#i just love luke and julie SO MUCH more than i expected
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you have to read this in full!!
i gotchu from behind the $wall:
The day Luke Prokop shook the hockey world by coming out, he needed to get away.
And stop looking at his constantly buzzing phone.
It was July 21, 2021, and the right-shot defenseman had just become the first openly gay hockey player under an NHL contract. The Nashville Predators’ No. 73 pick in the 2020 draft was just 19 years old and hadn’t even turned pro yet. He didn’t know how it would impact his future. His nerves were fried.
But one text message was impossible to ignore. He didn’t recognize the number but certainly knew the name.
“Hey, it’s Auston Matthews. I wanted to congratulate you. I look forward to sharing the ice with you someday.”
Prokop was blown away. The Toronto Maple Leafs superstar wasn’t the most famous person to reach out — that honor goes to Elton John — but the fact that so many NHLers, including one of the league’s best and most powerful players, were offering support meant a lot.
Now 21, Prokop still hasn’t taken the NHL ice, but on Wednesday he took a step forward, being recalled by the Predators’ AHL affiliate in Milwaukee. He could become the first openly gay player to appear in an AHL game Friday night for the Admirals in Rockford.
As difficult as the decision to come out was, Prokop told The Athletic in an extended conversation recently that he’s been mentally and physically freed by it. He doesn’t have to hide. He can be himself, on and off the ice. Heck, he can even date.
“It’s been massive,” he said.
Teammates and fans have welcomed him in his journey toward the NHL so far, from Calgary, Edmonton and Seattle of the junior WHL to, most recently, Atlanta of the ECHL. They treated him like he was any other player.
Not that there’s not room to grow. Prokop figured more players would come out after he did. They haven’t, not that he would rush anyone’s decision on that. He’s also been disappointed by the developments over the past few years with the NHL’s inclusion efforts, including the Pride tape “debacle.”
He can only control his own actions, though, and doesn’t regret his decision.
“I’d like to think I’m a realistic person,” Prokop said. “I know hockey is not going to be forever. As much as (when I came out) I would have loved to keep playing, I was OK with not playing any more if it didn’t work out — just being able to live my life the way I wanted, to be myself.
“But now, I don’t want to stop playing. It was definitely nerve-wracking. You never know what the reaction is going to be inside hockey, outside hockey, because no one has done it before. We kind of went out on a limb and hoped for the best. It’s been way more positive than we thought it’d be. You’re going to have some keyboard warriors, which there were a few, but I was expecting more.
“I did not expect the amount of support I got from NHL players. That was really cool.”
- - - - - - -
The Matthews text and Elton John phone call the morning after were memorable, with the gay rock legend welcoming him to the community and offering his email address if Prokop ever needed anything.
Prokop found even more comfort in a moment that came a few days later — the first time he played hockey since his announcement. It was a four-on-four league in Edmonton at Meadows Rec Center, a place where pros and NHLers competed and kept in shape during the offseason.
Prokop was on a team with Colton and Kirby Dach. The other team had Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart and the Boston Bruins’ Jake DeBrusk. During warmups, Prokop found himself near mid-ice. The first guy to approach him was DeBrusk. The two had met previously through mutual friends. DeBrusk tapped Prokop’s shin pads with his stick.
“Congrats,” he told him. “I’m really happy for you. If you need anything, let me know.”
“I didn’t know what the reaction would be,” Prokop said. “So that meant a lot.”
Prokop was returning that year to the Calgary Hitmen (WHL), the junior team he had played for the previous four seasons. But there had been a lot of turnover on the roster and, of course, a lot had changed for Prokop. So he decided to address the team in its first meeting in training camp.
“Everyone knows what I did last summer,” he told his team. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. There might be a lot of media asking you for an interview. If you don’t feel comfortable, you don’t have to do them. If you have any questions for me, come ask me. I’m an open book. I just don’t want you guys to feel uncomfortable.”
In that dressing room, Prokop had heard plenty of the uncomfortable language that’s not uncommon for any locker room. He even admitted using it. He didn’t want to out himself. He wanted to act straight, be “one of the guys.”
“I heard it, but it wasn’t all the time,” he said. “I also took it from the perspective that these guys don’t know any better. It’s hockey language. It’s how guys talk. They don’t mean it in a harmful way. They use the word ‘gay’ as a filler at the end of a sentence to make something stupid. ‘Well, that’s so gay.’ I wasn’t comfortable with it, but I used it myself. I didn’t want to seem like I was out of the mix.
“Some guys texted me (after I came out), ‘F—, sorry if I said anything to offend you when we played.’ I’d just say, ‘Guys, you had no idea.’ The lesson is you don’t know what everyone is going through. The words you say do matter. Make sure you think before you speak. It’s a silly rule you learn in kindergarten. It applies to life when you’re 22 or 35 and never goes away.
“The way hockey is going with the language, guys are naturally changing their language. I’ve heard a change in language on every team I’ve been on.”
Prokop said that season was the best of his career, both from a production standpoint and a personal one. He was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings early in the season and had 10 goals and 33 points in 55 games for them, helping them win the WHL’s Ed Chynoweth Cup and advance to the Memorial Cup.
Luke Prokop won the WHL’s Ed Chynoweth Cup with the Oil Kings in 2022. (Courtesy of Oilers Entertainment Group)
Luke Pierce, then an assistant coach for Edmonton and now the head coach, said the staff and management had discussions with the leadership group before acquiring Prokop — making sure they were comfortable with it, feeling out whether their room could handle the attention. Pierce said he asked one of the captains, Blues prospect Jake Neighbours, for his perspective. Neighbours had known Prokop since they were 10 or 11, growing up playing in spring tournaments together. He told Pierce and the staff there would be “zero issue” and he’d be a great addition.
Neighbours said nothing really changed, that Prokop “fit right in” to the team. Pierce at first wondered if players would have any issue with rooming assignments on the road, but nobody blinked. Pierce noted that Prokop would joke about situations and even opened up about his boyfriend coming to visit.
“He put everybody at ease,” Pierce said. “I often tell people, if the outside world could see how the group of men interacted, it would be just a tremendous inspiration on how we should treat everybody.”
Pierce and Prokop pointed out how this generation is more comfortable and equipped to handle LGBTQ+ inclusion issues. Everyone seems to know someone, be friends with someone, or be related to someone in the community.
“I just don’t think guys really care anymore,” Prokop said. “They might be nervous as they have this stereotype version of what a gay guy might look like, sound like, act like. Like me, coming to a team, they think I’ll act a certain way, look a certain way, but they’ll realize three minutes into talking to me that I’m not that.
“Hockey is part of me. It’s who I am. Guys totally forget (about me being gay) when I’m at the rink. They’re not afraid to ask questions. But other than that, it never really comes up. That’s how I wanted it to be. I wanted them to know, but we can all go out and play. I never wanted to be a distraction.”
- - - - - - -
The NHL’s decisions around Pride jerseys and stick tape weren’t a distraction, Prokop said, but he has gotten frustrated about it.
He understood the issue over wearing sweaters during warmups — “jerseys weren’t really their choice” — but lamented that the fact the focus was on the handful of players who refused to wear them and not all the others who did. The NHL’s initial banning of Pride stick tape, then its reversal, was a whole other topic.
“To take away choices from players was really confusing,” Prokop said. “Some of them don’t really care. For some, it was near and dear to their heart. To take it away was mind-boggling. From the players’ side, the support was there. Zach Hyman talked about it, Travis Dermott. I like what they did. They didn’t make a big deal about it before — they just did it. Let fans see the rest, and it’ll take care of itself. There’s a massive amount of support from players in the NHL.”
What do the Pride tape and sweaters mean for someone in the LGBTQ+ community?
Prokop didn’t recall noticing them growing up going to Oilers games. He never got to see someone who was gay using Pride tape on the TV screen. He had to deal with it himself — “jump over those barriers without any help.” But Prokop continued pursuing his hockey career whereas “a lot of people don’t feel comfortable pursuing their career without that exposure, without feeling like they’re being seen.”
“I think with the Pride tape stuff, they were trying to show support for their older fans,” Prokop said of the NHL. “The fans that have been watching hockey for 40-50 years. That’s not how you grow the game. You want to get the younger generation, put these guys in the best situation to promote the game. Sometimes I don’t think the NHL does that the correct way. The Pride tape is one example.”
Prokop has been part of two Pride nights since he came out, one with the Edmonton Oil Kings and another with Seattle. The Oil Kings staff approached him after not having that event on their promotional calendar. They planned it in two weeks and it was a big hit, with around 8,000 fans in attendance.
“Some guys told me it was the most impactful game they’d been in during their career,” Prokop said. “They said they didn’t realize how many Queer fans they had. I don’t think they realize how much my community watches hockey, plays hockey and cares about hockey.
The Seattle Pride night was fan-driven, which made it unique. Thunderbirds fans noticed that other rival teams had a special night for Pride and made a push for their own, making bracelets and T-shirts. Prokop told teammates they didn’t have to wear the stick tape — he knows how superstitious hockey players are. They all wore some, for him.
“I always look at the perspective, the other side of Pride nights — why do you have them if no one on the team is gay?” Prokop said. “The point is that it’s for the fans. For me, it means a lot to play in them to show my community and be a representative on the ice.”
While education is important, Prokop said any real change in the NHL when it comes to inclusion will start with other players coming out. He’s not putting any timeline or pressure on that. He didn’t have one. But that’s when players in the league will see a different perspective, get more comfortable with it.
“Otherwise, it’s always going to be a story,” Prokop said. “I also can see why guys don’t want to come out. Especially in the NHL. They’ve been very successful, so why change? I kind of saw that from the perspective when the whole Pride jersey story came out. My phone was blowing up. I don’t think guys want to have to deal with that. There was a responsibility for me to talk about these topics. I don’t think guys want to do that. I can see it from that side, why they don’t want to come out.
“I don’t think anything is going to change unless someone else does. Someone else will step up. It’s only a matter of time. I thought there’d maybe be two, three of us by now. But it hasn’t happened. But I know there’s going to be someone else soon. It’s math. There’s what, 700 players in the league? There’s definitely a few more.”
- - - - - - -
While there have been some derogatory comments coming from the stands on a few occasions, Prokop has been encouraged there have been none from opposing players.
“Zero,” he said.
Most of the feedback he’s received, even on social media, has been positive. And it’s not just the comments like Matthews’ that stick with him. Two high schoolers in Seattle, Kaitlin and Jo, reached out to him over Instagram. They are part of the LGBTQ+ community and were struggling.
“Like everyone, they just wanted someone to talk to,” Prokop said.
Part of Prokop’s pregame routine is usually to hang by the bench and listen to music. On many occasions, Kaitlin and Jo would come by and the three of them would just chat for 10, 12 minutes. They’re the fans that Prokop saw every game above the tunnel on his way to the dressing room. They’ve stayed in touch. Prokop even did a Zoom meeting with their high school class last month. “They have a special place in my heart,” he said.
When, and if, Prokop makes his NHL debut, he says he’ll have a special secret plan for them.
Whether Prokop lives his NHL dream remains to be seen. He’s praised the Predators for their support from the first time he did a group video call with the staff. Former NHLer Mark Borowiecki, now a development coach, has been someone Prokop has leaned on often, not only for on-ice advice but for help getting through things mentally.
Scott Nichol, the Predators’ assistant GM, likes Prokop’s potential.
“Big right-shot defensemen that can skate, move the puck. They don’t grow on trees,” he said. “He just needs to polish up his game in some areas in the defensive zone. He’s got the tools. He’s got the skating ability. It’s just patience and embrace the process.”
Prokop is grateful for his support group, from his parents, Al and Nicole, to his brother, Josh, and sister, Alanna. He’s kept in touch with Heather Lefebvre, who is a specialist in hockey engagement and alumni relations with the Oilers Entertainment Group. They talk almost every day. What sticks out to Lefebvre is how young Prokop was when he came out (19), and while he wears this “trailblazer” cap, he’s still standing alone.
“I think this generation is more ready for it than past generations, for sure,” Lefebvre said. “It says a lot to me that nobody else has come out in the year and a half since he has. He’s the only openly gay player under NHL contract, but he’s not the only gay player under NHL contract.
“That’s where I think we have work to do. Is it great that he’s been accepted and can do his thing? Yes. But he looks at the positives, which makes me really happy for him. But that doesn’t mean there’s no negative.”
Prokop takes the positives in his off-ice life, too. He lives with Alanna in the offseason back home in Edmonton. He’s found teammates to share in his hobbies, like golf (he plays 40 to 50 rounds a year). He loves to read, from biographies to sci-fi. He watches basketball more than hockey and has more than 25 jerseys. He cooks. He got into puzzles during the pandemic and is bullish about doing them on his own.
Prokop also feels comfortable getting out there on the dating scene and not having to hide it from teammates.
“Obviously, the lifestyle of a hockey player is tough for some people,” he said. “I’m trying to find the right person to connect with. I’m a softie, a romantic guy. I love love. I’m always on the lookout for that right person to spend the rest of my life with.”
Prokop doesn’t see the label of being the first openly gay player under NHL contract as a weight. It’s more of a responsibility. He has a platform and wants to use it. He’s realistic, “dreaming about winning the community service award more than the Norris Trophy.”
Making the AHL jump or someday the NHL jump won’t define him.
“One of my main goals when I came out is that if I could have an impact on one person outside of my family and friends in my lifetime, I’ve done my job,” he said. “I think I’ve done that and more. And I want to continue to do that.”
#luke prokop#auston matthews#jake debrusk#elton john#nashville predators#milwaukee admirals#atlanta gladiators#toronto maple leafs#boston bruins#jake neighbours#st louis blues#edmonton oil kings#calgary hitmen#lgbtq#pride jerseys#pride tape#nhl garbage league
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okay so lately I have seen a lot of people claim they hate mammon bc he steals from mc, and like there's nothing wrong with disliking a character lol but I don't recall mammon ever stealing from mc?? like the only thing I can think of is that one time in season 1 I think where he was going through their stuff and said he was looking for something to sell (I think?? it's been a while) and beel straight up calling him a liar lmao l'm just wondered if I missed something? or if this is just newer players who maybe misunderstood that one scene? and I figured if anyone would know it would be you lmao
I got so fucking pissed about this (not at you anon <3) cos this is the third time I got an ask like this, that I scrolled all the way down my 'Obey Me Mammon' tag to June/July 2020 and then slowly scrolled my way up pulling all the receipts I could.....I saw this immediately after you sent it and I just finished now...... turns out it takes 5 straight hours to go through my Mammon tag😶
I have answered this exact same ask twice before and I can only assume it's new people? Like honestly you can't play the game for a long time and still think this (they prove this false within the game in LESSON FOUR)
Not only does Mammon NOT steal from MC, he also:
a.) Gets legitimate/legal jobs whenever he wants to buy MC something (which is pretty frequently)
b.) Shares the money with them when he comes into a large sum of money
But anyway here are the links to the posts talking about all this:
(everything is directly taken from canon or based off canon)
A.) No he doesn't steal from MC
• Full Summary of the Lesson 4 locked chapter where he goes through MC's stuff and a compare and contrast of what we know about Mammon from future lessons, events, devilgrams
• First post talking about this, goes more into detail about him not stealing from them
• Second shorter post about how he doesn't steal from them
• They're literally Partners in Crime
• He straight up refuses the Midas touch (multiple times I believe) after realising it means he won't be able to touch MC anymore
• HEADCANON that maybe he steals/borrows their clothes, with their knowledge, to wear
• In the small introductory manga page they say the thing he likes as much as money is MC
• In S3 he admits to loving MC more than he loves money
B.) He goes out of his way to get MC Presents (which we works actual jobs to earn money for)
• Mammon at the Office Devilgram, where he gets an actual office job so he can buy MC a watch he saw them looking at
• In the Movie Date Devilgram he rents out an entire theatre for the two of them because it was the anniversary of the day they first met
• In the You Always Ride Shotgun Devilgram he rents out a pool for the two of them
• He's always giving MC presents
• Usually he buys matching things for them
• He buys them shoes in their favourite colour
• Mammon's love language
• He wants to share his winnings from a lottery with MC
• He finds a secret second map in the pirate au event and tells only MC so they can share the treasure
C.) It's not just MC, he puts the others before Money too
• In the Presents From Mammon Devilgram he buys presents for everyone
• In The Guardian Demon Devilgram he saves a 9yr old orphaned homeless human girl from a mugger, fosters her and plans to pay for all her needs until she's an adult/can provide for herself - which is why he's always in debt to the three witches who look after her for him, there's also extortion going on from them towards him
• He'd rather lose the entire fortune he won than make Luke upset
• List of times he's put others before money
• He straight up tells Luke he doesn't mind missing out on a reward as long as it means Luke is alright
• Socks for Beel
• He gets a stone for his birthday which can give him whatever he wishes for, he wishes for fortune to come to whoever has the stone and then gives the stone to a student who tried to hurt him
D.) How Mammon works as a character
• Solmare makes you form certain expectations about him and then starts breaking them within the next few lessons and it's amazing to witness
• Friendship, Actions & Reality Vs Calling MC 'Servant'
• Mammon, MC and their Friendship
• Mammon being smart and why he comes off as an idiot
• His thoughts about himself vs MC
• He's actively changing and growing as a character and he knows it
• How Mammon actually views himself
• Why there's a difference in his level of affection in public vs privately
• Jerk with a heart of gold trope but better
• Mammon and how much he cares about consent
• How outsiders see Mammon vs how people from the city see Mammon vs how his close friends and family see him
• Chasing some creep away from MC
• How his relationship with MC changes and grows throughout the season
E.) Other reasons to love him
• Examples of how much he loves MC
• How supportive he & MC are of each other
• Some of his funniest moments
• He's objectively terrifying
• Mammon being a good brother
• He's extremely ride or die for MC
• He waits for MC when they've got to stay late at RAD for other work
• Despite being an ancient being all his best memories consist of the time he's spent with MC
• He created a whole line of toys based around missing MC
• Everything he says about loving MC in his 2022 birthday event
• List of things he's good at
• The amount he loves MC
And this is just a few of my posts about mammon, his character and what there's to love about him
And look it's MORE than okay for people to dislike a character but at least dislike them for something that actually happened?
#asks#obey me#obey me shall we date#obey me!#shall we date? obey me!#swd obey me#obey me mammon#om! mammon#swd mammon#shall we date mammon#obey me! mammon#om mammon#mammon x gn!reader#mammon x gn!mc#mammon x gender neutral reader#mammon x you#mammon x oc#mammon x mc#mammon x reader#mammon x y/n#reader x mammon#mc x mammon#you x mammon#y/n x mammon#oc x mammon#swd obey me!#shall we date obey me#obey me mc#om mc#obey me! mc
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Progression
Book: Crimes of Passion 2
Pairing: Trystan Thorne x F!MC (Emma Rose)
Rating: General
Summary: Trystan reflects on his past and looks to the future.
A/N: I got whiplash when Trystan went from being obviously hurt by, and jealous of, Juliana's relationship with his/her sibling to literally laughing off the very idea of being jealous in the bonus scene. The transition felt off to me. This is an exploration of how s/he may have gotten to that point.
Also, the CoP2 timeline is a mess. But I think that by the time they went to Juliana's house and the yacht, Trystan and MC had known each other for around 2-3 months.
@choicesjanuary2024, Day 17, A period of deep reflection. @lilyoffandoms
Progression
Trystan stands up on wobbly legs. Walking Emma through his last memories of Juliana was excruciating, but he is glad he did so. If only because he needed to talk to somebody about Juli’s death, truly let himself feel the grief, without having to be on his guard lest the other person find something incriminating in his words. With Emma, he doesn’t have to watch out for verbal traps. Her only goal is to support him.
It makes all the difference.
They’re quiet on the way back to the palace. He glances at her. She’s looking out the window in a way that makes it clear she’s not seeing anything but her own thoughts. Her chin is set, her brow furrowed in concentration and sorrow for somebody she's never met. He knows she’s still thinking about Juliana.
He takes her hand and holds on tight, grounding himself in her presence.
After parting ways with Luke and Ruby, he waits five minutes before making his way to Emma’s room. Judging from how long it takes her to open the door, she isn’t expecting him tonight.
“Trystan? Is something wrong?”
He simply wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. She runs a hand down his back.
“You don’t want to be alone?” There’s understanding in her tone.
He shakes his head. “I don’t want to be without you. Can I stay tonight?”
She steps back and opens the door wider.
By tacit agreement, they don’t talk about the case. Today has been one emotional hit after another, and he desperately needs this moment of peace with someone he cares about. But no, he thinks when Emma gets into bed and turns on her side, facing away from him. Just someone won’t do. He needs a moment of peace with her.
He drapes an arm across her waist and closes his eyes, breathing in the scent of Emma and feeling, more than usual, the absolute rightness of being with her.
Trystan wakes early the next morning, a comforting weight on his chest.
Emma.
He looks at her with a soft smile, enjoying the rare opportunity to watch her when she’s unaware. She’s such a vibrant person that it’s hard to think of her in anything but constant motion: even when she’s quiet, she’s gesturing with her hands or rolling her eyes or biting her lip. But when she sleeps, there’s nothing on her face but peace. He nuzzles her neck, enjoying the warmth of her skin and feeling something deep inside unlock.
He loves her.
Everything that’s been building up in him over the last couple of months finally breaks free, and love washes over him in a wave so intense it takes his breath away.
He didn’t remember it could be like this. Maybe it wasn’t like this. If the feeling in his heart, that sense of almost bursting apart at the seams, is any indication, this time he has more to give.
He hasn’t been giving her as much as he should, he thinks with a pang of regret. Between the pressures of preparing to rule, and the stressors of the investigation, he has been putting her second and third on his list of priorities.
No more.
He carefully eases out from under her, holding his breath as he reaches for his phone. He needn’t have worried, Emma doesn’t so much as stir. He emails his father, asking him to cover for him during the parliamentary session. Come hell or high water, today he’s taking Emma out on a date.
That is, if he can talk her into dropping the investigation for an hour or two, which admittedly might prove to be a problem.
The quiet reflection of the moment comes to a screeching halt when her phone chimes and she shoots out of bed like she’s on strings.
Still riding the high of new love, he grins at her. “Good morning to you too.”
Trystan sits on his bed, examining the locket they found earlier. There’s no more denying it; Juli and Sebastyan obviously had a romantic relationship at some point. He waits for the pang of hurt and jealousy that’s been stabbing him at irregular intervals since he found out about Juliana’s relationship with one of his siblings.
It doesn’t come.
Confused, he waits. Still nothing.
Well, no. Not nothing. He’s getting better at parsing out his emotions, so he takes stock. Anger, sorrow, regret. Not an ounce of jealousy in sight.
What changed?
It can’t be his love for Emma. He may have completed the fall this morning, but his feelings for her far preceded the crossing line. She’s been the only one he wants to be with since the moment he met her.
So maybe… Maybe it was never about jealousy. Maybe it was feeling like one of the few good memories of his past was now tainted. Like he could no longer cherish his memories of Juliana because he didn’t actually know her.
And that’s nonsense.
The love that he and Juliana shared can’t be undone. It happened, and it helped shape him into who he is. Even if she loved Bas at some point, he knows she loved him, too. She chose him. Just like he chose her eight years ago, and he’s choosing Emma now.
He still loves Juliana, of course. He always will. But he’s not in love with her anymore.
He’s in love with Emma. He will always be in love with Emma.
Acknowledging it is both freeing and bittersweet. He doesn’t know how their future will play out. They’ve both done an excellent job of dancing around the topic but remaining together after the coronation is going to be hard.
They will find a way, he assures himself. He loves her too much to accept anything less.
Emma is a rock during the aftermath of Sebastyan’s murder. He comes to depend on her so much that he can’t see himself ever letting her go.
Grief can bring bright flashes of clarity. In the midst of his sorrow and guilt, Trystan realizes one thing: she’s become the single most important part of his life.
He won’t lose her. He can’t lose her.
He’s furious when Astrid says he and Emma are doomed to break up – all the more so because it brings up all the fears and worries he’s been working hard to bury. He’s been studiously ignoring that little voice in his head that tells him he won’t only be losing his freedom when his father places the crown on his head: he’ll be losing the woman he loves along with it. It feels like he and Emma are standing on a ticking time bomb, and the timer is seconds from going off.
So he stops second-guessing every look and touch. He stops worrying about whether his affection is too forward, too public, too much. Instead, he focuses on enjoying every moment he has with her. He no longer knows if he’ll get many more.
He stands on the dais, the crown weighing heavily in his trembling hands. Dread presses down on his heart, making it hard to breathe. This is it. This is the moment that changes his life. The moment when he loses Emma for good.
He can’t do it.
He’s accepted everything else that life has thrown at him thus far. Tried to make the most of all of it. But he can’t, he won’t, accept losing her. So he makes his choice.
He puts the crown on Lydea’s head, briefly relishing the unfamiliar sense of absolute freedom in his heart, before turning to the assembled guests with a radiant smile.
“Long live the queen!”
He’s lying on the bench with Emma in his arms. She fell asleep minutes ago, her head on his chest and her hair tickling his jaw.
No regrets, she asked. He supposes it’s a reasonable question from Emma’s point of view, but it's almost comically absurd from his own. He’s never had fewer regrets in his life.
She’s the best choice he’s ever made.
@choicesficwriterscreations
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Morning Revelations
From @innytoes prompt list
Julie threw open the studio doors and froze.
Luke was sprawled across the mattress of the pull out sofa apparently sound asleep and completely naked. The blankets were still wrapped around his lower legs but everything above that was pale and smooth. He was hugging one of the pillows and his slightly overgrown mop of hair was covering his face.
She’d expected him to be here. They were supposed to meet to write today but she hadn’t expected him to still be sleeping… and naked.
A towel appeared in front of her face and she jumped.
“Got a little something on your chin Jules.”
She turned to scowl at Reggie who was snickering at her.
“Shut up,” she grabbed the towel from him and then threw it back in his face making him giggle and jump away. “What is he doing sleeping in there?” she hissed.
Reggie shrugged. “He told me he didn’t want to piss you off for being late.”
She growled. “Why is he naked?!”
Reggie rolled his eyes. “Because he’s a walking furnace and always sleeps naked unless we’re sharing a bed.”
“Oh.” Julie frowned. “Where did you and Alex sleep?”
Reggie pointed back to the house. “I slept in the guest room and Alex stayed at Willie’s place. He’ll be here shortly.”
Julie bit her lip as her eyes were drawn back to the sleeping form of her crush.
Nope, nope she did not have a crush on Luke. They were friends and writing partners and band mates and that was all.
“What time did you all get in last night anyway?” The guys had gone out with a band they’d all met last week at their gig. Julie totally wasn’t bitter that she wasn’t twenty one yet and couldn’t go out with them last night or any night they went to a bar or a club unless it was eighteen and up which was rare.
“Luke and I got back around two.”
She’d stayed home, not that she’d had much of a choice and worked on some of her school work for her psychology class so she’d have today free to write and practice with the guys… with Luke.
Julie couldn’t stop staring at him.
The sun was streaming in the bay window making all that pale smooth skin practically glow.
“I kinda wanna touch it.”
“What?”
Julie whipped her head back at Reggie, “Did I say that out loud?” she hissed.
Reggie shook with suppressed laughter. “Yeah, but...seriously” He took a calming breath. “What if he woke up and saw you?” He raised his eyebrows at her. “Are you ready to tell him you like him?”
She wanted to argue, or deny it but he knew, Alex knew, hell everyone knew except for Luke. She thought she’d been painfully obvious for years. Either Luke was really that oblivious or more likely he wasn’t interested in her like that and was just trying to spare her feelings.
She sighed, “No.”
He rolled his eyes, “You two really need to get your crap together.”
“I…” she started to say when there was movement on the bed and Luke started to shift. Julie squeaked and skittered away from the open door. She was not ready to see more than she already had. She’d already seen more than she should have.
Reggie pushed the open door partway closed and turned to frown at her crossing his arms.
“What?”
“Why won’t you just tell him and put all of us out of our misery?”
She rolled her eyes, “Because he obviously doesn’t think of me like that.”
Reggie scoffed. “You’re as blind as he is.”
“You know he,” she pointed toward the sleeping man on the other side of the door. “…could say something to me!” she pointed at herself.
Reggie sighed. “You’re both impossible.”
“I just think you’re wrong Reg.” Julie crossed her arms and huffed. “I know Crystal was with you all last night and she’s been painfully obvious with how much she likes Luke.” Crystal was the bass player for the band the guys went out with last night and she’d been less than subtle with all her arm touching and inane giggling at everything Luke said when they’d all met last week.
“Julie,” Reggie rolled his eyes. “He doesn’t like her. He doesn’t like any of them. He’s in love with you!”
She shook her head and turned away from Reggie’s earnest face. She just couldn’t hear it any more, it hurt too much. Luke was considerate enough not to parade all the girls who flirted with him in front of her but she was sure he must be getting together with them when he and the guys were out partying without her.
Julie could feel the tears trying to well up in her eyes as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. It was fine, he deserved to have fun.
She just didn’t understand how Reggie could stand there and say Luke was in love with her when he’d never said anything. They’d been friends for years now. She’d thought when she was younger it was because he was a couple years older than her but she was nineteen now and far from a kid.
Reggie had to be wrong.
A warm hand tugged on her shoulder, turning her back around.
“Reggie…”
It was Luke.
“What are you…?”
He was looking at her so intently she barely registered his hands on her shoulders. “I promise I don’t like Crystal.”
“You don’t?” she breathed out laying her hand on his chest to steady herself. Thank goodness he’d put some clothes on.
He shook his head and leaned a little closer. “How could I possibly want to be with anyone when you’re all I think about.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “I’m not wrong here am I?” he said as he leaned his forehead against hers. “You want…”
She licked her lips and tilted her head up in invitation. “Yes.”
He smiled before closing the distance between them and pressing their lips together in a soft kiss.
It only lasted for a moment, both of them unable to stop smiling, before there was clapping and hollering behind them.
They broke apart, laughing, to see not only Reggie but Alex and Willie high fiving each other.
“It’s about time you two!” Alex laughed.
“Ok, ok, shows over.” Luke grinned as he slid his arm around her waist. “Jules and I have songs to write.”
“Right,” Alex rolled his eyes and glanced at Willie and Reggie. “We’ll go see if Ray needs any help with anything for a couple hours so you two can go write.” Alex said making exaggerated quotation marks.
She couldn’t stop grinning at him as they walked with their arms around each other toward the studio.
“Just think how much misery we could have spared everyone if we’d just shown Julie Luke’s naked ass ages ago.” Reggie said gleefully as he, Alex and Willie trooped up the stairs.
Julie squeaked and pulled away from Luke completely mortified.
She sprinted the last few feet into the studio as Luke burst out laughing at Reggie’s words.
Check out @1mnobodywhoareyou version of this prompt here. We stan a flustered Luke.
#jatp#julie and the phantoms#juke#happy juke jeudi!#it kind of got away from me#i'm not super happy where it ends but they're all good now#luke was actually awake the whole time#the only reason he had the courage to make the first move#naked bootie for the win
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My favourite performer in each JATP Band Song
I'm just going to be going for the Sunset Curve and Julie and The Phantoms songs actually performed as a band, so unfortunately Perfect Harmony and Unsaid Emily won't be included
I wrote a lot more than expected so under the read more it goes
Now Or Never
Luke takes it home for the first one, maybe it's the sleeveless shirt, maybe it's how he so effortlessly flings his guitar around, but also how bouncy he is throughout the whole song I just know this was one of his favourite songs he had ever written. (Need to note that Reggie is a very close second here because of his 'tooDAYY' and pushing his hair back)
This Band Is Back
Alex 'Come on Reginald' Mercer, my guy was dedicated to becoming a drum for this song just to cheer his buddy up, and he kept rhythm no matter what position he was in, plus he's cute in his shorts. I also do love that it's a Reggie song and I stick to the belief that Reggie wrote it after Luke and Bobby had a minor argument.
Bright
Julie. Her finally getting the courage to not only sing but to sing in front of her school? The little laugh when the phantoms appear?!?!?! THE PRIDE WHEN SHE NOTICES THEY CAN SEE THEM?!?? THE WAY SHE OWNS THE STAGE AND JUST HAS A COMPLETE PERSONALITY CHANGE?!?!? GO JULIE GO!!!! I have to add, most shows with bands would really focus on just the love interests in the band having moments on stage, but every JATP performance is so real and just a group of friends hyping each other up and I love that. OH and the way she lip syncs when Luke's singing into her mic?! Love love LOVE it.
Flying Solo
Julie again, okay the last one I said how Julie pays attention to the whole band but I love how in this one she literally does not spend one second not focusing on Flynn. The way she proudly introduces Flynn to each of the ghosts throughout the song? Ahhhh!! She's gotten so confident after Bright and this shows it. Oh also when Julie and Flynn dancing? (It's something they picked up from dance class 100%)
Finally Free
First of all, a shout out to Reggie's vest. But of course the queen reigns once again, this song is super Julie centric and she's so powerful throughout the whole thing? Like, she singlehandedly made Luke realise he was into her just with this performance alone? Julie Molina was destined to be a star, GOD her voice in this song?! Perfect, perfection, mwah mwah mwah! (Also Alex and Reggie noticing Julie and Luke in that moment? What a time to be not alive)
Edge of Great
Julie and Luke?? There's no way I can split the choice here, how Julie is actively trying to avoid looking at Luke, Luke's confusion but he just carries on until he knows he can get her attention? Julie on the piano, Luke's guitar riffs. Also easily one of my favourite costume moments of the show? The butterfly shirt is something I could write a million words about, because much like a butterfly Julie has really really come out of her cacoon by now. Also we all know the moment at the end has to mentioned, because like come on, even Nick knew Julie was into Luke because of that.
Stand Tall
Right, straight off the bat I can tell you Reggie actually always takes over as my favourite phantom whenever I'm rewatching this performance. His performance is fully next level in this one, the smirk when he manages to appear on stage, the way he goes to the front of the stage with Julie and flicks his bass, when they go back to back to sing?!??!?! Reggie was a totally brand new performer for Stand Tall and he always stands out to me. But also I can't talk about Stand Tall and NOT mention everyone? Alex being the first one to get back on the stage is amazing, because you know he probably had an overwhelming amount of anxiety about it but once he's there he's so relieved. The moment where he stands up and sings? Beautiful. Luke fighting as hard as he can to be in the performance even if it causes him pain. The flawless harmonies he produces even after the stress of getting back to her. JULIE?! JULIE BEING ABLE TO GET BACK ON THAT STAGE THINKING SHE WOULDN'T PERFORM WITH HER BOYS, THINKING SHE WOULD JUST BE SINGING ALONE, BUT DOING IT FOR THEM AND FOR HER MOTHER?!?!? SHOUT OUT TO JULIE MOLINA BECAUSE THAT WAS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT AND REALLY SHOWED HER GROWTH IN CONFIDENCE!!!
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"Feel my heartbeat."
Idc if it's cliche at this point, I WANT IT lol
Rulie or peterpatterlina
If there was one rule when it came to love, was that one could never expect it. Lady Julie knew that more than most-given her propensity for falling for a kind smile and a love of good music. It had gotten her in trouble more than once.
But never like this.
During her season her dance card was always full, and she learned the art of flirtation quickly, fluttering her lashes behind a fan, a sly smile, perfecting her laugh. Everyone expected her to make a particularly good match by the summer's end.
Right now though, there were two suitors fighting neck and neck for her hand, both of whom Julie was quite enamoured by.
Lord Luke Patterson would have been a travelling bard in another life, loving music with a fervour that astounded even Julie. He was also a gifted poet, a sweet soul, and always looked at her as if she rose the sun every morning. Julie looked at him much the same, and always enjoyed sharing a book or walk with him.
Marquis Reginald Peters was comical, always making Julie laugh, whether it was on the dance floor where he cut a fine figure, or out on horseback, a shared favourite pastime of theirs. He referred to Julie as an angel, and the fine blush that painted his features when he said as much thrilled her to no end.
The problem was that Julie cared for them both equally, and could no more choose between them than pick her favourite cloud. Their prospects were close enough to not matter, their manners the same-either would make her a wonderful husband.
And both had hinted they wished to ask for her hand this very night. Leaving Julie to decide which man she wished to spend her life with, making her long for a world in which she did not have to choose.
She unfortunately could not have them both.
That was why she was now wandering out on the patios instead of twirling around the dance floor currently. She had hoped the fresh air would clear her mind and come up with an answer for her. Her mother had urged her to follow her heart, but the traitorous organ was still rebelling against the choice.
She could come to no conclusion, deciding that she might know what to do in the moment and headed back towards the ball. However as she neared the gardens, she heard voices-familiar voices that made her pause.
"How can I be sure this won't change things? That you choosing her will leave you room for me?"
"Hey, feel my heartbeat. Feel that? It belongs to you, it always has. It just... has room for her too."
"As does mine. I just wish..."
"What do you wish?"
"That none of us had to choose."
Julie crept forward, stifling a gasp as she saw her suitors caught in a passionate embrace. One that ignited her, and made her yearn for things proper young ladies should never want.
It also made her see things so much more clearly-all three of them were caught in a cycle of wanting, and terrified of what their choices would mean for those they cared about.
"Why do we have to?"
Her voice broke the men apart, both stammering and blushing, but she holds a hand up to freeze their excuses and explanations. "Do you want to choose?"
Luke steps forward first, ruffling his coiffure into a mess as he gives her a hesitant smile. "Julie...you have to know how much I esteem you. But Reggie...Reggie also holds my heart. Always had, always will. If I could love you both openly, I would."
"And you?"
Reggie fidgets with his cufflinks, pulls at his cravat, his cheeks blooming with a burning blush. "Julie I utterly adore you both. It would be the highest honour to call either of you mine. But I would understand if you wish to decline either offer."
Julie reached forwards, taking their hands in hers, offering them a kind smile. "All this time I have been agonizing over turning one of you down. Of breaking my own heart by doing so, as it holds the both of you equally. I do not wish to choose either. So why should we?"
"You mean... be together? All three of us?" Luke questioned.
"Can we do that?" Reggie asked, but the hint of hope betrayed his feelings.
"I don't see why not," Julie replied. "I know of no law against it. So why choose when we can all be happy together?'
They all shared smiles and glances, before Luke broke the grasp on their hands to pull a small ring from his pocket, oh so carefully sliding it onto Julie's hand. Reggie then followed suit, slipping his own ring onto Julie's other hand, a sign of their vow to one another.
"I do wish we had tokens for each other," he admitted to Luke.
Luke hummed, then tugged his family signet ring from his pinkie, offering it to Reggie with a grin, who traded for his own ring, sliding it home on Luke as the other man repeated the motion.
"There," Julie stated. "We are all agreed-no choice required, only how we are to explain this to the ton at large."
"We'll figure it out," Luke replied.
"Together," Reggie added.
"Together," Julie echoed with a nod. "Now, how about we head back in, as I want to dance with my new fiances."
They all grinned, pulling each other towards the lights of the party, giddy and excited for whatever the future held.
And all of their heartbeats singing with the song of synchronicity and glee-a song of love, for that was the clearest, easiest choice that they never needed to make.
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can I hear about Luke and the Phantoms?
YES!! Thank you!!
I still really love this fic idea even though it's slow writing but I think what I have so far is a lot of fun so I'm excited to share it eventually.
The core premise is that Luke stays behind to flirt with Rose instead of Bobby so he's the one to survive. But I've changed a lot of other things so for instance, the other three boys come back twelve years later and Julie (adopted along with Carlos so they can stay their canon age) is a total fangirl of rockstar Luke Patterson and now has to convince him that she can talk to his three dead bandmates. She breaks into his house. It does not go well.
Alex is also in for a few surprises because turns out Luke is bisexual and was in love with him (cue him going "You literally flirted with some random girl -- sorry, Julie -- while we DIED though?!?!") and is now betrothed to a guy (Willie).
Have a snippet:
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It was a shock to be dead and Alex was pretty sure that nobody could begrudge him a somewhat emotional reaction to this new development. However, dying was almost less shocking than what happened afterwards, because if he had ever thought about his return from death as a ghost, he would certainly not have expected this return to lead him, first of all, into the bedroom of a teenage girl.
There was a lot of screaming, and yes, his voice was pitched exactly as high as the girl’s, but there were more important things to focus on after all. Like why Reggie, Bobby, and he tumbled out of purgatory blackness into this unknown girl’s bedroom, full of purple bed sheets and stuffed animals and popstar posters on the wall. Not that Alex couldn’t appreciate the sight of a half-naked male musician but it was really a bit of an assault just how much of the walls were covered with this particular dude. A dude that looked faintly familiar but before Alex could really focus on that, the girl’s first proper words demanded his attention:
“Oh my God! You’re Sunset Curve!”
“Oh. You’ve heard of us!”
Reggie beamed like he hadn’t just died from a bad hot dog, minutes after reassuring them that ‘street dogs haven’t killed us yet.’ Alex was still determined to have a word with him about that particular sentence but the opportunity hadn’t come up yet, what with dying and digesting not only the deadly hot dog but also their own mortality.
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Remember like....oh god four months ago??? When @look-at-those-niceass-rocks and I had some unhinged things to say about Julie and the Phantoms? Well, our schedules finally lined up again and we have more unhinged things to say! Once again nearly a week after we watched!!! We made it through 4-7, please enjoy
Bee: Y'know, when he (Trevor) said "meditate", I expected him to get tweaked out of his fucking gourd
Me: ...Ah, first thing for the quotes list
Bee: He looks like he doesn't vaccinate his children
*two minutes of haunting later* Bee: No I've changed my mind; he has to be high, he's not reacting correctly to that
We both commented on how Savannah Lee May (Carrie) looked simultaneously fourteen and thirty, but was 20 when the show released (around 19 during filming)
Me: How does it feel knowing she's a year older than me?
Bee: *forcibly remembering we have an age gap friendship* I love it soooooooo much
Caleb: where do we go when that final light is snuffed out?
Bee: Hell, I hope
Caleb: If you'll forgive me fellas, I gotta go pay the bills, if you know what I'm saying
Bee: if he wasn't dead, I'd assume he meant cocaine
Me: I mean it could still be cocaine
Bee: ...ghost cocaine
Bee: homosexual ghost makes a valid point
Me: I love how women weren't working so he (Caleb) sent men to Alex
Bee: I know what you are!
Me: He's an equal opportunity cult leader!
Julie: *Lecturing the boys on letting her down*
Me: No she's right
Bee: Yeah, let her cook!
Me: *dead silence*
Bee: That's. That is what the kids say?
Me: Sometimes I forget about our age gap, and sometimes I become painfully aware of it
Bee: I'M DOING MY BEST OKAY
(after deciding to stop for the night after episode seven)
Me: That'll give us a good stopping point, because the last two episode Hurt
Bee: Oh good, emotional trauma!
(about Ray Molina)
Bee: Look at his forearms, he's a slut!
Me: I mean, yeah! Also, I blame you fully for this newfound type of mine
(muffled voice in the background)
Bee: [Husband] just yelled from the other room asking if I was alright
Willie: *gets caught spying in the garage*
Bee: That wasn't even sneaky! That was his whole-ass head! With a helmet!
Me: Not the ass head
Bee: Motherfucker
Me: Weird way to say butt face
Bee: ...ass butt
Me: Flynn is really pushing this corpse thing
Bee: I wish I could remember my little corpse song
(following "Girls, amiright?" "No!")
Bee: He a little confused, but he got the spirit
Me: He is a spirit!
Bee: Fuck you
Me: :(
Me: That was his (Jeremy Shada's) actual reaction, because that little kissy thing was unscripted
Bee: Oh I believe that, I just watched all thoughts leave his brain
(honorable mention: rewatching that scene at least three times to laugh at Reggie's face)
Luke: (singing) It's never straight-
Us, simultaneously: Me neither
You can find part three here!
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i was looking through my notes app and found some notes i wrote while reading edge of great (the jatp novelisation) in feburary 2021 so i thought i'd post them bc i miss the time when i was so obsessed with jatp i could quote large parts of it from memory:
okay it's thicker than i expected this is a good start
multiple povs?! oh my god yesyesyes
i've read one page and I'm already loving it because i was expecting it to just be a retelling of the action with barely any insight to characters thoughts other than "i was feeling sad :(" but it's giving so much more than that
luke says sunset curve were all "vibing" shdhfnd
the dialogue is slightly different in some places but honestly i don't hate it
a pink flower in a vase next to rose?? the dahlia symbolism is here already people
bobby is a cheesy hopeless romantic confirmed
[luke about trying to be modest] "it was a new look for me, i'll admit." avdhfdhdhd
alex interrupts reggie trying to flirt with rose avdbfjdd i'm loving the new dialogue
THE HOT DOG CART IS BASICALLY CALLED SALMONELLA I-
luke makes a joke about staving to death oh god the dramatic irony
julie's literal first words are "my best friend flynn is amazing" 🥺🥺
JULIE SAID FLYNN WAS HER OTHER HALF 🥺🥺😭
loz feliz performing arts high school??
julie calls carrie cute?? girl-
i've been spelling dirty candi as "dirty candy" this whole time. whoops.
trevor has literal platinum records but the thing julie decides to point out is that one of his songs was in a car advert shdjdjfjf
nooo they took out flynn shouting demon at carrie
julie mentions flynn and how amazing she is at nearly every given opportunity
"flynn and i were always straight with each other" this is meant to a dramatic moment but i'm laughing at this ahdjdnem
julie is a writer!! not just of lyrics/poems, she writes other stuff too!!
she describes the garage as being full of ghosts when referring to memories of her mum... i'm living for all the dramatic irony
ahh julie and ray are speaking in spanish to each other so much more than they did the show
the teacup and spoon rose had been using before she died were still there 🥺
julie says that she felt like her mum was telling her to play the cd ahhh
the first thing she says about the guys is that they're cute JULIE AHDJFK
wavy hair reggie yesss
julie says oh my god instead of oh my gosh
julie doesn't know luke's name so she's calling him floppy acdjfjrks
her reasoning for letting the guys stay in the garage was because she thought it was what rose would've done 🥺🥺
ALEX'S POV HELL YEAH
they took out reggie losing his shirt this is so sad 😔
[alex about julie playing wake up] "i couldn't remember the last time I felt so moved by music that wasn't actually my own."
okay i get why they changed povs but i kind of wish we'd gotten julie's pov while she played wake up
the first episode took up about 1/5 of the book jesus-
they skipped the bit about the only thing scarier than one girl crying being two girls crying 😔
flynn: "instagram" alex: "what-stagram?"
flynn hugs julie after she tells her about playing music again awwww
noo they cut out the scene where ray comes in to the studio ffs stop cutting scenes please
alex: "it tingles in weird places" alex, literally one line later: "well, it did."
according to alex the other describe him as "warm and fuzzy"
also so far everyone's pov has called luke out for being too cheesy
reggie: "i'm gonna guess death breath"
alex is now describing luke as the puppy reggie never had
alex calling luke and reggie his family 🥺😭
when julie went into her room and found the guys messing around she was on her way to text flynn 🥺 this book just makes me love their friendship so much more
reggie is described as having "a mop of hair" god i wish 😔
dahlia symbolism count: 3. so far it's been a vase next to rose, the curtains in the studio, and the flowers in julie's picture of her
luke: "our instruments are attached to our souls." reggie: "and sometimes our belts."
okay so the book confirms that julie found therapy helpful but she just didn't want to go back because she thought others would see her as fragile, which imo is a lot better than in the show when she just seemed like she hated it
they merged alex asking if julie got back into music with luke showing her bright which i get because if they kept everything in the book would be pretty long but... idk i kinda liked how it was just julie and luke when he showed her bright
julie describes the wow performance as being like a superbowl half-time show
list of celebs who've been name-dropped so far: weezer, the smashing pumpkins, katy perry, and harry styles
julie wanted to kiss kayla?!? wlw julie confirmed
YES TIME FOR REGGIE'S POV
reggie's internal dialogue is using way more words than necessary and as an autistic person I relate to that so i'm gonna use this as proof reggie is autistic 😙✌
reggie says how little julie's smiled since they met and is now describing her smile in detail 🥺🥺
me, seeing that reggie's pov is already over: :(
me seeing that it's alex's pov and he's about to meet willie: :D
avxhfjfldnd alex was so mesmerised by how beautiful willie was he forgot to speak 😭😭
damn they took out willie asking alex if he's into guys if he wanted a picture with fake marilyn monroe (they changed it to spider-man)
y'all willie gave alex a hip bump I'm dying over here
"wait, how can i see you again?" god this is killing me i love them 😭🥺
"even if you don't have questions" willie is hardcore flirting and i respect that
"i liked the sound of that" god it's been a few minutes and alex is already whipped agshdndm
dahlia reference number 4 (this time it's a mug)
instead of calling julie "insanely talented" luke calls her "annoyingly talented"
julie canonically uses the word "bonkers" and idk why i love that so much
ahhh i'm already halfway through the book and it's still episode 3
FLYNN'S POV OH MY GOD YES YES YES
i'll look at the pictures first though
okay now onto flynn's pov
maybe this is just me, but why does everyone say "mother" instead of "mom" all the time? it seems weirdly formal but whatever
flynn calls flying solo "our song" (meaning her and julie's) 🥺
svdbfjff whenever alex went to meet willie he just said he was going for a walk
wait, walks? plural?! alex and willie had more interactions and we didn't get to see them?! livid 😤
willie wanted to show alex the museum because it was one of his favourite places... god I'm soft
"i would've followed willie just about anywhere" stoppp this is too much for me 😭🤧
"together. i liked the sound of that." awwefdhehrhe
alex's catchphrase seems to be "I liked the sound of that" rather than "okay"
"so close that I could feel his breath" why did I think they were gonna kiss 💀💀
willie: "feels good, right?" alex: "yeah, it does." alex, in his head: "i was talking about the screaming, but i was talking about being here, now, with willie, too." oh god oh fuck-
"wagging an eyebrow" girl why is that worded so weird 😭💀
nah there's no way luke doesn't know what a sample is
yess we're back to luke's pov 😎
the book confirms that it was luke who wrote "hi bobby" on the mirror but i still refuse to believe it because of the one tumblr post i saw comparing all the boys handwriting and saying it was reggie (also the writing it too neat to be luke's 😌)
they cut the entire julie-sneaks-around-while-flynn-distracts-carrie bit 😔 (and also the guys mooning trevor)
"and the truth was, [julie] was becoming important to me. i hated to let her down." awwww 🥺🥺
sbdjfkfl reggie called the hgc creepy and alex got defensive because it "was willie's place"
when luke said they were "overdressed" they all tucked their shirts in
ffs not the eyebrow wagging again (this time from flynn)
so julie considers carrie as her frenemy and not an actual enemy... inch resting...
"the awkward "joke" just sat in the air like dead fish" abdhfjf what are these metaphors
HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT WILLIE'S POV?!?! I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT HOLY FUCK AHHHHH
awww when alex asked about the lifers being "sworn to secrecy" willie wanted to telm him about caleb owning everyone at the hgc's souls but he couldn't 🥺🥺 if I catch anyone posting willie slander it's on sight 🥊😠🥊
OKAY WHAT I'M LIVID - they reduced the whole "do this forever"/"there's a lot to like here" thing to just the dialogue. literally no mentions of the lingering glances or luke's "you got a crush on willie". fucking disgraceful. i hate it here.
THERE - WE LITERALLY HAVE PROOF THAT WILLIE DIDN'T KNOW CALEB WANTED THE GUYS TO JOIN HE HGC WILLIE ANTIS CAN GO HOME NOW
willie watched the guys getting stamped and said it felt like his stomach was filling with lead SEE I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY WILLIE SLANDER IN THIS HOUSE
willie noticed alex looking into the crowd before leaving and wondered if he was looking for him... do tell me willie who else could he possibly be looking for
"alex said, looking stressed (then again, when did alex look not stressed?)" avshdnfmfr
julie describes nick's voice as "soft" and "graveled"
apparently julie has had a crush on nick since kindergarten, and in kindergarten nick cried because he couldn't get the lid off of his glue stick
luke says that knowing he let julie down at the dance hurt more than caleb's jolts 🥺🥺
the boys' little "sorry" song has it's lyrics written the same way the other songs, the ones actually in the soundtrack, do. tell me jatp why the sorry song isn't on the soundtrack right now 🔫😠
literally no mention of alex's dancing what in the homophobia
according to julie, finally free is about the power of connecting through music, but i still choose to believe it's a gay anthem about coming out
when julie saw her dad cooking breakfast and humming finally free she "almost died from how cute it was"
wait i just realised throughout this whole book there's been barely any mentions of julie and luke sharing the mic, and nothing about luke and reggie sharing either, and julie waking through luke in bright was just ignored. disgusting.
julie canonically thinks ray is the best dad ever 🥺🥺
that being said I'm pissed the book cut reggie from this scene
julie describes herself as being "charmed" by luke being nervous jskdkkdhs
flynn's pov again babey 😎
lmao nevermind the chapter was two pages long
also the whole perfect harmony sequence is just cut and all we hear is julie mention it to flynn... bruh
reggie and alex both see how hard luke is simping for julie and just give each other shit-eating grins whenever he mentions her dgehdjdj
when willie tells alex he can't explain why he's spying on him alex says "and to think i had felt there had maybe been something between us" fuckk
alex wondered if willie had ever had feelings for him or if he was playing him the whole time 🥺😭 bby nooo
they cut girls amirite... no one talk to me...
y'all... i think, other from julie, alex has had the most pov chapters... interesting...
the boys were literally so distressed about flynn eating pizza when they could smell it and not eat it and said they'd die of deprivation sgdhdjfkd
alex: *was choking back a sob*
willie: *was choking back a sob*
me: *was also choking back a sob*
😃 wtf... when willie says he cares about alex and hates that he brought them all into this mess, alex snaps at him... bro wtf that is not what happened and doesn't fit in with what alex was feeling in that moment at all... fuck this book
julie hugs flynn in the book at lot more than in the show so maybe it does have rights after all...
they've made a "face the music" pun at least 5 times so far in this book
wait - luke says that julie played his parents unsaid emily implying she sang it?? yo...
"but there was nothing I could say, nothing I could do, to make things better. so instead, I watched her go." why does that line hit so hard
"i pulled him in for a quick hug" lmao girl no
I JUST REALISED they cut the "i would've still followed you" scene 😭 the homophobia of it all 💀💀
'"i won't forget you," he said before spoofing out. Me either.' god don't do this to me today 🥺🥺
"with my smoothest dance move" now THAT'S the alex i know and love
the promoter and his assistant have names now: frank and tasha
the book's nearly over and i just realised there were barely any reggie pov chapters 🥺 not only is he my comfort character i also really liked his internal dialogue... oh well 😔
they really let there be spelling mistakes in this book smh
"who knew sunset boulevard smelled like cat pee and old takeout containers? not very glamorous, given that this was my hollywood rockstar dream."
"the music filling me like air - like joy" god I love that line
julie feels the need to point out how good luke looks in his tuxedo avdhdndmd
"i'm gonna miss you." "not as much as we're gonna miss you." oh god oh fuck-
wait THEY GRABBED HANDS ON STAGE??! AM I MISSING SOMETHING!?!?
"are you real?" "we were always real. But now... maybe... we're here?"
okay so i finished it and it was fun to read overall but i felt like past episode 3 was very rushed and condensed (makes sense since episode 3 finished past the half-way point of the book) and it stopped being as well written (barely any internal dialogue and descriptors), and some moments were mischaracterised heavily (including a lot of the willex) and juke just didn't seem developed at all. also i wish reggie had gotten more pov chapters since he's, y'know, a main character. i'm pretty sure he got, like, 2 :( also a lot of the music scenes lacked emotion but since this is an adaptation of something with music without music i'll let it slide. it was still nice to read either way.
#unfortunately my brain lost the capacity to be completely and utterly obsessed with jatp#but it still holds a special place in my heart#lova's terrible posts#jatp#julie and the phantoms#the edge of great#jatp book#jatp novelisation#julie molina#alex mercer#luke patterson#reggie peters#willie jatp#willie wilbur williamson#flynn taylor#flynn jatp#carrie wilson#ray molina#caleb covington
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canonically, how are each member of the batfam these days? I don't keep up with the comics because it's a mess and the characterization varies so much (especially Dami)
As of 8/2/2022
(spoilers ahead)
Bruce, Dick, Tim, Steph, Cass, Duke, Babs, and Selina all appeared in Batman #126, which just came out today. So far the storyline about piecing together the Penguin's lineage, including an introduction to two new members of the Cobblepot family. This specific issue did a good job of showcasing how the batfamily works together in an intense fight against Failsafe, however, the battle takes up a large chunk of the story—I give that part a 7/10 because Failsafe wasn't exactly the most compelling antagonist and the fight was a bit out of the blue. The focus also did lean more heavily on Dick than the other batkids. However, Selina's concurrent story with piecing together the Penguin's family made up for that as we uncover a new dimension to a long-time Batman villain. The expected release date for the next issue is September 6th, so hopefully they can clean it up a little then.
Jason appeared in Task Force Z #10 on July 26th. Jason and what remains of the team after the previous 9 issues are investigating Power Industries, where in a HUGE twist, they discover that Bane was Nobody the entire time (yes, the Nobody). The artwork fits the tone of the story and Jason's characterization has been pretty good, sort of on par with Urban Legends. I thought this was gonna be a filler issue so I was pleasantly surprised when they just jumped right into the main point. Also, I love seeing Jason's dynamic with Amanda Waller and other villains because it reinforces the fact that he's not 100% good or bad (as fandom likes to polarize him as)—he's versatile and can get along with people all over the moral spectrum. The projected release date for the next issue is 8/23.
Meanwhile, Damian's latest appearance was in Robin #16, which came out on July 26th, where Lord Death Man (yes, that weirdo) puts Damian's investigation into the Lazarus Island on pause. Flatline then calls Damian and Connor Hawke to Tokyo to deal with Lord Death Man, so we get a bit of international traveling bits. Mara Al Ghul and the Batman of Japan also appear in this, if you wanna count them as batfam? I like that this balances the sharper edges of Damian's personality with the classic Robin charm and I do kind of wish the series wasn't ending (alas, DC won't allow its characters to grow up). I also like that the setting of this story influences the artwork—you can see the subtle manga influences. Next issue comes out on 8/23. Overall I give this run an 8/10 because it explores a new, slightly more mature version of Damian's character, but I'm taking two points off because Lord Death Man annoys me to no end.
We see Alfred in Batman: One Dark Knight #3, which came out on 7/26. The story is a simplistic mini-run with good art as Batman nears the end of his journey to Blackgate. I like that this story takes place over a single night rather than stretched over a few days/weeks/etc. like we normally see—it's almost like Batman's typical Tuesday night. Alfred is still alive here, so it's nice to hear his sarcastic sense of humor after missing him for so long—it's sort of like seeing a family member at the airport. This comic also establishes him as DC's best trash-talker in his classic Alfred Pennyworth style. If I recall the miniseries is done, but the hardcover comes out on 9/13.
Luke Fox makes a cameo in Harley Quinn #18. Yes, that came out today too (#19 comes out on the 9th). Apparently the JLA left some old science experiments on their moon base so Luke puts together a team of former villains to... send them to the moon and clean it up (including Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, Bronze Tiger, and Killer Frost). I just read it and I'm too confused to actually criticize at the moment. First, I think Task Force XX is a dumb name—it sounds like an account on an adult website. Second, I think the artwork is alright in that you have all these bright, poppy designs, but the bodies and expressions feel kinda stiff and off-putting. I think it has potential to be one of the more absurd, fun, campy storylines, so I'll hold out and see where this goes.
An alternate-universe Thomas Wayne closes in on the Clockwork Killer in Flashpoint Beyond #4, which also came out today. However, Dexter Dent gets in the way with his own mission to break his mother out of Arkham. I already had skepticism about Flashpoint Beyond because I tend to be skeptical about a lot of alternate timelines and was never the biggest fan of Thomas Wayne as Batman or Martha as the Joker. I don't know if I should be happy or not that they proved me right, because this run has been moving a bit slowly—it feels like they're dragging what could be summarized in 4 sentence out to 32 pages. Overall I'd say it's a 4/10 (since the artwork isn't too shabby). Again, I'm biased because I never liked the Thomas Wayne concept in the first place so take it with a pinch of salt. Next issue also comes out 9/6.
#ask#anonymous#personal#batfamily#batfam#batboys#batbros#batkids#batsiblings#batman family#dc comics#tw violence mention
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Never have I ever....enemies to lovers?
I haven't done this yet but... I think if I ever start venturing into writing for another fandom, I might want to explore Ranma/Ryoga in Ranma 1/2 but I'm not there yet so... in JatP:
This is requiring intentional thought so I’m gonna try to make it Reggie, just for you! 😀 But gosh, it’s hard to make anybody Reggie’s enemy. Let’s see what we can do. It also got long so I'm gonna put in a cut.
It starts as a simple misunderstanding when they’re small children (turns out we’re gonna make this PeterPatterLina. There will also be no [intentional] murder attempts so consider this enemies lite™).
Luke stole the swing Reggie wanted at recess when they were in kindergarten and he decided that they were enemies for life. Over time, he forgets the reason that he hates Luke (and Luke never figures it out). Luke also started to dish the hate back, they don’t turn full bully on each other but it’s close. A “harder than strictly necessary” hip check into the pool or tackle in PE, mostly harmless pranks like stinky food hidden in lockers and letting the air out of their bike tires. Their friends refuse to take part in their weird little feud while also exchanging amused looks because… dudes sometimes look VERY flirty.
New teachers at the school unwittingly pair them together for group work (seasoned teachers gave up trying to force their reconciliation years ago) and it never goes well, they’re both more invested in the others’ demise than their own grades.
There are unspoken rules: they never mess with each others’ instruments or families.
Anyway, Julie and Reggie are best friends/on the cusp of will they/won’t they dating, and she’s neutral on Luke, completely understanding that this long-standing feud is probably based on something ridiculous. She gets paired with Luke for some sort of songwriting assignment and is granted access to a completely different side of them than she’s ever gotten to know before. They build a friendship of their own, kind of on the DL while Julie is also trying to explain to Reggie that he doesn’t actually need to hate this guy.
Cue weird miscommunication drama when Reggie finds out. He and Julie are in a fight and he won’t listen to reason, she ends up dating Luke, Reggie falls further into a spiral until maybe something happens that loosens him up some and he winds up spilling his guts to someone, maybe Flynn or Alex. How he feels betrayed and abandoned by the girl he loves. Maybe it’s Alex. And Alex can help him see that Luke doesn’t even know why Reggie hates him and Reggie realizes that he no longer has any idea either.
It takes him some time but he reaches out to Julie again to reconcile and they both apologize and hug and cry. He and Luke broker a truce of sorts and Reggie is still heartbroken but he shoves it down to support his best friend. After extended time pining and learning that he and Luke actually missed out on the possibility of THEM being best friends, he starts to develop feelings for Luke too and cue another crisis.
The two sets of friends wind up becoming unbelievably close, doing all of the things we’d expect from them, and Luke and Julie both realize how much they love Reggie too and i don’t really want to rely on drunkenness but it fits so maybe they wind up at a party and wind up under the influence of something and Luke kisses Reggie and *insert bi panic here* and then hop, skip, and jump to PaterPatterLina. 😅
THANK YOU!
never have I ever
#i didn't mean to kick Reggie#I'm sorry#but also making anybody hate him is SO HARD#answered ask#ask game#jatp#reggie peters#peterpatterlina
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i find the whole deb ball thing in tsitp so stupid like that wasn’t even a plot point in the book so why this…. i get that this show is probably mainly written to be wish fulfillment for 13 year olds and the whole ‘polite society’ scene is popular i guess but this show is playing everything straight and its just boring. like obviously i don’t expect the show to engage with any political implication nor do i want it to but at least gossip girl did it in a more ironic way and it actually fit the show (but i haven’t rewatched those eps in a long time to be fair). if the point is supposed to be about belly becoming more confident and self assured.. well. they didn’t do that either!
yeah because the issue is they aren't doing anything with cotillion or the deb ball or anything really. there's no drama in this teen drama.
with gossip girl, the peacocking of the event is emphasized
but it's also used -- and not very well imo but much much better than whatever they're doing here -- to emphasize what is going to be the primary issue between dan and serena which is class/insider vs. outsider
and it's also used to ramp up the tension in the triangle between blair and chuck and nate
it's also used to show that lily now accepts dan at the very same time that rufus doesn't want to let the mistakes of the past repeat in the present but their kids are dating
like the cotillion actually represents something, same thing with the o.c.
so, the o.c.'s cotillion is my favourite cotillion and it's because so much drama that has been building up for three episodes erupts at cotillion (and that's a the o.c. theme -- if things are brewing, it's all going to explode publicly at a function, it already happens the episode before at casino night) and it works because it also connects to various themes that put pressure on the actual event.
the episode begins with sandy and kirsten formally asking ryan if they can become his guardians and he's like yes, and they're like great but that means you can't get into any trouble because you're on probation and CPS is up our ass, it also means that ryan -- the outsider -- has to partake in cohen family traditions like going to cotillion so there's that pressure.
plus there's the marissa and luke and ryan triangle and they're all going to be at cotillion and luke and ryan essentially always fight when they see each other so there's that tension. and luke tries to instigate a fight at a pre-cotillion party and ryan's trying to keep his temper in check.
jimmy has been stealing from his clients who are all a part of the community he lives in and has asked kirsten for a loan to cover up his debt obviously no one knows that he's been stealing from them but the walls are closing in, officers show up at his house in like the second episode.
seth is somewhere pining for summer.
and then all the actions happens at the biggest event of the season -- luke breaks up with her,
ryan and marissa get to dance which adds to their buildup and julie's hatred of ryan intensifies
summer has no date, anna's introduced so we're kicking off another love triangle
holly -- who is marissa's friend -- her dad punches jimmy out in the middle of the waltz, which starts a bit of a brawl and alienates marissa and her family from everyone else
and it all matters
nothing about this deb ball seems to matter except for the fact that susannah just really wants to see belly attend before she dies. the biggest thing i can see happening at this ball is susannah collapses at it and now belly, jere and steven will find out that she has cancer but even the susannah has cancer and is hiding it from everybody plot line doesn't feel like it's a ticking time bomb where you're just waiting for everyone to figure out what's going on and it's going to be awful because it mostly consists of susannah sleeping sometimes, there isn't this impending sense of dread.
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Top 5 all-time favorite ships?
TEA!!!
Warning - this list is literally just the same m/f couple in different fonts. A lot of these were more formative and influential in my childhood or were from series that are from a couple years ago. I am naming these as my top five because of how insane I went over them/how hard I hyperfixated on them.
When I made this list I was disappointed to realize that there hasn't been a wlw couple from a series or movie that has influenced me this powerfully, but I hope to find it soon and if you have any recs lmk! :) Will also include honorable mentions!
1. Kirsten Clark and Cameron Goodkin, Stitchers (2015-2017)
This is tied with Julie and the Phantoms for one of my biggest hyperfixations ever. Kirsten and Cameron were a slowburn that was done really beautifully and nobody was doing it like them. I watched this show at a very pivotal developmental point in my life, and I think these two taught me a lot about the work that a relationship takes and the fact you have to be willing to put it in - they were a healthy relationship example for me at a time that it was necessary for me to see it. They have a lot of character development over 3 seasons but grow together in healthy ways, and the writers kind of bake it into the plot that they're meant to be lmao. They also are just a great example of loving someone for everything that they are. They definitely made me a little mentally ill but also inspired me to be a writer, so...
2. Julie Molina and Luke Patterson, Julie and the Phantoms (2020)
I don't know how long you have been following me anon, but if I've been on your dash at all in the past couple years, it was most definitely related to Julie and the Phantoms, and probably related to Julie and Luke. In one season, they had insane development and beautiful chemistry. The way their characters were written made them naturally fit together, and made me cry "soulmates!" quite often. I will forever mourn what they could have been, and be grateful for some of the most stellar works of fanfiction I've ever read that were produced in their name.
3. Anne Shirley Cuthbert and Gilbert Blythe, Anne With An E (2018-2020)
Technically they're from the whole Anne of Green Gables Universe but AWAE is one of my Shows Of All Time ™ lol so I'm crediting them to the show!!! Just everything about them..amazing. Definitely gave me unrealistic expectations for love tho bc who tf assaults a man and still bags him in the end!??? Anne. She's that bitch and I haven't reached that yet but I'm working towards it.
4. Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, Pride & Prejudice (2005, dir. Joe Wright)
This is another one of those ships where I'm like if you've followed me long enough you could have seen this coming lol. These two are from the general Pride & Prejudice Universe, first created by the lovely Jane Austen, but P&P 2005 is by far my favorite movie of all time, and it is still breathtaking every time I watch it. Keira Knightley and Emmy Award Winner Matthew Macfadyen are really a perfect pair and their adaptations of the characters are so genuine and whole. Everything I do, I do for them.
5. Nina Martin and Fabian Rutter, House of Anubis (2011-2013)
My original Ship of All Time. Was very mentally ill over them. I rewatched this show last year and I expected to be like "oh god this is cringe how did young me like this so much" but instead I was like "oh god this is so well written how could anybody hate this show." Yes it has its silly moments but I could write essays on how well it was written. The foundation of trust between Nina and Fabian was more powerful than any "do you trust me?" YA teen fantasy movie moment of the 2000s. Fabian was the blueprint for every fictional crush I have had since.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa, Six of Crows Duology and Shadow & Bone TV series
Aziraphale and Crowley, Good Omens
Su-hyeok and Nam-Ra, All Of Us Are Dead
Joyce Byers and Jim Hopper, Stranger Things
Zoya Nazyalensky and Alina Starkov, Shadow & Bone Trilogy and TV series (yes I am a Zoyalina truther sorry)
Dan Humphrey and Blair Waldorf, Gossip Girl (will I receive hate for this one? to be determined)
Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson, Stranger Things
John B and Sarah Cameron, Outer Banks
Ethan and Sarah, My Babysitter's a Vampire
#chloes answers#stitchers#jatp#juke#awae#shirbert#pride and prejudice 2005#pride and prejudice#house of anubis
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“you want to kiss me don’t you” “i love you that’s all”
This had to be illegal.
Like, it just had to be.
Who gave her boyfriend the right to be this way?
Julie had been grumpy when she woke up that morning. The last few months, she’d grown used to being gently coaxed awake by sweet, slow kisses against her face and neck and shoulders rather than the harsh blare of her iPhone’s alarm that she didn’t even realize it belonged to her when it initially blasted through her consciousness. Then, when she finally came to the realization that it was her alarm, she blindly fumbled her hand across the bed in search of the warmth of Luke’s body so that she could nudge him into turning the offensive sound off.
Her search for warmth turned up empty, and she peaked a bleary eye open to look for him across the rest of the room.
He was nowhere to be found.
With a huff, Julie wiggled her way across the mattress to reach the nightstand and banged her fingers against the tempered glass of her phone until the alarm finally turned off and the room was filled with quiet once more.
Where was he?
Outside the bedroom, out towards the kitchen and living room, Julie tuned into the sound of sizzling on the stove and muffled laughter. The smell of blueberry pancakes, a favorite of Luke’s, permeated through to her brain. Instantly, she knew the boys had come over for breakfast.
She tried not to be too disappointed.
It wasn’t that she didn’t love Alex and Reggie, because she did. God knows she loved the two of them more than anything in the world. But she just couldn’t shake the feeling of waking up on the wrong side of the bed (or in this case, waking up to the rudest of alarms instead of the raspy mumbles of “I love you”s into her ears), and a petty pout was etched deep onto her lips by the time she stumbled out of her bedroom in her pajamas a minute later.
As she’d expected, Alex and Reggie were propped up in barstools on one end of the island as they watched Luke attempt to flip a pancake Julie was positive was bigger than her head without it tearing or folding on itself. When he managed the flip and set the whole pan back on the burner, he stuck his tongue out in victory at the other two boys while they cheered for him.
And, yeah, this was pretty rude of him.
Honestly, who did he think he was?
He’d obviously also rolled out of bed just in time for the boys to get here. His hair was still mussed from his pillow, sticking up in fluffy little waves every which way around his head. In a rare moment of decency he’d thrown on a fully sleeved bright blue hoodie over his toned upper body, sweatpants and bare feet completing his lazy Sunday ensemble. The strings of his hood were tied together in a cute little bow to keep them from dipping down into the pancake batter.
In other words, he looked really freaking cute and snuggly.
He must’ve woken early and slipped out of bed to let her sleep in a little longer while he started on breakfast for all of them.
The idea made it much harder for her to be grumpy with him over it.
Harder, but not impossible.
Reggie noticed her first, shooting her a bright grin across the kitchen along with a wave Julie considered entirely too enthusiastic for 8 am on a Sunday. His movement caught the attention of Alex and Luke, too, who both smiled at her but didn’t have the audacity to be quite so overly cheerful at such an early hour.
“Mornin’, boss. Sleep okay?” Luke left his spot at the stove to pick up Julie’s favorite mug from next to the coffee pot and pressed it gently into her hands. It was already steaming, filled to the brim with creamy coffee she automatically knew had one scoop of sugar just the way she liked it. Once he was sure she’d adequately grasped the cup, he slid back to his spot in front of the stove to flip some bacon frying away in a pan.
Julie frowned. Was that all? No good morning kiss? Not even a hug? A pat on the back?
“Fine,” she mumbled, taking a gulp of the coffee (she was right, he’d made it just how she liked) before rounding the island and settling into the other seat next to Alex.
Conversation carried on after that with a few attempts to get Julie involved, but it soon became apparent to all the boys in the room that she was in no mood to participate. Alex, ever the understanding best friend, allowed her to stew in her silence with no further comment or attempt to pull her in. Reggie tried a little harder but eventually gave up as well. Luke shot her several confused and concerned looks across the island.
Finally, a massive stack of pancakes was assembled on a platter next to a pack of bacon, and Alex and Reggie hurried to bring all the food and dishware off to the dining room for them to enjoy. Julie went to help but was stopped by Luke snagging the material of her (read: his) shirt and pulling her straight into his chest.
“What’s got you being such a grump this morning, hmm?” He pressed the lightest of kisses to the tip of her nose as his fingers snuck under the hem of the Poison tee on her torso, catching against her waist to hold her flush against his front.
“Nothing,” she huffed. “I just woke up all alone and then I came out here and you look so cuddly right now and I didn’t even get a hug or anything!”
Her outburst was a little more truthful than she intended, and she froze cautiously. How much was he going to tease her over this?
His eyebrow raised, and he regarded her in silence for a moment. Finally, “You want to kiss me, don’t you?”
Julie felt her eyes roll more than it was a conscious decision. Her fingers caught the bow tied in the front of his hoodie to tug him down toward her. “Yes.”
Luke reacted the second her lips met his, pulling her in more securely against him by her waist and sliding one hand up to hold against the back of her neck. The kiss was sweet, and maybe a little more enthusiastic than their usual morning kisses, but could you blame her? She walked out to him looking all snuggly in a hoodie making her blueberry pancakes, for crying out loud. Luke returned everything she gave him, all love and passion and a little bit of humor rolled into one really nice good morning kiss. When Julie grew aware of the company in the next room and pulled away, he held her close and trailed kisses across her jaw back toward her ear, where he pressed one last lingering peck that had her sighing and melting back into his chest.
“Why didn’t you just say so, Jules? Want me to tell the boys to enjoy it on their own? We can go back and have breakfast in bed if you want.” Luke’s mossy eyes darted around her face, trying to get a read on what she wanted. She could tell he was nothing but sincere, and she fell in love with him a little more.
“No! It’s okay, really. Sorry for being grumpy. I love you, that’s all.” Julie squeezed him around the waist in reassurance.
His face slipped into that little look of awe he got every time she said those words, as if the admission that she loved him was the strength he needed to go to battle against every shitty record producer and nasty tabloid they’d ever meet. And then,
“Yeah, I love you too, boss.”
She knew.
#juke#juke prompts#jatp#julie and the phantoms#julie x luke#jukebox#luke patterson#julie molina#jatp juke#jukeboxsource#my writing
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Also if it's not too much could you do 5 for Willex?♡
Of course!!
Here is 5. Our friend is too good at telling ghost stories at this sleepover, can I please sleep in your bed with you? for you <3
Remember when I said that the first Halloween prompts fic I wrote was long with 1.9k words? Well this one is longer, rip, you're welcome.
Thanks @legolasghosty, have some baby gays
Willex and Found Family. 2.5k words. Rated G.
“Do you wanna come too?” Julie had asked and Willie had never responded with a nod quicker than that lunch period. Did he want to come to the legendary Halloween party Julie had apparently been hosting—or her parents had been hosting—for four years now? Absolutely, there was no question.
Willie’s mom dropped him off at Julie’s house.
“And you’re gonna call me if you want me to pick you up early, alright?”
“Yes, mom,” Willie promised. “But it’s gonna be fine. They’re my friends.”
“I know they are.” Willie’s mom smiled at him with that fond smile that she only used when she was still worried about him but didn’t want him to know. “But you’ve only known them for a couple of weeks. Are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up at eleven?”
Willie gave her a pass for being worried. She was right. He had known them only for a couple of weeks, but they had basically adopted him when he had turned up on the first day of middle school. For him, it had not only been a new school environment like for all of the others, but he had been in a new state as well. He’d been completely helpless until they’d seamlessly integrated him into their friend group just two months ago.
“Yes, I’m sure. I want to stay.” Willie pondered for a moment, trying to think of something that would calm her down. “Alex will be there. And Reggie, you know Reggie.”
“Ah, yes. Reggie. He’s nice.”
“Yes, Reggie’s nice. And so are his friends. And they are my friends too.”
His mom sighed but she did seem a little calmer than before. “Okay. Did you pack a toothbrush? You’re gonna be eating a lot of candy.”
Willie couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “Yes, I packed a toothbrush and I’m gonna use it before we go to bed.”
“Alright. If you don’t call me earlier then I’ll pick you up at 11am tomorrow, alright?”
“Sounds great, thanks.” He opened the door to exit the car but turned to her one last time. “See you. I love you.”
She smiled at him. “Love you too. Have fun!”
Willie barely got to say, “I will,” before he got swept away by Reggie rushing towards him. They both waved goodbye to Willie’s mom but Reggie was already pulling Willie towards what looked like to be a garage. Was that where the party was held?
“You’re gonna love it,” Reggie promised immediately. “I don’t know what you already know, but this is gonna be the best party of your life.” Willie didn’t want to tell him that this was also gonna be like the first party of his life. “First we’re gonna have a Halloween themed dinner, Rose—that’s Julie’s mom by the way—made pumpkin soup, and she’s gonna serve it in an actual pumpkin! Then we’re going trick or treating. Then when we’re back we’re gonna set up for scary ghost stories, and then maybe we’re gonna watch a scary movie—are you allowed to watch scary movies? And then maybe more ghost stories, we’ll see. Luke and I dared each other to see who can stay up the longest. I vote me, but that depends on how much candy I’m gonna eat. Who do you think will win? Oh! Do you want to join the dare?”
Reggie kept talking up until he pushed open the doors of the garage for them, fake spider webs littering the windows and specks of a ghost fairy light shining through. Willie barely had the chance to take a breath between Reggie’s rambling.
He was pleasantly surprised to see that the inside of the garage looked nothing like what he expected a garage to look like. It was really cozy, a lot of plants, an impressive grand piano, more instruments, and an abundance of Halloween decoration. It also had a loft, but it seemed like that was mostly used for storage.
The floor of the garage was already decked out with mattresses, blankets, and more pillows than Willie could count with just one blink of his eyes. Julie and Alex were fluffing them up and throwing them to different mattresses, apparently checking that everyone had an equal amount, probably to prevent arguments. Flynn and Luke were bustling around too and they all looked up when Willie and Reggie entered.
“Hey guys,” Luke greeted immediately.
Willie waved a little awkwardly.
“I’m so glad you could make it!” Julie called. “Do you have a preference where you want to sleep? Luke has already claimed the couch, but I think that one’s,” she pointed at the one closest to the door, “and that one’s still free.” Now she pointed to one closer to the loft.
“No, I already claimed that one, I don’t want to sleep in the middle,” Alex pointed out almost anxiously, as if anyone was gonna take it from him.
“Oh. Then the one next to that,” Julie corrected.
Willie looked over at Alex protectively putting a pillow down on his mattress. Willie thought Alex was very pretty, with his blond hair and that careful expression and the pink shirts he liked to wear sometimes. Today he was already wearing his Halloween costume, which wasn’t pink, but looked good anyways. They always did group costumes, this year’s theme was The Avengers, and Alex was dressed as Captain America. Willie thought it was very fitting. Alex the golden boy. Willie liked Alex.
“Yeah, that one’s good,” he told Julie.
“Okay perfect!” She grinned at him. She also looked great in her Thor costume. “You can put your bag down wherever, I think mom will call us for dinner soon.
Reggie let go of Willie’s arm so Willie could put his bag down on his mattress. He smiled at Alex as he passed him and Alex smiled back, which made Willie feel all tingly inside.
“Nice costume,” Flynn commented when she walked past him.
“Oh, thanks.” Willie looked down at his Black Widow outfit. He also thought it was pretty cool. “Your’s too.”
“I know, thanks.” Flynn twirled in her Hawkeye costume, even though there wasn’t much to twirl. “I’m so excited you wanted to switch with me, I think we look so much cooler like this.”
Willie nodded in agreement, not really sure how to respond.
“Hey guys, mom just said that dinner’s ready,” Julie announced and everyone scrambled to get inside the house. Even Willie was excited to finally try the soup Reggie was gushing about.
***
Reggie had been right. The soup was amazing, and Rose really did serve it in a hollowed out pumpkin, it was so cool. So was trick or treating afterwards. Willie had never been with such a big group, let alone one that exciting. People had recognized their costumes and loved them, and they all got some great candy in their baskets. Willie was a little scared of the sugar rush they were gonna experience later in the evening, but when he looked at all the bright smiles on his friends’ faces, and felt the one on his own, then he was also looking forward to it.
When they got back to the garage, they changed out of their costumes and into their PJs. There was a small bathroom in the garage and they all took turns trying to help Luke scrub off the green paint he insisted on wearing for his Hulk costume. In the end his face was more red than green from all the vigorous scrubbing, with only some edges of paint at his hairline and under his chin. He didn’t care.
They decided to watch a scary movie first, to get into the right mood for their ghost stories. Willie didn’t know if he liked scary movies, he’d never really watched one, let alone without his parents. To his relief, the movie Reggie and Flynn chose wasn’t that scary. Although he got jumpscared a couple of times, Willie was by far not the one who was most terrified by what was happening on screen. That title definitely went to Alex.
While Reggie and Luke were watching excitedly, leaning forward on the couch to get a little closer to the TV, and Flynn and Julie were huddled together but still watching nervously, Alex was completely turned away from the screen. He and Willie were sitting on a mattress, leaned again the legs of their friends on the couch, and Alex seemed so close to burying his face in Willie’s shoulder to not have to watch or hear the movie. Willie wouldn’t have minded. He would offer his shoulder if he didn’t feel so awkward about talking during a movie.
It was equally bad when their movie was finished and they were sitting in a circle, eating candy, and taking turns telling ghost stories. Willie’s wasn’t very scary, it was more funny, but he was elated that he was able to make his new friends laugh. Reggie’s was really good. It was very elaborate, he had obviously been thinking about it for a while. Luke however dominated the game. His story was terrifying. Willie didn’t know what it was, but Luke had a way with words that had even Flynn running her hands up and down her arms to soothe her goosebumps. Alex was visibly mortified. He didn’t have anything to turn away from so he just gaped at Luke like he was telling the most disturbing thing. In a way he was right.
By the time they’d all told a more or less scary story, it was 11pm and they were all exhausted. Luke and Reggie both looked ready to lose the dare for a good night’s sleep. They decided to just get ready for bed, lay on their mattresses, and see what happened, if anyone got up for another scary story, or had something else to talk about.
In the end Luke lost the dare. He was the first out of all of them to fall asleep, but he’d had the most candy, so his sugar high had the biggest after effects. Reggie and Julie quickly followed, Reggie satisfied with having won the dare and Julie tired after being the world’s best party host. Flynn, Willie, and Alex stayed up a bit longer, giggling about whatever came to their minds at this late hour, but Flynn followed her sleeping friends not that long after.
“How’d you like the party?” Alex asked eventually.
Willie smiled. “I loved it, I had so much fun. I can’t remember ever staying up this late.” He turned to look at Alex but couldn’t see very much in the dark. “You’re all so cool.”
He heard Alex shift in his bed. “We were all glad you could come. I—I think you’re really cool too.”
“Really?”
Willie heard Alex nod by the rustle of his pillow case. “Yeah. You’re really funny. And—and I loved your costume. And you have a skateboard. That’s cooler than all of us.”
That made Willie giggle. “You think so?”
“Totally. So cool.”
Willie’s chest ached in that beautiful, proud way. “I really liked your costume too, by the way.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. So cool.”
Now he heard Alex giggle quietly.
There was a rustle from the other side of room.
“What was that?” Alex squeaked, maybe a little too loud. Willie hoped he didn’t wake anyone.
“Probably just Luke on the couch. It makes sounds.”
“But not like that.” Alex turned on the mattress. “You don’t think it’s the monster from Luke’s story, do you?”
“What? No, don’t worry. That’s not real.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Yeah, how was Willie so sure?
“I—I just know. I have a skateboard, I know a lot. And I’m older than you.”
Alex swallowed audibly. “That’s true.”
There was another rustle. Alex let out a little yelp.
“Hey, it’s okay, that was Reggie,” Willie reassured immediately. He was sure that was Reggie.
“I don’t know.”
“Go to sleep, Alex. No monster can get to you when you’re asleep.”
“That’s stupid,” Alex muttered.
“Have you ever been surprised by a monster in your sleep?”
Alex hesitated. “No.”
“See? And it’s not gonna happen now.”
There was a silence. “Okay.”
“Good night, Alex.”
“Good night, Willie. Thank you.”
“Of course.”
Willie turned onto his back and closed his eyes. He felt himself let out a slow breath, almost relieved that he and Alex were done talking. He always loved it, but he was weirdly nervous about it, and it was kind of exhausting. His heart beat was slowing down too. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his mind so he could fall asleep. It didn’t stay like that for long.
Alex on the mattress next to him wouldn’t stop turning underneath his blanket. There were more rustles coming from different parts of the room, all more or less obviously from their friends, but Alex always seemed to be a bit startled by them. Willie was actually getting a little worried.
“Willie? Are you asleep yet?” Alex asked eventually. Not even five minutes had passed.
“No,” Willie responded and opened his eyes. He didn’t even think about pretending. “Why?”
“I—I think Luke’s stories really got to me.”
Damn that. Willie was gonna have a word with that boy, going around scaring his friends to death with made up stories.
“You’re right, they were really scary,” Willie agreed. Maybe that could make Alex feel a little better.
Alex’s pillow rustled in a nod, then he sat up, blanket around his shoulders, looking over at Willie. He took a quick breath and let it out just as quickly. “Can I—can I maybe sleep on your mattress?” Willie felt himself squint against the ceiling. Why would Alex want to swap mattresses? “With you?”
Oh.
That made more sense.
“Of course,” Willie heard himself say before he could really think about it. But the answer would’ve been the same if he had thought a second longer. He scooted to one side of the mattress. “I have enough space.”
Alex hesitated for a moment longer but then shuffled closer. Their mattresses were pushed together, Flynn on Willie’s other side, so that it was kind of like a big mattress anyways. Willie lifted the corner of his blanket so that Alex could slip underneath it, even though he was still wrapped up in his own blanket. It seemed like he needed the comfort. Willie wanted to make him feel as safe as possible, so he placed his blanket arm around him as well, so that Alex was cocooned in a blanket and a half and a little bit of Willie.
“Nothing can happen to you now,” Willie whispered once their faces lay opposite each other on Willie’s pillow.
“No, nothing,” Alex confirmed.
“Do you feel safer now?” Willie asked.
Alex nodded. “Yes.” He paused. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” Willie repeated and he couldn’t help but smile.
Here Alex was, ten years old, Captain America during the day. But at night he felt safer when he was sharing a mattress with someone and Willie had his arm around him. Willie heart may have picked up speed again, but he felt great. And even greater when he sleepily watched Alex drift to sleep, his face more peaceful than Willie had ever seen it.
Send me autumn prompts from this list.
#julie and the phantoms#willex#found family#they are middle schoolers in this#halloween#halloween prompts#linden writes stuff#lea tag#linden answers asks#willie jatp#alex mercer#julie molina#reggie peters#luke patterson#flynn taylor#their group costume theme is the avengers how cute is that??
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Writing ask game!! 17, 37, 47, and 49 haha
17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?
There are SO many song-based AUs that I would just devour. A lot of them are based on country songs (the Rulie epistolary if I ever actually finish it, based on Something Like That, put on that old song of course, and what @jmrothwell is planning to do with Fearless and Kissed You (Good Night), all of which I am super excited about). Like, listening to country always runs the risk of giving me a new idea because it's a genre that's full of such rich narratives. Help XD
Then I guess I also have lucky enough to love you now where it was inspired by Brandy (You're A Fine Girl), which I had to write even though it's only a snippet of a much larger 'verse.
37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?
I have to go with I Know It With All My Heart, the Stranger Things fusion ficlet that I wrote after @innytoes and I came up with that AU. Not many people seemed very interested in it, which is fair, given that it's basically the JatP characters in that setting and I only felt like writing This One Scene, but I really like how it turned out! There are a lot of short, punchy sentences and I think they really capture the depth of Luke's emotions (and his conflict with his parents).
47. If [insert fic] was a pair of shoes, what kind would it be? Describe the shoes.
I'll go with lucky enough to love you now because I was just talking about it and it's in my head now, haha
This story is your favorite pair of shoes. Well-worn, comfortable, a great go-to for just about any outfit. Sure, you've had more than one pair of favorite shoes, but they're all still your favorite, and you hang on to them even when everyone says you should throw them away. You still remember them fondly no matter how many new favorites you accumulate. These shoes give you a ridiculous amount of dopamine. They're awesome. They fit perfectly.
(Please tell me about your actual favorites now because I'm curious!)
49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!
So the two big things I'm currently working on for Julie and the Phantoms are the canon compliant Rulie fic where they fall in love while listening to Fearless and the Peterpatterlina fake dating AU.
Here's a snippet from the former (tentatively titled have you ever thought just maybe for the time being):
"Hey, Julie?"
She blinks, shaking herself out of her stupor. Her face feels too hot. She doesn't mean to keep looking at his mouth, it's just—he really does have such a beautiful smile. It's softened into something sweet and quirky, not unlike how he'd smiled at her right after they met.
There's no such thing as cute ghosts.
Oh, how wrong she'd been.
"If we do this, I absolutely expect you to learn how to fiddle. A promise is a promise, Molina."
She shrugs, mirroring his smile. It's easy now that she knows him.
"And you'll be on the hook for listening to eight more albums. A promise is a promise, Peters."
#fic asks#about ash's fics#thanks for asking! ❤️#please do tell me about your shoes lol#also I have a condensed version of that snippet for my tentative summary for the fearless fic#maybe it's a bit too long but I don't care lol I love it
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