#the entire production crew just looked at each other like …i’m about to be more francophobic that usual

[sciralta]

my face when we’re in Hanoi, Vietnam and that French bitch really just said he named his restaurant ‘Le Colonial’

[roguerevieweradl]

Heathers Review (Pelican Productions) - 12/09/2024

Stepping into Heathers, I knew we were in for a wild ride, but I wasn’t prepared for the sheer power and presence of this cast. 

Tayla Prime as Heather Chandler was an absolute force of nature. She dominated the stage with so much authority that I found myself genuinely intimidated from the audience! I wouldn’t dare cross her Chandler—if I were in Westerberg High, I’d be running for the hills. It was a performance that oozed confidence and power, embodying the iconic ‘mythic b****’ perfectly.

Teagan Garvey as JD had some great moments, especially in the beginning where he played up JD’s charm to a T. His descent into madness was compelling, with Garvey really showcasing the complexity of the role. There were a few moments where his vocals fell a little flat, but overall, he was stellar and brought a lot to the table.

Then there’s Samantha Keough as Veronica—wow. I have never been so in awe of a voice. She didn’t just deliver; she owned the character, adding her unique vocal flair rather than just doing a by-the-numbers version of Veronica. I’d go so far as to say she’s one of the best Veronicas I’ve seen in Adelaide!

Caitlin Laventure as Heather Duke was a standout for me. Talk about a triple threat—the dancing, the singing, the acting, all flawlessly executed. I honestly can’t believe she isn’t already a staple in the professional scene. It was hard to keep my eyes off her whenever she was on stage.

Lily Horton-Stewarts Heather McNamara was another highlight. "Lifeboat" was a real emotional journey, and she took the audience right along with her. I could feel her anxiety bubbling under the surface, and when it broke, it was powerful. A beautifully crafted performance.

And then, Darcie Yelland as Martha—my heart. She brought so much warmth and life to Martha that you just wanted to give her a hug. By the time "Kindergarten Boyfriend" hit, I was a complete mess. It’s a challenging role to pull off, but Yelland absolutely nailed it.

I have to mention my favorite duo of the night: Zach Bartlett and Freddie Windle as Kurt and Ram. These two bounced off each other perfectly, delivering the humor and energy the roles require. They’re an iconic duo, and I truly hope to see them working together in the future!

Hannah Brown as Ms. Fleming brought so much life to the ditzy teacher role. You could really sense how much she cared about her News Crew… which made for a lot of laughs. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her performance!

The song of the night had to be ‘My Dead Gay Son’. The dads, Leo Sage and Hanno de Klerk, absolutely nailed it! The audience couldn’t stop clapping, and we just wanted more. Well done to both actors for a standout performance.

The ensemble deserves massive credit as well. The choreography and vocals were tight and well-constructed, with each piece fitting together like a perfectly synchronized puzzle. You could just feel the joy radiating off the entire cast, which gave the performance an extra spark of magic.

As for the set design, it was nothing short of spectacular. I loved the concept—especially how the brick wall split apart, and the two-story levels made the stage feel dynamic and immersive. I found myself wondering how long it took to build because it was just so beautifully crafted.

The lighting was also brilliantly executed. I loved how they played within the scheme. My favorite moment had to be during the bomb sequence, where the stage transformed into what looked like a disco ball for just a moment, symbolizing the explosion—it was an inventive and effective choice.

Sound was mostly on point. While there were a few minor issues with mics not being turned on in time or some effects coming in late, the sound mix overall was fantastic. Missing a couple of lines didn’t take away from how well everything sounded.

Big shoutout to the creative team. You’ve put on an amazing rendition of Heathers, and I’m excited to see what you all work on next. Overall, this cast for Heathers knocked it out of the park. From powerhouse performances to stellar ensemble work, this show was a treat from start to finish.

[hekateinhell]

you already know why i’m here. our house chapter seven please please please i’m nothing

I do know LMAO. As soon as I wrote it, I knew if anyone asked for it, it was going to be you. 🥹 So this would have been the immediate next chapter after what's already up on ao3. I started writing this version I think September 2022 and I just never continued?

We've seen Armand explore his feminine side and his relationship to that a bit already, so in this chapter, I wanted to focus on his more masculine side just for a minute. I also wanted to illustrate a bit of their lives outside of each other. I'll just put everything I have in the doc here, just for you! ♥️

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“Well, I think it’s cute,” Daniel bent down to press a kiss to Armand’s scruffy cheek, the first time in four years he’d ever actually seen the product of Armand forgoing shaving for an entire week.

It took a moment’s getting used to; not quite a five-o-clock shadow anymore, not quite a beard yet, darker than the auburn on his head by a couple tones.

Armand sighed, shifting so that his lips caught Daniel’s, more touching, resting in place, than kissing. “I wish you could work home from today,” he whispered. “I keep thinking something’s going to happen. I know I’m crazy but…” Armand trailed off, his forehead coming to rest against Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel gently rubbed his back, feeling the tension he was carrying.

“I know, baby,” hard for Armand not to be tense these days, given everything. “It’s a short day for me, and then I’ll meet you at Dr. Lydia’s at 3:30?”

He tangled his fingers through Armand’s wild hair, trying to soothe him as if he were one of the cats. Armand hadn’t felt the house in a week, and it showed. Decided he could delegate the physical tasks to a temp and do everything else virtually.

Daniel didn’t think it was depression, exactly. Armand certainly seemed happy and animated whenever Daniel was around. He still showered, ate, and slept. His appetite, in regards to food and sex, was as healthy as could be. He wasn’t starved for company either; in fact, Daniel hadn’t come home to an apartment with less than five people in it all week.

Some people he knew well, some he didn’t. Bianca, Laurent, Felix, Santiago. Armand’s European friends. As soon as Daniel’s key turned in the lock, the crew cleared out with an overlapping chorus of hellos and goodbyes — did nobody work anymore? Daniel had asked and Armand had shrugged and said, “They get by, I suppose.” Then he hurled himself at Daniel, demanding to be carried to the bedroom for a pre-dinner romp.

It seemed to Daniel he was getting laid a lot lately. There had always been a disparity in their libidos, once the honeymoon phase wore off. And to be fair, when they’d met, Daniel was trying and failing at AA and snorting conspicuous amounts of coke to compensate. He might as well as have been on Viagra those first three months. Set some very unrealistic expectations, bit of false advertising and all that.

They hadn’t clued right away after he’d started NA, because for the first time in his life, this wasn’t a relationship he wanted to escape from. He wanted to do better, see what might happen if he showed up as his best, sober self.

Only Armand’s whining and bouncing on his lap, overlappingly sleep-deprived and aroused because Daniel’s been fucking his brains out since midnight and it was 3 AM and couldn’t they go one more round please oh please? Just like last time and the time before that and the time before that!

What was different tonight?

It had been so weird to say, looking down at his limp dick that was doing most of the talking as it was, “It doesn’t wanna work, babe, I don’t know what to tell you.” Hadn’t run into this problem in years.

Armand gave him a childish pout that Daniel was sure was more real than fake. He’d rolled off him and curled by his side, pressing his face against Daniel’s neck. Giggling when he said, “I ought to give you a hickey,” like they were teenagers.

“Go for it.”

He did, sucking hard at the skin on Daniel’s throat, subconsciously and then not-so-subconsciously humping Daniel’s hip until he finished a fourth time with a low, deep moan, finally satiated and worn out.

Lucky it was January, seeing as Daniel had to wear turtlenecks for the next two days after Armand had massacred him. The little vampire.

“I’m not sure I can keep up with you,” he’d mumbled over the cereal the next morning.

“What are you talking about?” Armand’s smiling at him, having opted to bring his chair beside Daniel’s instead of staying at the opposite end.

It hurt a bit to say, “What if I can’t keep with you, like with your sex drive, and you just get bored of me?”

“You can’t be serious!” Armand laughed before the look on Daniel’s face stopped him cold. “Danny,” he reached for Daniel’s much larger hand, intertwining their fingers and pressing their palms together.

“Danny, look…” He stared down at the granola in front of him, as if it might grant him the strength to get through what he was about to say. “I like you. I am a lot, I know that! But I don’t need you to ‘keep up with me’. I’m perfectly capable of keeping up with myself.”

[mydemonsdrivealimo]

when you really love something, then it loves you back, in whatever way it has to love

(title/quote by john knowles)

book: open heart

pairing: bryce lahela x jensen valentine (M!MC)

words: 1358

warnings/rating: no warnings; mature

A/N: did not reread this basically at all i am just ready to be done w it. @choicespride valentines event for date night, bath, wine, and self-love. @choicesfebruary2024 (@jerzwriter) for eros, phila, storge, pragma, and philautia

~~~

Squeezing the bottle’s dropper, he let out the perfect amount of serum before moving to the next cheek, then his forehead. He carefully massaged it in with precise circular motions, ending by splaying his fingers, pushing back on his skin.

Date night preparation was a careful and calculated thing for Bryce, each product laid out in order of use across the counter. He set them back onto their assigned revolving tray to be put away in the closet once he was done.

He was in the middle of re-capping his toner when there was a knock on the door. He considered his reflection for only a moment—sporting a baby blue fuzzy headband to keep his hair back, only a towel around his waist—before quickly rushing to the door at the next knock.

Whipping it open, he nearly immediately slammed it shut again, leaving only a small crack between the door and the doorframe.

“What are you doing here? I wasn’t supposed to pick you up for another hour!”

“Can you open the door?” Jensen asked, no question in his tone about Bryce closing it in his face in the first place.

Bryce sighed, breaking his mystical, secret, pre-date process and swinging it open.

Jensen was holding his usual overnight bag in one hand, a grocery bag tucked under his other. Bryce stepped out of the way to let him in, but that didn’t stop his line of questioning.

“What happened to dinner and go-karts? I already had my outfit planned and everything!”

“I thought a night in would be fun. I got your favorites.”

He said it in typical Jensen fashion—flat and entirely lacking in further elaboration. Bryce sighed, leaning against the counter as Jensen started pulling ingredients from the bag.

“Yeah but…go-karts.”

Jensen didn’t seem deterred, still emptying the brown bag before folding it and setting it aside. “We can have sex sooner.”

Bryce tilted his head in a look, Jensen’s tone still blank and factual, listing the benefits he assumed Bryce would’ve enjoyed. As much as he wanted to argue, knowing Jensen treated sex as an excuse—or maybe a requirement—to be listened to, he got the hint.

“What happened—why are you upset?”

Jensen shook his head, pulling a pan from the cupboard below him. “I’m not, just tired. If I have to socialize with anyone else today, I think I’ll spontaneously combust.”

Bryce smiled, but he wasn’t easily fooled. “If that’s the case, I guess I’ll have to go, too.”

The glance Jensen gave him said everything it needed to. He was the exception, and it wasn’t a role to be taken lightly.

Without further protest, Bryce went to the bathroom to finish his routine, skipping a few steps and changing into a new outfit. Not the one he planned, but a comfortable crew neck and pajama shorts.

Jensen was putting their meals onto plates, setting the table in silence. He always carried his tension in his back, and Bryce knew the stress of whatever issue he failed to share was making him stiff. Before he could turn back to get their drinks, Bryce caught him by the arm, dragging him into his space. Jensen gave him a quick up-and-down, path only consisting of his eyes to his lips, before Bryce tucked his hand against his neck.

Every time they kissed like that, after a long day or time apart, Jensen responded as if he forgot what it felt like in the first place. His instant reaction—a hand on Bryce’s waist, the tension falling from his shoulders—was enough to tell Bryce that he needed it. When they pulled apart, Bryce could see the bone-deep exhaustion in his expression, more tired than one day warranted. Bryce was happy to give up his plans in order to provide some remedy for him.

“Do you want to talk about it, or do you want me to?”

An offering. Jensen could either open up, or quietly sit and listen to Bryce chat on about anything he could think of—a specialty of his, and the whole thing an unspoken routine for the both of them.

“You,” he said before peeling off, grabbing wine from on top of the fridge and two glasses from the cupboard.

And that’s exactly how it went. Bryce kept talking, even getting a few light expressions from Jensen, but nothing too noteworthy. Trying to cheer him up wasn’t necessarily his goal, but it was always a satisfying bonus.

As they finished dinner, Bryce stopped him before he could head for the couch. “Bath?” Jensen’s expression moved from neutral to something resembling disgust. Bryce knew his opinions on baths, but he had tried things he felt similarly about for Jensen and came out with a better outlook. “For me?”

That was all it took. Jensen knew how this night was supposed to go, and he was the reason it didn’t, so it was only fair.

In the time it took Jensen to collect his pajamas and pour another glass, Bryce already had the bath ready. They switched places, Bryce heading to throw towels into the dryer as Jensen got settled. He kicked the crawling thoughts, just focusing on the hot water loosening his muscles and fizzing mound of bubbles floating on the surface.

Bryce happily came in a moment later, settling criss-cross on the floor near the edge of the tub. Wordlessly, he pushed past the pile of bubbles until he hit the water, running it through Jensen’s hair. Without reluctance, Jensen let his head tip back into his hands. 

Bryce paused a few times, going to collect some face mask or acne patch to try. Jensen melted into his touch at every new product. After a long while of silence and massages, Jensen finally started to talk.

“They took me off our diagnostics case.”

Bryce sighed out an, “Oh.” Though, it was a stepping stone, a bridge, a path meant to be tread on. “Why?”

“‘Per patient request’ is all Tobias said.” He could tell there was more to it—a sore detail that Jensen kept to himself—but Bryce was glad to be kept in the loop at all.

Despite what he would say to most—an empathetic, “I’m sorry.”—he held off and rerouted. It meant nothing to Jensen, and had nothing to do with himself. So, he settled on nothing. He stayed present, not letting himself dive down too many hypotheticals, and focused on massaging the shampoo on his hands into Jensen’s hair.

As he finished, rinsing his hands off in the water, he tucked one hand against Jensen’s cheek. He immediately nuzzled in, letting Bryce thumb at his skin, pushing back suds and curls.

As he turned, looking up at him through his lashes, there was a darkness in his gaze more hungry than desire—a longing only satiated by Bryce’s warm hand on his cheek—the sense of belonging, being wanted, and being more than nothing. Not a burden. Being loved.

It was nearly identical to the way he looked at his career; a gluttonous need to prove everyone wrong.

But here there was a softness in his eyes, no sign of the quick calculations and sharp wit waiting to strike. It might’ve been gratitude, it might’ve been defeat. Either way, it killed him to see—gratitude for the most basic generosity: a kind touch after so many slashes, or defeat after a lifetime of dragging himself out of hell with only the determination and spite under his skin.

“I’m tired.” Of what? This day, or this life?

“If you fall asleep, I’ll make sure you don’t drown,” Bryce offered. Jensen gave him a grin—the one reserved only for him in the sense that it wasn’t a grin at all. It was a barely-there twitch of his cheeks, the corners of his mouth spreading for hardly a blink before he settled once again.

Bryce sat up and planted a short kiss on his lips. He left to fetch the towels as Jensen rinsed off, wrapping him up and kissing down his cheek and to his neck, stopping at the crest of his shoulder. 

“Thank you.”

“Of course,” Bryce replied, knowing it was for more than just this night.

~~~

tagging: @cariantha @kyra75 @lilyoffandoms @gutsfics @inlocusmads

[boots-with-the-fur-club]

Chapter 3 of The Teenage Mutant Phantom of the Opera!

@daboyau

The next few days of production began filling with incidents. It started out small, the other lead actor’s oolong tea was replaced with green tea. The practice was so busy that he didn’t notice until his throat got sore.

Usagi had to take over for him.

Then, another day, the actor somehow got trapped in a storage closet for hours. Usagi once again filled in while others looked for him.

It was very clear that these incidents alone annoyed the actor.

The others were driving him close to the edge.

His belongings kept going missing, some turned up broken or just never turned up at all.

It became a talking point amongst the entire production crew.

Since Usagi didn’t talk to most of them unless it was to help with the scenery or coffee, he was mainly left out of these conversations.

Except with Donnie.

He actually advocated for Usagi to be doing more practices because of all the incidents happening.

They were taking a break together.

“This a serious streak of bad luck….”

“Oh please, you don’t need to act like you care. I admire your ambition but you’ve been way too obvious about the whole thing.”

Usagi furrows his brows in confusion.

“Uh….could you explain?”

“Everyone knows it’s you messing with the production.”

“What!? No! I’m not doing any of this!” His ears shoot straight up.

“Look, it’s not like I can prove what you say, you can tell me.”

Usagi frowns and then realizes two things.

One, Donnie was making the same face he always makes when he’s giving a weird excuse for being late.

Two, there was a quiet humming coming somewhere from him.

“Are…..are you recording this?”

Donnie’s face immediately grows nervous, eyes darting away.

“Noooooo….?”

“Oh my god! You think I did it and wanted get proof!”

“Aha! So you might have confessed!”

“There’s nothing to confess! I didn’t do anything! I wouldn’t!” Usagi stomps his foot, then immediately feels his face flush in embarrassment.

It was something he couldn’t help as a rabbit yokai. People who didn’t know or understand just thought he was acting like a kid.

Now he felt upset and embarrassed.

“Who else could be doing this? The phantom? Likely story that there’s someone unseen you can blame for all this.“ Donnie scoffs.

Usagi is taken aback.

Would he be doing this?

It is true that he’s only learned simple things about him during their practices. He held true to his promise and told him a new piece of information each time, but so far it was his favorite food, color, and drink.

Nothing that could help him tell if he was capable of going this far.

He’s been kind to him without fail, though.

Donnie hasn’t.

Usagi feels the need to defend himself, and the phantom.

“How dare you? I’ve been helping the crew members every second I’m not practicing! When would I even have the time or ability to do the things you’re accusing me of!?”

“It’s busy, you could have snuck away-“

“Someone would have noticed their errand boy was gone for that long! I’m not evil, I’m not jealous, I just want to sing! That’s all. I wouldn’t mess with someone just to get a part, and if I ever did, it would be you!”

“Me!? After I thanked you and gave you advice!?”

“You just tried to get me to admit to something I didn’t do while you recorded it! And just because you treated me a little better than everyone else doesn’t mean you’re nice! You’re rude, Donatello. You’ve rubbed getting the part in my face so many times. I really don’t mind you did! I’m happy for you, in fact! You’re good at singing and you have style!”

“You….like how I perform?”

“That’s what you take away from all that? Seriously!? I can’t do this anymore today, I’m going home early.” Usagi rushes down the steps in a huff.

Donnie says nothing, only looking at the floor until he’s gone.

Usagi returns to the building that night. He didn’t want his mood to make the phantom think he abandoned him.

Thankfully he still had keys from the late night work.

Leo sits there on the edge of the stage, legs dangling.

“Welcome back.”

Usagi smiles softly at him before sitting next to him.

“Hey. I hope I didn’t make you worried being here later than usual.”

“It’s alright, I know that you’ve been busier with getting to practice.”

Usagi frowns.

“Do you remember the incidents that have been happening?”

“Of course.”

“I’m getting blamed for them. I probably should have seen it coming with how much everyone has it out for me. Donnie even tried to get me to confess!”

Leo prevents the scowl that wants to form on his face.

His blood boils, and it’s difficult to not react as much as he wants to.

He tightens his fists instead.

“Yuichi, that’s horrible. I’m so sorry.”

“He said the only possible culprits would be me, or….the phantom.”

Leo turns his head away from him and stares straight ahead.

“You think I’m doing this.”

“No, no! Not at all! I promise! That’s just what he said!” Usagi frantically waves his arms around.

“It’s okay. I understand why. We both know it wasn’t you, so there’s only one person left to blame.”

Usagi feels incredibly guilty.

“I don’t blame you, believe me. There’s no way you could do all that without getting caught since you’re not part of the staff, and you wouldn’t do it period! I know you wouldn’t.”

Leo smiles.

He didn’t even have to lie, just avoiding answering the question in the first place did the trick.

While lying to him wasn’t the best base for a relationship, it’s not like the truth would be very appealing.

Of course he was behind everything.

He knew they’d never let Usagi sing even after all the practice in the world. Maybe not even when they actually needed him during a performance if he never got to practice beforehand on stage.

He had to do something to help the person who deserved it more than anyone.

“You don’t need to panic. Even if it crossed your mind just a little. I mean, how are you supposed to defend someone you only know as the phantom?”

“I’m so so sorry-“

“Maybe it’s better if you call me Leo instead.”

Usagi’s eyes grow large.

“Your name is Leo?”

“Yes, it is.”

Usagi smiles widely.

“It’s definitely a lot nicer to call you. Is it a nickname?“

“It’s my full name.”

“Like the constellation! No wonder it’s the main one on the ceiling. You both must have been pretty close.”

Leo nods, face dropping a bit.

“She always said it was nice to have a star like me down on earth with her. A Leo she could see even in the day time.”

Usagi feels his heart absolutely melt at hearing such a sweet sentiment.

He keeps that to himself though, as he knows it must be bittersweet for Leo.

“It….kind of hurts to remember, doesn’t it?”

“…..It does. The better someone is to you before they go, the harder it is when they do.”

Usagi looks out wistfully from the stage, bringing up his legs to hold them to his chest.

“It’s because it means a good part of your life is gone. I get it. There’s no chance of doing anything else with them again, new or otherwise.”

Leo looks down.

“Do you think this is going to turn into a sad memory too?”

Usagi is quiet for a second, then touches his shoulder with Leo’s.

“No. I’m going to look back at this and remember that I spent time with a friend. That’s all.”

Leo feels his face heat up slightly, turning away.

“You make me forget to feel sad.”

Usagi smiles again.

“So do you. Why don’t we skip practice today and just talk? Or maybe you can play the organ again.”

Leo looks back at him.

“Shouldn’t we be thinking about what to do about you getting blamed?”

“There’s not a whole lot I can do about it. If they’re going to kick me out, then….that’s just what I’m going to have to deal with. We can hang out somewhere else if that happens! There’s so many places I can take you.”

Leo bites the inside of his cheek.

No.

He can’t.

But the allure to just imagine it is way too strong.

“Could you tell me about them?”

Usagi lights up, starting off ramblings of different areas in the Hidden City and the spots in them.

Leo listens carefully and allows his voice to flow into his thoughts.

He wishes he could tell him not to worry. Come tomorrow, everything would be taken care of.

The blaming, the stress, the threat of losing his role.

Donnie.

All of it.

Instead, he just has a nice time with him, allowing him to end the day better than he started.

Usagi leaves the theatre with a smile and absolutely no clue about what Leo is planning.

When he goes in late to the theatre then next day, he doesn’t have that same smile.

He’s too nervous about what will happen.

The stares and whispers of everyone around him as he walks doesn’t help in the slightest.

He gets to the stage and nervously heads to the back, looking for the director.

Donnie and the other lead were already talking to him.

Things didn’t seem good.

The other lead turns his head towards him before stomping over.

“You! I’ve had enough of your dumb antics! You’ve gone too far this time!”

Usagi holds up his hands defensively.

“Woah! Hold on! I just got here! I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”

“Yes you do! You just must have snuck in last night to do it!“

“What do you think I did!?”

The other lead angrily holds up a bag that was torn up, scribbled on, wet, and covered in glitter.

“This! I left my it here accidentally and now it’s ruined!”

“Look at my hands, if I used glitter it would still be in me! I promise I didn’t!”

“It is true though, glitter is impossible to hide. My brother uses it and I still find it months later.” Donnie suddenly interjects, walking closer.

Usagi is surprised that he’s defending him at all.

“See? I didn’t do it-“

“Although it’s highly unlikely that any of the other incidents have anything that can disprove it was him.”

Usagi sighs heavily.

“There’s also nothing that proves it was me!”

“I’m sorry Yuichi, you’re the only one who comes to the playhouse at night. I’m going to have to ask you not to come back.” The director insists.

Usagi feels his heart crumble into pieces, ears dropping down as tears prick at his eyes.

He opens his mouth to beg, plead, defend himself again, but his ears suddenly perk up again at a certain sound.

So, something very different is said.

“Get down!” He pushes Donnie.

The movement causes Usagi to fall on top of the soft shell. Donnie looks at him with confusion and anger, leaning towards anger, until he sees the sandbag crash down right where he had been standing.

It would have landed on top of him if he had not been moved out of the way.

Usagi moves off of him, looking down at him with concern.

“Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Donnie’s heart begins hammering in his chest from both the sudden falling and the close proximity they’re in.

A blush creeps onto his face as he realizes that the boy in front of him who he kept bragging to is actually…..really nice to look at.

He scrambles out from under him.

“I-I’m fine!….Thanks to you, I guess.”

Usagi stands up before offering his hand out to Donnie.

He stares hard before hesitantly taking it and standing up.

His hand was soft and plush.

He hates to admit that he held on for just a second longer than he should.

The director and some other staff look at the sandbag to see what had happened.

The top seemed frayed in a way that could be normal wear and tear.

That wasn’t the only possibility though.

“Okay, no role is worth this! If he didn’t do it, then that stupid phantom did this! I quit!” The other lead angrily walks off.

The director follows after to try to convince him not to go but it doesn’t seem to work.

Donnie glances at Usagi.

“I guess you’re getting the role after all.”

[sevenines]

1 and 6 for the su ask game :3

ask game

1. What is your favorite episode?

‘on the run’ to me is THE package episode. good music, good animation, interesting use of battle powers, well-laid tension, a great emotional climax, and lore. i’m surprised it isn’t cited as a favorite more often, but i’ve seen people call the heightened emotions in it lowkey corny (and i can see why people find amethyst’s confession-outburst ‘too much’, but i personally dig it). it has the early-episode advantage i like a lot in su, where the characters are just getting their true depth revealed and any bit of lore means everything. i was highly impressed by the explicit reason for pearl and amethyst’s rift. i was fully ready for it to simply be chalked up to a difference in personality, but of course, everything has meaning in this show! it also gets better upon rewatch when you know pearl’s more personal connection with the kindergartens.

6. A type of gem you prefer (Quartzes, Peridots, etc)

analyzing jades is key to figuring out gem society—which is a bold statement, but hear me out! i think the fact that an entire class of gem that exists to be the elite is soo interesting. but it’s not like they have any greater privileges (at least that we see). they are more like pretty decoration than anything, but that is true for practically all gems. based on the fact that the empire was halted with little genuine pushback, gem production was really just a made-up goal. everything was done under the guise of efficiency, but considering gems are basically immortal, there is little incentive to continuously reproduce—little incentive to colonize planets—little incentive for any gem to do anything, really. which makes a jade, who’s entire role is to simulate a high class society, just as useful as a quartz or bismuth. it’s all just jobs for the sake of there being jobs.

another interesting thing about them is how in unleash the light pyrope lists jades moving too close to the palace of light as a reason she moved it. which begs the question of how much autonomy gems get in terms of their living spaces. in the art book, the crew said one of the challenges of designing homeworld was building a world for a species that doesn’t need to eat, drink, heal, or sleep. their solution was to have the buildings be glorified storage spaces and for infrastructure to be dedicated to the efficient transfer of these gems when needed. but even that begs the question: what do these storage spaces look like? we see the famethyst’s cubby holes (which i also like because haha get it they’re made in kindergartens and are put in cubbies) which are pretty bare bones, but could things look different for higher-classed gems? even amongst quartzes the famethyst are a disgraced bunch. it’s not like they can choose to leave anyplace other than the zoo either, while other gems seem to stay in homeworld and then “commute” to their places of work. did the jades choose to move closer to the palace of light due to its status? did the diamonds move them there, and pyrope took their fall as an opportunity to move where she liked? the diamonds themselves dictating small things like that seems like much, are there city/planet planner gems? in summary: what level of autonomy does each gem have?

[yesterdanereviews]

Bong of the living Dead (2017)

Film review #541

Director: Max Groah

SYNOPSIS: a group of friends obsessed with zombies and getting high find their fantasies have come true and the zombie apocalypse is here. Unfortunately, their fantasy about fighting in the zombie apocalypse falls short of their expectations...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Bong of the Living Dead is a 2017 zombie film, and is not related to the previously reviewed 2010 Bong of the Dead (there just happens to be a “budding” market for films about zombies and weed apparently). The film mostly centres on a group of childhood friends who grew up imagining what to do in the zombie apocalypse, and have now grown up to smoke weed and talk about the zombie apocalypse. The group finally gets their wish though, as zombies start appearing and they can start preparing their plan for survival...or just get high. I don’t know. The film tries to do quite a lot in terms of it’s story and genre: it’s a stoner comedy film, but also a meta-zombie apocalypse film that riffs on the tropes of the genre, but also takes a dark and dramatic turn for the last twenty minutes when the reality of the situation catches up to the cast. A such, it feels like it’s trying to do too many things at once, and there’s no core around which the film coheres. A lot of the film does involve the characters just getting high, which I guess would be the dominant theme, but the comedy just isn’t there to make it a simple stoner flick: as mentioned, it tries to go for a meta-take on the zombie apocalypse, but this commentary is loosely scattered through the film, and doesn’t take root. It feels like it wants to do a Shaun of the Dead-esque approach in this regard, but also a bunch of other things too.

The characters each have their own personalities and set themselves apart, but most of them don’t really come across a likable. The wobbly acting is perhaps intentional for the most part as it attempts to in-part parody low-budget zombie movies, but the actors do a decent job of handling the more emotional and dramatic scenes at the end; however, it is still a bit jarring when you have spent the film not taking them seriously. I’m not quite sure about the setting of the film: one of the main characters runs a DVD rental store, which doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would actually exist in 2017, and there’s no mobile phones anywhere, which makes me think that maybe it’s set in the early 2000s, but there’s no reference to the timeframe, so again, it’s another element that seems a bit unclear. This is certainly an indie film, but definitely not a one-man show created nearly entirely by one person: this has a full crew attached, as evidenced by the near-full credits that roll about twenty minutes in with the title card. I’m not opposed to the idea of having credits at the start of a film (this is the way they were originally presented), but to have them show up as the first act of the film ends and bring it to a stand still for nearly five minutes is pretty disruptive for the film’s pacing.

In terms of the film’s production, there’s a decent amount of competence with regards to how it’s filmed; nothing too special, but it works. The makeup on the zombies looks good, and there’s a decent amount of gore when there needs to be, but the film seems to refuse to capture anything violent on film, and any physical violence on the zombies cuts away just as it happens, or is partially obscured. I’m guessing this is either to do with trying to secure the film’s rating, or having no way of making it look convincing without hurting the actors. Either way, it is a noticeable hole in the film. Overall, it feels like Bong of the Living Dead wants to both be a stoner zombie movie, while also being a commentary on the stoner movie...while also adding a serious side to the stoner zombie movie. You’ve got a lot of sitting around smoking weed, some nudity, and some zombie whacking, while the plot point about the characters being zombie movie buffs setting up a meta-narrative doesn’t really go anywhere. The last act switching to a much darker tone as the events of the film start to take their toll on the cast does have some emotional weight to it eventually, but when you’ve been watching these people just smoke weed and base their personality on one-dimensional comedy traits, then trying to make you care for them in the last twenty minutes is a huge uphill climb that the film makes for itself, made worse by the way some of these characters act just makes them downright unlikeable. Credit to the film for trying to do something a little different, it just tries to do too many things a little different...

[oh-austin]

going method, part four (austin butler)

summary: you're playing priscilla presley in the new elvis biopic, when your co-star asks you if you would like to date him during the filming of the movie to better understand elvis and priscilla's relationship.

word count: 3,442

authors note / warnings: no warnings! oh my god, celeste actually posting something??? FINALLY here is the fourth part of going method, life has its claws in me at the moment, but I've finally been able to finish this part. hopefully you all like it <3

series masterlist / previous + next part

────── ∘◦❀◦∘

It was something of a fire, a flame. 

That’s how you would describe it. It started from just a small spark, you and Austin. His hand brushing against yours on set. Him making you dinner and laying on carpeted floors with you for hours on end. You making sure he was well-rested and that he was taking care of himself. Those were your sparks.

Eventually, those sparks grew and grew. Walking onto set holding hands became a regular thing. The crew were now accustomed to you both placing gentle kisses on each other’s cheeks in between takes. Everyone could see the sparks.

The thing is, sparks have potential to go one of two ways- fireworks: big, bright and beautiful- or flames: ravaging and unforgiving.

That’s where you were at the moment, caught in the flames of Austin Butler. His eyes, his smile- they were just intoxicating and you were always waiting on the edge for your next hit of him; but he was unobtainable.

You couldn’t help but let your stomach ache whenever you watched him flirt with the extras during takes. Your brain couldn’t switch off and accept that it was scripted, but then again, so was your entire relationship. Based off of two people that you and Austin could never be and once production was finished, you both would be too. It was a cruel reality that sat just out of reach. 

You tried to not let it upset you, but it did. You doubted every hand-hold and every kiss on the cheek. You couldn’t help it. It was inevitable. 

You reminded yourself of that as you sat next to Tom, ready to film the burning love scene at the international. If you weren’t sat on a soundstage, you would have thought you were in the real venue. The lights were dimmed over you, all of them directed at Austin who was in a white jumpsuit- tassels hanging from his skinny waist. 

Sat in your own world, you watched as Baz spoke on stage to Austin. You knew how this scene went, Austin sang, you clapped, he kissed 29 extras, you acted like you didn’t care- just like Priscilla had to. You were amazed at how strong her heart would have had to be to love Elvis, you would never have the strength to hold on like she did. 

“You okay, kid?” Tom asked. You broke out of your thoughts, looking up at him as he stood in front of you. He always knew when something was wrong, you never knew how he could read people so well. “You seem down,” He sat down next to you.

“I’m okay,” You nodded, “Just-“ You sighed- “I don’t even know,” You shook your head. You weren’t completely lying, you didn’t know how you found yourself in this situation. You were an actress, strictly ‘dating’ Austin within a professional sense for the film. How you let your heart get in the way of your head, you weren’t sure, but you were beginning to regret it. 

“I’m here if you need to talk,” He shrugged, his eyebrows raised at you, “Could be good for you, can’t keep everything inside,”

You smiled, “I know, just feels a little easier sometimes”. Tom offered you a slightly confused look, he opened his mouth about to pry some more, but Baz talking through the sound system cut him off. Everyone prepped for the scene, extras were clumped together all around the soundstage and Tom stood back up moving to his marker. 

A woman from hair came over to you and fixed your beehive, you thanked her softly as Baz called for quiet. 

“Action!”

You lost count of how many times they had to film Austin’s performance, but you didn’t mind watching it over and over. He was enchanting on that stage, a true vision of Elvis Presley. 

Since his breakdown, he had been trying to make a more conscious effort to take care of himself. Austin would eat lunch whenever he could, having his assistant bring food over to him in between takes. You noticed him carrying his water bottle everywhere. Sometimes you regret how harshly you spoke to him when he was in such a vulnerable state, but maybe he needed it. Austin told you that he needed it, that he was grateful for you.

Baz set up for the post-performance portion of the scene. He came jogged from the stage and Austin to you and Tom, shooting directions at the two of you. You stood up in your glittery pink dress, trying to hear him better. 

Austin watched you from the stage, your face not as focused as it usually would be when speaking to Baz. He made a mental note to check on you after the scene.

He admired how quickly you were able to shift your real emotions off when acting, he really felt like Priscilla was sitting there was him, watching Elvis. “I’d like to introduce to you a couple of people tonight,” Austin spoke, “One of which being my beautiful wife, Priscilla”. The extras cheered on cue, Austin pointed at you. “Would you stand up, honey?” You looked around with a hesitant look, as the follow-spot shined on your skin. You stood up quickly with a smile before sitting back down. You watched as Austin delivered the rest of his lines, introducing Suspicious Minds.

Baz called cut and you reshot the scene three more times before a five minute break as they set Austin up for the Suspicious Minds performance. You made eye contact with Tom as a makeup artist touched him up, he squinted at you jokingly. You did it back. You could tell he was eager to speak with you and make sure you were alright. 

Maisie, your assistant, came over and spoke with you quickly- saving you from having to admit your feelings for your co-star to the Tom Hanks. Although, you were sure he wouldn’t judge you, you were afraid to admit it aloud. 

“After this, we’ll take it from scene forty-four. After the show with ‘Cilla and Elvis,” Baz announced over the sound system, looking over at you for your conformation. You shot him a tight lipped smile and a thumbs up, ready for your next scene. 

When Baz called Action once again, the soundtrack blared from the speakers. Suspicious Minds had always been one of your favourite Elvis songs, but seeing Austin perform it just made it so much more magic. You tried your best to keep acting whilst watching, but it was hard to stay in character when he was just so mesmerising. Austin moved around the stage, coming down onto the ground floor where you sat and all the extras screamed for him. 

He made his way through the crowd and as he stopped in front of you, almost as if he was taunting you, he mumbled a soft ‘Hey Darlin’’ to the extra in front of your table and kissed her. Then he kissed the extra next to her, and the one after that, and the one after that. You were acting sure, but you knew that your heart dropping into the bottom of your chest wasn’t. That was real sorrow. 

Baz made everyone reshoot that scene more times than you could count on your hands. It never got any easier to watch, maybe worse. You thought about Austin’s lips on all of those womens. All of theirs and never yours. Sure, his as Elvis and yours as Priscilla- but never his on yours. That was what hurt the most. 

You were almost angry with yourself, being so emotional and god forbid- unprofessional. This isn’t who you are. You are an actress, this is a job- one that you are damn good at, but at the moment, you knew you were letting yourself down.

“Pick it up from ‘Cilla coming in,” Baz called, “And ready, mark- action!”

“There she is,” Austin’s face lit up as he looked at you, your heart stopped, but you kept walking towards him. You brought his face into your hands, your breaths light and airy- in awe of his performance- acting or not, you weren’t sure. 

“Oh, god. I don’t know who that was out there!” You pulled him a little closer than before, so close his lips were ghosting over your own. “You were… you…You were incredible. You were…You were everything” Austin pulled you in tight for a hug, you felt the swear that dripped from his head on your skin. You pulled away from Austin, but stayed in his arms as you looked over at Tom. “Mr. Elvis Presley, I guess that’s your new manager over there,” You raised your eyebrows.

“Mmm,” Austin nodded sheepishly.

“Mmm-hmm,” You nodded as well, a little intrigued, a little mad and disappointed.

“Yeah. I’m gonna go talk to him, all right?” Austin said quietly, his face inches away from yours.

“Okay” You nodded, resting your head against his face.

“You okay to get upstairs, baby?” Austin asked, pulling back from you again.

“Mmm-hmm, yeah” Austin kissed your forehead before walking from his mark and off from the cameras.

“Cut!” Baz called.

You didn’t speak to Austin in between takes. When you filmed your scene together again, you just spoke to Maisie and Baz- trying your best to not catch his piercing gaze if you didn’t have to. When he called you baby, you tried to not let your feet fall from underneath you. There was your hit you were waiting for, scripted or not.

Baz soon called a longer break. You weren’t shooting anything for another hour, letting the crew set up the next stage. You left the soundstage, Tom helping you down and off of the large steps. Austin went to go and chase after you, cursing mentally when Baz called him back to talk. Something was wrong and now he was sure of it.

As soon as Baz was done speaking to him, Austin rushed to wardrobe to get out of his outfit and into something casual until he was due back for his next outfit change. Austin wished he kept his phone on him instead of in his trailer, wanting to know how much time he had to talk to you before he was needed next.

You weren’t hard to find. Your trailer was a few back from his. PRISCILLA, was written in black marker on the door label. 

Part of him didn’t want to knock, just burst in and make sure you were okay, but his mother raised him better than that. Austin knocked twice and when you didn’t respond- he wondered if you were somewhere else, but you opened the door. 

You were still in your pink dress, it was scarily short, but you looked fantastic in it and you knew it. “Hey,” Austin breathed out, he was lost for words- he hadn’t actually thought of how to check up on you, or what to say. 

“Hi,” You seemed short with him, you were short with him. You crossed your arms over your chest as you stood there, feeling insecure so exposed in front of Austin. “What’s up?” You asked.

Austin wanted to laugh, “What’s up with me?” He asked, “What’s up with you? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” You shook your head, “I’m good,”

“Please don’t lie to me right now,” He said. You remembered saying the same thing to Austin over a week ago in his trailer. You could sense the genuine concern in his voice, but you weren’t about to have this big of a conversation with him on such a busy filming day. 

He was a star, you were there to support him; everyone was. You weren’t going to put your thoughts and feelings on top of him while he was going through what he was. He was just starting to focus on himself, you don’t need to take him away from that. 

“Austin,” You sighed, “I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine,” 

“Y/N, please baby. Can we talk about this-“

“Austin,” You cut him off, stepping down from your trailer so you were on the ground with him. “I really am okay,” You shrugged, “Just having a bad day,” 

“Well, why? What’s happened?” He grabbed both of your arms, pulling you in closer him. You could smell his cologne mixed with his sweat from performing. He looked tired, but somehow still beautiful. 

“Nothing really happened,” You shook your head, “People have bad days, you know? I’m tired, I don’t think I’m paying enough attention as I should be today. My mind is just-“ You took a deep breath before letting it go- “It’s anywhere else than where it needs to be,” You admitted. Anywhere else being on Austin, your mind always seemed to be on Austin.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” He asked, “We could’ve talked about it?” 

“Because, I didn’t need to” A lie, “And if I did, I would’ve,” 

“Come ‘ere” Austin pulled you into his arms and rested his cheek on top of your head. He took a deep breath, finding solace in your smaller frame. You didn’t want to hug him back, you knew that it would only hurt more. You couldn’t help yourself though, he truly was addictive.

You leant into his touch and allowed him to hold you tighter than he had before. You could’ve broken down then and there, good thing you’re a great actress.

“I’m right here,” He whispered into your hair, “You know that right?” 

You felt your eyes well-up with tears. You suppressed them the best you could before responding, “I know,” You whispered. 

“Hey,” Austin pulled away, looking down at you. He gently grabbed hold of your face with both of his hands and pulled you in closer. “How ‘bout we go out tonight? Have a nice night together, just me and you. No cameras, no PAs- just us,”

Your head begged you to say no. Tell him that you were planning on heading straight to sleep as soon as you got back to your apartment, but your heart let you dance into the flames. 

“I would love that,”

─── ∘◦❀◦∘

For as long as you had been in Australia, you never actually visited a beach besides your very first week in the country. You wished you had made more of an effort to go, especially after seeing the sunset meld into the bottom of the horizon. You couldn’t help but think about how lucky Austin was to be in an apartment so close to the waterfront, yours around 10 minutes away- his a walk down the street.

“You’re not dressed warm at all,” Was the first thing that Austin said when he saw you, “You’ll freeze when the sun sets,”

“I’ll be fine,” You chuckled, “What’s that?”. You looked at Austin as he picked up a plastic bag from his kitchen bench. 

“A surprise,” He shrugged with a smile, “You’ll have to wait, patience is a virtue, mamas,” He leant down over you. You smelt the fresh spray of cologne that he must have put on. He looked gorgeous, a black hoodie and pants on, a pair of brown boots on his feet. You were in a t-shirt and leggings. “Give me a sec, I’ll be back,” Austin disappeared down the hallway. 

When he returned, he had a long sleeve white shirt and baggy sweatpants folded in his hands. He held them out to you. “I’m serious when I say you’ll freeze, please wear them,”.

You looked at the clothes with hesitation, but took them nonetheless. You excused yourself quietly, with a small ‘i’ll be right back’ and went into his bathroom.

You stripped out of your clothes, your feet cold against the bitter tiles on the bathroom floor. You felt your nose run slightly as you slipped on Austin’s shirt. It was big on you, but soft and comfortable. Once dressed you called for Austin, “Hey Austin,” You poked your head out of the door. He looked up at you, he seemed a little worried almost. 

“You okay?” He asked you.

“Do you have tissues in here?” You felt slightly embarrassed asking for them. You worried he would think you were gross, you let your brain run wild with pathetic worry. 

“Yeah, in the cupboard under the sink-“ He walked closer, “You alright?”

“Uh, yeah-“ You shook your head, “My nose is just running a little,” You wanted to the ground to swallow you whole. Such a basic ask made you feel so vulnerable. 

“Did you want to stay inside?” Austin was standing at the door now, “Are you sick?” His hand went to your forehead, trying to feel for a fever. 

“No,” You laughed slightly as his worry, “Just need to blow my nose,” 

“Okay,” Austin nodded with a whisper, “Let me know if you feel worse and we’ll stay here, yeah?” 

“Yeah,” You nodded, closing the door again. You rested your head in your hands, sighing at how embarrassed you felt. You knew it was stupid to feel embarrassed over something so small, but you couldn’t help it in front of Austin. 

You opened the cupboard underneath the sink and pulled out the box of tissues. Your eye caught a little basket with a lid, sitting in the corner; your name scrawled in Austin’s handwriting on the top of it. Curious, you pulled the box out and put it on top of the counter too. 

When you opened it, you were no longer upset; all your bad emotions from your crappy day fell from your shoulders. In the box sat, a box of tampons, pads and liners, a bottle of your face wash and an old shirt that you had seen Austin wear to set once. You could’ve cried. You wanted to cry. 

Instead, you sniffed as you blinked away the faint tears that had glazed over your eyes and put the box back underneath the sink where you found it. You quickly blew your nose and wiped your eyes before heading back out to Austin.

“Okay, I’ve got a blanket, some towels and some other stuff too,” The pile of things Austin had been holding before multiplied by three by the time you returned. 

“Towels? We’re not swimming are we?” Your eyes widened.

“No!” Austin laughed, “Just to sit on". Austin managed to somehow open the front door for you, even with all of the contents in his arms. You thanked him softly, before holding it open for him.

"Do you want me to help carry something?" You asked him, trying to find his eyes that were hidden from the overspilling amount of things Austin was trying to bring.

"S'all good, baby" Austin chuckled. You rolled your eyes, before taking the two beach towels from his pile of things. You could finally see his face. He thanked you quietly and you both left his apartment.

The walk to the beach was quiet, Austin’s hand hung scarily close to yours by the time your toes reached the sand. You found a quiet spot, far away from where the tide was ebbing and flowing. Austin wrapped the blanket around your shoulders as you sat next to him. 

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” He asked, leaning on one of his arms to be closer to you. You saw the frown line in his forehead deepen as he asked. 

“I promise you, I’m okay” For the first time today when Austin asked you, you told him the truth. In this moment, you were content and happy. No lingering senes of anger or upset, as you watched him kiss woman are woman. Just the two of you on a beach, all alone. 

For the next two hours, you and Austin sat side by side. Telling stories, laughing and reminiscing of all of your little moments together. You hand sat on the sand just next to his, you contemplated holding it- taking that small extra step just the two of you.

Your thoughts were interrupted by his warm touch, Austin had brought his hand on top of yours. You looked up at him, he was already looking over at you. A comfortable silence with the potential to be more sat in between you both. You looked at his lips, you couldn’t help it. He noticed, a smirk ghosting over his lips. You looked back towards the water shyly. 

Austin let out a breathy laugh and pulled you into his arms, tucking you under his shoulder and for the rest of the night you both sat there together; ignoring your early call times and responsibilities- just enjoying your own little world.

@rainydayz101 @sammybutler @klizzie93 @rockerchick05 @fanatics30 @sh-aniah @little-rythmix @austinsrealgf @hallecarey1 @catertotshitposts @abloversblog @inkpot-winters @adrientte715 @gabrielajimenez @butler-trouble @rodrig-hoe @b1llzb1tch @duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh @behindmygreyeyes @lupinpetersclearwaterodairparker @teti-menchon0604 @sparklemarysunshine @xy05m @onecrazydirectioner @knivqs

( crossed out are the beautiful people it wouldn't let me tag, if you have changed your username feel free to send me an ask and let me know so I can update it for you ) 

[auspicious-manner]

Hi,can you write promt "sharing a bed" for mike faist x reader?

mike faist my beloved <3 i absolutely love newsies era mike so i used that for this story!

female reader x mike faist

warnings: none

Up All Night

•

being on broadway was always a dream of Y/N’s. for her, when she landed the original role of katherine in the production of newsies at the papermill playhouse, she was beyond excited. she knew that the musical was good enough to make it to broadway.

what she didn’t expect, however, was to make lifelong friends along the way. she grew particularly close to jeremy jordan, who played opposite her every night in the show as jack kelly. they became fast friends, and he made every show better for her with his humor and poise.

along with making some great friends, there were also those that she wasn’t fond of in the cast. for whatever reason, Y/N never quite clicked with mike faist, who understudied jack kelly.

she wasn’t completely sure why they never clicked. maybe it was their personalities, maybe it was their attitudes, but regardless, the two did not care for each other.

after newsies made it to broadway and the show grew insanely popular, they would do guest performances on tv shows, in parks, and other places to promote the show. Y/N loved traveling to different places around the country with her newsie boys, she never knew what to expect with them by her side.

however, one day, the crew was scheduled last minute to fly out to the mall of america for a few performances, interviews, and meet and greets. little did Y/N know, it would end up being her worst nightmare.

after their last show before they all headed off to minnesota, Y/N approached jeremy in his dressing room. “hey jer, you excited for mall of america? i heard they have rollercoasters there, and i can’t wait to try them all out.” Y/N excitedly told jeremy.

“Y/N, i’m not going.”

her face fell. “wait, what? why? who’s going to play opposite me during ‘watch what happens’ and ‘seize the day?’”

jeremy sighed, and gave Y/N a look. she knew exactly what that dreaded look meant.

“oh no, no you can’t be serious. jeremy, you know i don’t like him!” Y/N said, getting more upset by the second.

“i know, Y/N, believe me. but this is probably good for you,” jeremy started, trying to calm her down. “the audience’s response and the reviews of critics go down when you and mike are on stage together. why? because there is no chemistry. have you two even had one real conversation?”

Y/N avoided eye contact with him. “umm…no. not really.”

jeremy smiled. “exactly. take this as an opportunity to get to know the guy and who knows, maybe you’ll work out your differences.” he said before turning to his mirror in his dressing room to begin taking his stage makeup off.

“fine. i’ll only put up with it for you, though.” she replied back with a smile, patting jeremy on the shoulder.

“that’s what i like to hear. now go pack your things for the trip.” jeremy said, lightly shoving Y/N towards the door.

all of the boys and her were to pack their things, load onto a charter bus to the airport, and fly in to minnesota. since they were leaving after their night show, they wouldn’t even get to their hotel until about one o’clock in the morning.

Y/N changed out of her katherine costume and threw on plain sweatpants, a t-shirt, and sandals. she had packed her things before she got to the theater, and she grabbed all of her suitcases from her dressing room and walked towards the front doors of the theater.

“hey, Y/N,” a voice called from behind her. she turned around to see ben fankhauser, who plays davey.

she was close with ben, too. him and jeremy were her go-to’s for anything she needed.

“hey ben, what’s up?” she asked as he walked over to her.

he came in close, and spoke quietly. “just so you’re warned, the cast has a plan to keep you and mike together for the entire trip.”

Y/N turned to ben. “ben, what the hell!” she whined.

“i know, i know, i’m sorry, but i thought it would be better to tell you now than have it be a surprise.”

Y/N took a deep breath. “i appreciate you telling me. can i at least share a room with you?”

ben cringed a bit. “well, actually…”

“now i have to share a room with him?!”

“yes, you do, i’m sorry!” ben exclaimed. “but at least you’ll have separate beds.”

she groaned. “this is going to be a long trip.”

ben gave her a pity laugh. “you’ll survive. it’s only for two days.”

“the longest two days of my life.”

as the bus was being loaded and everyone decided who their seat partners were going to be, Y/N stood and watched as the other newsies had conversations with their seat mate. she just happened to look over and see mike walking slowly towards her.

“hey.” he said.

“hi.”

the two went dead silent.

“i don’t want to sit next to you.” Y/N said.

mike scoffed. “i’m not thrilled about sitting next to you either.”

“can we both mutually agree to talk the least amount possible to each other for the next few days?” Y/N asked.

mike was quick to answer. “yes please.”

she nodded and followed the rest of the boys to the bus as everyone found their seats. Y/N took the window seat, and mike tiredly sat down next to her.

she reached into her purse and pulled out her earbuds to listen to some music and hopefully sleep before they got to the airport.

Y/N rested her elbow down on the arm rest just as mike was doing the same thing.

“my elbow was here first, mike.” Y/N said sternly.

“no, mine was.” mike fought back.

the two argued back and forth before ben turned around from the seat in front of them. “will you two shut up? people on this bus are trying to sleep.”

Y/N harshly glared at mike. “tell him to shut up! my elbow was there first.” she whisper-yelled.

“how many times do i have to say it? mine was!”

“oh my god, you’re insufferable.” Y/N laughed, exhausted from arguing.

“so are you.” mike replied back, turning his body as far away from her as he could.

they stayed quiet for the rest of the ride to the airport. and the whole way through the airport, they were quiet as well.

Y/N and mike both managed to get some sleep on the long three hour plane ride, and after arriving in minneapolis and taking another bus to the hotel, the two finally shared words.

“here is the key to your room!” the front desk worker said to the pair. mike said a quick “thank you” before they found the floor the newsies were all staying on.

they found their room and mike unlocked the door, and after swinging it open, both of their jaws fell to the floor.

“no way.” mike whispered under his breath.

walking into the room, the worst thing imaginable happened: there was only one bed.

“this can’t be happening.” Y/N exclaimed.

“don’t worry, i’m going to go talk to the front desk. this had to be a mistake. maybe they can get us separate rooms.”

Y/N waited for mike to come back, and when he did come back, he stormed into the room.

“they said this is the room that was booked for us, and they cant get us separate rooms because everything else is booked.”

“can’t you go share a room with one of the guys?”

mike shot her a glance. “you don’t think i tried asking already? everyone else has either said they don’t have room for me or they haven’t replied because they’re already sleeping. we’re stuck here.”

Y/N sighed. she hesitated before saying something, and then she went quiet. “i’ll give you the bed. i got a lot of sleep between the bus ride and the plane ride, so i’m not even tired. i’ll just take a pillow and one of the blankets and go sleep in the bathtub or something.”

he took a deep breath in. “truth be told, i’m not all that tired either. i slept almost the entire plane ride.” mike said back, his anger gone.

“so…what should we do?”

mike shrugged. “not sure.”

Y/N sat on the bed and looked down at her hands, scared for what she was going to say next. “we could, i don’t know, talk?”

mike showed a glimpse of a smile. “that’s not something i thought i’d ever hear you say.”

“me neither.”

she moved so her back was against the wall, and mike sat on the bed across from her. “what should we talk about?”

“anything, i guess.” she replied back.

“we could start with actually getting to know each other?”

Y/N nodded. “sounds good to me.”

“how old are you? i’m just now realizing that i don’t even know.” mike asked her.

“i’m twenty. you?”

mike smiled. “me too. i didn’t know we were the same age.”

“i’ll ask a question. how did you get into show business?” Y/N said.

“i danced in ohio growing up, and i did local theater productions. after high school i moved to new york, followed my dreams, and here i am now.” mike explained. “it definitely was not easy. before newsies i was living out of my car.”

“that’s actually pretty similar to my story. i danced recreationally until high school when i started to explore acting and singing, and last minute i applied to some arts schools out in new york, and when i got in to one, i moved there.”

mike paused for a short moment. “why did we dislike each other from the second we met?”

Y/N bit the inside of her lip. “i thought you hated me, so i hated you.”

mike looked at her, shocked. “i thought you were the one that hated me, so i hated you in return.”

Y/N couldn’t help but laugh, and when she did, mike did too.

“i was always so confused as to why you ‘hated’ me out of all people,” Y/N started. “i saw how nice and fun and well-respected you were with everyone else in the cast, and i felt a little left out because i assumed you didn’t like me.”

mike shook his head. “no, not at all. i thought you were too entitled to speak to me, so i just never spoke to you.”

“i’ll ignore the fact that you thought i was entitled.” she said with a laugh.

“who would have thought that one simple conversation could have ended our feud?” mike asked.

the two talked for hours into the night, about anything and everything. they had an early rehearsal and had to be awake by seven o’clock, and it was already three in the morning by the time the conversation died down.

Y/N let out a yawn. mike frowned, and said, “oh no, don’t tell me you’re getting tired.”

dazed, she looked at him and just nodded. mike let out a sigh. “our conversations were just getting good!”

Y/N yawned again, and grabbed a pillow and the comforter off the bed. “i know, i’m sorry. but at this rate, we’re only going to be getting four hours of sleep and we have a big performance tomorrow.”

she started walking to the bathroom, and before closing the door, she placed her pillow and blanket in the bathtub. “goodnight, mike.”

“wait, Y/N, you’re not actually sleeping in the tub, right?”

“i mean, i was going to.”

mike shook his head. “you don’t need to do that, i’ll take the tub.” he said, standing up.

“what if we both share the bed?” Y/N asked quickly before she could stop herself from saying it.

mike stopped. “are you sure?”

“i’m okay with it if you are. we can obviously have our own separate sides of the bed so nothing, uh, happens during the night.”

“oh yeah, of course, separate sides.” mike thought about the idea. “okay, that’s fine.”

Y/N took the pillow and blanket out from the tub and put it back on the bed. they both got under the covers and Y/N reached over and turned the lamp off.

“goodnight Y/N.”

she smiled lightly. “goodnight mike.”

as she tried drifting off to sleep, mike rolled over and accidentally kicked her, but didn’t move his leg.

“mike.” she whispered. when he didn’t answer, she said his name louder. “mike!”

“what?” mike whispered back.

“you kicked me, and now your foot is on my side of the bed.”

“oh, sorry.” he moved his leg and rolled over.

just as she was about to drift off once again, she immediately got cold and pulled the covers over her.

“Y/N.” mike whispered.

“ugh, what now?” she said back.

“you stole my covers.”

she looked over her shoulder and saw mike without any blankets over him, as they were all on her side.

“my bad, here you go.” she whispered, giving him some of the covers back.

the rest of the night, incidents like that kept happening, and they had to keep waking each other up to get the problems resolved. overall, they probably got two and a half hours of sleep.

promptly at seven, the two woke up, greeted each other, and went down to the lobby where breakfast was being served and they met up with the rest of the boys.

they sat down at a table with ben and tommy. “mike, i can tell you’re a dancer because holy crap, you kick in your sleep, like, really bad.”

“don’t you even talk about that. you stole my covers all night, and the more i tried to take them from you, the harder you held on to them. i was freezing my ass off the whole night!” mike said, laughing.

“i’m going to have bruises all over my legs from you and your long praying mantis legs.” Y/N said, trying her hardest not to laugh.

mike laughed harder. “praying mantis legs, huh? well, i have a lot of skin to cover due to my long praying mantis legs and guess what? i couldn’t cover up because you had all the blankets.” mike said, pointing his finger at her.

Y/N erupted into laughter, causing the rest of the newsie boys to look at them in awe.

ben took a sip of his tea and watched their conversations unfold. “well, looks like our plan worked.”

[supernovafics]

𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐓 𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐒 (𝟏)

pairing: tom holland x fem!reader

summary: in which you didn’t expect to end up in this “thing” with tom. a thing that you hated referring to as an affair even though that was technically correct. all of this was selfish and sometimes you hated yourself for it, but somehow you found yourself having such a strong love for tom in such a short amount of time that it negated all of the ways in which you knew this was wrong. however, all good things must come to an end, right?

warnings: explicit language, cheating (on the reader’s part), so much angst, mentions of sex 

word count: 3.5k words

author’s note: i have been working on this for a few months and i’m very very proud of the end product (probably my favorite thing i’ve written on here so far hehe). originally this was 8.1k words, but i thought that was too much at once so i split it up in two parts and the second part will be up tomorrow! for now i hope you enjoy this first part :)

.·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。..·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。. .·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。.

“Make sure nobody sees you leave. Hood over your head, keep your eyes down.”

Hearing the beginning lyrics of the familiar song surprised you. Not just because you knew the song, but also because the words in it stuck out to you, especially at that specific moment. And then there was the fact that this song had never been on the playlist until right then. 

You knew every song on that car ride playlist, which you and Tom had curated over the past three months, like the back of your hand. Even when you and he weren’t together, you would sometimes listen to it just for nostalgia. To remind you of what you missed during the times you wouldn’t see each other, which actually happened more often than not. 

“When was this added to the playlist?” You asked. You wanted to see Tom’s face when he responded, but you were driving, as you always did. You never did mind, though, being the one that drove when you and Tom would have these secret late-night meetings. You actually really loved driving, especially around the random streets of London that were your home. 

“I think it’s quite fitting. Honestly, it should’ve been the first song added to the playlist,” Tom answered, and even though you weren’t looking at him, you could just hear the amused smile gracing his features. 

You sighed and shook your head, trying to bite back your own smile. “I hate you.”

“I actually think that’s the complete opposite way you feel about me,” Tom responded, and this time you glanced over at him, holding his gaze for a quick moment. 

He was a thousand percent right with his words, but you didn’t want to admit that. Although, when you two were engaged in much more intimate moments, the quiet murmurs of multiple “I love yous” were usually the only thing you both would say. 

You thought about those words and how quickly they managed to become a reality. It was a reality that you could never fully have, but it was still something that you, nonetheless, cherished deeply. And even once it was long over, you would still hold those moments and feelings you had for Tom close to your heart. 

You knew you would especially look back on the start of it all with a weird fondness. Mainly because it took place on a night that started off poorly, but it quickly managed to turn into something different. 

• • •

Six Months Ago

Movie production wrap parties had always been your favorite. Seeing the entire cast and production crew come together to celebrate the work that had been done over the past few months always warmed your heart. It almost felt as good as watching the final product of the movie.

However, you couldn’t find the heart to enjoy the party like you normally would, so instead, you found yourself on a random balcony in the expansive house you were in. 

Your long term boyfriend, Matthew, couldn’t make it to the wrap party of this latest film you had been working on as a Lead Production Assistant, and even though him accompanying you to work parties was a rarity at this point, it was still slightly disappointing because this was the first time you had a pretty significant role on a film set. 

Instead of focusing on that disappointment, you wanted to have fun just like you always did, but it felt different this time. For some reason, you just couldn’t shake the feeling that your relationship was deteriorating, and as much as you didn’t want it to, you couldn’t help but think that maybe that was the way things were meant to go. 

You and Matthew had been together for almost two years but had known each other for closer to three. He was a writer, an astonishingly good one, and at first, it was endearing, how deeply he cared about his work. However, now it almost felt like you were always an afterthought. 

And you were starting to wonder if it was worth it.

If it was worth it to be with someone who you were almost certain could never love you as much as the words he would write down on paper. You had never admitted that thought aloud, and you did not know if it was a thousand percent true, but for some reason, it really did feel like it.

This was not the first time you had these random thoughts of doubt toward your relationship, but it was the first time that it was not just a lingering, fleeting thought. 

Before your brain could continue spiraling, you heard the sound of movement from behind you, and you jumped, startled. 

To say that you were surprised would be an understatement. When you found this random bedroom that had a balcony attached, you did not expect anyone else to find you because of how big the house was. The wrap party took place at the director’s home, a huge place in the random suburbs of South London. After making the appropriate amount of small talk to the few friends you made during filming, you debated on simply leaving the party and wallowing in self-pity in the comfort of your own home, a home that was shared with your boyfriend. But, you decided to wander around the house instead because the thought of going back to your apartment made you feel even more sad. 

Somehow you managed to find that balcony you were currently on, which felt completely isolated from everyone else. Because of that, you fully did not expect anyone to interrupt your spiraling thoughts. 

However, you realized how wrong that assumption was when you saw a guy standing at the door of the bedroom that adjoined the balcony. 

“Oh, hi, sorry,” He immediately said when he noticed you and your simultaneous confused and surprised expression. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just looking for the bathroom.”

“I think there’s one through that door,” You said, pointing to the door that was next to what you assumed was the closet. 

“Thanks,” He responded, and even though it was dark, you saw him smile. When he disappeared through the door, you turned your gaze back to the night sky. 

Your phone pinged in the pocket of the jeans you were wearing, and you didn’t know why but you expected something from Matthew, maybe a text where he was actually apologetic about missing tonight. But, when you checked it, it was just a random email notification. You thought that you’d feel disappointment, but instead, it was a slight relief that washed over you, and you had absolutely no idea what they meant. 

Maybe you truly were over your relationship. 

The sound of a door opening caught your attention, and when you turned, you saw the guy exiting the bathroom.

He looked at you. “Thanks again, and sorry again for accidentally scaring you.”

“You’re welcome, and it’s fine,” You told him. “Honestly, worse things have happened to me today.”

“Shitty day?”

“It’s feeling like a shitty life.” The words left your mouth before you could fully process them, and you immediately regretted it once you said them. This was a stranger, and for some odd reason, you were divulging things to him that you had never admitted out loud, things that you didn’t even fully understand yourself. “Sorry, I promise that’s an exaggeration. Anyway, let me change the subject. How was your pee? At least, what I’m assuming was a pee? Wait, that was weird.”

A laugh that you were not expecting to hear passed the guy’s lips, but you were pleasantly surprised by the sound. “Um, it was good. Very refreshing, I guess.”

“That’s good to know,” You nodded your head for reasons unbeknownst to you. “I don’t fully understand what’s going on anymore.”

“Me neither,” He responded, finally walking toward you and standing next to where you were leaning on the railing of the balcony, instead of being across the room. 

It was dark in the bedroom, the only sort of light coming from the moon, so it wasn’t until he was fully standing next to you that you took notice of who he was. 

“Tom.”

He was the lead actor in the film you just worked on, and his performance had been phenomenal, which was something that actually did not surprise you. You weren’t the biggest Marvel fan, but you highly appreciated his Spider-Man movies. 

You hadn’t realized you said his name out loud until he met your gaze and looked at you expectantly. 

“Um, you really did well in the movie,” You decided to say. It was the first thing that came to your mind, and it was the truth, so you decided to just go with it. “I mean, we haven’t seen the final cut yet, but from what I saw on set, your performance was great.” 

“Thank you,” He said, and you could hear the actual sincerity behind the simple two-worded statement. “You also did really great work on set.”

You laughed a bit. “It’s okay. You don’t have to pretend like you remember me.”

“No, I do,” Tom said, his words nothing but honest. “I specifically remember it was one of the last days of filming and the main Assistant Director was out because he was sick or something, so you took over his job for the day, and you did it even better than him.” 

You actually remembered that day very well, and you had been so proud of yourself that you managed to do such a good job on something that you had never done before; it made you realize how capable you were of doing more. Matthew had acted like he was happy for you when you told him, but you knew he didn’t really care. 

It felt nice to actually be seen. And it was sad because you could not pinpoint the last time you felt that way. Suddenly, you felt flustered and way too nervous around Tom. “Um, thank you. That really means a lot.”

“I never got your name, though.”

“It’s Y/N,” You said, attempting to mask the nervousness in your voice by smiling.  

Tom nodded. “What brought you up here, Y/N?” 

You thought about how to answer his question, and you could not think of the best way to do so. You could either tell the whole truth, which you knew would potentially lead to more questions that you would not want to answer. Or you could lie and not have to talk about Matthew at all. Instead, you decided to give the smallest of truths. 

“I wasn’t really in the mood to talk to people tonight, so I thought wandering around would be better than going home. And somehow I found this balcony.” Technically, it was the truth and technically you weren’t completely lying, and that was all that really mattered because, for reasons you could not distinguish, you did not want to lie to Tom.

Before he could respond or things could descend into a silence that you were unsure would be awkward or not, you let yourself say the first thing that came to mind. 

“Do you ever feel like your life could be different? Like, you could be doing something completely different with it, and still be happy. Maybe even happier?” 

You were not entirely certain what made you ask that question, it was the first and only thing you could think of at that moment, and honestly you liked the randomness of it. And maybe it was something that had been subconsciously weighing on your mind for a while now. 

Tom was an actor, a successful one at that, so you knew he would probably say no that he didn’t see his life being any different, but you were still interested in hearing his answer. Mainly because even though you knew of him, he was still pretty much a stranger in your eyes, and something told you that there was some depth there. 

“I think it could be so easy for things to be different for me. And I don’t mean that in a ‘I hate being an actor. I hate being famous’ kind of way. But, more so in a ‘I got so lucky, I could easily not be here right now’ kind of way,” Tom said and you were actually surprised by his words and the fact that he felt that way. “Sometimes in this industry, everything feels just like luck. Like, it was only because I was in the right place at the right time and impressed the right people that these opportunities fell into my lap…” He trailed off for a brief moment. “I don’t know, that probably sounds insane.” 

“No, it doesn’t,” You were quick to shake your head. “Honestly, it makes me kinda sad that you feel that way because you’re actually good at what you do, y’know? It’s not just because of luck that you get to do what you love, you deserve it.”

“Yeah, but there are thousands of people in this industry that are just as talented, maybe even more so,” He said and you could hear the sadness in his tone. It made you want to hug him but you refrained from doing so because you were positive that would be weird given that you were still just strangers, for the most part. “Sometimes it’s hard to not think that maybe there is someone out there that could be doing this better than I am, but I was the one that got lucky enough to get it.”

You didn’t debate his words because, for the most part, they were true. That field was so oversaturated with talent, mainly filled with people who would not even get a chance, so maybe a lot of it really was just luck. 

“What do you think you’d be instead?” You asked him, genuinely curious about what you would receive as the answer.

“For a long time, I was interested in being a veterinarian,” Tom answered, and there was a happier lift to his voice that you immediately took note of. “I love animals, and I have a dog, Tessa. When I was younger, I thought it would be really cool to just hang out with dogs and cats all day.” 

“I could actually see that for you,” You told him, a small smile gracing your features. “I don’t know why or how to explain it, but I really do.” 

“I will take that as a compliment,” Tom smiled back. “What would you be instead?”

“I don’t know what exactly, but I think I’d be in the states. New York City preferably, because yes I am one of the millions of people that romanticize it. But, I don’t know, I guess overall, I just hope that I am happier.”

“Are you not happy now?”

It should’ve been such an easy question to answer, and for most people, it was. But, for you, it felt like the scariest thing in the world. On the surface, maybe you were happy, but deep down, you had no idea how you were really feeling. And the thought of being brutally honest and answering that question made you want to cry because you knew the truthful answer would be so fucking hard to accept. The truthful answer would force you to reevaluate probably everything going on in your life, and you were far from ready to do that. 

So, instead of being a thousand percent honest and risking opening a can of worms that you weren’t ready to face, you once again answered with a small truth. 

You turned your head toward Tom, his eyes immediately met your gaze, and you offered him a tiny hint of a smile. “In this moment right now, as I am here with you… Yes, I am happy.”

You truly did not expect Tom to lean in and press his lips against yours following your answer to his prior question. But when he did, you fully accepted it. You didn’t know why and if asked, you would probably stammer through some random answer, but you did kiss him back.  

It was soft and sweet, and your thoughts were not even on Matthew or how weird your life felt at the moment. The only thing you could think of right then was how movie-like this all felt, and as someone whose career involved movies, the thought did not surprise you. Kissing someone you barely knew on a balcony felt like the start of a cliche romantic comedy that you would definitely watch and probably even enjoy. 

Your hands took on a life of their own, and your fingers weaved through Tom’s brown locks, which elicited a small sigh of contentment from him, and that only spurred you on to do it once more. Tom’s lips began attacking your neck, nipping and biting, and you couldn’t help but laugh a bit because of how slightly ticklish it was while also softly moaning at the feel of his mouth. 

Things were becoming far more heated, and you knew that you would need to stop it now before it all became even more intense, but you really didn’t want to. Instead, you did want more to happen, and you could tell by the way Tom’s soft hands were beginning to linger underneath your shirt and trail upward that he did too. 

Although you were in what felt like a secluded part of the house and far from the party that you actually had almost forgotten was going on, the bed still felt far too risky, so you knew you couldn’t do that. 

“Bathroom,” You whispered in between quick kisses. “Let’s move this to the bathroom.”

Tom simply nodded his head and followed your lead as you began maneuvering toward the bathroom. The two of you barely disconnected yourselves from one another as you walked the few feet to the door. 

It was darker in the bathroom, but that made it all feel better for you, safer.  

The two of you continued kissing, and your hands continued exploring and fondling, and overall everything felt entirely good and right. Everything except for the small part of you that told you that you needed to tell Tom about Matthew. You didn’t want to divulge that information, instead, you actually really wanted to omit it, but something was gnawing at you, telling you not to lie.

“Hold on,” You muttered abruptly after pulling away from Tom’s lips. When you met his gaze and saw his confused yet concerned look, it made you close your eyes as you admitted, “I have a boyfriend.” 

“Oh, okay,” Tom said and gave a small nod as he backed away a bit.  

“But…” Your voice trailed off because you didn’t know where you were going with that statement. Until you did. “But, I, uh, really still want to do this.”  

“Are you sure?” Tom asked, his voice soft, and you knew that he would be fine either way. 

He just wanted you to feel comfortable, and that was what made you say your next words with a small smile. “Yes, I’m sure.”

• • •

You thought that after that night, you were going to break up with Matthew. But, when you saw him the next morning bearing congratulatory flowers and a stuffed bear for you, you could no longer find the courage to end things. 

Instead, you convinced yourself that what happened with Tom was just a fluke, a momentary relapse in judgment, a one-time thing. You also convinced yourself that it was not something you needed to tell Matthew about because of how insignificant it was.  

“Where are we headed anyway?” Tom asked. 

Illicit Affairs was still playing softly in the background, and you hated how right Tom was when he said that that should’ve been the first song added to that playlist. Instead, the actual first song was Electric Love by BØRNS. You wished that song was playing right then. 

“I was thinking Brookland?” You responded to his previous question.

Tom nodded, and his hand found your free one that wasn’t on the steering wheel and intertwined them. The small but meaningful action made your heart squeeze. “Brookland sounds good.”

The final notes of Illicit Affairs played, and then the next song from the playlist came on, and you finally felt like you could somewhat breathe again. 

It was weird because, although you should have, you had never considered what you and Tom were doing as an affair. Not even once what you two did went from happening one time to a second and then to many, many more. 

Your mind made these two vastly different parts of your life— what included Matthew and everything else, and what solely included Tom— completely separate from one another. One part you considered as real life, and the other you considered as a faraway dream that you could only sometimes get a glimpse into. And you knew that soon you wouldn’t be able to peek into that part at all.

.·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。..·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。. .·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。.

let me know your thoughts<3

(part two coming tomorrow!)

[hopefullystillatheatrestudent]

i'm so excited about you taking asks again ahhhh okay so. if you'd absolutely had to choose. what would be your top 5 cockles moments, and why? thank you ily <3

here’s the thing: there are so many routes i could go down with this, because cockles moments come in all shapes and sizes and formats. these include moments from their panels, their bloopers, the footage we get when they don’t even know they’re being recorded, stories being passed down from photo ops & autographs(one of my personal favorite ways to get cockles, tbh, because they’re all insane), and social media(tweets to each other, instagram posts & comments, etc.). 

SO! since many a list like this has already been made, and i want to stand out from the crowd, what i’m gonna do is definitively give the number one spot to each of these five categories.(i might even throw in honourable mentions because they’re so despicably in love that they warrant that. i really put my whole pussy into this, guys, i hope you’re happy.) 

disclaimer: these are my own personal opinions. but that also means i’m right. so. enjoy. 

number one: top cockles panel moment

so we’re starting off with a bang, because how do you even BEGIN to rank what atrocities jensen and misha commit at jibcon. every single one they’ve had is damning in it’s own right, for different reasons.

however, considering just how much unabashed fuckery they’ve given us to sift through, it’s a good thing i do have a personal favorite despite it all. it’s heartwarming, the sweetest thing i’ve ever seen, AND it’s jarringly cinematic - mainly because it has a whole ass arc to it that was years in the making. it might even be surprising to some people, but my favorite cockles panel moment, and what i consider the one that encompasses their entire gut-wrenching journey from 2008-2013 in the most sweepingly romantic gesture possible, is this one.

i want this burned into my retinas. i am not even joking. when i'm through with my explanation, let me convince you why this is thee most romantic cockles moment of all time.

first, some history: people call this the resume off, but many seem to forget the botched attempt at a resume off a year prior. and yes, you guessed it: it's during their break up. it's a juicy time period for a reason, guys. it came across as exceedingly one-sided and VERY awkward. let me refresh your memory as to just how bad it was, and just how hard jensen was trying and ultimately failing at winning misha over: the funniest part of the whole resume off in 2013??? every joke/bit had literally already been made/done. they were just going through the motions again, but the difference THIS time...is that misha reciprocated jensen's energy. it. is. fascinating. i want to get into it more detail in another post, and i'll link it here when i'm done, but the main takeaway, i think, and the main difference that showcases how much they've grown in a year, is that in jib 3, misha flat out refused to do an accent, and this time around, he indulges jensen for literal minutes. when i tell you they're crazy, they're crazy. i can't wait to actually dive into it later.

ANYWAY, the resume off culminates in this moment here. and, like, a million things happen in this gifset. actually, more like a million and one. the music starts playingneediremindyouthatthesongissingingintherain(h e l p), misha starts dancing, jensen 'perpetually fake grumpy' ackles lets misha think he's not going to join, misha sits down defeated, but no!!! that was jensen's plan all along(look at his stupid fucking smirk) and he offers his arm to his dance partner who immediately grins like a fool, jensen then leads misha into their kick step, they perfectly synchronise and let loose, and are then very clearly having the time of their lives, hanging off of each other with joy and ease. from their expressions alone i can tell that this moment is so. so. so. so! much more than what initially meets the eye. i mean-misha is fighting back the biggest smile i've ever seen. to me, it reads like jensen is offering something to misha, something that misha kind of gave up on expecting, and him offering his arm like that is like, a surprise to him in the best possible way(and it's so not platonic, let me just say that.) as soon as jensen did that, it ushered in a new era of cockles. this panel is jensen and misha's favourite for a reason, and i think this moment is the biggest clue as to why.

whew!!! ok. that took a lot out of me and that was only point one. moving on,

number two: top cockles blooper moment

cockles bloopers hold an extremely special place in my heart, because it shows just how fucking disastrous jensen and misha are. they are so goddamn infatuated with each other that they HOLD UP PRODUCTION ALL THE TIME TO FLIRT WITH EACH OTHER(???). let me repeat. let it sink in. jensen ackles; arguably one of the most professional actors on that show who puts everything he has into each scene, with mountains and mountains of notes to prove it: would rather hold up production to flirt with misha collins. this sounds fake. it's not. he does it. all. the. time. and here's the thing guys!!! i'm gonna let you in on a secret!!! misha loves it. he loveesssss it. on top of that-misha collins: overlooked because he's pranked and people assume he's unprofessional as well, but his only pranks are in retaliation/off-set, and he rarely if EVER causes problems if he can help it....lets himself get carried away when it comes to jensen making kissy faces at him!!! are you actually kidding me!!! i mean. misha. it's just a face. you've seen it a million times. i don't buy that it triggers something in you that strongly....you like it, and you like jensen's reaction. you can't fool me!!! lisa berry's face in that one gifset shows just how fed up the crew is with their gross, coupley boyfriend antics.

i could pull up so many examples. sooooooo many. but my favourite was sealed since the moment i saw it.

i actually already wrote an analysis on it but i can't find it :(((( which SUCKS because i really unpacked the whole thing. i'll try to summarise.

basically, a backstory is part of this too!!! jensen and misha both had a really really hard time with this scene(because it's explicitly romantic there i said it), they sat down for hours and poured over their scripts together, they were super super nervous going into filming, both of them, jensen especially, were super hard on themselves for their performances not being true to their characters but they both complimented the other's work(boyfriend moments fr). so, yeah. they weren't confident going into shooting. and how do they get themselves to feel better???? by cuddling each other, apparently.

a lot. a LOT. happens in this specific blooper. to the point that i saw it years before i knew about cockles and it raised all sorts of flags for me.

1) stop pulling my face towards your crotch(as a thinly veiled request that misha would, in fact, move jensen's face towards his crotch, considering it was jensen moving himself there in the first place. also, why so comfy down there guys???) 2) you're my baby daddy i know(in the most intimate voice i've ever heard please) 3) i know, i know, i love you too i didn't say i love you i know but you wanted to say it etc. misha's right, of course. that's what jensen meant.

it just reeks of comfort, familiarity and intimacy between the two, and it's a moment that is extremely sweet and silly at the same time. they're so <3

number three: top cockles found footage moment

WONDERFUL category. truly the culmination of the cockles experience. many people have said that shipping cockles doesn't work because 'they're just onstage you dummies!! they're playing it up for the audience!!!' here's the thing, love. i could not disagree with you more. once you climb your way up the cockles ladder, you soon learn that they are, in fact, playing their dynamic DOWN, not up. they really are just Like That���, and they could not care less about the paying audience, if we're being honest, considering how much time they take to giggle with each other and refuse to let the audience in on the joke. and i love them for it <3

anyway, my point is that this category is for all you naysayers out there, all you 'jensen and misha's relationship is just for show and is real life queerbaiting'(?????lordhelp???) oh yeah? ok, explain this.

he. he. he calls jensen sweetheart. literally enough said. there's nothing to really add here, except, misha and jared then immediately engage in damage control. jared's method is distraction and misha's is retconning('get out of the car, dude') this was what got me to buy into the cockles dumpster for GOOD good. you don't call your buddy sweetheart accidentally and sound so completely earnest while doing it! especially not when that buddy is jensen ackles!!! you think he would let any of his friends call him that? do you?

one more thing; if it was a slip of the tongue, little mouth thing or whatever, you think jared wouldn't have jumped on it immediately??? i can hear it now. 'did you just call him SWEETHEART???' yeah. that's what i thought. you know why he didn't? because it was too revealing.

number four: top cockles autograph moment

i mean, i think we all know what it's gonna be, and if you don't, well, do i have the piece de cockles resistance that is gonna send you over the edge.

if you haven't heard of this story by now, as a cockles, truther, i'm gonna go ahead and get you to read it, because there is no possible heterosexual explanation for any of it, and you're fooling yourself if you think otherwise.

spoiler alert: it's the story where phones weren't allowed in an auto session, jensen nuzzles himself in misha's hair, leans his full body weight onto him, holds his hand, etc. etc. i'm imploding just repeating this back, actually. also, just, the sheer amount of stories from photo ops where they tackle hug each other or slap each other's asses or sing romantic songs to each other or almost kiss is, frankly, a lot. if i could wish for anything, it would be to witness them in person.

and finally,

number five: top cockles social media moment

this one is super difficult, because there's obviously a lot to choose from. but you know what? full send, i'm going with this one:

i just. what to say about this. how often do misha and jensen watch sunsets together for it to qualify as ‘always’ ??? why are sunsets synonymous with their relationship??? that’s like??? a very romantic thing????? ‘this guy’??? the fact that it’s a CANDID??? i don’t know guys.

that could have been better but i am TIRED so. there you go rose ily

[blu-joons]

We Got Married ~ Lee Junho

His heart pounded as Junho looked across to you at the table, weakly smiling as he met your eyes, hand fumbling with the stem of the wine glass that was just beside him.

“Why do you look so nervous tonight?” You asked him, struggling to keep his attention as his eyes flickered all over the place, “I thought you said it would be nice to have one last dinner.”

“I did, but I didn’t think that it being the last dinner between the two of us would bother me this much,” Junho replied, taking an anxious sip from his glass of wine as he tried to compose himself.

For months the two of you had been shooting together as a part of the We Got Married relaunch, getting to know one another. As with everything, all good things had to come to an end though, as you decided to celebrate the season in the very spot that you met.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Junho,” he nervously spoke, extending his arm out for you to shake, “I’m sorry, I’m a little bit nervous about all of this.”

Your head shook as you took his hand, “I’m Y/N, and don’t worry, I’m nervous too.”

“It took you ages to even tell me your full name,” you laughed as you thought back to your very first moments together, “I had to wrestle it out of you so that I could find out about you.”

Junho’s head nodded as his cheeks flushed at the memory, “I wasn’t sure how the two of us would be together, the production crew didn’t tell me anything about you, so I just took it as a bad sign that things were going to go wrong.”

“Do you still think they went wrong three months down the line?” You enquired, “or did I exceed those expectations that you had of me right at the very start?”

“Why don’t you tell me a bit about what you do? You’re an actor as well as an idol, aren’t you?” You asked Junho as the two of you snuck away from the cameras of the production crew, “do you have any bits that you enjoy doing when you’re not working?”

“Plenty,” Junho coldly replied, “I tend to enjoy my own space, I’ve got cats too, so hopefully you’ll get on with them too.”

A loud chuckle came from you as Junho informed you how meeting his cats was the dealbreaker for him, knowing that as you bonded with them, things would be fine.

“When I told you that I had my cats, I was desperate to see your reaction,” Junho laughed with a wide smile on his face, “the moment you walked into my home though, it felt as if you had always been there with me and my cats.”

Seeing how well you took to Junho’s world was inciteful for him, especially as you quickly bonded with all of his members too. They were the ones that pushed Junho into doing the show, and as they met you, they were incredibly pleased that they had done too.

“What do you think we’ll do when we go back to being without each other?”

“It’ll be strange,” Junho weakly smiled, quickly turning shy again, “I don’t quite know what I’ll do, I’m used to checking my phone for a message from you first thing in the morning or meeting up with you whenever I’ve got a spare hour or two.”

“We’ll still be friends, and we can still do all of those things,” you assured him.

Junho’s head nodded lightly as you spoke, although the thought of still being friends with you was great for him, there was still a little more that he wanted, a little more that he wasn’t sure if you would want as well.

He had tried his best to control his feelings throughout the entire shoot, but as the days came to an end, Junho knew that time with you was slipping away, and as a result, his feelings were becoming more and more difficult to control.

“You don’t sound so sure,” you replied, picking up on Junho’s anxiousness.

His eyes went wide as he began to realise that you were getting the wrong end of the stick, fretting opposite him that in fact Junho would want nothing more to do with you after the filming rather than at least a friendship.

Your concerns only left Junho more flustered as he took another sip from the glass of wine in front of him. “It’s not like that at all,” he whispered, trying his hardest to find the courage to be able to look across to you.

You offered Junho a look of confusion as you tried to understand what was going on. “You’re going to need to give me a little more than this to be honest Junho.”

His head nodded as he let go of a shaky breath, “I don’t want to just be friends with you Y/N, I know this whole programme has been fictional, but we’re humans, and we’re real, and you might not feel the same, but I do have feelings, not for television, but in real life, for you.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’ve got beautiful eyes,” Junho smiled as you passed him by, taking a seat on the sofa, “it’s a miracle you’ve not pulled with those and settled down.”

“The cameras aren’t rolling now,” you joked, “you don’t have to be nice.”

Junho nodded in reply as he looked around the room, “just because the cameras aren’t rolling doesn’t mean I have to stop being nice to you.”

“Anyone would think you were my boyfriend with these compliments,” you chuckled.

“Not everything that I said whilst we were filming was said for television, quite a lot of it was true,” Junho explained to you, “there was a lot of honesty in what I had to say.”

You didn’t quite know what to say as you shuffled around in your chair. You were sure that Junho was just being kind for the cameras, he was an actor after all, and with such a mindset, you were convinced that he wouldn’t like you too.

“I appreciate that this was probably just a programme for you,” Junho assured you, “I just knew that I had to tell you how I felt before we ended up calling a day on all of this.”

“This was so much more than a programme for me too,” you quickly responded, dismissing any doubts that Junho had, “I’ve made real friends doing this, and most of all I’ve met you.”

You weren’t quite sure if it was just you falling unnecessarily as time went by with Junho, but now that you knew how he felt too, you realised that you hadn’t been blindsided at all.

“I know it’s not what’s supposed to happen on this programme, but I can’t just walk away after all of this,” Junho smiled as he met your eyes across the table, sheepishly glancing across at you, “I don’t have it in me to carry on back to normal without you still a part of my life.”

“I agree, I don’t want this to actually be the last dinner between us,” you admitted.

The smile on Junho’s face grew as the more you spoke, the more he realised that you were just as into what was going on between the two of you as he was.

“Maybe this could be the midpoint instead,” Junho suggested, “the end of filming, but the start of something different between the two of us.”

“I like the sound of that, we’ve closed one door tonight whilst we’re here, but I think we’ve opened another, right?” You asked him.

“Absolutely, this isn’t the end after all,” Junho joked.

“I don’t think it ever was going to be,” you smiled, “it was just going to be a case of who spoke about their feelings first.”

“Did you plan on saying something tonight too?”

“Of course, I couldn’t let you go Junho.”

---

Masterlist

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Hidden territory

Luke Arnold says his latest crime drama offers a window into an Australian many of us don’t know 

by: Lisa Woolford for The Cairns Post

True Col­ours, Monday-Thursday, 8.30pm, SBS and NITV · Jun 30, 2022

He’s been Long John Silver and Michael Hutchence, but playing a cop investigating a murder in a First Nations community has been a rare privilege for Luke Arnold.

Arnold knew from the first moment he read the script for True Colours that it was unique and he had to be part of the joint SBS and NITV production.

“First and foremost it is really a good, tense mystery and in each episode we keep twisting and turning, but then through this great story you do get a window to a part of the country and a culture – and even an Australia – that a lot of us don’t know about. Certainly I didn’t know a lot of the things that were revealed in this show,” he says.

“And then the fact that we were shooting in Alice Springs and in the community with the Arrernte people involved in the show, playing major characters and speaking their language was all just beautiful and exciting.”

True Colours is a gripping four part crime drama that takes viewers deep into the world of a First Nations community as never been seen before. What starts as an investigation into a car accident, soon turns into an epic hunt for a killer. It’s a murder mystery like no other, exploring culture, community, family and one woman’s (Wentworth’s Rarriwuy Hick) pursuit to find her place within it. Set against the backdrop of the Northern Territory’s Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and Yeperenye (East MacDonnell

Ranges), the Arrernte people’s connection to art and culture is at the heart of the drama.

Hick leads a stellar cast including Arnold as fellow detective Nick, acclaimed singersongwriter – and co-creator of the show – Warren H. Williams, Miranda Otto, Errol Shand, Emilie de Ravin, Trisha Morton Thomas and Ben Oxenbould.

The cast and crew formed tight bonds as they spent months in Alice Springs. The entire production was hastily flown to the Red Centre as Sydney and Melbourne headed into their lengthy and final lockdown of the pandemic.

“It actually ended up being great for me. It meant I flew over earlier so I had more time in the Territory beforehand to, one, just enjoy the beautiful country as well as to settle into getting ready for the show,” Arnold explains.

“We got to have lots of rehearsals and to connect as a cast and crew. And then to have a lot of time to spend in the community listening and meeting people, So even though Covid was almost the worst thing, it ended up creating a real community feeling between everyone.”

Arnold took to Instagram as production wrapped on the shoot, posting: “Most of my friends know me as a pretty lucky person, but the last couple of months really take the cake.

“I can’t put into words what a life-changing experience it has been. I’ve been welcomed, educated, protected and supported by the Arrernte people of Amoonguna and Alice Springs, and found a whole crew full of new friends and collaborators. I’m so proud to be a part of this show and I can’t wait for you all to see what we’ve created.”

Arnold says it was a testament to Bunya Productions, SBS and NITV that everyone felt represented and heard. And he relished being a minority for once among the mainly First Nations cast.

“I think – especially in this country – a lot grew up with an idea of what it means to be Australian and what this country looks like and sounds like and feels like.

“And I think this show is a great window into another part of this country – not just on a visual level where some parts of Australia are often seen through a white lens before – you know, the desert being seen as this desolate, empty place. But here it’s a rich, beautiful, powerful place with so much culture and life.

“Getting into that as an actor and an audience member is really important.”

While there are a few cops in Arnold’s extended family, it’s a hard no from the 38-year-old actor when asked if he was ever keen to follow in their footsteps. “I’d be terrible because I’m awful at following orders,” he laughs.

“I’m drawn to the arts because I like examining things from all sides and really trying to not take anything for granted and questioning, you know, when you follow orders, exactly whose orders you are following and who gains by these things being done.”

Arnold has just released One Foot in the Fade, the third book in his Fetch Phillips series. He released the first two in 2020, so the planned world tour became a few Zoom calls. He’s hoping 2022 will see him reprise some of that schedule to head to the many countries where his stories have been translated into their languages. There’s some more writing ahead, for an as-yet unannounced project.

“I do my best to focus on one thing at a time – I’m not always afforded that luxury,” Arnold says.

“While I was shooting True Colours … I was doing the final edits so I had to balance my time a little bit, but I don’t think that’s compromised either of them.”

Arnold’s currently shooting a project around someone else’s classic novel – Nautilus, the Disney+ prequel to Jules Verne’s classic sci-fi adventure Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

“I can’t really say anything apart from the fact that it is … well, that it is going to be very exciting.”

Seems it’s another mystery we’ll have to wait to be solved.

Source: The Cairns Post

[hangovercurse]

The GQ Couples Quiz

You, a famous actress, and your boyfriend, MGK, do an interview about your relationship for GQ.

Request: “Can I get a Colson Baker imagine where you do the couple interview for buzzfeed please”

Colson x Reader

Warnings: Cursing

A/N: I changed it to the GQ interview because I couldn’t find the one for Buzzfeed, sorry!

Word Count: 2480

“Hey guys I’m MGK”

“And I’m Y/S/N”

“And this is the GQ couples quiz.” You both said at the same time before busting out in laughter at the corniness.

“I think you know way more about me than I know about you.” Colson said, a nervous look on his face.

You giggled, “I think I know some stuff that could get you into trouble.”

The producers behind the cameras laughed at that. “Okay, I’ll go first.” Colson picked up the cards in his hand. “What is my full name?”

You smiled, “Starting off with the heavy stuff here, guys.” You said, looking behind the cameras with a laugh. “Your full name is Richard Colson Baker.” Colson made a face at the use of his first name which made you giggle.

“Yeah, but if anyone calls me Richard or Richie,” he pointed straight into the camera, “I will come for you.” You giggled at his silliness, looking at your own card which held the same question.

“Okay, what is my full name?” You looked up at him, “If you get this wrong, I will walk out of here.”

His eyes went wide, “I think I know my own girlfriend’s name Ms. Y/F/N.” You giggled, nodding in approval, and letting him continue. “Where was I born?”

You rolled your eyes, “Houston, Texas. Easy. Where was I born?”

“Y/B/T” He said with a grin, flipping to the next card.

“What is my secret talent?”

“You say this is your secret talent, but you talk about it all the time so I don’t know if it counts.” You said, “but you can juggle.”

He nods, “That’s the only talent I have so it counts.” You giggled, shaking your head. “Yours is that you can balance shit on your head, right? Like cups and plates and shit.”

You nodded, “together we make a whole circus act.”

You both laughed, his entire body moving as he did. Eventually, he calmed down and looked at the next card. “I’m gonna look like such a shitty boyfriend.” You laughed, waiting for him to read the question, “What’s my favorite meal?”

You laughed harder, “you don’t know my favorite meal?”

He threw his head back, “I know what you eat a lot but like, I couldn’t tell you what is specifically your favorite meal.”

You giggled, “yours is Soul food. Like chicken and mac n cheese and all that.”

He nodded, “I was gonna say chicken wings, but you’re right.”

“Every time we go to Cleveland you drag me to that one place and you get so excited about it.” You told him and he smiled. “Do I wanna ask you what mine is?”

“Dude, you are gonna make me look so bad.” He shook his head, but tried anyways, “I mean, I know you like making breakfast with me and Case, but I don’t know if that’s your favorite meal or not.”

You grinned widely, excited that he got it right. “No, you’re so right. Like, it’s not the best food,” he pouted, “but the fact that we all make it together is really cute.”

He blushed, reading the next card. “What is my favorite song to sing around the house?” He started laughing in the middle of the question, making you laugh with him.

“Oh my god, what doesn’t he sing around the house?” You said to the crew behind the screen. Slim and Baze were standing to the side, laughing with you. “I guess normally its whatever he’s working on. Like I swear, no one is more obsessed with his music than he is.”

His cheeks were red and he buried his face behind his cards. “I’d like to disagree but I really don’t have a favorite song to sing around the house. It’s just kind of whatever’s in my head.’

“So, then I still get the point, right?”

“I guess you still get the point.” He sighed.

“Okay this one is different for me, what is my favorite song to dance to?” You asked, grinning slyly at him.

He rolled his eyes, “if you play anything by 24kGoldn, she will be dancing to it. If you play anything I’ve come out with, she skips it.”

You gaped, “I do not skip it you ass! You just don’t make good dancing music. There’s nothing wrong with that, I just can’t dance and cry at the same time.” By the end of your statement, you were both laughing like little kids. “But Goldn, he makes some dance-worthy music.”

Colson shook his head but continued. “What was the name of the first song I ever released and my first album?”

“Lace up.” You announced, making the x symbol with your hands. Colson nodded, smiling at you fondly. “Uh, your first song was…” you trailed off, thinking. “It wasn’t Wild Boy, was it?”

He shook his head, “nope, earlier than that. It was never on an official album.”

Your eyes shot open in realization, “Oh! Alice in Wonderland!” You shouted and he nodded, smiling proudly.

“I swear to God I look so bad right now.” He complained.

You chuckled, shaking your head, “We’ve gotten the same number of questions right! I wouldn’t have gotten that if you hadn’t told me it wasn’t on an album.” He let out a sigh but you continued, “what was the first piece of film I ever appeared in?”

You could tell he was thinking, “like commercials and stuff count?” You nodded, “you were in that Febreze commercial when you were like, 12, weren’t you?”

You laughed really loud, your head going back and your eyes shutting. “I hate that you know that.” Colson pumped his fists in the air, celebrating his correct answer.

“If you were to ask like your first actual like movie, it was Nerve, cause that’s how we met.” He said, a wide grin on his face. You nodded, matching his energy. He looked at the card, his eyes going soft. “Okay this one’s cute, when was our first date and what did we do?”

You giggled, remembering the long path to your relationship. “Our first actual date was on April 23rd, 2019. We went to a little drive-in movie and you borrowed Baze’s truck and we sat in the bed and uh… let me just say we didn’t do much watching.” The crew members started laughing with you, so much that you had to take a few seconds of a break.

“We’ll cut the break out, don’t worry.” The assistant director said. Colson’s face was red, trying to hide his laugh as you went back to the video.

You cleared your throat, “when was our first kiss?”

He chuckled, “It was not that night, funnily enough.” You both giggled, hiding your face in embarrassment. “Our first kiss was the night before. It was my birthday and we were in this huge house and there were a ton of people around and I realized that you were the only person I actually wanted to be with at that moment in time. So, we snuck out to the backyard with a bottle of something and spent the rest of the night getting drunk with each other. And at some point, I kissed you.” You smiled, the memory of that night coming back to you. “And then I asked you on said first date.”

There were a few scattered “awes” from the production team, which you laughed off. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was cute, next question.”

He shook his head at you but read the next question, “Ugh, these are all so cheesy. When did I first say I loved you?”

You chuckled, “You were on tour and I hadn’t seen you in like two months except on the phone. So, when you got back, you took me and Casie out for lunch and then we went to this skate park. I remember I was teaching Casie how to skate and you just kind of blurted it out. And Casie and I both looked at you like “what the fuck did you just say?” and you got really embarrassed about it and then Casie said “finally!” like she had been waiting for it.”

You were a giggling mess, happiness flooding your body as you remembered the moment. “No,” he started, “you don’t understand. Casie figured it out like weeks before me. We were talking on the phone, and this kid, my nine-year-old daughter, started teasing me about how nervous I was to tell you.”

Your grin widened. “I swear Casie would’ve killed me if I hadn’t told you that day.”

“I will have to thank Casie at some point.” You said as you flipped to the next question. “What is my favorite movie and TV show? You gotta get them both right.”

He put his head in his hands, letting out a sigh. “I know your favorite movie is Nerve for obvious reasons,” he motioned up and down his body, “however, I know you’ve seen The Dirt about a hundred times, so.” He pointed his head at you and you rolled your eyes.

“He’s so egotistical.” You said to the camera. “But you’re right, Nerve is my favorite movie not only because its how we met but also because it was the first movie I was ever in. But if you were to ask my favorite movie that I’m not in, it would be The Dirt. You get 2 points for that one.”

Colson nodded, “hell yeah. Okay, what do I consider my biggest career accomplishment?”

Your eyes went wide as you realized you didn’t know the answer. “I could say like three or four different things right now.” You whined, looking to him for help. “When Miocic started coming out to your song, when you recorded with Crue, when Cena started using your song. You’ve done so much shit.”

He chuckled, “yeah but what’s the most important one, like to me?”

You tilted your head, “Was it when you performed on New Year’s?” You asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

He laughed, “you’re a goddamn mind reader, I swear.” You smiled, sighing in relief, “yeah, it wasn’t like the biggest thing but it was the most important to me.”

You smiled, “we’re just on the same wavelength.” He rolled his eyes at your goofiness. “Okay, okay. How do you know when I’m mad at you?”

He chuckled, looking down at his hands, “if its something I did and we’re like, in public, you just won’t talk to me and like you won’t let me touch you.” He turned to the camera and the rest of the room, “like we are both very touchy people, so if she stops holding my hand or something, I know I fucked up.”

You giggled, nodding in agreement, “but if I really mess up, she’ll let me know.”

“We’re very big on communication.” You smiled, both of you stifling laughter at the many memories of you arguing over stupid things. “But it’s why this works, y’know?” You said to the camera.

“You should get this one, what’s my biggest fear?” He asked, the room falling silent.

You turned to look at him, a soft smile on your face. “Losing Casie.” You said, “or me, but mostly Casie.” You both knew how much he loved Casie. It was what attracted you to him so much in the first place. And since you’d known him, Casie had become equally important in your life.

He nodded, “yeah. I’ve had, like, actual nightmares about it. Scariest shit.”

You let the answer linger in the air for a second before pulling out the last card. “Okay, last question. When did we first meet and when did you first realize you liked me?” You grinned up at him and he blushed.

“First day we met was the day of the Nerve read through and we hit it off immediately. But I realized I “liked” you,” he used air quotes when he said the word liked, “when you did that ladder scene. I remember thinking like, “damn, that girl is fucking metal.””

You laughed, “I was so terrified but I was trying to keep calm because I wanted you to think I was cool.” You squeezed your eyes shut, “I was freaking out.”

Colson laughed with you, pausing to catch his breath, “but the first time I realized I loved you was when I was on tour. Normally I called you before I went out after the show, but this one night I was really burnt out and the only thing I wanted to do was to sit on the bus and facetime you. And even though I was like four hours behind you and it was like 5 am where you were, you stayed up with me and we just talked for a while. And then you fell asleep without hanging up and I couldn’t bring myself to hang up. So, I just, as creepy as this shit sounds, I just watched you sleep. And I had that thought of like, I could do this every night and not get bored of it. And that’s when I realized that I loved you.”

The look on your face explained your emotions perfectly, and it was something the internet talked about for a while after the video was released. Colson blushed, “now you gotta say when you first realized you liked me so I don’t look like a little bitch.”

You laughed loudly, body shaking. “Ok, first time I realized I liked you was when you brought Casie to set. Like, the way you acted with her and everything was so sweet. Like I was already attracted to you but that was the point where I was like, woah.” You made wide eyes to prove your point. “I realized I loved you the same facetime call. I hate being woken up and I was really mad when my phone rang. But then I saw it was you and my heart literally did a little backflip. The next morning, I woke up to the call still going and you were asleep on the other end and I realized that I would never answer a facetime call at 5 am for anyone else.”

He smiled fondly at you, “we’re so in sync.” You giggled, agreeing.

“Okay, that was our really cheesy GQ couple’s quiz. Thank you guys so much for watching. Stream Daywalker by MGK and Corpse.” You said to the camera.

“And go see Y/N’s new movie out on Netflix!” Your boyfriend said giving a thumbs up to the camera.

The director gave you the signal to cut and you let out a sigh of relief, looking over to Colson, who was already looking at you. “I love you.” He said.

“I love you too, dork.” You mumbled, moving from your chair to his, resting your head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around you.

[defdaily]

‪[TRANSLATION] Arena Homme+ Magazine April 2021 Issue featuring JAY B

Translated by defdaily.

JAY B is free and starting again from scratch. That is what JAY B has in mind. GOT7’s leader announced that he would be leaving JYPE as the group stays together. JAY B is preparing to debut as a solo musician while planning to also release mixtapes and hold exhibitions as Def. We had a chat with JAY B, who has gained more freedom and strength, at the swimming pool about courage, depression, literature and aspirations.

Did you come here alone?

Yes. I took a taxi here. I was the type to go around freely even when I was in JYPE but catching the taxi to work this time around felt new.

All GOT7 members decided to leave JYP but stay together as a group. As a leader, you needed to make a decision, right?

Although we ended up leaving JYPE, we wanted to continue as GOT7. We all agreed to leave [JYPE] and try it between ourselves.The product made from me taking responsibility/taking charge was the single 'Encore’ that was released not too long ago. I was involved in the whole process with a new record label. I was happy to see a good response [to the single]. It was lacking in some areas but I was just very proud that we were able to show a different step. Since we showed through this single that “we did not disband”, what’s next is more important. When we left JYPE, Director Jung Wook mentioned "Your role as a leader starts now." I'm realizing it now.

”I wanted to learn everything about the process of releasing an album and how difficult it is. I wanted to start again from scratch.”

Your role as a leader actually starts now.

I used to find the role of a leader burdensome at times but now I feel a greater sense of responsibility. While supporting each person’s journey, I thought I needed to be the one to step up once we got back together. We also talk regularly in our group chat. Not long ago, Jackson went to China. When Mark went to the USA, I could see him off but when Jackson was leaving, we couldn’t be together because of a schedule. So I told him to have a safe flight, apologised for not being able to see him off and thanked him too. He replied saying he’ll take care and be back.

What motivated you to leave the large agency you've been working with for a long time?

The thought came to mind suddenly as we were promoting as GOT7. Am I taking all these benefits I get for granted? When a schedule is released I just do it, and when they ask me to confirm things I do, but what kind of long process has it gone through before it came to me? Who sends a request and how is it processed? Why am I only waiting until it reaches me and simply watching it unfold? I wanted to be directly involved in that process. I wanted to learn everything about the process of releasing an album and how difficult it is. I want to be humble and start from the bottom again.

Didn't you need the courage?

Of course I did. I was also afraid. My position has risen to all the way up here, but when it comes to my actual knowledge, I think I'm only down there. I was afraid that the difference would feel too big once I left the company. But I think I would have been more afraid if I stayed at JYPE. Since that difference would have grown bigger and bigger. My real self is here, so I should face it head-on a little faster. That's what I thought.

As JAY B or as Def. who releases mixtapes and holds exhibitions, you must have had the desire to do something new.

I want to do research and build it up step by step without haste. JAY B will show hip hop and RnB music that appeals to the general public and Def. will do activities that Def. wants to do. It could be mixtapes or exhibitions, or other different kinds of fictions. Def. is the nickname I used as a bboy before I became a trainee. It’s like air floating about freely. It could be house or soul or acoustic or even modern rock. In a way, you can say that Def. is close to my “main self” but since I debuted as JAY B, I’ll also show a devoted side of myself through JAY B. I want to be a person who can do both what he has to do and what he wants to do freely.

Listening to your mixtapes, and hearing that you like the styles of D’Angelo and Ray Charles, you seem to be attached to the Southern US rhythm and blues and soul music.

I do like them a lot. I like the entire hip-hop culture that originated from there. That culture also includes DJing, graffiti and even bboying. Since I started as a bboy, I would look up older videos to watch, study the culture and also look into what each dance move symbolizes, with my bboying crew and that's how I became fascinated. What captivated me the most was their obstinacy. I felt respect towards the conviction and obstinacy they carried with their culture.

Is that mood still incorporated in your music and dance?

Yes. For example, I don’t think choreography is dance. I think dancing is when music plays and you like the rhythm and start humming and bobbing your head and moving your body. I think dancing is a free act you do out of enjoyment.

What was the reason you joined an idol group after starting out as a bboy?

I gained an interest in music too, not just dancing. When I was young, I listened to D’Angelo’s music and wanted to become a singer like him. But I was rebellious when I first joined JYPE. Haha. I was even suspended for a month once as a trainee. I definitely said hello but they said I didn’t so they said "If you're going to be stubborn, then go home" and me with my young heart replied “Then I shall head home.” and left. Then I met up with my bboying crew after a long time, and in just a few months it turned into a different world. The crew members were above me and I was worried because I could feel myself far away by myself. Should I go back to bboying? Should I continue as a trainee? In the end, I wanted to do my very best in whatever I chose so I decided to focus on becoming a singer. Since I wanted to do music, it was a choice I made with no regrets.

You started as a dancer and ended up as a main vocalist. What was music to you back then?

It was a challenge. Trainees are divided into singing and dancing. I joined as a dancer but what I wanted to do was become a singer and not just do dance. But since I was put into the dancing division, I worked even harder with singing to break that prejudice. I often felt defeated. I still feel defeated with singing. Haha. But music is about endless research. Now it’s more about research than studying.

You grew up as an only child to your parents who did farming?

I was an ordinary kid. I enjoyed Haruki’s Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage and thought the “colourless” kid was just like me. I was a calm kid who helped his parents with their farm work. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t have any older siblings but they said I used to talk to myself a lot. My mother said there was a way she would know if I was home or not. If I was home, she would hear me talk to myself and be like “Oh really?” “Yes really” haha.

It’s extraordinary to read Haruki at that age.

There was an older friend that I knew and he was really cool. He looked really cool reading on the bus with his legs crossed. He said “Hey, Read a book and build up some knowledge.” As I was trying to be cool like him, I gained a favourite author and started reading more since I enjoyed it.

What kind of books do you like?

When I was a teenager I often read Kafka On The Shore. It felt like Kafka was just like me, and so while reading it, I even cried. The style of Murakami Radio was also interesting. The ending phrase “But I like that more…” was very witty. I’m collecting books from secondhand bookstores from authors who won the Young Author awards. I like Lee Jang-wook's short story Byeon Hee-bong. The main character knows the actor Byun Hee-bong, but the world doesn't know him. He would ask "Don't you know Byun Hee-bong from the movie The Host?" But no one knows. I like stories that don’t intend to be funny but they end up making me giggle.

What do you read these days?

I try to read poetry. I purchased and read the first volume that appeared on Moonji’s Poetry Collection, but it has too many Hanja characters. Haha. I started with Munhwak’s Poetry Collection. I have volumes 1 to 85. I also read poet Park Joon's collection of poems and poet Lee Eun-gyu's Affectionate Name. I even underlined and wrote things down.

Among the idols and musicians I’ve met, I think you are the most extensive reader.

We went on tours often and we would have a lot of time in my hotel room. When I went out I took pictures and when I stayed in my hotel room I read books. When I go on an overseas tour, I pack around 30 books in my suitcase. Then I bring back the books that left an impression on me, and those that didn’t sometimes I dispose of them there. These days, I look for independent publications too. I often look for independent publishing bookstores in Nakseongdae or Haebangchon. There are many books that contain honest stories that are not refined, and the power of those sentences is great.

How does reading influence your work?

The poetic expressions with poetic license help when writing lyrics. You read a new sentence and think “What is this expressing?” You receive inspiration from that image being expressed in a new way. I think of lyrics as poetry too. There are times I write how I feel honestly, but when I want to include a certain meaning I’d want to write the lyrics like poetry.

In your photo exhibition <ALONE> last year, you took pictures of objects and signs in the middle of the road.

Wouldn't it feel very lonely if you think about it from an object’s point of view? The camera captures just an instance but the object will stay there. I think each person has an insatiable loneliness. I like the artist Seonglib’s works, and I feel loneliness in his drawings. I don't know why I keep talking about loneliness, I guess I’m familiar with loneliness.

Seems like you take more pictures of objects and landscapes than people.

I don’t really like taking pictures of people. You can clearly see a person’s emotions in their eyes. I prefer hiding things rather than revealing them too much. I prefer objects, backgrounds, and natural objects rather than subjects that openly express 'It's me!'. Tranquil things, I like when you go past something and go “that’s how it was.” I try my best since my job requires being presented to people but that’s also how I am.

Who do you like as a movie director?

I like Woody Allen’s directing. My favourite is Match Point. It's a love story that goes beyond taboos, and it's electrifying. The face of the actor who secretly asks the reunited lover to give him her number remains in my memory for a long time. How could he direct such a real-looking, raw look in their eyes? When I was a theater and film major, I used to take directing classes rather than acting. If I were to direct a film, I would like to shoot an eccentric witty romantic comedy like Love Fiction directed by Jeon Gye-soo.

Are you self-conscious as an artist?

I’m interested in a variety of genres, and interact with crews often, but I think goofing off just because they are an artist is an arrogant attitude. Everyone is their own artist, no matter what they do, right? I'm not trying to be pretentious, I just think there's a difference in expression, and people who work in the office are also doing their own art. That’s why I’m a little shy about the title “artist.” Is there a need to be puffed up with pride because I’m an artist? I’m just a person.

While filming for “What's in my bag” and revealed your medications for depression and panic disorder. When did you face your depression?

I didn’t know I had depression. I thought I was being weak for a short while and let it pass. But on an occasion I got examined and found out I had depression. They asked how I lived by without going to the psychiatrist. I said I just thought I was the type to feel blue. Haha. I’m the type that doesn’t show [what is wrong] but they said I was in a state where I needed treatment. After going to counselling and taking medications, I’m much better now.

“I just wanted to talk about it. It may not show, but depression is both a common and dangerous illness.”

I think you’re cool for having the courage to talk about this.

I got diagnosed and looked at the people around me. There are friends who are ashamed of it and try to hide it, and there are friends who talk about it as if it’s insignificant. I just wanted to talk about it. It may not show, but it’s both a common and dangerous illness. A mental illness is an illness too. Among my fans, or those who read this interview, if there is someone who feels depressed, don’t be ashamed of it and I hope you receive treatment and overcome it. It’s not an embarrassing thing and it doesn’t need to be hidden. And I was filming content where I show what’s inside my bag; I can’t lie. I wish everyone would be healthy.

Are you bad at lying?

Yes. If I have to tell a lie, I think it’s just better to not say anything. Since I’m the type that’s honest and straightforward, I also don’t like beating around the bush.

Can you share a way one can take a step forward towards recovering from depression?

Look at the world in a broad view. Know that there are many places you haven’t been to yet and there are many things you haven’t felt yet. It's also good to take a walk and go off your usual route and take a path you've never been on. Small adventures can also be of great help. Just by leaving the house you’re already halfway there. I think there are more ways you can refresh yourself outside rather than inside. Also, I thought I was an honest person but after being diagnosed with depression, I thought I should be more honest with myself and more faithful to myself. At times like this, think of yourself before others.

What do you believe in?

I just believe in god. I don’t have a religion. I don’t know what kind of existence god is but I do believe that there is a god. When I’m thankful or am having a hard time, I pray. “Thank you.” “Please let me get through this wisely.”

What is the greatest motivation that moves you?

As long as I’m alive, I want to continue doing work that will leave a message. I believe that there is no next life. I think I should live this time diligently to the fullest. To have no regrets.

Translated by defdaily.

[skellebonez]

Happy Birthday Winter!

Hey @winterpower98 it's your birthday! I really hope you enjoy this, I know I had a ton of fun writing it for you! Actor AU is one of my favorite AUs you've made and coming back to play around with it again was a blast and a half!

Painter MK cackled, taking the brushes filled with bright pink paint into his fists.

“Yes, yes!” He exclaimed, brushing them against his cheeks and bringing another to run up the center of his face. “The art is-OW! OW, THE ART IS IN MY EYE!”

“Cut!” The director yelled, bringing the entire film production to a halt in an instant. “Xiaotian, what happened?”

The young actor dropped the paintbrushes into the hands of a stage worker to rushed over to help him, one hand covering his right eye as he tried to keep himself from laughing. “I think some of it splashed when I waved the brush at my face. I guess the art really IS-”

“Don’t say it,” Heshang said from the other side of the set, doing his best not to join his co-star in laughter.

“-seeping into my pores!”

The entire cast and crew groaned as Xiaotian cackled again, with a few added ows, before another stage hand came by with a bottle of water.

~3…2…1~

“Uh…” Xiaojiao pulled, attempting to pull the prop sword from above her head out of the wall only to be met with… a lot more resistance than should probably be there. “UH…? It’s stuck?”

She stood, attempting to pull it out normally only to be met with just as much resistance.

“It’s stuck!” She laughed, out, bracing a foot on the wall with no change.

“Let me try,” General Ironclad, or rather Red in the costume of General Ironclad for the episode, offered, attempting to do the same with the exact same result as his co-star. “What did you use to hold this in place? Cement!?”

“It should have only been stuck in with force!” A stage hand yelled as Xiaotian and Heshang joined in, both failing to pull the sword out from the false wall and Heshang nearly toppling over backwards with his additional costume pieces.

“Whoever stuck that in there needs to be moved to making sure the safety equipment stays connected!” Xiaotian offered, watching as even more people tried to remove the sword. “That is not coming out.”

~3…2…1~

Heshang held Mo in his arms, waltzing around the set as he waited for places to be called for with the shockingly content feline in his arms.

~3…2…1~

“You are selling beautiful vegetables today?” Pigsy said, leaning over the the display to give an awkward smile to the disguised Spider Queen.

Tang looked over the produce from where he knelt, looking back up at his companion with a concerned and confused look. “Are you… a-are-PFT-FUCK.”

Everyone on set burst into laughter as Tang did, both of his fellow actors holding back from laughing themselves.

“Why is it this line!?” Tang yelled in frustration as he continued laughing. “It’s not a hard line! I wrote this line! Why do I keep laughing at the last word!?”

“Maybe if Ganglie wasn’t making goo-goo eyes at me you’d keep straight face,” Zhi-Zhu Jing managed to get out through her laughter.

“That’d be the only thing straight about me.”

~3…2…1~

Dicky Cheung, or the actual Sun Wukong disguised as a human actor in full costume of himself, took a running leap and jumped onto the counter of Pigsy’s noodles, sliding to a perfect stop with a wink toward the camera.

~3…2…1~

“MK, there’s something I wanted to tell you…” Mei said, looking at MK with sparkles in her eyes before snickering. “Stop looking at me like that, it’s hard enough to keep a straight face during this scene!”

“Sorry!” Xiaotian yelled to the camera. “I can’t help it! How are Jin and Yin this wrong about these two in the show?”

“Himbos!” was the shouted answer from Tang at the other end of the set.

~3…2…1~

“One of the rare talents that no one knew the great Sun Wukong possessed…” Xiaojiao said ominously, camera panning over to Mr. Cheung in full costume. “Surprisingly good peach juggling!”

“Gotta keep myself occupied somehow!” The actor laughed out, catching two peaches in either hand while the last one was caught perfectly in his mouth to the applause of everyone watching.

~3…2…1~

“Thanks for the Key los-AH!”

Red flung his arms wildly, key flying into the air as Tie Shan rushed forward and caught him just before he face planted into the ground.

“Mine!” Mr. Cheung yelled as he caught the key mid air and rushed through the frame.

“YOU’RE NOT EVEN IN THIS EPISODE!”

~3…2…1~

“Thank you… for giving me all o-ooh, whoa!” Lui Er Mihou, or unbeknownst to nearly all Six-Eared Macaque in disguise much the same way as Sun Wukong was, yelped as the cable that was supposed to gently raise him and make him look like he was floating yoinked him as good 4 feet off the ground way too fast. “That’s too much power!”

“SORRY!” The line operator shouted, fiddling with the controls. “Someone loaded the weight setting for Xiaotian into your line instead of yours.”

“I already feel bad enough treating him like garbage and beating him up in this role, this is just rubbing salt in the wound,” Liu Er muttered, leaning back and swinging limply much to the amusement of everyone who couldn’t hear him before raising his voice. “When will my beloved friend Sun Wukong come to rescue me?”

“SPEAK MY NAME AND I SHALL APPEAR!”

Liu Er yelped in surprise as Mr. Cheung rushed in and grabbed him from beneath to hold him bridal style with a shit eating grin. He couldn't help the flush on his cheeks in response.

“HOW DO YOU KEEP SHOWING UP IN SHOTS WHEN YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE YET!?” The director yelled with more than a little amusement in his voice despite the disruption.

~3…2…1~

“You!” DBK said, rounding on Red Son. “You have brought me nothing but failure! Time and time again! I keep telling you I… shit, I can’t remember the next line when you look that sad, I am so sorry.”

“Nothing but disappointment?” Red offered helpfully, immediately breaking out of his downcast somber gaze to the floor with a wide smile.

“It is scary how fast you get in and out of character sometimes, kid,” Niu Mowang laughed out, clearly resisting the urge to ruffle the younger actor’s hair lest he ruin the styling job that took far too long every time they got dressed.

~3…2…1~

The White Bone Spirit stood at the entrance to the Silken Web Cave, looking at the camera before far too much time passed from when she was supposed to say he line. She moon walked backwards out of the frame without changing her expression one bit as the other actors devolved into cackles.

~3…2…1~

“The Year of the Spider starts tonight!” Spider Queen proclaimed from her high vantage point before she muttered something under her breathe, narrowing her gaze and then looking off to the side. “Or next year ‘cause I don’t remember my line.”

~3…2…1~

Huntsman slowly lowered into frame, upside down and gripping the rigging holding him up like Spiderman.

~3…2…1~

“Oh yeah?” Sun Wukong said, appearing in frame as he walked down the wall MK was embedded in. He grabbed his staff, yanking it out of the wall and jumped down and smacked the wall with it.

… only for it to go through the wall once again and crack it. Or, rather, the false wall that was on a tilted angle to make it look like he was talking down it, rather than a heavily slanted floor.

“I’m sorry!” Mr. Cheung yelled, looking at the damage he caused. “I must have hit at weak spot!”

He hoped no one noticed that when MK offered to get the prop staff for this shot and put it into the wall… he grabbed the real one by accident.

~3…2…1~

Nui Mowang held the little bird that was Wukong’s transformation stand in for one of the final scenes, gently petting the little head with a big goofy smile on his face.

~END~

The entire cast sat around on various travel tables right outside the small Lunar New Year Festival set they had set up, various extras that had answered the open invitation for the shoot going about and getting the free food that was available at the functional stalls provided by the catering they had hired.

It was an odd sight to see Red Son and Spider Queen and Sun Wukong and everyone else sitting around together, but Liu Er Mihou being there outside of his Macaque costume broke the illusion a little bit.

It was the final day of shooting for the season 2 opening special to Monkie Kid, Revenge of the Spider Queen, and everyone was there. Even people who didn’t have to come in wanted to give a temporary farewell to Tie Shan, Nui Mowang, and Red before season 2 proper began shooting. There was still a chance they could bebcalled in for bit roles, the scripts weren’t entirely finished yet, but as far as anyone knew the Demon Bull Family wasn’t going to be returning properly any time soon.

Maybe in season 3, Tang had teased, holding the begun scripts for that in his little tablet away from prying eyes. And they were always welcome to help out in bit roles, background characters or voice over or to use their other talents to work other jobs that were needed around the set.

But even before then it would be a while.

And so that’s how Red found himself sandwiched between Long Xiaojiao and Qi Xiaotian, with the newly added member of their quartet in her full White Bone Spirit costume hanging over his shoulder to watch the compilation that Xiaojiao had expertly edited on her phone for them all.

“The director gave me permission to use whatever I wanted and I though that… maybe we could all have it for ourselves,” Xiaojiao offered, pulling up the wireless transfer option on her phone. “To watch when we miss each other being on set together. I know we’re going to probably be back together with Red Son eventually! But…”

“I’ll miss shooting with you too,” Red said smiling softly as he pulled out his own phone to accept the file. “Hopefully Mr. Tang isn’t just teasing us about season 3.”