?" Janis asks. "Or who created us?"

"No," Cady replies. "Not Lizzie or Denise, at least."

Janis narrows her eyes at that. "Do you think Veronica knew?"

Cady averts eye contact, choosing to look at her sneakers instead like she said something she shouldn't have. "I don't know, I'm just speculating. But Veronica didn't tell the girls everything. I only met her in person a few times but she kind of took the role of their protector, you know? I don't think she wanted that to happen but it did," she says. "She was smart, resourceful...they trusted her a lot. They had this sort of childish, naive way of thinking that she could handle everything."

"But that wasn't true at all..." Janis says, more so to herself than to Cady. The woman Janis met at the train station looked far from someone who had everything handled. Janis will never be able to forget how broken she looked.

"No, it wasn't. As the months went on she got really unstable, she would disappear for days, wouldn't answer their calls, and she only got worse after the shooting in September," Cady says. "But still she was the closest thing they had to real answers. She was a cop, she had tools. But now we lost her so however, you managed to get into her shoes, we really need you to stay there."

"Keep being a cop to help your friends?" Janis asks with a raised brow.

"To help all of you."

"How? I'm not a cop! Veronica's partner is going to figure that out," Janis says exasperatedly. "Being her is what got me into this mess in the first place."

"I understand that," Cady says. "But you have to understand that you can't run away from her. From any of them. You have a connection to them whether you want to or not. You're the one who's in trouble here because your DNA will match whatever piece of DNA they find from Edith."

"So you're saying I need to tamper with the case somehow?" Janis says, starting to think along the same lines as her.

"I think that's your only option."

They stay in silence after that, Janis still has dozens of questions rushing inside her brain but she doesn't think she can handle hearing the answers just yet. So instead, she focuses on finishing her drink as she takes in the ambiance.  She enjoys the atmosphere of the bar, the smell of greasy food, and the murmurs of the people talking around them, mixed with the '90s songs playing in the background. If not for the reason that brought them there, the night would have been very pleasant. Janis gulps down the last drops of her beer. "Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Sure, anything!"

"If those other girls and I are genetically identical," she starts, her fingers running up and down the wet, and now empty, beer cup. "Do you think they also get this little patch of dry skin between their eyebrows like I do?"

Cady takes a few seconds to realize she's joking. When she does, her pink lips spread into a smile, the corners of her blue eyes wrinkling. "That's funny," she chuckles. "Try to keep up your sense of humor, Janis. Veronica couldn't."

***

The coffee at the police station is terrible. On her very first hour on the job, Janis felt the need for some caffeine as the sleepless nights and the boring paperwork —because apparently being a detective isn't just exhuming dead bodies in the woods eight hours a day and Hollywood lied to her— started to take a toll on her. So she gets up from her chair and walks over to the coffee station to get a cup for herself, she offers one to Heather as well but she declines it, and Janis understands why when she takes the first sip of the stale, flavorless drink. Wincing from the taste lingering on the sides of her tongue, she reaches out for the packets of sugar in an attempt to make it at least drinkable, and that is when someone collides with her, making her spill all of the drink on the boring pale blue blouse and the even more boring shoes she is wearing.

"Oh, man!" the guy says when he realizes what he's done. He ended up spilling some of it on himself too, and now his shirt is speckled with little brown spots. That makes Janis feel a little less angry. "I'm sorry!"

"It's ok..." Janis mumbles as she tries to mitigate the damage with a napkin.

"First week on the job and I'm already making a bad impression..." he chuckles, scratching his neck in embarrassment. "I'm such an idiot."

"It was an accident, don't worry," she says, starting to feel bad for the guy who looks mortified. When she gets back to Veronica's desk, she tells Heather about the incident when the latter questions the big stain on her shirt.

"That's Kurt Kelly, the new IT guy," Chandler says with an eye roll. "A fucking moron. And they said he was the smartest one on his last job."

"Yeah but that's probably like being the tallest dwarf," Janis says, earning a snort on Chandler's behalf.

"I booked us for an hour at the range for tomorrow, 4 p.m" Heather changes the subject.

"The range?" Janis blinks.

"Shooting range," Chandler clarifies as if it's obvious. "You're probably rusty as shit after all this time. What do you say?"

"Sure, that would be tits," Janis only realizes what she says after the words have already gotten out of her mouth. She kicks herself mentally as Chandler looks at her with a muddled expression on her face. "I, hm...I mean great. Obviously. Sorry..."

"God, can you get any weirder, Sawyer?" Heather says with an eye roll, but there's a small hint of a smile there.  "By the way, McCord gave me something about our Jane Doe. There's an entry and exit wound on her skull."

"A shooting, then?" Janis feigns innocence. "What about the fingerprints?"

"I don't know, check with the crime lab."

It takes her a while but eventually, Janis finds the crime lab, thanks to a guy named Rodney who works with IT and helps fake Veronica settle in on the job, resetting her password and remembering where some things are; Janis uses the excuse that thanks to the fact that she's been gone for so long plus the PTSD from the shooting are making her brain all fuzzy and she's been having trouble remembering details; the poor guy falls for it hook, line and sinker. The woman who works at the crime lab tells Janis she hasn't checked the fingerprints yet and when she isn't looking Janis manages to get into her inbox and delete it, then does the same thing to her file. It's not a permanent solution, not by a long shot but it might give her some time until she can figure out something else.

That same afternoon Lizzie Pagnetti calls her from Long Island to see how things are going. "Cady told me about the body. Did you scrape the results of the fingerprints?" she asks.

"Yes, for a while anyway," Janis tells her. "But I still need help. I'm lost in here, Heather is going to see right through me. She wants me at a shooting range tomorrow and I've never fired a gun before."

"I think I know someone who can help you with that."

***

And that is how, thanks to Lizzie's crazy idea, Janis spends her morning shooting targets with Denise.

Janis aims the gun at the empty soda can one more time and shoots, the weight of the object becoming less strange to her with each try. Denise tells her that although most city cops carried Glocks, a Walther P99 was easier because it had an optional size handgrip. Good for women, according to Veronica.

"Especially women living their lives like rats in a lab," Denise adds offhandedly.

"Is that what you think?" Janis says gathering the fallen soda cans to throw them out.

"What else would it be?" Denise asks but doesn't wait for an answer. "My guess is that someone is covering up their illegal experiments by wiping us out."

"Is that why you asked Veronica to teach how to use these?" Janis questions as she stares at the gun in her hand. Now that the shootings are over, a pleasing silence takes over the ambiance, nothing but the leaves shaking on the trees as background noise for their conversation.

"I have to protect my family somehow," Denise says as she takes off her safety ear muffs and shooting glasses and adjusts her hair with her hands. "I'm grateful to Veronica for giving me that."

Janis takes Cady's words into consideration during the two hours she spends with Denise. And just like her, Denise had to deal with her entire life being turned upside down while trying to leave her family unscathed by it all and the one person she thought could help her deal with it is dead. She is not the easiest person to deal with, which became clearer during their interaction but at the end of the day, she is just as scared and upset about all of this as Janis.

"I'm sorry you lost her," Janis says with a sad smile. "But anything you can tell me about her will help."

"I fail to see how someone like you could fill her shoes," she says, instantly making Janis regret the nice things she thought about her. Janis pretends she doesn't hear the comment.

"Cady said you admired her a lot," is what she says instead. She tries to tame down the hair strands that keep wiping her in the face thanks to the wind.

"I did. She was discreet, didn't pry, and she didn't bring her foster brother into my house," Denise says with one eyebrow raised and a very characteristic expression of a mom reprimanding a child —Janis is very familiar with those.

"I didn't know the rules of clone club did I?" Janis mocks her, she's beginning to find a lot of enjoyment in riling her up like this.

"Could you not say that, please?" Denise grimaces. "We need to find a better word for that."

When they're done, Denise drives her home in her minivan and Janis spends the entire ride gazing at her from the rearview mirror. She should be used to it by now. But staring at her own face on someone else, all those different versions of her still give her an eerie feeling.  

"So we decided to trust you, Janis," Denise breaks the uncomfortable silence. "I hope we are making the right decision."

"You are," Janis assures her. She hopes that too.

"Good, because if you're taking over her duties for now there is something you should know," Denise begins. "Veronica had a... substantial sum, let's put it at that. Sort of a fund she used to buy information we couldn't get officially. She and Lizzie had their roles in this endeavor, and the fund was how I could contribute."

As she speaks the cogs inside Janis' brain start turning. "How much money are we talking about?"

"Seventy-five thousand," Denise confirms her supposition. Seventy-five thousand that are most likely hidden inside Heather's bedroom or any other place a demon queen like her sleeps. Janis decides not to mention that to Denise. "You could rob me blind," her clone continues. Janis can't help but wince at the irony. "But we are hoping you realize you can't run away from this."

***

"Damn," Heather stares at the paper target with amusement, the silhouette of a man with eight bullet holes in his body now, including two to the head. Proudly, Janis lowers the weapon. Not bad for someone who learned how to do this in a day. "Must be your little girl gun."

"Just admit it, I'm awesome," Janis says in a cunning tone.

"In your dreams, pillowcase," Heather scoffs.

"McCord told me they found two sets of tires at the crime scene, motorcycle and car," Janis says.

"Yeah, and shattered glass on the ground, so the victim was probably the one in the car and the bullet broke the windshield.  But if that's the case, then there had to be at least three people there," Heather muses over. Janis swallows dryly but doesn't utter a word. "The killer is on the motorcycle but then what? Does he have an accomplice who drives the victim to the quarry? Or the victim has a driver who doesn't go to the police, panics, and half-ass buries the body?"

"The body dump doesn't match the professional hit," Janis plays along.

"Exactly."

Their conversation is interrupted by Chandler's phone ringing. Janis picks up the words stolen and Lawndale.

"They spotted a stolen Suzuki," Heather says after she hangs up the phone. "It's a long shot but we might as well see if the tires match."

They find the motorcycle parked beside an apartment building. The owner of the building, an old woman who lives on the first floor tells them that her only tenant, who lives on the second floor, hasn't been home since the night before, so Heather and Janis go investigate. They knock on the door a few times but no one responds, and the lights are out. Janis puts her hand on the doorknob and realizes the door is unlocked; she lets herself in despite Heather's protests, who eventually follows her, both women with their guns in hands.

Janis waves her lantern around the living room until she finds a light switch. The house looks straight out of a horror movie, so much that Janis can't help but glance behind her every two seconds, scared that someone will jump on her with a butcher knife. They roam around the small place, still dark and eerie even with the lights on, and take notice of everything in it; there is a heap of clothes thrown at the sofa, a trash can in the kitchen overflowing with garbage, and creepy bibelots and porcelain dolls decorating every inch of the house. But what catches Janis' attention is the quote written in cursive letters on the hallway wallpaper.

"Woah."

"Did you find something?" Heather asks, joining her in the hallway.

"For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made," Janis reads it aloud. She has never been a very religious person but that smells like a bible verse to her. She exchanges a puzzled glance with Heather, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.

"Sounds like we're dealing with someone with deep spiritual problems," Heather says.

Then, it happens. Everything unravels so fast, Janis barely has time to process it. All it takes is one last look at the window, and that's when she sees the gun pointed at them. The next thing she knows, Heather and her are on the floor. She opens her eyes and scans her body for any injuries but she's fine, no pain. Which means the blood on the floor isn't hers.

"Heather!" Janis crawls towards the other woman, who's cursing and clutching her hands to the back of her head, right behind her ears, blood running down her fingers and her arms. "Shit, shit, shit! Are you ok?"

"I'm fine!" she says through her teeth ad relief washes over Janis. The bullet had only grazed her, but still, it probably hurt like a bitch. "Go after him! Go!"

Still in shock, Janis obeys. She sprints out of the apartment, ignoring the wobbling on her legs, and out on the street. She spots the person a few meters away, climbing on the stolen Suzuki and disappearing, the dark hoodie he wears now just a blur to Janis, who runs after him despite knowing well enough she will never catch him by foot. Her lungs start to burn, and her legs beg for her to stop but she doesn't. The person turns into a corner, Janis sprinting as fast as she can to follow him but when she gets there, he's already gone.

Panting and with spots blurring her vision she looks at the rowhouses surrounding her as she tries to spot him again, to see if maybe he is hiding in one of the abandoned-looking houses. Suddenly, there's a loud thud followed by a burning, sharp pain on the back of Janis's head that sends her to the floor, her face collides with the hard concrete. She rolls over to see the figure staring, standing in front of her, a steel bar in his hand.

Fear takes over Janis's entire being and she finds herself unable to move, her heart beating fastly on her chest and her ears ringing. The figure kneels beside her. His hoodie and a black mask covers the majority of his face, so all Janis can see are angry brown eyes and brows knit together, but they are enough to terrify her.

"P-please..." Janis tries to say.

The person takes out a knife from their oversized coat and runs the cold blade up and down Janis' wet cheek with amusement, and the other hand starts to caress her hair.

"It's time to pay for what you did," the person says. Janis' panic and the throbbing pain in her head doesn't allow her to take notice of the female voice or her heavy accent. All she can focus on is them raising the knife and aiming for her chest. "Good riddance, Veronica Sawyer."

"I'm not Veronica!" Janis yells in an attempt to spare her life. Instantly, the person lowers the knife, eyes wide open. Then, the mask and the hoodie are gone and Janis is left staring at herself for what feels like the thousandth time. This one, with wild curly brown hair, cranes her head at Janis like a confused child. She runs her fingers up and down Janis's face, her nose, lips, her chin...

"What did you say?" she asks in a thick accent. "Who are you?"

While the woman stares flabbergasted at her, Janis stretches her hand out for the steel bar the woman was previously holding and without allowing herself to think twice, sticks it on her stomach. The woman widens her eyes and moans in pain. The looks down at her coat, blood turning the green fabric a dark red color, then back at Janis.

"Not now, not-Veronica..." the woman says. She stumbles a few times but manages to reach her motorcycle, then rides off.

Janis sits up, still trembling and sobbing. Her head is bleeding and a million thoughts run around her head. She catches sight of the knife her attacker —her clone— had almost killed her with, she dropped it after Janis impaled her. Janis crawls towards the object and grabs it. The shiny blade is attached to a wooden handle, almost as big as Janis' hand; on said handle,e there is carved a figure of a winged fish. She had never seen anything like that before. She stores the object on the jacket and gets up.

She needs to check if Heather is ok.

***

"I didn't see his face, he hit me from behind," Janis explains her version of the incident to the lieutenant. She presses the ice pack against her sore lip, which she accidentally bit into when she fell face first on the floor. Lieutenant Gowan takes a drag of his cigarette and runs a hand through his graying hair, still pissed at what Janis and Chandler did. He turns to face Heather.

"You two are trying to turn my ulcer into a heart attack," he says. "How the hell were you two on this without backup?"

"Please, it was just a flimsy lead on a stolen bike," Heather says. She was seen by a paramedic who confirmed the bullet had only grazed at the back of her neck, and now part of her red hair was covered by a white bandage. Janis still thinks that Heather is a bitch but she's glad she didn't die.

"And it sure hit," Gowan answers back. "Are you sure you are alright?"

"Yes," Heather dismisses him. "I'm fine. I just need a shower and an early start so we can catch this guy."

They leave the police station in silence, the fact that there had been a big change of both of them dying mere hours earlier —if Heather had been a few inches closer to the barrel of the gun, or if the killer hadn't believed Janis when she said she wasn't Veronica —hangs heavily above the two women.

"I never should have told you to go after him," Heather whispers.

"Of course, I was gonna go after him. This isn't your fault."

"This shit happens fast. Don't worry," Janis says as they reach their respective cars parked on the sidewalk.

Chandler wavers, like she's debating whether she should say something else or not. She opens the trunk of her car and takes out of it a brown paper bag that Janis recognizes instantly. "It's all here. Sorry, I held it over you. Guess I owe you one."

"No, we're even now," Janis says, clutching the money like she's afraid it will disappear again. "Thanks, Heather."

"See you in the morning."

Janis waves Heather goodbye and gets inside the car. She looks down at the bag of money on her lap. Seventy-five thousand dollars. She had made so many plans with the cash, but now that she knows the truth behind it, none of them feel right. This is supposed to be like a win to her, she should be feeling ecstasy; but all she feels right now is guilt gwaning inside her stomach. Because of them. She can't steal the money and abandon her clones like this.

Denise is right, they really need to find another word for that.

[fangirlswilltakeovertheworld]

She-Ra High School Theatre Kid AU Headcanons

I made this because I am a theatre kid, and me and my sister were talking about Double Trouble being a theatre kid, so this happened. We basically came up with this entire au while we walked our dog.

Also I know none of this stuff would ever happen in real life, but it’s fanfiction, let me have this

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO

Angella as the director

Shadow Weaver as the assistant director

Horde Prime is the principal who is very not supportive of the arts

Hordak is the head of tech

Castaspella runs costumes

Huntara is the choreographer

Actors:

Catra - Has been in love with theatre since she was a kid, wants to be an actress when she grows up. She’s only ever cast as the villain/antagonist because she’s so good at playing those roles, but she’s not complaining. Shadow Weaver hates her and constantly talks down to her whenever Angella’s not around. Really good singer.

Double Trouble - Also in love with theatre. Brings the drama. Really good at whatever role they receive. Always competes with Sea Hawk for the lead role regardless of gender.

Sea Hawk - Theatre kid is his entire personality and he lives for it. Competes with Double Trouble for the lead role regardless of gender. Loves roles that get to do fight choreography. Has a habit of setting at least one prop, set, or costume on fire every show. No one knows how, and honestly, neither does he.

Glimmer - Director kid vibes, we’ve all met one. You know what I’m talking about. Usually gets a big speaking role, but not the lead. Jealous of Catra bc Glimmer thinks the villains get better songs. Catra agrees and holds it over her head constantly. Has a habit of being an “actor director” sometimes, but never in a mean or condescending way, and most of the time Angella was going to give the same note. Most of the time.

Bow - Actor/Techie. Auditions for a role, but if he doesn’t get one, he’ll do tech. He doesn’t have a preference, he just likes being a part of the process and being with his friends. One of the only basses in the department.

Mermista - Actor/stage manager. Even when she has a role in the current show, Mermista is still the stage manager bc she’s the only one who can deal with and control everyone’s shit(aka Sea Hawk level shenanigans). Actually a really good actor when she puts effort into her roles, but it has to be for a show she actually likes.

Kyle - Usually ensemble, but sometimes he has small speaking roles. Famous for breaking or losing props.

Techies:

Entrapta - Sound/lights. Works with Hordak, they’re close friends. He’s dreading her graduation bc she’s the only who actually understands how to run the systems. She insists she’ll be back tho.

Scorpia - Build crew. Stronk. Nuff said. Started bc she wanted to support Catra, and kept doing it bc she thought the head costumer was cute.

Adora - Also build crew. Again, stronk. Paints occasionally because that was her first choice, but they lack muscle strength in build. Can only get away with painting if Lonnie is there that day. Joined to watch Catra and Catra only. Has only listed to the songs that Catra sings in her role. Has never listened to a full Broadway album. Glimmer is disappointed.

Lonnie - Build crew. Not that interested but comes to support her friends when she doesn’t have lacrosse practice. Never runs a show, but watches every night.

Rogelio - Paint crew. Adora lost an arm wrestling contest to him, and he got first choice. She’s forever salty for it but too nice to argue.

Perfuma - Head of costumes. Castaspella and her get along great, they practically have the same personality. Crushing on Scorpia.

Frosta - Costumes. Cousins with Mermista. Comes bc she heard about the chaos and drama that goes down. Will run shows if she doesn’t have hockey practice.

Swift Wind - Fly.

Now for the plot:

The show for the year: Wicked

Cast

Glinda - Double Trouble

Elphaba - Catra

Fiyero - Sea Hawk

Boq - Kyle

Nessa - Glimmer

Madame Morrible - Mermista

The Wizard - Bow

But then two tragedies occurred

Tragedy 1: Angella had to step down as director bc Micah was in the hospital or something idk

Tragedy 2: 2 days later, Sea Hawk breaks his leg pretty bad and he won’t be better in time for the show

Le gasp

So Shadow Weaver takes over as director

Some Shadow Weaver background info: She was a famous actress many years ago and thinks this high school production stuff is below her. She still has a lot of connections to the professional world that she uses from time to time. She wants Adora to follow in her footsteps as a famous actor despite Adora being an incredibly bad actor. She hates that Adora does crew and not acting, but couldn’t do anything about it. Until now.

Now that she’s director and they’re down a Fiyero, she basically forces Adora to play Fiyero, despite the other capable actors who could’ve done it and Adora’s own protests. Think something like: “why can’t bow do it? I’ll be the wizard if there really aren’t enough actors!” “Oh no, bow is the only one who can hit the wizards notes bla bla bla”

Adora doesn’t want to do it, but she also doesn’t want the department to not be able to do the show. Plus she would get to hang out with Catra a lot which would be cool

I’m guessing you can already tell where the conflict is coming from, but we had some very clear ideas of stuff that happened, like

Adora was behind bc she wasn’t going to play the role originally, she’s never acted before, and she can’t dance. So she has a lot of one on one practices with Huntara, the choreographer. Before getting the role, the only practices Adora would watch if she didn’t have crew were the dance practices. She went purely to watch Catra, but Catra thinks that she has a crush on Huntara.

Tension and miscommunication, y’know?

Bow and Glimmer are both very supportive but also nervous bc they know that Adora is extremely bad at acting

Sea Hawk has never seen Adora try to act before, so he doesn’t see what the issue is. Once he’s well enough to go to school again, he comes to every rehearsal even tho he can’t be in the show. And then he sees. And then he’s like, oh no.

But he tries to be supportive and pump Adora up.

Adora is feeling a lot of pressure bc of her new role and doesn’t want to screw things up for everyone.

Catra is a little pissed off that she’s been paired up with someone who can’t act for her senior show, so she’s a little snippy at first, and Adora is tense, and it’s a mess

But Shadow Weaver doesn’t care, and ends up blaming every problem they have during an acting scene with Adora and Catra on Catra, even though she’s the best actor in the department. Because ✨favoritism✨

And you know, they do the whole hot-cold, she hates me, she’s cute, I love her but she doesn’t like me, bla bla bla throughout the course of the show

A week before opening night, Shadow Weaver makes things worse by mentioning that she invited her friend who’s a talent scout to watch the show. Shadow Weaver wants the scout to help get Adora into the acting business.

Catra wants to use this opportunity to get her name out there, so she needs her performance to be perfect

Which is hard to do when her love interest couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag

It’s two days before the show and they still haven’t practiced the kiss scene. Every time they brought it up before, like “should we practice the kiss? I mean, only if you want we don’t have to”, they both got the impression that the other didn’t want to kiss them

(Useless lesbians)

So it’s 2 days before the show, and Shadow Weaver is like, you gotta practice the kiss

So they kiss, and Catra is like, whoa she’s a really good kisser, so she’s quiet after the kiss

And of course, Adora takes that silence as “she hated the kiss and she hates me” as you do

So their practices the next two days are even worse than they were before

Finally, it’s opening night. The scout is coming and they’re out of time. Shadow Weaver ends up shoving Catra and Adora into a closet. She does her whole “you don’t want to let me, your friends, or the audience down do you? Whatever’s distracting you needs to go” to Adora, and then she turns to Catra and is like “fix what you’ve done, I know you sabotaged her you useless child. You’re going to be the reason this show goes horribly” and then she leaves

AND CATRA AND ADORA ACTUALLY TALK I KNOW IM SHOCKED TOO

Adora’s like, sorry I’ve been so weird the past two days, I just realized I really like you after we kissed, but I know you don’t feel that way about me, sorry if that makes it weird

And Catra’s like, Adora you idiot I love you

And they kiss

And Bow finds them still kissing in the closet 20 minutes before the show opens and rushes them to Castaspella to get their make up fixed

It ends up being Adora’s best performance because every time they’re about to go on for a scene together, Catra tells her to forget about the audience and just focus on her

The scout ended up liking Catra and Double Trouble a lot to Shadow Weaver’s disappointment

Facts that aren’t important to the main plot, but definitely happened

One time, before Sea Hawk broke his leg, Catra was trying out her harness for the defying gravity and other flying scenes, and Swift Wind, who does fly, accidentally dropped her and she landed on Adora

No Good Deed was the best moment in the show, and the amount of emotion Catra was able to put into her performance during that song was a little frightening but also made a lot of people tear up

The second best scene in the show was surprisingly As Long as you’re Mine, because Adora was actually able to forget about the audience and just focus on her love for Catra

The show last year was Mean Girls. Catra was Regina. Glimmer was Gretchen(you can’t argue that she doesn’t give off, “I don’t think my father, the inventor of toaster stroodle, would be very pleased to hear about this” vibes). Mermista was surprisingly amazing as Karen, and played her deadpan perfectly. No one knows how she did it. Sea Hawk was Cady, Double Trouble was Janice, and Bow was Damien. They reference their experiences during this show during Wicked, but the only thing Adora remembers about that production is how hot Catra was during World Burn.

Ironically (or unironically, idk), Glimmer once said “I don’t think my mother, the director of the show, will be very pleased to hear about this” to an actor who was found sabotaging Catra’s mic for the show before Mean Girls. Catra thought Shadow Weaver put her up to it but there was no proof.

Princess Prom but making it Dancing Through Life

Or is it Dancing Through Life but make it Princess Prom

If someone wants to write this, please do, just send me the link so I can read it! I would write it myself but I’m lazy lol.

[early2000smovieimagines]

Meeting and Dating Cady Heron

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

- You obviously met Cady when she moved to town and started going to your school. You weren’t in any of her classes so you didn’t know about her until lunch time came around and a new red head bobbed it’s way through the crowd.

- You watched with pity as she searched the intimidating landscape before your eyes locked. Ever the empath, you kept her gaze and gave a small smile as she somewhat timidly approached. And thus, you became Cadys first American friend.

-While it may not be the greatest thing to go through, at the end of the day I think the whole plastic situation has to happen to Cady, except this time, what's really spurring her on is the fact that Regina George bullied you. 

- Truth be told, it all started out as good fun between Cady, Janis, Damien, and subsequently you; but then Cady saw how Regina treated you and it became personal.

- Cady was starting to realize she had a serious thing for you; something she never expected since she hadn’t ever thought of herself as dating a girl, so seeing you getting insulted and pushed around made her really commit to her plan. She was going to destroy Regina and the rest of the plastics, and she was gonna do it for you. 

- Except, things don’t always go as planned, do they? No, Cady got carried away, and in her efforts to help and avenge you, she only hurt you in the process. 

- Somewhere in the middle of her plans, she’d nervously word vomited and told you about her feelings and to her surprise you’d accepted them happily. The two of you became a secret item and that only made her feel the need to work even harder at her revenge plot. 

- Well, you know how the rest of the story goes, she starts blowing you off constantly, “has to” talk bad about you to the other plastics, and gets completely lost in her efforts. 

- See, she’d ignore you all day and then she’d show up late at your house acting like a, well, …a plastic. It was one of those nights when your relationship took a turn for the worse.

- She’d told you earlier that day that she couldn’t hang out with you, but then she’d arrived at your house at eleven o’clock when your parents were out on a date, prancing around in her tight dress and pretending like everything was completely normal. 

- You’d went to your room and she’d immediately started to blatantly come onto you. You, still a little upset at her recent behavior, gently pushed her from you and asked what had gotten into her. 

- Under other circumstances, you probably wouldn’t have minded the visit or the propositioning. You probably could have even forgotten about your bruised feelings as well, but then she’d asked “what was wrong with you”, tried to kiss you again, and things escalated from there. 

- Insults were thrown, accusations were made, and you threw her out of your house before collapsing against your front door in a fit of hot angry tears. It wasn’t long before your new friends; Janis and Damien, could also join your anti Cady Heron club.

- Though you knew you still loved her, you couldn’t deny that she hurt you, and if that person you’d encountered was “the new Cady”, you didn’t want anything to do with her. 

- When the burn book surfaces, you aren’t surprised to see a page dedicated to you though the insults are everything you’d already heard so it didn’t exactly hurt your feelings. What did surprise you was that Cady took the fall for it. 

- You knew it wasn’t true; at least not fully, but who were you to say anything. Your …girlfriend(?) had dug herself a grave that only she could climb her way out of. 

- Alas, you weren’t as heartless as you wished you could be and against your will and better judgement, you found yourself driving to her house after your bullying assembly and asking her if you could talk. 

- The two of you spent the next hour talking things out and eventually making up, with her apologizing profusely the entire time. It was easy to se that she felt horrible which made forgiving her just as easy.

- And so, the two of you are back together again and this time it’s for the better in a much nicer high school environment. 

- You have a lot of pda in your relationship but it’s rarely things that can be interpreted as being too romantic considering it’s the early 2000s and we know that at that high school, being gay wasn’t good.

- Handholding. 

- Long hugs. 

- Slow, soft kisses. 

- Cheek kisses. 

- She loves cuddling. She likes hugging you while resting her head on your chest. 

- Inside jokes. 

- Teasing each other. 

- You know those scenes in movies where couples are play fighting, like slapping each others hands after one steals a fry then proceeding to laugh with each other before kissing? That’s the two of you constantly. 

- Wearing her Mathletes jacket.

- Going to all her tournaments.

- She’s got a good memory when it comes to you, she’ll never forget your birthday, anniversary, or any other important things to you. 

- Gifts, except this time they aren’t to sabotage your life. 

- Teaching her about pop culture and high school life.

- Seeing her adorable excited reactions to recognizing American things: songs, references, etc.

- Getting to hear her stories about living in Africa. 

- African terms of endearment. Bokkie, choty goty, poepolletjie, poplap, etc.

- Letting her rant to you. She just can’t shut up when she’s angry.

- She overthinks things when she’s nervous so you try your best to calm her down. She does the same for you whenever you get overwhelmed and worked up. 

- She’s really good at comforting you and does so the minute she thinks you look sad or she can tell that somethings hurt you. 

- The girlfriend that pulls your skirt/shirt down or brushes your hair back for you when you don’t notice you’re about to be exposed or dip it in something.

- She still has Plastic tendencies so occasionally you’ll catch her saying “love ya” and blowing kisses.

- Going to the mall. You’ll usually drop in and say hi to Janis and Damien.

- Being Damien's wing women and eventually going on double dates with him. 

- Study dates. 

- Going to the movies together. 

- Bowling and roller skating dates. 

- Zoo dates. 

- Using that walker brothers pancake house gift certificate. 

- She isn’t really afraid of potentially making a fool of herself so she’s game to do all the things society deems as “lame” with you. 

- Family dinners at her house. 

- Her parents are supportive so you’re guaranteed at least one pair of adults who are happy to see you two together. 

- Her mother makes the two of you matching bracelets. 

- She’s a very jealous girl. Cady hasn’t ever really liked anyone before, she’s also never had a partner before, so seeing you with other boys or girls makes her feel this red hot sort of prickling anger. She plays it cool; knowing she can’t just attack them, but when you’re back at her side, she tries to keep your attention focused solely on her.

- Cady isn’t offensively protective, rather than go after the other person, she hangs back and makes sure you’re okay. She’ll always be at your side, comforting you, shielding you from view and glaring at whoever hurt you. With that being said, she might occasionally have to handle things as though she were in the animal kingdom.

- Making sure people don’t take advantage of her naivety towards American life. 

- She word vomits when she's angry so while you don’t fight very often, when you do, she may accidentally say something she doesn’t mean or just let out a mouthful of a rant. One of you will either apologize right then and there or you’ll give each other the silent treatment.

- She’s usually the first one to crack after you’ve had a fight, she just can’t stand you being upset with her. She always gives a genuine apology and asks if things are alright between the two of you; smiling and giving you a hug when you tell her that they are.

- She’s not afraid to tell you she loves you, in fact, she loves saying it. She says it just about every time you say goodbye, and when she’s really happy, and when she just feels the need to.

- In the animal kingdom, few animals mate for life. She hopes that the two of you are among those few.

[maybeimamuppet]

I see stars

hello friends, happy Wednesday! before we get into this I'd like to thank my irl friends Nerd and Kween (I asked them if they'd like to pick an alias, that's what they each chose) for giving me scene ideas and helping me to write this chapter!

tw for:

outing

and something that could be seen as a suicide attempt if you squint. its really not, but... it'll make sense once you get into it.

anyway, please enjoy!

-

At 11:11, Cady makes a wish on a star outside her window. She’s just moved across the world, to Illinois from Kenya. She’s never felt more alone in her life.

So, Cady wishes for a friend. Someone who will stick by her side through anything. Doesn’t matter who. She knows it’s a cliche to wish on a star, but she’s desperate. She’ll try anything.

She’s not expecting to be woken by a blinding bright light at exactly midnight. She blinks blearily as she wakes, looking into the backyard. There’s a girl about her age, bathed in the light.

Cady tugs on her hedgehog slippers and runs downstairs, able to approach the girl lying in her grass as the blinding light fades.

She doesn’t seem to be breathing, but she gasps sharply and her eyes shoot open just before Cady can touch her.

“No, no, no,” the girl says desperately.

“Um... are you okay?” Cady asks quietly, very confused by the last several minutes. The girl looks at her and screams, making Cady jump.

“You, who are you?” The girl demands, her blonde hair flowing behind her. Her eyes are glowing and her hair moves on its own. That’s not normal.

“Um... I’m Cady. Cady Heron,” Cady says confusedly.

“What the fuck have you done?!” The girl yells at her. “You made a wish, what did you wish for?”

Cady is almost crying in fear as this terrifying... person? yells at her. “Nothing, I just-I wanted a friend, I didn’t-I didn’t mean to do anything to you. Who are you?”

“I,” the girl says with a sigh. “Am the star you wished on. Or I used to be, anyway.”

“You what?! That can’t... you...” Cady splutters. “But you’re a girl.”

“To you. This is my... Earthly form, you could say,” the star replies. “You don’t believe me. Here, touch me.”

Cady tries to, pulling back with a yelp as her fingertip makes contact. She’s burning hot.

“Ow! You couldn’t prove it some other way?” Cady hisses, sucking on her burned finger. The star stands up, shaking off her white robes and combing her hands through her long blonde hair. Now that Cady looks closely, her hair is almost exactly the color of starlight. And there’s still a sort of glowing aura around her. “Can anyone else see you?”

“They can now, thanks to you,” the star spits. “That’s a point, actually, hold on.”

She waves her hands for a second, somehow removing the light emanating from her. Her eyes stop glowing and fade to a rather beautiful honey-brown, and her hair lays flat in waves down just past her shoulders. She brings her hands together to condense the light, and like a magician releasing a dove, reveals two gold bracelets that she slides onto her wrists.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t... I didn’t mean to bring you here,” Cady whispers. “Can I help you get back?”

The star sighs, seeming to calm herself. “You had no way of knowing this would happen. It hasn’t for thousands of your years. You don’t need to apologize.”

“What did happen?” Cady asks in confusion.

“You made a wish at a very poor time for me,” the girl replies, coming to sit by her on the grass. “But we don’t have time to get into it now.”

“Okay,” Cady says. She doesn’t think it’s okay, she has so many questions, but she doesn’t want to anger the girl again. “Um… what’s your name?”

“I don’t have one,” the girl shrugs. “I suppose you humans have technically named me at some point, but I wouldn’t know it.”

“Are you staying here?”

“It would seem so,” the girl hums. “For a while, anyway. I’ll have to go back soon.”

“Then you need a name,” Cady insists. She stands and reaches to help her up, but pulls back quickly. “Are you still, um…”

The star chuckles. “No. If I’m not glowing you don’t have to worry.”

“Ah,” Cady says as if she understands. She doesn’t, nothing about this evening makes sense. “Come on, it’s cold out here.”

“You trust strangers remarkably quickly,” the girl says as she takes her hand to be led up the stairs to Cady’s bedroom. “I could be some crazy human telling you a lie.”

“You could be, but you were glowing and burning hot when you got here, and you clearly can do some kind of… magic, or something, with your… essence. And you already knew I wished on a star,” Cady whispers. “Now shush, you’ll wake my parents up.”

“Parents?”

“Yeah. You know, like… the people who made me?” Cady says. “Do stars not have parents?”

“Not that I would ever know,” the star says. “We’re technically composed of pieces of others who’ve already died. What are parents like?”

Cady sits the girl on her bed and roots through her dresser for something less conspicuous for her to wear. “It depends. Some aren’t great. Mine are nice, they love me. They’re a little dorky, but they’re good people. You’ll like them.”

The star takes the offered sweats and looks at them curiously. “What do I do with these?”

“Wear them,” Cady giggles. “You’ll attract a lot of attention in that.”

The star looks down at her long, angelic robes, then back at what Cady has on. She seems to realize that, indeed, she sticks out like a sore thumb. Cady yelps and turns around when she starts tugging her robes off.

“What happened?” The girl asks in confusion.

“You can’t just get naked in front of people,” Cady huffs. “Privacy is important.”

“Oh. Privacy.” The star replies quietly. She tugs on the offered clothes and rests her robes next to her. “I’m done now.”

Cady turns back warily and chuckles when she sees her. “You put the shirt on backwards.”

“Backwards?”

“The wrong way. Come here,” Cady says. The star approaches warily, and Cady helps her turn the shirt around. “For future reference, on human clothes, there’s usually a tag. That goes in the back.”

“Human clothes are so strange,” the girl says thoughtfully, tugging curiously at her collar. She gestures to the pants. “What do you call these? The… leg tubes?”

“Pants?” Cady chuckles, guiding her back to the bed so they can have a chat. “How much do you know? About… me? Or just humanity?”

“Good question,” the star says. “For humanity as a whole, I know most of the common belief systems and usually how cultures function, basic things like that. In terms of specific things like… pants, you said?” Cady nods. “That’s not my area of expertise.”

Cady nods thoughtfully. “And me?”

“You, I only know what I’ve seen. I was assigned to you when you were born. I’ve been watching you, sort of. But I can’t see into your soul or anything, I don’t know your thoughts. I just know what would’ve been observable by anyone,” the girl shrugs.

“Assigned to me? Prove it. When’s my birthday?” Cady says slightly suspiciously, folding her arms over her chest.

“In human time, February eleventh, 2001,” the star says instantly.

“Human time…? No, never mind. Um… where is my biggest scar?” Cady asks. “And how did I get it?”

“Your… oh, what is it called… ah, your stomach. You were playing with a lion cub named Louise and got scratched. You were ten years old and required eight stitches,” the girl replies.

Cady goes quiet. Her scar isn’t visible unless she wears a crop top, and only someone who knew her as a child would know how she got it to that level of specificity. The star is telling the truth.

“Okay, I believe you,” Cady breathes. “This is… a lot for one night.”

“I wasn’t expecting to be here either, I certainly understand,” the girl chuckles sardonically.

“You still need a name,” Cady suddenly realizes. “I can’t keep calling you ‘the star’ or ‘the girl’ in my head.”

“Okay. If you say so,” the star shrugs. “You seem to have decent judgement, you can name me.”

Cady hums pensively, her eyes drifting over to the records her dad had given her to introduce her to American music. There’s a Janis Joplin record on top.

“What about Janis?” Cady asks. It suits the girl pretty well. “Like this.”

The star reads over the letters on the record sleeve and nods. “I like it.”

“Well then, Janis, we should sleep. Wait, do you even need to sleep?” Cady asks. This is all so complicated.

“I think so,” Janis says. “We’ll find out. I know I can sleep, however.”

Cady nods with a thoughtful hum before she gestures for Janis to lie on the far side of her bed. Cady inches in after her, but makes sure to leave a gap in between them. Janis wiggles comfortably under the blankets, delighted at feeling their soft texture for the first time.

“Goodnight, Janis,” Cady murmurs softly.

“Goodnight, Cady Heron,” Janis whispers back.

————-

Cady wakes with a start the next morning when she remembers there’s someone else in bed with her. Janis seems to be spooning her, which is actually kind of nice. Cady takes a moment to think about how to explain this to her parents. They’d never believe the truth, but she needs some story that will convince them to let Janis stay.

She rolls out of bed when she decides on something believable, and tucks Janis in a little tighter. Janis snuffles gently but doesn’t wake.

Cady pads down the stairs and finds her parents in the kitchen making breakfast.

“Morning, binti,” her dad says when he spots her in the hallway. Cady comes into the room staring at her feet.

“Don’t be mad,” she begins, already smacking herself mentally. That’s never a good way to start a conversation. “Um, one of my friends came over last night. She got… kicked out, she needs somewhere to stay. I don’t want her on the streets. Can she please stay here for a while?”

“Kicked out?” Her mom asks. “How do you know this girl?”

“She… she didn’t say why. I didn’t want to ask,” Cady lies quietly. She’s been close enough to the truth so far. “And, um… we met at… the observatory. The one I went to after school last week.”

“Of course she can stay. We have plenty of room, she can stay as long as she needs. Just teach her the rules and stuff,” Cady’s dad replies. Her mom looks at him unhappily, but does nod after a moment’s thought. Cady hugs them both in a mix of happiness and relief.

“Thank you. Her name is Janis, by the way,” Cady murmurs. “I’ll go let her know.”

Her parents nod and send her back up to her bedroom. Cady returns to find Janis awake and turning the lights on and off curiously.

“Hey,” she says softly. Janis jumps and whirls around to see her.

“Good morning,” Janis replies. Cady chuckles.

“What are you doing?”

“How does this turn on the light all the way over there?” Janis asks in wonder.

Cady shrugs. “Electricity, I dunno. I’m not used to it either. Um, my parents said you can stay here. I told them you got kicked out, but they think that means, like, your human parents kicked you out. But you can stay here as long as you need.”

“How lovely,” Janis says. Her stomach suddenly rumbles and she looks at it in confusion.

“You must be hungry. Come on, my parents have breakfast downstairs,” Cady giggles. “I think you’ll like waffles.”

—————-

Cady and Janis set up a routine that day. Cady teaches Janis about human life, and has an added bonus of getting help with her chores. In return, Cady gets a friend. And a cool friend, if she does say so herself.

Cady had bravely taken Janis out shopping, and the fallen star had immediately taken to fishnet tights and oversized jackets. The punk clothes suit her far more than Cady’s hand-me-downs.

Janis stays home when Cady goes to school for safety. Janis also got a phone so she can contact Cady in an emergency, so they have that. Janis knows all the rules and especially not to mess around in the kitchen. She spends most of her days learning about humanity through TV shows and other media. Janis isn’t too keen on what she finds, but Cady seems to be an outlier. She hopes more humans are like Cady.

-

One day, the two girls are washing the dishes after dinner. Janis washes and Cady dries. Cady suddenly fumbles drying a knife and nicks her finger.

Janis looks up in surprise when she yelps. “What happened?” Cady shows off her slightly bleeding finger. “Oh. You’re bleeding.”

“Just a little, it’s not a big deal. I’ll grab a bandaid, it’s fine,” Cady shrugs, already moving towards the first aid kit. Janis gently grabs her hands to stop her moving away.

“I can help,” she says quietly. “Please?” Cady nods gently. Janis holds the wounded finger gently between her hands and closes her eyes. Cady’s finger feels warmer, suddenly, and there’s an odd tingling sensation. “There.”

When Cady looks, the only hint of an injury is a small scar. “Wow.”

“The scar will fade slowly. I usually don’t leave them, but my abilities aren’t quite up to snuff on Earth,” Janis says shyly.

“No, it’s… wow,” Cady says again. “You’re incredible. Thank you.”

Janis flushes and looks down. “You’re welcome.”

In a momentary fit of boldness, Cady leans in and kisses Janis’ cheek. Janis squeaks in surprise and blushes harder.

“Let’s get back to it, star girl,” Cady chuckles, grabbing her towel again. Janis shuffles back over and grabs her sponge.

-

Cady starts noticing strange things after that day. She feels emotions that don’t totally fit her situation. She’s beginning to have memories of doing things she hasn’t done. She has knowledge of things she didn’t study.

The kicker comes one day in her French class. Cady notices she suddenly has much more energy. Her knee is bouncing uncontrollably and her mind is racing. She takes a second to check her phone when she feels it buzzing wildly in her pocket.

stargirl: CADDY WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME BOUT COFEEEe

stargirl: IS SO GOOD

stargirl: TASTE LIKE CHOCOLATE BUT NAKES MY BRAIN GO FSST I LOVE IT

stargirl: OPPS I SPELLED YOUR NAME WRONG BUT YOURE CADDY NOW

spacecadet: Janis how much coffee have you had?

stargirl: EIGT

spacecadet: Good lord, Janis. Stop drinking it and wait until I get home, please

stargirl: WHYYYYY

spacecadet: Because it’s affecting me too, and I can’t have that right now. Go run around the backyard or something. Just stop the coffee

stargirl: :(

stargirl: ohhhhhh i see now that looks like a sad face

stargirl: clever humans. i was wondering why you use that when you’re unhappy

stargirl: ok bye

Cady clicks her phone off and tries to tune back into her class, wondering what the hell is happening. She and Janis appear to share some sort of link now, if the coffee is anything to go by.

Janis is definitely coming to school with her after this.

-

Janis seems much calmer when Cady gets home. The caffeine crash appears to have kicked in, because she’s huddled up on the couch and staring lethargically at the ceiling.

“Hey, Jay,” Cady says softly. Janis whines and turns to look at her. “You okay?”

“Caddy, the fast juice makes my head hurt,” Janis whines again. Cady grins sadly and heads to fetch her some ibuprofen and water.

“Here, this will help,” Cady says quietly. “The headache is a part of caffeine withdrawal. I see you had a fun day.”

“I deep cleaned the whole house in two hours and the neighbors let me play with their puppy,” Janis replies. Cady chuckles again.

“Well, my parents will love having the house this clean, so good job there. But we should talk,” she says softly. “I felt the caffeine too. Just a little bit. I felt a bit of the energy, and my leg started shaking. What does that mean?”

“I’m not totally sure myself, but this can happen sometimes,” Janis replies. “I forgot about it at the time, I just wanted to help. But sometimes when I do things like healing your cut, or things like that, a bit of me… gets into you, kind of. Forms a sort of link between us. We’ll share a bit of our stronger emotions or sensations, learn things the other knows, stuff like that.”

“So… you healing my cut gave us a psychic link?” Cady asks confusedly.

“Kind of,” Janis agrees. “I can help you learn how to turn it off, in a way, if it bothers you.”

Cady shakes her head. “I kind of like it. Except when you have eight cups of coffee while I’m trying to focus in class.”

“Cady, it’s so good,” Janis says dreamily. “It’s the most wonderful human creation.”

“Well, I’m glad you had a good day, but take it in moderation. No more than two cups from here on, okay?” Cady giggles. Janis nods with a pout. “And I think… I think you should start coming to school with me. It’s only November, you won’t have missed too much.”

“But won’t it… what’s the word… embarrass you? If I say something strange? I’m still not used to humanity,” Janis asks concernedly. Cady looks away briefly.

“There’s not much more damage you can do. Nobody talks to me anyway,” she whispers. “It’ll be nice to have a friend there.”

Janis doesn’t quite know what to do here; she’s still adjusting to human emotions. But a hug seems to fit, so she sits herself up and awkwardly wraps her arms around Cady. Cady leans in and tips her head against her shoulder.

“Then I’ll go,” Janis says softly. “I’m your friend.”

Cady nods. “Thanks, Jay.”

“Oh, um… can I do something, for my sake, if I’m going to school with you?” Janis asks. “It might give you a headache for a few minutes, but you should be fine.”

“Should be? Oh boy,” Cady says worriedly. Janis positions them so they’re facing each other and gets another confirmation from Cady. She nods, and Janis reaches out and touches the center of her forehead.

Cady feels like her brain is exploding. Her mind rushes with thoughts and it feels like they’re pouring out her ears. She’s about to cry out for Janis to make it stop, but Janis ends it just before she reaches her limit. Cady is left with a minor migraine, but shockingly, no other side effects.

“What the heck was that?” She asks desperately.

“I’m sorry,” Janis murmurs. “I just made copies of the knowledge you use for school and gave them to myself. You were basically feeling all your intelligence being doubled and then half removed. But the headache fades.”

Cady supposes Janis will need to be able to do classwork and things, she needs the information. Cady can forgive a temporary headache. “Your hair.”

“What?” Janis asks, furrowing her brows.

“Your hair is brown. Here,” Cady says, touching her own roots. Janis scrambles up and runs to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Cady follows in concern. It doesn’t look bad, it’s only about a centimeter, but Cady had assumed Janis would be a natural blonde. “Are you okay?”

Janis stares at her reflection for a long moment. “Hm? Oh, yeah. It’s fine, everything’s fine.”

Cady’s part of the link floods with alarm bells saying ‘Lie. Lying. Lie.’ She decides not to question it, Janis seems distressed enough. She’ll tell her when she’s ready.

“Okay then. Come on, let’s go get your school supplies,” Cady says, reaching to hold her hand. Janis follows her away clinging to her hand tightly.

————-

Janis starts school with Cady the next week. After a fair bit of pleading, the school agreed to give Janis the same schedule so they can stick together. People still look at them oddly, but one mildly threatening look from Janis sends them on their way.

They manage to skate by relatively unnoticed until lunch. Janis hasn’t said much of anything in fear of causing a scene.

“Don’t you want to eat with the other humans?” Janis asks once they have their lunches, confused as to why Cady isn’t heading back towards the cafeteria. They get a few odd looks at the use of the term ‘other humans’, but nobody seems to think twice about it. High school is weird enough already.

“I usually don’t. I’ve been eating in the bathroom,” Cady says shyly. “Or sometimes with Ms. Norbury. I don’t think anyone would let me sit with them.”

“Well, now there’s two of us. Maybe someone will,” Janis says optimistically. Cady shrugs and decides to give it a shot.

They’re both immediately overwhelmed by the amount of people present and look around in shock. Janis is about to rescind her statement and take them somewhere else when a high, falsely sweet voice rings out from the table in the center of the room.

“Wait, why don’t I know you?” It asks. Everyone else turns to look at the two of them, seemingly in shock.

“Um… we’re new,” Cady stutters. “I’m Cady, this is Janis.”

“You’re both, like, really pretty,” the girl says.

“Uh… thanks,” Cady says.

“So you agree?”

“Huh?”

“You think you’re really pretty,” the girl says. “Or were you talking about that one? Are you some kind of-”

Suddenly, another voice comes by. “Absolutely not. Regina, stop with the mind games and kindly shut the fuck up. Nobody here actually cares what you have to say and your hair looks like hay.”

Janis yelps as she and Cady are dragged away from the table, down the hall and out the doors into the courtyard by the owner of the voice. They’re finally released once they’re under a large oak tree. They both turn to find a tall, sweet looking boy in a t-shirt with a drag queen on it.

“Sorry about that, but it’s for your own good,” he says. “I’m Damian Hubbard, token school gay and junior activities chair.”

“Oh, you’re in my French class! Well, our French class. You’re the one who wanted to go by Fantine,” Cady exclaims.

“One and the same,” Damian nods. He looks at them expectantly. Cady suddenly realizes what he wants.

“Oh! Sorry. I’m Cady, this is Janis,” Cady says. “We’re new here. Juniors.”

“Fun! Where are you guys from?” He asks.

“I’m from Kenya,” Cady says instantly. Luckily, Damian is so interested in this information that he doesn’t ask where Janis is from. Janis just quietly eats her burger while Damian and Cady chat about Africa.

“So what are your schedules like? I haven’t noticed you in my other classes,” Damian asks once his curiosity about Kenya is sated. He looks specifically at Janis. “I definitely would have noticed you.”

“Today is her first day, she’s been… homeschooled, for a while,” Cady explains as she hands her schedule over. “We have AP Calculus after this, then English.”

“Damn, AP Calc as juniors? You guys must be geniuses,” Damian says, impressed. “We have most of our morning classes together, but I have theater and study hall after this.”

“What’s up with that girl?” Janis asks suddenly, practically the first words she’s said all day. Damian looks at her in brief surprise before launching into a story.

“Regina is sort of queen bee here. Everyone calls her and her little group the Plastics, because… they… look like they’re plastic. She’s a manipulative bitch, just stay away from her. For your own good,” Damian warns.

“She seemed nice,” Cady says confusedly. “She said we were pretty.”

“Regina George is not nice!” Damian exclaims suddenly. “Sorry. I have some… history, with her. We shouldn’t get into it now. Anyway, are you guys, like, sisters?”

They both chuckle. Cady answers, “No, we’re just friends. We actually didn’t meet all that long ago. But we do live together.”

“Neat,” Damian says, not pressing and asking why they live together as just friends. “You don’t seem to talk much, Janis.”

Janis looks to Cady in concern, not knowing how to respond.

“She’s just… wary of new people,” Cady says for her. “She warms up after a while.” Janis nods as if to confirm.

“Ah, that’s chill,” Damian says. “Ew, that made me sound straight. Anyway. I usually eat lunch out here when it’s nice, if you guys want to join me. I’ll be glad to show you around.”

“Thank you,” Cady says gratefully. Janis’ instincts tell her to trust this boy, so she nods as well. The bell rings to signal the end of lunch and they all jump.

“No problem. I’ll see you in homeroom tomorrow!” Damian calls, tugging his bag over his shoulder and waving as he heads back to class.

“He seems fun,” Cady says, waiting for Janis to finish gathering her things. “And nice.”

“I like him,” Janis nods. “And I don’t trust that Regina girl. I think Damian’s right, we should avoid her.”

Cady nods. “Okay, I trust your judgement more than mine. Come on, star girl, we’re gonna be late.”

—————-

A few weeks later, Cady and Janis have officially formed a little squad with Damian. They’re nearly inseparable, and Janis is thankful for the opportunity to observe another human close-up. But she has questions.

“Caddy?” She asks one day while Cady is doing math. Janis is doing something called painting, which Cady had introduced her to. Janis likes it and does seem to have a natural aptitude for it.

“Hmm?”

“What does gay mean? Damian says he’s… whatever it is, but I’ve never heard it used before,” Janis asks.

Cady looks at her. “Um… a gay person is someone who’s attracted to the same sex, either romantically or sexually. So, Damian likes boys.”

“Oh. So I’m gay?” Janis asks. Cady chokes on the small sip of her drink she’s just taken.

“Do you like girls?”

“I think so. I’m not… totally sure what attraction is like, yet, but I’m pretty sure I’m not attracted to any man,” Janis says.

“That’s fine,” Cady says gently. “Girls who are gay are usually called lesbians. But you can also like both boys and girls, and people in between. Or nobody.”

“This is all terribly confusing,” Janis says. Cady chuckles.

“Believe me, I know. Here, you can read through this and see if anything fits. I’m sure it’ll be a little different for you, since you’re not totally… human,” Cady says shyly.

Janis takes the proffered laptop and scrolls through it. She desperately tries to ignore the bookmark on the ‘bisexual’ tab, clearly put there by Cady. That’s personal, Cady would tell her if she wanted her to know.

“I believe I am an asexual lesbian,” Janis says after about eight minutes. Cady looks at her in shock.

“You knew that quickly?”

“It’s what seems to fit best, that’s what you said I should look for,” Janis shrugs.

“Okay. Good for you, Jay,” Cady says quietly. “Proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Janis says. Cady’s eyes suddenly go wide as she looks at her. “What?”

“Your hair. More of it is brown,” Cady says.

“No,” Janis whispers anxiously, running to the vanity to check in the mirror. There’s about three inches of the dark brown now, but the rest is still her old platinum blonde.

“Janis, what’s going on? Please,” Cady begs. “What does this mean? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Janis says quietly. “It’s fine.”

Alarms go off in Cady’s head again. Janis will tell you when she’s ready. Don’t push, she reminds herself.

“You’ll tell me if something does happen, though?” Cady confirms.

“Yes,” Janis says. About anything except this. “I promise. It’s fine.”

Cady doesn’t question it further, even when she hears Janis awake all night.

————-

Janis is tidying the basement a few weeks later to help out Cady’s parents. For a bit of entertainment, she switches on the mental link she shares with Cady. They’ve discovered that if only one of them has it ‘on’, they only get the bare bones of what the other is feeling. It’s actually kind of handy.

Janis is immediately overwhelmed with stressed and anxious vibes coming through. To save herself a potentially literal headache, she flicks it back off and rushes upstairs to save Cady.

Cady jumps slightly when she comes barreling into the bedroom, but only looks up from her books briefly before she turns back.

“What’s wrong?” Janis asks.

“Nothing,” Cady says airily, but Janis can see the tension in her shoulders and the clench in her jaw. Cady can apparently feel her staring in disbelief, because she sighs and turns around. “We have a big English test next week, I’m trying to study. I’m… really not good at English.”

“You speak it well,” Janis says. “I think you’re good.”

“Thanks, Janis,” Cady chuckles sadly. “There’s just so many rules, and then there’s always exceptions to the rules. It doesn’t make sense.”

Janis has found this to be true with her studies of humans as well, so she certainly can relate. “Can I help?”

Cady grins at her affectionately. “I could use a cuddle.”

Janis heads over immediately to wrap her friend in a tight hug, resting her chin on top of Cady’s red hair. Cady sighs contently against her neck and cuddles closer. Janis squeezes her in return.

They stay like that for a long, peaceful moment before Janis suddenly gets a brilliant idea.

“Ooh! Wait here, I’ll be right back,” she says excitedly. Cady pouts at the sudden removal of her snuggles, but sits obediently back at her desk to wait.

Janis comes stumbling back in with her easel and all of her painting supplies, crashing into the room and setting everything up with a good deal of noise.

“I need to teach you some more subtlety,” Cady giggles. “What are you doing?”

“Paint,” Janis says around a mouthful of brushes. She removes them before she continues. “With me. To relax!”

“Jay, that’s sweet, but I really can’t paint,” Cady says. “I should get back to studying anyway.”

“No,” Janis insists. “I don’t know human physiology that well, but I know that’s not healthy. You come paint with me. Right now.”

Cady can’t help but giggle as she purses her lips and puffs out her chest dramatically. “Fine, fine. If you want me to waste your paint.”

“You bought it for me,” Janis shrugs. “And its whole purpose is to make things. It never says it has to be something professional or seen by others as ‘good’. If you make something with it and it helps you calm down, then I don’t see how it’s been wasted.”

“You’re awfully poetic sometimes, you know that?” Cady chuckles. “You have to help me.”

Janis nods eagerly and gets her pallet all set up. She stands behind Cady and guides her hand to help her paint a sunset, resting her chin on Cady’s shoulder and murmuring instructions into her ear. Cady seems a bit more tense than before, for some reason.

Cady does relax after a while. The texture of the thick paint flowing over the canvas is very soothing, and she has an excellent guide behind her. But the painting still isn’t turning out the way she wanted, which is frustrating.

“Relax, you’re so tense,” Janis says calmingly. “You’re shredding the brush.”

“I’m painting,” Cady grumbles.

“You’re massacring it,” Janis chuckles. In retaliation, Cady dabs some lavender paint onto her brush and swipes it over Janis’ nose. “Hey!”

Teasingly, Cady reaches out again and waggles the brush in front of Janis’ face. Janis snatches it and the pallet and dabs some yellow over Cady’s cheek. Cady gasps at the betrayal.

She grabs another brush and a bottle of cheap acrylic, squeezing some out onto another pallet that she also uses as a shield. Janis lunges again, barely managing a streak of blue down Cady’s forehead. Cady retaliates with some pink on Janis’ collarbone.

By the time Janis runs out of materials, they’re both much more colorful than they were a few minutes ago. But Cady is laughing delightedly, which was Janis’ whole goal.

Janis lunges forward and grabs her small friend, holding her close and spinning her around while Cady laughs. Janis suddenly realizes she really wants to kiss her. That’s new.

Cady cuddles close once Janis puts her down and nuzzles into Janis’ neck. “Thank you, Jay. I needed that.”

“Anytime, Birdie,” Janis replies quietly.

“Birdie?” Cady asks.

“Your name,” Janis says. “Heron. It’s a bird. I learned that humans sometimes call animals things that end with that sound for affection. Like doggy or kitty. Or birdie.”

“Cute,” Cady hums. “Herons aren’t really… cute birds, though. They’re pretty big.”

“Let me have this,” Janis pleads.

“Okay,” Cady giggles. She pushes up on her tiptoes to kiss Janis’ cheek. “I’m gonna go wash this off. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Janis squeaks, thankful that the paint hides how hard she’s blushing.

Nearly a third of her hair is brown when she checks the mirror to scrub the paint away.

————-

Janis gets home the next afternoon after a hangout with Damian to find Cady with a green face. She jumps and runs back out of their shared bedroom in fright.

“Janis, come back,” Cady laughs. “I’m just doing some skincare, it’s okay.”

“Why are you green?” Janis asks warily.

“It’s a face mask. This one has avocado,” Cady says, putting her book aside and reaching for her. “The paint yesterday kind of irritated my skin, so I’m doing this to help calm it down.”

“Oh,” Janis says. “You’re not sick?”

“No,” Cady says. “I’m perfectly fine. Face masks are actually very relaxing. Did you have fun with Dame?”

“Yeah,” Janis says absently, looking curiously at the green goop on Cady’s face. “He taught me the dance he came up with for that one Lady Gaga song.”

“Oh, really? You’ll have to show me later,” Cady giggles. “Do you wanna try a mask?”

Janis nods curiously, so Cady heads back to the bathroom to grab the pot of it. Janis eyes it warily but does let Cady lie her down and gently brush it over her face.

Cady doesn’t think for a terribly long time before she decides that straddling Janis is the best way to get it on. She’s filled with regret quite quickly, realizing this is a rather compromising position.

“You have beautiful skin,” she murmurs as she rubs the goop gently into Janis’ cheeks.

“Thanks?” Janis says confusedly. “Like, to eat? Is that what you’re doing?”

To kiss, maybe, Cady thinks, but desperately doesn’t say. “No, not to eat, goofy. But it’s very soft. Feels nice.”

Janis nods thoughtfully. Cady swipes a little bit onto her chin, and she pokes her tongue out to taste it without thinking. “Blech.”

“It’s not to eat, I just said,” Cady giggles. “It’s for your skin, it’s not food.”

“You said it was avocado,” Janis pouts.

“I said it has avocado, it has other things in it too,” Cady says. “Things that don’t taste very good.”

Janis continues pouting at the lack of food as Cady finishes covering her face. Cady suddenly realizes she’s very tempted to kiss it away. It’s romantic, in a way, to be doing this with Janis. Sharing a face mask and looking into each other’s eyes.

“What now?” Janis asks curiously. Cady goes to clean her hands off before she answers.

“Now you leave it on for a while and relax,” she responds, shoving Janis over on the bed and crawling in next to her. Janis pouts again.

“Relaxing is boring,” she whines.

“It wasn’t boring yesterday,” Cady responds. “Just talk to me.”

“About what?” Janis asks.

“I dunno,” Cady shrugs. “Um… what’s your favorite thing about Earth, so far? Besides coffee?”

Janis thinks for a while. Cady twines their fingers together in the meantime without thinking about it, giving Janis’ hand a gentle squeeze. Janis squeezes back before she answers.

“You,” she says quietly. “And Damian. Getting to know you face to face is… so much better than watching you from above. And I would never have met him if I hadn’t fallen. I got the best tour guides to Earth.”

Cady is nearly in tears at her answer. “I’m glad I can. Well, I’m not glad you fell. But I am glad it gave me a chance to meet you. I love-“ I love you.

Janis looks at her expectantly.

“I love getting to know you,” Cady finishes. That was close.

Janis grins at her adorably. “Thanks, Caddy.”

“Of course,” Cady whispers. Janis continues talking, saving Cady having to try to recover for a long moment. When the time is up Cady grabs a warm cloth to swipe the mask away with. She finds herself having to actively hold back from kissing the star beneath her.

Maybe she is still stupid with love.

—————-

Janis likes Damian. He doesn’t mind that she doesn’t speak very much, and makes an effort to get to know her anyway. They have little hangouts without Cady from time to time, just to get to know each other.

“Damian?” Janis asks quietly one day as she sits on his bed. Damian pauses his passionate cover of Hello from The Book of Mormon.

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever been in love?”

Damian pauses his backing track and comes to sit next to her. “Not real love, I don’t think. I’ve had, like, crushes and stuff, though. Why?”

“What is it like?” Janis asks. “How do you know?”

“Well, um… you think about them a lot. Want to spend time together, maybe you want to cuddle or kiss them. I always got a kind of warm feeling in my chest whenever I was around him, and it just felt… right, to be together. Like you make sense together,” Damian says. “That’s not a great explanation, sorry.”

“No, it’s-it’s fine,” Janis murmurs.

“Is this prompted by anyone?” Damian asks. “You don’t have to tell me, but I won’t tell them if you don’t want me to.”

“IthinkI’minlovewithCady,” Janis says rapidly. Damian gasps happily and looks at her, then scrambles back on the bed away from Janis. “Is that bad?”

“No, no, that’s-that’s fine,” Damian squeaks. “But what’s happening with your eyes?”

“What?”

“Your eyes are… they’re glowing. Why are they glowing, how long have they done that? Are you a witch?” Damian asks rapidly. Janis runs to look in the mirror, and sure enough, her eyes are glowing a gentle gold color.

She slaps her hands over them and presses her back against the wall. “Don’t freak out.”

“Too late,” Damian calls loudly. “Why the fuck are you glowing, Janis?!”

“Shh,” Janis hushes. “Would you shut up? It’s kind of important other people don’t know about this.”

“But why are your eyes fucking-mmph!” Damian tries to ask again, getting cut off by Janis’ hands slamming over his mouth.

“I’m gonna take my hands away,” Janis says. “And you’re gonna be quiet. I’ll explain, but you have to be calm. Or I will tape your mouth shut. Capiche?”

Damian nods, so Janis removes her hands. He takes a second to breathe. “But are you a witch?” He asks quietly.

“No, I’m not a witch,” Janis grumbles. “I’m a star.”

“You-you-you-“ Damian stutters. “Huh?”

“I’m a star. From the sky,” Janis says. “In your years, I’m about seventeen million years old. I’m Cady’s guardian star. She wished on me and I fell to Earth. And now we’re here.”

Damian blinks at her. “You’re… a star.” Janis nods. “You’re not bullshitting me?” Janis shakes her head. “Prove it. Please.”

“My eyes glowing aren’t enough for you?” Janis asks. Damian shakes his head. “Fine. Grab some sunglasses and oven mitts and meet me in your backyard.”

“What?”

“Just do it,” Janis groans, heading out to the backyard to prepare herself. Luckily, Damian lives in a pretty isolated part of the suburbs. He meets her after a few minutes wearing some cool shades and Animal Crossing patterned oven mitts. “Ready?”

Damian nods, so Janis slips her bracelets off and holds them in her hands. It takes a bit of effort to get them to shift back into her aura, which worries her, but she’ll have to deal with that later. She feels the once familiar warming sensation of her light emanating from her, and the soothing motion of her hair starting to flow down her back. The glow of her eyes is even stronger now.

Damian’s jaw drops in shock. His best friend is a star. He comes up and pokes her arm curiously with one of the mitts. There’s a sizzling noise and a small char mark on the glove, but luckily no other damage. Janis condenses her aura again, this time fashioning some cool piercings that she slips in. They fit her punk look much better. Poor Damian is still trying to process.

“You’re a star,” he says in awe. “That’s so cool! What is star world like? Do you have other star friends? How did you get to be Cady’s star? Do I have a star too?”

Janis grabs him gently and guides him back inside, promising to answer all his questions in due time. The only evidence left behind are two black footprints in the grass where she stood.

————-

Damian has a school show in February. Cady and Janis buy tickets on the first day they’re available, eager to see him in his element.

But Janis has come to a sad realization. Her hair changing colors and her waning ability to change her jewelry back can only mean one thing.

She’s becoming human.

Janis knows she doesn’t belong on Earth. She’s a star. She belongs in the sky, watching over Cady from above. If she stays much longer, she won’t be able to get back.

It’s not as if she wants to leave. She loves Cady in every way a human can love another. And recently, she’s had reason to believe that Cady loves her in return. Janis wants to experience that. But she thinks she wants to be where she belongs more.

Secretly, Janis writes letters. Three, to be precise. One to Cady’s parents to thank them for allowing her to stay with them and being so kind to her. One to Damian, to thank him for being such a good friend and sticking around to take care of Cady Earth side. And one to Cady, saying everything she wants so desperately to say out loud.

She hides them in her backpack, somewhere Cady won’t look until it’s time.

————-

Janis tries to spend as much time as she possibly can with her friends. She makes sure she can do her homework with Cady, and goes to Damian’s house after school almost every day. Neither of them complain. Cady especially doesn’t complain that Janis keeps sneaking into bed with her for cuddles in the middle of the night.

Today is a Damian day. Cady has a Mathletes competition that Janis wasn’t allowed to attend, so Janis gets to invite him over. Damian immediately pulls out a thick script and asks her to help him with his lines.

Janis does happily, curling up next to him on her bed and going off. Damian complains when she keeps giggling at his acting, but they make it through the first act mostly unscathed.

“D, can I ask you something?” Janis asks now that they’re taking a break, hanging off the side of the bed and looking around the room upside-down. Damian flops next to her and does the same.

“Sure.”

“When Caddy and I first met you, you said you had history with Regina,” Janis says. “But she’s not in our history class. What did you mean?”

“Oh,” Damian says. “No, I meant, like, personal history. Drama. We were friends in elementary school. We had dance classes together and stuff. Karen and Gretchen came along a little later and we were all buds. And then I came out as trans in middle school.”

Janis remembers seeing that term when she was researching the LGBT+ community online. She suddenly realizes this story is more personal than she originally anticipated.

“Regina was… not nice about it,” Damian continues after a shaky breath. “We were twelve. She already had some issues and stuff, and I’m honestly not sure she knew what trans meant. Not completely, anyway. She asked me what I thought I was, and I said that I knew I was a boy. And then she just kind of laughed and left me alone. I got to school the next day and there were a bunch of slurs carved into my locker. And suddenly the whole school knew.”

“Oh, Damian,” Janis mumbles. Damian cuddles closer into her when she reaches out. Janis has to hold herself back from unleashing her true form on Regina George and cooking her to a crisp. “That bitch. I’m so sorry.”

“It was what it was,” Damian shrugs. “Anyway, I didn’t know… what to do, really. I thought she would at least be willing to hear me out, learn with me. Still be my friend. But she never talked to me again. I turned around when I saw my locker and ran all the way back home. My mom took me out of school for the rest of the year and I got to go to this drama camp therapy place instead. And then I came back to school as a sophomore. And then this year I met you guys.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Janis murmurs. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Janjan,” Damian says quietly. “Can you only grant Caddy’s wishes or do I get one too?”

“I might be able to pass something on,” Janis chuckles.

“All I’ve wanted from Regina since then is an apology,” Damian says. “Just one genuine ‘I’m sorry’. I don’t even want to see her get, like, hit by a bus or anything anymore. Just that.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Janis whispers. She doesn’t have the heart to tell him it doesn’t quite work that way. But she’ll be damned if she won’t try. “In the meantime, we’re here for you. Cady loves you too, I know. You should tell her too, whenever you feel ready. She’ll support you.”

“Thanks, Jan,” Damian whispers. “Woo, this got too deep, come dance with me.”

Janis happily stands up and does their favorites dances with him. Cady joins in when she gets home, and they have their best sleepover yet. It’s a perfect day.

—————

“Janis?” Cady calls as she enters their shared room on a Thursday. Janis looks up from her easel to see her. “I have a competition tomorrow, do you want to come?”

“Yes,” Janis says immediately. She’s wanted to go to one of Cady’s Mathletes competitions since she first joined the team in the fall, but the opportunity never came up.

“Okay. What are you up to?” Cady says, coming to peek at her painting in progress. “Aww, is that us?”

Janis nods, letting her look at the vaguely abstract painting of their ‘art freak’ trio. She decides against letting her know it’s a goodbye present. That can wait.

“How sweet,” Cady says. “You’ve really improved, wow.”

“Thanks,” Janis murmurs. “How was practice?”

“Good! I think we’re ready,” Cady chirps. “Tomorrow is our biggest competition though, so I’m not sure.”

“You’ll do great,” Janis says confidently.

“Thanks, Jay,” Cady responds with a grin.

-

The next day after school, Janis heads to the auditorium to watch Cady compete. Cady had to wear her uniform to school, and she looks so cute in it that Janis had to walk to class alone to avoid pulling her aside and confessing everything.

She finds a seat close to the front, and on the opposite side to Cady so they can see each other easily. Janis smiles seeing her interact with her teammates. She’s glad Cady has made more friends. It’ll make things easier for both of them when it’s time for Janis to go.

—-

Cady laughs and jokes with her teammates before warm up, but she’s slyly looking for Janis too. She’s scanning the crowd for that familiar part-blonde hair.

She doesn’t find it until they head to their spots at the podium. Cady perks up when she sees her friend and waves happily, laughing when Janis waves back and gives her two thumbs up.

Cady realizes the issue a few equations in. She knows the work and how to do it, but she’s so distracted looking at Janis in the crowd that she almost misses the time. Focus, Cady.

But Janis has the widest smile on her face, watching Cady in her element, that Cady can hardly bear to look away. She shakes her head to try and snap herself back into the competition.

After a while Kevin notices her distraction, and he isn’t pleased. He looks up with her to see what she’s looking at. “Yo, Africa, get your head in the game. Talk to your girlfriend later.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Cady hisses, but she does blush rather violently.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Kevin whispers back.

Cady grumbles nonsense under her breath and scratches down her thinking for the problem. This time she does make it and hits her buzzer to answer first. She’s tied the game. The competition goes into a lightning round, and, as always, her team picks her as their tribute.

Cady looks out to see Janis for a confidence boost, smiling when she sees Janis waving wildly at her and beaming proudly. God, why does she have to be so cute?

She doesn’t notice her time has started until almost half of it is gone, with her teammates yelling at her from behind. She scrambles to grab her pencil and tries to remember what she’s looking for in the first place. Janis, her mind supplies helpfully. Not helpful.

Luckily, the problem is on the screen behind the announcer. Find the limit. She looks back to her math again and continues penciling down her thinking, but the girl across from her slams her buzzer first.

“Shuck,” Cady grumbles under her breath as she gives her answer. Luckily, it’s incorrect and Cady has a chance to steal. “Oh!”

She feels a warm sensation in her head and faintly hears a, “You can do it.” Janis is cheering her on psychically. Cady looks again and realizes something.

“The limit does not exist!” She yells as she slams her buzzer so hard she almost breaks it. The boys erupt into cheers when the announcer reveals she’s correct and has won the event for them.

The audience breaks into polite applause as she shakes her opponent’s hand. Cady laughs as she hears a loud, “Woo!” That definitely came from Janis.

“Is that your girlfriend?” Tyler asks, pointing to the crowd.

“No! Why does everyone keep asking that?” Cady huffs. “She’s just a friend.”

“Then why are you blushing?” Marwan teases.

“Oooooooh, Africa’s crushiiiiiiiiing,” Kevin adds childishly. Cady blushes harder.

“No I’m not!”

“Dude, you were staring at her the whole competition, you almost lost it because of her,” Kevin says, suddenly much more serious. “You so are.”

“Okay, fine,” Cady admits squeakily. “Maybe I am crushing. Just a little.”

“Aww, our baby Mathlete has a crush!” Tyler coos. “And on a girl!”

Cady thinks they’d really get along with Damian. “Yeah, okay, laugh it up. But none of you say anything, I don’t think she likes me back.”

“I don’t know, she never stopped looking at you, either,” Marwan says. “It’s worth a shot.”

“Really?” Cady asks shyly. “No. Never mind. I’ll think about it.”

“We’ll take it,” Kevin says. “She’s probably waiting, you should go.”

“You guys won’t tell anyone?” Cady asks anxiously.

“‘Course not,” Tyler insists. “Go celebrate, Africa.”

Cady grins shyly. “Thanks, guys. Good competition, I’ll see you Monday.”

-

Janis meets her in the parking lot afterwards, startling Cady by scooping her up from behind and spinning her around.

“You won!” Janis cheers happily, wrapping her in the tightest hug Cady thinks she’s ever been in. “I’m so proud of you!”

Cady giggles in her hold. “Thanks, Jay. Did you like watching? I hope you weren’t bored.”

“No, it was fun! You’re very smart,” Janis says, linking their hands together as they start their walk home.

“You have all my knowledge too, you’re smart,” Cady says.

“I may have all the knowledge, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean I know how to use it,” Janis chuckles.

“That’s fair, I guess,” Cady chuckles. “God, I’m tired. I don’t wanna walk. Janis, carry me.”

“Okay,” Janis shrugs. Cady shrieks when she’s suddenly lifted off the ground and being carried baby-style back home. “What?”

“I was joking,” Cady chuckles anxiously. “I didn’t think you could actually carry me. I’m just surprised.”

“Do you want me to put you down?” Janis asks.

“I didn’t say that,” Cady murmurs. Janis chuckles as she cuddles into her neck and stays there the rest of their journey home.

-

Cady truly can sleep anywhere, because she falls asleep in Janis’ hold before they even reach their block. Janis helpfully carries her up the stairs and tucks her into bed, but she doesn’t manage to do it without waking her up.

“Don’t go,” Cady grumbles groggily, clinging to her hand.

“Okay,” Janis murmurs, crawling in after her and letting Cady snuggle into her again. Cady huffs contently. Janis is so soft and warm.

“Tell me a story.”

“About what?” Janis asks.

“I dunno,” Cady yawns. “What was your life like before you came to Earth?”

Janis nods. “Okay. I actually don’t think you’ll find it particularly interesting. I’m kind of like an intern there, I’m not old enough to really be a guardian star on my own. So I meet with the council periodically to discuss how I’m doing, and they tell me what events or other things to watch for while I observe you. Or help me grant your wishes.”

“Council?” Cady asks. She doesn’t even open her eyes.

“That’s the best way I can describe it. Elder stars, or ones that have more experience. Actually, your sun and the one you humans call Sirius are kind of like co-presidents. Council is in charge of carrying out fates, and they give final say on what wishes go through.”

“I never got anything I wished for,” Cady grumbles.

“I am sorry about that,” Janis murmurs. “They don’t work quite the way you would think. We can’t grant them literally, or you humans would realize there’s a sort of higher power at work. So when you wished for a pet cat when you were eight? I sort of… stepped in, and got those twin lion cubs to imprint on you. That’s as close as I was allowed to get.”

“I did love them,” Cady whispers. “Keep going.”

“Okay,” Janis chuckles. “Um… council also decides what happens to stars once their destinies are either fulfilled or broken. Shooting stars are the ones who get exiled for good. It’s sort of like death, but not. Every once in a while they decide who goes supernova, or who forms a black hole, things like that. I’m not sure why they decided to grant your wish literally this time. Or with me. But I’m glad they did.”

Cady puffs contently in her sleep once Janis stops talking. Janis takes that to mean that she’s glad too.

—————

Cady has definitely noticed a shift in Janis’ energy over the last while. Janis doesn’t talk as much, or smile as much. She seems to be making an effort to be with Cady and Damian as much as possible. Cady worries, but Janis promised to tell her if something was wrong.

So, they get ready for Damian’s show together. Janis looks dashing in her floral patterned dress and leather jacket, and Cady nearly matches in her own black dress and pink sweater. They’re opposites, but still go together. It’s rather fitting.

They head in together, holding hands as the house lights go down. They don’t let go.

-

Damian is a marvelous performer. Cady and Janis cheer by far the loudest when his curtain call comes, but it’s hard to tell over the applause of the rest of the crowd.

They meet him in the wings and hand over the flowers they bought on the way there.

“Dame, you were incredible!” Cady cheers, throwing herself at him for a hug. He catches her and holds her close happily.

“She’s right, it was killer,” Janis agrees. She knows she sounds rather melancholy and tries to keep that out of her voice. “Proud of you, dude.”

“Thank you,” Damian says happily. “Let’s go celebrate.”

He takes them to Waffle House for dinner. Cady is delighted, and Janis is cheered up a little just watching her with her favorite food. Her plan was to leave tonight. Maybe she can wait until tomorrow.

Janis snaps out of her thoughts for the time being and chats animatedly with her friends. They watch horror movies in their pajamas back at Damian’s house for a sleepover. Cady hides in Janis’ lap the whole time. Janis doesn’t mind.

Janis doesn’t sleep, either. Cady is snuggled into her chest, snoring quietly. Janis kisses her forehead, and the corners of Cady’s mouth tick up in a little smile. Cady cuddles in closer and snuffles contently. Janis stays awake to watch her all night.

Janis can’t bring herself to say goodbye. It’s not as if she wants to leave the only… family that she’s ever known. But she has to. Janis leaves the letters with each of her friends and heads into the woods nearby before they wake.

-

Cady wakes with a start. Janis is gone.

There’s a letter where she was when Cady drifted off in her warm, soft hold. Cady tears into the one addressed to her.

Cady,

I’m sorry. If you’re reading this then I’m gone.

I don’t belong here, I think you and I both know that. I need to go back. I think I granted your wish well enough. And now you have Damian. I know he’ll stick by you through anything, like you wanted.

Thank you for being my friend. I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better human to be assigned to. Even without my intervention, you’re number one. Keep that going. Keep being you.

I wish I could stay longer, but if I wait any more it’ll be too late. I’m already fading. You wanted to know why my hair turned brown. It changed color because I’m becoming human. I think I have you to thank for that. If I could stay it would’ve been a good thing. Because one of the most human things is to love.

Thank you for showing me what that means. Even though I practically forced my presence into your life, you accepted me with open arms. You treated me like a friend. You helped me adapt to a place I never imagined I would see. Thank you.

I love you so much, Cady. I wish I could’ve told you in person. I wish I could’ve known what it’s like to kiss you, to feel your touch.  To hold you close and call you mine. But it would be too hard to leave you if you knew how I feel. You’ll find someone else. I know you will. I just hope you’re happy at the end of the day, my little bird.

I’ll always remember you. If you ever get lonely, you know where to find me. I’ll be there to watch over you, always. I love you.

Shine bright for me, little star.

Love,

Janis

Cady bursts into tears when she reaches the end of the letter, startling Damian awake.

“Wuzzamatter?” He asks blearily. “Where’s Janis?”

“She’s gone,” Cady sobs. “She said she has to go back.”

“No,” Damian says, scrambling for his own letter. “She can’t be gone.”

“She didn’t even say goodbye,” Cady weeps. “And-and I never got to tell her how much I love her.”

“You guys have a-a link, right?” Damian asks frantically. “Maybe she hasn’t left yet, maybe-maybe we can talk her out of it.”

Cady needs a miracle right now. She focuses hard and turns the connection on, like Janis taught her to. Almost like a compass points north, she feels a compulsion to go west, towards the woods nearby.

“She’s that way, if she’s still here,” Cady sniffles, pointing to the wall. “Come on.”

Damian runs after her barefoot, both of them still in their pajamas. They run almost ten blocks, then hit the edge of the woods. Both of them desperately ignore the rocks and sticks poking their feet as they run into the forest.

A blinding light shines through the trees, and they both wince for a second. Are they too late?

“She’s this way, come on!” Cady yells, running full tilt into the light. “Janis!”

They suddenly burst into a clearing, and Janis lies in the middle. Her light surrounds her, and she seems to be floating.

“Janis!” Cady yells. “Wait, please! Don’t leave! Janis!”

Janis doesn’t react. Cady doesn’t know if she can’t hear her, or if she just won’t. As quick as they noticed it, the light fades, and Janis is gone.

“No,” Cady whimpers. “No, no, please.”

She stumbles forward to where Janis was, frantically feeling around in the grass and mud for any sign of her. All that’s left is ash.

Damian lets her cry and scream for a while before he comes to pick her up and guide her back home. “I know, Cads. I know. She’s still-she’s still here. She’s just back in the sky now. Where she belongs.”

Cady clings to him and sobs, so Damian picks her up to carry her away.

-

Cady pauses her desperate cries when a warm sensation hits her. She opens her eyes and is nearly blinded by another flood of light. “Janis.”

She scrambles out of Damian’s hold and runs back to the clearing. The light is so bright it hurts, but Cady presses on.

Just like the first time, Janis lies in the grass bathed in warm light. She’s not breathing, but her eyes suddenly shoot open and she gasps for breath. But this time she starts to cry.

“Janis,” Cady cries desperately. Janis quickly condenses her aura so Cady isn’t burned when she leaps into her. “What happened?”

“Cady,” Janis sobs. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why did you leave?” Cady demands gently. “Why-why didn’t you even say goodbye?”

“It hurt too much,” Janis chokes. “To know-to know I’d never see you again. I had to do it while I had the nerve.”

“And you-you didn’t think I’d miss you? You didn’t think I would want to say goodbye?” Cady sobs.

“I’m sorry,” Janis whispers, pulling her in. “I’m so sorry.”

Cady accepts the offered comfort and sobs into Janis’ shoulder for a long time. Janis lets her, and buries her own face into Cady’s neck. After a while, Cady chokes, “Why did you come back?”

“It’s not important,” Janis says immediately.

“Yes it is, Janis! I’m happy you’re back, but you can’t keep lying to me,” Cady insists. “Or yourself. What happened?”

“I… I’ve been kicked out,” Janis mumbles. “For good this time. I can’t-I can’t get back.”

“Oh, Jay,” Cady whispers. “I’m so sorry.”

Janis breaks down even harder, clinging to her and mourning the loss of her true home. Cady watches as her hair changes color for the final time, half dark brown and half her original platinum blonde. Half human, half star. Janis’ eyes glow briefly before fading to a gorgeous chocolate brown, and the jewels she’s made from her aura turn heavy. The transformation is complete.

“I’m so sorry,” Janis whimpers. Cady cups her face and looks into her eyes. They can both barely see through their tears, but neither of them care.

“Just don’t leave again,” Cady murmurs softly.

“I can’t, now,” Janis jokes weakly. She’s silenced by a glare from the redhead straddling her lap. “I won’t. I didn’t-I didn’t want to in the first place. I just knew I had to try. And I… I meant what I said. In the letter. Every word.”

“Good,” Cady whispers around a small sob. “Because I mean this.”

Janis gasps quietly as Cady pulls her in and slams their lips together. Cady kisses her hungrily, desperately, telling her everything they both need to hear without words. Janis can feel her soft but firm grip, can taste the salt of their tears mingling on their lips. She can hear the soft sniffles let out intermittently, can reach out to touch and pull her redhead closer, she can smell Cady’s cherry shampoo.

Janis has never felt more human.

Cady pulls back and tips her forehead to rest against Janis’. “I love you. I love you so much, my star.”

“I love you too, my little bird,” Janis murmurs. “So much.”

“You’re smiling,” Cady says with slight confusion.

“I’m happy,” Janis responds with a shrug. “Maybe I can’t go home anymore, but… I have you. I get to learn what it’s like to love you. You’re my home now. All I’ll ever need.”

Cady chokes out a sob and kisses her again. “I’ll help you. I’ll guide you like you did for me. We have each other.”

Damian comes bursting into the clearing then, dripping wet and panting slightly. Janis gently removes Cady from her lap and runs full tilt towards him.

He catches her with a small grunt, but holds her close. “You’re back.”

“Forever,” Janis confirms. “I’m sorry.”

“The only thing you have to apologize for is that fucking light of yours,” Damian grumbles. “I couldn’t see when you came back and I fell in the pond.”

So that’s why it had taken him so long to find them. “I’m sorry about that, too.”

“You’d better be,” Damian huffs. “What happened?”

Janis turns to look at her love, who is now lying on her stomach and chatting animatedly with a squirrel. Janis doesn’t think her old star magic had anything to do with it, that kind of thing just seems inherent to Cady.

“She happened,” Janis whispers. “She’s been the answer from the beginning. I just know it now.”

Cady looks up when she feels their gaze on her, smiling when she sees Janis. She comes running towards them when Janis reaches out for her. They hear a quiet gasp when they both lean in for a kiss.

“What happened, Dame?” Cady asks worriedly when they pull back.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Damian grumbles. “Can we get you lovebirds home so I can dry off?”

“Yeah, come on,” Cady chuckles. She stands in the middle and holds both of their hands, clinging to Janis especially tightly. They leave Damian at his house with the promise to meet again for lunch before heading back to their own.

Cady lies down on her bed, exhausted from the morning, and pulls Janis down with her. Janis falls with a gentle huff and cuddles in closer.

“Jay?” Cady murmurs against her chest.

“Hmm?”

“Why did you get kicked out?”

“The first time, I didn’t know. I was never great at being a star either, I thought council deciding to grant your wish with me meant I was being fired, basically,” Janis chuckles. “That’s why I was so crabby. I’m sorry about that, by the way.”

“And this time?” Cady asks quietly.

“Because I was meant to,” Janis says, stroking through Cady’s hair gently. “All along.”

“Huh?”

“Stars work a little differently from humans,” Janis says. “We have destinies, fates we have to fulfill. We’re kind of like puppets, in a weird way. We don’t even get to know our own destinies. Humans don’t have them, you’re- we’re- free to make our own decisions. Every once in a while a star just grants a wish to give you a little nudge in the right direction.”

“So… your destiny was to-“ Cady stumbles.

“To be with you,” Janis finishes. “From the moment the universe was created, we were destined to be together. I just didn’t know it until now.”

“So we’re like soulmates?” Cady asks, tipping up to look at her. Janis presses a sweet kiss against her lips before she answers.

“Kind of,” Janis agrees. “But it was never foretold what our relationship was meant to be. We could’ve stayed friends, or been… enemies, or just strangers who met in passing. You could’ve kicked me out when I showed up in the backyard and that would’ve been that. Or you could’ve waited to make that wish until you were eighty years old, we’ll never know. All that was ever dictated was that we meet and I stay near you. Falling in love was our doing. And now that I’m a human, I don’t have a destiny anymore. I’ve been fulfilled. I make my own life. The rest is up to us, now.”

Cady blinks at her. “Then I’m glad it turned out this way. I love you.”

“Me too, my little star,” Janis murmurs back. “Me too.”

I love you more than all the stars in the sky.

-

thanks for reading!! i apparently have hit the maximum number of text blocks (tumblr, ew) so get ready for a text block!! in some sad news, there will not be a new chapter next week. i need to take some time for myself for the sake of my own mental health. i’ve noticed a few little inklings of burnout, which is not what i want!! i want to continue this and give you guys quality stuff to read. im hoping that this will give me a chance to build up a cache of works so i’m not scrambling to write in a week to get stuff posted, and that will give me more time for myself. in some bittersweet news, this is also my last (for now) original idea! from here on i’ll be reliant on requests to keep going. im gonna finish some older ones and then hopefully, finally, open them up again!! yay! anyway, thank you all so much for reading, i hope you enjoyed!! lots of love, ezzy

[lesliemitchellwriting]

“That’s just like… The rules of feminism!”: An intersectional feminist review of the film “Mean Girls”

In modern western society we spend a lot of time telling ourselves that we are entirely inclusive of other people. We call ourselves a “mosaic” (as said by Jimmy Carter), that there is no right or wrong way to be human. While that is a wonderful notion that politicians and salespeople like to use a lot (see one of Justin Trudeau’s addresses (“Diversity…”), or the Dove Beauty Campaign (“Dove…”)), it is not entirely true. It is my belief that media is the most accurate depiction of what the general public actually believes, and so through that lens we can see that there is a clear definition of what is acceptable for a woman to be and not to be, and the consequences to be had if that definition is not upheld by a certain person or peoples. So, on that note, my chosen medium is through film, and specifically the 2004 American teen comedy Mean Girls. Through the dissection of this film I will discuss how Mean Girls portrays intersectional identities as background characters to Ideal Female leads, thereby othering them and deeming them unworthy of good social reputation, and what that means for us as a society. And, in good Mean Girls fashion, I have come up with a series of “girl rules” on which to structure my argument, beginning with this:

Girl Rule #1: “On Wednesdays, we wear pink!” or, “the structuring of the Ideal Female”

One of the first things that needs to happen is to identify what the supposed baseline is, which in this case is the Ideal Female—which is the term I have chosen to use to describe the people in this film that are considered worthy of respect, admiration, and of a good reputation. If one looks through this film, it is not hard to see what that is; the film implies heavily that in order to be the Ideal Female you must be white, wealthy, young, thin, and in this case, female. Being all of these things ensures that she is able to subscribe to all of the consumerist necessities—mainly, she is able to wear all of the most fashionable clothing (in accordance to whom those companies intended their clothing for (see Victoria’s Secret (Phelps) and Abercrombie and Fitch (Denizet-Lewis)) and access to living conditions far above basic necessity (i.e. expensive car, large house, etc..). This is important because it gives her so much free mental space that she is able to concentrate on the unchangeable faults of her body, and the items she can consume to fill that ever-growing pit of self-loathing.

This seems like a bleak baseline, but this film reasserts it over and over again. We see it most obviously in the scene where Regina, Gretchen, and Karen, all of whom have everything they could ever need and more, stand in front of a mirror saying out loud things they hate about their bodies, and Cady—someone who is not yet Ideal Female—has to think hard of something to add. It even asserts this message when it implies that it is not, like how Cady Heron benefits from her role as Ideal Female later in the film when that role is essentially supposed to be abolished—she now dresses more fashionably, wears makeup, and is socially acceptable and therefore still well-liked because she now upholds certain female standards.

Now that we have a baseline of what we’re looking at, that can bring me to my next point:

Girl Rule 2: “You can’t sit with us” or “scorning alternate identities”

This is a big one. The main thing that makes Mean Girls so problematic is in the way that it portrays literally anything other than the Ideal Female, and there are two scenes which portray this the best—or perhaps I should say, the worst. The first scene is the one in which Janice is going through each of the cliques that exist within the school vis a vis the cafeteria. It scans through each table and gives them a name—"cool Asians”, “nerdy Asians”, “girls who eat their feelings”, and “girls who don’t eat”, just to name a few. This actually does a couple of harmful things: the first is that it implies that people within certain races or disabilities only can and do associate with those other similar people, and the second is that it strengthens the idea behind the “truth” of stereotypes. Both of these things are harmful to the people who fall within these categories, because it furthers the social stigma that already exists, and mocks these people. And while of course it is a comedy and mocking is a large part the comedic factor, it is one of those things where it is unacceptable because they are only mocking those who are not the Ideal Female, i.e. those people who are already in power.

The second scene I want to discuss is the one that is a series of interviews of people who are asked about Regina George—the Ideal Female Elite. Every single one of these people is somehow an outsider—they have a fat girl, a girl in a wheelchair, a hyper-masculine girl, and every one of them is talking about how they love Regina George, even in terms of the abuse they face regarding her. This in and of itself sends the terrible message that the Ideal Female can and should be able to get away with even horrendous acts—a message that is often quite prevalent in our own society. Not only that, but it also reinforces the almost inherent competition between women, which is mainly manufactured as a form of oppression. There was a study done in which obese people were assessed in their biases towards other obese people, and it showed a great amount of negativity was held regarding obese people, even though they themselves were (“Internalized Weight Stigma”), which is similar to women. Often times, women are so involved with being in competition with each other (be it through body, clothing, or societal expectations) that they fail to remark on how to join in a more uniformed way in order to battle this manufactured competition—an idea that is fallaciously brought up in the film, when it is in fact encouraging it.

On the flip side of this, all of the men are exempt from the scorn of social acceptability—and are actually quite afraid of it when confronted directly with is, as can be seen in the scene when all of the girls are fighting in the hallways, and we close in on one boy who utters the words, “mom, can you pick me up? I’m scared” on his cellphone—except for one boy: Damien. Which brings us to the next rule:

Girl Rule #3: “Almost too gay to function” or, “the Damien Factor”

The thing in this film that singles him out from the rest of the boys in this film is that he is gay— “almost too gay to function”, as Janice so lovingly puts it. It is interesting to note, because while the other boys take a back seat to the stories of the girls, Damien is one of the main characters. This is often misconstrued as being forward thinking and almost radical for its time in Hollywood, but in reality it actually furthers the idea that gay males are inherently more female. He is the complete and utter stereotype of what a gay boy should be—he is only friends with females, he sings a normally female-lead song at the school talent show, and he is the one who offers Cady Heron a pink (a socially feminine colour) shirt, to name a few examples out of dozens within the film. The thing about this is that it is built for a straight audience, so while perhaps a gay person could theoretically gain some value by having a gay character in a big Hollywood film, I would actually argue that it is far more damaging than helpful in that it furthers this idea of what “should be” in the same way that the Ideal Female does for its straight female counterparts.

Furthermore, in keeping with the subject of homosexuality, while Damien’s gayness is considered an asset to the movie through its inherent femininity, Janice Ian’s supposed lesbianism is throughout the film silenced, and then only brought about at the end as some kind of major plot point about why Regina is so bad. And while of course it is wrong to assume the sexuality of anyone, let alone spread rumors about it—because as we find out, Janice is in fact not a lesbian—there is something to be said for the way that her gayness is considered different to Damien’s. Because lesbianism is considered to be almost a protest of female femininity, her gayness had to be hidden and publicly revoked, much unlike that of Damien’s.

Girl Rule #4: “Whatever, those rules aren’t real” or, “upholding of arbitrary standards”

The final thing that this film does to completely decimate intersectional identities beyond the Ideal Female is by, at the end of this film, implying that all of the standards that the girls in this film were held to were entirely false, and that with a quick speech and the metaphorical breaking of these rules through the literal breaking of a Homecoming Queen crown, we too could break these rules if we choose not to let it control us.

This, of course, is an utter fallacy. There are so many more ways that the oppression of women is fundamentally upheld than through the asinine squabbling’s of teenagers. And while this is meant to reinforce the “it starts with us” discourse, it ignores all the other factors that are entirely out of one’s control—religions, ruling governments, laws, and many others—and essentially dismisses them and puts the blame for how women act and are treated back into the hands of women as being a fault of their own. And again, one could argue that a film can hold no such power, but the entire point of comedies is to reinforce the ideas that we already hold in our society. Karnick’s article speaks about romantic comedies, and they way in which they show traditional beliefs, like nuclear families and traditional gender roles, and how they are essentially just a mirror of society already (Brunowska Karnick). If you extrapolate that into this film, it is easy to see that there could be dire consequences.

In conclusion, Mean Girls, a comedy meant for teenage girls, with inherently impressionable minds and limited knowledge on the systematic oppression of women, portrays all identities not in line with the Ideal Female as being included solely as background characters and comedic relief to those that are the Ideal, which others them and shows them as being unworthy of admiration, love, or any other benefit. Instead of allowing this kind of media to poison the young minds of women, we need to set higher standards for what we think is comedic, and what is actually good.

Works Cited

Brunowska Karnick, Kristine. “Commitment and Reaffirmation in Hollywood Romantic Comedy.” Introduction to Film Studies Readings, edited by Andre Loiselle and Jose Sanchez, Pearson Custom Publishing, 2007.

Denizet-Lewis, Benoit. “The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch.” Salon, 24 January, 2006. https://www.salon.com/2006/01/24/jeffries/.

“Diversity is Canada’s Strength.” Government of Canada. www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/11/26/diversity-canadas-strength.

“Dove Campaigns.” Dove. https://www.dove.com/ca/en/stories/campaigns

“Internalized Weight Stigma and Its Ideological Correlates Among Weight Loss Treatment Seeking Adults.” US National Library of Medicine. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3165020/.

Mean Girls. Directed by Mark Waters, Paramount Pictures, 2004.

Phelps, Nicole. “‘we’re Nobody’s Third Love, We’re Their First Love’—the Architects of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show are Still Banking on Bombshells.” Vogue, 8 November, 2018. www.vogue.com/article/victorias-secret-ed-razek-monica-mitro-interview.

[what-a-messsss]

2x3 rewatch

I keep forgetting that Brach is still in S2.  Oops.  Also, I apparently went to check something in S6 last time I watched something, so it started at 6x2 instead of 2x3 and I yelled.  But anyway, on with this mess.  “Death Came in Like Thunder” apparently.  It sure did.

Ah yes, let us not forget that Branch is MANLEH.  This shall be proven to us by him murdering his cousin, Trunk, with big ax.  Chop chop, Branch, kill Trunk.  But oh no, must also show that he is People Smart, so must also lose because this makes him likable.  And many white people clap.  Yaaaay.  But be sure to say, “I let him win, Ferg,” while your competitor is right next to you, so he almost surely heard you.  Good good.

Oh Ferg.  Could you look more gormless if you tried?  (I mean, probably not, since presumably that was the goal of the actor, so he would have been trying.  But still.)  Bb.

Heh, nice thematic cut to Walt also chopping wood.  And YAY, Henry’s gorgeous truck (and gorgeous self).  I’m just going to take a moment to appreciate the fact that Henry rolls up and just helps himself to some of Walt’s thermos of coffee.  Because of course he does.  But I do so love these touches that they put in that do underline the fact that they are married have been besties for going on 40 years.  Also, I love this jacket of Henry’s.  The woven top, jean jacket sort of one?  Yeah, top 5 costume pieces of his for me.  (Also on that list, all basically tied with each other, basically any pants he wears.  I am reminded, when they cut back out to a full body shot.  Because I am very shallow, and he is very pretty.)

Haaaaaa.  And of course Cady talked to Henry before she talked to Walt.  Walt is a butthead.  And, yeah yeah, she just found out that he’d been lying to her for over a year, but that just proves my point that Walt is a butthead.  And we’re back to this whole idea that she left her phone, which just... ugh.  No.  But Henry’s face when he says that she said that she is safe, and he’s so worried, but still willing to respect her boundaries.

“She is an adult, Walt.”  “She’s my daughter.”  For fuck’s sake, you jackass, your ADULT daughter; that’s the whole flipping point!  Also, that little emphasis on my daughter, pfft.  If you didn’t want to feel like she preferred her cool dad to you, maybe try being less of an AAAAAAASSHOLE.  And, like, respecting her.  Even a weensy little bit.

“Etta Place”  I don’t remember if we find out why that’s the ‘assumed name’ that Cady chose, but I’m intrigued.  Wait, I just googled.  Looooool.  She spent years with Butch and Sundance.  Nice.

Walt is such a soft touch with teens.  *snack crackle pop* that kneecap back into place.  Vic starts this scene saying, “The 911 operator,” though, which is interesting, because I was kind of under the impression that Ruby was the main dispatcher, so it would be kind of heartening if she actually had back up with that.  ...Or maybe they’re just far enough out that a cell call made would be picked up by a tower farther out and have to be routed back in to the station/them.  I have no idea how that actually works.  Another rabbit hole for me to totally not go down.  Hopefully.  Shit.  They’ve apparently upped the fine for trespass since the show, though, because it’s $750 (or 6 months in jail) now and Walt says it’s $500.

And once again, we see Vic actually wearing gloves while investigating a suspicious death, and Walt just squinting into the distance helpfully.  I suppose “things got bad” in Basque country around WWII, but there has been friction there that dates back before the Spanish Civil War, or even the Carlist Wars the previous century.  It did get gnarly with the dictatorship of Franco, and the formation of the ETA in retaliation, though, so yeah.  (Francisco Franco is also on the list of people who anybody with a time machine should go back and beat the shit out of.)

Shit, I forgot about the animal death.

Knock knock, no answer.  Better just wander in without a warrant.  I know that the guy who they know lives there is dead, but still, no fricking warrant; I suppose the worry of a poisoning could count as probably cause?  

Gods, but there are moments when I do absolutely adore Vic, and they are usually when she’s taking the piss out of Walt.  “Reclusive bachelor chic; you and Marco have the same decorator.”  Looool.  But also, sad, because Martha has only been gone for a little over a year, and Walt is not the kind of person who would, like, change stuff and get rid of her things, so that’s kind of odd.  Maybe Henry and/or Cady went though and put away some of her things to try to help Walt move on?  But damn, the ‘excuse you’ look on Walt’s face when she does say it, pffft.

AND AGAIN, Vic wearing gloves, Walt with his bare ass hands picking up the picture of Picasso’s Guernica; can you at least *pretend* you’re a cop, *some* of the time, buddy?

Lol at the barrabilak; they are pretty well by the Rocky Mountains, so it’s probably not all that surprising that Walt’s had some “Rocky Mountain oysters” before.

I had forgotten that Vic had four brothers.  But her comment about Sal going off to look after the sheep and how if someone had told her that one of her brothers were dead she “wouldn’t care about any damn sheep,” I don’t know.  It kind of annoys me.  It’s totally in character for her, which is good, but I think it’s part of what can annoy me about her character.  Different people grieve differently, but also, I know she’s only been in Wyoming for a year or two, tops, but how is it so hard to fathom that someone one would be concerned about their livelihood, even in the face of personal tragedy?  Just, seeing beyond her own very narrow experience doesn’t seem like something she’s very good at.  It would be one thing if she’d framed it as “this is suspicious, and here’s why I think so as a cop,” but it was, “I wouldn’t react that way personally, so it’s sus.”  

Sure, be suspicious because there’s a suspicious death and family members are always suspects until ruled out, but approach it like a cop.  Or at least think about it from more angles than just your own, not terribly similar experience.  You’re a white city cop who can’t (or won’t) adjust to being in BF rural-ville, but these are immigrant shepherds whose family come from a homeland where the cops were just as likely to kill you as answer questions, and you’re side-eying a guy for going to make sure that their meal ticket doesn’t get obliterated?

I need to keep reminding myself that I really did want to like Vic.  I really did.  She just... they don’t make it easy for me.  Maybe she’s serving as an avatar for audience who don’t know about some of the culture stuff, and the audience get answers from her ignorance?  But honestly, I wish they’d picked a different way to handle that, if that’s what they were trying to do.  Her response to Henry being salty about Thanksgiving still really pisses me off.  Because it was shitty and racist, and... do we really need a character basically rolling their eyes and saying, “It was so long ago, why don’t you just get over it,” about something that is intrinsically tied to the genocide of so many people?  Why are Indigenous people just supposed to “get over it” but “Remember the Alamo” and “Southern Pride,” and shit?  Fuck’s sake.  Honestly, that might have been the moment when they lost me on her character.  She has moments where she’s awesome, but they never really address her being fucking racist or give her a chance to grow into a better person.  Which sucks a lot.  Fuck.  Ok, that was a lot.  Sorry.  Back to the actual ep.

AH, nice of you to beam in from the campaign trail, Brancheroo!

Uh, so I paused it to look at pic in the newspaper, and then being me, started to look at the articles surrounding the pic.  And the one with the headline “Fans Injured At Local Game” is actually about the Stewart case?  From 1x3?  I’m guessing that somebody went to the trouble of writing up an article for that for some S1 ep after it and they just plugged it in because when not paused, you might catch “Sheriff Longmire” there and that’s all they need.  Especially since the text starts to repeat after the first paragraph.  (I am the worst pedantic little shit.)  Ooooor, maybe even though it’s S2, it’s hardly been any time since 1x3?  The date on the newspaper is March 31, 2012, so there’s a timeline hint. 

Awwwwww, once Walt points out the bird, Ferg knows exactly what it is.  Occasional twitcher, are we, my lad?  “A red-tip meadowlark,” indeed.  Oh bb; Ferg’s face when he sees Walt looking at the pic of him with Branch in the paper.

“You go too fast, you miss the little things.”  Every once in a while, he actually sort of mentors Ferg.  I wish he did more of that, especially since we see later how capable Ferg can be.

Go suck an egg, Branch.  Why does she get all the “good” assignments?  Maybe because she was actually on the job when they found the body, not campaigning.

OPE.  Lizzie’s gift.  Yeah, I’d probably choke on that coffee if I were you, too, girl.  Better hope that there wasn’t perishable food stuffs in that gift, because that has been in there for a whiiiiiile, hasn’t it.  Wait, was Ferg in the office when Lizzie dropped off the gift?  Because his face said more than just “Did somebody give Vic a present?”  Suuuuper subtle with that whole pushing the drawer closed with your foot there, Vic.  Pfffft.

“Cyrano Caballero”  How daaaare that skeeve take Cyrano’s name in vain?!?!  (I have a thing about Cyrano de Bergerac.  It’s quite possibly my favourite play, and I adore the character, and have exactly 0 chill about it at all.  I find Brian Hooker’s translation of “The Ballade of the duel at the Hotel Bourgogne Between de Bergerac and a Boeotian” with “Then, as I end the refrian, thrust home,” vastly superior to any other translation that I’ve heard or read, though for the rest of it, I will grant that there are others to be preferred.  But that version of his Ballade is exquisite, and I will not be swayed.  Holy shit, FOCUS.  That is so very much not the point.)  It’s not even a throw away line in this ep, it’s just a random, very well chosen, if utterly appallingly insulting, company name.  It’s actually incredibly clever for what the business is, and if it didn’t make me so stomping mad, I would applaud whoever came up with it heartily.

Vic’s face listening to this jackass’ spiel is a thing of beauty.  “A good woman goes a long way of easing the obvious stresses of your daily life,” the jackass says, cutting his eyes at Vic when he says “obvious stresses,” and I caaaackle.

What is it about this guys’ horrible glasses that just makes him so much more hate-able?  I’m not entirely sure, but kudos to whatever costumer put those on him, because they are perfect.  In the ‘I want to punch him’ way of perfection.

And after all of that about Walt’s “lady friend,” Vic brings Lizzie’s present.  Womp womp.  That went super well.  Yuuuup, run while you can.

Poor Ferg.  Branch manipulates him, Vic ignores him, Walt shuts him down...  Poor guy just can’t get a break.

I actually kind of like this motel manager--the one who “doesn’t judge people” and is a stickler for warrants?  At least somebody in this county cares about warrants.  Also, those doors are actually really pretty.  Nice colour, and the carved scrollwork designs are nice.

What an odd shot: the one when they’re coming out of Walt’s office after talking to Skeevy McGrossFace and Rosa.  It’s a weird sort of shaky-cam stepping back, just preceding Branch walking, and then turns to follow him when he sit’s on his desk.  But it’s a really different style of shot than I can remember, so much so that it’s a bit jarring, especially after the series of nearly stationary close ups that we just had.  Weird. [18:42-18-50]

Cady!  I haven’t made much note of her costuming before this, but it seems notable that’s she’s only in monocromatics.  Especially next to Fales in muted tones, but still some colour, and surrounded by the colourful grafitti of the alley where her mother was stabbed.  Nice way of setting her apart from everything.

SHEEPIES!  Ooooo, that wagon is so cool.  Ah dang, the way that Sal corrects Walt’s pronunciation of his brother’s name is so gloriously passive aggressive.  Good for you, my dude.  Names are important, and people should have the respect to make the effort to get them right.

Aaaaaand Walt, the definition of Do, Don’t Tell, just shoves the guy to keep him from drinking the possibly dangerous water, rather than, like, using his words.  Walt’s gonna Walt.

Iiiiiiiii am a mess, truly.  It cuts to an architectural model and I start giggling like a 6th grader, because I know it’s going to be a Jacob scene.  He’s not even on screen yet, ffs.  HANDS.  I’m fine.  Totally fine.  (That’s totally a lie.  I just rewound to the beginning of the scene because I kept giggling too much to pay attention.  What the hell.)  First time we’ve seen one of the chips, which at this point must be a marketing mock-up, since nothing is built yet.  And he actually types, not just doing the hunt-and-peck thing that is sometimes easier on a tablet.

Looking at the weaving that is up on his wall (maybe a rug?) I’m hoping that the prop people actually did buy from Northern Cheyenne artisans.  They apparently did most of their filming in New Mexico, so I hope they made the effort to get the patterns right, and buy from the actual tribe they’re supposed to be portraying, I guess?  And now I’m distracted by the fact that the random hanging light behind Jacob is at a weird angle?  

Look, ever since I realized that the “Hey,” that Jacob does is apparently just A (thanks to it also happening in That Damned Xmas Movie) I am endlessly amused (and charmed) whenever Jacob does it.  I don’t know why it makes me so happy, but it does.  (This is legitimately embarrassing.  How much trouble I am having focusing.  Beyond my normal focus issues, which, as shown above, are already impressive.  Because thiiiiirst.)

“My boys at the lumber yard did just throw you a campaign rally.”  I love how Jacob is basically apparently not just his secret angel-investor, but also a sneaky campaign manager.  Did Branch just think shit like the rally just happened?  He’s not fricking Ferris Bueller; somebody organizes those.  And apparently it’s either Jacob himself, or someone who Jacob appointed to do so.

“I thought you were just a casino developer.”  You have noooo clue, Brancheroo.  “I prefer to remain a silent partner.  White people get nervous when Indians start taking back their land.”  Oooooope.  Especially interesting because there are previsions for the Tribal Council to purchase land to be Tribal land (Section 6 of Article IX of the Tribal Constitution), but this seems more along the lines of personal acquisition.  Though maybe not, because “on the board” doesn’t necessarily equate to being the owner.

The set up of Jacob’s office is so interesting.  Functionally for the show, it’s probably for better shooting angles, so that we can see more of Jacob behind the desk while Branch is sitting in front of it, but from an in-the-verse decorating standpoint, bit’s fascinating.  He has this focal wall with the gorgeous wall hanging, flanked by floor to ceiling window, but instead of having his desk centered on that wall and directly facing the bulk of the room, it’s at an almost 45 degree angle on a huge rug, and it’s so unexpected.  I kind of love it, and want to analyze it for days.  Also worth noting is that pride of place is given to the  Hotamétaneo’o headdress which is on a stand centered in front of the wall hanging.

How fucking tired must Jacob be.  He’s used to Walt... Walting, but then Branch comes in, who he is literally spending his own money to support in his bid for sheriff, and he pulls the same shit of assuming that he’s behind Bad Shit.  And then Branch frames it as “bad P.R,” so he’s there to “discuss it with [him] privately.”  And then basically threatens him with Walt.  I swear.  ...there is something a little amusing about Walt being used as the stick in the carrot and a stick method of negotiating.  He certainly is enough of a blunt object most of the time.

Oh fuck you so much, Branch.  Playing the “can’t give you details about an ongoing investigation” card as though you have some professional or moral leg to stand on after basically blackmailing Jacob with Walt’s vendetta is just such shit.  You don’t get to look down your nose at Jacob’s quid pro quo pragmatism when you were the one who came to him for financial backing.  You sanctimonious little shitheel.  If you didn’t want to deal with Jacob, you shouldn’t have taken his $100k.  He’s a business man, and you’re an investment, and not a quixotic one.

“He’s probably the only person to have died from [hemlock] since Socrates.”  And then Walt’s incredulous look and her, “Alright, I googled it,” were subtle comedic gold.

Ooooooo, that was a nice little shot.  Not quite foreshadowing, but showing Branch’s suspicions and sort of inviting the audience to share them.  Walt says his bit about the Army poisoning “Indian wells” to kill them off and get their land, and then we see Branch fiddling with the Four Arrows chip and narrow his eyes considering and slip the chip into his pocket, looking suspicious.  It’s a really neat little moment of visual storytelling, no lines, literally three seconds long, just sort of snuck in there, but super effective.  Really nicely done.

And again, Cady is in monochromatics.  And, shit, just gave Fales Henry’s name.  Aaaaaand right after, she realizes that the junkie was killed and realizes that it had to have been one of her dads (or so she thinks).

Sal’s monologue in the cell is a good emotional payoff that plays off of Vic’s comments towards the beginning of the episode.  I see the narrative worth of her making them, and how the structure of the episode benefits from it; but seeing those writing elements from the outside of the show doesn’t make me able to like her as a character who said them in-universe.  And then the threat Sal makes of vengeance on someone who killed one he loves also underscores the stuff with Cady’s investigation into her mother’s death very well.  As much as I gripe about the writing *cough S6 cough finale cough* there really is some damn good writing in this show, and I don’t show enough appreciation for it.

Huh, and now there’s a sort of inverse of that weird shot preceding Branch from earlier, but this one is much more effective and less off-putting.  This one [33:00] precedes Walt as he walks back into his office, still a medium close up, but it’s much steadier, and the way it is framed, it does quite a bit to convey his mindset, and he walks out of the shot and we see the three deputies following him in like baffled ducklings, making the shot serve another purpose, too.  Which honestly makes that earlier shaky follow shot of Branch even weirder, because this one was so much better.

And then Walt has his creepy little speech about how someone would want to watch the light go out of their eyes and not caring if you get caught.  I do appreciate that when he’s talking about the psychology of killing with poison he doesn’t just call it a “woman’s method” which media so often does.  It might have been the writers keeping who the killer was abstruse, but it was still more gender neutral.  Especially since according to The U. S. Department of Justice's report on Homicide Trends in the United States (1980 to 2008) of all poison killers in that time period, 60.5 percent were male and 39.5 percent female.  (Table 5 on page 10.)  So that long held idea that even Sherlock Holmes was written to have that poison is “of course” a woman’s weapon is pretty crap.

Awwww, the good old days when Walt paid attention to animals.  ...I am still bizarrely salty about the fact that he never named his horse.  What a good pupper!  

And then we have a classic example of Sneaky!Walt, which always takes people quite by surprise, because he’s usually as subtle as Miley Cyrus.

Also because when he does this, it tends to be pretty fucked up, in a Make Someone Think They’re About To Die way.  And then he does His Thing, where he just lays out all of his suppositions, with no proof, only the terror of her thinking that she’s been poisoned and you’re withholding medical intervention to get her to confess.  And is, irritatingly, correct about his theories.  But I’m pretty sure this qualifies as coercing a confession?  She thinks she’s fucking dying.  Even Vic looks at him like it’s fucked up, and her moral compass where he’s concerned is... skewed.

They way this reveal was played out, (”How’d they find her so fast?”  “Hard to say...”) is somewhat ambiguous as to whether it’s supposed to be that Branch went there to tell Jacob or not, but I kind of doubt it?  I kind of figure that the meeting that Jacob was having when Branch rambled in was already with Rosa signing the paperwork.  Jacob is smart.  So, HAH.  Little good your “can’t comment on an ongoing investigation” schtick did.

And then the news that someone in law enforcement has been asking after Henry.

“Lizzie was waiting for you here tonight.  You should talk to her, Walt.  She seems to think she is in a relationship with you.”  ....omgs.  The tone.  I mean, yes, the blisteringly glorious SASS, but how does one not read that as incredibly shippy?  Howwwww?

“You are an honest man, Walt.  I would like you to stay that way.”  Oh Henry.  When did you decide that you weren’t?  Was it when you hired Hector?  Or was there something before?  ...I feel like there were things before that.  Hello darkness my old friend.

“It is not your job to protect me.”  “It is my job...”  THOSE WERE THE DAYS.  Those were the fucking daaaaaays.  And the emotions on Henry’s face after Walt says, “That was my right,” as though Henry cheated him of something.  I am so deep in OT3 feels I cannot even see daylight here.  The feels of them having been an OT3 and then Walt pulling this shit, and Henry having to defend his own “right” to avenge Martha?  It wrecks me.  “A good woman was murdered.  A bad man is dead.  End of story.”  

[chelseamount]

Regina George - Tom Holland x Reader

GUYS IT’S FINALLY HERE, sorry for the long wait

i wrote the actors real names when they speak, so to not get confused here is who is meantioned 

Barrett as Janis

Kyle as Aaron

Rick as Mr Duvall

Grey as Damian

-

"how about this one," I ask

"babe you have tried twenty outfits now, and you look beautiful in all of them, " Tom says as he looks up from his phone

"I'm overthinking this I know it's just I really want this role" I sit down beside him as he wraps his arms around me and locks his phone

"please tell me which musical it is" he pouts

"nu-uh It's gonna be a surprise"

"But I want to know"

"you'll know soon"

"fine, but why are you so nervous, you have been in so many broadway shows"

"yeah but they weren't as big as this one"

"honey you have literally been in Grease, mamma mia, Chicago, heathers and cabaret fucking cabaret like you nailed Maybe this time"

"your the best," I say before I kiss him "I gotta go"

"your gonna nail it, honey"

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

"Okay the next one is Y/n Y/l/n" a guy calls as I follow him into the audition room even after all of these years it's still nerve-racking

"Good to see you Y/n"

"you too," I say as I sit down on a chair"

"who will you auditioning for today?"

"Regina George"

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

"I'm home, love," I say as I walk through the door with a big smile on my face

"So how did it go?" Tom asks

"I think it went really well," I say

"your so talented I love you so much"

"I love you more"

"let's order some food," he says as he picks me up

"hell yeah"

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

"Tom Tom Tom" I yell as I run down the stairs

"what what what," he says

"The roles are out," I say as I open my computer

"What did you get"

"I don't know yet"

"well check it" he squeals like a little girl

"Okay but before we check I'm gonna tell you which musical it is okay"

"Finally," he says

"mean girls"

"omg I love mean girls wait can I guess who you auditioned for?"

"yeah"

"Cady"

"WHAT really"

"yeah"

"I auditioned for Regina"

"WHAT really"

"yes why are you saying like that"

"you're just so sweet and she's so mean"

"no, she isn't she's grool"

"haha got that " he fake laughs "now let's see if you got the part"

we open the computer but I quickly close it as I say

"I can't look"

"Okay, okay, I'll look" I close my eyes shut as he opens the computer "you got it"

"what"

"you got it," he says exited

"omg" I get tears in my eyes as we hug damn I'm gonna nail this fucking part

-

after months of hard work, it's finally the opening night and I must say I am so fucking nervous like I knew Regina could be mean sometimes but my role was like well I guess you'll see for yourself

-

we start the first number and I spot Tom sitting on the front row like a little happy puppy this was so different from any other role... I like it

the first scene with me starts with me standing on a cafeteria table also a scene where you get what kind of type Regina is

"Regina George is the queen bee She's always dressed up She always wins Spring Fling Queen We're just drones who work for her Then die" Barrett says

"My name is Regina George And I am a massive deal Fear me, love me Stand and stare at me And these, these are real I've got money and looks I am, like, drunk with power This whole school Humps my leg like a chihuahua I'm the prettiest poison you've ever seen I never weigh more than one-fifteen My name is Regina George And I am a massive deal I don't care who you are I don't care how you feel" I sing in character

I quickly glance at tom who is wide-eyed as I try my best not to break character from laughing

the other girls sing their parts

-

sometime after it's time for my sing with Kyle which the scene where I'm in a rather flashy costume

"Yes, I look perfect Ice Queen, that's what they see It's what they expect from me But it's all show" "Face it, you used me You saw my sexy clothes My supermodel pose But did you know?" "Was I a game to you? Was I way too cool? I truly cared Was I the fool?" "It's fine for you It's fine to flirt It's fine 'Till someone gets hurt 'Till someone gets hurt!" "Feel my heart beating? I'm just like her or you People forget I'm human too Yes, they do that" "This is performance This is all self-defence I thought you had the sense To see through that" "Was I too proud of you? Was I too cold and forbidding? And you chose her over me Are you kidding? Poor little me All trapped in this fabulous show You could set me free But if you wanna go It's fine for you It's fine to play And God you're hot Why do you even wear a shirt?" "It's fine!" we sing "Damn you're fine!" kyle sings

"Damn you're fine!" I sing

"And It's fine!" Kyle and I sing "Until someone gets... 'Till someone gets hurt! 'Till someone gets hurt!"

we finish the song with a kiss

-

and finally, it's time for my big number... world burn the scene where I'm in a tight black outfit and throwing papers everywhere

"My name is Regina George And I am a massive deal I will grind you to sand Beneath my Louboutin heels" "This is what I get for helping Helping someone lame fit in Cady heron, enjoy your temporary win" I sing as I walk on the stage "My name is Regina George "Regina is a fugly cow." Hey cady, how do you like me now? I wanna watch the world burn, I got the gasoline I wanna watch the world burn and everyone get mean I wanna watch the world burn, I got the gasoline I wanna watch the world burn and everyone get..." "I'm just so upset, Mr Duvall. I found it in the girls' bathroom. I mean the things it says about me. The things it says about all of us" I say as I do a very bad fake crying "Is this true? Rachel hamilton fills her inhaler with vodka? Does that work? Ms Norbury is a sad, old drug pusher? What does this say? Caitlyn caussin has what?" Rick says as he looks in the burn book "Hairy nips," I say "Good lord. Don't worry, we will find out who did this" "There are only three girls in the school who aren't in it" "Can you give me names?" "Cady, time to watch your back Cady, time to turn and walk Because you took me down" I sing

"But you didn't finish me off" "My name is Regina George And in case you're keeping score Cady may have won the battle But I will win the world war I wanna watch the world burn" "Trang Pak is a grotsky bi-otch!" ensemble sings "I got the gasoline!" "Ms Norbury is a drug pusher!" ensemble sings "I wanna make the world burn" "Janis is a space dyke!" "That's original "Damian Hubbard is too gay to function." It's only okay when I say it!" Barrett says "Wait, only cady could have written that," Grey says "Regina is a fugly cow Regina is a fugly cow Who wrote this? Who wrote this"

Who wrote this

Who wrote this" ensemble sings

"I wanna watch the world burn I got the gasoline! I wanna watch the world burn And everyone could see" I sing as I walk in on the stage in a new outfit "So mean!" "Mean!" I quickly glance at Tom who's mouth is wide open in shock "So mean!" "Mean! I wanna watch the world burn" I sing "Who wrote this? Who wrote this?" "I wanna watch the world burn Mean! I wanna watch the burn" I finish off the song

-

after some time the show is done and after I'm out of my costume I find Tom

"so what did you think," I ask as he picks me up

"you were amazing babe, I'm in shock like I knew you were amazing but that was so good, I'm seeing it again"

- 

Hope it was what you Imagined

tags that liked the post where i asked if you wanted it

@tamayawoods26​ @smol-bitchass @tomsirishgirlx @calthenerd @fleurmoon @hollands-osterfield​ @andy497​ @haileychill @im-still-tryin-to-find-it

[mellomedia]

Youth Culture

For Media & Society’s first blog post, our class watched Euphoria, Mid90s, Mean Girls, Kids, and The Breakfast Club. If you haven’t figured out the theme yet, it’s youth culture. Most of these films were set in the 80s and 90s before this current generation. This is the first generation where our lives are saturated by mobile technology and social media (Divecha, 2017). But no matter what generation, youth culture has many common behaviors, or misbehaviors.

Often when I watch a film or read a comic book, I wonder if I relate to the story or anyone in it. I looked for anything in common I might have with one of the characters in the five films we watched. I can identify with Ray from Mid90s the most. I’m not a die-hard skateboarder like Ray. In fact I can’t skateboard at all, but I dedicate all my time and energy into art and animation. While we have different interests, I can relate to Ray’s passion for something he enjoys and the energy he puts into it. Ray is the top skateboarder in his group and practiced every day. All my spare time is spent drawing and taking online animation courses. My goal is to always do better than what I did yesterday. Words to describe Ray would be the same way I describe myself: down to earth, not concerned with fitting in, my own person, caring, always willing to help, and a very loyal friend. When Stevie joins the skateboard crew in the film Mid90s, he finally digs up some money to buy Ruben’s old, used skateboard. Stevie gets injured while attempting an insane jump over a hole in a roof and breaks his skateboard. Ray sees how much Stevie is trying to fit in, no matter how many falls he takes, he gets back up. Ray has a big heart and builds Stevie a new skateboard. As I mentioned, I’m not a skateboarder, but I enjoy trying to make people smile with my art. I enjoy drawing a cartoon of a friend to help them to get out of a funk or just listen to whatever it is they are going through. 

These films all share a few common themes. One theme is belonging. I admit I looked up the term “fitting in” and it was compared to belonging. Fitting in is defined as to be like other people in a group – what they wear, how they act, how they look. (Pace, 2018) Belonging is a basic human need – it is about acceptance – being where you want to be and being where you are wanted (Pace, 2018). A few examples are Stevie (Mid90s) wants to be accepted into the skateboard crew; Brian (The Breakfast Club) brings a flare gun to school as a suicide attempt because he didn't feel he was good enough; and Cady (Mean Girls) is the new girl trying to get accepted by The Plastics.

My freshman year in high school definitely falls into the theme of belonging. I struggled with speech and have a learning disorder. And at the time I had zero confidence in socializing. I’d walk over to a group of kids in the cafeteria just to try to get involved in the conversation, but I couldn’t form sentences quick enough to jump in. I would be the weird kid just standing there. One day my speech therapist asked me what I wanted to improve and I told her I wanted to gain confidence in socializing. She told me the best way to do this would be to just try to talk to more people. Well in high school that worked with some kids, but not all. I’ll never forget one day in the cafeteria I was trying to find a place to sit and eat lunch. I saw an empty chair at a table where a ‘friend’ was sitting. The group was taking turns roasting one another. At one point another kid challenged me. I was doing fine until he said, “You know people are only nice to you because they don’t want to hurt your feelings.” That hurt like hell. He was referring to my speech impairment. I got up from the table and walked away. And that ‘friend’ at the table didn’t defend me at all. One girl came running over to make sure I was alright. I was pissed and hurt. I was not alright. Just so you don’t think I went off the deep end and had a miserable high school experience, I actually gained a great friend in high school that day. Alex, who was a senior, saw me leave track practice early. My head just wasn’t into track, so I went to sit in the empty cafeteria hoping to clear my head. He asked how things were going and I told him what happened that day. He told me, “It’s not easy finding out who your real friends are. But don’t change for anyone and don’t try to be like anyone else. Just be you.” I’ll never forget how he took the time to talk to me. After his advice, I could care less about belonging.

Another common theme between all five films is rebellion. When they aren’t skateboarding, most of the characters in Mid90s spend their time partying, drinking, and doing drugs. In The Breakfast Club, each character is in detention because they rebelled in some way. Why else would they be in detention? Every character in Kids was a rebel, actually more like a criminal. I bet the writer of the film was too.

A third theme is “bro” culture. “Bro” culture is defined as people who are bullies but at the end of the day they have your back, like a brother (Sloothunter42, 2018). Two great examples of “bros” are John (The Breakfast Club) and Ian (Mid90s). Throughout The Breakfast Club, John constantly insults the other kids in detention. He even insults the principal. The group escapes detention to wander the hallways. When the principal sees them, John saves the group by telling them to go back to the library while he distracts the principal. This link shows you the scene I’m explaining: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iq7MRlHg5I (Hughes, 1985). Not something you would have expected from a bully, but you would from a “bro.” In Mid90s, Stevie’s brother, Ian, beats the crap out of him every chance he gets. But when Stevie is laying in a hospital bed after a car accident, his brother is there by his side. He even shares his precious orange juice.

Now onto one of my favorite things in life, music! I put together a playlist that relates to my adolescent experience. In no particular order, here are 10 songs and what each means to me. But let me point out that some song lyrics mean something to me, while with other songs it was the energy it gives off. I’m all about positive energy. First song is “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra. I first heard this song during the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. This song kept me motivated and positive during high school. If I was having a bad day, this was my ‘go to’ song. I also listened to it every day on my way to school. Next is “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, a.k.a. CeeLo Green. This song reminds me of my mind, imagination, and the stuff I think about. I always have a trillion things going on in my head. I guess that explains my poor focus skills and super procrastination. “Inner Ninja” by Classified is another upbeat song. A few lines that always stuck in my head are, “I find my inner strength and I re-up; Here we go, I know I've never been the smartest or wisest; But I realize what it takes; Never dwell in the dark cause the sun always rises.” My junior year of high school I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It has and still is life-changing and as much as I don’t let it change who I am, I’m human. But as the song says, don’t dwell on the negative, look for the positive. I always remind myself of the positive. “Through the Fire and Flames” by DragonForce always fueled my brain when I was tired of doing homework or studying. To me the lyrics mean to keep moving forward no matter how difficult. Just look at what your goal is and don’t give up. Plus this song has one hell of a guitar solo that is very motivating. Michael Jackson is one of my favorite artists and “Man in the Mirror” reminds me how important it is to try to do good in the world and make a positive change. Regardless of culture, color, religion, and disability, we are all capable of making good changes in the world. I tried this on a much smaller scale in high school by volunteering at the food pantry and community events. “Clint Eastwood” by Gorillaz is one of many songs by this group that I like. It’s not so much the words I relate to, but I love the animation in their music videos. I remember the first time I saw one of their videos I thought how cool and mysterious it was that we only see the singers as cartoons. We are never shown who they really are. I like the fact that it’s different. Different is good in my world. “Intergalactic” by Beastie Boys reminds me of breakdancing and dancing in general. I love to dance and looked forward to every prom and homecoming dance at high school. “Without Me” by Eminem reminds me that no matter how much people criticize you, you can be very successful at what you enjoy doing. The last song on my list is “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand. To be honest, I just like the beat of the song and it’s one of those songs I listened to over and over in high school.

So that wraps up my Youth Culture blog. I hope it gave you a better understanding of how I relate to the assigned films. But let me make one thing clear, I do not relate to anything in the film Kids. Not one thing.

Below is my self portrait of what goes through my mind. 

Artwork by: Marcello Laudato

[sincerelyreidburke]

As your local fanfic prophet, I offer you words of wisdom: The kiersey theatre boys going the jingle bell rock dance from mean girls. You're welcome

............ God, sometimes I wish I could draw.

Anyway. Percy has sent in a fantastic prompt for me to kick off the 25 Days of Kiersey with. Here’s the deal: I’m going to create a new AO3 work, which will ultimately be 25 chapters, one for each day where I do a holiday Kiersey post/ficlet/whatever. I’ll link you guys to that later today, but for now....... come with me on this journey.

Interestingly, Percy, I’ve actually thought about this before. And you’ll have to forgive me, because I’m cheating slightly and it’s only the first day— what I’m about to describe to you doesn’t actually take place during the holiday season. But nonetheless, it is very much related to the holidays.

Come with me on this journey. (Long post under the cut!)

It’s Reid’s idea. Pretty much every terrible/wonderful thing that happens in the Kiersey Drama Club is Reid’s idea. Reid has actually been trying to get three other guys enlisted under his command to do this for the past several years, but he’s never been able to push his plans through........ until one Quinn Cooper comes along.

So allow me to set the scene for you. Remember that variety show the drama club puts on every spring? Yeah, that one. Going into the spring semester of his senior year, Reid really wants to do something big and fun and obnoxious. He has tried, in vain, to get his three roommates to do this damn Mean Girls dance routine with him, but a.) he’s the only one of them who actually does acting, and b.) Jhiron Hassan would not be caught dead doing a sexy Santa dance, and also c.) you can’t teach the unique lack of shame possessed by one Reid Burke.

So the short and the long of it is that Reid has never actually gotten the chance to live out one of his biggest meme performance fantasies. You should know that, as a general rule, Reid loves Mean Girls. Honestly, he has good taste.

By the way, if you don’t know what I’m referring to by “sexy Santa dance” and “that damn dance routine,” please educate yourself at the following link.

Anyway, going on. I would have this take place at Christmas, but Reid never gets people to organize to his cause at the holidays. He’s always looking for three guys, and he can never get three. I also, for Kiersey-verse plot reasons, can’t have them do this in the winter of Reid’s senior year, because he doesn’t know Quinn well enough for it yet, and you’d be sorely mistaken if you thought I would leave Quinn out of this activity.

Going on for real this time.

In his senior spring musical, Reid observes a unique opportunity: he exists in a cast with exactly three other young, strapping men. (“Mel, isn’t it technically four? What about Spencer?” Spencer can choke.)

At some point as the spring musical season is coming to a close, and sign-ups for the variety show (which takes place during the last month or so of school) are rapidly approaching, Reid corners his castmates with a proposition.

[Dear Evan Hansen dress rehearsal. Backstage, while Ezra is messing with light cues.]

Reid: Gentlemen. Esteemed colleagues. Gather around.

Danny: Reid.

Reid: I have a mission to charge you with.

Danny: I am ready to accept it.

Quinn, who still has slight Freshman Syndrome, trying to fit in with the cool upperclassmen: Me, too!

Reid: Sign-ups for the variety show are approaching.

Cole, slightly concerned: Oh, no.

Reid: Oh, yes, Cole. Fun fact: you have to listen to me, because I’m about to graduate, and every moment you spend with me is precious.

Cole, picking his nail polish: That’s generous, but, uh, go on.

Reid: (Tries to smack Cole’s arm.)

Cole, in a monotone: Ow.

Quinn: Wait, Reid, what’s your idea?

Reid: I think you’re all gonna love it. :D

Quinn:

Danny:

Reid: :D

Cole: Uh....

Cole: Do you plan on, like, telling us—

Reid: Okay, okay! Fuck. I almost lost my train of thought. Anyway. Are you all familiar with the movie Mean Girls?

Quinn: What kind of person isn’t familiar with that movie?

Danny: It’s a premium film.

Reid: I’m impressed, Danny. As resident straight boy, I thought you’d need the most education.

Danny: What, so being straight means you can’t enjoy quality cinema?

Cole, lying through his teeth: I’m straight and I like that movie.

Cole: But what does that have to do with—

(Cole begins to realize where this is going.)

Cole: Oh.

Reid: Well, there’s a scene in it—

Cole: Oh, no.

Reid: — at the Christmas pageant or whatever, where—

(Quinn and Danny also catch on.)

Quinn: Oh, my goodness.

Danny: (Starts laughing.)

Cole: I’m not doing that.

Reid: Fuck off, Coley! How can you stare me in the face and decline participating in my one senior year wish?

Cole: Just for the record? I think you’ve told me, like, at least six separate times that something is your ‘one senior year wish.’ It’s different every time. Remember at the apple festival—

Reid: But listen—

Cole: And at Bluegrass open mic—

Reid: Hold on, though—

Cole: And that one time in your apartment—

Reid: Cole! You’re breaking my heart. Why won’t you do the sexy Santa dance with me?!

Danny: I’ll do it.

Reid: Daniel Cho, have I mentioned lately that you’re a superior man and I love you?

Quinn: I’ll do it, too!

Quinn: (to Reid) As long as you’re Regina.

Reid: Obviously, I’m Regina. You think I haven’t planned this out? You’re Cady, frosh, because you’re ginger and you’re new.

Quinn: I’m honored.😌😌😌

Reid: I’ll be fun! I’ll get us a boombox, and we can find weird slutty male costumes, and my roommate Eli can be Tina Fey and start playing the piano—

Danny, about to fall off his chair laughing: Oh my God, yes.

Quinn: I feel like Maggie may be jealous that this is happening without her.

Reid: Tell Maggie that I’m sorry, but this is reserved for the men in the drama club with the most sex appeal.

Cole: (Gagging noise.)

Quinn: Oh! And I can make us costumes!

Reid, putting a hand to his heart: You’d do that? For me? I knew you were my favorite freshman.

Danny: Okay, is it weird that I’m kind of excited?

Reid: No, it means you have good taste.

Quinn: I’m excited as well.

(Everybody turns and looks at Cole.)

Cole: 

Reid:

Quinn:

Danny:

Cole: I am Jewish.

Reid: Yeah, exactly, so you can be Gretchen, dumbass!

Cole: I hate you, Reid.

Reid, high-fiving Danny: We got him, boys!

And so it begins........ Reid gets to live out his fantasy of having absolutely no shame, Quinn gets to design his own sexy Santa costume, Danny does it for the meme, and Cole......... does it for Reid and only for Reid. It’s important that you all know that Cole wears suspenders and an open Santa jacket, because apparently that’s a thing. Quinn’s costume in some way involves short shorts. Reid would straight-up wear the dress. As we’ve recently discussed, Reid would wear a dress.

People who are not prepared to witness this but have to lay their eyes upon it anyway, an unfinished list: Bri, Jhiron, Claire, Nando........

Actually, that raises a good point. How does Nando handle this without combusting? He probably doesn’t. It’s Cell Block Tango 2.0 even though this takes place before the Cell Block Tango incident.

Quinn sewing a pair of red velvet booty shorts:

Nando: Uh......,,,, baby? Who are those for?

Quinn: Oh, they’re for me!😊😊😊

Nando: 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳

Quinn: I’m making costumes for the drama club variety show. It’s in two weeks. Are you coming?

Nando, sweating: Well, like, uh, 😳😳😳😳, obviously I’m coming if that’s what you’re wearing—

To the best of their ability, they copy the choreography from the movie, and they practice in one of the dance studios in the performing arts center. Imagine being a dance major, minding your own business and going to practice after hours, and you unlock the studio and that ginger freshman who starred in the spring musical is yelling choreography at three uncoordinated upperclassmen. And also Christmas music is playing. And one of them is wearing a Santa hat.

Reid pulls some drama club strings and gets them to be the last thing on the program. He swears them all to secrecy, so a limited number of people know what they’re actually performing. He wants the crowd at the variety show to be surprised.

Aaaand that’s the story of how Reid brought the house down at the final Kiersey Drama variety show of his college career. And had Christmas in April.

You may ask yourself, why? I raise you: why not?

[awkwardschools-detention]

Blog_Post_#1_Examining_Youth_Culture_Lajara_Brandon

Lajara, Brandon

COM 105 Media & Society 

FALL 2021

09/13/21

Blog Post 1, Examining Youth Culture

Examining youth culture can help us understand on how to raise awareness for certain issues like drug addiction and sexual harassment and even bullying. The character that I can relate to the most is the supporting character Damien from mean girls. The reason why is because he is so awkward and I was very awkward during my adolescence. I just love his attitude during the movie and how chill he is. I also liked Cady Heron because she is new to high school after being homeschooled all her life in Africa. I was like Cady in some ways. Well not the homeschooled parts but I changed myself to fit in and ended up bullying a really good friend of mine in highschool and he decided that I was too mean and ditched me. I realized that I lost him when it was too late. The way I got him back was by pranking the bullies and punching them in the faces, luckily that stopped them from bullying anyone ever again. I also liked it when he wore an interesting purple suit alongside his best friend Janis. It was risky but also brave of him to not care how he looked. Damien also didn’t care at all what people said, but the only way I somewhat differed from him during my adolescence was I cared about my image and basically felt really self conscious about my look and was depressed all the time. It wasn’t until another friend who would soon become my best friend/sister to me would inspire me to stop caring about my figure and how I dressed. So I would decide to still wear baggy sweatshirts to wear casual clothes, I love somewhat big sweatshirts. I also like wearing hats because I used to hate my hair and how fast it grows but now I like it. Damien is the type of character to inspire people to just be themselves and to not care what other people think. One common theme is Bullying and that is a serious theme because of how impactful it is on our youth. Bullying is a plague. I can sadly say again that I was a bully for a short time and it wasn’t fun. I was also bullied as well. The reason bullying is so big is because insecure teens bundle up their problems the wrong way and let it out towards others. One reference about this is in the movie Mean girls and the plastics burn book and when it was revealed and everyone’s secrets were revealed was technically bullying to a certain degree. The reason why I count that as bullying is because it caused people distress and got people hurt hense the fight in the hall that came soon after. Another common theme is drug usage and alcohol. In euphoria the story begins with Rue narrating and telling the viewer that she overdosed on drugs. Later in the episode teens are seen at a party drinking alcohol and doing drugs. Teens are drawn to drugs because either they came from a broken home and they want to feel good or they are peer pressured into it by friends or classmates, in some cases people think it’s cool to take drugs. Teens are into drinking alcohol in a similar way to why they take drugs actually. The final theme is fashion. Teens are over obsessed with fashion and how they look. Teens are way too self conscious about what they look like and it’s kinda unhealthy. Take a look at the plastics from mean girls and how they focus too much on their look and even dictating how others dress as well with them being trendsetters and all. Soundtracks can affect a narrative if the song fits the scene but won’t do anything if the song doesn’t fit the scene and how the story is told. I’m going to go out of order for the list. The first song that I am going to talk about is called Ugliest by a rap duo called Suicideboys. It defines my adolescence because it’s about (what I interpret anyway) Opioid addiction. I never took drugs in my life but I lost a few friends to opiod addiction. The problem with this Opioid epidemic is how easily people can get their hands on them. The next song is All signs point to Lauderdale by A day to remember. This song somewhat defined my adolescence in which all I wanted to do was leave the town I grew up in and run away from all of my problems. All I could do from not running away was listening to this song and others by the band. The next song is also from A day to remember it’s called sometimes you’re the Hammer, Sometimes you’re the nail. This song helped me during my adolescence make me feel like I was someone when I wasn’t good at anything. The song inspired me to better myself and enjoy life to the fullest. Another song is Never Again by Breaking Benjamin. That song helped me realize that I was a bully and I would never bully anyone ever again. Airplanes by B.o.B is another song that helped me realize that I need to chase my dreams. The song on the playlist is a cover of the song. The next song is another opioid song this time it’s called Can’t catch up by Rehab. This one helped me realize that I can potentially not be able to help my friends that are addicted even though at that time during my adolescence I thought I actually could help them and have them quit. Prisoner by Dance Gavin Dance is a song that would define a month of my adolescence where I felt like a prisoner in my own mind. I hated school back during my adolescence and every time school ended for the summer or any kind of break I would listen to School’s out by Alice in Chains. It helped me get through the years but I ended up learning to like school. I had a phase where all I listened to was Sum 41, their song in too deep helped realize that whatever new thing I tried to learn I would mess up and make a pile of problems that would actually have consequences later on. The final song that I would like to chat about is the iconic Just a Kid by simple plan. I had very few friends in school and everything went wrong for me. Believe it or not I already knew that life was hard and not easy.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7FRrwlOJTs7t7SQNyp4C7D?si=688e4500d7bc40f5

[sprnklersplashes]

Ask and ye shall receive, the fic in which Karen decks a Republican in the face. Gretchen x Karen. Trigger warning for homophobic language.

There are a lot of really, really great things about being able to drive, Gretchen has come to realise. For one, she’s found it’s a really effective way to kick her anxiety in the ass. Slow down, focus on the road, and the little grey cloud starts to drift away. Two, it means she no longer has to walk to school, or get the bus, or even worse, get the car with Regina. It does mean she can no longer get rides with Janis, but they can carpool sometimes and it’s worth it for number three… She can drive Karen places. To school, home from school, out to the mall, home from the mall.

Or like now, when she’s picking her up from her yoga class. While it was initially something Karen’s mom signed her up for to keep her from getting bored and restless in the house, she’s taken a greater liking to it than either she or Gretchen could have anticipated. Especially with the array of outfits she now has, courtesy of a month ago when Gretchen let Karen drag her all around the sportswear store. Her Instagram is now filled with photos of her in her various colour coordinated outfits, completing the pose with her yoga mat and sticker-covered water bottle. Many of those photos were taken by Gretchen herself, both fulfilling her duty as girlfriend and making use of the photography skills she’s picked up over time. Except this time she’s doing it without a certain someone snipping at her every five seconds, so it’s even better.

Sitting on the hood of her car, she opens up the email about the photography course her dad had sent her. ‘Seems like something you’d like’ he had offered. ‘You know, you’re always taking pictures one that phone of yours and they turn out nice. Maybe you could do even better with a real camera’. Despite her protests over who would pay for a camera, she hasn’t stopped being tempted by it since her father proposed it. The more she read, the better it sounded, spending three weeks learning how to take the best shots, play with editing, practice with models (meaning drama students from the same art college, but hey, maybe she’d run into Damian there). As the last days of school approach, so does the deadline and she finds herself running out of reasons to say no. Something she’s used to, but in this context, it’s for once not a bad thing.

“Gretch!” When she looks up, she’s greeted to the sight of her girlfriend, sunshine hair and sunshine smile, scurrying across the parking lot to meet her. Her hair is held off her face in a high ponytail, the perfect style for kissing her neck later, but for now it’s perfect for yoga, and videos on her Instagram of the post-yoga ice cream she and Gretchen always get (she earns it, after all). She bounds up to Gretchen and throws her arms around her, giggling into the crook of her neck. “I missed you.”

“You shouldn’t miss me,” she replies. “You should be busy having fun.”

“I can do both,” Karen grins. “So are we getting ice cream?”

“Of course we are,” Gretchen replies.

“Oh wait, I need to kiss you first!” Gretchen barely has any time to laugh before Karen pulls her against her and presses a sweet kiss to her lips, tasting like strawberry lipgloss and mint-tinged water. A thrill runs down her spine and it banishes any bad thoughts that could lurk in her mind.

“Excuse me?” a voice says from behind them. They pull apart for Gretchen to see a girl around their age, maybe younger, a yoga mat also thrown over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow at the two of them, eyes narrowed. There’s something in her gaze, the contempt in the curl of her mouth that makes Gretchen instinctively want to pull away from Karen.

“Oh hi Molly!” Karen says brightly. “Gretchen, this is Molly, she does yoga with me. Molly this is Gretchen, my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Molly echoes flatly, her eyes flitting over Gretchen. While the sun doesn’t disappear overhead, but the parking lot gets colder. “You’re…. a lesbian?”

“Oh, I’m pansexual,” she corrects, her voice still sunny as ever. “See?” She taps the pan flag sticker on her bottle. “Gretchen’s a lesbian though. So’s our friend Janis.”

“Okay,” Molly says sharply. Karen’s smile dips. Gretchen wraps her own shaking hand around Karen’s. Molly flicks her ponytail off her shoulder and marches towards them, making Gretchen’s heart pound. Luckily for her, she maintains a little distance between them. “Look Karen, I don’t mind your lifestyle. In fact, I respect it. A lot. But for God’s sake….”

Gretchen tries not to visibly cringe, but the words cause a hurt in her chest that’s not unlike her usual anxiety, but there’s a cold undercurrent to it, the words sickeningly familiar and picking at her skin. She tries to swallow pas the hard lump in her throat.

“What’s wrong?” Karen asks, beautifully oblivious.

“Karen,” Molly scoffs. At that moment, Gretchen bites the inside of her cheek, her chest flushing and while it’s not the first time she’s gotten angry, she’s still unused to it. She hasn’t gotten into the habit of letting it out in the moment rather than her usual “put it in a bottle, push it down and let it fester” tactic. But she doesn’t think she can push it down this time around. “Karen… there are kids here.”

“Yeah I know!” she goes on, glancing at the kid’s ballet class two doors down from her yoga studio. “They’re cute aren’t they?”

“Yes. And they don’t need to be exposed to that kind of lifestyle.”

An invisible weight slams into Gretchen’s stomach, harder than any punch. She sinks down onto the hood of the car on cold legs. Her whole body is cold, her limbs feeling as though they’ve been detached from one another and float next to each other. When she tears begin to form in her eyes, she can’t even muster up the effort to blink them away. She’s not like Cady, who looks for the best in people, or Janis, who even when she gets hurt, follows it up with a middle finger. Where they make impacts, Gretchen just gets impacted.

Karen’s mouth falls open when she takes a look at her, and her gentle, warm fingers wipe her cheeks, kissing the wet tracks. Then her jaw sets, her shoulders tense underneath her tank top and she whips around to face the other girl, so quickly Gretchen is treated to a ponytail in the face.

“You know what, Molly?” Karen says, striding over to her. “You are really not nice.”

Molly whirls around and nearly falls to the ground, not of her own accord, but because Karen just punched her in the face. She shakes out her hand, wincing and checking for marks, meanwhile Molly looks at her with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide and blazing. She stands there, frozen in that tableau, the only sound being the tiny, appalled squeaks escaping her mouth as she searches for the right words. Or any words.

“Don’t be mean,” Karen hisses. If Gretchen wasn’t watching the scene for herself, she wouldn’t even think that was Karen speaking. “Especially not to Gretchen.”

Yet when she turns around, all she sees is Karen, pushing a loose strand of hair away from her face and grinning at her.

“So are we going for ice cream now?” she asks, as if there wasn’t a dazed and shell-shocked girl holding her cheek, an angry purple bruise already beginning to form there.

“Sure,” Gretchen says, her eyes still lingering on Molly. Dazed, she follows Karen into the car and hops into the driver’s seat while Karen toys with the radio and starts humming and dancing along with the pop song that blasts out of the speakers. Her dancing is only slightly off beat, her humming occasionally punctuated with a nonsensical noise. As they pull out of the parking lot, Molly gets to her feet, still staring after the car in utter shock, fury evident in her tight fists. Her bag swings around just in time for Gretchen to see the red Trump sticker glaring out at them and she grimaces. “Oh, gross.”

“So gross,” Karen agrees as she applies lipgloss. “She’s really gross.”

“You took care of her,” she adds, smirking. Karen hums casually and shrugs, screwing the lid of her lipgloss back on tightly.

“She had it coming,” she says. “I don’t like mean people. Especially when they’re mean to you.” With pink cheeks, Gretchen lifts Karen’s hand in her free one and kisses it.

“You’re the best,” she says, meaning every word. “Though I really want to know where you learned to punch like that.”

“Janis taught me!” she says proudly and Gretchen has to hold herself back from groaning. There’s another conversation to be had later. “By the way, I might start taking up boxing. There’s this cool adults class my mom found.” Shaking her head, Gretchen smiles and heads off down the road in the direction of the ice cream parlour, trying to imagine Karen in kickboxing.

Well, if nothing else, it’s more ice cream dates for them.