#reverse-gaston moment

[saitamawife]

Boyfriend! Bakugou

Overbearing Bakugou finally gives in and lets his sweetheart drive his precious car. He never let anyone even touch the steering wheel but asked to let him teach you that he will try to do.

Warning! Discrimination against Chevy HHRs, the writer knows nothing about cars might be some errors, uses of the word love, use of the word baby, cursing, no beta reader, and mentions of NSFW but like two lines one explicit the other alludes.

Gender neutral! Reader. I was watching The Boys and this song omg.

_________________________

Boyfriend! Bakugou doesn't let anyone touch his car. That's his baby. He washes her once a week and details her seats all by himself for 4 hours every 2 weeks. Boyfriend! Bakugou who almost blew Denki's head off the first time he spilled chips in his car and swore up and down that nobody would ever drive his baby or eat in his car.

Boyfriend! Bakugou paid all that fucking money to have his 7.0L 4-speed V8 engine that generates 375 horsepower, Orange Boss Mustang with the black racer stripes delivered to him here in Japan. He happened to come across one while he was in America and had to have it. The way his stomach fluttered when he heard her purr for the first time. The smile that slid on his face when he drove her. After the shit he went through in America, he fully deserved it. I mean that car saved his life.

Boyfriend! Bakugou who now has his seatbelt on eyes staring into you with nothing but genuine fear as you put his car in reverse, smiling and promising him that nothing will happen. It took a lot to get to this moment. A lot of kissing and begging and doing that weird thing he likes, where he ties you up and brings out the Dynamite toy to play with. It took a lot of…energy.

Nobody gets to drive his car but here you are easing it through a parking lot. You weren't even on the road but you could smell him sweating. "It's okay" you coo at him, turning on your indicator before making a right turn. You look over at the blond and watch the excessive rise and fall of his chest. "Eyes on the road" he wheezed out.

Suddenly a blue car was on the left of you about to turn into the right lane beside you. "STOP!" Bakugou shouted, causing you to stomp on the brakes and making the car come to a screeching halt. You could practically hear his heart as he grabbed his chest and beads of sweat slid down his skin.

"Baby, you can't just do that" You watched the car make its turn and slowly fade out of vision. "You weren't slowing down, I had to" "Katsuki, there's a stop sign right there, and I'm only going 6 miles an hour" "Yeah way too fast, I only told you 5, you almost crashed"

You looked over at Blond and decided to park the car.

"You said you'd let me drive" You crossed your arms and glared over at him,

"I know what I said", "What you failed to mention is you'd micromanage me and act like a maniac".

"I'm not-" "Katsuki your screaming could've caused a crash", "You weren't slowing down" he pouted looking at you, mimicking you, and folding his arms.

You knew exactly what was going to happen but you didn't know he'd be so upset.

Finally throwing your hands in the air, you exclaimed "How about later then?" "No driving in the night" "Then first thing tomorrow and you have to let me drive, promise?" "Okay" "No, promise me Katsuki"

"Fine, fine I promise" he rolled his eyes, cracked the door, and walked over to his seat, when you passed him, you watched him morph back into his rational confident self. He closed the door and clicked his seatbelt, eyeing you till you did the same. His usual smirk made its way back to his face as his car purred.

"Why do you even want to learn how to drive, you know I can take you anywhere" he skillfully backed up his car with hand squeezing your headrest.

"Not when you're at work"

"Then I can send someone to drive you, you know I can pay for that"

"You promised and I want to learn"

"Why, you want to drive away from me so badly?" his eyes focused on the road.

"Katsuki, if I wanted that I let some guy with a Chevy HHR teach me to drive" The car practically rumbled with his hearty laughter,

"But seriously-"

"Katsuki, I want to learn this for myself, I want that freedom to go wherever I want" It felt like begging but you could tell you won him over by the twitch of his nose. It took just a little nudging to get him moving where you wanted.

He took a sharp inhale, "Fine, but you have to promise when I'm done teaching ya, you don't use your new skills to do any evil, cause then I'd have to arrest ya and give you all types of bad punishment"

"I promise I'll be good" he smiled and reached his big hand over to rest on your thigh, rubbing tiny circles with his thumb, you leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Tomorrow, promise?"

"I promise, love"

Boyfriend! Bakugou who never lets anyone so much as dream of driving his car finds himself moving over albeit slowly to let his lover sit comfortably in the driver seat.

#Spotify #bakugo katuski #mha bakugou #reader insert #bnha #bakugou x reader #car bakugou #mha fanfiction #hes so stressed out #Its like learning with your dad #He really means well though #bakugou drabble #Saitama'swife.bkg

[2010s-nostalgia]

frozen hate discussion??? 👀👀 take my hand

no but really. even just aside from how they took a pretty good fairy tale and did... um, nothing with it? nothing interesting at least, frozen is still just a mediocre movie with bad designs and music that's really just okay.

what really bothers me more than anything else is that frozen just comes off as cynical. it's making fun of older movies that are better than it.

every single time someone tries to make a fairy tale edgy/adult or feels the need to point out every unrealistic aspect about it an angel dies. "you can't marry a man you just met" represents a fundamental misunderstanding of both the genre and the disney movies based on it. it's this annoying tongue-in-cheek tone and utter pessimism that quite literally sucks all the magic out of the movie, and then they have the balls to make fun of better films. it's just cynical and grating and honestly coming from disney itself just annoys me. oh you think snow white and cinderella are unrealistic? you think love at first sight is stupid? should we throw a party? should we invite buzzfeed.

whereas movies like shrek, which also try to deconstruct the fairy tale/disney genre, actually work because instead of someone busting out an "erm, actually!" line every five minutes or pulling some cheap twist, they simply tell a story that reverses the tropes. and there's no moment in shrek where the movie turns to the audience and goes "you dumb dumb fuck ass idiots came here to see a fairy tale? well fuck you! twist villain attack!"

I don't much care for tangled either but at least you can tell it was made in earnest. also literally everything frozen was applauded for has been done better before. the sisters thing? lilo and nani have an actual bond. playboy villain? gaston. taking time to fall in love? beauty and the beast? tarzan? hercules? literally like most disney movies? anna and kristoff were together for like a week before saying I love you. get real.

okay thanks mod love your blog <3

I agree with everything. Honestly, making fun of past movies would be okay if it succeeded at all. Enchanted exists, it made the same points, and it worked soooo well. In Frozen, Anna is told she can't marry a man she just met, then gets with Kristoff within like two days. Love's not supposed to be a major part of the story? A whole song is sung by the love interests' family about how they should get together (they get together later). So much of the movie is focused on a romance with so little chemistry instead of being about the sister relationship the film claims to be about!

I should say I don't hate Frozen. It's fine, but I don't want fine, ya know? I want great!!! (Also didn't love Tangled either. Idk what management change happened in the animation department in the mid 2000s, but they really lost the groove around that time. Maybe Bob did a shake up)

#asks #and thank you!!!

[itstokkii]

About Turkuzbek, do you associate them with any symbols or motifs? And also are there any au's for them??

symbols...hmmmmm

sometimes I call them the tea pair, because they both love chugging down that good good scalding hot black tea in the summer!

other than that.. not really? they do both have a crescent and star in their flags but like. so do a lot of other countries

aus..ok brace yourself for ALL the au ideas that popped in my head since shipping turkuzbek:

beauty and the beast au: takes place in a fictional world, but clothes + possibly palace is inspired off of 18th century ottoman empire. uzb is belle, turkey's the beast obviously, couldn't settle on a maurice so just made it her sibs, russia is gaston....??? I felt like the dynamic really works with them, my favorite movie for my favorite ship <3

cardverse au: ok so in this au uzb is a seamstress for the royal family of clubs. all of a sudden she finds herself between a rock and a tight place as she must spin straw into gold. enter turkey, a joker with no real loyalty to any of the main 4 kingdoms. he offers her help in exchange for something of hers, and helps her get the job done while also making small talk. she slowly finds herself laughing and having fun with this rando, and his occasional visits to her sewing room soon become the highlight of her day. she initially gives him her bracelet, necklace, any jewelry she has...

until she's given the ultimate task of spinning a whole roomful of straw into gold in one day. if she succeeds, she marries the king as his royal consort. if she doesn't she is executed. she hates both of these ideas and is freaking out, especially since she doesn't have anything to give turkey anymore. he helps her anyway, and then goes by the "if you don't have anything left to give, you can pay with your body" philosophy, and essentially asks her to elope with him. she agrees, and when the king opens the door the next day he finds a room full of gold and no royal consort-to-be.

college au: he's the business major to her fashion design major. he tried complaining about his workload once and she dunked on him for that. they regularly go on joyrides together. i was considering making them fiances? if it made the au more interesting...

if we're not going the fiance route, they both have a mutual friend(korea), who sneakily invites both of them to the campus's music and dance event on the basis of korea's club performing kpop dance. uzbekistan is so uncomfortable with the rave music and promises herself she'll stay for korea's performance and leave the moment it's over. she pulls her phone out to record korea and looks to her side and HER CRUSH IS THERE??? HUH??

so they both stare at each other like "what are YOU doing here??" turkey's even more confused since she's the last person he'd expect to show up to a rave and dance performance event. by the time the performance is over, korea pats them both on the back and goes "I'm so glad my 2 best friends showed up to support me!"

korea what a sneaky shipper....

monster high au: turkey's a werewolf(haha turan moment) and she's a werecat. they do NOT get along at first, but slowly their rivalry turns into something like romantic tension as they point tennis balls and laser pointers in each others' faces threatening to use them. next thing you know they're dating??? w,what

also important to mention: kyrgyzstan's an orange cat.

ever after high au: this was briefly considered, but I can see uzb being sort of like ashlynn "oh yea we gotta follow our destinies" and then dates the son of the huntsman(turkey) who is um. Not a royal

snow white au: so this was like a joke. she gets poisoned, he leans in to kiss her and then she immediately wakes up before he does the deed. "ASTAGHFIRULLAH YOU MUST REPENT WHAT WERE YOU ABOUT TO DO"

she marries him anyway

reverse snow white au: she's the prince, turkey's snow white, and the dwarves? 7 different azerbaijans.

non-country/human au: she gives me boy mom vibes. not like an unhealthy way, but it makes sense that she would have a son(??) also turkey definitely insists on having like 3 more kids.

uzb: first of all who's doing the giving birth part

and turkey as a dad defo gives me yusuf vibes from otoyomegatari

i...think that's it?? maybe I'll add more when i remember

#hetalia #aph uzbekistan #hws uzbekistan #aph turkey #hws turkey #turkuzbek #tokki answers #tokki writes #sadik adnan

[its-to-the-death]

Bracket C thoughts:

I liked "You Got Nothing to Lose" as a song, but I admit I'm a bit of sucker for the old-school Disney diabolical mustache-twirling vibes of "Prince Ali (Reprise)". Also, I didn't know the context of "You Got Nothing to Lose" when I made my vote, so it didn't sound very villainous.

...I honestly think "Friends on the Other Side" still might be the better one, but give "Waikyou Shensoujin" a listen. It's underappreciated and very moving in context.

In a reverse of the previous Nightmare Before Christmas entry, "Oogie Boogie's Song" is not as good as I remembered. Also "Blumenkranz" is pretty intimidating. You will want to listen to it with Genius' translation open, though (unless you know German).

I know we all love "Gaston," but "Hey Little Songbird" is such a good villain moment for Hades with him seducing Eurydice to her metaphorical death.

"Queen of Mean" is better than I expected under all that autotune, I will give it that.

Why the fuck does Kirby go so hard.

"Where is the Justice" vs "Confrontation" is so cruel. I went with the latter because I find the singer's ability to do VERY different performances for Jekyll and Hyde incredibly impressive, and I like how it's a hero/villain confrontation with the same person being both.

Again, I know we all love "Snow Miser/Heat Miser," but hot damn Jonny goes hard in "Old King Cole"!

"I Expect You To Die" is fucking iconic. Why do these games go so hard with their opening credits.

Something about the awkward rhythm of "No Good Deed" just...irks me, and "Between Two Worlds" is very good (especially the second part).

Hot damn whoever is performing as Sweeney Todd is putting 110% into "Epiphany".

"The Nowhere King" vs "World's Greatest Criminal Mind" was very hard. I think I prefer the former as a song, but I gave my vote to the latter for having Ratigan take a break from singing to have his minion eaten alive.

I could not give two shits about the RWBY vs Sanders Side one.

"Battle! Ghetsis" really makes you feel like you're fighting a tyrannical PETA leader with a team-wiping hydra who is arrogant enough to emulate Arceus' theme and the last check point was a whole boss fight ago.

...Ok, yeah, in hindsight "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is just the singer insulting the guy. I give the win to "Blood in the Water," which really makes me want to kick Callahan in the balls.

Goddamit, "We Are Number One" is the meme song, but "Get Jinxed" is the better song.

I’m sorry but I have to disagree about Oogie Boogie’s song because The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack can do no wrong imo

#pulling from the pot of asks #villain song showdown

[countessofravenclaw]

Blue and Green: Gastina color cues

Hey! Have you all missed my trademark Gastina analyses? Well, they are back!

Everyone is familiar of me geeking over the fact that I always made Gastón and Nina wear matching clothing but I also love that there also were other visual cues repeated with them.

Blue and Green are their respective favorite colors and Gastón does wear quite a bit of green, usually in the form a jacket. Nina also does wears blue of then, especially with demin skirts in S1. Wine red suits her a bit better but her Roller Jam outfit's pale dusty blue was very beautiful on her.

But why am I actually talking about this? Because two of them keep wearing green nd blue in lot of big Gastina moments

S1E50

Nina, of course, runs away from Gastón, and stood him up which is not talked about enough in this fandom.

S1E57

Next time they both wear green and blue when Nina literally ran into him at the lockers

I would have really loved it if this trend would have been carried to the first kiss, where Nina did wear blue but Gaston was not wearing green, but that ugly red vest from Back to future

S2E59

This whole he asks her out again is really similar to the one from S1 when he asks her out for the first time, and they are again wearing green and blue

S2E59

And the n we get to the actual moment when they get back together the colors are actually reversed.

And was the point of all this... well...

ina was wearing green when she said to Eric that she still wasn't over Gastón.

She isn't over him and her wearing his favorite color symbolizes that

And lets not forget that Nina was pretty decked out in green the whole final episode with some pops of blue

Take that Niric endgame. No one is buying you anyway

She is still unconsciously paying homage to Gastón because she is still in love with him.

Nina is literally wearing Gastón's favorite color through this episode with her final outfit being majorly green with intertwining blue that represents her.

Nina doesn't usually wear green.

Meaning of blue

Because blue is favored by so many people, it is often viewed as a non-threatening color that can seem conservative and traditional. Blue calls to mind feelings of calmness or serenity. It is often described as peaceful, tranquil, secure, and orderly. Blue is often seen as a sign of stability and reliability. Blue is a serene and calming color that represents intelligence and responsibility

Meaning of green

What green means: Green is universally associated with nature, linked as it is to grass, plants and trees. It also represents growth and renewal, being the color of spring and rebirth. Another association is “getting the green light” to go ahead, giving it an association with taking action.In the US, green (and especially dark green) is also associated with money and so represents prosperity and stability and bringing a sense of visual balance and, as a result, a soothing and relaxing influence.

These colors were no accident when you look at the meanings. They have pretty similar meanings that represent both Gastón and Nina separately and together really well

Color meanings

#Soy Luna #Gastina #Yep this all to disprove Niric #Elli rants about Gastina related things

[starsweepers]

small d.isney remake rant below cut because i've been on a frustration kick tbh so just wanna blow it off my chest.

as a small note. if you enjoy the remakes... that's fine. i really don't care, enjoy what you love. i personally have a lot of problems with them and am tired for a number of reasons. and i really hope they stop but like. if you loved them then i'm glad they had some value for someone. there are. a lot of issues with the remakes. them being soulless is a major one and i could go into tons more. but one thing that always really hits me is how badly the remake actors and creators just. interpret the originals in order to vouch as to how their remakes are better. they completely ignore so much about the originals just because "look, we modernized it, it's SO RELATABLE" and just. completely ignore the concepts that made the movies relatable in the time periods they existed. and they trash the moves ( cough rachel cough ) as outdated when most of those movies were, for their periods, quite modern. listen to interviews with original voice actresses and writers and creators. how much thought the writer for b.eauty and the b.east ( who was a woman, mind you ) put into making belle confident, have agency, take control... she was not a victim, she traded herself for her father and reversed the societal expectation roles. she was intelligent and saw through the appearance of others... the beast, gaston, etc.

ariel wanted to be human. jodi talks about it. cinderella just wanted to go out to the ball and be a part of life, her voice actress talks about it. the princes are not the main parts of their stories, they're just part of the journeys. florian and snow white while, yes, their moment of meeting each other was brief, but snow white accepted and even returned his affections, but she also did what she had to do to survive without the prince saving her. aurora is probably the princess with the least agency in her story but s.leeping b.eauty flopped in its time period. snow white changed the entire movie industry. it made d.isney. it was made during the great fucking depression when women and men and families were struggling and desperate and trying. here comes this movie about a girl just making it through the world by being good and having a simple life by doing what she knows best - caring for others. it was escapism. cinderella was post wwii. a time of glamor and dreams, people managing to rise above bad situations they were forced into. the d.isney classics are classics because even without these knowledges of the time period, they still hold morals and values that resonate with people. most of the princesses have some agency and determination in their movies. mulan, jasmine, belle... heck even up to as recently as rapunzel. and then movies like moana and brave do well at focusing on other types of love and balancing that with strong females. there is nothing wrong with adapting to your audience and honestly the remakes should do that to an extent. but they're doing it forcefully and horribly. they're trying to twist the original versions into stories they weren't in order to claim the remake had to fix these problems. there are aspects that needed better attention ( i have no problems with ariel and eric having more scenes to bond or belle teaching little girls to read ), but the complete changes that have happened to the overarching plot in some instances were just. unnecessary. you're taking beloved stories and telling people something they love is outdated and terrible and that your version is better........ like what. and then there's whatever the heckity heck l.ion king was... rEAliSm or some shit LMAO. i miss. the love and the passion of original d.isney movies. of building characters and relationships that are meant to be meaningful and not to just serve as "improvements" and "cash grabs for nostalgia." when something is remade, there will be changes. some will be for the better and for a modern audience. this is fine. but d.isney and the w.itcher have literally proven that shitting on the original versions and butchering them are just? not the way to do this? subtle changes, improvements, love... as writers with canon characters we know that minor changes to canon can do a lot. it's a thing, it's true. but butchering the heart, the core of these movies and series and whatnot... is not the way. fucking o.ne p.iece is the real proof of this lmao. i've heard great things about that. sorry, i'm being cursing and pissy right now. i miss enjoying movies i guess. where they had heart and love and respect. as a side note, if you have to ruin/weaken/ignore/put down the male character in order to make the female look better, your female character isn't actually that good. tiana proves her worth by being a hard worker and naveen is laughed at at times for being flimsy with money and whatnot but at the end of the day, he grows and learns and his troubles are still taken seriously and it doesn't detract from tiana in the slightest. that is balance, my dudes and dudettes.

#&&. to be deleted #i'm just having a need to vent moment #negative // #first world problems am i right lmao

[the-chomsky-hash]

[A. We must reverse our familiar perspective. Every act of imagination points implicitly to the dream - cont'd]

[3. The image designates a meaning and a destiny that can not be grounded by the real, but by an anthropology of the imagination - cont'd]

[d. Gaston Bachelard is right when he shows the secret labor which transforms the object one is perceiving into an object of contemplation. But should we also follow Bachelard when he shows the image installing itself of its own accord? - cont'd]

iii. Even if it should persist for a while [in imagining Peter], this image does not fail to refer me, sooner or later,

to my actual perception [i.e., to reality and to my deliberate activity]

to those white walls around me that exclude Peter [i.e., to the indices of the world, as the hunter sees, in the star-shaped impression in the snow, the fresh tracks of a hare]

The image is given

not at the culminating moment of imagination

but at the moment of its alteration

[e.g., imagination derealizing one's presence to the world, in order to penetrate, renew, or confiscate]

[vis., imagination rediscovering, fathoming, and totalizing a destiny]

[Contrast:]

the image mimes the presence of Peter

the imagination goes forth to encounter him

To have an image is therefore to leave off imagining.

– Michel Foucault, Dream, Imagination and Existence: An Introduction to Ludwig Binswanger's Le rêve et l'existence (part V: Le poète est aux ordres de sa nuit [The poet is under night's orders]—Jean Cocteau), 1954, translated by Forrest Williams

#foucault #philosophy

[worstloki]

i can kinda forgive moments when lokis ooc, like its weird but so far every time lokis been on screen its been focused on thor and he hasn't done much, so we dont have a full picture of what hes like on his own/doing his own thing, this is the first time its been a LOKI show

anon i will ignore that loki's been shown doing his own thing and gets a lot done in his screentime, hence the ridiculous amounts of meta on him.

but hear me out. you can assume loki was like that the entire time and integrate that into pre-existing canon, but if people don't want to do that because it's enough of a distinctly different character then that's fine too. Both scenarios are fine, and if you do a bit of both that's acceptable too. Just don't tell people their interpretations off canon are wrong bc a decade after establishing the character marvel's got some glaring inconsistencies.

#im sorry im just imagining loki fanboying over destroying jotunheim like he was at Vesuvius and ????? #crying because he doesn't want to be here doing it but on the other hand....Science 👀 #im basically interpreting all Loki's !!!!! behaviour as because no odin no thanos and now people are forced to put up with him #he can talk all he wants and he'll get a death threat but moby's opinion Does Not Matter to him so long as he lives #sydfgaudfa imagine the skiff ride to svartalfheim #they're just cruising across the dusty plains when #''so... do you know HOW the aether will be used to delve the worlds into eternal darkness?'' #''even if i did i would not tell you'' #''oh come on i would DO it i just want to know if my theory is right'' #''no.'' #''maybe i'll just ask malekith then. maybe i'll just ACTUALLY side with him. hm?'' #''i do not know. Father's book did not tell.'' #''oh nevermind me asking then. if you used the fairytale books as primary research sources i don't want to know what you got from them'' #yes i HC Asgard's library is filled with picture books what about it #you have nothing to prove otherwise #loki's a fast reader evidently so uhhhh messing with the affairs of man and all started bc he needed more reading materials #reverse-gaston moment #''how can you read this?! there are only pictures!!'' #thor: but they are colourful and they move #the Loki show #loki spoilers #loki show spoilers #loki flippantly saying the people would die anyways is understandable to me so i let that pass even though thor 1 loki would say no to that

[setzappersto-pew]

StarKid and Musical Score #2

Pop culture parodies tread fine lines to avoid copyright violations, especially when it comes to music. Some go for a certain mood or genre to evoke the source. Holy Musical B@man! is a great example. Nick Gage and Scott Lamps used strictly synthesizer and an electronic drum kit. They made great use of the standard synthesizer sound, calling to mind ‘80s new wave electronic music; a darker electric guitar sound to capture the gritty Batman from The Dark Knight or The Killing Joke; and light and playful bell tones, representing the innocence of Robin or perhaps the campy silliness of the ‘60s Batman TV show.

When it’s a parody musical of a musical, the challenge is even greater. Enter Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier.

There’s not a lot of interstitial music to set the scenes, but what little there is excels with capturing the mood, like the eerie strings and woodwinds coupled with sporadic percussion during Aladdin’s breakdown near the end. Instead, Twisted features a large number of songs to fill its 2.25 hour runtime, so I’m going to focus on the instrumentals of those for this post. The instrumentation for this show includes keyboard, drums, guitar/bass, violin, cello, flute, clarinet, and alto/tenor saxophone. It’s a much bigger and more varied band than any StarKid show had before or since.

The endeavor that composer A.J. Holmes, accompanied by incredible lyricist Kaley McMahon, set out on was to evoke not only the source material, Disney’s Aladdin, but also other Disney movies of the same era and the Broadway musical Wicked. The Disney references are all over the place, including the Disney-fied StarKid logo. The latter was accomplished via the title (Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier vs. Wicked: The Untold Story of a Wicked Witch), the album cover, the method of role reversal (a villain posed as the hero of their own story), and even a direct reference to the book. But A.J., along with orchestrator Andrew Fox and music director Justin Fischer, took it a step further with several songs to give the audience a truly immersive and magical experience.

To keep it simple, I’m going to link each song--or most, as some I can’t quite figure out--to another Disney or Wicked song that A.J. was likely, or even obviously, taking influence from. The similarities are often in the instrumentation and tempo; chord progressions and adjacent melodies; or lyrics and character situations.

Not a song, but the opening music evokes the haunting strings and bells in the opening of Beauty and the Beast to a tee. Like...it’s a dead ringer, obviously in purpose.

“Dream a Little Harder”: An opening ensemble number like “Belle” from Beauty and The Beast. Introduces the protagonist and the surrounding characters with a sweet and tremulous flute at the beginning and bouncy strings throughout. Lyrics mirror each other, i.e. “Fuck you” = “Bonjour”...Nick’s favorite line, “Marie! The baguettes! Hurry up!”...they all hate Ja’far vs. they all think Belle is weird. Belle is even part of the ensemble, telling Ja’far to keep his “fat face out of the mother fucking book”! It’s a pretty obvious comparison. 

“I Steal Everything”: “One Jump Ahead” from Aladdin is the obvious parallel in orchestration, melody, tempo, lyrics, character situation...everything.

“Everything and More”: Again, an obvious parody of “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid. Same gentle yet sweeping melody, same lilting tempo paired with vocals timid one moment and powerful the next, lyrics exploring desire for more.

“A Thousand and One Nights”: This one was a little harder, as really none of the Disney princesses have duets with their princes. But I think it pairs well with “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King, at least after Timon and Pumbaa have their moment! The back and forth between lovers talking to themselves about the other has a similar feel. Honestly, this song is pretty original and yet manages to evoke Disney love song perfectly without copying any. The gentle melody, sweeping yet sweet orchestration, and the dialogue really sell it. They knew it was the love song because they went ahead and parodied the cheesy pop covers that ‘90s Disney movies are known for with a true bop performed by Britney Coleman and Carlos Valdes.

“Orphaned at 33″: Perhaps the reprise of “One Jump Ahead”? It’s slower and more melancholy and has similar chord progression and crooning vocals. Maybe “Go the Distance” from Hercules? Both are songs of sadness and longing, but StarKid’s Aladdin is far more pathetic and creepy than Hercules. EDIT: “Proud of Your Boy”, which was cut from Aladdin and put in the stage show, is absolutely the reference here! Again, a song of sadness and longing and self-pity and lamentation of a bad childhood...and StarKid’s Aladdin is still more pathetic. Musical parallels: similar chord progressions, embellishments, instrumentation, time signature, tempo, etc.; starts with delicate notes and Aladdin just talking (this starts at 46 seconds in “Orphaned at 33″, after a prelude); lilting and tiptoeing melody in the middle (1:56 for “Orphaned”, 1:08 for “Proud”); powerful sustained vocals and sweeping winds and strings to finish. I know this song was in the back of my mind, but it just wasn’t coming to me. Thank you @hatchetfieldtheories and @melchron for helping me out! 

“Happy Ending”: The last half, at 1:50, really reminds me of “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, specifically at 5:15. The quiet and tense music make way for powerful vocals and are just waiting to burst forth for a showstopping ending. Both songs are also Act 1 closers. I can’t really place the rest of “Happy Ending”, but it all reminds me of Wicked with the powerful rock guitar and drums paired with cinematic strings. Plus, I always love when multiple melodies come together as reprises, most often as Act 1 closers!

“No One Remembers Achmed”: A sillier version of “Gaston” from Beauty and The Beast. The spurned villain’s cohorts are pumping him up and singing his praises! Both melodies are jaunty, though with different instrumentation...Twisted’s featuring sillier sound effects and goofy xylophone.

“Take Off Your Clothes”: A sexier version of “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. Slightly modified melody, and obviously the lyrics, but it’s exactly the same.

“The Power in Me”: A solemn and sweet farewell duet between friends like “For Good” from Wicked. The delicate woodwinds and strings sound similar to the gentle synth in “For Good”. Vocal performances are cautious and tender at first but quickly become strong and confident. “You are the power in me” and “I have been changed for good” follow almost the exact same rhythm.

The titular song has many facets, so I’ll detail them here:

Opening to 1:03 and 5:55 to the end = “No Good Deed” from Wicked, with the same intense strings and percussion. The whole situation and lyrics match, with both Ja’far and Elphaba deciding to just be antiheroes because no one sees them as heroes anyway. “I’ll be twisted, it’s my turn” matches “No good deed will I do ever again” and “I’m wicked through and through”.

1:10-2:06 = “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from The Little Mermaid...it’s Ursula, so of course...but also, the woodwinds and keyboard mimicking brass evoke the same bouncy yet menacing rhythm, akin to an evil polka.

2:07-2:50 = “Be Prepared” from The Lion King. Obviously, it’s Scar’s moment...but also, they have similar deep and primitive drums and woodwinds.

The rest of the songs (”Sands of Time”, “Golden Rule”, and “If I Believed”) I couldn’t really place, but they still evoke the source materials. “Golden Rule” has a classic musical theatre ensemble number feel, with fun strings and woodwinds and delightful choruses; the reprise turns it on its head with menacing piano and bass. “If I Believed” is another take on an “I want” song; the flute and cello pair very nicely together to support Dylan’s soulful voice.

My next post in this series will likely be about the Hatchetfield series: The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, Black Friday, and Nightmare Time. There’s a lot in between, like the AVP Trilogy, ANI, and Starship, but the music for those stands out less to me. They’re great, don’t get me wrong, but I think that the score is not what makes them special. The Hatchetfield stuff, however...is intense.

Thanks for reading!

#starkid #rewatchers1000 #twisted: the untold story of a royal vizier #holy musical b@man #disney #wicked #sk musical score

[melis-ash]

have you watched elite's season 4 finale already? what are your takes on caye and phillipe? no judgements here tho, just want to know your opinion on them

 Hello, nonny! Yes, I did. My opinion about Caye and Philippe has several different aspects (which a litle bit conflict with each other).

Lets write long post.)) Sorry for mistakes and typos, English is not my first language and I`m not really good with grammar.

1) Caye and Philippe story is feminist retelling-reverse of the Beauty and the Beast, where main characters didn`t became couple and The Beauty left her Beast not for Gaston other romance, but for her own path. And their relationship helped the Beast to realize his past mistakes and make to want to fix it, even if it`s too late . Comparing with many other things in that season that storyline was not bad. Really. There MANY problems with s4, I think the best stolyline had Rebe and Mencia, it was really good, and in my personal opinion, despite many flaws, Caye and Philippe storyline is second one for me. Kinda it was not really good, but it had plot, idea, composition and message. Writers knew very clear, what they tried to say, and despite obvious lack of screen time, they handle it, and this story, despite it doesn`t connect with main plot, resonate with main storyline on the level of their ideas. (About it later.) I know, Georgina is feminist, so I wonder, could she give some advice writers? Kinda “it can work better if...” something like it.

2) Personally I`m very disappointed how OOC was Caye in that season and how few screen time she had. For me Caye from s4 feels like too much different person than in s2-3. I wanted character development for her, but something more slow and realistic. S4 Cayetana feels like all her character development happened between s3 and s4 (and partly in special, which really was very good), and I don`t believe in it. Caye from s4 is good character, but there is no real connection with Caye from s2-3.

I knew, she was very upopular character in s2-3, so maybe creators afraid to gave her too much screen time. But also they still wanted she was part of story and write redemption arc for her. And honestly, anon, these two thing can`t work together well. When you write redemption arc for well written nuanced character that Cayetana was in s2-3, you need give character enough screen time and nuances. But it seems, s4 writers don`t care enough about writing S1-3 characters in character. In s2-3 Caye was bad girl, but also she was comedy relief (but s4 has very few comedy moments), she had family (where the fuck her mother and granddad now? We know only that her mother cannot work in Las Ensinas, but don`t know, why), we saw, that she did`t sleep almost, because she learn in Las Ensinas, worked as janitor and still hung out with rich kids. (I think I began feel compassion for her, when realized it). It that seson she almost has not other scenes than with Philippe. OK, she was pariah in school during previous year, but if writers began that things with Caye and Rebe friendship, can they continue it. Rebe and Caye both had problem with their love interests and they never discussed it. Only time they speak about Philippe was in 402. Also Benjamin fired Azucena, and wanted to expel Samu and Omar, but Caye still works there? And Benjamin still protects her even? Why? I mean, after whole thing with scam in s2. Maybe it because protection of Polo`s mothers, but it never was said in s4 even. It seems, Benjamin knows things about her story with Polo (like he knows about Philippe`s past), and it could be really interesting possiblity to bring on scene that aspect of situation and Benjamin`s character and him and Caye interaction. 

Also there is something with Georgina`s acting in s4, in most of scenes she acts as different character, so maybe it was and her (as actress) decision too. I wrote before, she is feminist, and maybe she wanted to bring more feminists vibes in s4 Caye, because it makes storyline works better? Given how few connection with previous seasons on script level her s4 story had, it make sense even, it`s just feel OOC for me, because Caye is not feminist at all. She is strong and ambitious, but she is not type of women what call themselves feminists, and when she said “I became my own Fairy Godmother” in s2, she meant that she was forced to do it. Caye was girl who wanted to be princess from old school Disney animation. In s3 she wanted to live and study on Polo mother money in London and was fully OK with it. When she refused their proposition, it was because thoughts, that Polo could be alive and even more or lesser happy in other school without those her messages, haunted her. Plus when Polo died, he thought Caye was with him more because his money than because Polo himself. I remember, in her first scene Caye read  The Second Sex, but it was spectacle for her schoolmates. And when she spoke with them about her fake rich life, it always was “look how rich and glamour I am”. Partly she spoke in this way because she knew very few about rich people`s life, but also there were some of her dreams. She wanted to be rich and and be part of this glamour life. In s3 she became in some way, and she had a lot of possiblities to understand how many shit, pain and tragedies can hide for glamour facade. Theoretically she knew it before. But she was exctremely poor, so it was a little bit difficult for her to think about it too much.

3) So I think more mention of Caye`s story from s2-3 could make her and Philippe story better. Philippe himself have same problem as Polo in some way: he is rich guy, and his mother indulged him too much. Caye saw how Polo`s mother indulged him and saw where it ended. Not good for Polo and many other people. Marina and Polo could be alive and Samu`s family could live with him in Spain, if Polo`s mothers raised their son better. Even if Caye don`t care much about Guzman or Samu and she never knew Marina, she had enough time between seasons to reflect of situation. So with more s2-3 reference that “matter of education thing” Caye says to Philippe`s mother could sound not only as sort of feminist  slogan, but as something very personal and painful for Caye. She was in love with boy, who was spoiled too much by his parents (like Philippe), and it brought a lof pain him, his friends, Caye. I don`t say there are not at all attempts include previous Caye experience in s4. For example, when Caye does google research about Philippe and finds nothings, she is still suspicious because she know, how easy money could erase some thing.  Also that thing with Pilippe`s mother. I think after conversation with her,Caye realized that Philippe`s and Polo`s promblems had very much same roots. But such moments really have not enough space. Guzman had at least one scene, where he speak about his reflection on s1 evens (where he compares Mencia and Marina). I would like to see something like it with Caye.

4) Many things in Caye and Philippe storyline feel offscreen. We know they regularly talk in school, but see very few of it etc. Actors have good chemistry, and since they both like fashion design, it feels enough for beginning of communication, plus Caye had crush on Philippe long before they met, plus she was first who was really friendly with him in new school (in some way it`s repeat of Caye and Polo story, but with more positive vibes). But I want to see more illustration, why Philippe fell in love with Caye so much.

5) Now about Philippe himself. I saw many hateposts and hatecomments about him, and it`s really funny, because I constantly see how many people in this fandom love Polo and think he deserved better, despite Polo is murderer. Yes, he killed Marina out of emotion, but she is fucking dead. She will never resurrect. Guzman will remember till grave that his best friend killed his sister and then was killed by Guzman`s ex-girlfriend, because policy failed to handle their job well. Samu`s brother was forced to left Spain because it. But it took 2 seasons for Polo to understand he needs go to policy and confess he killed Marina. Caye didn`t understood how wrong her actions were till Polo`s death. I don`t know how long was Elodie`s rape, but at least Philippe didn`t need someone`s corpse to realize his mistakes. Inside standart of this show that guy isn`t hopeless. “Everybody deserve second chance” was important point in Caye`s story in s2-3, so now I wonder how writers will play this card in s5 in relationship between Philippe and Caye. 

Also I want to say I was wrong, when doubted in Pol Granch acting, he`s good additon to Elite cast.

6) Caye x Philippe storyline and main storyline. In that seson Elite brings of scene, in additon of another murder and drug traid, sex crimes. Prostitution, rapes. It`s interesting, that connection here takes place through Ari, girl, who has serious problem with sexual behavior, when she`s drunk. She`s know it`s perfectly, but also she knows, that when woman says “no”, it`s means “no” and end of story. I really like her role in Caye and Philippe story and I hope in s5 there will be at least some scenes with her and Caye. Also interesting point were Ari`s word that she never report to the police without prove. It feels ambigous. She knows, Phillippe is not angel at all. But also there is other side of coin. I think, she also knows, reputation can be ruined very easy. During s4 there was subplot with discussion club. And Samu speak that ex-criminals cannot become somebody else, even if they wants. Their reputation in society was ruined. In final of Philippe story he sent Elodie his confession. So maybe writers tried to write about theme “can criminal, who admitted his mistakes, to became somebody else?” through season and I think they will continue it in s5.

Sorry if this all sounds muddled and too long. Maybe later I will make some additon into reblogs to this post, I don`t know.

#elite #elite netflix #elite spoilers #elite s4 #cayetana grajera #philippe florian von triesenberg #cayetana x phillippe #polo benavent #polo x cayetana #georgina amoros #pol granch #ari bianco commerford #elite meta #text post

[maybeimamuppet]

tale as old as time

Cady is sitting across from Janis at their lunch table on the last day before winter break, chattering excitedly about her plans for the holidays when Damian suddenly mopes his way over and plops his tray down next to her, sitting down with a quiet huff and picking at his pizza. Neither of the girls know quite what to do, Cady cutting off mid-word to look his way. Damian comes to lunch directly from his theater class, usually full of energy and excitement about whatever new thing he’d learned that day.

“What’s the matter, Dame?” Cady asks sadly, hugging him gently.

“They just announced the spring musical. They’re doing Beauty and the Beast.” He pouts.

“Are you still that hung up on Phillip?” Janis teases.

“Janis, don’t be mean! Damian’s sad,” Cady scolds, going full koala and trying to wrap her entire body around Damian’s torso. It doesn’t quite work due to their size difference, but she doesn’t let it stop her.

“Yeah Janis,” Damian responds jokingly, returning Cady’s embrace. “Damian’s sad.”

Janis and Damian stick their tongues out at each other, Janis moving to his other side to hug him as well. “Sorry Damie,” she says, genuine this time as she rests her head on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, I know you were joking. I’m just wondering if it’s worth it. I’ve already been in the show before, y’know? Do I really need to do it here?” He asks, resting his head against Janis’.

“Damian, you have to do it! It’s your last ever musical at North Shore,” Cady gasps, aghast at even the mere suggestion of him pulling out.

“Yeah, Dame, don’t you want that experience?” Janis asks, now more worried about him. She didn’t think it was still that big of a deal to him.

“I don’t know. I want to, but I just have so many, like, tainted memories of it now or whatever. I don’t know if I wanna put myself through that again.” He says morosely.

“What if I did it with you?” Cady asks, completely out of nowhere.

“What?” Janis asks, stunned.

“You would do that?” Damian questions, also quite shocked.

“Yeah! I’ve been wanting to try theater anyway, it sounds like fun. I probably won’t get a big part, but we can still hang out at rehearsals and stuff. We’ll make new memories!” She chirps excitedly.

“I’ll do something too, Dame. Mister Gordon already asked me to do set design, I’ll see if I can be stage manager too, maybe.” Janis adds. What the hell, she has nothing else going on.

“You guys are the best,” Damian says, patting both of their cheeks.

“We know,” Janis jokes, moving back to her side of the table. “Grab the audition stuff for Caddy and ask Gordon about managing for me.”

“Done. Wait, has Caddy even seen the movie yet?” He asks, suddenly serious.

“Nope!” Cady says, stealing one of his fries.

“How did we miss that one? It’s a classic. Both of you come over tonight, it’s movie night anyway. Bring your sleepover stuff.” Janis says definitively, pounding the table gently with a fist.

——-

All three art freaks sit nestled on the small couch in Janis’ basement, Cady in the middle practically shaking with excitement at the opening credits and no fewer than four bowls of popcorn and candy on the coffee table in front of them.

As the movie goes on, Janis is watching Cady more than she’s paying attention to the screen. She’s trying desperately not to think about how her crush is pressed so close against her, how she could easily just lean over and be cuddled up with her. For all the staring she’s doing, she doesn’t notice how tense Cady seems to be growing as the tale is told.

Damian says, “Adam!” exactly like the Vine when the prince finally reveals his face, making both Janis and Cady burst out laughing.

“He was hotter as a beast,” Janis mutters, watching the final few scenes.

“Jan, you’re gay.” Damian says.

“And? Tell me I’m wrong,” she challenges.

“Fair point. What did you think, Cads?” He asks, looking to her.

She seems frozen for a moment before she suddenly yells, “IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!” and jumps to her feet, starting to pace back and forth.

“What do you mean?” Janis asks, glancing  warily to Damian. They’ve never seen her this angry.

“The curse is either made permanent or has to be reversed by his twenty-first birthday, but in Be Our Guest Lumiere says they’ve been stuck like that for ten years, so the prince would’ve been what? Eleven when the enchantress showed up? He was a kid! He was absolutely right not to let some strange old hag into the castle! And why was he even answering the door in the first place? He’s the prince! They clearly had servants for that!”

“Okay, but-“

“And then why does he have a portrait and a bunch of stained glass of him as an adult if he was a kid when he was turned into the beast?! And also, he’s the prince! Where are the king and queen? Are they dead? Why does nobody talk about them?!”

“That’s fair-“

“AND when Gaston steals Belle’s book he asks how she can read it because there’s no pictures but when she was reading it by the fountain it showed that there clearly was a picture in it! And then- and then later Gaston just swallows a bunch of eggs! Whole! He doesn’t even crack them first, who does that?! And if he eats five dozen eggs every day, that’s twenty-one thousand, nine hundred eggs per year. The average chicken only lays three hundred eggs per year -don’t ask me how I know that- which means it would take a minimum of seventy-three chickens just to feed him!”

“Caddy-“

“And Maurice! He took a ‘shortcut’ to get to the fair, how is anything a shortcut if it goes in an entirely different direction?! That doesn’t work! The whole story could’ve been avoided if he just listened to the horse!”

Damian just silently passes a bowl of popcorn to Janis, as Cady shows no signs of stopping anytime soon and frankly her ranting is quite entertaining.

“And don’t even get me started on what goes on in the castle! Like when Cogsworth falls down and loses a bunch of gears, what were those supposed to be?! His kidneys? Did he break bones? What happens when Lumiere runs out of wax? Is he shorter when he turns human again? And can they feel what they do? Does Lumiere burn his hands a lot? Does Mrs. Potts feel like she’s drowning?”

She hasn’t noticed that they’re not even trying to interrupt her anymore.

“And then Chip! What’s his deal?! Where’s his dad? How old is he? He’s clearly younger than ten, so do they age while the curse is on? If not, then how does the timeline add up? And if they do, then how is he still a little kid? Also, who turns a little kid full of energy into fine china?! He’d break himself! How is the enchantress not the villain here?! And is Chip an only child? There’s clearly plenty of other teacups! Why is he the only one that matters? And then, for all her favoritism, Mrs. Potts doesn’t even realize when he runs away!”

Janis and Damian lock eyes, stunned.  How did they not notice this stuff?

“And way later, everyone in the town seems to just suddenly realize there’s a big castle in the middle of the forest! Did they forget about the whole royal family? And where did the cooks in the castle get food and stuff?! Also, they don’t ever mention to Belle that the Beast is the prince, or that he’ll be human again if she breaks the curse! So was she just, like, down to date this monster who, to her knowledge, could’ve eaten the real prince or something?! And also, if it’s a kingdom, what happened to their international relations?! What do the other countries think happened?”

“Are you done?” Janis mutters, amused.

“No! Somebody stop me, please,” Cady hollers. Janis goes to pull her into a hug, rubbing her tense back and hushing her gently.

“Deep breaths, Cads. You brought up some good points, we can look into it later. Let’s go have some hot chocolate, hm?” She murmurs as Cady finally relaxes, panting slightly as she nods into Janis’ shoulder.

“Then we can watch the live action one!” Damian says.

“Damian, no!”

———

All of them went out of state a few days later for Christmas to visit family. Unfortunately, they all went to different states; Cady went to Indiana, Janis to Ohio, and Damian to West Virginia. This meant that Damian and Cady didn’t get to start working on their auditions together until just before New Years.

So now, they’re curled up next to each other on his bed, listening to A Change In Me on repeat so Cady can learn it. The audition cut is just a few bars towards the end, but she would have to know the whole thing on the off chance she got a callback. The first few times, she would just listen and read along with her sheet music, but she eventually starts humming the tune and murmuring little phrases under her breath as she caught on.

Once Damian notices she’s muttering the whole song, he asks if she wants to try singing it with the piano recording for the first time. She nods after another quick glance at her music.

Damian brings up the recording the director had sent out, explaining what she needs to do and when to come in, then handing her the phone so she could start whenever she felt ready.

She takes one deep breath before hitting the play button, and starting to sing. The second the first few notes flow from her mouth, Damian feels his jaw drop slightly. The girl could sing. She wasn’t perfect by any means, but she had undeniable talent.

“Holy shit!” He bursts out when she finishes, clapping for her.

“That was good?” Cady asks, blushing slightly.

“Yes, that was incredible!” Damian praises. “Oh wait, I should send you the recording so you can practice on your own. Let me do that before I forget,” He says as he takes his phone back.

“I have to go to the bathroom, can I try again after?” She asks shyly, as if she hadn’t just completely blown his socks off with her very first attempt.

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead, Little Slice,” he hums, already moving to text Janis.

sashafierce: Jan holy shit

sashafierce: Your girl can sing

gaylien: she’s not my girl

sashafierce: Yet

gaylien: shut the hell ur mouth

sashafierce: I Will Not

gaylien: anyway, caddy can sing ?

sashafierce: Yeah

sashafierce: Like ‘might get the lead even though she’s never set foot in a theater’ can sing

gaylien: damn

gaylien: proof

sashafierce: You just want to hear her voice you soft little dork

gaylien: shut the fuck

Cady comes back in at this point, so Damian puts his phone down. He asks if he can record her singing to help her get better, not mentioning he would secretly also be sending the recording to Janis. He feels a little guilty about keeping secrets, but this won’t hurt anyone. Janis won’t do anything with it.

Cady agrees, settling in again. Damian braces himself slightly before hitting record as Cady hits play again. She sings her cut, and then looks to Damian for feedback.

He stops the recording and fiddles with a few things to get it sent to Janis before asking if she’d like to hear it played back. Cady gives a shy nod and cuddles up to him again.

“See, you sound really good! We just need to work on your movement and expressions and stuff like that. If you can’t act nothing will happen, no matter how well you can sing. But really, that’s impressive, sweets.”

“Can we work on that later? I want to hear you sing too!” She pleads, gently nudging his arm.

“Oh, absolutely,” Damian says, bringing up

his own audition cut and striking a pose. Cady giggles at his antics, giving him a standing ovation when he finishes.

Their phones chime at the same time, Cady’s with a message from her mom telling her to come home, and Damian’s with a response from Janis. He hugs Cady goodbye before checking it, bursting out laughing when he sees what she’s sent.

gaylien: i just spat coffee all over my cat

gaylien: oh god

———

Auditions are held the day after they get back from break. Damian had been continuing to work with Cady over the break, in between movie nights and sleepovers with Janis.

Cady’s been shaking with excitement all day. She’d grown much more confident with all her practice, and she was also looking forward to seeing her friend truly in his element.

Damian leads her by the hand towards the theater classroom to get checked in, filling out their forms and grabbing their numbers. They have to wait a while before they get to go to the auditorium and get started, so they sit on the floor and look around. After a few minutes, Damian notices Cady start drumming her hand rapidly against her leg, her most common stim when she’s nervous.

“Do we need to get out of here for a minute?” He asks quietly, making sure nobody else can hear them. She nods quickly, taking his offered hand to stand up. Damian leads them into the hallway, where it’s less crowded and much quieter. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. There’s just... a lot of people in there. It’s really loud too,” She mutters, shifting her lips side to side, another anxious stim. “I’m nervous.”

“That’s normal. I’m a little nervous too, actually. We can just wait out here until it’s time to go start warm ups with everyone,” Damian comforts, pulling out his phone and earbuds so they can watch animal videos together. Cady takes the proffered earbud and puts it in as she cuddles into his side and focuses on the video.

Eventually Karen comes bouncing down the hall, lugging a slightly panicked Gretchen behind her. “Gretch, come on, you just have to sing part of a song once and then it’s all over! You can do it,” Karen comforts as her girlfriend freezes just outside the door. “Oh, hi Cady! Are you trying out too?”

Cady nods, feeling her confidence coming back with every passing second. “Yeah! I didn’t think you guys would be into this sort of thing,” she says. She had kept in touch with them throughout the year and they still hung out frequently, but Cady had distanced herself slightly from the former Plastics while the events from junior year were still raw in everyone’s minds.

“I’ve always wanted to try it, but Regina never let us. She said theater was for dorks. No offense, Damian,” Karen says sheepishly. She liked Damian, he was always nice to her even though she had to be so horrible to his best friend.

“None taken.”

“But yeah! I decided to go for it and got Gretch to do it too so I wouldn’t be alone!” She says, turning to look at her as Gretchen starts coaching herself through breathing exercises.

“Are you okay, Gretchen?” Cady asks gently.

“Mmhmm. I’m fine,” she responds, looking close to passing out where she stands.

“You guys should go get signed in and come wait with us out here,” Damian offers, much to Cady’s relief. She’s missed them, but didn’t want to invite them in case Damian didn’t want them around just yet.

“Sounds fetch! We’ll be back soon,” Karen cheers, dragging poor Gretchen by the hand into the classroom. They come out after a few minutes, noticing their numbers are just after Damian and Cady’s.

They chat happily for a few minutes, getting caught up on the events of the few weeks since they’ve last spoken. Eventually the theater teacher, Mr. Gordon, and the choir director, Mrs. Baker come down the hall, entering the room to let everyone know that group warm ups are starting.

They follow the crowd into the auditorium, everyone finding a place on the stage as Mrs. Baker takes a seat at a piano in the pit. Mr. Gordon explains the routine for those who were new, then passes it off to her to lead vocal warm ups.

They go by fairly quickly, and then everyone moves to their seats in the auditorium to watch individual auditions, clapping politely for each one. Damian goes just before Cady, rocking his cut before bowing sarcastically and returning to his seat.

Cady steps up, says her name, and then just tries to focus on everything Damian has taught her. She blinks and the song is done, so she moves on, giving Gretchen a sneaky thumbs up since she’s up next.

Gretchen can sing well, but it’s painfully obvious she’s panicking inside and she stumbles off the stage when she finishes. Surprisingly, Karen actually does quite well, she’s confident and it shows.

They listen to the rest of the auditions together and chat quietly on their way out of the building, splitting back into their duos as they reach the doors.

Janis is waiting for them by the main entrance, leaning casually against the wall. She stays after school to paint sometimes, so they don’t suspect anything, but she was actually hiding in the auditorium to watch their auditions today.

Cady squeals, “Janis!” as she rushes up to hug her, and Damian shoots Janis a look when they lock eyes. Janis just shakes her head and wraps her arms loosely around Cady.

“You guys wanna come over? Jules has a dance thing tonight so I have the house,” Janis says, letting Cady go. “Movie night?”

Damian has been trying desperately to get the two together since the school year began, any alone time they get together is a chance. “I can’t, my mom’s making my favorite dinner tonight,” he lies. Janis glares at him, she’s caught on to his plight. She’s also just known him long enough to know he doesn’t have a favorite dinner, his favorite food is just whatever he’s eating in the moment.

“I can go!” Cady pipes up happily, excited to have a little alone time with her crush. Janis hasn’t shown any signs of reciprocating her affections (that she’s noticed), but she tries to get as much alone time with her as possible regardless. She’s starting to realize it’s probably not healthy, but she doesn’t want to stop spending time with her abruptly in case Janis gets suspicious.

“Tits, what do you want to watch?” Janis asks, still glaring at Damian, which Cady somehow doesn’t notice.

“The Lion King?” Cady says sheepishly.

“Of course you do. You owe me a slasher, though.” Janis sighs, accepting her fate.

“I can live with that,” Cady giggles. “Just nothing too gory.”

“Fine,” Janis pouts. “Let’s go, Africa. We got movies to watch.”

Cady hugs Damian goodbye and rushes out into the parking lot, and he manages to call out, “Remember the callback list gets sent out at nine!” just before she’s out of earshot. She gives him a thumbs up and continues running to Janis’ truck, Janis jogging sluggishly after her.

“Later, Dame. Love you, loser.” She calls over her shoulder. “Have fun with your mom.”

“Love you too art freak, have fun with your date!”

“It’s not a date!”

———-

Pancakes makes a beeline for Cady as soon as she steps in the door, rubbing against her legs with a welcoming meow. She bends down to scritch behind his ears, cooing at him in a baby voice.

“Hello Pancakes, how is the best little cat in the whole wide world?” She says as she scoops him up for better snuggles.

Janis just glares at him, grumbling, “Oh sure, I had to spend months and have trainers to get you to like me but little Miss Kenya comes over a few times and she’s your new best friend,” under her breath.

“Aww, Jan, don’t be jealous. He still loves you,” Cady pouts.

“I’m not jealous. He’s a dummy anyway. He stuck his paw in my coffee this morning and then yelled at it for getting his foot wet,” Janis says, as if that somehow redeems her. She actually is a little jealous, but only that Pancakes is getting Cady’s cuddles instead of her.

Cady laughs at that. “Orange boy cats are always dumb, that’s why they’re great. Why did you name him Pancakes anyway?” She asks as Janis leads them to the basement, cat still laying contently in her arms.

“He was really fat as a baby and when he sat down the way he would squish out made him look like a stack of pancakes,” Janis says, digging through her DVD collection for a movie. “I dunno, I was thirteen, it fit at the time.” She mumbles as she finds The Shining and puts it in.

Cady plops down next to her on the little couch, pouting as Pancakes decides he’s had enough and leaves with his tail flicking arrogantly. Janis mutters, “Little bastard,” under her breath affectionately as he trips on his way up the stairs.

Cady inches closer to Janis as the movie starts, pretending to be slightly more scared than she actually is. She does genuinely jump and bury her head in Janis’ shoulder at the first jumpscare, deciding to stay there as Janis wraps an arm around her shoulders to keeps her close.

She peeks out eventually, only to see a man with an axe in his chest and hides again with a little squeak of fright.

“You said you watched a snake eat a whole cow, why are you so scared?” Janis teases gently, playing with her hair to comfort her.

“Because this is people? I never said I liked watching the snake eat the cow either,” Cady points out.

“Fair enough,” Janis giggles. “Should we just skip to The Lion King now so you can actually sleep tonight?”

“No, you can finish, I’ll just stay here,” Cady says, muffled by Janis’ shoulder. She’s secretly kind of glad she has a reason to be this close to her, content to just breathe in the comforting scents of vanilla lotion and paint that follow Janis as she’s held tightly.

Janis laughs again. “Suit yourself, Peanut,” she hums, resting her head against Cady’s.

Once the movie ends she stretches out, standing up to switch the tv off and holding a hand out to help Cady up. “Let’s watch the rest upstairs, this couch is too small,” she says.

Cady follows Janis to her room, jumping onto her bed and wrapping herself up in the pancake blanket so that only her face peeks out. Janis grabs her laptop to bring up the movie, laying down next to her but making sure to leave a little bit of space between them.

Cady decidedly ignores the gap and inchworms herself closer to rest her head on Janis’ belly, Janis freezing for a second before relaxing. Cady’s love language was obviously touch, and if she trusted you she would not hesitate to make that known. It had taken some getting used to for Janis, being made into a social pariah and then having that all collapse last year didn’t exactly lead to many pretty girls wanting to cuddle with her. Every once in a while it was still a shock, but she treasured every little hug and cuddle she got from her crush.

By the time Hakuna Matata is playing softly from the speakers, Cady rolls over and Janis notices she’s sound asleep. She turns the volume and brightness down on her laptop and switches to watching The Little Mermaidinstead. She only watches The Lion King with Cady now, and if she wasn’t watching anything she would just stare at her sleeping face the whole time. She just got people to stop thinking she’s some kind of creepy molester, she doesn’t need Cady waking up and noticing she’s been watching her sleep.

She only gets a few minutes into her movie before her phone chimes with Damian’s text tone. She stretches gently over to her nightstand to grab it, trying not to wake Cady up.

sashafierce: Is Caddy still with you?

sashafierce: She got a callback for Belle and she’s not answering my texts

gaylien: Sent a picture: she sleep

sashafierce: Aww

sashafierce: Gay

gaylien: no

sashafierce: Yes

gaylien: she’s just a cuddly person

sashafierce: Yeah, with you

gaylien: she cuddles with you all the time!

sashafierce: Only when you’re not around, you’re clearly her favorite

sashafierce: And she has never fallen asleep on my lap like a little kitten. Not once

gaylien: point made but i still say ur wrong

sashafierce: And I still say when y’all start dating you have to give me 20 bucks

sashafierce: Anyway I hate to disrupt that little burrito but you really should wake her up and tell her, she needs to make sure she knows the whole song by tomorrow

Janis tries to shake Cady awake, only getting a sleepy groan in reply. “Peanut, you gotta wake up really quick,” she murmurs, shaking her again.

“Wha’ happent? Why’d you wake me up?” Cady grumbles, cranky about being so rudely awakened.

“You got a callback for Belle, Damian wants to make sure you know the song for tomorrow,” Janis says, grinning as Cady rubs at her face like a cat.

“‘ll call’er back later. Lemme sleep,” Cady groans, smushing her face against Janis’ tummy. “Goodnight.” She says, muffled as she reaches up to pat Janis’ face before falling back asleep.

gaylien: she just said “i’ll call her back later” and went back to sleep

sashafierce: LMAO ok

sashafierce: I’ll talk to her about it in the morning I guess

sashafierce: Enjoy your little totally platonic sleepover, love you both

gaylien: she’s just a cuddly person!!!! she doesn’t like me back there’s no way

gaylien: i love u too but ur the worst sometimes

sashafierce: And you’re a whole idiot sometimes you oblivious sap

gaylien: damb i’ve been called tf out

gaylien: goodnight loser

sashafierce: goodnight dork

Janis texts her mom to ask if Cady can sleep over, since she definitely won’t be able to wake her up enough to get her home by this point. Her mom agrees, letting Cady’s parents know as well.

They both wore clothes they can sleep in, so Janis only has to wake Cady up to take her contacts out before they can both go to sleep. Janis boops Cady’s nose gently in an attempt to wake her, trying to contain her giggles as she scrunches it like a bunny and the corners of her mouth tick up in a grin.

Once Cady’s contacts are out, she flips down onto the bed and buries her face in Janis’ pillow. Janis reaches over to shut the light off before lying down next to her, making sure to leave a few inches of space between them.

“Goodnight, Caddy.”

———-

The next day is the dance call and callbacks. Everyone gets to meet the choreographer, Mr. Dunn, as he leads them through some basic stretches and a few pieces of basic choreography that would be in the show. He calls out certain people’s numbers after every section, making Cady nervous when hers is never called until she notices Damian’s was never called either. Maybe it’s a good thing.

She has a roughly ten minute break to cool down from the exercise and prepare herself for her callback audition, sucking down water from her small bottle and doing a few of the warm-ups Damian taught her. Belle callbacks go first, so she goes to stand with a crowd of about five other girls in line.

She’s more confident than she was yesterday, Damian’s new tips fresh in her mind since they had worked on it a little at lunch. She’s technically excused after she’s finished, but since Damian is her ride home she goes to take a seat in one of the cushy chairs and watches him do his.

Damian got a callback for both the Beast and Lumiere (again), but since the audition song was the same for both he was only required to stay for one. He shoots Cady a wink once he finishes, and she claps silently for him so she doesn’t disturb the other people preparing.

They meet in the cafeteria, Damian rushing to scoop her up and spin her around in congratulation. “You did so good, Cads! I seriously think you might get it.”

“You did good too, Dame. I hope you get whatever part you’re wanting,” She says as he sets her down again.

“We’ll find out later tonight, they’re sending the cast list out at eight. Janis wants to take you-us out to dinner, by the way. She says you get to pick,” He says, faking annoyance about not being allowed to pick where they go.

“Aww, that’s nice of her. We could go to that buffet place, they have everything. Then you can pick what you want too,” She says, trying to compromise even though he was joking.

“Sounds good, Little Slice. She’ll meet us there, let’s go,” He says, scooping her up again and carrying her towards the parking lot as she shrieks with laughter and wraps her arms around his neck.

———-

Once all three are absolutely stuffed, they meet back up at Damian’s house for a weekend sleepover. All of them immediately flop on the ground in the living room, Pippa coming over to sniff and lick at their faces before settling in on Cady’s chest for a nap.

“I’ve never been so full in my life,” Janis groans. “How did I even make it here, I shouldn’t have driven.”

“You drove me here,” Cady says, concerned.

“That’s on you for trusting me, dork,” Janis says as she somehow manages to peel herself off the carpet and trudge over to the couch. “What movie do y’all want to watch?”

“Let’s just nap,” Damian grumbles. “Come back, Jan.”

They form a cuddle puddle on the ground, Cady in the middle pressed against Janis, and Damian on her other side. Janis pulls her closer, squishing poor Pippa between them and resting her cheek against the top of her head.

When they wake up again, it’s dark outside and Damian’s mom is back from work. She put a blanket over the lot of them and gave them each a pillow, but Cady moved from hers in favor of laying her head on Janis’ chest.

“Morning, sleepy heads,” Mrs. Hubbard teases from the couch as they all sit up and rub their eyes.

“Hi, Ma. What time is it?” Damian asks blearily.

“Just after eight. I’m assuming you girls are spending the night?”

“Yeah. Cads, that means the cast list is out, come see,” Damian says, grabbing his phone as he stands up to stretch. He sees his mom sent him a photo of the three of them curled up on the ground, making it his lock screen quickly before moving to his email to bring up the document the director sent out.

Cady pokes her head around to look at the screen just as it loads, and they both gasp excitedly as they see the first name.

Belle: Cady Heron

Damian keeps scrolling, seeing he’s been cast as Lumiere once again. That makes him a little nervous, but he had a lot of fun in the role last time.

Karen was cast as Chip, and Gretchen was in the ensemble and would also be portraying the enchantress.

“Holy shit, Cads! You got the lead!” Janis cheers, stopping herself at the last second from kissing her and playing it off as a hug instead.

“That’s crazy, I thought they only gave big parts to people who’ve done it before,” Cady says dazedly, suddenly nervous as she returns Janis’ embrace. “But Damian is Lumiere, that means we get to be together a lot,” She adds as she pulls him in to make it a group hug.

“And I’m stage manager, we get more time together too,” Janis adds, rejoicing internally.

——-

Rehearsals begin on the first of February, Janis working on taping out the stage for blocking set pieces while Cady sits in the auditorium seats with the rest of the cast for their first read through of the script. Every time she hears her sweet, soft voice ring out Janis’ heart skips a beat.

Cady comes to find her when they get a break, while Janis is working on painting a piece that will eventually be the door to the house. “That looks really good, Jay,” She says, accidentally startling Janis as she comes up from behind.

“Thanks, Caddy. How’s practice going?” Janis says, plopping her brush into the water cup next to her and leaning back on her hands.

“It’s fun! Sonja keeps getting yelled at because she’s not supposed to swear but does anyway and Dawn doesn’t want to flirt with Damian, but I like it. Everyone’s really nice,” Cady answers as she sits next to her.

“That’s good, if they weren’t I’d show them my fists,” Janis says, brandishing her weapons. She had actually started working out lately, so that on the off chance she ever encountered a homophobe or bigot she’d be able to deck them with the most force possible. It’s a genuine threat.

“Your rings would hurt a lot,” Cady laughs, leaning closer to see how Janis reacts. She blinks at her for a second, but eventually also leans closer.

“I was listening to your run earlier, you sound good, by the way. You do her character really well.” Janis compliments.

“Thank you. It’s actually kind of easy. Belle’s a lot like me, I suppose. She’s from somewhere else and never quite fits in, loves to get lost in other worlds, she loves her family...” She falls for someone she never thought she would, Cady adds in her head as she trails off, looking meaningfully at the gorgeous girl sitting next to her. “I have to get back, I’ll see you later.” She stuns Janis with a peck on the cheek as she goes, leaving her blinking rapidly and gaping at the wall.

“Bye,” Janis replies, several minutes after Cady’s already left.

——-

They’re only more distracted by one another when they start dating two weeks into rehearsals. Janis nearly ruined one of the rose props because she was so distracted listening to Cady working on a scene, and Cady had lost count of the times she’d nearly fallen into the pit while looking to see where Janis was.

Cady also had a tendency to hyper-express her emotions; if she didn’t say out loud what she was thinking or feeling her face would let you know. It was quite useful when she was acting since she didn’t have to try very hard to get the mood across, but when she had other things on her mind it could be an issue.

She got several notes about it one day. She kept giggling during an emotional scene, remembering Janis trying to clean out the fog machine and having it puff out in her face. Then later, she looked too bored during Be Our Guest causing Damian to resort to increasingly ridiculous measures to get her back, but she was actually just disappointed that Janis wouldn’t be in her eyesight anymore now that she had switched to working up in the booth.

Janis was also struggling to keep on task, her mind occasionally elsewhere. She missed a cue she was supposed to call up to lightning because she was laughing so hard watching her (now literally) flaming homosexual best friend pretend to flirt with Dawn Schweitzer, who was Babette. A few days later, she was so distracted staring at Cady in costume for the first time that she absentmindedly started singing a song from High School Musical at one of Sonja Acquino’s (Mrs. Potts) lines under her breath.

It wasn’t until she heard “Sarkisian, your mic is still on,” buzzing into her headset that she realized she never hit the button after calling her last cue and scrambled over to the switchboard.

Eventually, the director has to pull them both aside before practice one day and ask them, politely, to get their shit together. They both nod, embarrassed, but he just ruffles their hair and says it’s cute, but they need to focus on the show during rehearsals.

———

As they get down to the wire, Mr. Dunn asks Cady if there’s any way she could work on the waltz scene on her own time for extra practice. She had terrible coordination with her feet, so she wasn’t too surprised she’d have trouble dancing.

“I just don’t know who to ask, I don’t know anyone who can dance,” She complains to Damian while they get their snack break, crunching frustratedly on her celery.

“Janis could help, she did ballet for almost ten years,” Damian says, putting a hand over his mouth as he does. “Don’t tell her I told you, she’ll kill me.”

Cady has to bite her lip to contain a squeal at the mental image of a young Janis in a leotard and tutu. “Don’t worry, Dame, I won’t tell her.” She says comfortingly once she’s recovered.

That night, Janis comes over for a movie night, sans Damian who was “busy”. Cady immediately pins her to the couch for cuddles, not that Janis is complaining. They lie there for a while, talking about their day and peppering kisses wherever they can reach. Eventually Cady pipes up again, saying, “I learned something interesting about you today.”

Janis tenses, that could quite literally mean anything. “Oh?”

“You never told me you were a ballerina,” Cady says, leaning on her elbows to hover over her and playing with the ends of her hair as Janis visibly relaxes beneath her.

“I haven’t told you a lot of things,” She teases. “Who told you?” It could only be Damian or Regina, they’re the only ones who know.

“Nobody.”

“Damian?”

“No.”

“I’m not gonna do anything to him, you can tell me,” Janis coaxes. “I’m not embarrassed about it or anything, I just have some bad memories associated with it. It’s how I met Regina, actually.  Plus it just doesn’t really fit my vibe now, either.”

“Okay, yes it was Damian. But he didn’t mean to, I just need more help learning the dance for Tale as Old as Time, and he thought you could do it,” Cady mumbles.

“I probably could, I’ve watched you guys working on it enough. I think I know the steps,” She says, reaching for her phone to bring up the song as she stands up.

They push the furniture out of the way so they have room, Janis guiding Cady to where they should begin. “Okay, so you put your hand here,” She says, taking it gently and resting it on her own shoulder. “And then mine goes here.” She places hers on Cady’s waist, pulling her slightly closer.

Cady grins up at her as the music begins, following Janis’ movements and trying very hard not to step on her toes. It’s obvious she has some kind of dance background, she can follow the rhythm easily and the passion she puts into the movements makes Cady want to kiss her senseless right where they stand.

“That was good, Butterfly. Just loosen up a little, you’re so tense,” Janis says once they finish, still lost in each other.

“You’re really pretty,” Cady blurts after a second, staring into Janis’ eyes.

Janis laughs. “Thank you. You’re pretty too. Beautiful, even. Ma belle fille,” She coos, pressing a kiss to the tip of Cady’s nose.

“You know French?” Cady asks as they return to their starting positions to go again.

“Oui. My dad was French. I was born there, actually. He got sick a few years after, and he wanted my mom to have her family to support her through everything so we moved back here. My mom kept teaching me what she knew after he died, and his side of the family kept helping when she couldn’t anymore,” Janis says, smiling fondly as memories of her family run through her mind.

“That’s sweet,” Cady says, trying to remember the footwork and have a conversation at the same time. It does feel better now that she’s released some tension. “Wait, then why are you only in French 4?” She asks as the realization hits.

“Because nobody’s supposed to know,” Janis teases. “I get things wrong on purpose so nobody suspects anything. I didn’t want to be bumped up to a class with people I don’t know.”

“You’re such a dork, oh my god. Only you would purposely lower your grade in a class,” Cady laughs.

“What about you? I thought you were fluent in French too,” Janis points out.

“I used to be, but I speak so many things that are similar to it and I wasn’t using it regularly when we moved. I wanted to pick it back up, so that’s what I scheduled, and I tested into this one.”

“That makes sense,” Janis answers, spinning Cady out into a twirl before pulling her back. “Remember you’re gonna  be in a big dress while this is happening, you’re not going to be able to be this close.”

Cady pouts. “But I like being close to you,” she whines.

How is she so cute? “You can be close for now, but you’re gonna have about five pounds of fabric between you and the Beast when the time comes,” Janis hums, kissing her soundly once the music ends again.

“I wish you could be my Beast. I like you much more than Jason,” Cady says lovingly. “Can you help me run lines while we eat?” She asks as her mom lets them know that dinner is ready from the other room.

“Thanks, baby. I like you more than Jason too,” Janis laughs. “Let’s go get food, I’m starving.”

———

Tech week hits and everyone is immediately exhausted. Other than in classes and watching each other on stage, the art freaks barely even get to speak. They still have homework and chores, so sleepovers and movie nights have taken a backseat and probably would until the show closes.

After the last hell week rehearsal, Janis is cleaning up backstage as everyone files out to head home. As she finishes, she notices Cady lying spread eagle in the middle of the stage, staring up at the ceiling. Slightly worried, Janis decides to investigate.

“You okay there, Butterfly?” She asks, nudging her with her foot gently.

“Yeah,” Cady says, patting the ground next to her. “Come lay with me?”

Janis does, settling next to her and resting her head against Cady’s shoulder. There is something relaxing about it, staring up at the scaffolding and set pieces hanging above them. It’s the first moment they’ve had alone all week, both of them soaking in the other’s presence as much as they can.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Janis asks quietly after a while.

“Yeah. I think I am,” Cady says softly.

“I’m so proud of you,” Janis says. “I can’t wait to see you in it for real.”

“I love you,” Cady whispers after another beat, rolling on top of her and leaning down to kiss her. Janis grips her hips tightly, pulling her closer and flicking her tongue against the seam of Cady’s lips.

They lie there for a while just kissing softly, lips meeting again and again as they’re illuminated by the stage lights. Cady pulls back after several minutes, drawing a frustrated whine from Janis. “Can you take me home? I forgot that’s why I stayed behind, I don’t have a ride,” Cady asks. “You can spend the night,” She adds seductively, rolling her hips slightly.

“Yes, I can, let’s go,” Janis says quickly, scrambling to her feet as Cady giggles. She shuts off the stage lights, and they escape the building guided by the soft glow of the ghost light, hand in hand.

——-

Janis is rushing around backstage frantically, headset around her neck as she nearly plows over several people. One of the bars broke on the dungeon set, and she has to find a last minute fix for Belle’s basket.

She’s dashing past the girls’ dressing room when Cady pokes her head out, barely hearing the “Janis?” called after her.

She spins around on her heel, heading back towards the room. “Yes, princess?” She asks breathlessly.

“Can you help me? I can’t get my bow in,” Cady pouts, holding out a blue ribbon. Janis takes it from her gently, spinning her around and tying it around her curly auburn ponytail.

“There. Vous êtes belle,” Janis hums, wrapping her arms around Cady’s shoulders and pressing a sweet kiss to her cheek. “You ready?”

“I’m nervous,” Cady mumbles, fiddling with the hem of her apron.

“You can do it. You’re my tough Kenya girl, this is just your next adventure. You’ll soar out there, my butterfly,” Janis comforts, squeezing her before letting go. “Break a leg, baby. Je t’aime.”

“Je t’aime aussi,” Cady giggles.

———

Cady is killing it. Janis can feel the energy of the audience, the way they’re totally engrossed in her performance. She is as well. She has to hold back tears as Cady weeps at being torn from Maurice, has to tamp down actual jealousy at her stage relationship with the Beast.

Damian’s a crowd favorite as always, getting laughs in all the right places and lots of applause when he finishes his number. Lumiere really is the perfect role for him. He does comedy better than anything, as Janis knows well. She’s been in the audience for every single show he’s done since they were freshmen, and she can tell he’s giving his all to the last one he’d do here.

Karen nearly gets more laughs than Damian, her comedic timing is on point, and Gretchen looks remarkably comfortable onstage surrounded by the rest of the ensemble. She had really come out of her shell during rehearsals, and Janis is oddly glad to see her looking anxiety-free for the first time in a long time.

She tries not to be too surprised when she spies none other than Regina George in the audience at intermission, two bouquets of flowers on the seat next to her and nibbling on some peanut M&Ms she’d bought at concessions. Regina has changed a lot over the past year. Janis doesn’t necessarily think they’ll ever be friends again, they don’t spend time together without Cady, but it’s still nice to see.

The whole show nearly goes off without a hitch, other than Jason getting stuck hanging from the ceiling during the Beast transformation scene and Cady nearly getting run over by a set piece during a scene transition. They’re both incredible actors and play both off in character near perfectly.

Before either of them are really aware of it, the show is over and the final number begins. Cady is looking directly at the booth as she sings the reprise of Tale as Old as Time, looking right at Janis. She’s unable to leave the box until the audience exits, but she cheers loudly for Damian during his bow with Mike Thurman, who played Cogsworth.

Cady’s bow is last, and she comes running out onto the stage in her poofy yellow dress with the biggest grin on her face. The audience (and Janis) claps loudest for her, giving her a standing ovation as she bows proudly and leads the acknowledgement of the pit and crew. She blows a kiss as she gestures to where Janis is in the booth, able to pass it off as going to the audience, but Janis knows it’s just for her.

——

Cady is standing amongst the crowd in the cafeteria with her parents, hugging them

both tightly and accepting the bouquet of roses they got her. People are constantly congratulating her, and she’s high off the adrenaline of the night.

She bids her parents goodbye and turns to go congratulate Gretchen and Karen, who are currently chatting with Regina. Aw, Regina got them flowers, she thinks, when suddenly a small form rockets into her leg and hugs her tightly. She looks down to see a little girl, no more than seven, wrapped tightly around her leg and smiling up at her with missing front teeth.

A woman, presumably her mother, comes rushing up, apologizing frantically and gently scolding her daughter. “I’m so sorry, she got away from me. Darling, I’ve told you not to leave my side.”

“Oh, it’s okay, she’s fine,” Cady says calmly. “Hello!” She chirps to the girl being pried from her skirt.

“Oh, she’s mute. Only speaks at home,” her mother sighs.

“Does she know sign language?” Cady asks.

“Yes, but we’re both still learning,” the woman answers, looking surprised as Cady crouches down to the girl’s eye level.

“Hello there, what’s your name?” Cady signs slowly.

“Hi, I’m Willow.” She signs back, fumbling over a few of the shapes.

The woman gasps, “You know sign?”

Cady nods. “I was mute too, I didn’t really speak until I was six,” she explains.

“I like your dress,” Willow signs once Cady looks back to her.

“Thank you! I like yours too,” Cady reaches out to tug gently on the hem of it, making Willow giggle. “Did you like the show?”

Willow nods rapidly. “Lumiere was so funny!”

Cady laughs as she stands up. “That’s my best friend, would you like to meet him?” She says out loud, holding out a hand. Willow takes it with an excited nod, placing her little hand in hers.

Cady leads them through the crowd to Damian’s tall form; made even taller by the candle hat he has on. He spins away from talking with Janis when she taps him on the shoulder, immediately pulling her into a tight hug.

“I’m so proud of you!” He exclaims, letting her go. “Who’s this?”

“This is Willow, she wanted to meet Lumiere,” Cady says, allowing the little girl to hide behind her skirt. Damian can be kind of intimidating if you don’t know how gentle he really is.

“Oh! Enchantée, petite,” He exclaims in character, turning his candle hands back on and kneeling down to her height. Willow seems to realize he’s not actually a threat, just very tall, and comes out from behind Cady’s ballgown signing excitedly to Damian.

“She says you were really funny, and you’re her favorite character in the show,” Cady translates, also bending down. “Oh, except for me.” She adds with a giggle.

“Ah, merci! I’m glad you liked it,” He laughs, adding, “Belle’s my favorite too,” in a whisper as if it’s some sort of terrible secret. Willow giggles again.

“Willow, we have to go now, darling. Say goodbye,” Her mother says from behind them. She frowns, but hugs Damian gently before throwing her arms around Cady again. Janis has to turn around to avoid cooing audibly at the adorableness.

Cady hugs her back just as tightly, saying, “Oh, adieu, little one. It was lovely to meet you,” as she passes her back to her mother.

Willow waves goodbye to them as she takes her mother’s hand, Cady and Damian both waving back. The mother thanks them both several times, nearly in tears as she leads her daughter out the doors, the little girl signing excitedly that Belle was just like her.

“That was sickeningly adorable, I hope you know that,” Janis says once they’ve gone. Cady is incredible with kids. Maybe they’d have a few mini-Cadys running around someday.

“I do indeed,” Cady giggles, finally getting to hug her girlfriend. “Now let’s go take some pictures, my mom wants some of all of us together before we get out of costume.”

——-

Damian drives them to Waffle House after they change into sweats, Cady still in full makeup and him with his gold-painted face.

Cady’s still off her face on adrenaline, chattering about how much fun she had that night so quickly that neither Janis or Damian can make a word out. She rushes inside the restaurant once they get there, bouncing excitedly at the promise of waffles. The waitstaff look a little frightened when they see she’s clearly in show makeup, but calm down once they notice it’s just the three of them.

They pick a booth, Janis pinning Cady to the inside so she can’t cause too much property damage with her excitement.

Once their food arrives, Cady wolfs down her meal and promptly falls asleep on Janis’ shoulder. Janis shifts to cradle her sleeping girlfriend like a baby, wiping some  stray whipped cream off her lip and grinning down at her.

She continues talking to Damian as they finish eating, glad they finally have a chance to catch up. They didn’t get as many chances to hang out just the two of them now that she was dating Cady, and it had only gotten worse once the show had started getting more intense. They would always be first in each other’s hearts, platonic soulmates, but she’s still missed him.

“You two are so soft,” Damian teases once he’s paid for their food. Cady has to wake up for a minute so Janis can actually stand up, practically falling asleep on her feet until Janis picks her up. Working out also came with the added benefit of being able to carry her girlfriend around, which they both loved. Especially since Cady had a tendency to fall asleep in inconvenient places.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Janis answers as Cady wraps her arms around her neck and legs around her waist loosely, burrowing into her shoulder and going back to sleep.

Damian just gestures broadly at the whole situation as he leads them back towards his car. Janis decides to sit in the back, laying her girlfriend down gently before sliding in after and placing Cady’s head on her lap.

As Damian peels out of the parking lot, Janis smiles down at her girl, running her fingers through her soft auburn curls gently and trying not to giggle too hard when Cady puffs happily in her sleep and nuzzles into her hand slightly.

“Je t’aime tellement, mon papillon,” she whispers softly in French so Damian won’t understand. “Merci de m’aimer aussi.”

And they lived happily ever after.

------

thanks for reading! as always any and all feedback is appreciated, but please be kind.

lots of love,

ezzy

#cadnis #cady heron x janis sarkisian #paint by numbers #cady heron #janis sarkisian #damian hubbard #karen smith #gretchen wieners #regina george #karen smith x gretchen wieners #mean girls #mean girls musical #mean girls broadway

[avaantares]

Imma rant for a minute. (This is me being critical of a thing, so if you’re eschewing negativity right now, feel free to scroll on past.) :)

Sooooo I took a break from replaying FFVII:R tonight (last night, by the time this posts) to watch the stream of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, a show I already knew to be terrible (but hey, you can't argue with free musicals, right?). Long before the musical opened, I’d read The Phantom of Manhattan, the book it’s based on, and that was... like... Hmm. Think of a bad fanfiction you've read. I mean a really bad one, one that gets every single character wrong, has the stupidest of stupid fiction tropes, includes ridiculously contrived scenarios to kill off characters and weird medical "science" and historical inaccuracies and a totally implausible plot, all mashed together just to reinforce someone's OTP which was kind of an unhealthy relationship to begin with and got considerably more unhealthy in this story, AND it includes a lengthy author’s note in which the writer bashes the author of the original work his story is based on and explains everything that author did wrong and how it should have been written, using examples from the fic writer’s own work to demonstrate.*

Then picture that as a $24.99 hardback.

So I knew the general story already, and I'd seen a couple of clips from the stage show, and from what I remembered it was all pretty forgettable. But like I said, free to watch, right? Nothing to lose but a couple of hours.

Oh. My. Goodness. I was not prepared for the full experience. It's like Phantom of the Opera and Cats had a (secret) baby that got shoved in a blender with all of circa-2004 Fanfiction.net and then pasted back together by a YA fiction editor’s intern. Despite a truly exceptional cast and some strong visual and set design, it wavered between cringe-y and I’m-going-to-hurt-myself-laughing levels of bad.

Mind you, it’s still better than the book, in which (SPOILER ALERT if anyone cares, which you probably don’t because if you’re the type of fan who would, you’ve probably already seen the show) Christine’s son is not the byproduct of a willing affair she had with Erik after she became disillusioned with her marriage, but was conceived after he kidnapped her at the Opera House, and... let’s just say consent was dubious, at best. (IIRC she was “half swooning” and not entirely aware of what was happening.) Also there’s some nonsense about Raoul being impotent from a war wound and never having consummated their marriage... But broadly speaking, the story is the same as the musical -- by which I mean it completely negates everything good and symbolic and meaningful about ALW’s Phantom of the Opera, to which the book was as much a sequel as it was to the original Gaston Leroux novella.

Love Never Dies fails as a sequel for a number of reasons: Every character you liked in the original? Assassinated. Raoul, who was willing to sacrifice his life for Christine in POTO, is now an abusive, alcoholic wastrel who has gambled his family into crippling debt. Christine cheats on her husband with a guy who has made a habit of kidnapping and threatening her, and who has actually murdered a number of people. Meg, Christine’s dearest friend and confidante, is now a washed-up burlesque dancer who -- again, SPOILER ALERT -- tries to kill first Christine’s son, then herself, then finally succeeds in killing Christine. The broadest take-home message of POTO, that kindness and love can heal even the deepest wounds, is undercut by these dramatic character reversals. Even the show’s title anthem “Love Never Dies” is contradicted by the love triangle at the center of the plot. Maybe love never dies, but that doesn’t stop Christine from cheating on her husband, Raoul from walking out on his wife and son, Erik from threatening to kill Christine’s child if she doesn’t do what he wants, Meg from betraying and murdering her best friend... yeah, let’s not take relationship advice from this group. 

But beyond that, LND is just bad structurally. The Phantom’s opening number builds up to be a “Music of the Night”-style anthem -- a dubious choice, since it makes everything he sings for the next half an act feel flat by comparison. Then we go into a surreal Coney Island segment for a while, then a bunch of really awkward dialogue exposition gets crammed in, and then twenty minutes into the show we finally meet Christine and her family, which kicks off the actual plot. The pacing is uneven. The tone is all over the map, too, bouncing between Phantom-like operatic ballads and Jesus Christ Superstar-esque carnival rock numbers. (All of which, I have to say, the Melbourne cast knocked out of the park. The vocal performances were definitely not a weak spot in this production.)

While I really like a lot of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stuff -- I've seen a number of his shows on stage, some of them three or four times -- his titles seem to be hit-or-miss. For every Phantom, there's a Whistle Down the Wind. Some of that isn't his fault; a mediocre lyricist or book writer can do a lot of damage, even with good music. This musical had two lyricists and four writers, and it shows. But IMO, this is also not Lloyd Webber’s best work. Apart from the title song, which I’ve heard often enough to know it outside of the show, I can recall the melodies of... two songs? The score isn’t bad, it’s just not as instantly memorable as Sunset Boulevard or Joseph or Phantom. And a weak story plus average music doesn’t equal a great show.

I’m sure I’ve complained more than anyone cares to read, but I have one final rant about something that caused me to startle my dog by making some very screechy noises: When Christine arrives by ship, the Phantom sends a horseless carriage to pick her up at the pier. Mind you, this scene is specifically stated to take place in New York in 1905. The crowd of onlookers is utterly SHOCKED by a vehicle that moves by itself. “There are no horses!” someone exclaims. "How does it work?"

Apparently all four of the credited writers slept through history class, and also couldn’t be bothered to Google a photo of New York at the turn of the century. Automobiles have been around since the 1880s, and by 1905, New York had so many cars on the streets that the New York Supreme Court had to hand down a ruling guaranteeing that horse-drawn transportation still had the same right-of-way as motorized vehicles, because the motorists didn’t want to share the road. Heck, my own great-grandfather owned a car by 1895! Glaring, easily-avoided errors like this jar me so far out of the story -- even good stories, which this one wasn’t -- that they actually bother me more than other, more significant failings. At least do your basic research, people. Use Google. Grrr.

Anyway, I’m just rambling now because I can’t sleep and I'm on prescription narcotics for pain and my dog is tired of listening to me grumble. Don’t mind me; I’m not actually this negative in real life. 😅

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

* I am not exaggerating. In the foreword, author Frederick Forsyth bashes Gaston Leroux and gives examples from his own works to explain how Le Fantôme de l'Opéra could have been written better. Like. DUDE. NO.

That book went straight into the donation box the moment I was done reading it. When Love Never Dies came out, I briefly regretted getting rid of it, but then I remembered how bad the story was and stopped feeling bad.

#Love Never Dies #andrew lloyd webber #phantom of the opera #musicals #Review #insomnia writes #long post

[emperorren]

Do you listen to What The Force podcast? They have this crazy weird but interesting theory that Palpy wants to marry Rey to control her and obtain power...And I don’t know what to feel about it because it’s such a weird thing to consider that Palpy is gonna be romantic rival lol But it could happen mainly because a lot of stories have this kind of trope...but Palpy?! I have mix feelings bcuz I dont even want Rey to entertain this idea at all. She can be tricked who knows. What are your thoughts?

Yes, I’ve listened to it! I joked on twitter that all I can picture now is this:

But seriously, I can say I’m definitely intrigued, and I don’t think it’s that crazy, though I’m not sold on the /romantic rival/ part. I don’t think it will be literal.

So this theory hinges on the trope of the “dark suitor”: usually some kind of demonic figure or evil magician archetype that tries to lure/force the maiden-heroine into a dark marriage to harness her power—or, in more prosaic stories, her resources. This is quite common in Disney and dark fairytales, particularly those that center on a female protagonist: Beetlejuice (as above), A series of unfortunate events, Legend, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast to some extent (Gaston might not be an evil magician, but he’s a dark suitor nonetheless, someone who lusts after the heroine out of a desire to control her)—The Little Mermaid has a gender reversed version of this trope, with Ursula trying to marry Eric (a male proxy, in this case) to permanently steal Ariel’s magical voice and keep her as a slave. As the podcast put it, it’s not about a love triangle per se, but about controlling feminine power, often in a sexualized way. I think it’s important to note that the dark suitor trope differs from the more general “villainous crush” because the villain in question doesn’t have a genuine crush or feelings for the heroine, but tries to seduce her for his own personal gain, or because he’s simply evil personified, an inherently dark force that only exists to corrupt and enslave. In contrast, the real love interest is the one who lets the heroine go, learning to respect her freedom and giving up any attempt to control her (see: the Beast leaving Belle free).

Now, this is pure speculation based on an analysis of tropes and archetypes, but this time not based on canon material, merely on predictions of how those tropes could evolve, so I recommend taking it with a grain of salt. Our theories about the force bond or Reylo being reminiscent of Hades/Persephone, Beauty and the Beast, Bastila and Revan etc. were so strong because they had a lot of canon evidence or foreshadowing to rely on. (think of how many hints of the force bond were in the tfa novelization, or how much the cinematography screams “Hades” and “Grim Reaper” when Kylo comes on screen). Otoh, we have nothing in canon to predict what Palpatine’s role will be in relation to Rey, other than a brief glimpse of Dark!Rey from the sizzle reel and, well, Palpatine’s own track record with seducing people. We haven’t even seen a glimpse of Palpatine himself in this trilogy so far.

We have, of course, our understanding of the trilogy’s main themes and what they’re trying to accomplish as the final word on an entire saga. Namely, redemption, healing the wounded masculine through the feminine, and incorporating the former into the latter and vice versa, in a “divine” reconciliation of opposites (a wound opened by Anakin’s choking Padme and falling to the dark side via Palpatine’s orchestrations).

One thing that imo the Reylo fandom got completely right is that the Feminine—Rey’s femininity—is really crucial to this trilogy. Rey being a heroine defines and changes everything, from the nature of her heroic journey to her dynamic with the villain(s). So I think it’s definitely plausible—almost certain—that Palpatine will identify in her the ultimate bride apprentice to seduce, exploit & maybe subdue, PRECISELY bc she’s a woman (“Padmé reborn with the Force”) and NOT a Skywalker (a bloodline Palpatine has now a BAAAAD track record with). Whilst Snoke, who tried so hard and failed to be Palpatine like Kylo tries and fails to be Vader, targeted Kylo and ignored Rey, Palpatine will do the exact opposite, and try to get rid of Kylo (or maybe use him as a bait / cannon fodder / sacrificial lamb) to get to Rey. Because he knows where the real power resides. In essence, he’ll throw Ben/Padmé under the bus to secure Rey/Anakin’s powers.

(but exactly like Snoke before him, he will underestimate both Ben Solo and Rey, and his hubris will be his downfall)

My main issue with this is that I don’t think Rey’s weakness is her need for romantic love, so I find it unlikely that she’ll be tempted by a second romantic suitor. She longs for a belonging, for connection, yes. But Kylo offered her exactly that in the form of a romantic proposal, and she was able to turn him down. So why should she fall for Palpatine’s seduction, instead? Even if he manifests himself in the form of sexy Matt Smith? What does he have to offer, that Kylo does not? How can he seduce Rey when even Kylo, the man Rey falls in love with in TLJ, could not?

well,

unlike Kylo, Palps is incredibly good at manipulation. Kylo’s proposal was naked, blunt. Join me and together we will rule the galaxy. He said she was nothing but not to him, but that’s kindergarten manipulation compared to Palpatine’s skills (it’s not manipulation at all, actually, but that’s another issue). He didn’t try to blackmail her, bargain her surrender in exchange for her friends’ lives, offer to reunite her with her parents, offer her to resuscitate her parents, NOTHING. Hell, he actually tried to heal Rey’s conflict over her parents, forcing her to confront her suppression of her abandonment, accept it and MOVE ON. We been saying that a real Sith, on the other hand, would let the wound fester, and fester, and fester, and then strike, because an apprentice with a huge achilles’ heel is much easier to manipulate into the dark side. 

this “dark marriage proposal” might not be literal, but symbolical. The sexual symbolism of such a union might be hidden, disguised as something else—something Rey needs desperately, or thinks so. A father figure. Something Kylo repeatedly called her out on. 

Related to point 2: what if Kylo’s proposal failed because he explicitly presented himself as her equal (and potential mate, scaring the shit out of her, because she’s in the adolescence phase in TLJ and she’s confused by her sexuality, and still clinging to the childhood version of herself, see her *regression* in the last act of the movie), rather than as her… daddy? If not as her literal father, as an older, wiser, trustworthy, authoritative male figure that plays into Rey’s need for guidance and belonging. We thought she was over it by the end of TLJ, but what if she hasn’t fully processed it yet? 

Now enter Palpatine, the ultimate demonic figure in this entire story, with unparalleled skills in disguise and manipulation and vast experience in mentoring young, troubled apprentices with abandonment issues, either presenting himself as a seductive young(ish) man claiming to be able to bring Rey’s parents back / tell her the REAL truth about them, or literally pretending to be her father. Enter an Elektra complex, that would be a great counterpoint to the vastly documented oedipal subtext in Anakin and Ben’s narratives. Make it REALLY ambiguous as fuck. And here’s your “weird” story.

The nice thing about this theory is that it’s a subversion of the villain x heroine narrative we’ve been watching so far (and reviled for liking by the rest of the fandom). We thought Kylo was the Murderous Snake, the evil seductor, the dark suitor. And he was, but only because he’s Rey’s Shadow. In truth, he’s an angel in demon clothes. Underneath the monster, there’s the real Heroic Love Interest. He’s the darkness that Rey needs to incorporate and reconcile with; Palpatine is the darkness she needs to reject.

Another thing—whether or not this theory comes to fruition, I’m fairly certain there will be a moment where Palpatine, seemingly in control of Rey, urges her to kill Ben (remember that “kill him!” in the TFA novelization?). Because that’s what Palpatine does—he’s the Devil whispering in the Lovers’ ears, turning them against one another. But because this is reverse anidala, Rey will succeed where Anakin succumbed, and categorically reject to hurt her lover. The Lovers will be stronger than the Evil Magician this time.

#anon #asks #theories #podcast #palpatine #evil magician #dark suitor #dark union #tros spec #palpatine and rey #villainous crush #tropes

[theteaisaddictive]

👶 😢 🎈 👻 ☕️ 💜

thank you!!

advice for new writers

practice makes perfect. and that doesn’t mean that you need to rewrite the same chapter or on-shot over and over and over again to make it ‘good’, but that as your writing style evolves and grows your skills will increase, too. this is the first chapter of my very first multi-chap fic ever. i posted it in 2013, when i was sixteen years old, and i wrote it in the notes app on my phone. by contrast, this is the latest chapter of ever just the same, which updated on friday. six years of practice will make a difference in your writing -- and not just your fiction writing either, but academic and non-fiction writing! i’m much better at dialogue, descriptions, consistent plotting and characterisation, than i was when i was sixteen, and it was partly because of the kindness and genuine enjoyment of other people that i continued to write. 

a line that made you cry

i’ve never gotten to the stage of actually crying at my own writing, although when writing for benoit in a rose’s thorn i did definitely sink into a melancholy funk, because of how intensely unhappy his character was. i think almost the entirety of the beast’s pov in chapter 28 gets me close to misery, but the kicker is always ‘Nine days after Belle left, less than twelve hours before his twenty-first birthday, the Beast sat at the window of the West Wing, the only living thing left in his silent castle.’

2 or 3 sentences from something you haven’t posted yet

uuhhhhhh here, take something from the kitella role reversal (aka now i wanna hold you close)

Much like Ella, Kit found himself thinking about their conversation in the forest over the course of the next week. When he had met up with Anastasia later that afternoon, a half-dreamy smile still on his face, she had said nothing to his face – but that night, she had whispered about it to Susanna in the room that they still shared. The next day Kit had had to contend with both of his sisters giving him half-knowing, half-teasing looks, which only the threat of Lady Tremaine finding out could keep in check.

favourite passage

my favourite passage is, and continues to be, the passage at the very very end of a rose’s thorn, when we see into belle and benoit’s future. 

top three favourite lines

But all of that was to come. For the moment, Benoit curled up in the large chair -- Like all those times in the library, when I was a Beast, he thought semi-ruefully -- and with kiss-stung lips, a happy heart, and anticipation for what the next day might bring, fell asleep swiftly; his heart, broken and cracked no longer, beating in tandem with his soulmate’s. (A Rose’s Thorn, Epilogue: Hands Against Hearts)

With those three rules in place, Elena’s childhood passed in a haze of tranquility, much in the same way that an untethered rowing boat glides lazily down a river in a hot July. (Roses and Lavender, Chapter 1 [and yes, there will eventually be a full-length Roses and Lavender, but not until I’m done with EJTS and tightly knotted to a similar string)

“If I’m not a Beast, then what does that make me?”

“A woman,” Cogsworth said quietly, “with nothing to be ashamed of.” (Ever Just the Same, Chapter Fifteen: You Matter to Me)

what’s a spoiler for a wip or series?

this one i’ll put under the cut so that those who do NOT want parts of ever just the same spoiled for them don’t have to read it. this is a spoiler not for the next chapter, but for events happening in future chapters. 

ok! so!

when belle and marie get trapped in their house while the mob song happens, belle escapes once everyone is gone. on her way to the castle to warn eve she finds lefou, on his way back to molyneaux -- first to warn leon (who’s still in the forest) to avoid the mob, and secondly to let her out of the cellar. he’s gay, and in a relationship with stanley, and while he’s always felt uncomfortable with gaston’s behaviour towards belle (because he is, at heart, a decent enough chap), he knew it was far better to be one of gaston’s cronies than the target of his harassment. (yeah, this is the mlm/wlw solidarity thing i was talking about in that other post)

(well. not the only one)

#asks #ever just the same #a rose’s thorn

[theonceoverthinker]

Why Pan Continues to Rock My Socks

Pan is my favorite OUAT villain and writing out why is something that has me so nervous.

...I hope I can PAN-dle it! XD

As I just said, Pan is my favorite OUAT villain, but more than that, I think he’s a master class on how to write a good villain overall. His framing, use of screen time, and the note he leaves out on are so good that I couldn’t just highlight it in the reviews I’ve been doing throughout my rewatch of the series. He frankly deserves better.

So I wanted to do that here!

Well, without any further adieu, let’s get rolling!

First, let’s talk about Pan and his dynamics. Good villains simply connect to other characters. This can be portrayed through a prior history or a thematic connection and Pan has the benefit of having at least one of these types of connections to almost every single main. Snow and Charming may be the sole exceptions to this (Though let’s be real, if Neverland was even one or two episodes longer, he would’ve gotten to them), but Pan’s understandings of the main characters, their shared history, and how diametrically opposed to them thematically he is is brought up in most every episode. Obviously, he’s Rumple’s father, had Killian working for him, and knew Bae for a long time as a lost boy. But that all just scratches the surface of what he brings to the table. He exploits the tropes that Henry’s selflessly used for two seasons now for his own selfish purposes, knowing that Henry will fly towards them like a bug to a zapper. Pan’s understanding of Killian’s past selfishness clashes with Killian’s growth into a more selfless person, and while it doesn’t...PAN out in the way he expects it to (These are the jokes, people), they leave a narrative tension. With Regina, Pan’s regret but not remorse over abandoning Rumple clashes with Regina’s remorse but not regret for all of her misdeeds. Emma’s hesitant jump into leadership is undermined by Pan every step of the way, making her eventual triumph all the more satisfying. And of course, the big dynamic is that between himself, Rumple, and Neal. Neal has the emotional strength to take down Pan, but not the magical and Rumple has the magical strength to take down Pan but not the emotional strength due to the distrust he’s accumulated and his cowardice. Pan knows this and exploits it like a video game hacker with a copy of Super Mario Bros. There’s a reason why I loved “Nasty Habits” so much. Like, Neal and Rumple actually take down Pan and get Henry. They actually almost win, but Pan knows their issues and just what buttons to press to make them vulnerable AND makes it so that they won’t have that chance of victory again by dividing the two of them physically and emotionally through retelling the prophecy to Neal AND Rumple. I emphasize “AND” because that distrust, as pointed out by several characters, awakens that self-preservation habit in Rumple. THIS is incredible character work, work that only a character like Rumple’s father with a physical power equal to Rumple’s could get and it’s what makes him so good!

Second, let’s talk about Pan’s performance. Robbie Kay gives such charisma to Pan’s character, bringing him to life. Pan  was a difficult role to take on. They needed someone relatively young to pull off being scary AND charming. It can be easy to pull off one of these, but both for the same character in such a natural way isn’t something you see everyday. Robbie portrays Pan as the kind of person a kid would want to follow and trust, a leader, a little shit, a menace, and a monster. There are big shifts between those types of roles, ranging from very big shifts to subtle ones and Robbie gets them all!

Before we get to point three, this is getting close to obnoxiously long, so if you’re liking this, join me below the cut!

Third, let’s talk about mythos. Part of OUAT’s bread and butter are their different takes on fairy tale characters. And for Peter Pan, this was arguably the biggest deviation they had for the time. I don’t know if it’s a better twist than Red being the wolf, but I will say it took BALLS to make Peter Pan, a symbol of Disney and the star of one of the parks’ longest running attractions, a villain. But they did it and I think that because of that risk, A&E were especially careful here to get it right. Not only was Pan and his backstory recreated, but also his dynamics to every single character in the Peter Pan mythos. I won’t list them out here, but everything was turned on its head, but appropriately so.

Fourth, let’s talk about his impact on our mains within themselves. Prior to Season 3, our heroes and villains were pretty firmly divided. Even though situations had been resolved together, often, everyone was working for a different cause and against each other. The biggest example is Regina acting against the Charmings. However, Pan changed this. Pan was such a threatening villain that for once, while not always in full agreement on how to defeat, everyone was on the same page over the fact that Pan DID need to be defeated. This is what makes season 3 so satisfying. With the exception of the entirety of “Into the Deep” and the end of “Queen of Hearts,” we’ve never had this before and even then, there were more characters incorporated here like Belle, Neal, and Killian. Every episode involved working together in some way and even the two episodes without straight-up plot progression never felt that way because of all of the character work that stemmed from a common stem: Defeating Pan.

Fifth, Pan is just a fucking villain by design. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have a villain make a shift in allegiances mid-show without much setup, I’ve always preferred an understanding of the abstract design of a character going in. It shows an understanding of who this character is and what the audience should expect out of them. With Pan, he was a irredeemable villain from the start. There’s never been an iota of hope for his redemption. Honestly, just like we’ll see with Cruella next season, it’s SO satisfying to have that simplicity. It allows for there to be more fun with what they can do and how they react to it. Pan’s not sympathetic: That’s why his backstory episode is from Rumple’s POV. BUT what he is is engaging. Pan is a villain we like to see. He’s like the animated Gaston. We love to hate him. I also want to point out that while an irredeemable villain, the writers never made Pan do anything that took him out of that zone of engagement. He never had an “Eloise Gardener” moment like Gothel did and that worked to his benefit. He still did and said horrible things, but they were never horrible in a way that took viewers out of the experience.

Finally, let’s talk about how he goes out. I’ll talk about this more when we hit 5B, but one of the worst mistakes OUAT ever made was bringing Pan back in the Underworld Arc in the way that they did. Pan died in such a big way that showed how powerful of a character he was. His death killed a major character in the process and left behind a curse that could only be reversed by separating Emma and Henry from their family forever. In the Underworld Arc...he’s just there...defeated by Rumple in a shameless manner that robs Pan of some of his intelligence and dignity. In Neverland, they were basically evenly matched and Rumple won for a reason relating to emotion and love, something Pan couldn’t sympathize with. In the Underworld...he was just sneaky, depriving the dynamic of so much (But not all) of its emotional resonance. Pan left 3A with a ten minute long emotional fireworks display and the effects of said fireworks display held on for nearly half a season longer.

There’s a reason why many say “Coming Home” could have been a series finale for so many people. Pan scared the series (And I say that in the best way possible) in a way that only what amounted to an effective reset (One that led to a polarized audience until the end of the series) could fix. His mark was a pinnacle in a lot of ways in terms of what the show (And villains) could do with character work, its blending of mythos between old and new counterparts of classic characters, and the effects that a single character -- even a one off -- can leave.

I hope I did a good job explaining myself on Pan. He ticks off every box in how to write an effective villain and his adoration and lasting impact on the series is well deserved. Thank you for reading this bonus review and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales for giving me a reason to revisit this character! For all of the readers of my reviews, I’ll see you in 3B!

Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #peter pan #ouat season 3 #ouat meta

[heroic-endeavors]

Lexi in pj's as she sees xehanort and the kids enter as hugs them as she holds Delia as she sits feeding her. Riku "she's calm but yen sid is not going unpunished I texted a old friend to make him have nightmares I called Diz to trap him in a digital nightmare" smiling as he sees scala hugging Xander with caelum as noriko is with her aunts braiding hair and lux is cuddled by sora "about time they met they second grandpa" smiling.

Xander chuckled, "That sounds better than what I had in mind." He wondered what kind of nightmare that would be.

Vic also came by with a basket of fruits. "I think he'll be placed in the digital nightmare once all his former students get their fun by going and flipping him off. I've seen some bring rotten eggs and tomatoes. Quite a few people have a grudge."

Luxu also had to go check it off. He has a smug look, "You're a bitch. I have some ideas I wanna do after DiZ has his fun." He flipped Yen Sid off before leaving. After everyone had their moment DiZ comes by to do as he planned.

Gaston came by to visit as well, bringing some fresh bread by.

Luxu went back to the castle and mentioned to Ria to make most of those gender bending potions yet also to talk her into making a potion that should reverse someone's age. As well as making the first potion last longer.

Ria is on board because she knew what Luxu wanted the potions for thus would get to work right away. "I'm thinking of making one that's permanent."