#Acting Class with Patrick White

[ghostgirl-22]

i think art identifies as totally 100% straight but squirms whenever he gets the slightest bit of male attention, and patrick is just waiting for the realization to hit him (and maybe trying to help him realize it, in his own way)

Poor baby— he’s so lost <3

CW:18+

—-

Art thinks he’s straight and that’s fine. Patrick’s not gonna argue his sexuality with him. He sees things in black and white. In his mind there’s straight and there’s gay and that’s it. They’re lying in bed one night watching a gay episode of Date My Mom on MTV and Art’s made up his mind. “I couldn’t even imagine it honestly, I’m just so attracted to women,” he explains matter of factly. As if one negates the other.

Patrick’s actually coming around to the fact that he, himself, probably likes both.

One too many nights spent jerking it while thinking about Art stepping out of the foggy bathroom, towel sitting low on his glistening waist, wet curls in his eyes. Art bent over in front of him on the tennis court while they’re in the middle of a doubles match. Art sitting across from him on his bed, legs spread wide, skin flushed, hands shoved down his pants moaning while they watch the Mummy on TV and perv over Rachel Weisz (and Patrick secretly on Brandon Fraser). Either way he’s starting to realize he likes at least one boy. A lot.

The reason he thinks Art is a repressed little liar is because of how squirmy he gets when boys flirt with him. Boarding school is so weird. They’re with boys all the time. The girls dorms are on the other side of the school and there’s something about being all cooped up together, sweaty and close, hormones going crazy that’s led to some… experimentation.

And plenty of boys want to experiment with Art. He’s blue eyed, easy to blush, long brown lashes, pretty smile, and the perfect little slutty waist. Of course he gets all kinds of male attention and he absolutely falls apart every time.

The flirting could be a little or a lot. It doesn’t matter… Art gets silly for it. Little compliments and he’s sitting on his hands, grinning too much. A bit of teasing and flirting and he’s giggling when things aren’t even funny. Fucking giggling.

Patrick’s present for a lot of it. Boys teasing him during gym class snapping at his waistband, the kind of immature grade school teasing like pulling on a girls braids repeatedly because you just want her to notice you. All that before they start calling him pretty boy and asking what color his underwear is and he really gets antsy. Then by the end of class there’s Art, cheeks pink, eyes bright. And he’s letting them take turns looking down his pants to see the color for themselves.

The little games of footsie with Sammy Kline under the table in the cafeteria. Art acting like it’s not flirting but they’re going back and forth all period, exchanging glances. Art’s all antsy, sucking on his spoon by the time lunch is over. And Patrick accidentally walks in on Sammy touching himself in an empty bathroom right after.

Or when Art is play wrestling with Jamal Butler after practice and he squeezes Art’s thigh just under his knee because he’s so ticklish there and Art is giggling and kicking and whining “stop it.” Breathless and airy, his weight settled on Jamal’s chest. Patrick tightened his grip on his phone, thinking Jamal would try to kiss him but Art pushed him down and grinned all flushed. “I beat you.”

Jamal playfully messes with Arts hair when they get to their feet and Patrick notices the way Art shivers for it. When Jamal leaves to get dressed Patrick is also aware when Art needs to adjust himself, just the slightest bit.

Art’s not just oblivious to the fact that what they’re doing is flirting, he’s oblivious to his own flirting.

He doesn’t think it’s flirting when he lets boys give him little things. An extra orange juice at breakfast. (“Please, can I have it? I’m still really, really thirsty.”) A candy bar from the vending machine. (“I’ll marry you if you get me a snickers right now.”) A hoodie to wear if he’s cold while they sit in the stands waiting for their match to start. (“I love you so much, I can’t believe I forgot mine.”) He’s always soft and tentative when he asks as if he can’t have whatever he fucking wants. As if boys don’t fall all over themselves for him.

Patrick’s probably in that category of flirting, giving Art everything… taking Art’s everything. Sharing cigarettes, drinks, food, clothes, a bed… everything he can.

Patrick’s actually obsessed with it. Can’t stop jerking himself off thinking about the ways Art gets all flustered around boys. Wiggling in his chair, bouncing his leg, wetting his lips, chewing on his thumb, on his clothes, on his pen… needs to put something in his mouth. These anxious little ticks. Art can’t name the feelings he’s feeling but Patrick knows what they are. They share the bedroom, he can hear it when Art’s touching. Knows he’s not really thinking about his girlfriend.

It’s with Patrick that boundaries consistently blur. Like the day when Jamal didn’t kiss him and his girlfriend was out of town and he’s crawling into Patrick’s bed asking him for help to practice so he can kiss her better. As if they don’t both know better.

And god forbid if Patrick points any of this out, or ever asks him about his behaviour. Art would laugh it off. He’d say Patrick is exaggerating and that those boys are just being friendly, they don’t want him. Besides it makes no sense because he has a girlfriend. But he’s still stuck in black and white… doesn’t really see all the colors of the rainbow yet.

Patrick finds it all amusing…one day it’ll hit him like a ton of bricks, like when he discovered it was okay to like both Nsync and the Backstreet Boys at the same time. Not that he’d ever really admit that he likes either but that’s a whole different story.

Patricks gonna be there to kiss him on that day too.

(Idk i wrote this on the clock I fear…sorry if it’s all a mess…but so is Art 😅)

[anonyymouslyyours]

stanford!art who needs a rebound after tashi and patrick officially get together 

he’s seen you at games before, in little white tennis skirts, with your friends. one time patrick even pointed you out and said you were hot. so after a game, he approaches you. makes you laugh,and then blush when he compliments your outfit. your friends all nag you to leave, and you go before he can get your  number. he goes home and stalks your insta, until he finds a coffee shop you frequent. he spends a week going every morning, waiting in a booth to see if you show up. and one morning you do, in a short skirt that makes him shift in his seat. you spot him, go sit down. he orders and pays for your coffee. you ask about tennis, he asks if you have a boyfriend. you smile and bat your eyes when you say no. he asks for your number, and you laugh, saying he doesn’t get that quite yet. and then you leave, and art is left to his own devices. that being, convincing his professor to let him switch into your class. he comes into your class, acting all confused and lost. pretends to be surprised when he sees you sitting in the front. you wave him over, he sits down next to you. 

and the game begins.

every glass he sits a little closer to you, touches you a little more. once a week he pretends to study in the coffee shop. he walks around the gardens in front of your dorm in the afternoons. 

when you start showing up to all his tennis matches he knows he’s scored a point.

when he walks into the coffee shop and sees you already sitting in your seat in the morning, he knows. and when you rest your head on his shoulder mid-lecture he’s certain.

[asexual-juliet]

OUTSIDERS MUSICAL COSTUME REFERENCE: Soc Boys (General)

[costume masterpost here]

Bob Sheldon is/has been portrayed by: Kevin William Paul, Barton Cowperthwaite, RJ Higton, Cole Zieser, and John Patrick Collins Paul Holden is/has been portrayed by: Dan Berry, Victor Carrillo Tracey, Kevin Csolak, Ryo Kamibayashi, John Patrick Collins, Cole Zieser, RJ Higton, and Davis Wayne Ensemble Soc boys are/have been portrayed by: RJ Higton, Barton Cowperthwaite, Sean Harrison Jones, Kevin Csolak, Cole Zieser, Davis Wayne, Victor Carrillo Tracey, Henry Julián Gendron, Ryo Kamibayashi, Cameron Burke, Matthew Varvar, and Devin Tyler Hatch

Letterman Jackets

ALL SOC BOYS have a letterman jacket that they wear during the first act/during the drive-in scene

Class Rings

ALL SOC BOYS wear a class ring (gold metal with large green stone)

Sneakers

ALL SOC BOYS have one pair of white sneakers that they wear in every Soc boy track they cover.

White Converse (KWP, Dan, Barton, Henry, Cameron, Matthew, RJ, Davis, & Cole, pictured respectively below)

Sean, Kevin, JPC, & Devin wear these:

Ryo wears these:

I do not have photos of the shoes worn by: Victor

Socks

Generally, the Soc boys seem to wear socks that match the color of their shirt/their general color scheme. The following photos are of KWP Bob (purple), RJ Chet (yellow), Barton Brill (green), & Ryo Chet/Brill/Trip (white with orange and blue stripes) respectively:

do not have a photo but Henry wears mint green/light teal socks

Patterns

Below are references for the patterns on most of the Soc boys’ shirts:

Bob: Short-sleeved lavender button-up shirt with square pointillism-type pattern in the fabric itself

Paul: plain yellow v-neck sweater worn over white turtleneck shirt

RJ/Davis: Short-sleeved button-up shirt with brown, yellow and white plaid pattern on a dark orange-red background

Barton/Devin: Short-sleeved button-up shirt with striped pattern in different shades of green

Sean/Kevin/Cole: Short-sleeved button-up shirt with blue, pink, and white plaid pattern on a blue background

Henry/Matthew: Short-sleeved button-up shirt with wide stripes in light grey, white, and mint green

Victor: wide-striped sweater in light blue, light grey, and white over blue turtleneck

Ryo: Short-sleeved button-up shirt with white stripe pattern on orange background

Cameron: Short-sleeved button-up shirt in yellow, white, turquoise, and dark blue plaid pattern

Matthew (only when Henry is on as a Soc boy): Short-sleeved button-up shirt with red and blue plaid pattern

MORE COSTUME-SPECIFIC INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND IN MY INDIVIDUAL COSTUME POSTS

[lavender-vixen]

You could write Patrick Hockstetter X girlfriend reader where she finds out that he had a 'long night' with another girl , they have an argument that ends with her completely hurt (but they didn't actually end the relationship). After that, she starts avoiding Patrick at all costs, doesn't talk or look at him. Then, a boy starts to approach her hoping to 'take' Patrick's place, he is with her all the time, always talking, hugging and acting intimately in a way that only Patrick acted with her... like a couple.

It started with a rumor. Of course it did. In Derry, everything spread—fast, feral, distorted.

"Patrick Hockstetter left Jenny Linder’s house at 3 a.m." "Her parents weren’t home." "She looked wrecked the next day. And smug."

You didn’t even ask. You didn’t have to. When Patrick showed up late to second period, eyes half-lidded, lip bruised and satisfied, you already knew. And he knew you knew.

Your hands were shaking as you pulled your locker open. Patrick was already there, leaning against the one next to yours like he lived in your peripheral.

He didn’t say hi. He never did when he was about to lie.

"So what’d you do last night?" Your voice was calm. Dead calm.

Patrick looked at you with that smug tilt of the head. Disheveled jacket. Silver ring glinting on his index finger as he scratched his jaw. He looked good. Which only made it worse.

"Don’t do that," he muttered.

"Do what?"

"That thing where you sound like you're gonna cry but you’re too proud to let it happen."

You slammed your locker shut.

"Did you fuck her?"

"We were drunk. It didn’t mean anything." His voice was low. Dangerous. Defensive.

You stared at him like he was a stranger. Like the boy who used to kiss your wrist before biting your neck didn’t just vanish overnight.

"Do you even like me, Patrick? Or do you just like the way I fall apart?"

That hit him. His jaw twitched. He stepped in close. "Don’t say that."

"Why? Because it’s true?"

He stared down at you. You were so close to crying, it burned. But you didn’t. You just turned and walked away. You didn’t break up. But you broke.

You didn’t answer his calls. Didn’t meet him behind the gym. Didn’t sit with him at lunch. Didn’t look at him in the halls.

Patrick was unraveling. Quietly. Violently. He slammed a kid into a locker on Thursday. Got detention. You didn’t even blink.

And Then Came Him. Dylan Grayson. Nice. Clean. Warm-eyed and safe. The kind of boy your parents would love.

He started walking you to class. Letting his hand linger on the small of your back. Sharing his cassette tapes. Sitting so close during lunch his thigh pressed into yours. He smelled like cedar and peppermint gum.

The first time he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, Patrick watched it happen. His fists clenched so hard, the knuckles bled white.

Dylan was laughing at something you said, hand on your waist, thumb rubbing idle circles through your sweater. You smiled. You actually smiled.

Then a shadow fell across both of you.

Patrick stood there. Black jacket. Eyes like storm glass. A walking contradiction—still, but brimming with violence. Hot in that way you should never touch but always do.

"Get your fucking hands off her."

Dylan blinked. “She’s not your girlfriend, man.”

"She’s not yours either." Patrick’s voice was soft. Deadly.

He turned to you.

"You done pretending?"

You stared at him. Heart in your throat. Dylan said your name—but it sounded distant. Faint.

Patrick’s jaw clenched, and he leaned in, breath hot against your ear. "You don’t get to ignore me."

Your breath hitched. "You miss me."

He looked down at you like you were his. Like you’d always be his.

"But I don’t miss you," you whispered. A lie.

He smirked. Eyes glinting. "Sure you don’t."

Then he walked away. Didn’t look back. Didn’t need to. He already knew what you’d dream about tonight.

[dweemeister]

Whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I.

Born to a turbulent family on a Mississippi farm, James Earl Jones passed away today. He was ninety-three years old. Abandoned by his parents as a child and raised by a racist grandmother (although he later reconciled with his actor father and performed alongside him as an adult), the trauma of his childhood developed into a stutter that followed him through his primary school years – sometimes, his stutter was so debilitating, he could not speak at all. In high school, Jones found in an English teacher someone who found in him a talent for written expression, and encouraged him to write and recite poetry in class. He overcame his stutter by graduation, although the effects of it carried over for the remainder of his life.

Jones' most accomplished roles may have been on the Broadway stage, where he won three Tonys (twice winning Best Actor in a Play for originating the lead roles in 1969's The Great White Hope by Howard Sackler and 1987's Fences by August Wilson) and was considered one of the best Shakespearean actors of his time.

But his contributions to cinema left an impact on audiences, too. Jones received an Honorary Academy Award alongside makeup artist Dick Smith (1972's The Godfather, 1984's Amadeus) in 2011. From the end of Hollywood's Golden Age to the dawn of the summer Hollywood blockbuster in the 1970s to the present, Jones' presence – and his basso profundo voice – could scarcely be ignored. Though he could not sing like Paul Robeson nor had the looks of Sidney Poitier, his presence and command put him in league of both of his acting predecessors.

Ten of the films James Earl Jones appeared in, whether in-person or voice acting, follow (left-right, descending):

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) – directed by Stanley Kubrick; also starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, and Slim Pickens

The Great White Hope (1970) – directed by Martin Ritt; also starring Jane Alexander, Chester Morris, Hal Holbrook Beah Richards, and Moses Gunn

Star Wars saga (1977-2019; A New Hope pictured) – multiple directors, as the voice of Darth Vader, also starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, and Frank Oz

Claudine (1974) – directed by John Berry; also starring Diahann Carroll, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, and Tamu Blackwell

Conan the Barbarian (1982) – directed by John Milius; also starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman, Ben Davidson, Cassandra Gaviola, Gerry Lopez, Mako, Valerie Quennessen, William Smith, and Max von Sydow

Coming to America series (1988 and 2021; original pictured) – multiple directors; also starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, John Amos, Madge Sinclair, Shari Headley, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, and KiKi Layne

The Hunt for Red October (1990) – directed by John McTiernan; also starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, and Sam Neill

The Sandlot (1993) – directed by David Mickey Evans; also staring Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Patrick Renna, Chauncey Leopardi, Marty York, Brandon Adams, Grant Gelt, Shane Obedzinski, Victor DiMattia, Denis Leary, and Karen Allen

The Lion King (1994) – directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, as the voice of Mufasa; also starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, Moira Kelly, Niketa Calame, Ernie Sabella, Nathan Lane, and Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings, and Madge Sinclair

Field of Dreams (1989) – directed by Phil Alden Robinson; also starring Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster

[woah-uhuh-uhuh-uhuh]

(ALMOST) EVERYTHING I NOTICED FROM BAC BMC

NOTE: spot check me!

It was the Two Rivers script, but I still haven't read the whole Two Rivers script so if I mention something I noticed that’s actually just… in the script… lmk!

Also: if you also saw the BAC production (or if you are the BAC people???) and I missed something, let me know!!! Literally anything at all I will put it here I’d love to approach comprehensiveness!!

ALSO: Spoilers! If you plan on going to Jake’s Halloween Party maybe wait? Or don’t!!

CHARACTERS

Madeline

Putting Madeline here because the first thing I noticed in the whole show is she’s ACTUALLY A FRANCOPHILE and it’s so funny ldksjfjsfksdlf. She wears a beret, and people put on a stereotypical French accent whenever they quote her djslkfjsfkfds And during the play backstage someone (I think Chloe?) runs up to her, smacks her beret off and yells “You’re not French!”

Jeremy

OH oh oh oh oh. Bac Jeremy my beloved…. I swear like 30% of Christine’s autism was generously donated to Jeremy for this production jlkdsfjdls

He has this habit where he’ll put his hands in his cardigan pockets and push his them around in front of him or on his body to feel the tension of the jacket stretching. Patrick said this quirk was based on a neurodivergent kid he knows. I don’t have photo evidence and IDK how to describe it perfectly but i did draw it here (x). It wasn't exactly like that though OTL

He does it whenever he’s nervous (so almost CONSTANTLY) up until BMC P.1 when the SQUIP tells him to take his hands out of his pockets. During that song you can see him trying to put his hands back safe in his pockets but afterwards he never does it again, even after The Play. He also doesn’t do it when he’s with Michael, even at the beginning, so I take it to mean it goes away when he’s comfortable. 

I think he flinches and cowers a lot (compared to other Jeremys, that is). Whenever Rich surprises him, Jeremy jumps and protectively throws his arms over his face. I think he reacts similarly to other people a few times - I don’t remember when exactly though… There’s also several times where he’ll stand totally petrified out of fear, like when Rich is writing “boyf” or when Chloe’s coming onto him. By all of this I basically mean it’s really obvious he’s been physically abused (presumably by Rich).

Just in general, his freakouts are very physical, he’ll kinda do these stiff arm movements or cover his face in his elbow etc. Off the top of my head this happens during Upgrade and also at the end of The Play when Christine’s singing to him.

All this to say he has a very very visible physicality to his awkwardness and I love it. I don’t just mean that on a character acting level, I also mean like if you’re sitting behind him in class your attention will actively be caught by his awkwardness. 

He also has a deeper register which he uses mostly in a joke context? He used it in normal conversation a few times too, I think more towards the end.

I noticed him standing just a little pigeon-toed near the beginning. I don’t know if this carried through the whole thing though.

Clothes: his cardigan is blackish with a blue outline, and he wears it over a green shirt with a question mark (I perceived it as a Gravity Falls shirt but might be wrong). The eminem shirt is black and I dont remember what he wears it with…. At the party he has a cyborg shirt and a visor, and after the party he has a white shirt with a flannel and khakis (or maybe light corduroys). In VIMH he has another fandom shirt on but I don’t remember what it was sorry it was 11pm ljfsdlkfjdslkfs

Its so obvious I’m a Jeremy stan this entry is the largest one sorry 🧍

Mr. Heere

He seemed less depressed and more just out of touch in this one? During Two Player Game, he seems decently chipper, if annoyed, though of course he’s still unable to dress himself and unwilling to put genuine effort in with his son. 

When he says “Good talk” he gives Jeremy a friendly shoulder punch. Right before Pants Song, as usual, he says “I could ground you!” Jeremy says “I don’t think you could,” and gives his dad the same shoulder punch while saying “Good talk.” AAAAAAH.

Michael

He seemed less frenetic and anxious than the Troy!Michael I’m used to (sorry that’s my only reference for Michael lol). 

He was generally loud and exuberant. A very excitable but down-to-earth Michael. 

MITB was amazing. I was nervous because it’s obviously (obviously) the best song so there’s a lot of pressure but no it was done perfectly. Sad as fuck. Perhaps moreso because this Michael was especially normal until now. (Also because pre-MITB Jeremy was extra mean in this production)

For some reason, I found it easier to picture this Michael being a childhood & school friend? Maybe just because this production seriously pulled my psyche straight back to highschool in a way the others haven’t been able to lol. 

I maybe got the sense that he’s really trying to act like he doesn’t care as much about Jeremy as he does. 

BTW I’m obsessed with the fact that his idea of a creeper costume is a mask and a shirt that just says creeps on it. I know that’s kinda textual at this point but taken together with the mask its lkesdjfsdjflksdf

Christine

Amazing ballet (?) choreography going on during her intro. I think that might be standard Christine choreo but still! Stunning.

I could actually picture her as an averagely popular girl in this one? Not sure why. Maybe more nervous in her relationships but more confident in other contexts, but I could be pulling that out of my ass. 

I could also be thinking this because she has cool hair (space buns!) and likes Taylor Swift in this one. 

Some of her songs had these really melancholy notes where I didn’t expect them - particularly in GTIKBI Reprise (/pos! I was like oh shit!!! every time)

Rich

He has painted nails! They’re black. 

He had fruity energy the whole time but it got progressively more intense. No I can’t elaborate actually I don’t know why I perceived it like this but I did sldjkfsf

After he comes out it gets more explicit; he starts wearing a pink headband in VIMH (he also gains glasses I think? Unless they’re still Michael’s) and during bows he flashed a paper fan that had the gay flag inside. 

IMO, it was implied that the house fire was a suicide attempt. I say this for purely textual reasons -  because he doesn’t mention trying getting the SQUIP out of his head, and because Jeremy’s SQUIP later implies it was a suicide attempt. But his behavior around the fire - looking dazed while rhythmically flicking a lighter - could also indicate squipzophrenia. (Maybe it’s the same amount of implied as usual - To be fair, I’ve never really understood why Rich set a fire in the first place…)

Brooke

Very wholesome and I love her. IDK Broadway Brooke is very campy, and BAC Brooke is more like a normal sweet girl but maybe that’s just me 

Compared to Broadway, way more respectful of Jeremy’s space. She doesn’t really try to physically seduce him in upgrade instead they just have a cute lil conversation. Also when she tells Jeremy she got cheated on, she doesn’t initiate contact by petting his hair (like in Broadway) - instead the roles are reversed and they hold hands comfortingly, and Jeremy is the one to escalate that by rubbing her hand in a slightly forward way. 

Her French was awful!!! sdjkfldjsfkdsf It was the whole time but Tres Magnifique = "Trays Mag-nuh-Fike" is the one that really killed me

Chloe

Not to be backhanded… but she was really good at being a bitch??? Especially the scene where she’s giving Christine advice

Maybe closetedly wlw based on the delivery of “I like gay people” and the events of The Play??

The Chloe Jenna friendship intrigues me so much… what’s going on there…

Jenna 

Sadder than Broadway Jenna… 

When Chloe mentions her in play rehearsal she jumps up from across the room and says “I’m here!!” to no reaction.

Later in Smartphone Hour -  J: “....because you are my closest friend-” C: “No I’m not” J: “Yeah I know….” Jenna sounds kinda genuinely bummed lol. Either she wasn’t expecting that or she’s *very* aware of it and it’s making her sad. My impression was more the latter.

During VIMH she’s wearing a sweater that’s colored like the lesbian flag??? (EDIT: the actor, Diana, said this was intentional and her Jenna is a lesbian!)

Idk idk actor so good she made me care so much more about Jenna dsfljdf

Jake

Maybe a touch more upfront about the fact that he feels a lot of pressure in his life

He was dumb <3

Mrs. Reyes

She’s a woman in this one!

She has a hippie thing going on i think?? Like a boho mom (affectionate)

Pronounces Reyes with a (several second long) rolled R at the beginning

Doesn’t do the stiff announcer-like angle that the broadway guy does. Her comedy is more crazy cat ladyish

The hot pocket breaks were preceded by an actual alarm sound I think???? bonkers fkljd

Ensemble

BIG ENSEMBLE WAS SO FUN…. They had so many funny bits going on in the background it was soooo good and another reason I wish I could watch it over and over because I couldn’t be paying attention to everything at once OTL

Scene by scene

Organized by song, but scene notes are in there too!

More Than Survive

"Madeline was all like-" *bad french accent* "ohohoho, I'll only sleep with you if you beat me at ze pool~"

“Oh my god he is like totally getting off on that” ← right before this Jeremy starts pointing at them awkwardly from a distance, I think in an attempt to get to his locker?? 

“I like gay people” - the way Chloe says this is kinda like “idk what the big deal is because *i* think gay people are soooo neat” which got a lot of audience laugh. I think she was talking to Jenna but I don’t remember 

“I don’t wanna be a baller” (or whenever the class scene is) - Jeremy’s sitting in the back of class and everyone turns to throw paper balls at him. I was like oh my god he’s being genuinely bullied so hard in this one…. Then again maybe that’s just how he feels?

There’s this awesome chair choreo at the end where everyone’s laying down chairs in front of Jeremy for him to walk on and taking them away from the back to put back in the front as he makes his way downstage.

Scene: Michael's "You don't have to do this!" kind of came across as a shout of protest. (But of course still tempered with, "of course i'll make fun of you forever if you don't)

Play Rehearsal

"This is where you meet for the swim team" --- Instead of looking confused, Jeremy immediately acts like ok byeee - he might be eager to back out of the conversation and/or immediately accepts her answer as literal and wants to leave asap out of embarrassment.

“I also have a touch of ADD” - she trails off and stands there kind of in a daze for a moment, before remembering that she’s in the middle of a song. 

“And can I mention that was really one of my best roles, DID YOU SEE THAT?!" She shouts this very proudly. And after her 'do you find that?' bit she doesn’t give Jeremy time to even try to respond, so it’s a little less rude lol. 

Jeremy was very anxious, and somewhat in a bad way? As in the exchange was a bit off-putting to him.

Scene: “thank god the popular kids are here” - there are SO MANY kids entering. I’m not sure what to make of it! Popular as in everyone’s popular compared to Jeremy and Christine? Or is this a whole clique? Or is Reyes just talking about the popular kids and the other guys also just show up? 

Mrs. Reyes: ~"Our funds will be diverted. To the frisbee golf team. What even is frisbee golf?" Across the room, Jake holds up a frisbee and silently points at it, trying to get Reyes' attention. She doesn't notice.

After scene: Jake’s “pressure to be the best at everything” is said very genuinely, not for laughs at his arrogance which is how I usually read it

Squip Song

Rich actor KILLED it just gotta put that out there

“So it’s like….” Jeremy takes an extended moment to walk to the edge of the stall and look behind to make sure nobody’s there - “...drugs?”

In the end of the song, Rich rubs his dirty hands all over Jeremy's arm.

The Squip Enters

Scene: Payless: “Wolverine” was great djklsfjdsf I’ve never thought about him before. (It was also the actor’s birthday!) When they enter he’s playing the knife-finger game. He threatens Jeremy with the knife at some point (either “400 dollars” or “all sales are final!” I think?). I can’t really describe the character acting but he was very entertainingly unhinged. He's called “Scary Stockboy” in the script & playbill and I thought that was a misnomer until the scene happened lmao. No that was accurate. 

Scene: when they enter the food court there’s like a photo of a mall food court on the back wall but not from the perspective of the scene at all it was like a background that abstractly tells you where you are?? As someone who loves kitsch I enjoyed this, it happens with a few other scenes too 

There’s a couple making out obnoxiously at the mall that someone (I think it was Michael?) had to step over to get to the table. I think they had some great thematically relevant background acting in this scene but I cannot remember it exactly I am so sorry OTL

Michael is buying Ecto-Cooler! It tastes like ghosts.

Jeremy “mourns in his chili fries” by laying his head down on the table. Jake and Christine sit at the table together without noticing him. Then Jeremy pops up and they have the usual exchange (“I didn’t see you!” “Yeah, you’re kind of hard to notice”). I thought that was a really neat staging!! And it makes more sense why he even tries to talk to her in this scene lol

Mild discomfort - The first half Jeremy just stands next to the table and kinda screams in pain. Then the second half he falls to the ground and is thrashing, again mostly just in pain. (Pretty sure that’s how every production goes but I think the intensity of the spasming is pretty variable so I’m describing it here)

When the SQUIP first appears, he offers to appear as Kermit the Frog, Barack Obama, and Gilbert Gottfried, and does a little impression for each one:

The imitations the Squip does are as follows: Kermit the Frog “hi ho Kermit the frog here, we’re gonna fix your life Yayyyyy”, Obama “My fellow Squip, if sync up we can change this loser” and Gilbert Gottfried “So Grandma and the dog are on the table…” - Courtesy of director Chris Guell because I couldn't remember them OTL (thank you!!!)

Also in the middle of this Jeremy says "That's a terrible Obama impression..."

Be more Chill p.1

Brooke and Chloe are shopping on the upstage side of the clothes rack; when Jeremy picks out the girls shirt, Brooke appears through the gap in the clothes and surprises him.

After the song, one of the ensemble steals the clothes rack and the mall cop chases him off stage in a very cartoonishly stiff sprint.

Do you wanna ride?

After the first rejection, Brooke goes to Chloe, who points out the satchel she has belted around her waist. As she starts to sing again she slowly unbuckles it and holds it behind her back. 

Jeremy is very into it by the end and the girls have him dancing along with the music. I think you can see that in one of the promo videos too :P

Be More Chill p.2

Scene: When Jeremy’s going to bed after the mall, instead of sleepily singing, he uses a silly deep voice to say something like “yeah be more chill i’m gonna be more chill i’m gonna be so chill that ice is relatively warm”

After Rich talks to Jeremy (“hey, tallass, where’s my money?” and then they sync up) he spots a girl across the stage and yells “Hey, where’s my money?” then chases her down the hall. 

Guy that I’d Kinda be Into

Scene: during the rehearsal - JR: "Bring me patient zero!" Then Chloe, sitting on the ground, looks through her script for like 45 seconds until finding her line: "Cough!"

At “I’ve been activating your pheromones” - Jeremy starts and looks at his armpits, then as the song continues he slowly pulls his arms up to rest behind his head, it was very comedic djflkdsf. He also uses one hand to waft from his armpit before returning to that position. Guy...

I think this is also the scene he uses a script to hide his boner??

They were so cute at the end!!! Just sitting next to each other in rehearsal and kinda leaning in towards each other. Very real very high school. 

Upgrade

Scene: While Jeremy and SQUIP argue about Eminem, Brooke is (silently) describing the accident. She mimes hitting a hockey puck, then being impaled in the guts repeatedly.

Instead of literal bleachers (at least visually), Brooke and Jeremy go sit on the top of the stairs that lead off of the stage and into the audience. They kinda playfully walk around the railings and stuff, and at the point in the Broadway version where they start aggressively making out, instead they just sit next to each other and talk and it’s very cute :) 

Jeremy’s freaking the fuck out in the middle and it’s so obviously sensory overload auauuauuauaugh. He was like contorting to cover his head in his arms. Guy…

Halloween

Brooke’s costume is a sexy dalmatian! She has an eyespot and a black and white skirt + other spotty white clothes. Jeremy’s cyborg costume only extends to the shirt & a visor. I think it matched with the squip’s visor?

THE PROJECTOR…. On the background was the funniest background it could possibly be it was like a graphic of a cartoon skeleton holding a wooden sign that said “Jake’s Halloween Party”. IDK if that’s a poster he got printed or if it’s an extremely camp way of abstractly giving us the setting or what but I WAS LOSING IT SLKDJFKDSJFSD 

I WISH I had a picture of it, but in lieu of that I recreated it for you and I swear it was like 95% exactly like this. just projected on the wall behind the stage.

Do you wanna hang?

Right before this scene, there’s a huge group choreo where people dance with partners, and in the last move one partner spins the other one down, who lands on the floor looking up at them. Jeremy ends up on the floor and Chloe walks up and stands over him while inviting him to come with her. 

TW - This scene is always sexual assault, but the tone felt especially dark this time – maybe it was just seeing it live, though. 

Jeremy’s standing frozen still as the song starts and kind of visibly recoiling as Chloe walks around him. She walks behind him and shoves her hands into his coat pockets, which makes him flinch. Extra upsetting because like I said before I think his coat pockets are kind of a place of safety for him :(((

Pretty sure the SQUIP's Japanese was different from the Broadway. Wasn't sure quite what he said, but it I think it *didnt* include these from the Broadway one: お腹が空いた (I'm hungry) and お疲れ様 ('pleasure doing business with you,' i think?)

Michael in the Bathroom

Scene: Jeremy seems very shaken after DYWH and sits on the bathtub sadly; when Michael reveals himself Jeremy flips out.

Michael talks about “his clever disguise” and makes monster growls (meant as creeper hisses?) - I think with the tone that he’s trying to get Jeremy to respond to the joke, or point out the reference or something. When that fails, he starts getting serious. 

“Get out of my way, loser” is delivered very confidently. 

After Michael says he’s on his period, Jenna opens the door a crack to hand him a tampon dsjfkldsjflkdsjf. He throws it in the bathtub later at “I’m a creeper in a bathroom….”

Also of course, he’s in a creeper mask lol

Song: WONDERFULLY done. Honestly don’t have much to say it was just great. I get desensitized to that song after hearing it so much, but seeing it live definitely brought a spark to it.

“And I look in the mirror and the present is clearer…” section is like the *key* part of this song to me and Connor Introna did it really well. His voice started breaking at mirror, and of course he did the little sob and everything it was just chefs kiss

Guy that I’d Kinda be Into Reprise

When Jeremy asks why Rich didn’t give him a warning and Rich starts saying “warning” over and over, he says it at a steady rhythm until he gets off stage. Then Jeremy tries to rouse a drunken partier to say “So that was weird…” and Rich’s “Warning” randomly interrupts Jeremy like 3 times to comedic effect before he can get the words out

"Popular people are messed up" - less in response to Rich & more in response to the guy Rich is talking to passing out drunk (iirc)

This is just a 2R things but it hit me so just pointing out she just says “I’m not Juliet” in this one (rather than we’re not romeo and juliet) and auuauguughghg poor Christine :(

Weird noises: it’s kinda like a dinosaur impression in this one? They both go like RAAHH and make claw hands in the air. Then Jeremy stands up and pretends to be driving a car (I think???? lol) and Christine copies him

Christine starts standing up while Jeremy’s still asking her out. As soon as he finishes the question she immediately rejects him. That is to say, she saw where this was going and already knew her answer.

After the scene, Rich walks back across the room, flicking a lighter on and off in a daze. 

ALSO: Ensemble were very entertaining in the whole party! During this scene there were 3 of them playing spin the bottle downstage left and it had like a whole arc to it sdnjkfdfdsf Also guys passed out on the floor and on the couch 

Smartphone Hour

Starts w/ Jenna sitting on the edge of the stage, dangling her legs over the pit. 

Brooke is sadly eating Rich’s loaf of bread. (After she forgives Chloe she passes it to some other actor offstage which I probably wasn’t supposed to see but it was funny lol. communal machete bread)

THE PROJECTOR….. Everyone was holding phones and in the background was footage from their front-facing cameras (prerecorded, but it synced pretty well with the live actors). Then you could see the GUI of them typing some of the lyrics (“rich fled to bombay!!”) into imessage and twitter

AND THEN you see footage of the house burning down on an insta reel…. An unremarkable suburban house where you can see flames consuming the roof. This same footage plays on a few people’s reels, then there’s also footage of firemen coming and putting the fire out and its SO REALISTIC i was losing it 

Around “Changed my profile pic to you” it shows a bunch of (presumably) instagram photos of Rich like in his house and at school or wherever and i wont lie it made me feel for him a lot more. They were like actual full staged photos :( like thats a real guy in there… 

Pitiful children

Scene: When Jenna asks if the SQUIP is a drug, she does the same extended thing of checking to see that nobody’s watching that Jeremy did in The Squip Song

The Pants Song

Scene: see my notes on Mr. Heere aaaaaauguh

Michael’s sitting on his front steps while smoking weed from a tiny green bong. You can tell it’s his front steps because there’s a mailbox next to him labeled MELL BOX in big letters dslkfjdskfjs

Michael’s wearing pants - I think that’s just textually accurate but reporting it anyway

When Mr. Heere comes over (“do you love him?”), he puts one leg on the top step and Michael is eye-level with his crotch. Michael has trouble tearing his eyes away. This happens a few times. In my opinion, it made him come off as a lot more high than he usually does lol

If I remember correctly, they get very intense and like shoulder-grabby at one point. Could’ve been a different scene though I dont remember OTL OTL

The Play

Michael comes out of the audience!!! It was cool it was meta lol

PINKBERRY CANON SDLKFJDKLFJKFJLSF. Brooke and Chloe have the Two Rivers dialogue (He didn’t sleep with you? He didn’t sleep with me!) then after Sisters forever! they do these actions to the rhythm of three staccato beats: “Jinx!” *high five(?)* *KISS ON THE LIPS* and instantly pull away. They're extremely normal about it and are just standing there afterwards without moving or acknowledging it. 

Despite being in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, Jeremy is dumbstruck and stares at them for a few beats before moving on to the next line. It was amazing. No notes. 

Jeremy is horrified when Christine starts singing to him. She walks robotically over to him and speaks kind of like she’s reading off a script (hehehe). Jeremy is backing up against a wall and freaking out almost like he’s trying to get away from her. No implication at all that he’s tempted. 

When everyone starts screaming in pain, Michael is screaming in triumph. (Or at least he looked very triumphant, I don’t remember if he screamed lol)

Voices in My Head

Rich is in a wheelchair. Also he doesn't have a lisp.

Rich is wearing Michael’s glasses. When he starts asking about Michael, Michael shows up and takes his glasses back. I think Rich steals them back at some point too? 

Michael acts a lil flirty with Rich - approximately "I'm sure you'll find something very special," then in a tiny high voice: “but not with meeeee…!” and he pushes Rich’s wheelchair so he rolls offstage jdsfkldsfkfd

At “Tell her that she excites you sexually” Rich does a little wheelie to (presumably) represent a pelvic thrust (all of these Rich moments were excellent I loved this Rich sm)

Christine’s squip was Taylor Swift this time!

At “I know the last thing I deserve is another shot, but…” He trails off and there’s a pause before “Just say what’s on your mind, Jeremy.” I know they get together obviously, but it felt like it could go either way! Maybe because it was live.

(And then they cccccome on lets go and do bows, in character i think, and it was amazing the end)

I was gonna write a TLDR here but honestly all of it was amazing and if you want the highlights it’s pretty much just the stuff I bolded!

Also end note the actors were all soooo nice and they let me ramble to them about jeremy for several minutes Q____Q it was amazing im so happy about this still I wish I got their signatures sjdlfkjdsfkdsf

I hope everyone gets to watch the show at some point but otherwise I hope this can be useful to someone!!

[brynnterpretations]

Hi!! I'd like to request a Bowers gang ship with my IT oc Carla Lewis!

Carla is 5'7, and 16 years old. she is Scottish/Indigenous (Mi'kmaq), she has long, thick, curly black hair, tan skin, and dark brown eyes. She has a nose ring and her earlobes have two rings each. Her father is a Mi'kmaq Vietnam vet and her mom is white and was a huge hippie and feminist in the 60s/70s. Most of Carla's extended family that she's close with lives on the reservation a few miles outside Derry. She smokes and drinks sometimes (doesn't like getting wasted), her music taste is kinda all over the place (from Fleetwood Mac and Jimi Hendrix to The Cult and The Cure to Black Sabbath and Savatage. secret soft spot for The Police). she is a huge feminist and is very outspoken and sarcastic, often gets labelled as a bitch. She also extremely stubborn and head strong and clever but also can be kind (was always kind to Bev when people were spreading rumours about her because she knows how it feels). She is a artist (loses her shit if anyone even breathes on her paintings when she's working on them). She is a waitress at the local diner (gets paid minimum wage and acts like it). Despite her prickly demeanor and unpredictability, she is always down to party and can be pretty chill as long as you are on her good side lol. she probably has a mug that says 'man tears'. Is a academic weapon in English, History and art but can't do basic math😔 is the type to fuck around and either not find anything out or find out too much.. Anyways, I hope that's enough info! tysm!

Thank you so much for your request! I love Carla and would love to read anything more you might put out/write about her. I'm sorry this took so long. Chrome crashed when I was writing it over the course of a few days, and I was a dumb-dumb and didn't save it (#hubris). I hope you enjoy this!

I ship Carla Lewis with...

Victor Criss ♡

Boyfriend

Victor and Carla meet at the diner where she works.

This is not a good start.

As I think I've mentioned in a couple headcanons (and probably ships too), the Bowers Gang (*cough* Henry and Patrick *cough*) are terrorists within Derry's food and hospitality industries. If they're not dining and dashing, they're either sexually harassing the waitresses or bullying the waiters. And, also, they are making a mess. And probably stealing condiments or putting sausage links into the ketchup bottles, because Patrick thinks it's funny.

During basically all of these excursions, Victor is the one trying to keep things as clean as polite as possible, while also doing it in a way that does not A) piss Henry off, or B) catch the attention of Patrick, who will make things worse for shits and giggles. This is no easy task.

So, when Carla waits on them at the diner, it is immediate sexual harassment from Patrick and some rude comments and snorts from Henry, and Victor is just trying to keep it together (Belch is polite, but a bit too nervous to really act on it in front of Henry and Patrick, considering they put him through the ringer every time he does).

Whenever they come, Victor flashes her apologetic smiles and always finds a way to sneak her a tip with Belch, since Henry and Patrick... never leave them.

Still, despite thinking she's very pretty (and her dry nature towards Henry and Patrick causing him to have to stifle smirks) doesn't really hit on her at work, considering, you know... she's at work. He's aware like that.

However, he becomes a lot more aware of her during classes and lunch, and when he finds out they share English together (a class Victor loves), he'd start talking to her — politely, and not really romantically or sexually, just conversing about the books they're reading, projects, etc.

It would likely progress into more personal talk, like their favorite books, which would lead to some book trades and Victor asking her if she'd like to visit the library with him; a clear date, but something that is low-key enough for her to not feel pressured if she's not feeling it.

However, they've hit it off a lot. The library dates become more frequent, they begin trading books as well as exchanging things they've drawn with each other, and, eventually, they begin having more "formal" dates: Victor taking her out for lunch, having her over at his house and meeting his parents (who are very big hippies, new-age sort of people), and walking her home from work (which, while not a date, would be something he made sure to do, and would continue to do throughout the entirety of their relationship).

Considering Victor is not a "rushy" guy, but it's also high school, he'd probably ask her formally to get into a relationship in a casual but clear way 2-ish months after this.

Once they're together, Victor would do a lot to both A) be by her side and B) respect her autonomy. He wants to spend time with her, but also wants to let her live her life as well, so he'd have a pretty decent balancing act going along for them.

Vic is a huge smoker, and loves to just go to the Quarry with her and listen to music. Also likes sensory stuff when he's high, and would probably run his fingers through her hair a lot.

He doesn't necessarily listen to the same music as her, but he does love her music taste, and especially likes her introducing her to new music since he's been listening to the same stuff since middle school; he likes learning new things, but tends to be a "creature of habit". The favorite song he has that she's introduced to her would probably be Planet Caravan, which he fixes into his Walkman.

Is obsessed with her nose ring, and would ask her a lot about piercings; even though male piercings have fallen out of style a bit in '89 (and would get ridicule in ultra-conservative Derry, as did Victor's hair dye), he still really likes the look, and also likes the idea of matching with her.

Victor is one of the rare people who are "good" at all subjects (but at the expense of him having very little drive), and, because of that, would tutor Carla in math. Even if she didn't directly ask him, just mentioned frustration on a problem, he'd go over it with her, which would lead to full-on sessions on Victor's polite insistence.

He's a very patient tutor, and would be willing to take as many hours out of his day to work with her. He loves Carla, and also doesn't have a job, so it's feasible for him. Even if it wasn't, he'd probably find a way, honestly.

Is always respectful to her art and paintings, especially as an artist himself (he's a dedicated writer and loves to sketch). He doesn't press her about them, but always likes to hear about them.

For lack of a better word, those sort of "parallel play" dates would be common between them, where they both work on their own art pieces, talk every so often, but mostly just enjoy each others' company while working.

Victor is an adaptable person who tends to go by the flow — he trusts his intuition, and doesn't plan too far outside of that — so he wouldn't be too bothered by her unpredictability unless it seemed to betray some sort of issue (E.G., Carla went through something awful, and then does something completely against what she'd normally do afterward). If that happened, he'd intervene in private.

Victor would also deeply respect her ability to be kind to the "outcasts". In the novel version of It, Victor warns the Losers about Henry in the baseball field, and I believe in the movie, he'd likely do that too. Still, he is so loyal to Henry—someone he sees as a fragile, volatile friend, but still, one he stays with not out of survival, but a sense of guilt—and her ability to act purely on principle would cause him to admire her, as well as possibly compare himself to her, in his "darker" moments (E.G. when he gets super high and starts evaluating himself).

Still, this may cause difficulties in their relationship, considering Victor knows the people he surrounding himself with are acting immorally, yet he stays with them. I could see this causing arguments between them, seeing as the Gang operates purely on targeting "losers" and minorities, who Carla protects (such as Beverly, a poor girl who has been subjected to misogyny both in her town, and in her family).

All-in-all: Victor loves her deeply, and it's not a fleeting, high-school thing. However, he takes both morality and loyalty seriously, which are mutually exclusive when it comes to the Bowers Gang.

I do think he'd leave per Carla and moral evaluation though, if it came down to it.

Bowers Gang ☻

Acquaintances

So... Henry does not fuck with Carla, and that is why I'm putting the Bowers Gang, as a whole, as acquaintances, since "what Henry says goes" (per Belch, defeatedly, after three beers in ninth grade).

He's someone who's got some real, deep-seated issues towards girls and women going on, and while he finds Carla attractive, he does not accept a girl being "bratty" unless it's someone he can dominate or otherwise humiliate, which he cannot do considering she is with Victor.

Henry doesn't outright cast Carla out of the group — while he's an arguably awful friend, he does value Victor a lot personally, and knows better than to risk his allegiance — but if he's not flat-out ignoring her, he's casting her dirty looks whenever she says something that even minutely pisses him off.

He's a bitch. We've known this.

I think that a blog that I loved in high school and was hugely inspired by (@metalchickaf19/formerly @metalchick19) described him as a "convenience racist", which I agree with—as in, he is racist, but he doesn't really think that deeply on his feeling towards other races unless it's convenient with his bullying, hatred, so-on-and-so-forth, so he'd probably say some nasty, underhanded comments towards her if she pissed him off beyond belief.

Meanwhile, Patrick just outright says racist shit all the time, zero fucks given, and would absolutely crack awful jokes towards Indigenous Americans, her family on the rez, etc.

Of course, Victor would shut this shit down when he's around for it, or if Carla told him about it.

Still, Patrick is a freak (as we know) and is very much attracted to Carla, especially for the challenge of her A) being a feminist, B) probably not liking him considering he's a massive misogynist and general terror, and C) is also in a relationship.

Would try to get into her pants constantly, and whenever the Gang goes out.

Patrick would fuck with her art, 100%. Whether it's hovering over her shoulder, leaning in very, very closely to it, or full on trying to pass a cartoon "oopsie!" after splattering some paint onto it, he would be absolutely awful.

He finds joy in ruining others' joy.

However, Belch is Carla's friend, through-and-through. He was pretty intimidated by her at first, as he is most girls, but once they started talking about music, they immediately clicked. While Belch is known as Derry's resident metal fan, he also is a huge fan of OG rock like Hendrix and Black Sabbath, and would 100% trade records with her.

They would judge each other's music tastes, of course.

Victor, Belch, and Carla have secret hangouts—because, and I'm not joking, Henry would get very possessive and insecure if he found out 1/2 of the Gang was hanging out without him—at the Quarry, usually with Victor and Carla smoking and Belch cracking open a beer (weed makes Belch tweak out) while listening to music. In an ideal world, they'd probably hang out a lot more, but... Vic's in the gang, Belch is keen to stay in it out of both loyalty and survival... you know the jig.

Carla would not be cast out of gang hangouts, and, instead, likely would be readily invited to them. Henry would allow her presence for group morale (AKA Victor morale), and while Henry would mean-mug her, she'd get along with the group in whole (AKA: Belch, Henry, and Victor ignoring what Patrick has to say, unless Victor has to intervene, which is a lot).

[dontforgetoctober3rd]

wall-o-text nepo baby rant ahead

Hand to God, I would be devastated if Tobias Forge turned out to be some rich nepo baby.

It's already disillusioning enough to become an adult and realize that being successful in the arts industry (acting, especially. Holy fuuuuck I am some kind of bitter about it these days) is largely a rich person's playground and any normal person making it is a human hail Mary.

Tobias making it is inspirational.

He didn't start on third base. If music failed for good, after years and years of grinding, he was facing finally getting a 9 to 5 in order to pay rent. No more chances at the dream. His attempt at being a musician would have been relegated to just an interesting footnote in his life to bring up at barbecues and family parties.

Which is why that idiotic video of Patrick "I wanna make my own way but I'll still keep daddy's surname as an actor" Schwarzenegger crying over getting the white lotus role boils my blood. Shut up.

He has so many other opportunities to do literally whatever the hell he wants. Open up a business. Become a producer. Get a damn degree (does he have one? idk I don't keep up with his bs)

I took acting classes I worked so hard for ten years wahh wahhh wahh

If he REALLY wanted his work to do the talking, he'd shut up and stop complaining about the nepo baby label.

Goddddd I haven't been this annoyed by a celebrity since Lena fucking Dunham.

[fantasyinvader]

Regarding Heroes depicting Edelgard looking for pawns with a “low sense of self.” A sense of self, or rather an understanding of who you are, is something important to have. It allows us to be ourselves, as we know what comes from us and what comes from others. That I genuinely believe A, B, and C and therefore support those rather than supporting X, Y and Z because I see others supporting them. Or to use a literary example, this is rampant in American Psycho as it's characters are so caught up in appearances that they dress like buffoons because it's supposedly fashionable, eat foods they like because it's trendy, buy art they don't understand to look sophisticated and spout beliefs they don't believe because society tells them they are correct. This all leads to Patrick Bateman either being or imagining himself as a serial killer in order to feel like an individual in such a conformist society (with the novel having clues he's not the only one doing this.

Ironically, Edelgard says this to Jeritza who she uses for the Death Knight. She took Emile killing to save his mother and sister and twisted that, leading to a man with severe mental illness that is degrading his mind and a desire to die in order to stop his “other self.” Not to mention, her calling a man she's admitting to using a pawn. And considering that Edelgard is dressed up as the Flame Emperor in this, which is also her ending title, this likely reflects what her actual views are.

Jeritza, Hubert, Monica, even Byleth aren't friends or allies, as she continues to believe that she is all alone in this struggle and fails to see their contributions for what they actually are. Edelgard merely sees them as pawns, tools she can shape to do whatever she wants. That's her going after those will low senses of self. Hell, this is her attempt at consoling Byleth after Jeralt's death. Hell, if you think about it the decision to join Edelgard ultimately comes down to ignoring Byleth's default stance, the morality they would have otherwise gained in White Clouds, in order to side with Edelgard. We disregard Byleth's character by deciding to support Edelgard.

And this is something that really clicked. Remember Seteth's infamous line about how Edelgard is not merely a tyrant? I think this is what it's referring to. She is not a mere tyrant, she's something worse. She does something to people in a less literal manner than TWSITD, she turns people into animals.

Her path is called out in the Japanese text by Dimitri as the path of the beast, which relating to Buddhist terms means that it's a path of ignorance, delusion or foolishness. Animals don't operate on morality or reason, they operate on instinct where the strong prey on the weak and the weak fear the strong. We can see a reflection of this in the parley, where when challenged on the world she seeks to create only benefiting the strong Edelgard in turn blames the weak if her world doesn't benefit them. Meanwhile, the world of humans is where souls can exercise self-control, not falling prey to their instincts and instead act in a humane manner. And it's from the world of humans that you can start working towards Nirvana, but without control a soul can fall back into one of the lower realms. It's the route where Byleth spiritually regresses, and in Azure Moon we see Edelgard turn herself into a beast unit as supposedly the end point of her ideals.

Now think about the “low sense of self” in the context of this. By siding with Edelgard, Byleth loses their paralogue where Rhea leaves behind her shield because Byleth ended up betraying Rhea. On top of that, Ferdinand and Caspar lose theirs as well despite being native to the Black Eagle class. Those paralogues and their rewards are lost to the player, in addition to how Ferdinand can not be confronted with his father being blamed for Arundel's actions or Caspar can't prove his strength against the Death Knight he wanted to bring down. Linhardt supports a bloody war despite hating bloodshed, Bernie is so scared she resolves herself to kill others before they can kill her, Petra fights to enslave two nations to free her own from the Empire, and Dorothea will support Edelgard's fuck the poor mentality while blaming Sothis for the war Edelgard started. And that's not counting the optional recruits to Safflower.

They lose some of who they are when they side with Edelgard, and I don't think they're the only ones. When Edelgard sets up the Southern Church in Hopes with a wildly different gospel, it's noted in game that it appeals to people who didn't like what the Church of Seiros taught. And we also know that the Imperial army kills everyone who doesn't bend the knee, and according to the Japanese text go out of control while invading other nations post-war. Edelgard's influence is turning people into animals, making them lose whatever morality they had as well as their ability to reason. Like at the end of Safflower, some of the cast realize that Edelgard is lying to them and keeping things secret while blaming the Church for Arianrhod but they still support her to the end. Even characters who reject Edelgard's beliefs and instead still practice altruism still supported her in making Fodlan Ayn Rand's wet dream.

The last chapter being called “To the end of a dream” ending with the cutscene where Rhea is killed called “A world for humanity” though. I believe those are ultimately related to this. It's not that Edelgard kills Rhea and ushers in an era of humanity, it's that by killing Rhea and replacing Sothis's teachings with her own beliefs, Edelgard is ending the world of humanity as she pushes Fodlan back into the world of animals. That in doing so, Edelgard takes away teachings that teach morality or reasoning in order to impose her own will upon Fodlan. The will that would lead her to becoming the Hegemon Husk while still believing she's doing this for “humanity.” But her ideals are implied to have come from the Agarthans manipulating her into creating a world for them, and to the Agarthans “beasts” are anyone who is a non-Agarthan because they view themselves as the only true humans. But at the same time, they do not act in a humane manner or are self-aware enough to realize their fall from grace was a consequence of their own actions (much like Edelgard). In essence, the people calling others beasts are the real beasts themselves.

It's the subversion here. Much like how you need to rescue the dragon from the princess, the dragon represents humanity whereas the princess represents devolving into a mindless, immoral monster. And it took Heroes to help point it out because of the translation fucking things up.

[ghostgirl-22]

I know a little bit ago u said you'd be open to trying x reader so here's a prompt i randomly thought of! But ignore it if it's not ur vibe

Patrick sets art up w a girl (reader) who's like quiet and pretty normal, someone who wouldn't be too much for little artie to get out of his shell... and then when they start dating Patrick is in arts dorm snoopinh and finds a punch pf freaky polaroids of art being put in like full nelson or something LOL

Idk i need Patrick to make fun of him but be lowkey turned on and asking if his gf is up for a threesum n art gets all defensive but also very turned on

Thanks for the prompt, lovely!! I took a few liberties and changed it from Polaroids to video lol. Hope that’s okay <3

CW: 18+ !NSFW! Explicit

—-

Patrick doesn’t think anything of it. You’re pretty and shy and you seem like a good girl. Probably exactly what Art needs. Someone sweet to break him in. The last thing he wants is Art to leave high school without ever having had a girlfriend. Patrick’s proud of himself for the way that he gets you two together . It’s easy enough. At homecoming he pulls you away from the wall for a dance and when the song is over he leaves you with Art, convincing him to dance with you as he disappears to go flirt with one of the more popular girls.

You are a little shy. Most guys tend to overlook you because of your shyness, they think you’re a saint. But honestly you had been crushing on Art Donaldson since puberty and even though you were too nervous to approach him you’re not too nervous to take advantage of the opportunity.

Art is as sweet and adorable as everyone says and by the end of the night you lead him to an empty classroom… kiss him slowly and somehow convince him that it’s okay if he just slips one or two fingers inside you.

”Are you sure?” He whispers anxiously.

You giggle and kiss him. “Yes, please.”

Patrick doesn’t know any of that. He thinks the two of you are just so cute. “Two pretty little virgins,” He teases Art, when you guys start dating. He imagines you two going on walks, holding hands, cuddling, sitting quietly in the park or something like that. Sometimes he wonders if Art will be brave enough to take your virginity or if he’ll have to coax Art into doing that too.

Patrick is borrowing Art’s laptop late one night in a hectic attempt to review the slides for the history exam tomorrow because his computer is acting up. He clicks on a window accidentally and a video pops up. From the still he can see your face. He glances over at Art, snoring lightly in his bed while the tv plays quietly in the background.

He can’t help his curiosity so he presses play. “Please, lemme film it baby,” your voice sounds from the video.

Art appears then, half naked, only his boxers on. They’re in this bedroom. Patrick must’ve been in class or out at practice or something. “Okay, but just for me and you right?” He says, he’s grabbing at your waist.

“Yeah I want to watch it later,” you say grinning. Patrick swallows as he watches you preening for the camera in your panties, your bra is white lace and see through, your dark curls are falling messy into your eyes, it’s clear you and Art have been messing around before you started the video. Patrick can’t believe he didn’t realize how fucking hot you were.

Art pulls you closer. “Mm you’re so beautiful.”

“I am?” you wrap your arms around him and he lifts you up and gently tosses you on the bed. Patricks bed.

”Yeah,” Art smirks, “mm getting hard.” Patrick watches as Art tugs your bra straps down and starts licking at your tits. Pretty pink, lips and tongue sucking at them like he’s never been more hungry. It’s doing something to Patrick to watch Art and you like this. He’s so hard he feels dizzy.

“All yours baby, you’re such a good boy,” You moan, teasing your fingers through his golden hair.

Patrick’s forgotten completely about his history exam. He glances up from the computer again. Art is still fast asleep so Patrick eases his hand down his pajama pants, touching his aching cock while he watches the video of Art bending you in half, gripping your thighs and pumping his swollen dick inside you. Watching you squirm and moan as your pussy opens up for him again and again. The sound of your desperate moans mixed with his, the way you start squirting all over the sheets, giggling, as Art gasps out, “oh fuck baby oh fuck it’s so messy, gonna come inside baby, need to come inside you. I’m so sorry baby, oh fuck—” And then he’s spilling.

Sliding his dick out when he’s done and watching as the cum leaks slowly from your twitching cunt. “Sorry baby,” he whispers, flushed all over, hypnotized by your cunt as more semen spills out.

“Mm it’s okay, Artie. I know you couldn’t help it.” Your voice is pitched all high and soft.

”Yeah,” Art agrees, licking his lips. “You’re just so pretty. You drive me crazy.” Then he starts using his spend to finger your pussy till you come, squirting wet again all over Patricks sheets. Watching you shiver and moan, sucking on his fingers when he’s done.

Fuck.

Patrick’s coming hard in his hand. He didn’t know Art had that in him, had no idea that you were such a freaky little girl. He wants to get his own dick inside of you. Let you squirt all over it. Maybe get it inside of Art too while he’s at it.

The next day Patrick’s looking at his sheets and realizes Art must’ve changed them but the mattress is definitely stained with you. He can’t get it out of his head. Suddenly he’s asking Art about you everyday and Art realizes when he’s messing with his laptop, that Patrick’s seen the video.

“I didn’t mean to watch it. But holy shit, Art. You guys act so fucking innocent and the whole time you’re doing that… on my bed.”

“I’m sorry I used your bed but mine was already a—a mess and—and we cleaned up after… besides you're the one who acts like we’re so innocent,” Art says and that’s fair.

“Your bed was a mess? So she’s just….” Patrick takes a breath. “You can have her over when I’m here if you want.”

“Shut up man.”

“No seriously, I mean you think she’d be into a threesome?”

“Come on, Patrick,” Art says irritated.

“Im serious… I mean, imagine if we… you know… took turns or whatever. Imagine if me and you… kinda…if me and you fucked… or whatever.”

“God, you’re fucking crazy,” Art says, but he’s flushing even more than when he first confronted Patrick, fidgeting with his hands in his lap.

And when Art tells you about it a few days later you’re both giggling about how crazy it sounds. But then he accidentally says Patrick’s name while you’re fucking and you both come almost immediately after that…both lost in individual fantasies about his best friend. And two weeks later Art invites you over with your camera and when both him and Patrick greet you. You can’t help but to smile.

[waitingandwishing]

(Cross posted on Wattpad and AO3)

~And he is not the only one~

Prev - Next Chapter

Trixie ruffled her blue hair with her hands nervously. It was an impulse decision, something her brother surprisingly agreed with. About a week after the ‘accident’ she decided to cut her hair to her shoulders and dye it navy blue.

She took her medication before changing into a white tank top and sliding a fitted yellow top over it. Trixie wore high-waisted blue jeans with a pair of tan colored shoes. A knock on the door startled her.

“Hey, are you ready to go?” Patrick knocked and Trixie opened the door with a nod, following him out the door.

As she entered the car with Patrick driving, she bit her lip as her thoughts roamed around her head. She definitely wasn’t ready to go back to school, not after what happened with Miguel…

Of course, she went to therapy once a week like her doctor suggested she do, and she definitely felt a bit better about talking about her feelings. She pushed everything away for people she cared about so it felt nice to talk about things she hadn’t opened up about before.

 Even though she knew therapy helped a lot, she was more reserved than usual. She had been seen with a straight face more than smiling or laughing. Of course, they could break her shell for a moment. Hawk would make a comment and she’d laugh or something stupid would happen and she’d shake her head with a smile.

But it wasn’t the same.

Patrick dropped Trixie off with a wave as she entered the school. It was time for school, there was more security roaming around then usual. As she walked into the school, her bag was checked and she had to walk through a metal detector. 

Bert walked up to Mitch and Hawk. "Hey." He said. Hawk looked over at the smaller kid.

 "There's the man." He greeted him with a smile. "This is the year, day one round two. Let's get it boys." Hawk said, looking between the two. Trixie walked up to Hawk with a wave and Hawk’s expression changed to one of sympathy. “How’re you doing?” He asked and Trixie shrugged.

“Fine, the meds are helping.” She said before adding, “Thanks for asking.”

"Oohh." Mitch said with a smile as he watched a group of girls walk in. "Freshmen babes, nine o'clock." Mitch said and Trixie rolled her eyes.

Hawk smiled and looked at them as they walked. "Hey I know freshman year can be kinda scary so if anyone gives you any trouble, you can come to me. I'm the guy.." He had a small smirk on his face. 

"Who wets the bed and got kicked into a trophy case? Yeah we know." The girl in the front said sassily, before they turned and walked away. Trixie chuckled lightly and Hawk smiled softly at the sound. The girls were passing Demetri, Chris and Nate. "Hey, Demetri." She said with a smile as she passed by with her group. 

The three boys turned to watch them, shock clear on their faces. "Someone knows who I am… A human female." He said with a shocked awe.

 "A shame it's not me." Chris said in a joking manner, a smile on his face. The group turned around to come face to face with the three Cobra Kai boys and Trixie, who used to be their friends. Well, Trixie hadn’t really done anything, had she?

 "What? You got something to say?" Mitch asked. 

Chris nods. "Yeah, did you see my new Lite book? There's some hard hitting stuff in there, if you know what I mean." Mitch's face twitched some as he thought back to the fight where Chris hit him with that book. 

"There's not enough security to protect your scrawny ass." Hawk threatened Demetri and Trixie put her arm in front of Hawk.

"I don't need security." Demetri's voice was cold and his eyes dark.

“You guys are acting like fools. Suck it up and go to class before we get into more trouble.” Trixie said, her tone icy as she spotted a teacher staring at them from afar. “Let’s go, Hawk.” She said and Hawk followed as well as the other Cobra Kai students.

_____________________________________________________

“Hi, Miguel.” Trixie whispered softly as she traced her hand on his arm, “Your mom and your grandma let me come visit you.” She placed down a bouquet of flowers on the table beside the hospital bed. 

Trixie sat down as she held Miguel's hand, “I hope you like my hair, dyed it blue just like you wanted me to.” She said with a bittersweet smile. The silence was deafening, the only thing she could hear was the beep of the heart monitor and her own heart beat.

“I know I messed up and you messed up too… But we can just be idiots who mess up together…” Trixie’s voice cracked, “I’m sorry…” She said, apologizing like she always did after she visited.

Trixie stood up with a shaky sigh before walking away, she was supposed to get ready for karate now. She just needed a bit more motivation.

_____________________________________________________

Trixie knocked on the apartment door, it’d been a few days since she had visited Tory. The apartment door opened to reveal Tory, who smiled slightly. “Hey, Trixie.” She said.

“Hey, sorry I couldn’t make it yesterday.” Trixie said as she was let into the apartment complex, “How’s your mom?”

“As good as she’s going to get.” Tory smiled slightly before Trixie wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“I could work some extra shifts with you, and earn some money for your mom.” Trixie offered in a kind voice and Tory shook her head.

“No, I couldn’t ask you to do that. Especially after what happened, I owe so much-”

“I don’t mind, really. I’ll work some extra shifts and give you the money.” Trixie reassured the girl, holding both of her hands with a smile. Tory breathed in a shaky sigh before smiling.

“Thank you… So much…” She whispered.

_____________________________________________________

Trixie stroked her cat as she lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Just a few weeks ago, she had been hanging out and lying down on Miguel’s bed. God, why couldn’t she just get him out of her head?!

‘I told you it was a bad idea to get involved with him.’

‘It’s not your fault. And you said that about the relationship, not about karate.’

‘It’s your fault that he’s basically dead. He fell off the balcony because you decided to get all emotional over him kissing Sam.’

Trixie sat up, her cat jumping from her lap and curling up next to her leg. She whipped out her phone, scrolling on Instagram before finding a post she had posted with Miguel. 

It was her and Miguel sitting down at Cascade with their fries that Tory had served them. She smiled bittersweetly as she looked at Miguel’s face. Trixie felt her heart clench at the sight as she searched through her voicemail to pick out one in particular she had been listening to.

‘Hey, it’s Miguel. Last night was crazy and hopefully you got away from the police. I really have to tell you something. I-... I hope you won’t be mad… A-anyways you haven’t been responding to my calls or texts so I’m just leaving you this voice mail. Uh, bye, I guess.’

Trixie breathed out shakily before tossing her phone somewhere between her blankets. Dory looked up with a ‘meow’ before curling into the blue haired girl's lap. “Hey, I haven’t been giving you that much attention, have I?” She smiled slightly, stroking the cat’s head lovingly. 

Dory meowed in response and Trixie chuckled before getting off the bed with her cat in her arms. “Alright, well, I’ve got to meet Tory at Cascade.” Trixie kissed the top of her cat's head before setting him down to the ground.

(this is still so short I hate it but oh well...)

[browngonzo888]

Psychonauts OC: Agent Knight

Full name: Lance Louie Knight

Psychic abilities: patented “moon beam”, a long range mind beam that can sweep a room in a second. Powerful with a short time fuse. Can levitate far distances, bouncing on a psi-ball that resembles the moon. Excellent long-lasting psychic shield, but it’s only on one side. He is also known to dabble in herbaphony. Other abilities will be presented via comic

Appearance: Agent Knight wears a 2 piece outfit with neat pleated shirts and white gloves. His belt and boots are leather, and his belt buckle resembles a knight’s shield. He doubles his agent badge as a tie pin. On his coat breast he wears a fresh white lily, something that Zanotto points out is normally seen at funerals. His hair is platinum and his skin a bone palette.

Personality: Agent Knight is confident and self-absorbed. He’s liked by some and called a narcissist by others but he only laughs it off. He has earned a high ranking with an impressive number of arrests, even if he sometimes loses the “bad guy” which causes him to theatrically sulk for a few days. His larger-than-life attitude lights up any dull office corner at any time.

Background: As only Lance Knight, he was brought up in a boarding school where he made decent grades and indulged in a small theatre class. From there he went to acting school. He was later discovered to have powers when he lost his temper upon learning that a different student got a lead role he was after.

[development] Knight’s odd design is based off Mac Tonight, a fictional character created by the McDonalds franchise. His outfit and hair leans more into an 80s yuppie style, not too different from the likes of James Crocket or Patrick Bateman.

[Other goals] Psychonauts 2000 is a kind of time capsule experience of the late 90s to the year 2000 (and a little bit beyond).

Agent Knight will appear in chapter 3 “Ottos Lament”

[melrosing]

add the copenhagen trilogy to the my brilliant friend subgenre 😔 the childhood section REALLY hit like the first two books of my brilliant friend (less of a focus on female friendship—though there is a bit of it—but really captures that mid-20th c european working class childhood haunted by poverty misogyny and political upheaval + fantasies about getting away and strong prose) if u have any other recs PLEASE lmk because i'm also in my brilliant friend withdrawal ahhhh

ooh thank you so much for the rec! my friend actually also recced it to me a couple months back so I think I should really check it out soon. currently im in the middle of an mbf rewatch cos think im already anticipating the withdrawal after S4 💀

I wish I had more recs that hit in exactly the same way…. I liked Swing Time by Zadie Smith which was I think quite directly inspired by MBF (as in I think Smith outright says it is?? not certain but I know she loves MBF either way). and that’s about two black British girls growing up together in London. the first couple of acts I remember being fantastic but then Smith gets distracted by a bizarre subplot involving a secondary character that imo derails the book. still a great final chapter. also rec NW and White Teeth by Smith. Book of Goose by Yiyun Li is like if you simplified MBF to its barest essentials, good enough read but all the way through I was like I knoooow that’s what inspired this. so plot wise those are the nearest things I know but some other books that are maybe not quite the same hit but kind of scratch a similar spot for me:

The Country Girls trilogy by Edna O’Brien - this actually has a lot of similarities with MBF, it’s a Bildungsroman about Irish girlhood etc, studied this as part of a modern Irish lit module at uni and have thought about it often since

Patrick Melrose quintet by Edward St Aubyn - another Bildungsroman about the title character growing up in an abusive household and fighting through the trauma of it in adulthood, this also has an amazing HBO adaptation that I would rewatch if it weren’t so fucking painful lol

anything by Natalia Ginzburg - know Ferrante likes Ginzburg and I am a recent convert. I think her understated and straightforward style is very effecting and her stories are also generally portraits of the postwar Italian middle class

I’m Supposed to Protect You From All This by Nadja Spiegelman. if you know Maus (the graphic novel), this is a memoir by the writer’s daughter about her mother’s side of the family. it’s my favourite memoir I think I’ve ever read and kind of transformed the way I saw my own mother and grandmother lol

Breasts & Eggs by Mieko Kawakami - also has a lot of interesting conversations about womanhood, gender and sexuality and there are scenes in that book I think about all the time

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - everyone and their grandmother recommends this but imo it is that good. yet another Bildungsroman but about a Korean woman living in postwar Japan

anyway might be loads I can’t remember rn but any of the above I really rec! also I’m like one away from reading everything of Ferrante’s and I haven’t found a dud yet. second fave for now is The Days of Abandonment which I think some day would make a great art house horror film lol

[ausetkmt]

CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN RACE RIOTS AND RACIAL VIOLENCE p-5

1961 May First Freedom Ride. 1962 Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU) is founded. Robert F. Williams publishes Negroes with Guns, exploring Williams’ philosophy of black self-defense. October Two die in riots when President John F. Kennedy sends troops to Oxford,Mississippi, to allow James Meredith to become the first African American student to register for classes at the University of Mississippi. 1963 Publication of The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) is founded. April Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., writes his ‘‘Letter from Birmingham Jail.’’

June Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is assassinated in Mississippi. August March on Washington; Rev. King delivers his ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

September Four African American girls—Carol Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins—are killed when a bomb explodes at theSixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. 1964 June–August Three Freedom Summer activists—James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner—are arrested in Philadelphia, Mississippi; their bodies are discovered six weeks later; white resistance to Freedom Summer activities leads to six deaths, numerous injuries and arrests, and property damage acrossMississippi. July President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act. New York City (Harlem) riot. Rochester, New York, riot. Brooklyn, New York, riot. August Riots in Jersey City, Paterson, and Elizabeth, New Jersey. Chicago, Illinois, riot. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, riot. 1965 February While participating in a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Jimmie Lee Jackson is shot by an Alabama state trooper. Malcolm X is assassinated while speaking in New York City. March Bloody Sunday march ends with civil rights marchers attacked and beaten by local lawmen at the Edmund Pettus Bridge outside Selma, Alabama. Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) is formed in Lowndes County,Alabama. First distribution of The Negro Family: The Case for National Action, better known as The Moynihan Report, which was written by Undersecretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Nathan Glazer. July Springfield, Massachusetts, riot. August Los Angeles (Watts), California, riot. 1965–1967 A series of northern urban riots occurring during these years, including disorders in the Watts section of Los Angeles, California (1965), Newark, New Jersey (1967), and Detroit, Michigan (1967), becomes known as the Long Hot Summer Riots. 1966 May Stokely Carmichael elected national director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). June James Meredith is wounded by a sniper while walking from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi; Meredith’s March Against Fear is taken up by Martin Luther King, Jr., Stokely Carmichael, and others. July Cleveland, Ohio, riot. Murder of civil rights demonstrator Clarence Triggs in Bogalusa, Louisiana. September Dayton, Ohio, riot. San Francisco (Hunters Point), California, riot. October Black Panther Party (BPP) founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. 1967

Publication of Black Power: The Politics of Liberation by Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton. May Civil rights worker Benjamin Brown is shot in the back during a student protest in Jackson, Mississippi. H. Rap Brown succeeds Stokely Carmichael as national director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Texas Southern University riot (Houston, Texas). June Atlanta, Georgia, riot. Buffalo, New York, riot. Cincinnati, Ohio, riot. Boston, Massachusetts, riot. July Detroit, Michigan, riot. Newark, New Jersey, riot. 1968 Publication of Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver. February During the so-called Orangeburg, South Carolina Massacre, three black college students are killed and twenty-seven others are injured in a confrontation with police on the adjoining campuses of South Carolina State College and Claflin College. March Kerner Commission Report is published. April Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Washington, D.C., riot. Cincinnati, Ohio, riot. August Antiwar protestors disrupt the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 1969 May James Forman of the SNCC reads his Black Manifesto, which calls for monetary reparations for the crime of slavery, to the congregation of Riverside Church in New York; many in the congregation walk out in protest. July York, Pennsylvania, riot. 1970 May Two unarmed black students are shot and killed by police attempting to control civil rights demonstrators at Jackson State University in Mississippi. Augusta, Georgia, riot. July New Bedford, Massachusetts, riot. Asbury Park, New Jersey, riot. 1973 July So-called Dallas Disturbance results from community anger over the murder of a twelve-year-old Mexican-American boy by a Dallas police officer. 1975–1976 A series of antibusing riots rock Boston, Massachusetts, with the violence reaching a climax in April 1976. 1976 February Pensacola, Florida, riot. 1980 May Miami, Florida, riot. 1981 March Michael Donald, a black man, is beaten and murdered by Ku Klux Klan members in Mobile, Alabama. 1982 December Miami, Florida, riot. 1985 May Philadelphia police drop a bomb on MOVE headquarters, thereby starting a fire that consumed a city block. 1986 December Three black men are beaten and chased by a gang of white teenagers in Howard Beach, New York; one of the victims of the so-called Howard Beach Incident is killed while trying to flee from his attackers. 1987 February–April Tampa, Florida, riots. 1989 Release of Spike Lee’s film, Do the Right Thing. Representative John Conyers introduces the first reparations bill into Congress—the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act; this and all subsequent reparations measures fail passage. August Murder of Yusef Hawkins, an African American student killed by Italian-American youths in Bensonhurst, New York. 1991 March Shooting in Los Angeles of an African American girl, fifteen-year-old Latasha Harlins, by a Korean woman who accused the girl of stealing. Los Angeles police officers are caught on videotape beating African American motorist Rodney King. 1992 April Los Angeles (Rodney King), California, riot. 1994 Survivors of the Rosewood, Florida, riot of 1923 receive reparations. February Standing trial for a third time, Byron de la Beckwith is convicted of murdering civil rights worker Medgar Evers in June 1963.

[rockislandadultreads]

Libby Spotlight: Hunger Games Series eBook Read-Alikes

Excited for The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes? Be sure to check out one of these eBook read-alikes available on Libby!

We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Being a part of the resistance group La Voz is an act of devotion and desperation. On the other side of Medio’s border wall, the oppressed class fights for freedom and liberty, sacrificing what little they have to become defenders of the cause.

Carmen Santos is one of La Voz’s best soldiers. She spent years undercover, but now, with her identity exposed and the island on the brink of a civil war, Carmen returns to the only real home she’s ever known: La Voz’s headquarters.

There she must reckon with her beloved leader, who is under the influence of an aggressive new recruit, and with the devastating news that her true love might be the target of an assassination plot. Will Carmen break with her community and save the girl who stole her heart—or fully embrace the ruthless rebel she was always meant to be?

This is the second volume of the "We Set the Dark on Fire" series.

Skyhunter by Marie Lu

The Karensa Federation has conquered a dozen countries, leaving Mara as one of the last free nations in the world. Refugees flee to its borders to escape a fate worse than death—transformation into mutant war beasts known as Ghosts, creatures the Federation then sends to attack Mara.

The legendary Strikers, Mara's elite fighting force, are trained to stop them. But as the number of Ghosts grows and Karensa closes in, defeat seems inevitable.

Still, one Striker refuses to give up hope.

Robbed of her voice and home, Talin Kanami knows firsthand the brutality of the Federation. Their cruelty forced her and her mother to seek asylum in a country that considers their people repugnant. She finds comfort only with a handful of fellow Strikers who have pledged their lives to one another and who are determined to push Karensa back at all costs.

When a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front, Talin senses there’s more to him than meets the eye. Is he a spy from the Federation? Or could he be the weapon that will save them all?

This is the first volume of the "Skyhunter" series.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him - something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

This is the first volume of the "Chaos Walking" series.

Gone by Michael Grant

In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young.

There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day. It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your 15th birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...

This is the first volume of the "Gone" series.

[charlies-letters]

April 18, 1992

Dear friend,

I have made a terrible mess of things. I really have. I feel terrible about it. Patrick said the best thing I could do is just stay away for a while. It all started last Monday. Mary Elizabeth came to school with a book of poems by a famous poet named e. e. cummings. The story behind the book was that she saw a movie that talked about one poem that compares this woman’s hands to flowers and rain. She thought it was so beautiful that she went out and bought the book. She has read it a lot of times since, and she said she wanted me to havemy own copy. Not the copy she bought, but a new one. All day she told me to show everyone the book.

I know I should have been grateful because it was a very nice thing to do. But I wasn’t grateful. I wasn’t grateful at all. Don’t get me wrong. I acted like I was. But I wasn’t. To tell you the truth, I was starting to get mad. Maybe if she would have given me the copy of the book that she bought for herself, it would have been different. Or maybe if she had just hand-copied the rain poem she loves on a piece of nice paper. And definitely if she didn’t make me show the book to everyone we know. Maybe I should have been honest then, but it didn’t feel like the right time. When I left school that day, I didn’t go home because I just couldn’t talk to her on the phone, and my mother is not a very “adroit” liar about things like that. So, instead, I walked to the area where all the shops and video stores are. I went straight to the bookstore. And when the lady behind the counter asked me if I needed any help, I opened up my bag, and I returned the book Mary Elizabeth bought me. I didn’t do anything with the money. It just sat in my pocket. When I walked home, all I could think was what a terrible thing it was that I just did, and I started crying. By the time I walked in the front door, I was crying so much that my sister stopped watching television to talk to me. When I told her what I did, she drove me back to the bookstore because I was too messy to drive, and I got the book back, which made me feel a little better. When Mary Elizabeth asked me where I had been all day on the phone that night, I told her that I went to the store with my sister. And when she asked if I bought her something nice, I said I did. I didn’t even think she was serious, but I said it anyway. I just felt so bad about almost returning her book. I spent the next hour on the phone listening to her talk about the book. Then, we said good night. Then, I went downstairs to ask my sister if she could drive me to the store again, so I could get Mary Elizabeth something nice. My sister told me to drive myself. And that I had better start being honest with Mary Elizabeth about how I feel. Maybe I should have then, but it just didn’t feel like the right time. The next day in school I gave Mary Elizabeth the gift that I drove to buy her. It was a new copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. The first thing Mary Elizabeth said was, “That’s original.” I just reminded myself that she didn’t say it mean. She wasn’t making fun of me. She wasn’t comparing. Or criticizing. And she really wasn’t. Believe me. So, I just explained to her how Bill gives me special books to read outside of class and how To Kill a Mockingbird was the first one. And how it was special to me. Then, she said, “Thank you. It’s very sweet.” But then she went on to explain how she had read it three years earlier and thought it was “overrated” and how they turned it into a black-and-white film with famous actors like Gregory Peck and Robert Duvall that won an Academy Award for the screenplay writer. I just kind of put my feelings away somewhere after that. I left school, walked around, and didn’t get home until one o’clock in the morning. When I explained to my father why, he told me to act like a man. The next day in school, when Mary Elizabeth asked where I had been the day before, I told her that I bought a pack of cigarettes, went to the Big Boy, and spent the entire day reading the e. e. cummings book and eating club sandwiches. I knew I was safe saying that because she would never ask me any questions about the book. And I was right. After she got done talking about it that time, I didn’t think I’d ever really need to read it myself. Even if I wanted to. I definitely think I should have been honest then, but to tell you the truth, I was getting as mad as I used to get playing sports, and it was starting to scare me.

Luckily, Easter vacation was starting on Friday, and it distracted things a little bit. Bill gave me Hamlet to read for the break. He said I would need the free time to really concentrate on the play. I guess I don’t need to say who wrote it. The only advice Bill gave me was to think about the main character in terms of the other main characters in the books I’ve read thus far. He said not to get caught up thinking the play was “too fancy.” So, on Good Friday yesterday, we had a special showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. What made it special was the fact that everyone knew it was the beginning of Easter vacation, and a lot of kids were still wearing their suits and dresses from Mass. It reminded me of Ash Wednesday in school when the kids come in with thumbprints on their foreheads. It always adds an air of excitement. After the show, Craig invited all of us back to his apartment to drink wine and listen to the White Album. After the record was over, Patrick suggested we all play truth or dare, a game that he loves to play when he’s “buzzed.”

Guess who chose dares over truth all night? Me. I just didn’t want to tell Mary Elizabeth the truth because of a game. It was working pretty well most of the night. The dares were things like “chug a beer.” But then, Patrick gave me a dare. I don’t even think he knew what he was doing, but he gave it to me anyway.

“Kiss the prettiest girl in the room on the lips.”

That’s when I chose to be honest. In retrospect, I probably could not have picked a worse time. The silence started after I stood up (since Mary Elizabeth was sitting right next to me). By the time I had knelt down in front of Sam and kissed her, the silence was unbearable. It wasn’t a romantic kiss. It was friendly, like when I played Rocky and she played Janet. But it didn’t matter. I could say that it was the wine or the beer that I chugged. I could also say that I had forgotten the time Mary Elizabeth asked me if I thought she was pretty. But I would be lying. The truth is that when Patrick dared me, I knew that if I kissed Mary Elizabeth, I would be lying to everyone. Including Sam. Including Patrick. Including Mary Elizabeth. And I just couldn’t do it anymore. Even if it was part of a game. After the silence, Patrick did his best to salvage the evening. The first thing he said was, “Well, isn’t this awkward?” But it didn’t work. Mary Elizabeth walked quickly out of the room and into the bathroom. Patrick told me later that she didn’t want anyone to see her cry. Sam followed her, but before she completely left the room, she turned to me and said serious and dark, “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

It was the look on her face when she said it. And how much she meant it. It suddenly made everything seem like it really was. I felt terrible. Just terrible. Patrick immediately stood up and took me out of Craig’s apartment. We walked to the street, and the only thing I was aware of was the cold. I said that I should go back inside and apologize. Patrick said, “No. I’ll get our coats. Just stay here. ” When Patrick left me outside, I started to cry. It was real and panicky, and I couldn’t stop it. When Patrick came back, I said, really crying, “I really think I should go apologize.” Patrick shook his head. “Believe me. You don’t want to go in there.” Then, he jiggled the car keys in front of my face and said, “Come on. I’ll take you home.” In the car, I told Patrick everything that had been going on. About the record. And the book. And To Kill a Mockingbird. And how Mary Elizabeth never asked any questions. And all Patrick said was, “It’s too bad you’re not gay.” That made me stop crying a little bit.

“Then again, if you were gay, I would never date you. You’re a mess." That made me start laughing a little bit. “And I thought Brad was fucked-up. Jesus.” That made me laugh a lot more. Then, he turned on the radio and we drove through the tunnels back home. When he dropped me off, Patrick told me the best thing to do was keep away for a while. I guess I already told you that. He said that when he knew more, he’d give me a call.

“Thanks, Patrick.” “Don’t mention it.”

And then I said, “You know, Patrick? If I were gay, I’d want to date you.” I don’t know why I said it, but it seemed right. Patrick just smiled cocky and said,

“Of course.” Then, he peeled out down the road.

When I lay down in bed that night, I put on the Billie Holiday record, and I started reading the book of e. e. cummings poems. After I read the poem that compares the woman’s hands to flowers and rain, I put the book down and went to the window. I stared at my reflection and the trees behind it for a long time. Not thinking anything. Not feeling anything. Not hearing the record. For hours. Something really is wrong with me. And I don’t know what it is.

Love always, Charlie.