#newsies has one of the best scores

[average-book-enjoyer]

WHY was I born a woman??

A List of Musical Theater Roles That Me and My Girl Best Friend Would be Perfect For. it also would be cool if they were just genderbent as lesbians but whatever

A comprehensive list under the cut 👍

#1

Erik and Christine!

Phantom is one of my favorite shows of all time. I don’t condone the kidnapping and such, but the aesthetic is unparalleled. My friend is a soprano 1 who eats every single time she sings Christine’s parts. The Phantom sings pretty solidly in my range. Also my bestie’s kind of into Erik’s weird toxic thing with Christine. Idk what that has to do with this but it feels relevant.

#2

Seymour and Audrey!

Little Shop is SUCH a good show. Suddenly Seymour is her go-to audition song, and one of our favorites to sing together. I feel like I could serve little pathetic loserman enough to pull this off.

#3

Gatsby and Daisy!

Ok I’m so sorry about this but like. Pining after an unavailable woman for five years? I WAS MADE FOR THIS. I’d need to learn the harmonies but that’s ok. My friend’s belt is so solid that she would body every single song in this show. Also I just love tragedy or whatever…

#4

Mendel and Trina!

The token normal healthy couple. I know almost every single line of every harmony in Falsettos (<-i say, normally) and being onstage acting insanely down bad for a friend? I’ve found I’m very good at! She says she’d have fun with Trina’s issues and such. We would eat this up.

#5

JD and Veronica!

No listen please hear me out. I learned the harmonies to Seventeen specifically so we could sing it together. Our friends will tell us to stfu because we just want to sing it whenever. Although my friend is a soprano, her range is kinda crazy and she has a lot of fun singing in the alto/mezzo range. I personally would have fun playing a murderous freak.

#6

Jack and Katherine!

I can do a New York accent already! I learned Jack’s harmonies for Something To Believe In and half of the score on trumpet. My Newsies phase was FOUL. My friend would absolutely eat Katharine’s disdain for Jack at the beginning and also she can tap dance!! Anyway my point is PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CAN WE BE THESE TWO PLEASE

#7

Jim and Jenna!

Ok I can’t really defend myself on this one… I know the harmonies already if that helps? I just love Sara Bareilles and I love Waitress (i am on my knees begging) Can I be that gynecologist pleeeeeease pretty please? My friend would SERVE Jenna pwease pretty please (i crumble into dust)

#8

Emmett and Elle!

My friend is blonde. My friend could do this show so well. Emmett and I? Both supreme woman respecters. I think the dynamic of Emmett being insanely in love with Elle and her just not noticing we would do INCREDIBLY well. Once again. I know the man’s harmonies. I just want to be him so bad 😭

Thank you for reading if you got this far. Be on your way xoxo

[reflection-s-of-stars]

The ending of Gideon the Ninth destroyed me so here’s what I think the Canaan House crew’s favorite musicals would be

Judith: Resident musical theater disliker of Canaan House. Would probably not hate something like Come From Away if you dragged her but is opposed to musicals on principle.

Marta: We don’t know much about her but I think she’d like Wicked!

(EDIT: Now that I’ve read As Yet Unsent, I’m gonna switch my answer for Marta and say Chicago! Idk why it’s just vibes)

Coronabeth: West Side Story! Tragic, romantic, gorgeous score, and she likes puns so she’d love Sondheim.

Ianthe: Cats. @wegottagetouttahere

Naberius: Hamilton guy for sure. Thinks most other musicals are super pretentious.

Isaac and Jeannemary: I’m putting them together because they bonded over Rent. Isaac gives off big theater kid energy to me, and Jeannemary likes rock for sure. They sing Take Me or Leave Me together.

Abigail: Would love a classic like Camelot. Wouldn’t judge the teens in a million years, but she doesn’t really get modern musicals.

Magnus: Fiddler on the Roof! He’s the most likely of the crew to really love musicals imo. Sings to the teens to embarrass them.

Palamedes: Pirates of Penzance. That is a man who loves a good patter song.

Camilla: Would probably just say Pirates of Penzance too, because it’s Pal’s favorite and she doesn’t really get musicals. Would probably like Hamilton a lot but she’d be chill about it.

Dulcinea: Like Marta, we don’t know much about her but I think she’d like Hadestown!

(EDIT: I just came back from seeing Moulin Rouge on tour, and now that I’ve read Harrow I can confidently say that Dulcie would go fucking crazy for that show.)

Protesilaus: Loves Les Mis and has the best voice at Canaan House. You can pry this one out of my cold dead hands

Silas: Lloyd Weber enjoyer. Thinks the eighties were the peak of musical theater and refuses to listen to anything made afterwards.

Colum: Into The Woods I think! Silas has heard him do Agony one too many times. He’s surprisingly good!

Gideon: Newsies fan. Santa Fe makes her feel feelings. (Newsies fandom I’m giving you my best girl because you guys are SO nice)

Harrow: Would dislike theater on principle, Judith-style, but might like something like Hadestown as well if you made her go. Eventually she gets into Malloysicals

Bonus Cytherea: Sweeney Todd if we’re being thematic, but really she’d be a Rodgers and Hammerstein girlie

Bonus-bonus Teacher: You just know if he was real he’d be an opera buff.

[maribatserver]

Tag Team Tournament 2024 - Day One

The third Tag Team Tournament has finally begun! If you haven't done so already, make sure to read over our Event Guide Document to find the rules and submission guidelines for this event, as well as the link to our submission form for anything you publish this week!

The submission form is now open!

Our prompt for Day 1 is "Start at the beginning, and tell me how we got to this."

You don't have to respond to a prompt, but if you do then your submission will get a certain number of bonus points! Prompts are worth more on the first day that they're scheduled for, but you can still get extra points even if you miss that window! Be sure to check our Prompt List if you want to work ahead. You can also seek inspiration through our Team Playlists, which we have on good authority is the best way to get a mod bonus from Newsie this year.

You have until the clock strikes twelve in EST (which is 24 hours from when this post was published) to get the full amount of bonus points for today's prompt. Happy creating!

We’ll be searching the #ttt2024 tag for your submissions to reblog, so please make sure to share them here with that tag as well as submitting through the Form!

Additional Notes:

Only submissions through the Form will count towards scoring! We will NOT be collecting AO3, Discord, or Tumblr submissions manually.

If your post hasn’t been reblogged to our Tumblr within 48 hours, please reblog it and tag @maribatserver​​ in the text of the reblog to make sure we see it! Sometimes Tumblr tag searches are a bit janky, and we want your work to get the attention it deserves.

The only way to check if your submission has been scored is to check our Live Tracker which will automatically update once your submission has been processed. Just because your work was reblogged does NOT mean it was scored! Please allow 24 hours for your work to appear on the live tracker, as unverified submissions will not be shared. 

Good luck to your team(s) and we can’t wait to see what you’ve got!

Special thanks to @izanae, @nottesilhouette and @newdog14 for coming up with our prompts, and to @nottesilhouette for designing the calendar & coding our Live Tracker, and to @newdog14 for creating out prompt graphics & making our Team Playlists!

[heliads]

can you write a finch x reader with a little spice? maybe the newsies are hanging out at the park/pier and he is hopelessly in love with her.

no spice in my good family friendly fanfiction blog

masterlist

It is a lovely, lovely day in New York, and that’s cause for celebration if Finch has ever heard it. All of the newsboys around purposefully bought fewer papers than normal just so they could get out early and enjoy the sunshine. They’ll swallow the cost of fewer profits later, obviously, it’ll be the only thing they’ll be eating for a while, but right now it’s good, damn good, and that’s all they care to think about at the moment.

The Manhattan newsboys have chosen to cluster together on the pier and watch the sun slowly sink over the endless water. The local seagull population has been temporarily replaced by scores of boys in fading shirts and patched pants, scuffed shoes and hats raised to wave at each and every ship that passes by their territory.

It’s a wonderful way to spend the day, that’s for certain. Later today, once the exhaustion catches up to them and all the Manhattan newsies troop back to their Lodging House to recount all they did, all the imaginary battles won and treasures discovered, they’ll all swear that the water had never been bluer, the wind never more well timed. The sun will never shine as perfectly as it did today, and were they able to travel back in time and revisit this day once more, it would never be quite as good as it is right now. 

They’re all slipping on the rose tinted glasses as easily as if they’ve been worn all their lives. Looking around him, Finch watches his friends laugh and shout and enjoy themselves. They deserve this, all of them. They’ve deserved it for a while. Feels good.

Finch himself is leaning against a sun bleached wooden post, idly carving initials into the already scored wood. They were his at first, the letters of his attention, but they’ve started slipping into something else, heralding a name that no longer belongs to him. It takes Finch several minutes to jolt out of his sun induced stupor and realize what he’s doing, and then he recognizes the name for what it is:  Y/N’s.

Makes sense, at least. Finch is nothing if not predictable. He’s been crushing on Y/N for what, six months now, and he’s just as unlikely to give her up as he had been at the start. It’s not his fault, though. Most crushes you can brush off with a few days’ worth of calculated avoidance, but this is different. This is Y/N, and that means everything is out of his control.

It would be one thing if he didn’t see her at all. Finch could just wake up whenever, get his papers and sell them on some opposite corner of the city. He’d come back late and purposefully stick to his circles of his friends, all of which don’t have to include her.

That would be the plan, at least, and then Finch’s traitorous feet keep leading him in the wrong direction. All roads lead back to her, all of Finch’s jokes land best when he’s telling them to her, and every time Finch swears to himself that he’s really over it this time, he’s not in love with her, he goes out of his way to find her again and it’s all over from there on out.

It’s not like it’s her fault, though. Y/N’s not the one who can’t stay away, that blame rests solely on his shoulders. Finch can’t go without seeing Y/N because he doesn’t want to. The thought of going forever without hearing her laugh at some bad joke of his or even just look at him with that knowing smile (she’s aware of his crush, of that he’s damn certain, Y/N knows everything) makes Finch want to break a bone, not necessarily his.

Someone taps his shoulder a little too hard and Finch stumbles slightly, dragged out of the same spiral of thoughts he keeps getting trapped in as of late. His attacker is Race, as it turns out. Belatedly, Finch remembers that he’d been talking to a group of his friends, Race among them. He might have been zoning out a little too much, and now they’ve been waiting for a response from him for too long.

Race spreads his hands exaggeratedly. “Earth to Finch? Did you lose the ability to hear or are you just ignoring us?”

“Ignoring you is my favorite thing most of the time,” Finch says pointedly.

Jojo cackles. “Funny, Finch. Funny. Out of curiosity, why are you carving Y/N’s initials on that post?”

Finch’s eyes widen, caught in the act, and he swats Jojo on the shoulder. “Shout that a little louder, why don’t you? Besides, I didn’t realize you learned your letters. Impressive, you’re almost on the same level as Les now.”

Jojo just grins. “That’s not an insult to me. Les is wicked smart. I think he could con Pulitzer out of all his riches if he tried hard enough.”

Finch can’t argue with that. Race, though, has shuffled forward to peer intently at the wide swathes of initials now decorating the pier’s post. “That’s mighty fine workmanship, I have to say. I bet Y/N would just love to see it, don’t you think so, boys?”

Jojo snorts. “Most certainly. Maybe we can get Katherine to put a column on it in the newspaper. I can see the headline already: ‘Local newsboy has it bad for–”

Jojo spreads his hands as if envisioning the headline in print, and, unfortunately, he doesn’t even flinch when Finch raises his fists to start swinging. “The only one who’s going to have it bad is you when I put you in the hospital, Jojo.”

Race steps in between the two of them, still choked up with laughter. “Easy, easy. No fights here today, Jackie boy made us promise. Now stow that frown, Finch. You know we’se just playing around.”

“Yeah,” Finch says, still eyeing Jojo even after Race steps away, “I know. You should know better than to say a thing about it, though.”

“Of course we do,” Race says placatingly. “Hey, here’s Y/N now, you can talk to her about your latest track record for starting fights. I’m sure she’d be wowed by it.”

At first, Finch thinks Race is just pulling his leg, but then over the blond boy’s shoulder he sees Y/N walking over to them. He carefully shifts his weight so he’s leaning over the part of the wooden post that he’d been carving, making Jojo clap a hand over his mouth lest he break out in laughter once again and give them all away.

“What’s all this about?” Y/N asks once she’s close enough, one brow raised, “Jack said that he could, and I quote, ‘smell a fight brewing from a mile away.’ Can I go tell him he needs a better nose or was he right?”

“He might have been a little right,” Race says airly, “but we’se all good now, we promised. Say, I bet Finch here wants to tell you all about it.”

Finch shoots a murderous glance Race’s way, but the other two boys are already heading away quickly. The second they’re around the corner, Finch can hear their laughter bubbling up again.

“What was that about?” Y/N asks curiously.

Finch groans. “Don’t worry about it. They’se just trying to tease me, that’s all?”

Y/N grins. “Tease you about what?”

“Nothin’,” Finch says decisively, “Nothin’ at all. Trust me on that.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll have to take your word for it,” Y/N says, only barely managing to stow a laugh, “It did seem like quite the scuffle, though.”

“It was fine,” Finch says too quickly, then winces to himself. The last thing he wants to do right now is scare her off.

He glances around them in search of something to say, and realizes that the newsboys around them are starting to slip off of their perches and head back towards the streets once more. The sun is setting already, and it’s time to go again. Shame, he was just starting to appreciate their time off.

Y/N’s looking around too, and Finch panics briefly that she’s going to find someone else to laugh with. He hadn’t gotten up the courage to talk to her until just now, so he can’t possibly lose her yet.

“D’you want to walk back with me?”

The words spring out of his lungs like they’re forced out by an explosion. Finch half expects to be choking on gunpowder, but instead his own nerves are the only thing keeping his throat tight as he waits for her answer.

Y/N pauses, turns back around to look at him. It’s a terrible question, obviously– they’re going to the same place, just like everyone else, so why bother making a point of it? Y/N’s eyes narrow, and then she sees something written there in the cracks of his facade and her entire face clears.

Finch doesn’t wholly know what made her change her mind. He isn’t too good at disguising his emotions, which doesn’t matter normally. He gets mad and he wants the others to see it, to think he’s tough. Finch cracks his knuckles and spits on the sidewalk and everyone else has the common sense to walk the other way.

Now, though? When he’s not rolling his eyes or scoffing at the Delanceys? When he’s not tough but genuine, almost soft but never quite, meaning something more than just a threat? Of course she can see it too. Everyone can, probably.

Y/N takes his hand, and the fear that someone can read him half as well as her disappears from his head faster than the train leaving the station at the end of the day. Finch is left hanging in the dust, watching the last of his misgivings running wildly away from him. He tries not to strut or swagger when they’re walking back hand in hand, but. You never know for sure.

newsies tag list: @lovesanimals0000, @misguidedswagger, @mayfieldss, @amortensie

[myreygn]

random hcs for parker’s ocs

HAPPY BIRTHDAY @knizmokat, i hope you have the most amazing day, ilysm!!

i really hope you like these because trust me when i say random i mean random, but i tried my best for you! <3

(also it’s almost 3am here so if my brain isn’t fully fried it’s your birthday already, I AM POSTING THIS NOW)

.....

SASHA

unable to draw anything aside from stick figures and even those are ugly af

his art teacher insisted that everyone can draw until she saw sasha’s work

when the rest of the class gets a new assignment, she allows him to write an analysis over a painting of his choice instead and sasha is more than fine with that

almost always has his hair in a pony tail but unable to do a bun

asahi tried to teach him for 30 minutes and almost cried because it just kept felling apart for no apparent reason

picks the most terrifying stuff you could think of for movie night

managed to scare suga with one of his horror movie picks and has been banned from choosing anything other than u-rated movies ever since

physically unable to sleep without his kirby plushie

a gymnastically talented little mf, can do cartwheels and splits and walk on his hands like it’s nbd

once made a front flip over his hands during practice, scoring a point for his team by hitting the ball over the net with his feet

the absolute proudest moment of his life and he’s still mad that no one has it on video

RYUZAKI

unfazed by tragic movies but fucking bawled his eyes out over encanto (you know why parker)

has all of his fineliners sorted by color and will never ever let noya borrow them in class after doing it once and almost getting a stroke from the sheer chaos that ensued

a little control freak in general

all of his stuff has a designated place and if it’s not where it’s supposed to be he’ll die

open to all kinds of music but an absolute elitist when it comes to “the big ones”

do not talk to him about the history of rock and metal unless you’ve memorized every dio song in existence

also has zero tolerance for any so called disrespect towards his greatest musical inspirations

blocked tanaka for saying “poison? the rita ora song?” and only unblocked him after daichi scolded him for being an idiot

cannot handle horror at all

can and will sucker punch noya for giving him a scare in a devil mask out of reflex

halloween is the bane of his existence

KOGANEI

an absolute athletic multi talent

there’s no sport in existence this man can’t do

show him how to swing a baseball bat and he says “oh like this?” and scores a homerun

he’s also a theatre kid but only the dancey stuff so newsies is right up his alley

can do the entire choreography for king of new york and also hit the high note in santa fe

sails through all his classes as we’ve already established and once sang the build up from before the breakdown from we are the tigers under his breath, making akaashi cry

“‘cause you’re the score you got on sats...” - “YOU GOT A FUCKING 110 I’M BEGGING YOU TO SHUT THE HELL UP”

can do a perfect impression of kermit the frog and it’s a hit at parties

an adrenaline junkie at amusement parks (same tho he has good taste)

it cannot be high, fast or dangerous enough

“there’s no such thing as too many loopings!”

laughs at dad jokes

KUROSAKI

quotes old movies like it’s nobody’s business

once muttered “see how love flies out the door” at the sight of yamamoto and lev fighting for the last piece of roast beef and got absolutely ecstatic when kuroo turned around and went “did you just make a cabaret reference”

literally don’t ask him if he’s seen any movie made after the 90s. he hasn’t.

knows a shit ton of stuff about astrology

knew everyone’s sun and moon sign by their personalities alone

“wow so you believe in that?!” “nah”

can nap everywhere and it’s a gift until one day he falls asleep during a practice match and gets one of bokuto’s spikes in the face

he’s in the hospital for two days but he claims it was worth it

also a theatre kid but only for the classics

thinks west side story is an unmatched masterpiece and will not listen to anyone who has a different opinion

lactose intolerant but cheese is too good

KEITA

really into scrapbooking

has tons of scrapbooks for all kinds of stuff he likes

made one for each third year about their time on the team together and gives it to them at the end of the year (they all cry)

has the most beautiful handwriting known to man

he once gave goshiki his notes for studying and goshiki thought he had used some super fancy font on microsoft word

will not leave the house without nail polish on and always has a spare bottle with him

would rather die than admit it but he loves ghibli movies

the tale of the princess kaguya is his favorite (BECAUSE HE HAS TASTE) and he has very strong opinions about ponyo

like. way too strong opinions, considering that it’s ponyo.

it makes him cry

refuses to participate in tendou’s whistling contests and claims it’s stupid but actually just can’t whistle and is too ashamed to admit it

snorts when he laughs too hard which absolutely infuriates him

DAISUKE

this man can fucking BAKE

brings a bunch of cupcakes to practice to surprise iwaizumi on his birthday and everyone is floored

they look like pinterest photos fr

creates his own recipes and sometimes posts them online, they all have at least 4.8 stars

people always assume he’s all bark no bite but he’ll try to fuck you up if you’re mean to his friends (only he’s allowed to be!!)

got into a fight over some jackasses making fun of watari and lost because it was five against one so kyoutani saved him and soaked all of them

no regrets

participates in a poetry slam when he loses a bet against matsuhana and reads one of his raps as if it was a simple poem

comes in first place, rubs their noses into it for weeks

oikawa tried to get him into musicals but he only likes hamilton because of the rap in it and oikawa is not amused

scribbles little comics all over his notes and it kills his teachers (which is part of the reason why he does it)

[notebookmusical]

Hi! Happy Sunday! I'm glad you're feeling better. That's nice to hear. I'm okay and just used this weekend to relax. Haha wow..I don't actually know what Graceland is even about and I just knew that Aaron is in it but I hope it's a good show for you anyway lol. I haven't felt that invested yet honestly but I hope to listen to some cast recordings when they come out. I never did for last year though either. That's interesting about the reception though and I wonder why it's different. I'm surprised Back to the Future or the Notebook didn't get that many nominations but idk much about the shows that did yet. Gatsby was debatable and less likely based on reviews. I would say I'm most interested or rooting for the Outsiders at this point and I guess Merrily We Roll Along for best revival.

It's okay you don't like Sweeney but that was the first true musical I was obsessed with..like with the songs and score and noticing reprises and stuff. Same with the Newsies movie for me..I think the musical is better and have watched it tons of times. I was obsessed when the proshot came out. You made me laugh when you mentioned Mike Faist being in Newsies earlier this week cuz I also watched those videos a ton. I think I followed you when you had a beach read type url but I don't remember when that was.

Oh cool. I would like to read it since I haven't but I have so many books on my list right now first..some to read with my sister, and have not read a single book yet this year. But also Emily Henry's books seem great for summer too and Carley Fortune has a new book so i'm really hoping to get back to it soon, and maybe at some point I'll read Gatsby. I did not know that! I'm only familiar with the movie that had Leo playing him, so that's probably why I thought Isaac was pretty young. Do you like the Gatsby movie as an adaptation? I can't really remember but I think I liked it. I totally recommend the Outsiders book. Have you seen the movie? I thought the movie was a pretty perfect adaptation and I love it so much. I'm not sure how the musical will live up to it yet but it seems promising. Haha I guess your Gatsby is my The Outsiders..I remember reading it for English class and loving it and it also means a lot to me lol. I hope you like it if you do read it!

Idk what Water For Elephants got nominated for..if it was for best musical, but I think it has potential too. It's another one where I am only familiar with the movie that I only watched once a long time ago, but I think the circus stuff could be cool on stage. I'll try to listen to the cast recordings when they come out or possibly watch bootlegs and that could influence my opinions.

We have a lot of the same favorites! Unfortunately I was a little let down by the Manuscript, but it's growing on me. Do you mean more songs being performed on tour? I think it will be fun to see what the new costume or set looks like at least, but I hope she wouldn't cut a lot of songs for it, including Long Live. I do wonder if she will do more mashups again with new or old songs so we will see. It's only a few days away! But it makes it harder to guess surprise songs so maybe I'll wait and see what she does first. I hope you have a good week!

happy sunday!! i'm glad you had a relaxing weekend 🤍

i'm so bad at watching television, but i haven't been reading as much lately which means i get more television time. i'm only on like, the eighth? episode of graceland, it's taking me a while to watch! and yes, aaron tveit is the sole reason i picked it up 🥴 incredibly humbling behavior. i wonder if back to the future would've done better if it opened in the spring vs. at the beginning of the season? i just feel like the state of theatre is kind of bleak right now (most shows need a stunt cast to stay open / to even open in the first place, everything is so expensive, so many limited runs have closed early, etc.) i'm definitely rooting for merrily for best revival! it's funny, i was reminiscing on when my friends and i were so into theatre and the tony awards that we essentially did tony betting in our friend group. i started compiling my tony predictions but have to do more research! we aren't doing tony betting anymore because a lot of the friend group stopped being as invested in theatre (as in not reading all the reviews, checking up on weekly grosses, etc.). what a time.

happy closing to sweeney :( i'm curious to know if there'll be any audios floating around from tonight's show! i love listening to final show audios; they always make me super emotional. i wonder if it'll tour; i'd really like to see it live. i've been definitely back in my newsies phase lately. just the most special show to me, truly. the url was beachsread! so it's been over a year since i changed urls in honor of the adaptation announcement!! i used to have so many newsies related urls haha; i still have newsiesrevival saved and i was newsies-forever for a while back in 2014.

i just read the new carley fortune! i read the arc last week and it was fun, but not my favorite. definitely curious to know your thoughts! i haven't picked up a new book since, but am still listening to the iliad on audiobook and "working on gatsby" (i have not touched it in like a week). i did like the gatsby movie! it wasn't my favorite but it was still good! i think when i finish gatsby i will give the outsiders a go — i've never seen the movie but i know a lot of people love it! have you ever seen pippin? ugh i love the pippin revival, with all the circus stuff.

and yes! more songs on tour! tour starts so soon — i wonder where the TTPD set will be — i'm trying to remember where transitions are and what would logistically make sense; do you have any ideas? i'm thinking maybe after speak now, before red? or maybe after surprise songs, before midnights? or after midnights? i wonder if she'll do mashups and then do ttpd songs in full for surprise songs, or if it's going to be mashup central! can't wait to discuss with you!! 🤍 have a good week my friend! x

[clumsyclifford]

hello bella i would like to ask you about future hearts, not in chronological order, and stories for monday -hazel

WAIT i pressed send too early i also wanted to throw a curveball and ask about the newsies original broadway cast recording :) -hazel

yeesh you picked some good ones hazel. okay. i'm gonna put a cut because four albums is a Lot.

send me albums!

future hearts - all time low

the first song from this album I heard: uhhhhhhh i don't remember, but i......hesitantly......say.......cinderblock garden. but i have no idea why i say that. no i don't really know at all.

do I own the album?: nope

my favorite song: don't you go but also if we're counting b-sides which we should be then how the story ends. and........edge of tonight. and runaways. i know that's a lot of songs i don't care.

my least favorite song: satellite i like it but it's unremarkable compared to the rest of the album and the structure of it is just a little weird to me

a song I didn’t like at first, but now do: there were two future hearts songs that for some inexplicable reason didn't download when i bought the album on itunes back in like 2015 when i used itunes and this album came out so i just didnt know they existed for several months, and those songs were bail me out and edge of tonight. this isnt really relevant since i love both of those songs but i just wanted to share. i guess...i think runaways has grown on me. honestly i think thats a result of including it in baby driver fic, lmao

a song I used to like, but now don’t: well i used to LOVE cinderblock garden and now as you can see i don't list it among my favorites. and the same with dancing with a wolf. and for that matter, also satellite lol

my favorite lyric: another impossible question <3 this doesnt really count but the line in tidal waves "say i'm your filthy little, filthy little-" always makes me smile bc when i was younger and my older sister and i would listen to that song whenever we got to that part we'd both yell WHORE at the top of our lungs. and in fact i still do. real talk though, i think the bridge of missing you might be my favorite lyric in here. "grit your teeth, pull your hair, paint the walls black, and scream 'FUCK the world 'cause it's my life, i'm gonna take it back' and never for a second blame yourself" yeah thats the GOOD shit. WAIT I LIE I HAVE ANOTHER ONE: "beautiful scars on critical veins" (mmm and also "roll like thunder, burn like stars") from kids in the dark. mmmm. and all of edge of tonight. man this album has some gooooooood gaskarth lines.

overall rating out of 10: honestly? 10/10. even with satellite. this is such a good fucking album i constantly underrate it but i love it so much it can do no wrong

not in chronological order - julia michaels (this one is gonna be trickier because i haven't listened to the whole album that many times but i'm gonna put it on while i answer the rest of these so hopefully i can have some real opinions here)

the first song from this album I heard: it would've been lie like this i think, because that song was out before any of the other singles

do I own the album?: nope :)

my favorite song: that's the kind of woman, pessimist, lie like this, all your exes. i really LOVE about half this album and the other half i just don't really know well enough

my least favorite song: orange magic just Does Not do it for me. idk man

a song I didn’t like at first, but now do: well i'm very much still working on familiarizing myself with these songs so i might still be in the phase of "didn't like at first" (betcha anything orange magic will grow on me lmao). there aren't any songs that i've changed my opinion on at least not yet

a song I used to like, but now don’t: see previous answer lol

my favorite lyric: "i love myself, but i'd love her more; that's the kind of woman i'd leave me for" from that's the kind of woman (that shit HITS), also "i'll stop checking horoscopes to cope with all my misery" and "you took a pessimist and turned me into something else" from pessimist because it gives me a lot of hope. and "it was you before i ever decided" from little did i know because :') romance

overall rating out of 10: 8/10 miss michaels KNOWS an album. this would probably be higher if not for orange magic lmao

stories for monday - the summer set

the first song from this album I heard: according to my spotify, all my friends! the first time i listened to this album was on shuffle while writing a prompt fic that was entirely unrelated. i know, it's appalling.

do I own the album?: no <3

my favorite song: MMMNNGNHHGJ i think. i think it's figure me out. and missin' you. yeah. those two

my least favorite song: honest to god i want to say all downhill from here but the little bass riff at the end of that song basically forbids me from saying that. so i'm gonna say change your mind instead. it's the vibiest but thats not why we COME to stories for monday now is it

a song I didn’t like at first, but now do: don't know, maybe all in? i can't remember ever not liking one of these songs tbh. ironically maybe the answer to this is change your mind lol

a song I used to like, but now don’t: well i listened to all my friends about five million times when i wrote that fic based on it so it's in the same situation as i think he knows now. i need a little bit of an all my friends break.

my favorite lyric: bro this is literally an impossible fuckign QUESTION!! the entirety of figure me out. "i'm a bit too punk for the pop kids, but i'm too pop for the punk kids" and "i believe there's more to life than all my problems" both are really close to my heart. the bridge of all in about it being 4am in the parking lot we'll be singing blink songs til the sun comes up, that too. wait wait okay and also: "forever nineteen somehow" from jean jacket and "growing up can make you stupid, why is everyone so scared?" from wasted. okay okay i'm done i'm done

overall rating out of 10: fucking 11/10 bro this is in my top 10 albums ever i'm pretty sure

newsies - original broadway cast recording

the first song from this album I heard: no fuckin idea. it must have been the overture because i never listened to the cast recording before watching the bootleg so!

do I own the album?: i do not

my favorite song: mmm i. LOVE once and for all. but i also love watch what happens reprise. and brooklyn's here. and carrying the banner. ugh fuck i love so many of these songs.

my least favorite song: the bottom line reprise lmfao easy

a song I didn’t like at first, but now do: i don't know, i guess i like the bottom line a LITTLE more than i used to but it's a very low bar. wait actually, the overture. i have a much greater appreciation for an overture than i used to.

a song I used to like, but now don’t: i honestly can't think of one. maybe similar effect to something to believe in? i like it SLIGHTLY less but i still really like it so?

my favorite lyric: EASY answer, this lyric is among my favorites in all of musical theatre, i had it written on my mirror for a long time in high school. this part from seize the day: "behold the brave battalion that stands side by side / too few in number and too proud to hide / then say to the others who did not follow through / 'you're still our brothers, and we will fight for you'"

overall rating out of 10: 9/10. fucking banger of an album. i always say this is the best cast recording for a car ride and i stand by that

[wdwmarveldisney]

Newsies imagine the reader is an artist and the Newsies find all of their art work of themselves and love the reader's work and what she did for them but having more drawings of Crutchie.

Perfect

Crutchie x reader

Summary: You get something amazing from something as annoying as your privacy violated.

Masterlist

A/N: Okay so, I don’t think there’s any hint to reader’s gender and this has not been proofread so I do sincerely apologise in advance but nevertheless, for my first time writing for Crutchie, I loved it.

GIF isn’t mine

You had made friends with the newsies at a young age. You had worked at a factory at first when you were little and a small boy with a crutch used to wave at you everyday at the end of the day. Sometimes he'd have a friend by his side, counting what they had made that day but that didn't stop his small wave. It was you who initiated any kind of talk, saving up so you didn't feel bad about buying a paper after work one day. Not too long after your first encounter with him did you end up finding him one of your closest friends. Then after some unfortunate incident, the factory closed and you were sent to the streets to find work. Immediately Crutchie offered a helping hand into the business of Newsies.

You knew a few from selling with Crutchie and others in passing but there were a few who you’d yet to see. Meeting them was nerve racking after hearing Crutchie go into unreal details about them being his family. You were a little afraid to admit that your friendship with Crutchie had only worked a kindling for set your crush on him ablaze.

It wasn’t long until you fit right in and eventually, you were in a situation where you were living with them. You’d scored a top bunk over one of the younger newsies but every now and then you’d join Jack and Crutchie on the roof. Jack was your best friend. He loved art too, he was always up for a joke, he was kind and caring and he was the only one to clue in on your crush on Crutchie which lead to various teasing comments and stupid dares to ask him out. Usually your response was between a ‘I’m not eight’ and ‘You’se mental’ to which he’d always agree.

Tonight was one of your nights up on the roof, new sketchbook in your lap as you used Jack’s charcoals he’d leant you while you waited for the two boys. There was a commotion from the bunks but that wasn’t out of the blue so you fixated on the current work you were doing. Was it another piece of Crutchie? Yes. Was it really your fault that he was so interesting to draw? Absolutely not. You were about to start on his hair when the commotion got louder and Jack’s booming voice was trying to quieten them down with some speak on privacy. Curiosity got the better of you and you snuck down to see what ridiculous fight was happening now only for your jaw to drop at what was being passed around.

See, you knew that under one of the loose floorboards by your bed wasn’t the best hiding spot for your three full sketchbooks but there wasn’t many other places and you couldn’t find it in you to look for another one. Now your laziness was backfiring as they were being passed around spoke about whilst Jack stopped his speech on respecting boundaries to instead admire a drawing of himself. Crutchie seemed to be the only one who wouldn’t look as he kept saying you hadn’t said they could do they shouldn’t. Your heart swelled, pathetically, and you shoved that feeling away to instead cough to make your presence known. A silence fell over the boys but Jack was quick to talk, “See, what did I tell you’se that these are private-”

All the boys erupted into shouts over one another before silencing at your voice. “Oh, save it Kelly,” you quipped, making him pause before he shrugged and fixed his hat. He took a step back and all the boys broke out into apologies, Race being the only one quiet which was weird because usually you could hear his voice the clearest. You saw Albert shoving the boy who simply glared at him before turning to you, “Why’s are all of these Crutchie?” The boy in question blushed as a heat burned your cheeks and you dived forward to snatch the books. An ‘oooo’ sounded before Jack was shooing them all away and nodding for you to go to the roof before doing the same with Crutchie. Various shouts of, “Thanks for the portrait’ and ‘You’se really good at drawing’ filled the room just before the cold air hit you and you were climbing up the rusty metal to the roof space.

Crutchie followed right behind and you almost walked straight into him as you paced, rushed apologies leaving both of you. It was quiet for a beat and then you couldn’t take it, “I’m sorry, I know it’s probably really weird that I just have a bunch of drawing of you but I swear, it’s just that you’re… interesting to dra- okay that sounds creepier then it did in my head but I mean-” You shut up when his laugh met your ears and his hand was resting over yours that held onto your sketchbook like a lifeline. You stared his crinkled eyes and blinding smile and if it was possible, you think you may have just fallen in love with the boy.

He couldn’t stop smiling apparently, looking at you suddenly sheepishly as he said, “Can I’se look at them?” You froze, mouth agape as you tried to find some sort of composure, the only thing happening being a small nod. You passed the sketchbooks over, falling to sit next to him when he decided to sit in the poorly made up bed of his. He didn’t skip the few pages in between of the others and instead admired every piece he could. The compliments didn’t stop to the point you thought your heart might burst and that heat that invaded your cheeks actually began to make you sweat. He looked so perfect, he was so perfect.

He finished going through one book as you took a deep breath and before he could open the next one, you jumped in, “Um, I’se actually started this other one. I haven’t finished it yet though and it’s not that great but, um, yeah,” he still had the look in his eyes, the amazement he stared at the drawing with now settled on you with another glint in his eyes. It hit you like a bus, breathing suddenly becoming a luxury. “Can I still see?” Crutchie asked and something about his demeanour reminded you of a small kid finding more presents under the Christmas tree. It made your heart swell again and you quickly scrambled to reach for your newest sketch book just a little bit away. You opened it to the page at the back that you had started on for no particular reason whatsoever, showing him the half finished charcoal piece.

Crutchie grinned impossibly wide, “I didn’t know you’se could do this. They’s amazing,” you wrapped your arms around your knees, bashful smile on your lips as your love struck gaze stayed fixed on him and only him. Fixing your hat, you eyes the way he couldn’t stop admiring it. Clearing your throat, you brought his attention back to you and you quickly avoided his gaze. Settling on picking at the ends of your trousers, you asked the question that had began to eat away at you, “You’se, er, you’se don’t think it’s weird or nothing, right?” You glanced up as he frantically shook his head, sketchbook moving to the floor as he kept that impossibly large grin, “No, no. I’se think that, maybe, it means you sees me the way I sees you,”

“Oh,” the boy you loved just hinted at liking you and you say ‘oh’? Really? Mentally kicking yourself, everything in you froze as he held your hand and you struggled to choke a breath when your eyes met. “Can, um, how,” you couldn’t help but mumble nonsense as you tried to find some logic in the chaos in your head. Your voice was nowhere above a whisper and your breath hitched when you realised you speaking had brought his attention to your lips. Now both of you were awkward messes before he seemed to find a surge of confidence and pressed his lips gently to yours.

God, okay, okay. He was kissing you and you were kissing back, that’s a good start. If you knew kissing him would feel this amazing, you’d have shown him those drawings ages ago. It was soft, sweet. He was gentle and slow and yeah, maybe neither of you knew what you were doing but you were definitely loving every second of it. When he finally pulled away, you felt yourself chasing his lips before he laughed. Your eyes finally fluttered open to see his stupidly cute face still so close.

Yeah, no, this was perfect.

[sehunniepotwrites]

if we were a movie | j.jh

for @nctsworld’s first writing challenge

SYNOPSIS. For someone who was always the understudy and never the lead, scoring this role was huge for you. All you had to do was pretend to be in love with your best friend. No big deal, right? Wrong. It was the biggest deal because, for the past four years, you had been hiding your feelings for Jung Jaehyun.

If this were a movie, he would be your perfect match and the story would end happily with the credits rolling to a perfectly timed soundtrack. Too bad this wasn’t a movie— this was real life and life came with complications.

GENRE. childhood friends to lovers!au, college!au, drama school!au, slow burn, angst, humor, mutual pining, fluff (loosely based on the Filipino rom-com Must Be Love and If We Were a Movie by Hannah Montana) PAIRING. theatre major!Jaehyun x  theatre major!reader WORD COUNT. 14+ k

WARNINGS. point of view switches from first (”I”) to second (”you”); self-doubt, insecurities, mutual pining, cursing, lots of references and direct quotes from musicals such as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Disney’s Newsies, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Shrek the Musical, and Wicked (edited but i might’ve missed some mistakes; bare with me!)

There are moments where time flows as normal, where people carry on with their days as they usually do. Then, there are moments people experience in slow-motion, where the world just stops spinning and all the background noise just fades away. These are the moments people look forward to. They’re the breathtaking ones, the ones that capture your heart and soul. After those moments, people are never the same. 

The first time I experienced something in slow motion was when I made my stage debut at a small talent show. There was thunderous applause after my performance and while my heart thumped against my chest, the world seemed to come to a stop. That’s when I knew my heart belonged to the stage or rather, the stage belonged to me. 

Some of these slo-mo moments are the ones where people fall in love. 

My father said that’s how he knew my mother was the one for him: he experienced it all at a slowed rate, everything fading into black and she was the only thing he saw. She was his brightest star and he was the one who reached for the sky to bring her down to Earth. 

When I was younger, I always dreamed about my “falling in love” slow-mo moment. I pictured a grandiose event with large actions and sweet words.  For it to actually happen at theatre camp during the initial dress rehearsal for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast J.R.— well, that was far from what I hoped for. 

And yet, it was just as special as I thought it would be. 

I was in my obnoxious fork costume, waiting for my best friend to leave the boy’s dressing room. 

Jung Jaehyun had been my best friend since the beginning, otherwise known as my first year at theatre camp. Only ten years old at the time, we both were cast as two of the three blind mice in Shrek the Musical and had been inseparable ever since. Although we attended different middle schools, our friendship grew from our shared vocal and dance lessons as well as our summers at camp. You know how it is; those who end up in the ensemble together stay together. 

Going over the dance moves in my head, I didn’t hear my friend’s voice calling my name. He gripped my shoulder, the action surprising me to the point where I lost my balance. I yelped and shut my eyes, expecting to fall onto the hard ground but a hand grabbing onto my wrist prevented my doom. With an arm around my waist, I barely missed the ground.

Slowly opening my eyes, I glanced up to see Jung Jaehyun looking down at me with a worried gaze. He was just a sixteen-year-old boy dressed as a spoon and yet, the world around us came to a halt. Gone were the other frantic theatre kids and the backstage messes. The couple playing Belle and the Beast was no longer sitting across from us, running through their lines. No hustle and bustle of the crew and the props masters.

It was just me dressed as a fork, falling down while my spoon for a best friend caught me in his arms. 

“We make quite a pair, don’t we, Forky?” he chuckled lowly, hitting the top of his costume to mine. It was a ridiculous sight— a pair of oversized cutlery in a crowded dressing room.

A burning hot sensation crept its way up to my face as he gently pulled me up. “I guess we do.”

Since then, my life has never been the same. I was in love with my best friend, Jung Jaehyun. I fell for him when the world stopped spinning beneath my feet while his world, unfortunately, kept on turning.

I remember each and every slowed-down moment in life —the good, the bad, and the absolute worst. I never thought a bad slo-mo moment existed, I simply didn’t think it was possible. 

I was young and naive then and I was so incredibly wrong.

The moment that hurt me most took place in my senior year of high school. The final callbacks for our community’s production of Disney’s Newsies were in order. The role of Jack Kelly, the headstrong and flirty newsboy, was easily given to the ever-so-charming Jung Jaehyun. He was not only my best friend at the time but he was the it-boy of our small theatre. People were either in love with him or wanted to be him— his talent matched his insane looks. His kind personality made him all the more lovable.

Jaehyun had his two fatal flaws, though. Everyone knew them but still saw him in such a bright light.

One: the boy was extremely clumsy. Jaehyun was often called “magic hands,” constantly ruining his props. It was a running gag in the theatre but the props committee never minded; one smile was all it took for them to forgive him and his cursed hands. 

That was his first flaw. And his second? Jaehyun fell in love way too easily and way too fast. 

How exactly did I find this out? Well, I was there to witness the scene that lifted his heart to the highest of levels while mine dropped straight to the ground.

I was in the running for the stubbornly intelligent female lead named Katherine Plumber. My opponent was the confident and radiant Son Wendy. She always played the lead in her high school productions but this was a community musical and I was determined to claim that part as my own. 

I went first, entering the audition room with a smile with the script gripped tightly in my palm. Performing alongside my best friend was easy. The romantic scene was a piece of cake, not because the lines were a breeze. That wasn’t it at all. It wasn’t because I memorized the Newsies script as a child either. It was because, at that moment, Jung Jaehyun was in love with me as much as I was in love with him. It was a moment I wanted to cherish forever: the way he looked at me was something I had never experienced before. It was so full of emotion and passion, like he had me within his grasp and never wanted to let me go.

“You got this. I believe in you,” he whispered in my ear, squeezing my hand in support. His breath tickled my skin and sent shivers down my spine. The nerves were back, not because of the audition, but because of him. 

“You’re just saying that because it’s the scene we’re about to act out, Jae,” I hissed. The sheet music for the duet, Something to Believe In, wrinkled in my free palm. 

His warm, comforting hand pressed harder against my own. “No, it’s not that. If you need someone to believe in you, I’m right here. I’ve got you, Forky. Always.”

The director cleared his throat from his seat, his scrutinizing eyes watching us closely as we got into position, just like we rehearsed a thousand times. “Whenever you’re ready.”

I watched as Jaehyun took a deep breath to get into character. He closed his eyes, rolled his broad shoulders back, and then his lids snapped open. His brown-eyed gaze aimed straight at me, with a vulnerable expression taking over his features. He was no longer Jung Jaehyun— he was Jack Kelly, a scared newsboy who was in love with a newspaper company heiress. 

The line came pouring out of his mouth with the utmost sincerity, the confusion and affection seeping through his words, “Just standing here tonight, looking at you, I’m scared tomorrow is gonna come and change everything.”

 Jaehyun took a step forward towards me, an unsure smile curling on his lips. “If there was a way I could just grab hold of something to make time stop just so I could keep looking at you.”

His body stops right in front of mine, keeping a clear distance but enough to feel the passion radiating off of his words and actions. For once in my young life, my best friend looked at me with a different kind of love in his eyes and I returned it, my genuine feelings seeping through my words. 

Biting my lip, I replied coyly, “You snuck up on me, Jack Kelly, I never even saw it coming.”

“For sure?” he stage-whispered. His upstage hand unexpectedly reached up to caress my cheek. The action was unrehearsed, almost catching me off guard. It was a different take on the scene. The characters were supposed to be shy, their thoughts wavering on their own feelings for each other and the impending strike that was to come the day after; yet, Jaehyun played Jack as someone certain of his feelings.

“For sure,” I answered back at the same volume, my hand cupping his own to follow along with his direction. It felt as if he was searching my soul for my thoughts and I could not let him in. The opening bars of the romantic duet echoed throughout the room and after taking a breath, I began to sing. Jaehyun joined in on the second verse and instantly, our voices blended together in a beautiful harmony, one that beat our Newsies karaoke sessions in his car. 

The scene ended as quickly as it began. The director hummed before jotting notes down and whispering to his casting assistants for a few seconds. I thought they were the longest seconds of my life. Jaehyun nodded his head to reassure me. “You did well, Forky.”

“Of course I did, it’s me we’re talking about here,” I nudged him back. “I can do no wrong, Jae!” 

“Thank you,” the director finally spoke, “you may go. Jaehyun, if you could escort her out and fetch Wendy for me?”

“Of course,” your friend nodded. The feeling of his large hand on my back slowly guided me out of the room. The spot he touched me burned but my cheeks were burning even more. Why was it that every little touch drove me to the brink of insanity?

“You’re so going to land this part,” I remember him saying as he squeezed my waist. My heart was beating erratically against my ribcage, the butterflies in my stomach threatening to fly their way up my throat.

“You think so?”

“Oh definitely,” Jaehyun stressed with a wink. 

He said it too soon. 

Because the minute he locked gazes with Son Wendy, I just knew he had found his leading lady. 

“S-Son Wendy?” he stuttered as he caught sight of the pretty girl in the waiting room. Her hair was styled similarly to a young maiden from the turn of the century, perfectly curled and out of her face. 

“Yes?” she smiled back.

It seemed like the words were caught in my best friend’s throat. Sneaking a glance at Jaehyun’s ears, they burned a bright red. “We’re, um, we’re ready for you.”

I watched as Jaehyun nervously offered his arm to her, his eyes never leaving her face. It was like he was her own personal spotlight, the way his eyes shone just for the girl in front of him. The boy was completely enamored and I was instantly in the shadows. The sweet smile that was reserved for me was directed towards another and it sparkled in a way it never did before.

The world around me moved incredibly slow as they passed me by. With everything frozen, all I saw was the gorgeous couple headed to the audition room with hushed exchanges. Jaehyun took his time heading to the private room to spend more time with the girl while Son Wendy steadily made her way into my friend’s fragile heart. My own heart clenched at the sight. It was breaking ever so slowly and I felt every little crack and tear. 

Even with the role of the understudy, it was as if I never even had a chance at winning his heart over. If Wendy wasn’t present for one rehearsal, Jaehyun didn’t even see me— his own best friend since our ensemble days. He was way too deep into his “showmance.” It was like I never even existed. It wasn’t long before he called Wendy his girlfriend and then, I was invisible. Cast aside. Ignored.

Needless to say, my heart broke in slow-motion as Jaehyun’s pounded rapidly for a girl that took two parts I desperately ached for: Katherine Plumber and the girl who held Jaehyun’s heart. 

But this was just the first time his heart was stolen by his opposite. The first of many.

The first two years of university passed me by like a summer breeze. Constantly busy with general education and introductory drama courses, I was constantly flitting around from building to building. My hands were usually occupied by my laptop, a blazing cup of caffeinated tea, and a worn out script while my mind was filled with jumbled up lines and the dramatic cries of an overwhelmed university student. I probably wouldn’t have made it this far if it wasn’t for Jaehyun and Xiao Dejun, another theatre major we had met during orientation, by my side.

Fast forward to my third year and the three of us were headed to the office of the theatre department. It was posting day for the spring musical— the day the cast list was revealed. This year’s musical spectacular was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. The play itself was a modern classic and it was also my dream come true.

This day, just like any posting day of the drama department, was nerve-racking. Everyone was anxious to find out what parts they were given and how the fairytale would play out. The part of the brave and kind Ella was always on my list of roles I wanted to fill. As much as I thought I did well on my final callback, I didn’t want to set my hopes too high.

“Are you nervous?” Jaehyun asked while draping an arm over my shoulder. He playfully put all his weight onto his right side to throw me off balance. 

“Nervous? Me? Why would I be nervous if I’m like 95% sure  I’m going to get the understudy again?” I chuckled sarcastically. Bitterly. It happened every year, so why get my hopes up now?

“Yeah but—”

“No buts, I’ve accepted the title of the Wonderstudy! I think you should too, Jae,” I slapped his shoulder before quickly slipping out of his hold before linking arms with Dejun. My best friend let out a yelp, almost tripping over his own two feet as we continued down the hallway. “I’m mediocre at best.”

The Wonderstudy: it was the nickname the other students in the department gave me because I was always the understudy. I was never the star of the show. It said that I was good but not good enough. 

Dejun leaned in and whispered, “You do know that you’re more than just that, right? You’re an actor. A phenomenal one. You weren’t accepted to this drama program by just being mediocre at best.”

I ignored my friend’s comment, eyes zoned in at the other end of the building. The crowd of usual theatre students crowded around the bulletin board, curious heads popping up and down trying to take a peek at the list. Some buzzed with excitement, happy they got a major part while others groaned in disappointment. You were most likely going to be with the later group. 

Once the cluster of students caught sight of Jaehyun, they parted like the red sea to let him through. It wasn’t really necessary, though, everyone knew the it-boy of the drama department was cast as the role of the misguided prince, Topher. 

The only question was: who was cast as his princess? Who was this year’s Ella?

I fought my way through the bunch with Dejun following behind me as our best friend was showered with congratulations. Jaehyun was all smiles, dimples prominent as he was lavished by the mass. Dejun made it to the list first. His finger dragged along the thin paper until he found his name. He cheered, pumping his fist up in joy. “I got the part I wanted! I’m Jean-Michel!”

Grinning at my friend, I sincerely congratulated him. He got the second lead: the feisty peasant looking for change. Turning again, his eyes grazed the list until Dejun found my name. His smile dropped ever so slightly and that was when I knew: I was beaten once again. 

“What part did I get?”

“Gabrielle,” he answered. Ah, the outwardly abrasive but quietly empathetic sister. The second lead, love interest of Jean-Michel. At least I was playing Dejun’s opposite. 

I took a step closer, wondering who took the part of the kind princess. Squinting at the small print, my eyes scanned the jumble of words until I saw it.

Ella……………………….Lee Naeun Ella u/s………………….Y/N

I scoffed. Forever the understudy. The Wonderstudy of the Theatre Department indeed.

The first rehearsal, otherwise known as the read-through, took a toll on me. It was usually a two to three hour long session, filled with loud chatter, crazy introductions, and a variety of crazy theatre games to break the ice. When the niceties ended, everyone took their seats in their plastic chairs that were arranged in a huge circle. Bae Joohyun, the head stage manager began reading the stage directions aloud as the table read began. The production’s director, Professor O’Hare, sat alongside Joohyun, jotting down notes and giving out commentary when needed. 

Amongst the reading of lines were tiny whispers, the sound of highlighters and pencils marking the paper, and the simultaneous turning of pages. The music director, Professor Lau sat at the piano bench and sight-read the music to give the cast a taste of the songs. Being the first rehearsal, the few who knew of the songs sang along to the accompaniment with joyous smiles, myself and Dejun included.

When Professor Lau played the first romantic duet between the leads, all heads turned to Jaehyun and Naeun who sat side-by-side. With it being their first time together, the performance was far from perfect but it was still something. His lower tone blended nicely with her softer voice and the shy glances they exchanged made their duet quite a sight. 

As Jaehyun and Naeun read the last lines for Act One, I noticed the way Jaehyun’s gaze kept flittering back to Naeun’s pretty face. The girl was focused on her lines, head down and hair blocking her gorgeous features, but he still kept looking at her and only her. I could imagine how the scene was playing out in his head, the world slowing down until Naeun was the only one moving.  He was infatuated. Twitterpated. 

And it hurt. It hurt more than reading the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet or listening to Elphaba’s desperate cry she lets out when she loses Fiyero. Call me dramatic but that was how I felt. 

It wasn’t like I tried getting over him. It wasn’t like I tried dating other people before; I had many, many times but my mind always drifted back to my best friend. He was the boy with the richest brown eyes, the perfectly dimpled smile, and the lowest laugh that set my heart aflame. Without even knowing it, Jaehyun had this incredible hold on my broken heart and he would not let me out of his grip. 

The green-eyed monster inside me resurfaced and I hated it. I absolutely hated it— why was I so pathetically in love with my best friend? 

 “Here we go again,” I said before dropping my head onto the table. 

“You say that every time and you keep running back to him at the end of the day,” Dejun whispered before looking back down at his script. His hand continued to jet across the page, his highlighter marking his many lines. 

Rolling up the script in my hand, I whacked his side. The action caused his hand to jerk the bright marker in another direction, striking a distorted line on his page. “Look what you did, twerp!” he hissed.

“Your fault, Eyebrows!”

“Stop calling me that, you fork!”

“Hey, only I can call her fork!” Jaehyun appeared out of nowhere, plopping alongside me. His voice snapped us out of our little argument, making us realize that the director called for a fifteen. 

“That’s only because you’re a dumb spoon,” I stuck my tongue out at him. Jaehyun pretended to reach for it and I blew a raspberry at him to retaliate. 

“You two idiots are my favorite cutlery set,” Dejun shook his head with a laugh. He was probably wondering why he stuck around us the majority of the time. 

“Let off it, Dejun,” Jaehyun said with the roll of his brown orbs. 

“Only if you let me be the knife to your set.”

“As if, dumbass,” I countered with a laugh. 

“Okay but you guys, can we stop fighting for a sec and talk about how I got her number?” Jaehyun beamed, throwing his arms over both our shoulders. He pulled us closer to his body and the faint smell of his musky cologne hit my nose. I held back a sigh as it filled my senses. Oh, to be drowned in his scent. 

“I got Naeun’s number!” he repeated excitedly, his strong arms shaking us. I held back my abrupt want to push him off. I wasn’t in a celebrating mood. My heart was too broken to care.

“Of course you did, when do you not get a girl’s number?” I answered a bit too bitterly. Raising a brow at him, I added, “Are we supposed to be surprised?”

“Listen,” Jaehyun countered, pulling back from me. “I don’t like that attitude, Forky.”

I scoffed, “Never stopped you from being my friend before, Jae.”

Jaehyun didn’t answer; he was too busy clutching his phone. His pretty brown eyes were fixed on Naeun’s contact page like it was the world’s greatest treasure. His eyes were sparkling in admiration before his gaze turned to the girl across the room. The look my best friend wore on his face was soft, the smile on his lips light. “I think she could be the one.”

Some thought him to be a player but I never thought of him that way. He might have had the looks of a heartbreaker but he had the purest heart of gold. The boy with the dimpled smile, porcelain skin, and cheeks as red as roses was a hopeless romantic to his very core. He was simply looking for his other half. 

“I think she could be the one.” His words repeated in my head, his voice pestering me. My heart lurched at them despite hearing them each semester. 

Jaehyun said this every year, with every girl. He said this when he crushed on Son Wendy, Kim Chungha, and so many more. His infatuations and crushes ended just as easily as they started. The boy was more than disappointed when the initial spark with each girl ended after a show’s run ended. When the musical closed, so did his feelings for each opposite. 

I never got stage fright; I was usually the one who said what was on her mind without a moment’s hesitation. So why was I hesitating to tell him my feelings?

Why was I hesitating to say that the one Jaehyun could be looking for was standing right next to him?

Just another rehearsal at the auditorium. 

Just another day watching my best friend fall for his leading lady.

Jaehyun and Naeun were standing in the middle of the stage, the ensemble surrounding them. He stood behind her, his hands gently placed on her waist while she leaned back into his touch. Naeun was wearing a fluffy tulle skirt, a mock-up of her ballgown. Park Sooyoung, the resident fashion major and lead costume designer, pushed her to wear it so she could get used to the estimated size of her dress. Even in a mere tank top and tulle skirt, Lee Naeun looked like a princess.

Professor Kwon, the choreographer of the production, stood at the end with a watchful eye. She counted them off, walking them through the routine while the rest of us practiced our steps off to the sidelines. 

Once the two main characters got the hang of their steps, Professor Kwon motioned for Professor Lau to play the songs from the beginning. As much as I tried to focus on my own dance moves, my mind kept wandering back to Jaehyun. 

Imagining him under the spotlight in a perfectly tailored suit, a crown sitting on his head, extending his arm out not to Naeun but to me. It was one of those movie moments where the characters and the audience watching fell in love. 

If life was like a movie, things would be so much easier. 

So lost in my thoughts, I missed a count and stepped on my partner’s foot. Muttering a quiet sorry to him, we continued on with the routine. As my partner swirled me around the dance floor, I drifted back into my daydream.

My utterly impossible daydream where I was the girl Jung Jaehyun was infatuated with. Although this play talked about impossible things happening everyday, I couldn’t imagine this ever happening. 

The terrible thing about being a theatre major in university was being a theatre major with midterms. Not only did I have to deal with hours of my back hunched over a desk and scattered study materials, I had to spend half of my days in the school’s theatre rehearsing. 

If I was not in class scribbling down last minute notes in notebooks,  I was learning dance routines or running lines on and off stage alongside Dejun. The days were long and the nights were even longer. Sometimes, the cast fell asleep in the seats of the auditorium while rehearsals were going on. We were all losing sleep. Some of us were losing our sanity but hey, welcome to the theatre. 

My schedule was filled to the brim and I wasn’t even the main character of the show. On top of that, I had to memorize the part of Ella. Not that it was really needed in the first place. 

No one ever stepped down from a lead role while I was their backup. It just didn’t happen.

Despite the hectic lives of belonging to the theatre department, the musical was two months into production and everything was running smoothly. With a month and a left until opening night, everyone was off-book and the initial stage blocking was done. The costuming and makeup committee were finishing up their mock-up designs and the student orchestra sounded divine. 

I saw more of Dejun than Jaehyun lately, my best friend being preoccupied with his new love interest before, during, and after rehearsals. I was cast aside once again.

Was it something out of the ordinary? No.

Did it still hurt? Yes.

Did I do anything about it? Absolutely not. I didn’t want to ruin his happiness. I rather suffer than see him as nothing but joyous, even if the happiness was temporary. The grin he wore when he was in love was too beautiful to rip away. Jaehyun shined like the light from the sun. I could never bring myself to do it. 

It was week eight of rehearsals when I stepped out of my last midterm, my head absolutely empty after reading small text for over an hour. Reaching into my backpack’s front pocket, I pulled out my cell phone and quickly turned it on. My screen was flooded with missed calls and texts from Professor O’Hare, Joohyun, Jaehyun, and Dejun, the notification numbers reaching over a hundred total. 

Something must have happened. Talk about a theatre emergency. Knowing our kind, they were probably being overdramatic. 

Just as I was about to unlock my phone, a video call went through. It was Dejun. Rolling my eyes, I slid my finger across the screen to answer it. “Jeez, I know you love me but give a girl a break, Eyebrows!”

“God, you’re so conceited sometimes. Why didn’t you answer my calls?!” He shouted, face close to the phone. I winced at the volume, immediately lowering the level as I slipped on my wireless earbuds. “There are important matters to discuss here!”

“What happened this time? Did someone say Macbeth in the theatre again? You know I don’t believe in that shit,” I said sarcastically.

“Oh my god. This is not the time for jokes! Everyone’s been trying to reach you!” Xiaojun yelled once more. “Where are you?!”

“I just got out of my musical history midterm in Maple Hall. Heading to the theatre right now. Why?” I never received an answer; Dejun hung up the call. Giving my phone a weird look, I shoved it in my pocket before continuing on my way. A light push on my back prevented me from going too far. 

“Twerp!” Xiao Dejun’s voice came from behind me, yanking me by the straps of my backpack. He was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath. “Oh my god, we’ve been looking for you everywhere,” he said in between heavy breaths. 

Crossing my arms, I cocked a brow at him. “Why’s that?”

Dejun placed a hand on my shoulder for support. The words came flying out of his mouth, I almost couldn’t catch what he was saying. So much for being a theatre major. 

“Speak clearly, Dejun. Enunciate, articulate, exaggerate, remember? We are thespians and thespians do not mumble!”

The exhausted boy ignored my theatricals. “Naeun didn’t land a switch leap right and she rolled her ankle during advanced ballet. She’s going to be out for at least three to four weeks,” my friend replied breathily, his words a lot clearer than before.

The news shocked me to the core, my feet suddenly planted to the ground. It sounded like he said Naeun was out of commission. “What?” 

“She’s out for three to four weeks! I mean sucks for her, I wish her a speedy recovery but do you know what this means?”

The lack of response from me urged him to continue, “Sweetheart, she’s out. You’re in!”

Oh shit. I was in.

The part I had always dreamed of was mine. The lead role was finally mine.

I was now Ella and Jung Jaehyun was my Prince Topher.

Having an understudy step up to their role halfway through production was always something to get used to. It was a setback, a minor one, but still a setback. Just as Jaehyun finally settled into his role and built an unshakeable bond with Lee Naeun as his opposite, the accident happened. His potential girlfriend was now out of the show and off her feet in order to push for a speedy recovery.

The lovesick boy couldn’t even be there for her because his rehearsal times increased in order to get his best friend adjusted to your new role. There he was, leaning against the piano while waiting for you to arrive.

Professor Lau sat at the bench, flipping through his sheet music until he found the song he was looking for. 

The door slammed open and you stumbled in. “Am I late? I’m sorry, I just heard the news.”

“No, not at all. You’re right on time,” the professor smiled at you. “The situation’s weird, I know but congratulations on getting Ella.”

“Thanks, Professor. That means a lot,” you grinned back. 

Dropping your bag by the piano, you swiftly pulled out the script. You glanced at Jaehyun’s opened book for the page number before hastily flipping through the pages. Jaehyun nudged your side. “Hey, Forky.”

“Hey yourself,” you elbowed him back, biting your bottom lip.

“Congrats, bubs. You did it,” he pulled you into a side hug before ruffling your hair with pride. You had finally gotten a part you wanted. It was your time to shine. As your best friend for many years, Jaehyun had been waiting for the day you could show the crowds your full potential.  

“Did I really do it or did your girlfriend just get injured? How is she, by the way?” 

As much as you tried to play the overdramatic, conceited girl, you never believed in yourself but Jaehyun always did. You deserve the spotlight; your talent was out of this world and the masses were finally granted a chance to see you for what you were— a star.

“You did this. You were made for this part as much as she was,” Jaehyun reassured his best friend with a smile. He tapped your nose. “And she’s not my girlfriend but she’s doing alright. Just in a little bit of pain. I’m going to see her after we finish.”

“Give her some well wishes for me,” you answered. Jaehyun didn’t notice your smile dropping into a small frown.

“You ready to act like you’re in love with me?”

“I was born ready, you doof.” There was something weird in your voice when those words left your lips but Jaehyun didn’t have time to process it.

Professor Lau guided the students through a series of warm-ups before asking, “Shall we start with Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful today? We’ll do a couple of run-throughs before Jaehyun teaches you the blocking.” His fingers played the beginning notes of the song, the light melody drifting to their ears. 

Already off book at this point, Jaehyun closed his eyes and began to sing.

Do I love you because you’re beautiful? Or are you beautiful because I love you?

Am I making believe I see in you A girl too lovely to be really true?

Do I want you because you’re wonderful? Or are you wonderful because I want you?

Are you the sweet invention of a lover’s dream? Or are you really as wonderful as you seem?

When his eyes fluttered open, Jaehyun found himself facing you with a script in hand. Your face wore the softest look as you stared back at him. His breath almost caught in his throat at the gentle smile you wore. You played the part differently from Naeun and it was a refreshing sight to behold. You were playing a confused peasant but your eyes still sparkled with the gleam of a thousand suns. 

There was a flush of heat that started from his cheeks and extended to his reddening ears. His heart was doing its best to break out of his ribcage and the star of the show wasn’t sure if his chest could keep it in for very much longer.

When singing with him, Naeun was a pretty princess.

But when he sang with you, the girl in front of him? Jaehyun thought you were absolutely breathtaking.

Two hours later, we were finally free of rehearsals. My first rehearsal as Ella. My throat was a bit parched from all the singing and projecting I was doing but I felt lighter than air. Singing with Jaehyun made me feel lighter than air. I was weightless, nothing could hold me down.

“Forky, you’re really good,” he said to me as we walked to our cars. I tried to fight the sudden heat making its way to my face. Lately, compliments from him were hard to come by.

 It was already late when O’Hare and Lau finally let us out, the moon sitting high in the sky. The night breeze crept its way into my thin jacket, causing me to hug myself to retain some warmth. Noticing my struggle with the cold, Jaehyun quickly draped his jacket over my shoulders. I was immediately hit with his familiar scent, it was almost overwhelming. I should be used to this, his action of sharing his clothes with me was nothing new but I was weak. It affected me every single time. I guess I was that head over heels for him. 

Head over glass heels, one could even say.

“You’ve seen me in action before and I mean, I was chosen to be the understudy for a reason,” I gave him a shrug. 

“Yeah but I’ve never seen you act and sing like that. Just...wow.” Stealing a glance at him, Jaehyun almost looked enamored with me. He was giving me a look that was usually reserved for someone else. I felt my heartbeat pick up in my chest and flutters in my stomach.

“Stop that,” I blushed, pinching his skin through the thin material of his long-sleeved shirt. A satisfying buzz ran through my body. Was he really looking at me like that? I was probably reading too much into it.

“No, but it seemed so real. Like you weren’t pretending.”

“That’s because I wasn’t,” I whispered under my breath as we arrived at our cars. 

“Hmm, you say something?” Jaehyun asked, leaning closer to hear me. 

Shaking my feelings away, I ignored the dull ache in my chest and acted through the tears I was desperately holding in. I wrinkled my nose at him playfully, secretly pushing the pain down my throat. “You really don’t listen to a word I say, do you, Jae? I said, I’ll see you later.”

“See ya, Forky! Get home safely!”

Scoffing to myself, I realized how much of a great actor I was. I deserved an Oscar or a Tony for the scenes I played out, the ones where I pretended to be okay when I was far from it. 

What award do you ask? Best Actress in a Supporting Role— the best friend to Jung Jaehyun but never the love of his life.

Wardrobe fittings for productions were always an exciting day for the whole cast and crew. It was one step closer to putting on a show. Jaehyun was already dressed in one of his many costumes, a white suit with golden trimmings. It fit him for the most part, only tiny adjustments were needed. Members of the wardrobe department quickly pinned his neatly pressed jacket before taking it off his hands. Since he was the main character, Jaehyun was one of the first ones done. He was simply waiting for you to come out in your first dress— the white gown for the ball scene in Act One.

When you finally did all those minutes ago, Jaehyun swore his heart stopped. 

Ten minutes ago, Jaehyun saw his best friend walk through the curtains. Your face was bare, hair still in that lazy style you always sported but your clothes. The comfy clothing you usually rehearsed in was gone and replaced by a beautiful ball gown. Despite the pins that scattered throughout the material to fit your form, it still appeared majestic. There you were, standing before him and the rest of the cast, and you were the loveliest you had ever been.

Ten minutes ago, you walked in and his head was reeling. Time slowed down as you tentatively made your way towards him. You did not meet his eyes but Jaehyun was dying to catch your gaze. He never wanted to let you out of his sight. The picture of his best friend in white was something he wanted to treasure and suddenly, the slowness around him stopped. The cast’s cheers and squeals disappeared. There was only you in that beautiful ball gown. 

Was this the slow-motion moment you always talked about? The one you always dreamed about experiencing? Jaehyun could see why people thought it to be magic. It was almost like a movie, movie magic if you will. 

Another look at you and then Jaehyun was in the future, watching you make her way down the aisle. A thin veil covered your face and he was so tempted to push it away from concealing your dazzling smile. His heart was fighting its way out of his chest, wanting to head down the path straight to you. How he wanted to reach out and touch you, cradle you in his arms. 

You were truly an angel in white. A princess. A queen.

The mere sight of you took him to the skies, the one place he was sure you were from. Although Jaehyun would never admit it, he always thought you to be beautiful. Throughout the many years of being best friends, he would find his gaze subconsciously drifting to you. He would rip it away before you would ever notice him doing so, knowing you would tease the hell out of him for it— it was his own little secret tucked away into the corners of his beating heart. 

“How do I look?” Your question snapped him out of his daydream and back to reality. Back down to earth. 

“Sorry, what did you say?” 

“Oh my god, you stupid spoon! I said, how do I look?”

“Lovely,” he answered sincerely, his brown eyes digging into your own. “You look absolutely lovely.”

Ten minutes ago, you simply murmured a question while Jung Jaehyun came to a realization. The realization that he might’ve fallen for you: his Forky, his best friend.

The loveliest girl he had ever seen.

With Cinderella’s opening night being only a few weeks out, you and Jaehyun decided to fit in extra time together to run lines and songs outside of scheduled rehearsals. That was the plan for every weekend and that particular Saturday was no exception to this plan. When his doorbell rang frantically, Jaehyun groaned loudly before getting up to answer the door. Did you always have to be so obnoxious?

Just as the door swung open, your loud voice boomed into his apartment, “‘Sup, ho! Ready to rehearse the hell out of this show or what?”

He stepped aside to let you in and you immediately made yourself comfortable in his humble abode. Jaehyun almost laughed as he watched you. There was a particular routine you stuck to when visiting his place. First, you would take off your shoes, slip on your personal pair of slippers you left at his house, drop your bag on the kitchen counter, and then open his fridge to raid his food supply.

Precisely as Jaehyun predicted, you waddled to the fridge in your memory-foam duck slippers and stole one of his yakults. He loved how comfortable you were in his home. It was truly a heart-warming sight.  The act itself was extremely domestic and he quite liked the domesticity when it was with you. That flash of you in a wedding gown came back to him and he blushed at the thought. The idea of spending a future together was flooding his brain recently and he didn’t know what to do. 

You weren’t the one he liked. Naeun was but why were you the only person on his mind? Was it wrong to have you in his mind? Naeun wasn’t his girlfriend— they were still getting to know each other. His time with her decreased over time since you had stepped into the role of Ella. He was very fond of you. He always had been. There was this little piece of his heart that was reserved for you but was it because you were his best friend or was it more?

Jaehyun quickly snapped himself out of it. 

“First of all, I’m not a ho,” he said before grabbing a yakult of his own. He poked the straw through the foil a bit too harshly, the liquid splashing over the top. Damn his strength— now half of his drink was gone. “Second, stop slut-shaming me for my dating choices. It’s 2021. If I wanted to be a ho, I could be a ho.”

You rolled your eyes as you took a sip of your drink. “God, I hate you sometimes.”

“You need to stop lying to yourself, I know you’re hopelessly in love with me,” Jaehyun said, pointing his drink towards you. He caught you rolling your eyes at his answer.

“Oh, you’re absolutely right. I am irrevocably in love with you, Jung Jaehyun,” you said sarcastically, dramatically batting your eyelashes his way. Your confession, despite being a sarcastic statement, left his heart racing against time. 

“Alexa, play Hopelessly Devoted to You!” you yelled ironically. 

“Now playing Hopelessly Devoted to You by Olivia Newton-John,” an electronic voice boomed across his living room before the opening notes of the ballad began to play. 

“Shit! I forgot you actually had an Echo,” you jumped, not expecting that at all. Jaehyun chuckled at your reaction, loving how easily you scare. He always thought it was one of your cuter traits. 

“Alexa, stop!” he called. 

Jaehyun ran a hand through his hair. He dragged his feet to his bedroom, knowing you would follow without a word. “I can’t rehearse today, I have to write this damned analysis paper for a class. It’s due in two days.”

“I’m sorry, is that paper more important than your best friend in the entire world?” you pushed from behind him.

“Yes,” he deadpanned, taking a seat at his desk. Jaehyun’s study area was an absolute mess. His notebooks were scattered around the floor, textbooks opened to random pages, and his laptop opened to a google document.  

“That’s a motherfucking lie and you know it.”

“I really can’t rehearse now, Forky,” he sighed.

He glared at you as you theatrically fell onto his bed. The notes spread out on his bed flying to the floor. “Oh, woe is me! Jung Jaehyun cannot give me the time of day to rehearse. What am I to do?”

“Why are you like this?” 

“I’m a theatre student, I’m wired to be this obnoxious,” you said with a straight face. 

He stared at you through narrowed eyes. “I really hate you right now.”

“I know,” you countered with a flat tone. “But in all seriousness, Jaehyun. I won’t take too much of your time. I just wanted to practice our duets a couple of times and then I’ll be out of your hair. Plus, you look like you need a break.”

One look at you and he was a goner. How could he ever say no to his best friend?

“Ugh, fine.”

“Ha, I knew you would cave.”

“Shut up.”

The next hour with you was spent rehearsing the numbers. During the last run-through, Jaehyun suggested going over the blocking and putting their all in it. To act like it was opening night. You swiftly agreed and he played the music from the top.

Jaehyun led you around his room, spinning you across the floor as you sang. The smile on your face was so lovely, he could not take his eyes off your lips. His eyes fluttered to a close and he imagined you in your full costume, downed in your gown, as dainty as a daisy and as graceful as a bird. The thought of you dressed like a princess drove him crazy.

He never thought of Naeun this way. This was different. You were different but why?

Jaehyun opened his eyes to see you smiling so gracefully at him as the song was coming to an end. Just as planned in the show, your gaze flitted to his lips. You leaned closer and he followed, dipping his head to meet you halfway. His heart was skipping to its own beat as he inched down. Your soft lips brushed against his oh-so-gently as he held you in his arms but before the boy could press back, the door to his room swung open.

You broke away from him, shocked at the sudden arrival to see your other friend and Jaehyun’s roommate, Dejun. “Oops, was I interrupting something?” 

“I, uh, I gotta go.” Before you could even stop him, Jaehyun grabbed his wallet and phone off his desk and ran out his room. 

Confusion clouded his senses. Why did he feel empty after you pulled away? Why did he want to kiss you so badly? It was just a stage kiss.

Was it not?

Jaehyun’s door slammed shut behind him, leaving me and Dejun in his room. It wasn’t long before we heard the front door close, too. “Well, that was something,” Dejun said after his roommate shuffled out of the apartment.

“Shut up, Xiao Dejun,” I replied, smacking his arm. 

My friend lifted his arms up in defense before he gave me a pointed stare. “I’m just saying, the two of you looked really into it. It looked great, to be honest with you. No notes to give here— I’m sure O’Hare and Lau would say the same.”

“It’s just acting,” I tried to shrug it off. 

“Stop lying to yourself.”

“I’m not!”

“Bulltshit. I saw the way he looked at you— that’s not acting, twerp,” Dejun declared, his voice dropping. His voice never dipped in tone unless he was serious and in that moment, he was dead serious. My friend sounded like a frustrated tutor deliberately explaining a concept for the fifth time and I was the stubborn student who just didn’t understand.

“Yes, yes it is!”

“No, it’s not because that’s how he always looked at you!” 

“Lies!” I yelled accusingly, “We got Liza Minnelli over here!” 

“God, you’re so annoying sometimes! Why won’t you confess? Cat got your tongue? Nothing’s really stopped your sharp tongue before,” Dejun groaned at my stubbornness. He slapped a hand onto my shoulder. I tried to shrug him off but his grip was too strong. Maybe it was him trying to help me get a grip. Who knew? I honestly didn’t. 

“It’s not like I haven’t tried, you know?” An exasperated answer left my lips. I was tired. So ridiculously tired of dealing with these feelings for my best friend. It had been four years since I fell for him. Four years of trying to see other people, four years of trying to confess, and four long years of failing every time.  “I just freeze up like a deer in headlights or like you did when you performed that one monologue sophomore year in voice and movement class. Remember that, Jun?”

I felt his sharp glare burning a hole in my back. “You promised to never talk about that moment, you traitor,” he hissed, his hand squeezing the hell out of my shoulder. 

“Okay yeah but you get the point, right?” My nails dug into his skin, leaving little indents onto his hand. He yelped, finally jerking his hand back to examine it. Shaking my head, I added, “Plus, he’s my best friend. I just can’t do it!”

“So, what you’re saying is that you choose friendship over the possibility of him loving you?” 

“It’s just...I don’t know—” I started, shifting my body to face him, “—choosing friendship means that I’ll only lose love. But if I chose to confess and put my feelings out there, I could lose him as a potential lover and my best friend. I’m not prepared for that. I don’t think I ever will be.”

And there it was again. The self-doubt hit me, imposter syndrome resurfacing at an all time high, bringing me to the lowest of lows. 

The feeling of being a fraud, of being not good enough. 

For Jaehyun. For any love interest for that matter. For the role of Ella. For taking my place under the spotlight. 

“Dejun?”

“Hmm?”

“Am I—am I good enough?”

“For?”

“I—I don’t know—” I stuttered as my mind was consumed by my own crippling thoughts. I tried to stay strong but the crack in my voice gave me away, “—for anything? Everything?” 

“Oh, twerp,” Dejun said in that particular voice and then that was when the floodgates opened. The tears just came pouring down with no sign of stopping. My friend gently pulled me into his comforting arms. They were snug and I felt safe but not as safe as I did in Jaehyun’s hold.

“You, my darling, are definitely good enough. Don’t let your thoughts tell you otherwise.” Although his voice was comforting, it did not help the unhinged thoughts running through my brain. 

“Then, why does it always hurt when I don’t get the role of the leading lady? Of his leading lady? I always get so far and then, at the end of the day, I’m just not what they’re looking for. What he’s looking for.” Pining for something so unimaginable was too taxing. Having the lead role in a play and having Jung Jaehyun wear his heart on his sleeve just for me. 

“Sometimes, the roles aren’t made for you and that’s okay.”

“But what about this one?”

“This one, twerp, this one is a little different.” 

“And why’s that?”

“Because there is music in you; it goes hand in hand with Jaehyun, like a melody to his harmony. You are his Ella and he’s your Topher,” Dejun urged. It was like he was begging me to not give up hope. 

“You’re just saying that.”

“I’m really not. You just gotta do what the theatre gods tell us to do: just trust the process.” 

How could I trust the process when all it did was hurt me by allowing me to have a glimpse of a love and a life that would never be mine? 

Opening night finally arrived. Everyone was called to the theatre for a full run through in the afternoon: the final dress rehearsal hours before the doors opened and the curtains were drawn. I had gotten there earlier to soak in the calmness of the empty auditorium before the chaos began.

I heard heavy footsteps come from behind me. Even without turning around, I knew it to be Jaehyun. The boy took a seat next to me on the wooden prop walls that were locked into the ground. If the stage managers and props committee saw us, they would’ve definitely ripped our heads off but they weren’t— it was just us.  

“Penny for your thoughts, my dear Ella?”

“Topher,” I answered, playing along with his game. “Lovely to see you here bright at early.”

“I knew you would be here and I wanted to be here with you,” he said, pulling me into a side hug. Jaehyun knew me well but did he know me well enough? “Spill it, Forky. What’s wrong?”

“Sometimes I still doubt myself,” I said a little too fast. A loud sigh followed my reveal. The crippling doubt was always there, haunting me. Let me tell you, it was not the best thing in the world to have during an opening for a new production. 

“Oh yeah?” Jaehyun asked, pushing me to continue. I felt the soft brush of his palm against my hand. His fingers grabbed hold of my wrist before fighting their way to tangle with my own fingers. The sensation tickled, taking me away from my thoughts for a fraction of a second. I played with his fingers, watching the way his pinkish hand fit with mine. 

I refused to look at him; I was too afraid of breaking down.“Doubting myself, my abilities. Always the understudy, never the star, remember?”

Jaehyun hummed. He rested his chin on my shoulder. “Did something change?”

“Yeah, I finally realized that maybe it wasn’t that I wasn’t right for the part; the part wasn’t right for me,” I laughed a bit dryly. “Does that make any sense?” 

“Weirdly, yes,” he replied, his breath blowing against my neck. I tried to ignore the tickling sensation and the way it made me feel. 

“But this is different— I feel like I was made to play Ella. Made to play her even though I got the part in this odd, unconventional way,” I turned my head to the side to avoid eye contact. “The girl who sees the good in everything despite the hardships and suffering she went through.”

“Without a doubt, I believe that you belong on stage with me,” Jaehyun answered sincerely, “and I’m glad we have the chance to finally play opposites.” 

He squeezed my smaller palm in support. I appreciated the reassurance; the action slightly calmed me down before she took the next step. Possibly the biggest step of my entire life. “There’s something else I realized, too.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Jaehyun asked softly. 

Taking a deep breath, I said, “I realized that I could be right for you.” 

It took him a minute, a long solid minute before Jaehyun could bring himself to respond to my confession. I wondered what he was thinking at that moment, when those words left my mouth. “Right for me?” came his tentative reply. A quick glimpse at his ears and I saw the burst of red. He was caught off guard, embarrassed. 

“Yeah,” I said almost shamefully. Was I ashamed of my feelings? I never was ashamed before. Maybe it was because Jaehyun finally saw me for who I truly was— his highly dramatic best friend that was head over glass heels for him. 

“How long— how long have you felt this way?” The red of his ears seeped to his rosy cheeks. 

“Ever since we were a dumb pair of utensils,” I replied sincerely, my voice wavering at the truth, “a set of ridiculous tableware.”

There was an awkward chuckle that left his drying lips. I heard him click his tongue, a habit he did when Jaehyun never knew what to say. It seemed like I rendered him speechless. “Since we were sixteen? That long and you didn’t say anything?”

“You’re really asking me that?”

“Yes, I really am!”

“Jaehyun, c’mon. Use your brain! How was I supposed to? You’re my best friend and when you’re not my best friend, you’re out there chasing other girls,” I stopped to lick my drying lips. There was another inkling of silence and I gulped at how tense the atmosphere was. “And I thought maybe once, just once, you would chase after me, too.” 

I almost laughed; my greatest desire was finally out in the world and it was greeted by silence. 

“But what if I’m wrong for you?” 

And there it was. The rejection I was preparing for. Giving him a pained smile that failed to meet my ears, I said, “Then that’s life, I guess.”

“You guess?” 

“Well, I can’t make you act like you’re in love with me, can I?” I snapped, my pain taking the best of me. It clouded my brain, blocking off all rational thoughts out of my head. “This isn’t a play or a movie with a script, Jaehyun. This is real fucking life.” 

Hurt. I was being overwhelmed with a wave of hurt and anguish. My body was trembling as much as my eyes were. I felt them growing wet and I shut them closed. My hands curled into fists, nails digging into my skin. It stung but not as much as being rejected by the one you loved most. The lead of the movie in your mind. 

“Wait, no, that’s not what I meant,” Jaehyun tried to stop me from getting off the stage. I pulled away from him, quickly snatching my belongings before heading to the nearest exit. Turning back around before I left the empty auditorium, I experienced another moment in slow-motion. 

There Jaehyun was in all his glory— denim jacket slipping over his broad shoulders, dark brown hair sticking up in all directions and a confused look on his face. He looked like a mess under the spotlight of my mind but nevertheless, he was my mess of a best friend.

He was my mess of a best friend and that was all he was going to be. That fact hurt more than being the forever understudy. 

Why couldn’t I fast forward this portion of my life? Why must I suffer this much?

Why couldn’t I escape the role of being second best?

If only my life was a movie, then maybe I wouldn’t be everyone’s second choice. His second choice.

If we were in a movie, Jung Jaehyun would be my best friend and my perfect match. Our story would be the typical friends-to-lovers saga that every girl dreams of. It would end happily with the credits rolling to a perfectly timed soundtrack. 

Too bad this wasn’t a movie— this was real life and life came with complications.

After that confrontation, you and Jaehyun were off and not off the charts— just off. The directors noticed it. The stage hands noticed. The cast noticed it. The final run-through before the curtains opened just finished and it was an absolute disaster because of the way you acted with Jaehyun. Every time he opened up his body to you, the response you gave him was closed off. Cold. 

To the rest of the cast and crew, the prince and princess didn’t seem very much in love that day— they didn’t even seem friendly. You and Jaehyun seemed like two strangers trying to work their way across a stage. There was no connection. There was nothing else there. 

Now, if only you would let Jaehyun talk to you, maybe something would change but you didn’t. You ran away every chance you could. It was like Cinderella, but you didn’t leave a glass slipper behind. You didn’t leave anything behind. 

Less than an hour before showtime and he couldn’t even talk to you. Let alone look at you. He sighed into his hand, palms applying pressure to his eyes. Jaehyun cursed under his breath, forgetting that he had a heavy amount of stage makeup on his face. Looking into the mirror, he saw his makeup was still intact. Thank the theatre gods for the Ben Nye Final Seal Setter. It seemed like that it was the only thing set in stone at that moment. 

The door to Jaehyun’s dressing room slammed open and Dejun waltzed in, fully dressed in his costume.“Dude, what was up with you and the twerp during that dress rehearsal? You were so off!”

He received no reply, Jaehyun was too zoned out to hear. Dejun hopped onto the counter of Jaehyun’s dresser. Usually, the action would shock the main lead but Jaehyun was too lost in thought.“Well, you know what they say about a bad dress rehearsal. That means we’ll have a good opening night,” Dejun said, eyeing his friend for his lack of response.

Finally looking away from his reflection, Jaehyun glanced up at Dejun with a look of disbelief. “She likes me?”

His friend jumped off the counter with widened eyes.“Oh my god, did she finally confess? Was that why you were acting weird?”

“Dejun, you knew?” Jaehyun slammed his palms on his dresser. The makeup products on the tabletop shook, leaving the other guy to wince at the show of strength. 

“Honestly for being the ace of the theatre department, you sure are dumb,” Dejun replied a bit too casually as he leaned into the mirror to examine his appearance. He clicked his tongue upon realizing his cheeks didn’t have enough color. The stage lights would wash him out. The boy reached for Jaehyun’s pink blush and a clean wedge before applying it onto the apples of his cheeks.

“What should I do?”

“Well, Jaehyun, what do you want to do?” Dejun asked, turning side to side to double-check his reflection. 

“I don’t know that’s why I’m asking you!” Jaehyun fired back with vigor, hating how casual his best friend was acting. He was having a before-show crisis and his best friend was calmly stealing his bottle of Ben Nye, spraying his beautifully sculpted face with the setting spray.

“Well, do you like her more than a friend? And what about Naeun?”

“Yes? No? I don’t know! But—”

“But?” His friend asked before hopping onto the countertop. The actor raised his perfectly shaped eyebrows at his friend and Jaehyun had the sudden urge to pluck the beauties they were until Dejun had no eyebrow hair left. When Jaehyun didn’t reply, Dejun repeated his question.

Dropping his head in his hands, Jaehyun hesitantly replied, “There was this moment when I saw her and it was like that thing she always said? The slo-mo thing?”

Dejun’s head perked up. “You saw her in slow motion?” 

“Yeah, it was like time stopped. All I saw was her and then…” Jaehyun thought back to seeing you in a wedding dress. He changed his mind; he didn’t want to talk about his feelings. All he wanted to do was make sure opening night ran as smoothly as possible. Grabbing his white suit jacket for the top of Act One, the boy stood up in an attempt to escape his friend’s sudden peak in curiosity. “Never mind, this is ridiculous. I gotta go, Dejun.” 

“No, you’re not going anywhere until you actually confront your damn feelings,” Dejun said, shoving his friend back in his chair. “Do you like Naeun?”

There was a pause before he answered truthfully: “Yes.”

“Okay, and are your feelings for Naeun stronger than what you have for your best friend?” 

“No,” Jaehyun released another sigh as he leaned back in his chair. A hand reached up to brush through his hair before he remembered that it was gelled back in place. He dropped his hand to rub the back of his neck, not wanting to mess with his looks before places. “I was infatuated with Naeun but with her, god, she’s something else and it took me this long to realize it.”

“How do I know you’re not just saying that?” Dejun questioned, squeezing his friend’s shoulders a bit too tightly. Jaehyun thought his friend was testing him and for a good reason. If he was in Dejun’s position, Jaehyun would’ve grilled his friend, too. “How do I know you’re actually in love with her? Yes, you’re my roommate and best friend but she’s my best friend, too. I can’t let you hurt her if all you feel is something temporary. I can’t let you treat her like those other girls.”

“Because she’s The One, Dejun. I’m certain of it,” Jaehyun snapped back. “When I look at her, I see everything I’ve been searching for. It’s like I was blind for the longest time, you know? She was always just Forky to me back when I didn’t know any better. But now I see and all I see is her— her, with all her flaws. The way she hides her insecurities with her dramatic outbursts. How she picks at her cuticles when she’s nervous or how she always steals my food at home. And the way she just fits with me. I can’t explain it.”

Jaehyun didn’t even give his friend a chance to butt in. He was still rambling on with a fond smile, his mouth running a mile. “She’s been there with me since the beginning, Jun. Before I was this prince of the theatre department, she was there. She’s been there since the beginning and even when I was chasing after girls, she was there at the middle of it all, and fuck, I want to go all the way to the end with her.”

Dejun released his hold on his friend and rolled his eyes. The boy made his way to the door of the dressing room before mumbling under his breath, “God, what is with you two and giving out monologues? I swear, when this is all over, you should become playwrights.”

“What?”

“Never mind me, Jaehyun,” Dejun opened the door and gestured for Jaehyun to follow the path— the path down the hall that led to you. “What are you waiting for? Go get her, we have 30 until Joohyun calls for places!”

“Dejun, it’s much more complicated than that.”

“It’s only as complicated as you make it out to be. Just— just go and talk to her, yeah?”

Jaehyun sighed deeply as he reached your dressing room door. He knocked lightly, running through the lines he wanted to say in his head before you shouted a faint “come in.” The door squeaked open to reveal you, his best friend in the whole entire world, touching up your makeup. The best friend that he was inescapably in love with. You watched him through the mirror as he leaned against the frame with crossed arms. 

“Can we talk after the show? There’s something I need to tell you— it’s important. I don’t think I—um, I have enough time to tell you now,” Jaehyun asked, stuttering through his words. Gone was the confidence he usually bared. The only thing left in him was a scared little boy, afraid of the problem his words may cause. 

The smile he received from you did not reach your ears. “Of course,” you replied curtly before turning away from him. He noted how you were over applying your blush and fidgeting with your costume. You were doing everything in your power to avoid him. 

The tugging of your ear, the biting of your lip, the picking of your cuticles. He saw all your bad habits. You were a ball of nerves and the speaker announced it was ten minutes before places.

“Hey, Forky?”

“Yes, Jaehyun?”

“You know that I believe in you, right? Always?”

There was a twitch at the corner of your lips. “I do.”

“Good,” Jaehyun approached you with caution. You watched him from your mirror, never making direct eye contact as he came closer. He dropped a kiss on the crown on your head, relishing in the way his plush lips against your torn bandana and the lace front wig. “Break a leg, my Ella.”

He observed you through your reflection and took in how beautiful you looked in your rags. You made the rags the costume department designed for you look like riches. 

“Same goes to you, my prince,” he heard you answer in that soft tone.  Again, you had sent him to the skies and the boy was struggling to find his way back down.

When it was time to draw the curtains and light the lights for the first performance of Cinderella, it seemed like everything fell into place.  Jaehyun stared at you across the stage, falling for the way the lights illuminated your figure in that white ball gown. The bright glow brought his attention to your bright grin, that beautiful and radiant smile of yours, that shocked him to his core. 

Jaehyun locked eyes with you and suddenly, he was drowning. He was drowning in your expressive eyes. He was drowning in your overflowing love. 

It was different being across from you in front of a full audience. There was a rush that took over him whenever he saw you and it beat the flurries his heart experienced with his other leading ladies. As you said your lines with that bewitching sparkle in your eye, Jaehyun hated himself for not realizing how much he loved you sooner or how you were never playing pretend. 

But that was okay because Jung Jaehyun loved you now. He loved you in the world you made believe on stage, where he was Prince Topher and you were his Ella, and he loved you in reality where you would always be the fork to his spoon. 

Opening night went smoothly and the roaring applause I received during my final bow sent me to the moon. The way Jaehyun looked at me across the stage with eyes filled with pride and joy blasted me to places I had never been before. I became high on this feeling of being under the burning spotlights. The feeling of wearing the most intricate costume and the way his hand slid into mine for the last bow before the curtains were drawn; it was something I wanted to treasure for the rest of my life.

But with every high came a low— my low hit me when I ran into Jaehyun’s dressing room. I caught him in an embrace with Naeun who gifted my best friend with a rose. She placed a kiss on his cheek, causing his white ears to flush a deep red that rivaled the flower he held. The girl gave him a quick shove of the shoulder before heading to me. 

Her congratulatory statement went in one ear and out the other. I could barely process Naeun handing me a rose of my own before she walked out of the room, the sweet scent of her perfume lingering in her wake. She gave my best friend one more lingering look as she left and it hurt me in so many ways.

“Ready to go?” Jaehyun said, clearing his throat. “Wanna stop by the stage first? Soak in your first opening night as a lead?”

“Why the hell not?” The walk back to the stage was short. It felt different somehow.

“We did it,” I whispered.

“That we did,” he answered back. 

We walked onto the stage together and I could still hear the crowds cheering for me, giving me the standing ovation I earned. It was electrifying, the way the sparks ran through my body. It ran from the top of my head to the tips of my fingers and toes. 

Glancing around the empty auditorium, I pondered aloud, “But do you know what sucks about it all, Jaehyun?”

“What?”

“There’s nothing worse than the feeling of not being chosen and it still hurts that I wasn’t the first choice,” I replied truthfully, “Not as much as before. But I’m learning to get over it. The casting directors saw potential in me.”

“That’s because you do have the potential to be a star. You’re practically glowing right now.” I felt his eyes trained on me, just like they were the entire time we shared the stage. 

Turning abruptly to face him, I said, “You really can’t say that to me, you know?”

“And why’s that?”

“Because it makes my heart beat against my chest and these stupid butterflies come around before I remember that you have never chosen me to be your first choice,” I glared. 

“But I do choose you,” Jaehyun pushed, his voice laced with desperation, “That’s what I was trying to tell you before you stormed off on me earlier!”

“Are you really choosing me, Jaehyun? The real me? The me that has been your best friend for years? Or are you choosing the me that shares a stage with you every night? The me that could potentially be your next whirlwind romance?” No matter how desperate he sounded, he couldn’t beat the hopelessness that was dripping from my own voice. 

“No, that’s not it at all!” his voice boomed, the sound echoing throughout the empty auditorium. 

“Then, what is it, Jung Jaehyun? Because I am tired of being second best and I’m tired of not being chosen,” I almost cried. The anguish was just taking over my body and I couldn’t make it stop. “Yes, I know some parts are not right for me but I can’t help but be hurt. And then you say that you’re choosing me? Of course, I’m going to think of it being because I’m your newest love interest on stage.”

“If you could just listen—”

Unable to stop the words from coming out, I just kept running off at the mouth. Everything I wanted to say to Jaehyun was flying out of my lips at rapid speed; I couldn’t even stop it. “I have seen you in slow motion so many times and I want to just fast forward from those moments. To speed past them so I can move on from the idea of not being yours. I refuse to be a temporary love that you lose interest in. I just want you to pick me, to choose me, and to love me, damn it— is that too fucking much to ask for? To be chosen and loved?”

While I was taking a breath to continue with my rant, Jaehyun cut me off and the words he said rattled the stage, the ground beneath my feet, and my whole entire world.“No, it’s not and you are way fucking more than that, if you just take a moment out of your godforsaken monologue and listen to me! I choose you not because you’re my leading lady but because you’re you. You’ve always been this— this incredible, breathtaking you.” 

He took one step closer and I took one step back. “And you’ve the person at my side when no one else is.” 

Every single time I would retreat, Jaehyun would follow. The boy was persistent, his brown eyes trained on me. “The one who figured out you loved me first while I was too blind to see it. You’re the fork to my spoon. We’re a set, we go together. And I was too dumb to figure out that at the end of the day, I always think about you and how no one I’ve ever been with compares to you.”

 When my back hit the wall, I was trapped. Trapped in between his arms and the way they propped themselves on either side of my face. Trapped in the haze of his brown eyes and how they dug deep into my soul. 

 “I don’t see you in slow motion— I see you in fast forward. I see you in the future, my future, walking down the aisle in white and I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. All I know is that I choose you. I will always choose you.”  

I was trapped by Jung Jaehyun and there was no escape for me. Judging by the way his eyes never let me out of his sight, there was a chance my friend didn’t want to let me go either. He wanted me to stay. 

“Jaehyun, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I love you. You’re my beginning, middle, and my end.”

“You love me? Like you’re in love with me?” Jaehyun heard you ask, like the possibility of being loved by him was so impossible. You were searching for any inkling of doubt but he made sure you couldn’t find any because you were the only thing he could see. 

Jaehyun brought a hand near your cheek. It hovered there as he hesitated to touch it to your skin until you leaned into his touch. Your cheek felt so warm in his palm and it was so comforting to have you in his hold. “I wanted to say it earlier but I was just so scared of losing you as both a lover and a friend because what if it all goes to shit? What if we go to shit and things hit the fan? I can’t lose you.” 

“But you, Jung Jaehyun, are in love with me?” you repeated as your hand cupped his own. The smile you gave him was bright enough to light up the stage. 

“Yeah, I thought I made that clear. I’m sorry, did I mumble that line?” he teased playfully, trying to coerce a giggle out of you. “Should I start the scene over?”

“No, no. I’m just—” you paused and he watched you recollect your thoughts. His glittering brown eyes were trained on you as the words processed in your head. “You love me,” you laughed in disbelief. 

Jaehyun took a step closer, his hand tentatively reaching out to stroke your face. He sighed in relief as you relaxed into his touch. “You’re my number one girl. I choose you.” 

“Well, it’s a good thing that even after all this time, I’ve always chosen you, too.”

Once those words left your lips, he couldn’t hold himself back. Wrapping his arms around your waist, Jaehyun pulled you against his chest and smashed his lips against yours. Yes, he had kissed you on multiple occasions prior to this— onstage and off— but this time was different than the rest.

 This was the first time he really kissed you after your feelings were out in the open.

The first time he kissed you and finally felt the love you harbored for so many years. Jaehyun just hoped you could sense the love he was pouring out for you, too. 

He did not want to let you go but he was struggling to breathe. You were so lovely, everything about you was so incredibly lovely, and to have you in his arms was the best feeling in the universe. Everything around him turned dark and he felt the warmth of a spotlight and the flush of your body against him. The entire world was spinning beneath his feet, his heart racing, and his lips chasing you and only you. 

Jaehyun did not understand why people did drugs— the high of being so ardently in love with another person, with you, gave him the high that he needed. 

He felt you hit his chest in an attempt to end the kiss but Jaehyun did not want to stop. A light shove to his shoulders was enough to separate his lips from yours and what a sight you were— chest panting heavily for air, lips plumped and swollen, and the prettiest set of eyes widened in shock.

“You kissed me!” you said in between pants. “Like not a stage kiss but you actually kissed me!”

“That I did, love,” Jaehyun replied cheekily, taking another step towards you. You stepped back to lean against the wall but did nothing to stop him from coming forward. “Are you gonna do something about it?” 

The look in your eyes changed after you heard his new nickname for you. It was coy. Flirty. Challenging. “Do it again, I dare you,” you whispered a bit too loudly. 

Before Jaehyun closed the distance, his eyebrow perked up at the challenge. “Gladly.”

Senior year was there before we knew it. 

Another year, another posting day. 

Dejun, Jaehyun, and I swiftly made our way down the hall to the front of the theatre department, curious to find out which roles we were given. The spring production and the final musical of our college career was Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. 

Callbacks for Belle went as smooth as ever— the chemistry between Jaehyun and I were off the charts. But why wouldn’t they be? We were together now. 

Just like any other time, the crowds gathering around the cast list and bulletin board parted immediately once they caught a glimpse of Jaehyun approaching. The only difference was that this time, he was tightly clutching my hand. 

When we arrived in front of the board, I shut my eyes before I could read the cast list. An anxious buzz flowed through my veins, tickling the tips of my fingers and toes. My boyfriend must’ve felt the twitching of my fingers or the sweat dripping off my palms. 

I felt his body shift towards me. “Want me to take a peek first, love?” Jaehyun asked as he pressed his plump lips onto the crown of my head. He nuzzled his nose into my hair, a small but sweet action that always comforted me. 

Shaking my head, I looked at him and said, “No, why don’t we look together?”

“On three?” he grinned lovingly.

“On three, you dumb spoon.”

The countdown was quick but the glance I took at the cast list was even quicker. It was so quick, I almost didn’t catch who was put into the role of Belle. Taking a double take, I let go of Jaehyun’s hand as my eyes zeroed in onto the tiny print. 

Everything around me came to a stop as I read and re-read the cast list. Everyone around me was celebrating their parts but I couldn’t hear them, they were all muted in my mind. All I could hear was the sound of my own breaths  and all I could see my name on the top of the page. 

Belle……………..Y/N The Beast……..Jung Jaehyun

“Oh my god, I got the part,” I whispered to no one in particular. Backing away from the board, I repeated the same words a little louder and it got the attention of everyone surrounding me. Before I knew it, everyone threw a congratulations my way. The cheers were loud and obnoxious but they were for me because I did it. I finally did it.

Feeling a little overwhelmed, I backed away from the blustering crowd before bumping into my boyfriend’s firm chest. Jaehyun caught me in his hold, his arms circling around my waist. He dropped his chin on my shoulder and placed a tender kiss on my temple. “Would you look at that? We’re not a ridiculous set of tableware this time.”

“No disrespect to those parts, they were awesome, but I think I like this a lot more,” I giggled, turning in his hold. 

As I circled my arms around his neck, he whispered, “Same here.”

I yanked him down into an earth-shattering kiss that sent the world spinning beneath my feet. It slowed down, speeded up, and it did everything in between. I saw flashes of yellow ball gowns, royal blue coats, and Jaehyun smiling at me gracefully across the stage. 

Jaehyun staring me down from the other end of an altar. 

I saw it all. 

If my life was a movie, then this would be the time that the screen would fade to black and show the names. Some overly poppy song would resonate through the speakers and everyone would get up from their seats and gush over the happy ending.

But it wasn’t. My life was as real as it could be and it was even better than any romantic-comedy that would ever grace the screen. 

This wasn’t the ending. 

This was the perfect beginning. 

AUTHOR’S NOTE. hello, my darling readers! you really didn’t have to wait that long for this release, did you? a big thank you to several people: @johtenrecs for always being my beta and for the helpful feedback, to my chaotic gc ( @smoll-tangerine, @ppangjae, @jaedore​, and @jeongvision) for listening to me complain about how i was losing it while writing this fic, to @suhpressed​ for helping me with brainstorm, and lastly, to my lovely @notnctu bc without her and our crazy idea of hosting a hannah montana collab, i wouldn’t have gotten this idea! love y’all! hope you enjoyed this and please leave feedback! uwu

TAGLIST. @yasmini24 @jaehyunnie77 @emmybyeakitty @fluffyjaes @aevizen @dearjaehyxn @yourmagnanimousholiness @jaehyvnsvalentine @keemburley @softieus @lanadreamie @lebrookestore  @notmangojuice @felixn-recs @captainsjoongs @anotherfullsun @ukiyoneo @kunrengui​ @babyyynatty​ 

© sehunniepotwrites, 2021

[12timetraveler]

Okay I've had this floating around in my head forever but I don't think I've ever officially shared this. But I have some headcanons for Hosea and Javier in a modern AU.

✨Broadway✨

~ Modern Hosea is a Broadway fanatic.

~ so is Javier.

~ together they keep up on all the hot musical gossip

~ They host a Tony Awards party every year together

~ get unreasonably upset when their favorites don't win

~ and act like someone just scored the winning touchdown when their favorites do win.

~ Hosea has always loved the theater

~ he spent some time trying to make it on Broadway before his mischievous ways forced him to quit.

~ but he still talks about his Broadway days like he was a goddamn star.

~ and honestly he may have been. No one can prove that he wasn't, and some of the stuff he has in his attic suggests that maybe he was.

~ Javier came into the mucal theater world a little unwittingly

~ in middle school he was cornered by the head of the drama department

~ the school was putting on a production of West Side Story and needed more Latino actors to fill in the Sharks.

~ when the director discovered Javier could sing, she latched onto him and never let him leave the drama department

~ at first he was very reluctant but he started to really enjoy himself.

~ by high school he was scoring lead roles left and right

~ he made a kick-ass Phantom his senior year.

~ Javier and Hosea have season tickets to all the best local theaters.

~ especially the big fancy one where Broadway tour shows perform.

~ they get incredible seats and usually go to see each show at least twice.

~ Hosea prefers the classics

~ Fiddler On The Roof, Carousel, Hello Dolly, Music Man, etc.

~ he's very picky about what modern musicals he enjoys.

~ he never quite understood the Hamilton hype.

~ He loves Hadestown

~ And he has to admit Six is absolutely delightful.

~ Hosea will also go on and on about how incredible The Scarlet Pimpernel musical is and "what do you mean you've never heard of it?!"

~ it's his hipster moment. He's cooler than you. He loves The Scarlet Pimpernel

~ Javier will always have a soft spot for West Side Story.

~ and he loves Les Miserables (a musical about a revolution?! Sign him up)

~ Hairspray also comes in pretty high on his list, as does Newsies.

~ he loves Hamilton but is not so fond of Lin Manuel Miranda.

~ he'd kill to take over as Hamilton (literally)

~ They both go wild for Wicked and Heathers.

~ Singing In the Rain may be their combined favorite

~ they really go back and forth on Into the Woods. Sometimes they think it's pretentious, sometimes it's brilliant. Kinda depends on their moods.

~ neither of them expected to enjoy Sussical the Musical or Shrek the Musical nearly as much as they did.

~ Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is their guilty pleasure. Literally once a year they will get together and watch the Donny Osmond version and just dance and sing their hearts out

~ (Arthur lives next door to Hosea and makes sure to be out of town that day so he doesn't have to listen to it for the billionth time)

~ These two bonded so hard over their love of musical theater.

[omniuravity]

Update: Semi-Serious Opinion on How I Feel About Tony Award-Winning Musicals

Best Musical:

Hadestown (2019): I still love this musical, and I actually get to see it for my birthday! I really like the music more than anything, because I'm a sucker for beautiful harmonies, and I also love how they tell the story.

Hamilton (2016): Low-key the very first musical I ever got into. It's always been a favorite (even though it is also overplayed) and I love both the ethnic diversity in the cast, the music, and the storytelling. It's everything a musical should aspire to be.

Hairspray (2003): In my opinion, Hairspray is a celebration of life in general. There is so much diversity in this musical and I love it. Even though if I auditioned for this musical I'd probably get cast as Penny or Amber, I wouldn't be mad because I love this musical that much.

Best Musical Revival:

Chicago (1997): Chicago is absolutely magnificent. I love every single song in this musical, and that isn't something I can say for even some of my favorite musicals.

Best Original Score:

Fiddler on the Roof (1965): Okay, this musical got 8 Tony Awards in 1965 and for good reason too. They got Best Musical, Best Producer, Best Leading Actor, Best Featured Actress, Best Director, Best Author, Best Choreography, and Best Costume Design. It is that good.

Sweeney Todd (1979): This is actually a very good horror musical. It sticks very well to the source material (the book), and the movie adaptation is phenomenal despite the minimal singing experience of the main cast. This musical is very very good.

Best Choreography:

Bye Bye Birdie (1961): It had Dick Van Dyke in the lead role, are you really that surprised? I was actually in this musical in middle school, I was in a barbershop quartet (despite me being a girl). It is a really good musical, and I'm proud to say I was a part of it.

Newsies (2012): Again...are you surprised. Newsies has a very special place in my heart, because I just love everything about it from the set design to the dancing, to the amazing dialogue, to the costume design, and especially the music. Definitely the music.

Best Scenic Design:

The Sound of Music (1960): This musical also has a special place in my heart for one reason alone, the music. Maria has been played by a lot of wonderful actresses, but my favorites are Mary Martin and Julie Andrews. I just love everything about this musical, but its music has a very special place in my heart.

Spongebob Squarepants (2018): Okay, but hear me out...it's a good musical. I grew up when Spongebob was in its prime, and the musical brought me back to when I was younger and I would sit in front of the TV after school and watch Spongebob. This musical has so many great character moments and they do such a great job on the set design in particular.

Best Costume Design:

Shrek The Musical (2009): They're not wrong. Shrek's costume design is that good. I really like this musical anyway, but the costuming is phenomenal.

Best Leading Actor:

The Phantom of the Opera (1988): Andrew Lloyd Webber is a genius...nuff said. Also, Michael Crawford is a God.

Hairspray (2003)...again: This goes out to more the actor in particular that won this award, Harvey Fierstein. He won this award for playing Edna Turnblad, and he absolutely killed it.

Best Leading Actress:

Peter Pan (1955): This is my love letter to Mary Martin who played Peter Pan, and also got the same award for playing Maria in The Sound of Music. Mary Martin is the woman that made me want to go into musical theatre, on top of that she grew up where I grew up, and now I am working hard to become like her one day.

Wicked (2003): I know it didn't win best musical the year it was put on Broadway, but I need to talk about it. This summer I saw it live and it was an experience I will never forget. It is truly an astounding musical even just listening to the soundtrack, and seeing it live gives it a depth that you couldn't imagine. Also Idina Menzel is a goddess, and she is also part of the reason I want to go into musical theatre.

[queenadabronx]

The Newsies Go Mini Golfing

Inspired by the mini golfing I did today- I’m not very good at it (I cheated. So. Many. Times. I used my foot and claimed a wizard was moving the ball)

. So

. Davey came up with the idea.

. Not on purpose

. He said in the Newsies group chat that he was taking Les

. And everyone else decided to go too

. Except Crutchie, cause of his leg

. The place that they go to isn’t just mini golf- it has a rock wall, bumper cars, and a batting cage as well.

. It’s…semi expensive but….totally worth it

. The Newsies split up into groups to do stuff

. Davey, Les, Sally, Jack, Katherine, Race, and Albert, are group one. Meaning they do mini golf first

. Smalls, Sniper, Finch, Tommy Boy, Sarah, Mike, Ike, and Hotshot are group two. They are doing rock climbing first 

. Specs, Romeo, Mush, Blink, Henry, Jojo, Elmer, and Buttons are doing bumper cars first

GROUP ONE  . Most of them aren’t very good at mini golf

. Sally is the best

. But she’s super supportive of Les (even though he isn’t great)

. Katherine is also really good

. Race is not

. He hits the ball into the woods three holes in 

. Then he gets the next one stuck in the water

. Albert won’t stop laughing at him

. Even though Albert isn’t good either

. But that’s cause he doesn’t care

. Neither does Davey

. But Davey isn’t even playing 

. Because it’s ‘‘for the kids”

. After mini golf they do bumper cars

. It’s I N S A N I T Y 

. Albert and Race are at war

. Les and Sally are just having fun

. Jack, Katherine, and Dave’s did N O T ride

. Mostly because of Albert and Race

. Once they finish, they go on the rock wall 

. Only Les, Sally, and Race climb it

. Albert is scared of heights 

. And it turns out

. Race can’t climb 

. Les makes it to the top

. And he’s so freaking happy

GROUP TWO

. These guys started with the rock wall

. Only Smalls and the twins climb

. They compete to see who can get to the top fastest

. It’s Ike

. And he G L O A T S

. So naturally they need a rematch….

. In mini golf

. And it turns out Smalls is great at mini golf

. Mike is too

. Ike sucks 

. (Sorry baby love you ❤️)

. So Hotshot has to comfort his upset boyfriend

. Sniper, however, is cheering on his girlfriend 

. Tommy and Sarah don’t play mini golf 

. They buy ice cream sandwiches and talk

. And make out a little 

. (Tomarah is beautiful and I love it so much)

. This group is even worse with bumper cars

. Since all but two are playing 

. Let’s just say there was a lot of screaming

GROUP THREE

. This was the most chill group of all

. They just kinda chilled

. They didn’t treat bumper cars like a war

. And all of them tried the rock wall

. Buttons made it to the top

. Specs didn’t go very high cause he didn’t want his glasses to fall off

. And they didn’t even keep score for their mini golf 

. They just played

. And they probably had the most fun

[tangledbea]

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This Sunday, January 26, has the makings of the best day ever. A special one-hour episode of Disney Channel’s Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure premieres at 7:05 a.m. ET/PT on Disney Channel and in DisneyNOW, and it includes a brand-new song written by “EGOT” (Emmy®, Grammy®, Oscar®, and Tony®) winner Disney Legend Alan Menken and Grammy Award winner Glenn Slater. We’ve got an exclusive clip of Mandy Moore, as Rapunzel, singing “The Girl Who Has Everything” in a stunning sequence that takes an artful look back at the big events in the princess’ life.

Things get hairy in the episode—titled “Cassandra’s Revenge”—when Cassandra (Eden Espinosa) returns to Corona with a score to settle, just as Rapunzel is preparing to settle down and start living a normal life. The Emmy-winning series Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure also stars Zachary Levi (Shazam!) as Eugene, Jeremy Jordan (Broadway’s Newsies) as Varian, James Monroe Iglehart (Broadway’s Aladdin) as Lance, and Paul F. Tompkins (Bob’s Burgers) as Shorty.

[maribatserver]

Tag Team Tournament 2024 - Day Seven

It's the seventh and final day of this year's Tag Team Tournament. We've had a lot of amazing submissions so far, and we expect that there will be more published today! If you're only recently hearing about our event, make sure to check out our Event Guide Document to get all the details about how our Tournament works!

Oh, and don't forget, prompts can now be stacked for multiple bonuses. If you use them all in one submission that means you'll get 9 bonus points! And that may sound like a small number, but trust us, these score can get close, and nine points can make a big difference.

Our prompt for Day 7 is "Trust me—I won't let you fall."

Day 6: "If I tell you how badly these heels hurt, will you carry me?"

Day 5: "You made me a mixtape?"

Day 4: "I'm not saying that he's evil, but I am saying that all rich people are trash."

Day 3: "I left them alone for five minutes."

Day 2: "Shut up, I'm trying to tell you how much I like you!"

Day 1: "Start at the beginning, and tell me how we got to this."

You don't have to respond to a prompt, but if you do then your submission will get a certain number of bonus points! Prompts are worth more on the first day that they're scheduled for, but you can still get extra points even if you miss that window! Be sure to check our Prompt List if you want to work ahead. You can also seek inspiration through our Team Playlists, which we have on good authority is the best way to get a mod bonus from Newsie this year.

You have until the clock strikes twelve in EST (which is 24 hours from when this post was published) to get the full amount of bonus points for today's prompt. Happy creating!

We’ll be searching the #ttt2024 tag for your submissions to reblog, so please make sure to share them here with that tag as well as submitting through the Form!

Additional Notes:

Only submissions through the Form will count towards scoring! We will NOT be collecting AO3, Discord, or Tumblr submissions manually.

If your post hasn’t been reblogged to our Tumblr within 48 hours, please reblog it and tag @maribatserver​​ in the text of the reblog to make sure we see it! Sometimes Tumblr tag searches are a bit janky, and we want your work to get the attention it deserves.

The only way to check if your submission has been scored is to check our Live Tracker which will automatically update once your submission has been processed. Just because your work was reblogged does NOT mean it was scored! Please allow 24 hours for your work to appear on the live tracker, as unverified submissions will not be shared. 

Good luck to your team(s) and we can’t wait to see what you’ve got!

Special thanks to @izanae, @nottesilhouette and @newdog14 for coming up with our prompts, and to @nottesilhouette for designing the calendar & coding our Live Tracker, and to @newdog14 for creating out prompt graphics & making our Team Playlists!

[thearcticfoxz]

God, I recently got back into the Yogs Call of Cthulhu TTRPG, so I decided fuck it I’ll actually give the player characters from campaign 3 and 4 character designs entirely because I feel like it (and maybe I want more people to talk about it with)

I’ll give each character a vague summary under the cut

(left to right)

Harvey J. Grizwauld (Ben’s character): A big shot director from Hollywood who might not even supposed to be one and may have just conned his way into it considering the way that he is. He mostly is a great asset for being the most sane member of the team at all times. (son of Professor Grizwauld and older brother to John) 

Professor Grizwauld (Simon’s character): Professor of Geology at the Miskatonic University known for both his obsession with anything vaguely rock based and just coming up with the wildest shit. And before you ask, yes he is named after the SOI character and yes Simon does do the voice. (father of both Harvey and John)

Nicholas Grizwauld/John Grizwauld/Nick Steel/John Steel (Lewis’ character): This man has too many names and a backstory that seems to change every campaign, but John is Private Eye and is usually that the gang get into wacky hyjinx (even when Lewis isn’t playing the character) while still being a bit of a coward. (son of Professor Grizwauld, younger brother to Harvey, and drinking buddy/great friend to Donnie)

Donnie Gravelo (Harry’s character): Legitimate businessman and mafia member, Donnie is a great asset to the team as a tank if only he could ever seem to make it to the fighting portions of the campaign without going insane. However he does seem to make himself useful befriending old lady characters and one german guy. (older brother to Sunny and drinking buddy/great friend to John).

Sunny Gravelo (Tom B’s character): He’s a 16 year old newsie that can’t read but somehow has the highest intelligence score out of the bunch (including the professor). He is the “scrappy doo” of the group but somehow manages to best character out of all of them. (younger brother to Donnie).

[themetaphorgirl]

sooo I know u did the gang’s favorite musicals, but I’m out here wondering what their favorite MOVIE musicals are because that’s important

THESE ARE THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. My little theatre nerd heart is pleased. 

(also oops this now includes my commentary)

David: Singin’ In the Rain (ONE OF THE BEST. I miss watching the trailer for this 84 times a day and driving by the animatronic of Gene Kelly. Remind me to tell the story about “do the Gene Kelly)

James: Hans Christian Andersen (a CLASSIC from my CHILDHOOD. Also contains an absolutely GORGEOUS ballet sequence.)

Alex: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (a classic. one of my all-time favorites. contains the best dance sequence EVER IMMORTALIZED ON FILM.)

Hotch: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (fun fact: Dick Van Dyke was blacklisted from Disney for a while because of this movie. also, Hotch still has a lingering fear of the Childcatcher.)

Emily: Moulin Rouge (she. cries. every. time. this movie holds up surprisingly well. also the new stage version’s updated music selections are *chef’s kiss*)

Derek: Newsies (his sisters used to watch it all the time and he was OBSESSED and tried to learn all the dances because those guys were so cool. Sidenote: this was baby Caitlin’s first ever fandom.)

JJ: The Red Shoes (THE RED SHOES. I keep thinking of A Chorus Line. But yeah this is one of the best classic films with a ballet sequence.)

Penelope: Cinderella (the 1997 version. SUCH A BEAUTIFUL FILM. CANNOT BELIEVE IT WAS TELEVISED AND NOT A THEATRICAL RELEASE.)

Spencer: Carousel (my favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein, albeit problematic. the LOVELIEST score. a BRILLIANT ballet sequence. Spencer likes it because Diana used to play the cast recording all the time.)