#the current draft has even messier dynamics because ariel and cris were half dating when it all goes to shit

[katabay]

the guys from this story, which now has a story tag! (all the world's a stage but this is a komik)

this is technically a deleted scene. when I first wrote some of this story, I wanted to get right to the middle part when the theater was performing julius caesar, so I created a very bare bones plot, just the barest of essentials, leading up to it so that I would have some narrative foundations to mess around in. usually what ends up happening is the further I get into writing something, a better version (or more entertaining) of the opening act starts falling into place and I'll go back and re write it in the next draft

the most current version is a lot more fun (for me) and has a lot more bite since the drama unfolds in the scenes instead of being revealed in the dialogue so I can jump forward to the scenes I actually want to do, but there is something about this coffee date where two friends get together to complain about stuff that holds a special place in my heart

anyway, the reason Cris is acting like a dick is because he wants to fuck Ariel and is trying to get his attention by provoking him (like....trying to escalate the tension and force a scene, basically), but he's doing it in the worst way possible and it backfires because Ariel and Jay start hooking up

this whole arc takes place during the community theater production of Hamlet. with Cris playing Hamlet. Lenny was playing Ophelia until she broke her leg playing basketball, so Ariel stepped into the role.

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