#michael and jeremy with their impressions

[sabrinasprincess]

this moment in the hitman 3 dartmoor video was too funny

[herefortheships]

Just rewatched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice again, and I have thoughts!

But this was my first time watching it while being a Betelgeuse x Lydia shipper, so there might be some unhinged shipper takes here. I'll leave my completely speculative, potentially emotionally-charged impressions under the "read more" cut, under the list.

A lot of what I'll mention here I already noticed after my first watch, but I hadn't written a post like this about my impressions after watching the movie, so I decided to put it all here.

Here it goes!

This movie NEEDED more Betelgeuse. I'm sorry, Michael, but you are kinda wrong. It's not like we need the movie to be all about Betelgeuse, but we needed at least five or ten more minutes with the ghost with the most.

The movie sprang to life whenever Delia was onscreen. The same can be said about Betelgeuse.

The chemistry between Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder was through the roof. All scenes between them were immaculate and precisely why we needed MORE Betelgeuse!

I didn't notice how slow the first half of the movie felt, until Betelgeuse shows up. The movie picks up the pace after the couples therapy scene.

Betelgeuse is crazy about Lydia, no doubt. Was he gonna try to kiss her when he said "come here" right before she yelled "home, home, home!"? I think he definitely was going to throw himself at her. Anyway, he had several chances to do that later and he didn't try anything, but he might have been more restrained not to scare her away again.

Betelgeuse always seems to be more careful around Lydia (about checking her out, touching her, etc). Is he shy about Lydia specifically? lol

We needed more interactions between these two, especially so Lydia could see Betelgeuse wasn't the scary demon she thought him to be. He's more of a self-serving, lovable a-hole with a perverted side, than an all out evil entity. (She still got to see he's not that bad through his actions in the movie, after he saves Astrid and goes above and beyond by also exposing Rory and sending Jeremy to hell lol, but we needed a little more conversation between the two. This would help Lydia process her trauma around Betelgeuse. (*I have a point about this particular thing below, under the cut). Also would have helped the audience see why Betelgeuse's motivation to marry Lydia had nothing to do with Delores and everything to do with how he feels about Lydia herself (he was already chasing Lydia before Delores came into the picture, and had been doing so for over 30 years, as he keeps her photo on his desk and hasn't moved it from there, as shown by the cobweb behind it. Betelgeuse is looking into that portrait literally every single day).

Delores could have been entirely removed from this movie and nothing would have changed. When she shows up and says "Betelgeuse is mine" she literally does nothing to Lydia, whose photo she had literally smashed minutes earlier. When faced with the real woman who she believes to be stealing her man, she doesn't attempt anything against her? That was weak writing.

Everything around Delores was weak writing, except for her backstory.

Lydia did not leave Winter River at the end of the movie. I think the bed she wakes up in after the nightmare is still in Winter River.

As a matter of fact, the nightmare/dream sequence starts when she's quitting her show. The music that denotes that this is a dream starts there. Lydia did not quit the show. She might later on (if there's a 3rd movie we'll know if she did quit), but by the end of this movie she did not quit. That was part of the dream.

Betelgeuse starts blowing up like a balloon before Lydia says his name three times. She's said it once and he started ballooning. So I confirm: he did this himself on purpose. This man is a drama king and this was his grand exit back into the afterlife. 😂

I had this strange vibe that Astrid was bullshitting when she said that by violating code 699 the marriage contract was null and void. The contract also burned when she mentioned it. If it was null and void by Betelgeuse's violation of the code, why is it that it only burned when Astrid mentioned it?

Betelgeuse was indeed in bed with Lydia at the end. Not only is she sleeping to one side of the bed, the pillow he was in was wrinkled like he'd been lying there, and we can also hear the echo of his laugh. This makes me believe that he's the one who put the dream in her mind. Maybe to get back at her for banishing him. (This is a headcanon though, but the fact stands: Betelgeuse was truly there).

Oh before I forget, Lydia did look sad/conflicted at the end after Betelgeuse blew up and vanished. We can't know exactly how she felt after her time with Betelgeuse in this movie because it ended before we had a moment with Lydia alone after everything was said and done. Her story doesn't wrap up, because after she says her goodbye to Delia, what we have with Lydia is the dream sequence. Then she wakes up next to Betelgeuse, and again, alone, but still we can hear Betelgeuse's laugh echoing in the room as Lydia looks half scared, half confused (her face is like "wtf??") as the final scene of the movie.

And now for the potentially unhinged fangirl takes and headcanons (mostly revolving around Betelgeuse and Lydia):

Lydia has always had unresolved feelings for/around Betelgeuse. These unresolved feelings, whatever they are, has not allowed Lydia's romantic relationships to progress. The movie presents these feelings as trauma, and I find that very interesting. Let's explore this one a bit:

Early in the movie when Lydia is talking to Astrid about death and Richard is mentioned, Lydia mentions that her relationship with Richard had ended long before he left and had his accident in the Amazon. Astrid also mentions later that his dad left after his relationship with her mom had ended (If I recall correctly, Astrid says it like "after they separated, my dad left").

Then, when Lydia is talking to Delia after she's seen the Betelgeuse ad that Astrid found in the attic, she starts talking to Delia about how she met Rory at a grief retreat dealing with the loss of Richard and some unresolved feelings. Notice how she said her relationship was over long before his death. Naturally she was grieving him, but what are these unresolved feelings about? Is there guilt involved due to... :

Later, when Lydia tells Rory about Betelgeuse, she goes about it this way: She reminds Rory about their couples therapist, and how he told her that until she faced this "thing" that she was holding back, her relationship with Rory was not going to evolve. This thing of course turns out to be Betelgeuse.

So this kinda confirms that Lydia has some unresolved feelings around Betelgeuse that are holding her romantic relationships back.

As I mentioned above, this is presented as trauma. Is it because of her experiences in the first movie? I don't think so for various reasons: She not only grew up surrounded by the love and care of the Maitlands, she also hasn't seen or heard Betelgeuse in years though she's felt his presence. She also appeared to be living happily at the end of the first movie. You can't present me a traumatized character in the sequel when you showed me this character to be completely fine at the end of the previous film. Lydia also mentions to Delia that her anxiety comes from seeing ghosts every day.

So her traumatic feelings about Betelgeuse stem from something inside her that she needs to face or she won't be able to move on. Keep in mind these are my interpretations and shouldn't be taken as fact! But I believe that Lydia's trauma stems from guilt about having feelings and attraction toward Betelgeuse (possibly since she was a teenager), someone who, in her own words, she is convinced is a "trickster demon".

She may have always been attracted to him, but she pushed it down ("held it back", using her own words). She probably worries that having these feelings makes her "wrong" in some form. That she is "dirty" or even "evil" herself. How can she feel an attraction to someone like Betelgeuse, who is not only scary-looking, but also did scary things to her family and once tried to force her to marry him? These are her conflicted thoughts.

Confronting these emotions is Lydia's true path to healing wholly, because she will be faced with her own darkness. And this is what she is vehemently avoiding by wanting Betelgeuse out of her life (whilst simultaneously wanting him in her life).

This is yet ANOTHER reason why we need a third film: Lydia needs to face her own feelings about Betelgeuse or else she will always be stuck in life. Her relationships will always fail because her heart belongs to someone else; to the one person (ghost) she refuses to give it to, not because of what she feels about him, but because of what having these feelings makes her feel about herself. Only facing this will Lydia be whole again.

That's interesting material for a third and final film, but again, just my headcanons and interpretations. These movies are mostly comedy, and so it's unlikely they will go into the deep stuff. But then again, this movie at times went surprisingly deep, despite being mostly bonkers comedy, so there is a chance they will explore deeper, darker themes in the final installment. Usually the final film in a series goes harder than the rest into the deeper and more nuanced themes.

[moments-on-film]

Moments on Film: Carmy’s Vital Signs

One of the most fascinating things about The Bear is the full body acting from Jeremy Allen White. As with any performance, as an actor he makes many intentional choices, but there are several that I have noticed that are so in the moment and realistic, his body experiences them as his character. His actual vital signs—body temperature, pulse rate, breathing rate, blood pressure—are all a part of his character and are often visible onscreen, making it very hard to differentiate between the performer and the performance. He is so immersed in the character, you can’t help but worry about him and his health, both as a character and as an actor, to the point where his acting often feels dangerous. He surrenders himself and his body so fully, it is absolutely mesmerizing to watch. Below are several examples from season 1 and season 2.

Season 1:

Carmy and Sydney Meet

The scene where Carmy meets Sydney for the first time immediately struck me. Because of their undeniable chemistry, you very quickly get the sense that they just “get” each other. Sydney glides in and literally gives Carmy the breath of life he’s been missing. She wakes him up and reminds him who he is as much as who he could be. Carmy’s eyes show us everything in this scene and all that he’s been through leading up to this moment. It’s all there. The deep, deep sadness, grief, the exhaustion, how traumatized he is, beaten down, burnt out, sleep deprived, and desperately in need of help. He looks sick. When Sydney says, “I know who you are”, his face cocks to the side and his eyes lock into hers. He looks hypnotised by her. He says “oh yeah?”, but his eyes say, “No, I’ve forgotten. I’m exhausted and beaten down. Please help me remember. Let me be what you see.” And she does. Watch the scene again and listen to his breathy exhalation when she says “you’re the most excellent CDC…”It’s as if by being seen and understood by Sydney, the spell is broken and he can finally, actually breathe again. The relief of this moment, due to her belief in him and how she’s sees him is the first time we ever see him smile.

The Phone Call

This scene really made an impression the first time I saw it and it continues to. Carmy picks up the ringing phone and it’s a call from someone he doesn’t know named Nico. This person asks if Michael is around and in this moment Carmy goes through so many emotions. He is so caught off guard to be asked about Michael that he literally says, “Uh, uh, no. No, no. He’s not here this second.” If you watch closely, when he hears Michael’s name his pulse instantly elevates to the point where you can see the vein on the left side of his neck throbbing. As the scene goes on he starts to tense up and becomes weak and eventually has a panic attack that leaves him with a pounding heartbeat, so severe he has to sit down and then get out of there, as fast as possible. It’s an incredible moment of physical acting where the actors’s body is truly serving as a vessel for the character.

Fights with Richie

In this scene, Carmy is fighting with Richie over the C health code rating The Beef just received. Carmy believes it’s Richie’s fault since he left cigarettes by the burners, when in reality, it was Carmy’s fault. Carmy and Richie scream at each other and it gets physical. He’s so angry in this moment, his face slowly becomes completely flushed red, and his forehead stays pale. His pulse slams against his neck veins. I don’t know how many takes this scene took, but to achieve this level of body acting, even once, is incredible. The actor’s body doesn’t know that they are acting, it responds as if it’s a real moment they are experiencing.

In the scene above, Carmy and Richie are again fighting. This time, because Richie admits to selling drugs out of the back alley of The Beef and Carmy finds out. Is this what Carmy’s dad used to do at The Beef? Uncle Jimmy mentioned they last fought about drugs, among other things. The idea of selling drugs is so triggering for Carmy, it made me think there is a backstory here that has to do with his family. Carmy also finds out it was Michael’s idea to sell the drugs. This revelation both devastates and infuriates Carmy with such equal measure that he simultaneously looks like his going to burst into tears and completely explode. Look at the tears in his eyes. Look at the gripping tension he’s holding in his neck. You can just feel his heart rate rising as the scene progresses. It’s another incredible moment where this actor is literally giving his full body to service the story.

Sydney Quits

One of the worst moments in the series for Carmy is when Sydney quits. She’s calm, but she gets in his face with her final words. Given Carmy’s severe abandonment issues, and how much he needs Sydney and wants her there with him, this moment clearly devastated him. He practically doubles over. When Sydney walks out, so does his ability to breathe. He is struggling for air. His face, which normally becomes flushed and red in moments of extreme duress does something different here. He’s in such agony, his face completely drains of all color. He turns white as a sheet. This response, to me, signaled a different type of deep, deep emotional pain. How the actor was able to control his body to exhibit these internal emotions externally is remarkable.

Al-Anon Share

In acting, a performer always has to be thinking about their moment before—what were they just doing, what moment did they just come from, and how is that impacting them in this particular moment? When Carmen attends Al-Anon in the season 1 finale, he is coming from all the events that took place previously, including a traumatizing nightmare, which he awakens from violently and painfully. He’s regretting everything he did the day before, he’s hearing his brother’s voice, and he hasn’t slept well or rested, maybe in months, or years for that matter. Physically in this scene, it makes sense for him to look dishsheveled. He goes a step further though. In this scene, and often in the series, he literally looks like he’s running a fever. Once Carmy starts opening up, we see sides of him we have never seen before. One striking moment is when he’s sharing that Michael used to tell him “let it rip.” When he shares this, he almost seems a little embarrassed. In this moment of raw and open vulnerability, he blushes, and his face flushes, slowly. He then smiles, so sweetly. The fact that his character feels embarrassment and his actual face will flush, on command, as a performer, will never fail to astonish me. You can’t plan for your body to have that reaction. You can’t fake it either. He is living in all of Carmy’s moments with his own flesh and blood.

Sydney Comes Back

In the season finale, Carmy discovers the money his brother has left for him to pursue their shared dream of opening a restaurant together, The Bear. While Carmy and the team are opening the cans where Michael left the hidden money, Sydney appears. She again glides in and reminds him who he is and who he can be. But this time it’s different, this time she reminds him who she is too. Carmy then envisions what they could do—what they could be—together. Carmy has missed her so much, he regrets their last minutes together, but in this moment, all that fades away. He breathes, easily and deeply at the sight of her. Every cell in his body bends towards her. Carmy’s eyes invite her in to build the restaurant with him as much as his words do. His pupils actually dilate when he first sees her and looks into her eyes. Again, these are not physical acting choices that you can just plan or manipulate. Your body has to be going through these emotions for them to present themselves in the way that they do.

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Season 2

Season 2 of The Bear is different. To me, they have messed with the actor’s face in a way that has taken away a huge part of what makes him uniquely compelling. He lives in the moment, he acts with his whole being. He lets his eyes, body, and skin all tell the story. What they’ve done to his face this season is very noticeable to me. Carmy, as a character is stressed, exhausted and haggard. He doesn’t take care of himself and he’s not vain. It’s a huge disconnect to see him looking flawless in certain scenes, with no color showing through anywhere on his face, like he just had a facial. It doesn’t make sense for the character and it limits him and what he brings as an actor. His skin often looks like glass this season, and whatever fancy stuff they did to him took away his ability to have his emotions show through his skin at the level they did last season, which is a huge reason why the performance felt so visceral and real. They saw his emotive skin flushing and imperfections as a liability, when in fact, they are an incredible asset. He doesn’t look like anyone else, and it’s real and refreshing to see onscreen. I wish they didn’t take that away from him.

Despite what they did, he is such a good actor, he pushes through and can still physically convey the heart of what Carmy is feeling in each moment. Below are several moments that made a huge impression.

Scene with Claire

The first time I watched this scene I had to pause and watch again. Why does it feel so awkward? Among other things, it’s because Carmy is not breathing properly. Watch it again but this time only listen to his breathing. He is so distressed, talking about the fire suppression he can barely get enough air. You would think Claire’s presence would calm him down but she doesn’t. He can’t accept the moment. At times, he is subtly gulping air and his voice is shaky in a way that the scene doesn’t necessarily warrant. This was a huge indicator to me that something is wrong. It feels very off. He is so ill at ease and tense. Speaking of moments before, Carmy later reveals in this episode that the previous night he had a “gnarly panic attack.” So in this scene, he presumably had a very rough night and did not sleep well. He’s very worried about the test, waiting for the other shoe, and is self conscious about if what he’s saying is boring to Claire. All of these anxieties impact him and he’s having a lot of trouble stilling himself and calming down. We now know that Claire is not Carmy’s calm, or his peace, or his safe place—that’s Sydney. We don’t fully know that until the next episode. It’s as if the actor internalized that truth and is giving us a clue to it now. This is subtle, expert character work and an extremely difficult physical action to fake as an actor. He would have to be so keyed into the subconscious emotions of the character to let these nervous ticks run through his body. I’m telling you, watch the scene again and only listen to how much trouble he has breathing in certain moments. It’s not normal how tense he is here and an incredible foreshadowing into what we later learn he needs that actually soothes him and calms him down—Sydney.

Panic Attack in the Alley

In episode 9, cracks come to the surface, what’s done (literally) in the dark comes to the light, and Carmy is forced to physically deal with what he’s been suppressing emotionally. He experiences the worst panic attack we have ever seen him go through. He’s gotten so much worse and because of the incredible full body acting in this moment, it’s painful to watch. The conversation about this scene, rightly so, focuses on how Carmy thinks of Sydney to bring down his panic and breathe, but let’s talk about the physical acting for a minute. He’s shaking uncontrollably, every muscle is tightly wound and coiled. He can’t feel his hands. He can’t breathe. His skin is red and burning up with tension. He looks like a freight train is running through his body. His face contorts like he’s swallowing bile and is about to vomit. His acting is so real it is distressing to watch. Because he puts his body through so much, we are right there with him in every moment. We can truly feel what he’s feeling. He looks like he’s in real pain.

Eventually in this moment, Carmy focuses on Sydney—the first time he saw her face and when she came back to him, affirming words she’s told him about who he is and how she sees him. He’s kneeling at this point and is finally able to suspend his suffering, lower his panic, calm himself down and breathe. The flush on his face starts to lessen. The fever breaks and starts to come down as he focuses on Sydney and only Sydney. This is all conveyed without a single word from the actor. A montage shows us what he’s thinking, but the emotional stakes of this scene rely entirely on the actor’s ability to use his body to let us in so we can feel what he’s experiencing, and he delivers.

Carmy and Sydney Under the Table

The scene under the table is so tender and beautiful it brought me to tears. It’s a moment of truth, reckoning, concern, care, and yes, love, between the two of them. Carmy creates an environment that is gentle and safe, and Sydney softens and blossoms in a way that we have not seen before. There are moments that are so intimate, still and low it’s as if they are speaking to each other softly while laid out across each other’s chests. Sydney shares her fears and Carmy essentially tells her, “it’s ok. I’m here. We’re in this together. You’re safe with me and I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Physically, in this moment, Carmy is so attentive, and so at peace with Sydney that time literally stands still. They are in their own dimension. We are so used to seeing Carmy in motion, thrashing around and stressed, that this scene and the way that it’s acted feels like a deliverance. He creates a sanctuary for Sydney to feel safe. The physicality and voice of the actor creates this moment. They are 25 minutes to open, and his eyes are gentle, his voice is as soft as it’s ever been, he’s breathing steady and easy. He’s gently moving his hand but not out of frantic energy. He can’t soothe her with touch so he soothes her with words. This scene is a revelation in how the actor shows us Sydney’s impact on Carmy. In her presence, his entire nervous system is completely and finally relaxed and at ease.

——————————————————————-

All of what this actor gives and does as a performer engenders so much empathy for the character that his feelings become ours. We exhale when he does, and it actually hurts to watch him suffer. We worry about him, and his health, and care about his feelings. I think that’s why people have connected with this show so much. The rest of the cast is fantastic, but if we do not feel for Carmy and care about him as a character, the show does not work. He knows this, puts his body on the line, and gives it his all. He deserves the awards he had received for this role and I hope we get to see him continue this character in a season 3 and beyond.

Pay. The. Actors.

©️moments-on-film 2023

[yamy-brett]

Happy 91st Birthday, Jeremy. You are sorely missed.

From JEREMY BRETT PLAYING A PART by Maureen Whittaker. Quotes by Jeremy Brett.

"It all started for me on 3rd November 1933. I began life with everything a child could wish for. We had a huge, glorious, country house on the outskirts of Berkswell, near Coventry, with tennis courts, squash courts, horses and dogs and a wonderful, terraced garden created by my artistic mother, Elizabeth. The family was spoiled rotten, for we had three live-in staff, plus four other people who came in to help. We always seemed to be entertaining a houseful of fascinating people; the door was always open.”

The Grange, where Peter William Jeremy, was born, is a beautiful house with sweet smelling flowering wisteria on the front elevation and nestled in a magical vista of gardens, landscaped by Elizabeth, known as “Bunny”, who was the centre of this loving family.

The Huggins family was a significant part of the delightful Berkswell village in Warwickshire. William and Elizabeth had decided to move to the rambling, attractive Berkswell Grange in 1929 to accommodate a growing family. The three boys, John, Michael and Patrick, needed somewhere to play and to ride, so a large, impressive house was chosen in nearby Truggist Lane. The house featured seventeenth century timber framing, and nineteenth century additions, including a tiled roof.

Due to its grandeur and welcoming hostess, the Grange was the centre of village events, of Christmas parties, of afternoon teas and of music and entertainment.

William and Elizabeth were both keen archers, so it is no surprise that Jeremy took this seriously and belonged to the Woodmen of Arden, a notable club for the sport. “The whole family were taxophilites. Actually, my mother was a brilliant archer, won many awards. She had a special lightweight bow, and when I was growing up, I used her hand-me-downs. Looking back, I must have been about four or five when my father gave me my first lesson. The outfit is really glamorous – Lincoln green cut-away tailcoat, buff waistcoat with gold buttons, shite slacks, shite shoes and a New Zealand style hat that turns up at the side…”

Archery Week was hosted by the Huggins family at the beginning of August each year and to accompany the competitions on the extensive grounds at the Grange, they featured special balls for about 30 or 40 people for dinner, followed by dancing in the ballroom. “The dancing finished so late that breakfast was often served to the guests before they left for home the following day.”

“Naturally, I’d been practising like mad for the occasion. Firing at 100 yards I nervously let the arrow go. It wobbled in the air and my astonishment landed smack in the middle of the target. I was made Master Forester on my first day – a title which carries with it sitting at the High Table. Socially, archery can be pretty heaving going. That day the lunch ran to 12 toasts and I remember staggering out afterwards full of venison and summer pudding, cheeks pink from the port and nose still twitching from my first pinch of snuff…”

He told one interviewer that he had “a marvellous youth with every kind of animal under the sun, from ferrets to rabbits to mice to horses, to monkeys even. It was like a paradise, and a gorgeous home.”

Jeremy had a very special relationship with all animals. He welcomed dogs as earnestly as he welcomed his friends and often on his knees to greet them, face to face. His own dog, Mr. Binks, was a Jack Russell terrier that he affectionately called his “hound of heaven”.

Elizabeth’s reputation was always one of kindness to others, especially towards the homeless in the community. Gypsies and vagrants were frequent visitors expecting to be fed, have a wash or receive fresh clothing, and Williams shirts or trousers, could often be seen on these visitors leaving the Grange. Mrs. Huggins would go out and find Gypsies, taking them back to the Grange – the Colonel would come home from work to find a “Gypsy encampment with great cauldron in the walled courtyard, and clothes being dried in the saddle-room.”

During the Coventry bombing on 14th November 1940, in which more than four thousand homes were destroyed, including the 14th century cathedral, Jeremy’s mother, alerted by the sirens, the noise of exploding bombs and the sight of leaping flames across the open countryside, left her family to drive to the nearby town to what she could to help those who were caught up in the devastation. “The whole city was ringed with leaping flames, bathed in brilliant moonlight and a few searchlights were sweeping the smoke-filled sky.” Consequently, one family was taken into the Grange and 42 members of the extended family lived there until alternative accommodations could be found. There was no question in her mind about the decision; it was simply her first and characteristic response to suffering. “She was a dazzling woman, half Irish and fully Quaker, and ran our home, a large country house deep in the Black Country outside Coventry, in a sort of Flower Power way, always filling it with people that she’d picked up. I remember her bringing home a whole family called Weston during the war, and all of them stayed in our stables.”

Elizabeth Huggins had an enormous effect on the growing Jeremy and some would say that he was very like her in his response to others. “My mother had this extraordinary way of making us flower, and she had open doors and windows in her soul – that’s the only way I can put it. Everybody came to my mother. She was like a light of great warmth.”

What an amazing beginning to a brilliant gentleman.

This is just the very beginning of JEREMY BRETT PLAYING A PART by Maureen Whittaker.

[peachiemilkytea]

ʜᴏᴛ ꜱᴛᴜꜰꜰ

Summary: You get to meet the person that was out on vacation when you got into Micheal's group. Robin didn't feel right with you despite what the boys thought about you.

Warnings: Teen!Michael Afton, slow burn, mentions of (Y/n), tension, passive aggressiveness, etc.

Paring: Michael Afton x reader

W/C: 29k

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The cord from the console travels up to the remotes onto their hands. The gang of teens sloppily lying on the couch with legs hanging above the top of the couch. Fanning themselves from the summer heat and humid home. Yelling curses at the TV screen and tugging on the cord here and there.

"Donkey Kong reminds me of her," Simon said softly upside down off of the chair. Strands of hair fell past his ears. A pout on his lips looking like a kicked-over puppy.

"Everything reminds you of her." Micheal scoffs rolling his eyes while pressing on the buttons of the controller.

"Who's this 'her'?" Robin asked, lifting herself by her elbows on the chair. Curiosity and jealousy slowly ticking away at her mind. Who is her? Is she pretty? Does she wanna be her or date her? Will she be replaced? Will she have a new girl bestie? All these thoughts make her head stuffy.

"We met this girl at Mike's dad's work. Mike beat her high score in a video game and turns out she works there." Jeremy said, looking back and forth from the screen and to Robin. Recalling the poisonous perfume, pineapple, and honeysuckle lingers with him.

"Oh really? Shouldn't she be doing her job instead of playing on the arcade machines?" Robin asked, swiveling her head. All of them turned her way. Not letting her feel the way she wants to. But if the boys like this new girl so much then why can't she go along with it? Nothing will happen, it's just a hot chick.

"Hey! You leave her alone!" Simon said, flipping right side up. Dramatically waving his hand out like a sword horizontally while holding the controller with the other hand. Aaron passed him into the pixelated hell of Mario Kart, he let out a "Ha! Passed you!" Simon let out a "Damn it!" He jumps in his seat and turns back to the game with both hands on the controller.

"My dad said she's his and Henry's head engineer. She goes around doing whatever they want. She'll repair stuff, build stuff, and help around in any departments that need fixing." Michael explained twiddling a cigarette between his fingers. Takes another puff and breathes it in deeply, seconds later letting out a puff of smoke. Don't do drugs kids. Smoking gets you holes in your throat. That's what his mom always said. If his mom saw what he was doing right now, he would get lectured for hours.

"How did she get that high of a job offer?" Jeremy asked curiously, bouncing his leg up and down quickly.

"The girl is friends with Henry or something. He offered her the job." Michael said not pulling his eyes away from the screen with the bright colors and loud noises.  How can a young woman be friends with an older man? I guess it's not uncommon, just so out of the blue.

"We'll go there again, you can meet her Robs. You can tell her about all the good stuff about us! Impress her about us!" Alejandro said, turning to her and pointing to her half-jokingly. Simon nodded quickly while looking at her with a big dopey grin.

"Depends if she's hot, I might have to steal her from you." Robin jokes with a sly smirk getting panicked noises out of the two boys. She giggled but deep down she had a tight burning feeling in her chest.

-----

Pushing open the doors, the group walked through. All excitedly looking back at each other and looking around while Robin was grumpy coming in last. With the growl of Simon's stomach, they snagged an empty table. Wiping the trash and muck onto the floor, some workers saw this from afar and gritted their teeth. One of them broke the broom in half.

"Let's get a pepperoni pizza, make it large. That's 4 bucks. I got 2 on me." Alejandro said, looking through the menu and pulling out the money.

"I have another 2, it will be enough... Simon put your quarters away." Jeremy pulled out his money and looked at the other boy disappointedly. He slowly edged his coins off of the table and into his wallet sadly. The waitress came around and took the order on her notepad, walking off to the kitchen.

"I could've just got us free food. You know that right?" Michael said, smirking giddy. The table 'ooh'ed' in realization and cursed, he laughed at their stupidity. Of course, the boss's son would have all the benefits. They knew this. But in all the excitement they got lost in what they were doing.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Robin asked, putting her elbows on the table. Peaking over her shoulder to find any hot chick. Accusing random pretty girls of being the girl they were talking about. She was so on edge, so nervous. Her whole friendship might change with the boys. Their group was just fine as is! Ugh, the faster it's done with the less she has to worry.

"We'll eat then go to the arcade, I overheard Henry saying how she is always there if she isn't working or she's in the office with my dad or him," Michael explained. It was weird to him, they were all so close in their little work relationship. But after meeting her family and seeing how she is. He got a grasp on it was more than just a work relationship. (Y/n) told him her hours beforehand and what she does around her job. Though he didn't want to look like a dork in front of the guys. Especially after the first time they met and got into a little rivalry.

Right then and there, the waitress came back put the pizza on the table, and Alejandro handed her the money. Everyone grabbed a slice and started to dig in. Cheese stringing attached to the leftover slices and brown crust around the pepperoni's. Mmm~

"I don't know how long I can last eating this pizza every day," Jeremy said, lifting it and watching the cheese fall from it.

"Every day? How are you guys not dead yet?" Robin asked, licking her fingers at the cheese and grease. Looking at the grease on the napkins. Their stomachs must be butchered. The lengths they go to... jeez!

"Simon and Alejandro like to come here to see the girl we're gonna have you meet," Michael says while chewing. This aggravated something within Robin. What was so special about this girl?  That question has been plaguing her mind for days.

Throwing crusts, napkins, and other junk they had on the pizza tray. The money on the side is stacked nicely. Jeremy pushed everybody's seat in and followed them to the arcade. Simon pulled out his coins, giving five to each person. Q*bert's game title screen was bouncing with fun. Robin put in her coin and clicked the buttons. The guys watching over her shoulder. Jumping on the green squares of the pyramid avoiding the purple snakes. However, the further she got, she had failed to an enemy that was surrounded by every corner and got the game over. Jeremy took Robin's place and pressed his coin in halfway.

"Hey, (Y/n)!" Michael waved to her while leaning on the arcade game. He felt like he had the higher leverage after calling her almost every night. Elizabeth always made kissy noises from the hallway when he was on the phone. The result? Michael throws a pillow in her face.

Everyone's heads turned to the person working on a Pac-Man machine to get out some kid's stolen game tokens. She perked her head up shaking her head with a smile. Grabbed the tokens out of the machine and poured them into the kid's hand. He ran away from Pac-Man to find a game that works. She looked back at them getting up from her knees. The group walked over to (Y/n). She noticed Robin first, and curiosity formed. A deep admiration. She was pretty! Hiding her blush from looking at Robin with a melting smile.

"This is Robin Wilson, this is (Y/n) (L/n)." Jeremy introduced the two stutters in his words yet going between the both of them. (Y/n) nodded smiling softly and held her hand out, Robin mugged her and then looked away. She was confused by the passive aggression but didn't let it get to her, shaking it off

"So what are you doing? Still working?" Alejandro asked, Robin came to his side glaring at her. An excitement forming. His friend and his dream girl were finally meeting. It didn't feel normal to not take Robin with them. But she had a reason. She was on vacation with her family.

"Right now I'm done for today. If you guys want to do something?" (Y/n) asked, looking at her invisible watch and shrugging her shoulders. Sure, Henry wouldn't mind. He encourages her to make friends her age. As much as he loves her, he doesn't wanna be her only friend. William on the other hand... doesn't mind her following him around like a puppy. He'll just never admit it out loud.

"Yeah, we can go to Sparky's diner. I haven't been there in forever." Jeremy suggested tapping his fingers on the big video game machine. She nodded and left to the back to clock out and get changed out of the engineer jumpsuit uniform.

The bell jingled on the door as they left, walking down the sunny streets. A family restaurant, Eliot's in the shopping center full of cornered restaurants and different food shops. Full of boyish antics and heels tapping against the pavement. Simon walks next to (Y/n) trying to impress her by showing off volleyball stories from school. he was the team's spiker. Simon would renact the plays and sounds he did from his games. Even though he thinks he was being cool it was dorky. (Y/n) couldn't help but laugh at the display. Michael not too far off of her side rolled his eyes. Shaking his head like a disappointed mother. Though he felt something sting within him, he didn't act on it. The beautiful smile on (Y/n)'s lips showing her pearly whites was enough to make it fade away.

Robin looked back not having any of it. A nasty scowl appears on her face. Her sight darts over to Micheal. He gives her a small smile. Robin waves her finger in a motion signifying him to come to her. A little confused he strides up to her side leaving (Y/n)'s. All she has to do is keep the boys away from (Y/n) and everything will be the same. She was going to do that for as long as she could without being caught. A bell rings at the top of the doors.

"Hi! Table for six?" A waiter comes up holding menus. Nods and yeses were quick to answer. They followed the waiter down to a large table right by the window. The waiter leaving the menus on the table leaves politely.

"Uh, we're missing one more menu." Alejandro pointed out seeing as Jeremy doesn't have one. He was internally panicking from social anxiety letting his hair cover his eyes. Rubbing his hands on his pants.

"Here, we can share." (Y/n) offered putting her menu in between the two of them. Jeremy blushes to his ears just by the feeling of her shoulder against his. He lets out a small 'thank you.' The corners of Robin's mouth twitch in annoyance. 'What the hell is her problem? She would've stepped in to help him. She was literally about to give him her menu. Is (Y/n) trying to take him when he needs help? What's next? His free will?' Her thoughts rang out. Soon enough, the waiter came back to take drink orders. Everyone has a certain order. You can tell it gave the waiter a headache.

"Robs, how was vacation?" Simon asked, leaning over the table. She didn't even realize that they were talking. Snapping out of her annoyed trance.

"It was really fun! A little too hot for my liking. Though there were pretty beaches and sunsets. There were so many people on the beach. I brought souvenirs! They're back at my house." Robin explained looking through her menu. Michael and Simon feel excitement in their guts at having a little gift.

"Where did you visit?" (Y/n) asked politely. They were all talking so casually, that she wasn't up to date on what was happening recently. Feeling a little out of place, this group has known each other much longer than she has. (Y/n) was a little intimidated by the familiarity.

"San Diego, it's in California," Robin said, talking to (Y/n) as if she was stupid. She was annoyed to hear her voice. To Robin, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. All she could do was stare at her and not look away. Seemingly disgusted and annoyed.

"Oh, that's cool!" (Y/n) said enthusiastically. The conversation changed its course after its awkward encounter. The silence between the two was deafening and uncomfortable. (Y/n) fidgeted with the dog tag around her neck then scratched at her hair and bit her bottom lip before letting them go. 

Eventually, the drinks came in waters, lemonades, Shirley Temple, and rootbeers.  Simon downed his drink as soon as he got it. It was never known whether it was because he was thirsty or wanted to have fun. The boys started chanting "Chug! Chug! Chug!" (Y/n) rolled her eyes playfully at the group. Robin looked down at her lap sipping her drink, uncharastically quiet. She was trying to ignore (Y/n)'s happiness.  Simon let out an atomic burp.

"Dude that's gross!"

"Come on we're public!" Alejandro pushed Simon's shoulder over the table, the two of them snickering. (Y/n) shook her head playfully disappointed by their boyish behavior. Meanwhile, Robin was fuming, if this was a cartoon she would have steam coming out through her ears.

-----

Everybody was eating and enjoying their food. Simon was talking with his mouth full and Michael was encouraging him, laughing at his disgustingness. Robin reached over to take a bite of Jeremy's food with her fork. he smiled nervously and let her take a bite. Robin took a slow bite while looking at (Y/n) half-liddedly. As if she did something. (Y/n) blinked at her confusedly and went back to picking at her food for the good stuff.  

Michael reached over grabbing a fry off of (Y/n)'s plate. She shot him a look, throwing one of her eyebrows up smirking. He ate the fry in front of her.  Robin rolled her eyes at them, there was a burning feeling in her chest. The boys were chatting (Y/n) occasionally joining in. Robin learned to tune out her voice, her voice was so annoying.  They were getting more rowdy by the minute, and people around the restaurant looked at them with annoyance. Teenagers in the diner weren't anything out of the ordinary. However, the girls weren't paying attention to them. Caught up in their tension. Simon playfully pushed Jeremy's shoulder knocking his arm into Robin's drink, spilling it on her shirt. She yelped, a dark stain was forming on her red plaid vest. 

"Oh shit! Sorry, Robin! Here." Simon grabbed a handful of napkins for her. She yanked them out of his hands.

She groaned. "Ugh, it's fine."  After a few pats, she settled on going to the bathroom. the boys stand up letting her pass them. She made a break for the bathroom.  The two sat back down.

"I'm gonna go help her." (Y/n) said, Alejandro got up out of his seat letting her pass by him. She walked towards the bathroom.  Robin stood in front of the mirror with a bunch of crumpled damp paper towels. Patting down the dark stain on her cute vest. She looked in the mirror, and (Y/n)'s reflection appeared.

"What do you want?" She said harshly. She went back to cleaning up the soda split on her. "I came to see if you needed help." (Y/n) eyed her shirt. Coming up towards her grabbing some paper towels from the dispenser. 

"It's not that bad." (Y/n) Put a little water and soap onto the paper towels. Patting down Robin's vest. She grabbed her hand and yanked it away from her. "Stop it," Robin growled. 

(Y/n) backed off, allowing Robin to use the paper towels she got for her.  Why was she so mad at her? What did she do wrong? (Y/n) let these thoughts linger in her head. She was trying to be friendly and make a new friend this whole time. The group was new to her but the boys were welcoming. So why wasn't Robin like that? It plagued her to think that something was wrong with her. 

"You ruined everything! I hope you are happy." Robin snapped at her. It felt like a stab in the back. (Y/n)'s chest became hollow. "What do you mean?" (Y/n) asked quietly. The other girl glared at her. 

"It was perfect without you here. Then you came and messed everything up. All they do is talk about you! It's so fucking irritating. This wouldn't even be a problem if you would" Robin scolded. (Y/n) looked away from her. Everyone had their moments but this was humiliating. There was nothing she could do but listen to the venomous words leaving Robin's mouth. "Oh," Is all that (Y/n) could say. Robin left with her back to the table. 

[moody4world]

ICE BOUND❄️

A/N: finally managed to finish this fic and i personally love it so i hope you guys do to!!

BEFORE READING: look up what a one handed biellman is. Personally for Michael i envisioned Michael B jordan but feel free to envision whoever you’d like🫶🏾

DISCLAIMER: apologies in advance for the angst

Jeremy x Plus size! figure skater! reader

Being an ice skater was always a big dream of yours from a very young age. It wasn’t always easy especially being a bigger size compared to the average ice skater but you worked hard everyday to be where you are now. You had met Imani in high school and the two of you have been like sisters ever since. You were there when she first met Kamal and that unfortunately means you know his obnoxious friends Renzo and Speedy too. You were there when she had her son aka your favorite and only nephew. Which means you spoiled him absolutely rotten whenever you could, especially on his birthday. You had organized a major birthday party for him in the park with large bouncy houses and barbecue.

You noticed Kamal and Imani talking to a tall white guy you had never seen before while you were fixing up the gift table and they walked over with a new one. “Yo y/n this is Jeremy, Jeremy this is y/n, Imani’s best friend” Before Imani and Kamal could say anything else, they were called over by another family member.

“It’s nice to meet you” “It’s very nice to meet you too, you look very pretty.”

“Thank you, how come i’ve never met you before Jeremy” “Oh Kamal and I met recently, we I mean I play basketball with Renzo and Speedy and he’s been giving me some advice and stuff on that” Jeremy was completely overexplaining himself but he couldn’t help it. He was very nervous because of how pretty he thought you were.

“So you’ve met dumb and dumber” You joked, referring to Renzo and Speedy. The two of you laughed together until Renzo came over to annoy you like he always does. “Look who it is, Chubby bunny and Justin Bieber” “Renzo can you shut the fuck up” You said while rolling your eyes at his childishness. “Yo white boy, you tell her you a G-league reject yet?” “I’m not a G-League reject. I’m an athlete on hiatus due to health reasons.” Renzo patted Jeremy’s chest and sarcastically said “Yeah right” You rolled your eyes at him again but luckily this time he left. Or so you thought, he wasn’t next to Jeremy anymore but he was behind you and you had no idea.

Ignoring Renzo’s unnecessary comments towards him you decided to bring up the only part that seemed relevant based off of Jeremy’s reply. “So you’re an athlete?” “Something like that, yeah” He suddenly became bashful and it was one of the cutest things you’ve ever seen.

“Well that’s great, I'm actually an athlete myself!”

*Cough*”Sure don't look like one” *cough* Renzo mumbles VERY indiscreetly behind you. You turned aggressively and glared at him, scaring him enough to finally walk away and leave you and Jeremy alone. Jeremy kisses his teeth in annoyance. “Don’t listen to him, he's always an asshole” he says, trying to comfort you at Renzo’s offensive comment. But unknowingly to him, you were already used to not just Renzo’s but other people’s rude and unnecessary comments. Especially being a plus sized girl in a sport where skinny is the norm.

Shaking your head you tell him “No it’s fine, most people have their own idea of what an athlete is supposed to look like anyway.” you shrug it off.

“Plus i’ve known Renzo for way too long. I’m used to it.”

“Why don’t I come to one of your games? What team do you play for?”

You looked at him super confused until it hit you that Jeremy must’ve thought you played basketball. Quickly correcting him you reply “Oh no no I don't play basketball..or any kind of ball actually..” as you laugh awkwardly.

“So you…..” “Skate…i’m a figure skater”

Jeremy’s eyes go wide with excitement “No way, that’s cool as fuck.” “You do those crazy spins and stuff then. That’s super impressive.”

“I mean I suppose it is..” “Don’t be humble about it, that takes a lot of talent y/n”

“Thanks Jeremy” “I’d love to come watch you perform some day actually” He suggested and took a step closer to you. At first you were hesitant but I mean…he’s cute and he seems nice so far, what harm could it cause? Plus those bright blue eyes were very mesmerizing in the sunlight, how could you possibly say no?

“Yeah sure we’ll make that happen then.” You shrugged calmly but on the inside you were freaking out.

As agreed, Jeremy showed up to your next competition and the next…and the next and now he’d even show up to your practices. He found it mesmerizing how smooth you’d glide and how graceful you’d twirl. He was still getting over his fear of the big leaps and the jumps but he loved watching you do what you did best. After the second competition he attended he asked you out to dinner which led to the two of you laughing and conversing all night.

After the third competition you two shared your first kiss right outside your mom’s bakery. And yes your mom caught you two and she could not hide the excitement of finally meeting the boy you wouldn’t shut up about. Texts became daily and non stop between the two of you and so did casual drives and hangouts. Like right now you two were laying in his bed talking about his parents.

“So you’ve been living here since then all by your self?” “Uhm…not exactly. My ex, Tatiana lived with me for a while till we broke up.”

“Oh….you used to date Tati…..the ballerina?”

“The dancer, yeah. You know her?”

“Uhm no, not really.”

Now that was a lie. You and Tatiana went to the same elementary and dance classes when you were little. You even liked her a lot as a friend until she crushed your dreams of wanting to be an ice skater when you were 8. She even went as far as comparing you to a Chubby bunny, causing the nickname to stick around even after she switched schools.

You never saw Tatiana in person again but you definitely remember her.

“Are you guys still in touch?” “I mean we work at the same gym but we’re just civil now. Why?”

“Just wondering, Jer”

“Hmm. What about you then?” He asked you.

“What about me?”

“Who’s your ex? Is he some crazy ice skating olympian i gotta watch out for?” He said jokingly, making you both laugh.

“Not far off, he’s actually a crazy football player.”

Jeremy squeezed his eyes shut. “Please don’t tell me he’s in the NFL y/n.” You rolled your eyes playfully at his dramatics.

“Even if he was, I wouldn’t know Jer. He broke up with me a year before we graduated college and completely ghosted me so I have no idea.”

“Well that’s an asshole move.”

“Tell me about it.”

The mood in the room suddenly got sad and Jeremy wasn’t having it.

“Want me to order pizza? We can get your favorite toppings.”

If one thing made you happy aside from being on the ice it was food.

And just like that the mood was restored and the night went on perfectly.

It had been a couple days since youd seen Jeremy in person due to long practices while also helping your mom with her deliveries. Today you finished said deliveries a bit early and had a special batch that your mom had made specially for Jeremy. You knew these were the hours he was usually at the gym so you drove straight to there.

Walking into the gym with the tupperware and a big smile on your face excited to see your favorite basketball playing hippie. Your excitement decreased the moment you spotted him though. There he was, being a bit more than just civil with you guessed it, Tatiana. Her hand was on his arm and they were both laughing very amicably. A million thoughts started racing through your brain but before you could escape, Tati noticed you standing at the door and pointed you out to Jeremy.

Once he turned around to see you standing there his smile somehow grew even bigger than it already was. Jeremy started making his way towards you but felt like walking was taking too long so he did a little awkward jog.

“Hey pretty, I didn’t know you were coming” He wrapped his long arms around you in a crushing hug only to realize you weren’t squeezing him back like you normally would.

Pulling away he noticed the tupperware box in your hand. “I just wanted to bring you these vegan cookies my mom made, she wanted you to try them before she adds them to her inventory at the bakery” Is what you said as simple as possible while trying to hide your true feelings of what you saw when you walked in but your bluntness and lack of usual excitement was suspicious to Jeremy.

Regardless, he took the tupperware from your hands when you handed it to him but couldn’t help and double check on you.

“That’s so sweet of her, are you sure you’re okay?” “Yeah im totally cool but I gotta get going”

Rushing out of the gym you hear him yell “I’ll text you after your practice!!” without looking back so he wouldn’t see your teary eyes you yell back saying “No need, its gonna be a late one!”

It wasn’t a total lie, you did go to practice but it wasn’t a scheduled one. You just wanted to get your mind off of your own insecurities for a bit while also practicing a certain move you just couldn’t get down. Staying true to the distracting yourself part, hours had gone by and you didn’t even notice.

After trying the one-handed biellman for what felt like the thousandth time and failing, you frustratedly sat on the floor angrily. “Don’t beat yourself up too bad, you almost had it” You jumped a little because you were not expecting to see anyone else at the rink and you were also in your own world until he spoke. It was none other than your once skating partner, Michael. “I’m embarrassed you even saw that, how long have you been standing there?” You still didn’t even bother standing up from your slumped position on the cold ground. “I forgot my charger in the locker room so I came back to get it and then I saw you getting frustrated.” “Want some advice?” “I’ll take all the help I can get Mike” “Say less, c’mon get up” He put his ice skates on and joined you on the ice.

After four consistent tries with Michael’s advice you were finally able to do the spin successfully. Out of pure joy and excitement you both hugged each other with laughs of relief and pride.

“Ahem” The sudden sound made you both turn to the direction of its source to find Jeremy standing there looking quite upset. “So this is why you left in such a hurry and didn’t wanna text me back?” He had his arms spread out to really show you that he was angry. Michael immediately got the message and decided it was time for him to leave. Once Michael was finally away from both of you’s vicinity he repeated his question since you had yet to answer. “So this is what you’re doing now?” At this point you had skated closer to him and you were eye to..almos eye. “What are you even talking about?” Was all you could ask, what did he mean by ‘this’? “You get all weird from me talking to Tati but you’re allowed to be in a rink alone with some buff ass dude?” his voice was slowly raising and he was visibly turning pink.

How did he figure out it was about Tatiana, did she tell him that she knew me?

“Hello?” “That is not the same Jeremy” “HOW IS IT NOT THE SAME Y/N?” Him raising his voice was your final straw, the tears you had been holding back came flooding down along with your insecure thoughts.

“UNLIKE YOU, NOT ALL MEN THAT TRY TO TALK TO ME WANT ME JEREMY.” Jeremy the oh so clueless was oblivious to everything that you have noticed during the few months of you two being together.

“That’s not true” He shook his head in disagreement.

“YES IT IS TRUE, YOURE JUST TOO OBLIVIOUS TO NOTICE IT, EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU GO OUT WITH ME SOME GIRL BLATANTLY FLIRTS WITH YOU AS IF IM NOT THERE”

“PEOPLE DONT APPROACH ME THE WAY THEY DO YOU OKAY SO ITS NOT THE SAME”

“YOU COULD LEAVE ME FOR SOME BETTER LOOKING GIRL ANY MOMENT LIKE EVERY OTHER GUY HAS, SO FORGIVE ME FOR TRYING TO PROTECT MY OWN FEELINGS”

Even after months of knowing you and being with you Jeremy had never seen you this hurt and angry before. You are the most soft spoken and calmest person he had ever been close to so to say he was shocked was an understatement. Along with his shock came speechlessness. All he could do was stare at you apologetically, full of regret for not putting himself in your shoes. He thought that he could think of the right words to fix things and get your relationship back to where it was a few days ago but the next words that came out of your mouth felt like a knife being twisted into his chest. The tears in his eyes mirrored yours. “I think what we had was fun but I don’t think we should continue whatever this was” “y/n don’t say that” “I’m sorry Jeremy”

Without even giving him a chance to defend his case, you skated off to the locker rooms leaving him to sulk in his heartbreak.

While you cried in the locker room, Jeremy decided to leave and give you some space. Deciding against driving all the way home with how much he was crying, he went to the person he knew could help him get you back. After three knocks on the door Kamal opened it to find Jeremy. He was surprised at his sudden visit only to become worried once Jeremy looked up and he noticed the sniffling, red nose and face covered in tears. “Yo what are you doing here? wait are you crying?” Jeremy was already so exhausted from crying that he only felt like saying the minimum. “Can I please talk to Imani? y/n just broke up with me and I don’t even know how to fix this”

Noting Jeremy’s distress Kamal decided that he’d leave his curiosity for another time. “Yeah..yeah sure, come in, I'll get her.” After offering Jeremy a seat at the dinner table Imani decided it was best to help him calm down first. “Would you like some tea Jeremy?” “Uh yeah some tea would be nice” He replied. “Okay what kind of tea would you like?”

Jeremy thought about it then simply said “I’ll just take the hottest one”

To which Imani just stared blankly in confusion. She still questioned why you were so fascinated by this goofy white boy. “….Okay” shaking her head Imani left to make him some tea.

Once Jeremy took a couple sips of the tea and had calmed down quite a bit, Imani decided to initiate the conversation that Jeremy suddenly seemed to be avoiding.

“Okay so what’s up with you and y/n? I thought everything was cool with you two”

“i don't know what went wrong so fast, she saw me with Tati at work and started acting all reserved. She wouldn't text me back for hours so I went to the rink and that's when I found her with some buff ass guy” “You mean Michael?” “I don’t know his name” Jeremy shrugged “Was he fine as hell?”At Jeremy’s offended stare Imani confirmed that it indeed, was Michael. “Sorry, go on” “As I was saying, I saw her with some buff ass guy and I may or may not have shown some jealousy”

Knowing you,Imani had more than an inkling that there was more to the story. “And?” “And that's when she lost it. I mean I had no idea she felt that way Imani. I would've done anything to reassure her from those thoughts if I knew” Jeremy’s voice had gotten more trembly the more he thought about how hurt you were during the argument. He decided to end his story there, not wanting to cry his eyes out in front of your best friend at her dinner table.

Imani could see that you meant a lot to Jeremy. She may not understand your attraction to the guy but you meant a lot to her too and that is something that her and the curly headed white boy had in common. She couldn’t believe that she was about to help him get back in your good graces but here goes nothing. She took a deep sigh and repositioned herself. “Listen Jeremy it’s not your fault, y/n has a lot of insecurities she’s still working on that have nothing to do with you. However, I haven’t seen her this confident and happy in a minute so you must've been doing something right.” She encouraged him. But Jeremy was already wallowing in guilt. “Yeah well that didn’t last very long did it” “Look, what i'm saying is…you gotta be honest and straight up with y/n about your feelings. Tell her how you really feel and what you really think. Never leave anything up for assumption with y/n, that’s one advice i'll give you. You didn’t hear this from me but that girl loves your pale ass. So go get your girl NSYNC” “ I actually prefer Justin Timberlake” “Jeremy..” “Yes?” “Get the fuck out of my house and go get y/n back” “Yes ma’am”

[ponkydraws]

Can someone tell my ex best friend that when I compared us to Michael and Jeremy from BMC I meant More than survive and Two player game, NOT Michael in the bathroom? I mean I’m impressed by the dedication but you didn’t have to do me like that, “Jeremy”. One can only blame the tears on weed or something in my eye for so long

[fae-ridgeite]

‧₊˚ ☆ ⋅ 𝙽𝚎𝚠𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 ⋅ ☆ ˚₊‧

Day two - Jack Kelly

Ouija Board

"Sure, sure, Jackie Boy like to act like he's all peaches and cream, but he sure like's to cause trouble!" Mooney waved his hands around, using them to punctuate his words. It was obvious that he didn't have a very good impression of the Manhattan leader.

"Once, he convinced Spot he could communicate with his ma through a witch board. Augh! Hated that. Ol' Jackie is always up to somethin'." Mooney wrinkled his nose and made a face at the memory. He liked Jack Kelly’s dedication to the bit, but when it came to being serious, Mooney thought he was a bit of a flake. His main reason for his thoughts about Jack was the strike. Unfortunately he didn’t know the full story, being in the refuge for most of the strike.

(OOC Headcanons and Discord link under cut)

Headcanons-

Jack is bisexual and uses He/him pronouns. He's 17 years old.

He loves Les like a younger brother. Jack's own younger brother, Michael from the 1991 script, was killed. He sees Michael in Les.

The blurb from Character Mooney was based off of this interview with AKB. One of the antics pulled back stage was convincing Tommy, who was whining about never getting any fanmail, he had a stalker-fan sending pictures of themself to Tommy. Apparently it was easy to convince him because he's so gullible.

Normally I like to base my Jack Kelly off of Corey Cott, but this drawing is based off of Jeremy Jordan. I also like drawing him with a cowboy hat to keep the og cowboy vibes from the 1992 movie.

The “Jack Kelley” card is how I see Jack! Personally I’d like to believe there’s an extra ‘e’ in Jack’s last name. I gave him Corey’s eyes, freckles, and hair, with a cowboy hat and some snark. I made his tongue sticking out slightly because I felt like that fit his personality more than the sneer or whatever Jeremy is doing in the og trading card.

If you'd like to hang out with some cool people from the Newsies fandom, we have a discord! It's run by me and @flintt! We are a little quiet, but most people usually say hi and hang out for a bit.

@newsiestober2024

[swagcoolcat]

Be More Chill kids and high school + college jobs:

Jeremy: I think Jeremy would first work at like- a mall GameStop. He started there because of the employee discount, but he’s not as into it as he originally hoped because there’s a lot of kids that come in and he gets easily overstimulated. He eventually decides to work somewhere that isn’t at the mall, and does stock somewhere that he doesn’t have to interact with as many people. By the time he’s made it to college, he finds a similar job. I think he’d eventually want to something with his English degree.

Michael: It takes Michael a little longer to find a solid job to stick with. He works at GameStop like Jeremy, then 7-11, then a pet store, but it’s just to get him through high school. He doesn’t find a more permanent job until he becomes a barista at his on campus coffee shop. I think he’d wanna freelance and be his own boss after college.

Rich: I think Rich would actually do really well in a kitchen setting. As he heals over time, he’d learn to really love cooking, and the chaos of a kitchen would really help him in enjoying his shifts. He’d start as a dishwasher, but eventually he’d stick there long enough to make it to management. He works as many hours as he can so he can move out as quickly as possible.

Jake: It takes Jake a long time to find a permanent job. His job history is a long list of places he didn’t last at longer than a couple months. Jake has just spent so much time trying to impress everyone that he still doesn’t really know who he is or what he wants, and when jobs get a bit too hard, he wants to quit. I feel like he also did lifeguarding over the summer one year and was gonna do it again until he broke his legs. He eventually finds something he really likes after high school, perhaps something relating to photography if possible, because I hc that photography is one of the only clubs Jake really enjoyed just for him.

Christine: I think Christine would try to go for something that would let her be a bit creative. I think even before she gets a job, she’d end up volunteering over the summers. After high school she tries to do as much theater as possible. It’s her passion, and she’d love to continue doing it.

Brooke: To start I could see her going for pinkberry, or another place similar to pinkberry at the mall. But honestly, I think Brooke would wlso want to work at an animal shelter, or something where she could work with animals. I feel she’d enjoy that way more, and maybe she’d want to do it forever!

Chloe: I think Chloe’s go to would be to work at the mall at one of the department stores because of an employee discount, similar to Jeremy at GameStop. She’d stick around longer, but I think eventually she’d realize it’s not really worth the discount, and she’d go somewhere else. I think she could end up doing security at the mall, but I don’t think she’d stay there either. I think Chloe would do good in finance stuff, perhaps working at a bank?

Jenna: Once again, my girl starts at the mall working at Payless Shoes, then Claire’s, then she’d leave the mall. After the mall I think she’d maybe go to Best Buy? I think she’d kinda like technology. Then after high school I’m honestly not sure. I think it’d be fun if she had a blog, but I also think it’d be good for her to realize she doesn’t need to use gossip to make friends.

If you have your own headcanons or suggestions feel free to let me know hehe

[sunshine-embry]

A Silly Little BMC Au :D

I got lazy and didn't do any art but I'm too excited to post this.

So it's called opposite au, and I'm gonna yap about my idea a lot so press read more if you wanna be flash banged by text :)

.・゜-: ✧☾　☽✧ :-゜・.Characters.・゜-: ✧☾　☽✧ :-゜・.

Jeremy: He is now a popular punk kid. Still friends with Michael, but hates Rich and Jake - he actually bullies them - and still has a crush on Christine. Instead of his parents divorcing, his mom died. Personality wise, he's now super super mean and that's important.

Michael: BIG EMO. Still friends with Jeremy, but is now player 2 iykwim. I have nothing else to say about him :/ Also has homophobic parents while he's gay idk :/

Christine: Anti-social math nerd. Very shy, yet somehow very popular. She doesn't actually like Jeremy all that much, mainly because he bullies Rich and Jake. Also hates Michael, but that isn't plot relevant. Also very minimalist.

Rich: Nicest kid in school. Can you see the plot so far? Anyway, just overall very very nice. That's his entire personality. Also imagine his entire closet being those types of shirts that say "in my mind I am holding a frog' and things like that.

Jake: Stereotypical anti-social nerd. That's basically it. Also his entire closet is just sweater vests . Also also still best friends with Rich.

Chloe: Second smartest girl in school. Basically hella cutecore. I don't have many ideas for the girls :/

Brooke: Smartest girl in school. Also tomboy

Jenna: Prettiest and most popular girl in school. Girly-girl

.・゜-: ✧☾　☽✧ :-゜・.Plot.・゜-: ✧☾　☽✧ :-゜・.

Act 1

Jeremy likes Christine who in the mathletes. Michael manages to convince Jeremy to join the mathletes, in which Jeremy asks Christine out. Christine obviously says no because Jeremy is a bully ect ect.

So Jeremy goes to the bathroom to take a break from the nonsense math where he sees Rich washing his hands. Rich introduces Jeremy to a SQUIP to make Jeremy more nice.

So Jeremy and Michael go to the mall and buy a SQUIP for Jeremy, which need to be taken with lemon & lime Sprite. So he takes that and goes to the mall store(?) and sees Brooke and Chloe.

Since they never really talked before, and since Brooke's impressed by how nice Jeremy is, she asks to take to him on a date to Denny's (I REFUSE TO CHANGE HER TAKING HIM TO DENNY'S)

Jeremy politely accepts, even though the SQUIP tells him not to, but then ghosts Brooke.

So the next day, Jeremy goes to the mathletes meeting again and Christine tells Jeremy that she has a crush on Jake who's also there because he's a nerd.

Christine and Jake start to date, making Jeremy big sad, so he dates Brooke to get back at Christine.

Act 2

Jake throws a Halloween party at his house because he's trying to become popular. Basically everything is the same until Rich sets a fire.

Rich goes around not so politely asking if anybody has any cherry Sprite.

Of course, nobody does, so he sets Jake's house on fire. It makes sense. So the rumors go spiral like usual, blah, blah, blah.

So Rich - after he leaves the hospital - holds a sleepover at his house, inviting Jake, Jeremy, Brooke, Chloe and Jenna

So the Squip starts being not so nice to Jeremy and tries to force him to Squip his friends, in which he does.

The Play happens but it's in a sleepover scenario, Michael breaks in through the open window once Jeremy calls him, the whole thing (I kinda wrote myself into a corner by making Christine in the mathletes instead of the play so just work with me)

And yeah. I kinda didn't know what to do with the second half. that's it :/ Might write a fic about this.

[ask-the-mci]

What was all of your first impression on Michael?

[Gabriel] Who's Michael?

[Jeremy] The security guy that was here? Before people stopped coming.

[Gabriel] Ohh... he gave me a weird feeling.

[Jeremy] Me too.

[Susie] He looked weird.

[Fritz] Did he? I never saw him.

[Cassidy] Well I did. I didn't like him.

[Evan] I wanna recreate that bible story where the one guy gets hit in the head with a rock.

[insertsickusername13]

I could give you a million reasons why richjake should be canon but here's another one, and it only means like one line change in the entire musical:

Rich should've flirted with Jake in the hospital and Jake should've reciprocated the sentiment. This scene would act as the final step to Jeremy de-romanticizing the popular kids and being willing to be himself when he goes for Christine.

For starters, Jake is the person Jeremy was trying to be. The SQUIP was under the impression Christine wanted a guy like Jake, so he fashioned Jeremy's persona based off of Jake. This was pretty easy, considering Jake is portrayed as perfect from the beginning and Jeremy is clearly jealous while admiring Jake nonetheless.

Then there's Rich, the one who ridiculed Jeremy for being himself and pushed him to hide who he was. So at the end Jeremy wakes up after standing up for himself and sees Rich, probably one of the people he feared most (and who's approval he wanted, despite what he told himself) suddenly become confident in himself and just say 'I'm totally bi!!' probably changed Jeremy's whole view on the SQUIP situation.

Flirting with Michael is pretty good as well. Jeremy was ashamed of Michael and now the person who used to bully him is going after Michael, proving that there was never anything wrong with Jeremy and Michael, there was something wrong with Rich. BUT. This doesn't fully disestablish Jeremy's borderline obsession with the popular kids. He wanted to join their clique because he was under the impression it would rid himself of all his insecurities and make him wanted. But if he woke up to see Rich flirt with the person he wanted to become, who was supposedly perfect and straight and everything Christine wanted, and watch Jake light up at it and flirt back and be so happy at this new development, Jeremy would be forced to realize being popular didn't erase anything. It didn't change anyone. 'Gay' is treated as an insult throughout the entire musical, so for this supposed flaw to suddenly be thrust upon Jake would finally cut that string between them. Jake is just as human as Jeremy and Jeremy doesn't need to become Jake to be happy, he just needs to be himself.

I'm not delusional okay. It's real. Richjake is real. It was there all along. In the plot. See? It's real. It's real. I just proved it. The writers intended for this all along. Obviously. They're soulmates. They end up together. Obviously.

[gamequeenanya]

Excuse Me? (Ler!Phone Guy, Lee!William)

Summary: Not a lot of things offended Phone Guy. It was easy for him to laugh or brush things off. But when William makes Jeremy cry, he's gone way too far… (Friendship + tickle fic)

(Warning: fat shaming)

…

It was the day before the Skate Park event, an event most of the employees loved to take part in. Scott was excited, Jeremy was excited. Michael was okay with it. William was also surprisingly looking forward to it.

However, there was an error with sizing, and the employees had been delivered shirts that didn't quite cover their whole stomach. Scott blushed when he realized it. He knew they'd have to do something about it, but what? The day of the Skate Park event was tomorrow.

Scott wasn't embarrassed about his body. He was skinny, and only a few people had made fun of him for it, to his confusion. Naturally he didn't hold onto a lot of body weight. He'd heard that in the caveman times, some people would put on body weight easier than others in order to survive the ice age. Well, he hadn't inherited those genes. But he'd never make fun of anyone who did. He'd been a bully victim all his life, so he knew what it felt like to be the odd one out.

Still, it wasn't very fun to bare his midriff in front of the other employees and explain to them what had happened.

William had tugged at his top. Being a tall man, his shirt had shown off more of his stomach, and even his ribs. He growled, not liking the situation.

Fritz sighed and shrugged. It didn't really affect him since he was used to wearing crop tops, but looking at the others, he realized there was a problem.

Coming out of the changing room, Michael sighed and looked away. His belly had a bit more fat than the others, but it was also muscled due to working out most of his life. He was now 21. Grumbling, he looked away. He was hoping there would at least be some women in the room he could impress.

And finally, Jeremy. Poor Jeremy had not been prepared. He always wore modest clothes, even outside of work. And deep down he held the most body shame of all his co-workers. Maybe it was due to all the sodas he drank, but his belly was fat and soft. He covered his stomach as he walked out of the changing room. He didn't make eye contact with anyone.

Scott stood at the front of the stage. He was going to announce to everyone why this happened. First he chuckled to lighten the mood, and then tried to explain a way out. He promised he would contact the manufacterer and get them all larger shirts! Scott talked with his hands, gesturing about the ways he would type on the computer and how the delivery truck would get here.

However, while Scott was distracted, William noticed Jeremy in the corner. He was trying not to be seen.

"What's the matter, Jeremy…?" William said snidely. "You're not ashamed of something, are you?"

Jeremy winced and shook his head.

"That's good!" William glanced at his arms covering his stomach. Jeremy started to sweat. This was not good. He got reminded of when bullies at school would surround him and make fun of him for being fat. He shook his head. Don't think about it…

Meanwhile, seeing Scott still in his headspace, William poked Jeremy in his ribs. Flinching, Jeremy's arms flew to protect them.

"Ah. I see…" William said, with a laugh, now noticing Jeremy's stomach fat and somewhat hairy. "Well, we can't all be winners, can we?"

The implication stung. Jeremy had never been the most popular person, but he'd never put it like that. To make it worse, a crowd of customers had gathered to see what was up, and they laughed. And then Jeremy was right back in the school ground, surrounded by the bullies…

By this time, Scott noticed something wrong. He went over to Jeremy to check on him. Jeremy was crying…

He glared at William who gave him a smug smirk. Okay, that was it. He'd tolerated William's shenanigans for far too long.

"What did you say…?!" Scott growled, looking rather fierce for an average-height man. William stepped back and put his hands up. He feigned innocence. Scott wasn't having it. "Oh no, no, no, no! You do not play that game with me!"

Scott sounded like he was scolding a child. William wondered if he was a father. This theory increased when Scott wiggled his fingers towards him. William felt his cheeks get hot.

"…You cannot be serious." William said, trying to downplay his upcoming punishment.

Henry came up behind him and held William in a full nelson.

"Oh, he is, dear friend!" Henry chuckled. William stiffened. The realization dawned on him that as the tallest person here, his shirt was also the shortest.

"Oh cohohohoohoohohome ohohohoohohohohohn!" He shrieked as Scott wiggled his fingers over his belly. "Hahahahahahahahhhahahahahaa whyhyyyhhyhhyyhhyhyhhyy!?"

"Aw! It looks like you're ticklish! Heh. How unfortunate!"

William wanted to wipe that smug smirk off his face. But unfortunately, he was trapped. Scott's tickles over his sides and belly got faster and more intense. Occasionally he'd tickle his navel too, making him shriek.

"AHAHAAHAHAHAHHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAAA!"

"What would it take for you to apologize?" Scott wondered. He made ticklish circles in William's skin. "This, perhaps?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA! HAHAHAHHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA!"

William shook his head. He gritted his teeth and kept resisting.

Meanwhile, Jeremy noticed the sound of laughter and broke out of his stupor. He observed William getting tickled and chuckled to himself. Deserved.

"HHEEHAHEEHEHEHEHEHEHAHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHEAHEHEHEHEHHAHAHEHEHAEHEAHEAEHE!" William screeched as Scott squeezed his sides, and wiggled his finger up and down his spine. "STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAAHHAHAAP!"

Scott didn't let up. The other employees watched, trying not to laugh.

"Are you sorry yet?"

"NOHOHOHHOHOHOHOHOHOOHHOOHHOHOHOOHHOOOO!" William cried, wiggling around and kicking. Scott stood out of the way, and continued to get him. Wiggling his fingers all the way to his upper ribs, circling around his back, and then going down again, attacking his belly with light squeezes, and then giving his hips squeezes as well. "HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHA! YOHOHOHOHOU'RE SOHOHOOHHOOHHOOHO DEHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHHAD!"

"I'm not hearing an apology~!" Scott said in an irritating tone.

It was true though. William had never once apologized for hurting an employee. Scott thought a little extra convincing was in order. He slipped his hands in his armpits and made soft but intense circles in his pits.

"HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAHAA!" William shook his head. "ALRIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIGHT!!"

Scott removed his hands and let William catch his breath. He chuckled and covered his own stomach.

"I'm…… sorry……" William said between breathy laughs.

"Sorry for what…?"

William looked up and glared.

"Sorry you're such an idio-hhahahahaaHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

This time Fritz was the one tickling his armpits. Scott smiled at him and gave a thumbs up.

Jeremy came over and put a hand on Scott's shoulder.

"It's okay, you know." He smiled. "I know William won't mean it anyway, so he doesn't have to." He looked away and back at Scott gratefully. "But thanks. For standing up for me."

Scott smiled back.

"Hey, any time!"

Meanwhile, Fritz and Henry were still having fun tickling William. Shrieking, William shook himself out of their grip and ran away. The other two men followed in hot pursuit.

And Michael watched from the sidelines, a small grin on his face. Finally his father got some kind of karma for his actions.

[connectionterminated13]

Thinking of Jeremy and Michael's first ever meeting drain pizza SIM.

Jeremy's first impression of Michael is him calling Jeremy a " Crusty old nut job looking to relieve the glory days of the worst part of his life" Put out his cigarette against his own arm and then hissed when Jeremy held out his hand

Michael's first impression of Jeremy is this nice bubbly 50 year old guy who still looks surprisingly in shape and healthy, And then instantly assumes that this guy is here to stop him from committing some future act of arson

[in-newjersey]

So here are my thoughts on my first time seeing a live BMC production!

Making this non-rebloggable, I am not a real theater critic and I do not want to draw any attention to this actual cast on an anonymous blog to strangers on the internet

For starters, casting!

I respect the variety going on here and the degree of diverging from famous character appearance-tropes. Tiny Latino Jeremy who's as fit as a gymnast and can (and does) do acrobatic spin kicks sometimes? Love it. Plus-size butch-esque Brooke? 10/10. Genderfuckery long-haired Michael who gesticulates with a huge fan through most conversations? Hell yeah. Pink-haired Nirvana-grunge-style trans guy Jake? Now we're talking. Christine a head taller than Jeremy? Awesome.

I will not get too into describing actual real people on here much more than that but in general it was wonderful to see a wide range of character-actor types inhabiting these roles. As someone involved in The Fandom, even though I have frequently expounded upon the mutability of character traits per the text, you do still absorb a general idea of what the characters "look" like; so it was a fun twist to have literally none of the performers fall into those tropes.

I will also say - and this is not a read - that I am no longer going to assume I'm too old to play any of these characters, because I guess that's the magic of community theater lol

On to Thoughts, which I will loosely group by characters:

Rich was fucking awesome. Like I was impressed by the singing skill across the board, but this guy fucking killed it at every turn. I looked at my friend I went with after The Squip Song and we both were like OH OK. Rich also wore mostly KISS T-shirts? Like the shitty glam rock band? But yknow, work. Excellent voice (if casting were a little more 'stereotypical,' he probably would be an excellent Michael). Emotionally, he was on the more explosive side while SQUIPped, melting toward just charmingly cute once in 'real Rich Goranski' mode.

The aforementioned Jake was an interesting take on the character. Definitely leaned more into the kind of douchey side of things, but did at least at one point seem genuinely into Christine (although the actor was very much leaning into the interpretation 'yeah he has multiple interests and he honestly likes them all in the moment but gets bored quickly, and that includes girlfriends'). Is that kind of shitty? Yes. Is that a realistic take on what a rich popular 17 year old might be like? Also yes. Nirvana-fan Jake was not a concept I thought of before but I was down for it (though I discovered later on the cast instagram page that the guy playing Jake said that his version of Jake thinks Nirvana is a clothing brand which, like, galaxy-brain take lol).

THE SQUIP!!!!! Actually cycled through Keanu Reeves costumes, which I loved. Started out in Bill & Ted, then Matrix, then POINT BREAK of all things, before landing on a pretty-impressive-for-the-budget version of the light-up circuitry priest robe thing from the Broadway style. He had the hair and beard pretty close to present-day Keanu too, which made him both line up with the resemblance and seem significantly older than the other characters; voice-wise, this guy was clearly a skilled baritone, which meant his delivery on some of the more rock-style songs was a bit unusual, but not bad. This SQUIP was suave at the right parts but did NOT shy away from being scary: the 'take me inside you' part with Brooke during Upgrade was staged very menacingly with regards to how he was physically moving around/behind Jeremy. The Play was delightfully sinister, leaning HARD into the SQUIP as literally puppeteering everyone: saying their lines and moving his hands like marionnettes throughout, keeping things very creepy and villainous.

On the topic of the play, the fight choreography kicked ass. Mr. Reyes's ALL THE WAY TO BROADWAY rant was delivered while he yanked Jeremy off the ground by his shirtfront and then threw him furiously across the stage, genuinely concerning and upsetting to watch (especially as the SQUIP was miming the same actions and lines behind him, obviously in control of Reyes's body) (I literally said 'oh fuck' out loud when it happened and got a Look from the presumably-grandma in the row ahead lol). The fight choreography during Two Player Game Reprise was also solid: the guy playing Jeremy was FIT and did a lot of impressive acrobatic kicks and such, and the person playing Michael being a lot taller and larger worked well with letting him like bounce off, lift him up for spin kicks, etc.

And in general, I respected how much this production was willing to let certain moments be dark. The Play in general was pretty horror-movie-climax; I also respected that the costuming did indeed look like so-so high school mockups of a modern zombie movie. But the whole number was eerie, SQUIPPED character movements and voices became unnervingly smooth and robotic, and positioning the SQUIP as the puppetmaster in the middle, literally moving the characters around, just sold the whole thing wonderfully. Very appropriately leaning into the horror part of horror-comedy.

Similarly, Do You Wanna Hang? was scary. AS IT SHOULD BE. My friend who came with me compared it favorably to the car scene in the movie 8th Grade, where you're just On Edge the whole time you're watching. The actress playing Chloe did a good job with it, that's an uncomfortable thing to portray but she went for it and it paid off in the moment.

Chloe and Brooke had a fun dynamic: the styles of the costuming/performers did add some interesting dimensions. Chloe was, as usual, pink and perfect and feminine, head-cheerleader vibes; Brooke was short haired and dressed a lot more masculine. Brooke had a very earnest sense of vulnerability to her, and excellent comedic timing during Do You Wanna Ride and The Smartphone Hour, as well as just the minor background-acting moments. They leaned pretty hard into the 'Chloe will take things just because Brooke wanted them, because she likes that Brooke is always a little jealous of her, and thinks that that's friendship' and, like the portrayal of Jake: is that a shitty thing to do? Yes. Is that a realistic thing teenagers might do, especially poisoned by toxic ideas about femininity and power? Also yes.

Which is a good spot to add, the ensemble was small (4) but they were serving it. The band appeared to be octogenarian church volunteers (oh, yeah, this was at a church??? Wesleyan Methodists, so the cool liberal branch of American Christianity) so I will say that with what they had, they were making it work. It would have been served well by a second keyboardist and/or guitarist to do the trumpet parts (it was drums, bass, guitar, and piano). One of the ensemble members, a tall goth-femme person with hot pink hair, played the role of the theremin by doing the melodies in remarkable and ethereal bel canto. And honestly, work.

Jenna Rolan was fun: could belt for the gods, had some pretty-intense Crazy Eyes thing going on that really sold the comedic moments and made her appropriately frightening as the Final Boss in the squipped battle at the end, styled like an early 2000s-lesbian-coded-soft-goth best friend archetype. No notes, 11/10.

The actor playing Mr. Heere/Reyes/Stockboy did a fantastic job of making those three seem separate, and as I mentioned above, really made Mr. Reyes come to life in a dynamic way. Sidenote, this production changed all references to Hobby Lobby to Michaels, which I found both funny and appropriate. Fuck Hobby Lobby, we all hate Hobby Lobby.

Back to characterizations, Christine was sweet and straightforward. Not as quirky or dynamic as Stephanie or a lot of other actresses make her, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Very gentle and smooth voice, she just really likes theater and wants someone to like the real her. They went with ballet-style choreography to introduce her during More Than Survive, which is always a wonderful touch for the way the music swells. There were points where I think a little more creative movement or a wider emotional range might have worked well, but the take on the character was consistent.

I am going to keep that positive thread through the next sections: while I might not have agreed with the interpretation through the text, I do respect going in a starkly different direction to how most productions and fans usually take such things.

I have enormous respect for the performer playing Michael for radically making it their own. The cast bios had pronouns, and Michael's performer was they/she/he, which as a fellow they/she/he who would love to play Michael someday was rad to see. They kept the CREEPS shirt and a hoodie with a lot of patches (albeit a black one with red accents), but that was about it. Michael had light-up cat ear headphones and a huge black fan which he used throughout, alternated between baggy sweatpants or just a floor-length hippy skirt, usually high-heel ankle boots, and some kind of green bathrobe thing for The Pants Song? Characterization, again, respect for making such an iconic character so heavily different. This Michael was not....very emotional. He was usually snippy and sarcastic in a very erudite and matter-of-fact way, at pretty much all points in the show. Not a lot of emotional range going on: this is a Michael who is in some combination of 'doesn't give a shit' and 'not going to let this bother me,' which came off....interesting. The chemistry this created with Jeremy was a starkly different one than we usually see. The original productions - and most since, and the majority of fandom depictions - imagines a Michael and Jeremy who, at their core, love each other a lot. However that manifests of course varies, but you Usually get the impression that (even with a little bit of codependence), these two genuinely love each other and spending time together, which makes moments in the show either heartwarming or devastating to see happen between them.

Not these versions of the characters.

Which didn't make it bad, but it did shake things up. This Michael and Jeremy didn't give deep-love-friendship so much as they gave 'we sat next to each other in 1st grade and don't have other friends. so. I guess we're best friends, huh.'

Which is an INTERESTING and somewhat bleaker, but not unrealistic, take on them. That, sadly, summarizes a lot of friendships, especially at that age and with the sort of vacuum of suburbia on your social sphere (nevermind how a lot of society discourages boys from emotional connection with their friends; if anything, the fact that this Michael was definitely queer might suggest that Jeremy even pulled back emotionally because he didn't want to seem gay or give this Michael the wrong idea). It definitely sells Jeremy feeling lonely, even with his best friend hanging around. Two-Player Game came across a LOT better than I was prepared for - I have waxed about how it's a hard number to pull off - not in spite of, but almost because of this. Like, sure, they've played through this game a million times before, they know every beat, they love it like they love each other, right? even though they seem.....kind of bored. Or at least like they're waiting for something else to happen. College? Girlfriend? Different friends? Just wait two years. Whatever.

To get critical, I will say that this dynamic did not really help Michael in the Bathroom. The fight beforehand and the song itself did.....not really lend themselves to a not-very-emotional friendship between them. The singing was perfect, so not faulting that: it's THE big song of the show, so that's a lot of pressure and the performer had a splendid voice, but the snarky-not-caring-that-much attitude didn't quite do it for me - Michael didn't seem sad or upset so much as pissed off, but still fully keeping it together (despite the lyrics saying otherwise). Tonally, the 'wish I'd offed myself instead' just sounded sarcastic ("wow, SORRY I CARED AT ALL, could've just killed myself for all you seem to care" kind of vibes) THAT SAID, it was consistent with the rest of the characterization, so I admire it as a very specific acting choice. There were also characters on stage - presumably outside the bathroom door, listening in - that turned a good portion of MITB into a comedic number; as I have said before, not my personal take on how that should go, but the audience was laughing along with it! So that's the wonderful mutability of theater.

Strangely enough, this actually made Michael and Jeremy's relationship at the end of the story work out just fine? The SQUIP experience kind of sparked a "wow we really do care about each other, huh" realization from both of them. Again, mad respect for taking such a different approach to such a well-worn character relationship.

So, overall, I am very happy I got to see this. Love to support live theater, love to be surprised by a story that I thought I knew pretty well inside and out, came away with plenty to think and talk about. If you can, go support your local community theater!