#the prologue is just setting the stage tho

[lizzypuppet1711]

things about toronto’s production of the great comet at crow’s theatre/musical stage co that i need everyone to know about because i am obsessed with this show.

as of writing i have seen this show five times.

very long under the cut:

full cast listed here. at time of writing, donna garner replaces louise pitre as marya, tyler pearse replaces lawrence libor as dolokhov, and ben carlson replaces marcus nance as andrey/bolkonsky. currently i’ve seen the og cast four times and the replacements once.

the stage is set up with seats on three out of four sides, with front rows at tables, back of house left and right sides at barstools, and a small balcony with some seats on house right. there are balconies on either side, with a revolving platform in the middle of the stage (revolving by being pushed by cast members or stagehands). seats around 200 people or so.

the actors are EVERYWHERE. it is so incredibly immersive

the music is very punchy

during prologue, everyone is taking shots as they’re introduced, except dolokhov, who drinks straight from the bottle and sprays it into the air

i’m a dolokhov girlie through and through and once he nodded hello at me during the prologue and i legit swooned

mary is walking around holding a program showing off the family tree, actors will point to them on tables etc

once anatole pointed at his face on it, pointed to himself, all in a very flirty manner

he winked at me during prologue once and i’m still thinking about it

evan buliung is acting his ass off as pierre

he is definitely is more gruff and acting focused (think dave malloy over josh groban)

at “hours at my screen”, pierre takes an audience member’s phone (from one of the tables… or once out of someone’s hands LMAO) and mimes tapping, scrolling through it etc

two stagehands move things on and offstage (such as the sofa, church props etc) and they are also in little costumes. it’s very adorable

dolokhov’s little soldier walk thing??? during moscow????? i’m sure there’s a reason for it bc both of them do it but i have no clue why it’s there???? love it tho

heeyun park as mary is also acting her damn heart out

private and intimate life has a faster tempo and is SUCH a banger as a result

an audience member gets briefly pulled up on the platform to be the cheap french thing, he typically kisses up their arm, hugs them, and sometimes sits on their lap a bit

pierre is playing the tambourine in the background during natasha and bolkonskys and it is honestly kind of funny

hailey gillis plays natasha very emotional and headstrong. her no one else has a sense of urgency, desperation, and deep longing

the platform is spinning and people are walking around and she is singing like an angel…

basically i want to be hailey gillis when i grow up

actors are rotating the platform during no one else and it ends with andrey standing behind her and pierre standing in front of her. no one talk to me i’m losing it

as the run has continued, dolokhov’s adlibs during his intro in the opera have increased drastically

lawrence libor as dolokhov had such an air and presence (rizz?) about himself i cannot DESCRIBE. the comphet he gave me… i miss him v much. he was also very much giving toronto mans. and he made SO MUCH eye contact. he loves to look at you. i miss him. i need him. who said that

tumblr theatre girlies you would go insane over lawrence libor. if this show had ANY b roll footage i know i would be seeing edits all over the place

i am president of the lawrence libor fan club and everyone should join me

tyler pearse as dolokhov has heavy frat boy energy. he is also gayer, and somehow, sluttier. gives short king energy despite only being an inch shorter than lawrence (apparently)??? don’t ask bc i don’t know either he just does. anyway thank u tyler pearse for making dolokhov bisexual for real

either way dolokhov is doing SO MUCH in this production. he is wild he is a whirling dervish he is arrogant he is a bastard he is everything to me

“YEAH BABEY LETS GOOOOOOO” -lawrence libor as dolokhov, upon his entrance

in one performance he would go YEAH BABEY three separate times in act 1. yeahh

flirting with a girl in the balcony, dabbing up a guy in the balcony, generally being hilarious

and tyler pearse leaning over the balcony, rose in his mouth, wolf howling… i can’t.

basically i can’t with this production’s dolokhov. i’m obsessed

anatole’s entrance… he’s a whore. all i can say

rita dottor (ensemble) does the high soprano bravooooooo and she always sounds so fantastic. live laugh love rita dottor

george krissa, who plays anatole, is probably the most attractive man in ontario. like if you googled hot guy he would be the first result.

“where did they find this anatole. was he made in a lab or something. he was perfect” — my friend after seeing it

tumblr theatre girlies you would also be obsessed with george krissa. like jeremy jordan andrew rannells level obsessed. please love these toronto actors with me

i’d let him ruin my life ANY DAY. it is a fact that lesbians love george krissa. i hope he knows

the way he plays it… my friend described it like “lucas steele is like an alien david bowie, and george krissa is a bridgerton man. just a very charismatic, but normal, guy”

while i would say that lucas steele’s anatole believes he is truly in love with natasha, i would not say the same for george krissa’s. some of the manipulation happening here during the opera is. quite clear

when he is entering the box natasha struggles to open her fan, fans herself frantically, under the arms etc. then when he enters immediately shifts to fanning in a cool and collected manner. hailey gillis master of comedy

“we are speaking of most ordinary things” is especially like. this is a male manipulator if i’ve ever seen one

natasha lost was added back in!! fantastic obviously

anatole checking his hair in the mirror before waking pierre up. fucker

“look dolokhov’s coming around… and we’re off to the CLEURB”

brendan wall (ensemble) walking around during the club scene with a glowstick necklace on is peak comedy to me

i’ve said it but tyler’s dolokhov is an absolute slut at this scene. and for what AND FOR WHAT!!!!

also fun tidbit but all the glasses (other than shots) and any clear bottles have real liquid in them. i am very concerned something will spill one day

when dolokhov gets right up in the audience’s face during “known only to his intimates” i LOVE it idk

during the duel, marya and rita steal off to house left directly beside the barstools and chatter about how bad of an idea this is, they’re so drunk, etc

special shout out to divine’s “he will kill you STOOPID HUSBAND” so good

dolokhov’s adlibs during the duel… i need him. sorry

dolokhov gets shot in the side rather than his shoulder, and unceremoniously rolls off the platform as it’s moving. looks painful

hélène screams when dolokhov is shot but not pierre. so much to think about here

a life changing dust and ashes from evan. i can’t describe anything more just that he’s incredible. i’ve learned so much about acting just by watching him a few times

natasha’s face at “am i guilty…” breaks my heart she is so tormented

we are canadians we are going to pronounce our french correctly! no more charmantay

hélène has started adding some very fun runs into charming as the run has gone on. divine brown marry me

anatole is shirtless during charming. btw.

again i know he’s gay and i’m gay but.

the entirety of this rendition of the ball has been stuck in my head since december

his “don’t lower your eyes i love you” that whole section is delicious i want to eat his voice

plus “BEWITCHING AND I LOVE YOUUU” UGHHH such an ear worm but only when it’s their voices

the choreo going on here is very nice btw

i love the way he says natalie at this part idk. it’s not overly enunciated and the vowel is just right <— vocal nerd

the kiss feels like it lasts forever

music gets very very loud at the end and you can feel it in your skin

also fun fact the house music before and after the show is orchestral but during intermission it’s electronic. bc. anatole. gah details

when marcus was still in the cast you could really hear his voice during letters and it sounded sooooo.

dolokhov’s stupid little thumbs up to indicate he will be ok. pleaseee. i laughed i did

generally lawrence would grab at the place he was shot at a lot; while pushing the revolve etc. loved that detail. (tyler does too but less so)

sonya and natasha just sounds so great. like they just always sound fantastic i love that song

sonya alone. yes i am weeping. yes camille eanga-selenge is everything i want to be and more. she’s phenomenal

dolokhov sitting in a big fuckin chair at the beginning of preparations just absolutely clearly regretting every decision he’s made to facilitate this. is great.

i know i keep talking abt lawrence libor but the image of him at this part is just. really great. to me. sorry

very campy and exaggerated scowling and grimacing from anatole

dolokhov is so sick of anatole’s shit

“here feel how it beats” is NOT entertained he pushes him back immediately

lawrence dolokhov’s “dawdling” business was him tuning his guitar i miss musician dolokhov sooooo much gah

balaga truly does not sing any of his lines. he is basically yelling the entire time. i don’t know how he does it. it’s chaotic and hilarious and so fun

sonya and mary hand out the egg shakers on house right and left respectfully

near the end of balaga, four audience members are brought up to dance with the cast! (i got to dance with mary once!)

dolokhov writhing on the floor during anatole’s long held note thank u

during the goodbye section, anatole comes around to said audience members and interacts with them; dancing with them, booping them on the nose etc, and at “kiss me one last time”, invites a lucky audience member to kiss his cheek. (this once, was me. yup. still processing it.)

once he accidentally knocked someone’s egg shaker from their hand, dolokhov picked it up, laughed, gave it a shake, and handed it back, and yes i’m still thinking about it

when they sit down, balaga and dolokhov will sit on the house right stairs, though once there was an empty seat nearby so dolokhov wedged his way in between two people, guitar and all. so fucking good

anatole will squeeze himself between two audience members on house left, put an arm around each, and look around at everyone sitting in that area, out into the audience, etc. if one is going to make eye contact with him, it is now

once he threw his head back to look at the people behind him, and someone, at the speed of light, took their phone out and snapped a picture of his upside down head. i scream laughed

lawrence’s BETRAYED BETRAYEDDDD was sooooo good. so so so good

hailey gillis is an absolute powerhouse during in my house

usually when “natasha’s whole body shook” she falls to the ground silently but last time i went she YELLED and i gasped so loud

at “i have refused him” louise would go NO in shock and i FREAK OUT ABOUT IT.

and i loved her “what then? would that be alright???”

“NATASHA CRIED OUT! GO AWAY! GO AWAY YOU ALL HATE AND DESPISE ME” sounds SO FUCKING GOOD!!! I LOVE YOU HAILEY GILLIS

when the call to pierre music starts i always get goosebumps

the fight choreo when pierre grabs anatole by the collar is very good

if we’re comparing to broadway, it feels less like anatole’s life is in danger here but like i’m not upset about it

at this point anatole does not seem sad or upset to me more just. pissed off that it didn’t go his way. like annoyed

as anatole leaves during pierre and anatole the staging has him stepping around/over natasha as she is choking from the arsenic and it is such a. show of his shallowness

his petersburg note is fantastic obviously. live laugh love george krissa

marcus nance (andrey) has such a deep and beautiful legit singing voice. it’s sooo gorgeous. any word that raises against marcus nance will fall.

I MISS HIMMMM ok sorry.

i am more sympathetic to ben carlson’s andrey, however. marcus was Incredibly stoic ben has a bit more emotion to him i think

i could swear sometimes hailey is actually crying during pierre and natasha

her “pytor kirillovich” sounds so tiny and fragile ugh my heart breaks

and his “…pierre” is so assuring AUGHH

it’s such a beautiful scene obviously. i love the two of them so damn much i hope only good things happen to them forever

“it was clear and cold” also. chills EVERY TIME

“having traced its parabola” and “like an arrow piercing the earth” hit me so hard i cannot explain

genuinely evan buliung gives the most effective inspiring fantastic mind blowing performance i maybe have ever seen on stage. he is such an incredible actor and he inspires me beyond belief

the end when the lights get really really bright and then fade out. god. so simple and so fucking beautiful

now this post is very long. thank u for reading it all if you did! (will update after seeing it more times if there’s things to say!!)

if you’re anywhere near toronto i BEG of you to go see it!! it’s closing march 24th :(( so if you get the chance i deeply implore you. beg borrow or steal a ticket just get there! best comet production ever in my biased opinion :)

[hausofmingi]

his good girl

pairing: song mingi x stripper reader

tags: stripper au, smut, series

warnings: stripper things (mentions of pole dancing, lap dances, getting tipped), alcohol, implied past sex mentioned, no actual smut (yet)

wc: 760

an: okay so this is my first time writing a series, so lmk if this au strikes your fancy. I am really inspired by movies like hustlers or magic mike for the vibes, but also kind of thinking of y/n as a harley quinn type, minus the crazy. think more the devotion and the obedience part. anyways im really excited for where this will go, because i think its going to be kind of long. Here is the prologue to start tho!!

minors dni!!! 18+ only plz!!!

prologue:

At 20 years old, you decided to move to Korea on your own. You tried college but it just didn’t seem like the place for you. Being a dance major at a state college was really hard and the politics never seemed to work in your favor. This decision didn’t come out of nowhere though, you had been a fan of kpop since you were 14 and had always admired the dancing and the hard work of the idols. But you knew that it wasn’t being an idol that you wanted, to be a backup dancer was the dream. And it felt within your reach, you had a lot of hip hop training under your belt and loved learning all of the dances. 

But it wasn’t that easy. Maybe moving to Korea without a job lined up wasn’t your best move. And doing it alone, also not awesome. You understand now why your mom cut you off financially, because it really brought your life into a completely different trajectory. Who knows if it was because you were American or you weren’t skinny enough or weren’t actually good enough, but you never made it past the first round of eliminations at auditions. You had picked up the language though, so that’s one good part? But the failures and lack of a job brought you to a place of desperation, it brought you to an illegal strip club in Gangnam, catering mostly to the rich. A friend of a friend whose couch you were sleeping on recommended you audition for the place. Yet another audition didn’t seem like something you wanted to do, but the friend said the owner was nice, didn’t try to hit on his dancers, and would hire you if you had any dance experience and an ass. So you went for it.

And that's where you are now, 4 years later, on the pole. And it really isn’t that bad. You were able to get your own place with that friend, Lina, and although its shitty, its yours. You’ve made a name for yourself at the club, being the only American, and the only one with a fat ass a great rack. Tips are amazing, and the sex is even better. The amount of idols cocks that you’ve sat on is too many to count, not to mention the female idols that you’ve fucked. But no one has ever made you feel the way he does. 

Song Mingi. Your most valued customer, and the one who you crave the most. He is also the only one who has yet to give it up to you. He never requests a private room, yet he always comes alone. But every Thursday night, there he is, at the table farthest to the left in the back. It’s like you can sense him when he walks in. Always in a full suit or business casual, as if he came from a meeting rather than a late night dance practice. All he does is lock eyes with you onstage and nod. He knows you will obey. The moment your stage set is over, you are strutting over to his table and giving him the slowest lap dance you can possibly give. He will never touch you unless you guide his hands to you, and then his hands stay on where your hips meet your thighs the rest of the time. When you are done, he tucks $500 into the front of your thigh high stocking or garter. But its the goodbye that makes you crave his touch and acceptance and dominance. Before you get up off his lap, he softly grabs the back of your head and tilts it back. You already know to open your mouth and stick your tongue out. Taking the last sip of his drink, an old fashioned, he tips it into your mouth and tells you to “Drink up, my good girl.” And every time you do. He always swipes his thumb across your bottom lip when you’re done, and then sucks the little bit that was left there into his own mouth. And then, he leaves.

Every Thursday without fail since he first came in about 6 months ago. And every Thursday you leave a wet spot on his lap even though he barely touches you. And every Thursday you anticipate his arrival, putting on your best little panties or your prettiest bra, doing your hair into a little bow in the back, knowing that he probably loves that. 

But this Thursday was different. Because this Thursday, he didn’t come.

[theycall-vn]

wrote more prologue, i'm nearly done with it!! aaaaaa just gotta write the last scene then revise it all and it's ready ;w; i can move on to chapter 1 so soon

set up notifications for affection/romance levels advancing stages. fitting for v day uwu

sketched more of bb, didn't avoid clothes this time. i think i've got their usual attire all done now. like the design, not the work lmao

including variations. not done pose variations yet tho

i think i've decided on hair too but i'm so tempted to try and like... figure out a way to make what hair style you get random when you start the game cause it sounds fun and i can keep all three of my fave hair styles. but idk how much effort that would be to put in lol

gonna finish sketching out their boots and maybe even start lining tonight. idk it's like 7:30ish rn

i gotta finish sketching their dick and expressions too but i might put that off til tomorrow. i've been sketching stuff all day, i wanna line something im so bored 😭😭

will also try to write last scene of prologue in bed tonight

[clanoffelidae]

Beast of Gévaudan

Prologue: You Are Not Alone

???

“Tell me, little bird, what hunts in these woods? Wolves?”

“Always.”

“Men with their guns?”

“Of course.”

“Tell me, little bird, what hunts in these woods and yet leaves behind nothing?”

”Monsters.”

Jeanne Boulet was a very diligent young woman. The fourteen-year-old shepherdess guided her flock with a keen eye, ensuring that not a lamb nor ewe went off the path as they headed to the pasture. She tapped a wandering lamb on its hindquarters with her crook, herding it back to the safety of the flock. It bleated as it scampered off to its mother.

It was a warm day in June, the last day before the month turned to July. The hills of the Vivarais were lush and green, the ground sodden with moisture and sticky underfoot. The air was humid as well, creating a stifling weight in the summer heat. Thankfully, the oppressive feeling grew lighter the higher she climbed, the altitude of the hills cooling things off.

Jeanne gently nudged her flock over a rocky outcropping, the sheep bleating in protest at the uneven terrain. She herself nearly fell victim to the treacherous slopes, stumbling as she lost her footing on loose stones, but in time they were all safe on the other side.

She knew these hills like the back of her hand. She had come many times both alone and with her mother. She knew every twisting stream good for water and every place for safe grazing, every stony field that shifted underfoot and every jagged cliff that boded a terrible fall. Despite this, it was with no small measure of relief that she at last led the flock to their pasture for the day. The young teen took a seat on a nearby stone to take some weight off her aching feet as the sheep spread out into the fields to graze with wild abandon. The trek was no easier on them, and at least she had the option of eating as she walked.

After she felt more rested, she eventually got up to patrol the pasture, gently but firmly nudging any straying members of her flock back into the fold with her crook. The day was calm and restful, the rising sun burning away the humidity that lingered despite the altitude, leaving the area pleasantly warm but without its previous weight. Jeanne took a deep breath as she gnawed on a morsel of rye bread, swallowing contentedly as she kept her watch.

One of the lambs stumbled up to her, bleating entreatingly for a piece of her food. She ushered it back to its mother, tapping it firmly on the rear when it kept up its attempts. A few more taps and it conceded defeat, scurrying back to the others. She almost choked on a laugh as the little thing stumbled in its haste, righting itself before crashing into its mothers flank. Troublesome little things. She took another bite. Troublesome, but cute.

She whiled away the day in the company of her flock. It was an isolating experience, to be so far from help, so far from the presence of other people, to be the only one for miles, but it was not altogether an unpleasant one. On days like today, it could even be called peaceful.

Such a shame, then, that she was not alone.

Neither Jeanne nor the flock noticed the presence creeping up behind her. Or rather, the flock noticed, but upon seeing it to only be a man, cared little. After all, he was hardly as fearsome as a wolf, and to a sheep, a wolf was the only danger that mattered.

To Jeanne, whose startled and frightened cry was muffled by the hand that clapped over her mouth, there were things far more dangerous than wolves that lurked in the shadows.

A piercing scream suddenly echoed throughout the hills of the Vivarais before it was cruelly silenced.

~~~

It was Jeanne’s mother who came to fetch the flock when her daughter failed to return. The sheep looked up at her approach, but went back to their meals when they saw who it was. She called out into the field, searching desperately for her lost child.

“Jeanne!”

There was no reply. She hiked up her skirts as she ran around the edge of the pasture, bravely calling into the woods in the hope of a response. Her voice cracked from the strain of the calls.

“Jeanne!”

Her mother stopped short, seeing an abandoned pack laying on the ground. It was next to a splatter of blood on the grass, the humidity of the summer air keeping it wet. A lonely shepherd’s crook lay only a few feet away.

“Jeanne…?”

The flock continued to graze.

[traumxrei-archive]

ohhhhhh i just got a fic idea- it involves the twst boys attending a summer festival at rsa and yuu being auctioned off at a charity event-

humor me and imagine: che'nya whisking yuu away from where they were walking around with the rest bc they're "one person short for the event, and you'll be the purrfect candidate-" yuu's like, what- bc they literally got kidnapped, isn't this illegal ?? and they're brought over to the venue only to meet neige leblanche himself backstage, who waved, recognizing them from vdc.

after yuu pesters them enough, they learn that the event was a donation raffle. people would buy raffle tickets and put them into a box. the person who's name is drawn wins a prize. the prize being "spend a whole day at the summer festival" ticket for select people who have generously volunteered their time. aka they win a date.

meaning they intended to auction off yuu— a date with yuu to be exact— to the entirety of the people attending the rsa summer festival. including all the nrc students who came. well, fuck.

yuu: absolutely not-

neige, clasping their hands: but think about the poor people~

yuu: i AM the poor people. please, let me go bac-

rsa student a: how about we pay you...?

rsa student b: yeah, great idea ! we'll compensate you for your time with money

che'nya: nyehehe~ we have some leftover budget~ i'm sure those little friends of yours won't be able to keep their paws off you~

yuu: ...........well in that case-

so. yuu ends up agreeing. (hey, the leftover budget was a whopping 100k thaumarks, they'd be all set for months with that kind of money-) and now they're being all made up for the stage.

meanwhile che'nya approaches the nrc group, who was frantically running around for the missing yuu. he knows he's about to cause a big ruckus amongst them and he looked forward to the chaos.

afterall, there can only be one raffle winner. how can all these egotistical and prideful students choose one name to submit the raffles under? he was sure that they'd fight tooth-and-nail to win that date with yuu.

chenya: they'll be hiss-terical, nyehehe~ let the show begin~!

author's note: welcome to the brainrot everyone. so abt the actual fic: i was thinking about writing a prologue, which would detail the stuff said above in more detail + give the setting for the rest of it and tHEN comes the fun part: writing 23 dates with all our boys as if they won the raffle. (i'm including grim n ortho, but theirs would obviously be platonic since they're my babies <33)

i think i'll write this after i finish with the milestone event drabbles, so even tho it's set in the summer i might release it later in the year. i've already got some dates planned out in my brain, so i hope you're as excited for this as i am hehe :DD

also pls don't steal this idea n write it before i can T^T i'll be absolutely devestated if you do...but feel free to make ideas abt it ! i'm open to comments or asks to chat abt possibilites :D

(oh also, i might make a taglist if enough people wanna be tagged when the fic gets released. so do comment or shoot an ask if you'd like me to do that)

[alkhale]

ALK !!! KAPFM CHP 9 BLEW MY MIND. SHSHSHSHHS SORRY THIS WILL BE LONG BC !!! UUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!

When okkotsu said “Even if you cannot be separate, you have to imagine it so.” , “In this manner, you can easily remember…That you are still two.”

I felt like that sentence felt familiar before i realized that you titled chp 4 by “i want my life in two” AND somehow the cycle of that two different lives are oddly similar ?? Like how mirai found someone that she likes (chi & okkotsu) ; that someone was taken away (the kamo clan & the villagers) ; she went on a rampage (trashing around the small shed & the village massacre)

chp 4 ends with = (A finger stuck itself into the series of tapes, starting to wind it back.) and as the summary for chp 7 goes : The stories that unfolded each time, however, as of late, did tend to be quite a bit different. Perhaps because of one character that did not quite belong with the rest. (1) Gojou Satoru.

YOU YOU YOU MIND BLOWER AHHHHHHH. I love love how you do this thing with naming the chapters that follows the theme of the story u wrote, it may seem like a minor detail but i rlly rlly love it omfg like

atcit : the mc’s rule of threes

memos : hoku as a protagonist has a goal to paint the best story and if u combine the title of the current chapters together and it can already form a prologue of a story which coincides that hoku just joined the strawhats and is painting for the strawhats’ journey

kapfm : mirai is essentially stuck in a loop/ limbo of a monotonous life (even tho it involves more than plenty of adrenaline for sorcerers & non sorcerers) and theyre not even bothered to think much of it unless its rly rly important for the future/ whatever that is in scope in their curse technique and someone new in their latest lifetime who seems like he wont ever fit in her standard script of life. and not only that but, some chapters may seemed like it mirrored the other but its not !!! like one of those games of finding the abnomalies in 2 similar pictures and its bc of that one ridiculous op guy 😭

hmmmmmm how should i put it, ik that its 2 entirely different series and themes but mirai and hoku is actually a good foil for each other SHJSJSJS dunno if anyone else noticed and may sent sth about them both in an ask

Like, mirai’s ability to see the future and is convinced that it is set and even if it changed it wont necessarily be a good thing for everyone involved; and it wont be an exeption to the strongest sorceror in the new era vs hoku’s plan to draw the best story in a world and the boy who she is convinced could overcome his predecessor (i.e gold roger) but that conviction itself it sth that has been set from the very beginning bc luffy is the protagonist and she thought of herself as a bystander and wont make sth as small as ripple

i probably didnt explain any of my thought even tho i just wrote a paragraph HSHSHSJSH IM SORRY BUT TLDR-ing MY THOUGHTS ABT THEM THIS WAY = once u open a book, the stage and ending has been set for the characters, theyre essentially “doomed” to that ending; no matter how much you flip the coin it will always land on tails/ heads and it will always be one of them and never be other but for the one who flip the coin, they may ruled out themselves out of the possibility that they’re (one of) the anomaly and could change sth around them

I just, love all ur stories & ur ocs, and i love u too🥹

anon, i just want you to know that you've absolutely made my night, like you have literally no idea

work and everything else have all melted away after reading this and the spews of thoughts/theories/connections, it always makes me so, SO HAPPY when you guys do stuff like this because i put those lil things for my own love and its just ;-; really, really rewarding to know you all enjoy them too

THANK YOU FOR NOTICING ALL THE LITTLE CONNECTING THREADS, i also love naming chapters with a little extra thought and trying to follow the chosen lyrics for that moment in KAPFM's case

sometimes they hint stuff ;)

GOJOU BEING THE ABNORMALITY IN TWO PICS IM CRYING, yes, because he is exactly that and if only mirai could see the headache he will become :')

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING AND PLEASE LOOK FORWARD TO MORE

[bunnys-beetlejuice-blog]

i thought it would be fun to talk about the best bits of my trip (and specifically the musical) so!!!

the best part was obviously finally getting to meet my stunning nerd girlfriend irl and spend a week sight seeing with her We went two times, on the 27th and saw Will, and on the 1st and saw Alex! couple thoughts/stuff i noticed

Will defo moves less like a creature than Alex does, he's doing his own thing which I can appreciate, but i wanted to see him crawl around the stage like a little freak and i was denied that.

HOWEVER Will had really solid delivery on his jokes and a lot of energy.

Will popping up to scare Skye at the beginning of that beautiful sound actually made people in the front row JUMP LMAO

For some reason they never changed his wig?? His shirt and tie changed in the purple and red scenes, and even his beard changed color, but they never swapped out his wig, even for the wedding scene.

Since his hair was green throughout he changed the line "why is your hair purple" to "why is your beard purple?"

When the set is changing to the attic set at the beginning of fright of their lives, he came in riding the set piece like it was a surfboard, pretending to balance on it and everything, and it was such a charming fun moment that it really stuck with me!

LESLIE fucking KILLED IT that night by the way. she was amazing, her line delivery was SO SOLID even tho they were jokes I'd already heard.

ALEX WAS.... YOU GUYS.. HE WAS SO GOOD

I was worried that since he'd had covid maybe he'd have to bow out or take it easy but jesus christ the man is a powerhouse

his delivery was great, his physicality when he moved was so fun and weird, and if I'd been braver i would have filmed the whole thing to keep cause he was just amazing

he did get to change wigs so again idk what was up with the wigs on Will's night

he never fumbled a move or a line, props that Will had issues with he did perfectly

favorite bit of improv- when lydia is going up the stairs to get the maitlands to open the book, he called out, "WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DOOOOoooooooooo..." making his voice get softer so he sounded like he was falling. idk it just really hit it was so funny

tragically Leslie was out that night and the gal who played Delia was just.. she was so bad, you guys. not to shit talk, I'm not a performer, but I think Leslie's Delia is such a tough act to follow.. her sense of timing really wasn't as strong and jokes that made me laugh a few nights before just fell flat.

Elizabeth's renditions of the Invisible prologue and Home made me cry both times, she was amazing she was killer she had a great rapport with both Alex and Will and it was a delight seeing her on stage, FINALLY!

ZONYA IS SUCH A FUN ADDITION TO THE CAST i love the way she plays Maxine as like. unwell and almost kind of terrified??? when maxie makes that crack about marrying Lydia, Zonya's response of "he will DO IT" and the wide eyed horrified look she gives Delia had me rolling, someone help that woman jesus christ

so anyways that's about it! i went both times wearing my lydia dress so if you happened to see a fat girl with black n white hair dressed as lydia that was me, hiiiii <33

[youmyjhope]

https://youtu.be/r47JB0qO8yk it's from here!🐕 no idea whose dog is that tho, just appeared in the set hahah

OH MY GODD THANK YOU IT'S SO ADORABLE!!!!🥺 awww

BUt yeh i conducted my research and heres the dog's insta page lol his name is Kyngsoon 🥺

https://instagram.com/shibashiba_nu?utm_medium=copy_link

He is the dog of supreme boi's "friend" who i thought was docskim at first but it is Nu Kim or b1monster or Kim Sung Hyun who is a visual arts designer and created the videography for i need u, hyyh on stage prologue, and run and he also was friends with iron. My little brain is about to explode...😯 but it's so interesting. Hm.

[twokinkybeans]

The Arachnoids: ROCK BAND AU [Starker] - Chapter 2: ROADIE RUSH

READ “CHAPTER 2 ROADIE RUSH” ON AO3

Other Chapters: Prologue Chapter 1: Soundcheck Setback (To Be Continued)

Taglist: @crystallinecrimsonmoth​ & @staticwhispersinthedark​

Notes: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!! <3 - Kim

Find the fic’s masterpost here!

-

Chapter 2: Roadie Rush

Peter sips from his hot cocoa and sighs happily. It’s so good. With sweet, maple-syrup-covered whipped cream on top of the warm and tasty liquid. He knows he might get a bad case of sugar-rush after this, but god, it tastes too good. He’s glad that there’d been enough time to perform their own soundcheck after all. When The Avengers were done, Tony had disappeared as suddenly as he’d arrived. It still gnaws at Peter. Something… Something about all of it doesn’t seem right. It’s off-ish. As if some of the pieces don’t quite fit the bigger picture. Yet. Of course, even if something is wrong, it doesn’t give the rock star an excuse to be such a pain in the ass to everyone around him.

“I know...” MJ starts and her brows furrow together worriedly, “-that I don’t say this often. But jeez, I’m such a nervous wreck right now.” “Not just you,” Ned adds with a sigh. “My hands are sweating so badly I might lose my sticks one minute into the show.” He chuckles to himself. “Imagine - one of ‘em catapulting right at Stark’s face.” “Ha! Will do him good,” MJ says with a grin. She sits upright and shakes her head. “The man’s an ass. But I won’t let him sour my mood.” “Exactly,” Ned agrees. “Everyone else seems nice. Peter, don’t you think Harley’s nice?”

Peter blushes a bright red and he instantly shakes his head. Of course, he hadn’t missed Harley’s charming smile. Or his nice, lean body. Or- “Just ‘cause I’m gay doesn’t mean I want to date just any dude I meet.” “But, Harley’s nice tho. You know I don’t tend to like folks easily, but Harley sure hits the right vibe.” “Ugh,” Peter groans, but he can’t help the smile on his lips. “Alright, alright, he seems okay enough.” “Just okay?” MJ exclaims and lets herself drop on the couch. She cranes her neck so she can look at him again. “Just you wait- Peter Parker. Just you wait.”

Peter cocks an eyebrow, but doesn’t comment on it. Instead, he sips on his drink again, enjoying the chocolate taste staining on his tongue. Sure thing, Harley does seem nice. Peter has to admit he’d been too preoccupied with Tony Stark to actually notice the roadie. Actually notice him.

And let’s be real, it’s not like Peter will ever see him again after this.

-

An hour later, they’re all getting ready for the show. They’re squeezed together in the little trailer bathroom- Peter smudges the black eyeliner under his eyes, while Ned brushes his teeth and MJ applies silver beads onto her cheekbones. Slowly, she’s turning into Venus; her stage persona. A small reference to the planet where actual arachnoids are found.  “Pete- Can you draw the spider web on my face?” Ned asks and hands him the small bottle of liquid eyeliner. Peter nods and mumbles a quick ‘sorry’ as he switches places with MJ. He grabs the bottle. “Turn your head,” he instructs and Ned obliges. Peter sticks his tongue out when he concentrates on drawing the lines. First, a few straight lines that cross, then the small bendy lines to make it look like an actual web. When he’s finished, he gives the eyeliner back to Ned and grins. “Go ahead. It’s my tu-”

There’s a soft knock on the trailer door and Peter frowns. “I’ll get it!” MJ rushes and struggles her way out of the bathroom. “-Oh, hey! Harley. Come in!” Peter doesn’t miss the smug expression on Ned’s face. “Nice.” Ned mouths and Peter groans exasperated.  “Nope. Nope. Ned! It’s not happening!” Peter shakes his head at the small eyebrow wiggle his friend sends him.

“Hey boys!” Harley peeks into the bathroom from behind the corner and he smiles broadly. “You ready for the show?” “Almost,” MJ laughs. “The boys always take their time transforming into lil’ spiders.” “It looks great,” Harley says with a wink, and Peter - thanks to all the comments from his bandmates - blushes. “But,” the roadie continues, “-Tony requested extra time to change the stage settings in between sets. The Avengers have to end at midnight, so we have to bring your set forward. Do you think you can be backstage in five?” 

Peter frowns. Again, Tony Stark is the center of the conversation and he doesn’t like it. He nods at Harley, though. “Yeah, we’re nearly done here.”  “Good. I’m sorry for not informing you earlier but we just came to this decision like, a minute ago.” “It’s alright.” MJ grabs her silver strapped heels. “Isn’t it, uhm, a runner’s job to, well, run everything? You’re kinda doing everything today?” She asks curiously. Peter hadn’t even noticed and he looks at Harley. The boy shrugs. “Usually, yeah. But no one wants to work for the Big Boss anymore. So I’m an upgraded allround roadie I guess- doing all the tasks I’m not supposed to do,” he jokes. Peter can tell Harley feels bitter about it, so he decides not to dig deeper.

“We’ll be there,” Peter smiles. “And if we can help you after we play our set, please let us know.” “That’s very kind of you, thanks, dude. I think I got it, but I’ll keep it in mind.” Harley cocks his head and gives Peter a playful bump against his shoulder. “See ya in five, then!” And with that, Harley’s gone again.

Peter can’t quite describe what he’s feeling right now. Tonight’s a huge night for them. The biggest show they’ve ever played, by far. Peter doesn’t feel as excited anymore, though. He hates it. He should be worried about slippery hands, or a string breaking, or stumbling over his feet… Not about how the blond roadie will manage his job tonight. 

-

It isn’t until Peter grabs his midnight blue guitar and tightens the strap, that he realizes Ned never got to draw the spider web on his face. Ah well, no one will notice. He hopes. He stares at Harley, the boy running around and hastily making sure that everything works properly. Not even a second later, Harley runs towards them and bounces on the balls of his feet with excitement. “We’re ready, everything’s set up! Once you’re good to go on, the stage is yours.” Harley bites down his lip and smiles at MJ so intently that Peter has to hold himself back from nudging Ned. “After you, Venus.”

MJ’s eyes widen slightly, clearly taken aback by the charming smile and the sweet tone in Harley’s voice. Her lips curl into a smirk though, and she cocks her head to smile back at him. “Ready for take-off?” “Always.” MJ’s eyes sparkle in the dimmed backstage lights and she shakes her head slightly. Harley chuckles, low in his throat, and waves in the direction of the stage. MJ nods firmly and eyes both Ned and Peter. No other words are needed from there. Peter grabs the fretboard tightly and takes a deep breath. Ned twirls the drumsticks between his fingers and huffs, only now realizing what they’re about to do. 

Faking confidence, the young band walks into the stage lights. The audience cheers and Peter gasps when he sees just how immensely huge the open-air area looks from up here. It’s… Almost unbelievable. Almost.

“Welcome…” MJ whispers into her microphone once the cheers of the audience die down. She grins. The small silver gems stuck underneath her eyes glimmer in the stage lights. “We are the inner concentric, the outer radial lineament, the spider-like volcano-tectonic structures from Venus. We have come to Earth to give you a hint of the whirling desire that is found on our planet. We are… The Arachnoids!”

Peter’s lips curl into a passionate smile as his grip tightens around the fretboard of his guitar. MJ’s voice starts out soft. So soft, it’s barely audible. Ned lets his drumsticks rain down on his ride cymbal to create a space-like sound; as if stars come raining down from the vastness of space. MJ’s voice goes stronger, jumping up two octaves only to break into a sweet, captivating melody. The audience doesn’t make a single sound. And then, after a small pause in the song that doesn’t even last a second, Peter’s fingers naturally find their way onto the strings and he strums fast. Ned goes wild on the drums and MJ howls into her mic. The crowd goes absolutely nuts and Peter has to take a deep breath to control his emotions. They like him! They like their band!

“Yes, New York!!” MJ screams during the small instrumental part. She’s bouncing on the stage, dancing and laughing and her enthusiasm sends Peter into a buzzy haze. “Who’s ready to party on New Year’s Eve?!”

-

Next Chapter 3: World Tour Wishes >>

[enjol--taire]

The people have spoken, here's a review on the Les Miserables performance at the Sondheim that i saw 3 weeks ago lol

First of all the theatre is so pretty! The Queens was already one of my favorite theatres but it got even more beautiful

I went on a monday which means Luke McCall was on as Valjean and holy moly, the hot dad jumped out

He did so amazing honestly, the acting, the singing, he was so angry during look down and Valjean's soliloquy and then so soft with Fantine and little Cosette

There was a little new moment in the prologue with Petit Gervais which i LOVED so much!!

Also I would die and kill for bishop Myriel

The combination of hot dad Luke McCall and sexy Javert Bradley Jaden sure was something

This was the second time I've seen Bradley and he's so incredibly good

His hair was in a little braid during look down? Instead of a ponytail? It was a look

Miss Carrie Hope Fletcher is a goddess of theatre

Her I dreamed a dream was the best I've ever heard. 15/10. A legend

Also the factory fight seemed a lot more agressive than it did in the original production

Fantine's death really be out here breaking my heart huh

Ian Hughes and Josefina Warner as the Thénardiers were so so good

They were funny but they weren't too much? If that makes sense

Master of the house is one of my least favorite songs to listen to but i loved watching it, it was a lot of fun

I'd die for every little Cosette on the planet

I LOVE Valjean and little Cosette they make me so soft!! When he hands her the doll?? I cry

Paris got so many buildings and it was kinda a lot? The stage at the Sondheim is pretty small and filling it with huge buildings makes it even smaller idk

I don't know the name of the boy that played Gavroche but he was so good!! He was quick and funny and acted the part perfectly

I'd like to thank the les mis management team for giving me my one true love: Harry Apps as Marius

The dumbass energy was OFF THE CHARTS

He almost tripped on stage like 15 times?? Very book accurate of him

Talking about book accurate. Shan Ako is the perfect Eponine. She was rough and playing around with Marius a lot which i thought was very cute

Also there were a lot of little Eponine/Gavroche moments which is just a one-way ticket to cry town for me

During the robbery Marius was arguing with Montparnasse which i LOVED. Also Montparnesse was hot

Bradley's stars was so so so very good

The ABC cafe continues to be one of my favorite scenes and i actually really liked the changes made here especially in the set. It looked exactly the way I imagine it when I read the brick

Ashley Gilmour's Enjolras was very good however he had to grow on me a bit but by red and black I was convinced

He looked very Done with his friends while also being so fond of them and i thought that was very Enj of him

There was a bit of Enjoltaire in the ABC cafe but it wasn't nearly as good as in the original production tbh

Lily Kerhoas is a very charming Cosette. She looked and sounded amazing and she was so excited during a heart full of love. Very cute!!

One day more makes me go absolutely crazy

Ngl I miss the way the barricade came together in the original production

Shan's on my own blew me away. She added some small riffs here and there which really showed off her incredible talent

After a little fall of rain Gavroche was straight up crying and I was straight up not having a good time

Drink with me will always and forever be one of my favorite songs in this show but I will never forgive them for cutting The Hug

Ciaran Bowling's Grantaire was very good!! He fully captured his sadness and his relationship with Gavroche was so sweet

Luke McCall's bring him home made me cry like a baby but what else is new

Enj died first?? And Grantaire died last?? I cried??

Another thing I really missed so much was the barricade turning around to show Enj hanging upside down and Gavroche lying in front but it's whatever

There was a little moment where Javert bowes over Gavroche's dead body and It made me :((

Also Gav's cap fell off when they picked him up to put him on the cart and it stayed on stage all through the sewers and Javert's suicide until one of the women picked it up during turning lol

Bradley Jaden owns my entire ass when he sings Javert's soliloquy. He's so emotional?? It makes Javert so very human.

I think his new bridge is far too big tho but that's another story

Listen. I love empty chairs at empty tables as much as the next gal. But I will throw hands at whoever decided that scene should be done without a single chair or table on stage?? That don't make no cents luv

I did like the candle thing tho and Harry sang it so beautifully

I forgot how much I actually love the wedding scene idk why it always makes me smile a bit

I HATE how Fantine has her long hair in the finale now. Why they do that,,,,

The moment when they sing "to love another person is to see the face of God" while looking at the people they loved?? Amazing

Valjean and the bishop hugged when Valjean entered heaven which was very nice

Javert should be in heaven sent tweet

[katoregama]

Horror Game Idea:

- Lost in a Forest Walking Simulator, but with Giant Spiders –

Prologue

- Start off at a vague “hands selection” screen where you can customize the skintone on the protagonists’s hands. You can also select a voice from a short list.

- Game starts at a gas station where you learn the basic “Pickup, interact, open inventory” controls through buying and paying for gas.

- Phone rings and its your shitty boyfriend. You can ignore this call if you want, doing so will change the story a little.

- If you answer the phone you get some backstory. You just moved, and your dog ran away.

- You used to take walks with the dog on a trail in the forest, so you’re going to look for him there.

- Shitty boyfriend tries to tell you that no dog is worth running into a forest for, but he can shut the hell up.

- Start driving down the road as opening credits play.

- If you ignored the call earlier, shitty boyfriend will call again. Ignoring his calls 3 times will change the story a little.

- If you answered his call at the gas station you turn on the radio which talks about lots of pets going missing.

Chapter 1: Into the Woods

Ver A – If you answered shitty boyfriend phone call at the gas station, you make it to the woods safely, and begin walking a trail.

- You call for your dog with no response.

- First “puzzle” is a barbed wire fence. Your character is not going to try to jump it, so you gotta push a tree over to make a path.

- Lots of scenery, but little action. Screen fades to black after a while. Move to Ver B Point X.

Ver B- If you answered shitty boyfriend phone call in the car, you crash the car in the woods.

- When you wake up its night. You’re unharmed, but the car is toast.

- However, phone message from shitty boyfriend says he’s coming to find you. He’s a dick about it tho.

- Shitty boyfriend also leaves the message if you ignored him 3 times in the car.

- Boyfriend won’t bother looking for you if your car is intact. (It’s a gameplay/narrative thing)

POINT X – Introductions converge walking through the dark woods looking for a dog.

- Spooky events happen. An owl vanishes, and so does a deer.

- You find a ranger cabin, but its covered in spiderwebs. You get a map, and an industrial flashlight inside.

- Taking the flashlight agitates a nest of spiders, and you flee in terror.

Chapter 2: Placid Lake

- Map leads you to a lake, which shows that the park you used to take the dog to is on the other side.

- You explore a boat house and get glimpses of being stalked by a dog-sized creature.

- You solve puzzles to get a boat ready to cross the lake, when you hear barking.

- You follow the barking to a grove that grows increasingly thick with cobwebs.

- There is no dog there, but you get attacked by a furry spider the size of one.

- The spider chases you to the boat, and you cast off leaving the spider on the dock.

- Protagonist is all like “Fuck yeah!” at first. Then the spider jumps into the water and begins swimming after you.

- You beat the spider out of the boat with an oar and it drowns.

Chapter 3: Nightmare from Elm Trees

- Now your protagonist is all like “uh fuck no” but dog is worth it, so you pick up the pace.

- You encounter the same spider from the lake again, but you baseball slam its ass and start running.

- You find a tourist attraction from the map which is a big tree house village for photo spots.

- Spider can’t climb well because you’ve kicked it around so much so you’re safe.

- You find a way back down, but you gotta kill the dumb hairy bastard below.

- Solve puzzles to set a trap, meanwhile some smaller spiders show up but they’re killable.

- You catch the big guy in a trap, and start beating it to death with your oar. It bites the end off making it pointy.

- You stab the spider, and it lets out a death rattle that attracts potentially thousands of unseen spiders.

- You leave the broken oar behind, and haul ass.

Chapter 4: A Cabin in the Woods

- You stumble upon a cabin which is spider-free, and barricade yourself inside.

- This cabin is a spider-survivalist shack who’s been trying to warn the sherriff’s department for months.

- You basically play tower defense for a few minutes until the spiders stop coming.

- Lots of notes and videos are here and you learn the survivalist is still alive but he’s moving because fuck spiders.

- He’s spent the daytime dropping stashes of an anti-spider spray all over the woods.

- You call shitty boyfriend, its his girlfriend on the side who picks up.

- If you talked to him earlier, you can tell him the relationship is off, but he’s no help.

- If you crashed your car or ignored him, you still talk to his on-the-side lady but find out he’s looking for you.

- You can actually invite shitty mistress to come to the woods but she declines. Either way shitty BF is shitty.

- You find out where the nest is, and think it’s the most likely place to find your dog.

- Tower defense resumes, but gets increasingly unmanageable. You grab anti-spider gear and book it.

Chapter 5: Spider Army of Darkness

- Pretty simple chapter, walking through woods but occasionally attacked by spiders.

- They die in one spray but sprays are limited so sometimes its best to run.

- Towards the end, you end up running across a rope bridge  which breaks. Many spiders fall to their deaths.

Chapter 6: The Human-Sized Centipede

- You find a tunnel, and being some kind of big brain think spiders won’t follow you inside when they crowd at the entrance and screech.

- Caves have a giant centipede in them that eats spiders and also you if you let it.

- You have to stealth your way through, and at the end cause a cave in that forces the centipede to retreat.

Chapter 7: Can’t Think of a Clever Chapter Title, but You’re In A Cave

- You find the centipede tunnel feeds into a mine/cave network which is 100% the spider lair.

- Light stealth with killable spiders, and new “Trapdoor Spider” enemies you gotta avoid.

- At the end of it, you find the dog still alive, and very excited to see you.

- You rescue the dog, but a spider-queen attacks, and you tell the dog to run to the car.

- You are separated from the dog and webbed up

Chapter 8: Spider Queen of the Damned

- A protracted boss-battle level that includes all gameplay elements to current. Stealth, killable mini spiders, tower defense, etc.

- You eventually escape from the Queen’s lair, but damn is she pissed.

- You run back to the park (Ver A of the beginning) and find either your car or shitty BF’s car.

- Shitty BF’s car has a blood streak leading away and the keys are beside it implying shitty BF died.

- You drive away and spider queen follows you all the way back to the gas station.

- You set a trap and blow up the gas station. Queen gets burned, and falls over.

Endings:

- There’s kind of a “threshold” for endings. Collect enough notes/kill enough weak spiders for the good ending.

Dog: Dog will survive no matter what, assuming you made it to the ending.

Shitty BF: If you gave him reason to visit the woods he’ll be seen cocooned in the Queen’s lair, wiggling to get out.

Queen Spider: She can actually survive. If you have a low notes/kills threshold, her minions drag her back home, burned, but alive. If shitty BF is cocooned she will eat him.

Bonus Ending: 100% of notes/kills threshold gives you a special post-credits video where the govt. finally believes the spider survivalist and he ends up on a talk show. The show host brings on stage a captured spider which the survivalist, in a panic, reveals is a queen. The new queen breaks loose on live TV.

[theycall-vn]

after the progress post last night, i did some editing to the script and set up the pronoun choice stuff.

i've updated my handwriting font and i'm using it for the names in the game now. also chose the font for the actual game text. still deciding on game menu font, though. might have to wait til after i know what i'm doing with the main menu bg

edited some gui stuff too. not a lot, just bits.

things i wanna do today:

figure out some choice stuff kinda did.

figure out the relationship point system i wanna do set up half of it, and a stat screen.

get started on the main menu bg (which will be animated) did some sketches and set up the gui stuff related to it. (and unrelated to it - just did a lot of ui stuff)

go through prologue draft and write it into the game (LOL mispelled game as gasm) didn't do any of this, spent all my time doing other stuff + organizing script. but i guess i did do some editing?? so maybe that counts.

also made a proper icon for it. i won't change my tumblr icon to it til testing stage tho.

gonna try and do some more writing and editing for prologue and chapter 1 in bed, but i think i'll call it a night otherwise. i did a lot and my brain feels super done. like well done. crispy

so much thinking jahsdgkjas

[turtle-steverogers]

things from the newsies production i saw last night

so let’s start with the set and lighting!

it was AMAZING!!!

-so it had two kinda towers on SL and SR and which were perpendicular to two in the back and then the two in the back split in the middle and had ladders going down the sides.  

-on the back cyc, they projected either NYC, medda’s theatre, or whatever jack was drawing.  all of the things projected on the cyc were drawing esque, as if jack had drawn them.

-instead of the towers moving, they had two A-frame style metal ladders that could roll around the stage

-also, under the towers, there were a bunch of pillars that people could run througn

-the lighting was phenomenal.  like wow.  they would have mood lights coming from behind the pillars that changed from scene to scene (green for pulitzer, pink for medda, red for brookyln) 

-along with the moodlights, they had lights projecting down onto the stage like streetlamps, which, nice touch.

OKAY onto highlights!

ACT 1

-they had people dressed as newsies handing out playbills and ‘selling papes’

-everyone had pretty awesome new york accents, so, stanned

-during the santa fe prologue, you could see other newsies sleeping around crutchie and jack on the towers

-crutchie, al, and finch were all indian!

-crutchie had an AMAzing voice, so tenor and so perfect

-JACK WAS FUCKING AMAZING BUT I’LL GET TO THAT LATER CUZ THAT DESERVES ITS OWN SECTION UHHH

-ROmeo was POC and a ballet boi! he was in the core group of like 10 recurring dancers (everyone danced, but there was like a core group who did the more complicated stuff) and he was always front and center

-RACE WAS THICC AND AMAZING! great ny accent, so impulsive and v masc but also incredibly dorky but yah he was good we lov.  also gr8 voice

-jack danced in carrying the banner, seize the day, the world will know, and pretty much all the numbers that had dancing so yah stanned

-medda was like,,,,standout she was so good

-SOME JACK STUFF:

-boy was literally Jack Kelly

-had the charismatic, sarcastic, angry, cocky, yet traumatized thing DOWN PAT LIKE WTF

-best ny accent out of everyone

-just,,,embodied him

-im still shook

-ok so you know that one part in santa fe where jack goes, ‘sanTAAAA FEEE MY OLD FRIEND” , well,,,jack missed the “sanTAAAA FEEE” and as soon as he did, you could see him realize it.  but then he covered it by letting out this really like, angry sob, then he basically screamed “MY OLD FRIEND”

-also jack hit the final note in santa fe so hats off to you, bud

-alos during santa fe, jack started out center stage, curled up in childs pose, sobbing.  it hurt to watch lol.  also he was hyperventilating whenever he was singing, but still managed to sing and yeah.  great acting

-also he had curly hair and it was amazing

-also whenever he was stressed or scared (pape prices raised, katherine being revealed as pulitzers daughter, snyder, etc.) he would like shake his right hand and then squeeze his leg.  it was interesting

-there was so much playfighting!

-also a lot of the choreo was inspired by the og choreo

-kath was eh but also she was fine

-she and jack had AMAZING CHEMISTRY THO

-tommy boy was a girl!

-pulitzer was fucking amazing, like what the fuck.  his voice??? heavenly.  hit every note

-hannah was POC

-davey and les had great brotherly chemistry and were both very good!

-davey was exasperated and confident and i loved his take

-so many girlsies!!

ACT 2

-KONY WAS SO GOOD AND RACE WAS SO FUCKING COCKY WHAT A DORK

-tap dancing was amazing!!!!!

-during letter of the refuge, instead of someone shushing crutchie before he says, ‘damn this place’, a couple other prisoners came up and stole his crutch and beat him with it.  he like shouted, “HEY GIVE IT” then gave up, punched the floor and yelled, “DAMN THIS PLACE” then stopped for a moment and choked out, “i’ll be fine.” ,,,, it was painful poor guy

-after pulitzer threatened to throw jack and his friends in the refuge jack looked like he was going to explode and shout, but instead, he just snarled, “Sick” 

-also when snyder showed himself, jack like fucking booked it he was so freaked

-GIRLSIE bloNDE SPOTTTTTTT 

-once and for all had a dance, which was weird, but they still tossed the papers and the key change was amazing

-when crutchie came back, jack like tackled him and didn’t let go

-when snyder came out in the end, race stepped back and cowered

-but when roosevelt came out, race full on bowed to him and did the “all hail” movement before some newsies pulled him back

OVERALL IT WAS JUST REALLY GOOD LIKE DAMN YOU GO GUYS

[portraitsofivy]

Local Newsies Production - Review

ACT 1

Santa Fe prologue was so good, and soooooo much less awkward than the live version. it was super cute

Crutchie ‘shot’ jack with his crutch at “earthquake or war”

Davey more shy

really comes out during seize the day v. twwk

“Even though we ain’t got hats or badges” - Davey touches his hat and looks very confused @ Jack

Katherine was freaking adorable

Sang watch what happens way more frustrated than kara, as a writer i found it #relatable

“What a face” - said with disgust. I approve. Boys are gross.

harmonies were so good

THE SET WAS HUGE AND MOVED JUST LIKE THE BROADWAY ONE AND OMG I LOVED IT

if rather tell u want I'm hoping for tonight - katherine straight up laughs in his face

One guy played Weasel, Jacobi and Roosevelt. He was great. Every character had a different walk, a different talk, He was great. 130/10

Albert’s mic kept going out but he projected you go sweetie

LES WAS ADORABLE HE IS THE KING OF COMEDY

STARED AT THE BOWERY BEAUTY FOR SO LONG

I ALMOST CRIED OF LAUGHTER

LITERALLY SHOO’ED DAVEY AWAY WHEN MEDDA TOLD HIM TO MOVE

THAT KID WAS MY FAVOURITE

They changed almost all the ‘hells’ to heck, but jack says damn a lot lol

CHOREO IS SO GOOD

SANTA FE WAS BEAUTIFUL

jack was restrained as crutchie getting arrested - like this much better

medda cOULD BELT HOLY SHIT

KathERINE CAN BELT TOO OMG

race is hilarious

v carefree

responsible tho

K: “Let’s get drunk!” -K

R: “Yeah!” *looks at Les* ‘wait no’

K: “NOT WITH LIQUOR”

R: ‘oh ok good’

Henry is great

gives crutchie a piggy back ride after wwk

Crutchie just freaking bolted onto his back and off they scampered

Davey and crutchie shake hands and introduce themselves while jack and LEs were talking. A+

dutchie is strong

def more 92sies than bway

jack looks like akb sometimes

Davey is v nervous

one kids name was evan hannon

Delanceys played by actual brothers

“That’s pitiful” was said very loudly, like Race wanted it to be a joke. Crutchie was very hurt, and everyone was like “wtf dude” @ Race so he apologized and hugged Crutchie it was v pure

lotsa hugs

WHEN THEY THREW THE PAPES THEY LOOKED STRAIGHT AT US

PROBS CAUSE WE WERE CHEERING AND WEARING NEWSIES CAPS

AND THEY DID IT AGAIN TO CLEAR THE STAGE AND MADE EYE CONTACT

SANTA FE OMG

pronounces every letter like a proper theatre kid omg

cRUTCHIE IS READY TO THROW DOWN

fights the scabs

fights Delanceys

fights eVERYONE

p sure he fights jack at some point tbh

One kid that looks like chaz Wolcott

one little girl, she's so good omg. dances her little heart out. you go girl. she's so great. I love her.

specs looks like Ryan Steele

Specs: ‘and I lost my shoe!’

Race: ‘wtf dude’

LIVE MUSIC

V GOOD LIVE MUSIC

SOUNDS LIKE THE RECORDING TBH

((RACHEL THE TRUMPET SOLOIST WAS FREAKING FANTASTIC))

also everyone is v cute. seems nice. 11/10, would befriend.

cheer a lot

they love it

can see the grins

For the World Will Know they opened some doors and Davey had to dug to get in them

ACT 2

DAVEY CHANGED AND LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE ANOTHER NEWSIE HE’S NOT EVEN COLOUR-CODED I LIKE IT VERY MUCH OK

Kath’s costume was weird?? Ngl it made her neck look funny, and made her look like a dwarf but she was still cute and lovely

Medda’s feather fell, and when she went backstage to fix it her mic was on and she talked really loudly and everyone on stage froze for like .01 of a second and then jack just kept going and i applaud their professionalism

Kath straight up grabbed Jack’s shirt and jerked him down for the kiss

NO STAGE KISS, IT WAS FULL ON LIP-TO-LIP CONTACT, I WAS V SURPRISED

while they were kissing some kid in the back went ‘w o w’ and my sisters lost it

As they were rolling the set for Letter on, my sister whispers “oh no.”

There were lots of kids in the refuge? I loved it

This crutchie, omg. He’s definitely my favourite. So he’s singing Letter From the Refuge, and he’s very bitter and upset and sarcastic and i Love it and then the kid shushes him and he just sits in silence for several seconds and when he starts singing again he’s crying and omg he’s my favourite crutchie ever move over AKB

Also he and Race had very fluffy brown hair aaaaaaand I want it

In the office scene, davEY WAS STRAIGHT UP LEANING BACK AND ROCKING IN PULITZER’S OFFICE CHAIR HE WAS SO HAUGHTY I LOVE IT

This kid was a bass and low tenor and WWH rep. Is v high (obvs) so they had to do a weird key but PROPS TO THIS KID HE PULLED IT OFF GREAT

Henry is my favourite. Sorry, everyone else can go home. He’s great.

Had Jack physically restrained by Snyder in Pulitzer’s office. Again, I like it.

WHEN THE BROOKLYN KIDS CAME ON THEY STRAIGHT UP VAULTED OFF THE SET IS WAS GREAT

OK SPOT CONLON CAME ON, HE WAS TALL AND BUFF AND I LOOKED AT MY SISTER AND MOUTHED ‘hot damn’ AND SHE LAUGHED

Lots of hugging between Race and Crutchie

More Race and Finch action than Race and Albert. Albert didn’t really do much, Finch and Henry were the most notable ‘ensemble’ parts

I GOT A NEWSPAPER

They got a standing ovation!

While Les was talking about having a girl Davey was so shocked and confused and big brother mode was kicking on and it was hilarious

That whole scene was my favourite tbh. Davey was so dry. ‘What’s a fellow got to do to get away from you people?’ *in the driest tone, and very fast* theresnoescapinguspalwereinevitable

“Jack?” “Yeah?” *grabs upper arm* “It’s good to have you back.”

*pause where they tenderly hold each other’s forearms*

“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

Something to Believe In, Jack’s voice was kinda scratchy but he still did good and i loved it

That whole song was great

In the office scene, Pulitzer’s assistant  r u n s  in, shouts, “MR PULITZER THE MAYOR IS HERE AND YOUR DAUGHTER AND YOU WONT BELIEVE WHO ELSE,” and skids to a stop about center stage.

That guy was freaking hilarious tbh

WHEN CRUTCHIE CAME OUT HE WAS LIKE ‘DID YA MISS ME’ AND THEY WERE LIKE ‘NAH’ AND THEN DOG-PILED HIM

Crutchie saw Jack and very softly called “jack!” and they ran to each other and hugged for a few seconds it was v soft and everyone ‘aww’ed

“What’s Santa Fe got that New York ain’t? Tarantulas? Sandstorms?” *pffts and walks off*

THE CURTAIN CALL OMG

THEY SANG SO MANY REPRISES

THEY JUST KEPT COMING BACK

THEY GOT A STANDING OVATION, THEY WERE SMILING SO BIG

WE STOOD AND CLAPPED FOR TEN MINUTES

AND THEY READ OFF NAMES AND WE WERE STILL STANDING AND APPLAUDING

AND THEN THEY SANG AGAIN

CRUTCHIE AND RACE HAD THEIR ARMS AROUND EACH OTHER AND WERE USING THEIR CIGAR AND CRUTCH AS A MICROPHONE

THEY KEPT WAVING AS THE CURTAIN DROPPED

THEY KNELT ON THE GROUND AND WAVED

AND THEIR HANDS WERE STICKING OUT AT THE BOTTOM

THEY WERE SO PURE AAAAA

BASICALLY, 32974Y24732786/10, WOULD DEFINITELY SEE AGAIN

@poorguysheadisdoingwhatnow @wetcoffeejpg @sqecs @heyjackyboyuh​ @kingofbrooklyn8​

[wearesungreenmylove]

Director’s cut on Scorpius & Rose

aka whoever asked me to do this wants me to die

This is not formatted correctly in anyway, but if you’d like here’s a link to it on AO3 where it’s (for the most part) formatted correctly

All bold is my comments

Prologue: Sorting

“Granger-Weasley, Rose!” Headmistress McGonagall calls. I step tentatively onto the stage and climb onto the stool. Slowly, I put on the Sorting Hat. It talks, but different than I expected, not out loud, but in my mind.

oh that’s a nice line. flows real nice (I’m being sarcastic). Also Luna wrote this 3 years ago, so cut them some slack. @stanverscom I love you.

“Another Weasley? How many of you are there? Haha lol  Oooh, but you’re a different one aren’t you? Yes, I know just what house you should be in… RAVENCLAW,” He bellows, and I take him-it?- off and set him on the stool. I spot my siblings and cousins at the Gryffindor table, staring at me incredulously, their hands still at their sides. I’m in Ravenclaw. I’m different, I think, pleased. My entire family went to Gryffindor, even my aunts and uncles. My entire family for generations, Gryffindor. My pride wilts into a twist of nerves. What if they don’t like me anymore? I worry. What if I’m shunned? Honey just take a deep breath.  I take a seat at the Ravenclaw table and smile shyly at the people applauding around me.

The rest of the sorting seems to go by in a blur of wonder that I’m actually in Ravenclaw. That is, until I hear McGonagall call out a name I hadn’t expected. “Malfoy, Scorpius.” As he walks up to the stool I try and recall what my Dad said about him… Ah yes, “stay clear of him” And will that happen? I think not. McGonagall places the Sorting Hat on his slicked back blonde-white hair, and it immediately shouts out “RAVENCLAW.” The whole hall is silenced, as he sits there in shock. Professor McGonagall places her hand on his shoulder gently, and he quickly gets up, handing the Sorting Hat to her. He races down the steps to the Ravenclaw table. People are clapping, but it’s awkward. Nobody expected this. And by the looks of it, neither did Scorpius. While the rest of the Sorting finishes I stare at the boy who seems as out of place in this house as me. After a moment he seems to recover and holds his chin high and proud, as if he can just take away everyone’s memory of his previous nervousness if he acts tough now. Soon the sorting finishes, and the food appears on the platters in front of us. Throughout the whole meal I can’t stop glancing back at Scorpius, who seems to have completely pulled himself together by now. Everyone around him seems to be ignoring him, and there’s space on either side of him for at least two people to sit. It’s a shame. Seems like there’s no getting rid of your family’s reputation. Oh wow, hitting us with those feels and it’s only the first chapter.

Chapter One: Friendship

As the months pass, I heed my father’s word and steer clear of Scorpius. Not for long, bitch.  A nod in the hall, slight acknowledgment that he is alive. Very snekky. 

Then the bullies come. Oh man, the drama, the angst. I hate it.  They flock to my red hair and freckles this is a good fucking line, teasing me. “Oh, look at the Weasley. Fish out of water,” Every single bully is from Slytherin. Green robes, proud backs and chins. Fish becomes my nickname there. I’m so sad now.

One day I simply can’t take it. Mood tho.  Instead of doing homework, I sit on a couch in the Commons and bury my face in my knees. The couch shifts slightly to the left as someone sits next to me on it. I lift my face up and find myself looking into Scorpius’s gray-blue eyes. I stare at him for a moment. “I’m not supposed to talk to you. My Dad says.” I say in a calm, measured voice. I wonder why I even said anything, and lower my face again, letting my hair cover my face. He smiles slightly. “Father says not to pay any attention to the low born Weasleys. But Father’s values aren’t always right, besides, they don’t have to know.” Do you know how much I fucking love him.  I sit straight up, startled by his bold statement. “What’s your wand?”he asks, not noticing my alarm.“Like, what’s the core and stuff.” He just wants a friend.  

“Willow. Thestral tail.” I say slowly. Why is he asking me this? I consider ignoring him. Didn’t I tell him I wasn’t supposed to talk to him? Does he care about the rules at all? He whistles, impressed. “Thestral tail, huh?” “Yeah.” I blink at him, slowly. “You know, Thestral tail was used in the elder wand.” He pokes me. “Yeah, I know.” I smile at him. Agh, what am I doing? “So, what’s wrong?” He studies me. I swallow heavily, looking down. “It’s nothing.” “Rose…” He says imploringly. I bite my lip. “Okay,” I allowed. WE SWITCHED TO PAST TENSE. “Wait, how do you know my name?” He flushed, looking down at his feet. “Well, I, um..” he looks at me, biting his lip. “I just payed attention to you. You’re not exactly a typical Ravenclaw.” I feel my ears burn a little. “Um.. thanks?” I say awkwardly, clearing my throat and looking away. Scorpius pokes my arm again with a half-smile. “You were saying?” I frown at him. “Why are you so determined to find out why I’m upset?” “So you ARE upset!” He grins triumphantly. Middle schools boys really be like that. 

A small bubble of pleasure builds inside me me whenever the cute guy from Spanish class looks at me, and I fight back a smile with an irritated scowl. “I said nothing of the sort. Leave me alone.” “I will not.” He says stubbornly. “Tell me what’s wrong.” “Like you’d care what a fish like me has to say,” I mumble. oh dang that hurted

He must hear me, because he scowls and says, “Is that why you’re upset?” “Is what why I’m upset?” I ask, avoiding his gaze. “Don’t play dumb with me. You’re a Ravenclaw, for God’s sake.” Scorpius glares at me. “The Slytherins.” “Maybe,” I mumble, not meeting his eyes. “I just-“ I cut off with a sigh. “I just wish they’d leave me alone.” Leave ma alone this is all I’m gonna post about for the next 8 days

Scorpius is silent for a moment. “They won’t leave you alone.” “That’s helpful,” I say sarcastically. I love her. 

Scorpius ignores me. “They won’t leave you alone because they’re bullies.” He glances at me sidelong. “But I’ll be here for you,” he blurts, staring at his feet and turning bright red. “If you want me to,” he adds. If anyone did this to me I would swoon while screaming my head off.

I smile at him, a new sort of feeling I can’t place swelling inside of me. “That would be perfect.” He’s shocked into meeting my eyes. Slowly, his smile grows to match mine. … My interactions with Scorpius only increase from that day on. The next time we talk, Scorpius is much more subdued. “What’s wrong?” This time I’m the one who’s asking. Scorpius looks up at me sharply. “Nothing.” He bends his head down to continue working on his homework. For a moment, there is no sound but the scratching of quills on paper. “Do you really expect me to believe that? You’re a rubbish actor.” I say. Scorpius glares at me, but gives no reply. “Fine,” I say. “If you don’t tell me anything, I’ll just leave.” Scorpius studies me silently, gauging to see if I am lying. “Fine.” He looks back at his paper. “I’m mad at my dad.” “Your dad?” I repeat, bewildered. “But-“ Scorpius slams shut his textbook and storms out of the commons, leaving his homework half-finished. … God, the nerve of her! I pace back and forth in a hallway just off of the main hall to the Ravenclaw dorms. She thinks she can just butt into my family life. So what if my dad’s disappointed in me? This gets me every time.  I cringe away from the thought. I hate being a Malfoy, anyway. Everyone can tell who I am just by looking at me. Just by glimpsing my hair. I scowl, running my fingers through my white-blonde hair. I hate this hair. I hate these clothes. I never want to look like my father again. Ever. With a sickening sense of satisfaction, I storm into the boy’s dorm. … The next day, Scorpius and I come to some sort of silent agreement. He follows me to class, because everyone else was too rude to show him anywhere, and maybe, just maybe, if someone comes along with me, the Slytherins will leave me alone. But of course, I’m wrong.

“Well, hello there, Fish,” do you know how much I hate him  a tall Slytherin snarls as we pass. Dolohov. His mob of Slytherins quickly surround us, cutting us off from the surroundings. “Looks like you’ve got a tail.” “Leave us alone, Dolohov,” I murmur non-confrontationally. Maybe this time, they’ll leave me alone. But I know better. “We’ll be late to class.” “D’you think I care?” Dolohov says with a snort. “Maybe if you don’t go to class, you’ll learn how to be a little less insufferable.” I bow my head, letting my hair cover my face like a veil. “Leave me alone,” I mumble, backing up a few steps. There’s a cold, harsh laugh as I collide with someone behind me. Rough hands push me forward, causing me to stumble forward and drop my textbooks. I drop to my knees and scoop them up, avoiding Dolohov’s eyes. Avoiding everyone’s eyes, especially Scorpius’s- god, this is so embarrassing, I think, cringing inwardly. “Maybe you’d fit in a little bit more of you weren’t so clumsy, fish,” Dolohov snarls. “Maybe you’d-“ There’s a flash of movement to my left, followed by a thud. I snap my head up and watch in shock as Dolohov reels back, clutching his cheek. “You leave her alone,” Scorpius growls. baby

Dolohov gives him a strange look, but backs away. His group of cronies follow him as they stalk off to wherever their next class is. I turn towards Scorpius, textbooks in hand, gaping. “Let’s go,” he says gruffly, avoiding my eyes. … I can’t believe I did that. I stare at my hands in Charms, unable to focus. I just punched someone. Punched them. “Mr. Malfoy?” Professor Oakwood says. I flinch a little, but he definitely grabbed my attention. “Yes, sir?” I smile at him unconvincingly. He rolls his eyes. “What is the levitation charm?” “I’m sorry, sir,” I say truthfully. “I wasn’t paying attention.” “That’s what I thought,” he said. “Wingardium Leviosa.” … The summer comes all too quickly. Soon, I am boarding the Hogwarts Express, Scorpius close behind me. I walk into an empty compartment, not wanting to deal with anyone who isn’t Scorpius at the moment. We sit in silence for a while, watching the Scotland plains roll by. Scorpius is the one to break the silence. “Rose…” I swallow. “Scorpius, don’t.” “Rose,” he repeats firmly. “You know… you know we won’t be able to talk all summer.” “I know that.” I glare at him. “Rose,” he says with an exasperated sigh. “I don’t like goodbyes,” I tell him. “I don’t want to say goodbye.” “Okay.” Scorpius says.

Chapter Two: Marauder’s Map

I’m antsy. My Dad and Mum are driving us to King’s Cross, and I haven’t seen Scorpius since school got out in June, what with us not wanting to tell our parents about our friendship, for obvious reasons.

“You alright back there, Rose?” My Mum asks, glancing back at me through the rear-view mirror.

“Yeah, I’m fine Mum. Just excited to go back to Hogwarts.” It’s technically not a lie, as I do enjoy all my classes and I know quite a few teachers, but it’s definitely not the whole truth.

When we finally park I practically jump out of the car, lugging my suitcase behind me.

“Wait for us, Rosie.” My Dad says. “We’re getting old you know…” He sighs exasperatedly.

“You’re not even 40 yet!” I shout over my shoulder. I just wanted some wholesome teasing

⋯

Soon enough we’re at the platform and saying our goodbyes rushedly.

“I love you too, Mum.” I say, wrestling myself out of her grasp and starting towards the train, which is scheduled to leave any minute now.

“And remember to stay away from that Malfoy!” Yikes  My Dad says before I’m out of earshot. I pretend I don’t hear him, instead running even faster towards the train, but I allow myself a small smile as I hear my mother begin to reprimand him. In this household we love and appreciate Hermione Granger

Once I find an empty compartment I slide into a seat, lifting my suitcase next to me. The train starts moving, and I wave goodbye at my parents until they’re out of sight. Just in time… Where’s Scorpius? The door slides open and I’m met with a familiar face… and yet..

“Scorpius?”

“Um, hi?” He leans against the doorway.

“What did you do to your HAIR?”  I leap to my feet, gaping in shock.

“What does it look like? I dyed it.” Scorpius rolls his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“But why?! It was so beautiful!” I motion towards him.

“You liked it?” He runs his hand through his light brown hair.

“I…never said that.” I say, realizing my mistake.

“You just did!”

“Did not,” I say defiantly.

“Did too.”

“Why did you dye it?” I say, knowing if I keep it up it could go on for ages. “And brown of all colors.”

“No reason. Just felt like I needed to change things up.”

“Sure.” I say disbelievingly. “Though I’m not completely against the brown…” I LOVE THIS PART OKAY

…

I sit in the Ravenclaw common room, flipping through the pages of Chadwick’s Charms, Vol. II , but I’m not really reading it. For the first time in the three months my hair has been brown, I find myself regretting it. Father hated it, but that had made me feel proud.

Father hates most things. Including Mother, some days. Her sickness. By extension, me. She wanted a child, even knowing it would make her weaker than before, make the curse act quicker.

….

“Full grown mandrakes are fatal to anyone who hears them.” Professor Longbottom says, but it’s all background noise.

I know I should be paying attention to him, but I learned all of this when I was eight, so I pretend to listen to the professor, facing him and staring at the potted plant right behind him. Instead, I daydream.

…

As we walk out of Herbology class, Scorpius and I talk. “What amazes me is how a plant as small as that can both kill you, and un-petrify you.” He says.

“Right,” I agree. “Too bad I can only do one of those things.”

“Oh, stop it,” Scorpius said, but there was a look in his eyes that said he wasn’t just joking.

“Oh, I have something I wanna show you! Meet you in the common room.” I say.

“Wha- Okay,” Scorpius says, shaking his head.

I scramble up the stairs leading to the Great Hall, racing towards the Ravenclaw girls dorm, excited to show him what I’ve done.

…

When I meet Scorpius in the common room a mere five minutes later, I carry my most prized possession.  I beam at him as approach.

“What is it?” Scorpius asks, eying the folded parchment warily.

I smooth it out and whisper to it, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” *gradually gets more and more excited*  The map of Hogwarts appears, and I see Scorpius and I’s names in the Ravenclaw common room. The path to our destination is clear. I grin down at the Marauder's map. “Alright,” I say in a matter-of-fact tone, “We’re going to the Room of Requirements.” Canon doesn’t exist.

I march out, grabbing Scorpius’ arm and dragging him after me. After a few moments, he catches up to me and I drop his hand. I wish he didn’t have such long legs, then I could keep leading. The thought is fleeting, however, as I spot the door I need to see. I need my clubhouse.

I pace back and forth in front of the corridor wall, 3rd floor this week. After a moment, the door appears, and I push it open, revealing the clubhouse.

“Meet Albus Potter, James Potter, Lily Potter, Victoire Weasley,  Dominique Weasley, Fred Weasley II, Louis Weasley, Lucy Weasley, Molly Weasley, Hugo Weasley, Teddy Lupin,  and Roxanne Weasley. Everyone, meet Scorpius Malfoy,” I say loudly, pointing to each person as I name them.

They all come up to inspect who “this Malfoy fellow” is, seeming very polite. James makes a face at the name “Malfoy”, and lingers around the edge of the small crowd surrounding us. After everyone says hello they all, including James, though reluctantly, go back to casting spells.

Scorpius waves, pointedly avoiding James’ gaze, then pulls me aside. “What is this?”

“Nothing bad. Just a bunch of family. We're practicing spells. Protective spells, this week.” I say with a smile.

He frowns. “Nothing bad? That James Potter is bad news. He's, like, a bully, except not as bad. And more arrogant. We all know that one person who fits this description. Basically, a Gryffindor bully.” He gestures to James, who tackles Hugo, proving Scorpius’ point.I sigh. “True. But he's my cousin. I couldn't leave him out.”

“How long has this been going on?” Scorpius demands, running his fingers through his hair. Why is he more of an asshole than I remember.

“Um. A week? Ish?” I shrug.” I just needed time to tell you.” I cock my head. “Why? Does it matter?”

“When were you busy?” He asks, avoiding the question.

“All week! And so were you. We have a lot of homework.” I point to the stack of papers in a corner. “That's a copy of all the homework for this week. One copy.”

He sighs. “I know. Sorry.” All the anger evaporates from his posture.

I grin and glance around the room. Everyone seems occupied, so I lean in to hug Scorpius. He smells like ink and old parchment, and I breathe it in. It smells like home.

…

Rose is hugging me.  And I just want this to be a happy moment, but goddammit can’t stop thinking about my mother. I try and melt into the hug as best I can. I mean, I really am happy about the club, and all, but am I even allowed to be in it? Everyone in here has a family that was on the good side of the war, and then there’s me.

I wish it was my mom hugging me.

Chapter Three: Library Visit

I sit on an armchair in the Ravenclaw commons, and finish doing the last of my homework. It’s rather early to be “staying in”; most people stay out of the commons until 9:00, and it’s only 7, just after dinner. Students are finding any excuse to not be pent up in here all night, but I don’t mind. It’s quieter without everyone else. I worry about the O.W.L’s, nerves eating at my stomach. my brother has a classmate like this.  What if I don’t pass? It may only be our 2nd year, but the teachers are already pressuring us to be ready for them. “WEASLEY, WEASLEY!!!!!” A voice bellows outside the door. “FISH! FISH!” “PEEVES!” I yell. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” I am answered by cackling, and something thumping on the door. I point my wand in the general direction of his voice. “SILENCIO!” I yell. I am greeted by silence, and I smile. A small win for a small fish. I wrote this line and I was so proud.

Scorpius appears suddenly from the boy’s dorms. “How’s homework going?” He asks, his gaze meandering around the room. “Fine. I’ll get it all done, at least.” I smile. “You?” Of course he’s done, otherwise he wouldn't be here, I reprimand myself. “I finished it. A while ago, actually.” He finally looks at me in the eyes and takes a deep breath. “I was wondering if maybe you might want to do some light reading.” I smile at the reference, nodding. “Sure. Scorpius grabs my hand. “C’mon, then,” he says with a smile. He pulls me through the halls to the library. It’s rather annoying, honestly, but he’s much taller and faster than me, so we make good time. As we enter, he heads straight to the front desk and hands a slip of paper to the school librarian, Professor Wolffe. She looks at us suspiciously, gaze darting from Scorpius to me. She raises her eyebrow, and finally nods. Scorpius smiles, turning and walking to the Restricted Section, which is, well, restricted, to all students without special permission. He seems to know the area, however, and heads straight to a certain bookshelf. He runs his fingers along the spines before reaching a particularly thick one. As he pulls it off the shelf, a huge cloud of dust bursts in our faces. I pull my hand from his and wave it in front of my face, wheezing. “What’s this for?” I ask. “Your club,” Scorpius says simply. “My club?” He quickly turns and walks out of the library, not bothering to respond. I scoff and follow him, nodding at Professor Wolffe as I leave. I follow him to the Room of Requirements. We enter, and thankfully, no one is inside. The only things we see are the bookshelf, which Scorpius puts his book on, the calendar, marked with homework and meeting dates, and the assorted pillows and bean bag chairs. “Are you going to join the club, or what?” I ask Scorpius, breaking the silence. “Really?” He asks. “I thought it was family stuff.” “No. You know, technically Teddy isn’t family. He isn’t related to anyone in the club...He is dating Victore though-” I suddenly feel that I am oversharing and snap my mouth shut. Scorpius blinks, then shakes his head. “Okay.” He seems a little upset about something. “So? Do you want to join?” I ask, tilting my head. “Yeah. Sure.” He smiles at me, but his mind is somewhere else. “What’s up?” I wave my hand in his face. “You said that Teddy’s last name is Lupin, right?” He bites his lip nervously. “Yes.” I say, unsure to where this is going. “So his parents were Tonks and Remus Lupin?” “Yes...” I say slowly. “Well…” He rubs his hands together in a nervous way, “My grandparents were Death Eaters, and they were there at the Battle of Hogwarts...” “Oh.” I suddenly understand. “It’s fine. He was a baby, then. He never knew his parents.” “Exactly.” Scorpius whispers. And then he’s gone, racing out the door. … Scorpius doesn’t return to the Commons. I begin to worry when it’s midnight and he’s still not back. He’s never like this, he’s always there, waiting for me, protecting me. We should have written her with more fire here.  It’s also after curfew, another thing that is unlike him. Also I miss him. I push the thought away and find the Marauder's Map. “I solemnly swear I am up to no good,” I whisper. I don’t find his name on the map. He must be in the Room of Requirements. I put it away and slip off to find him. I wrap myself in my invisibility cloak and tiptoe through the hallways. When I finally reach the Room of Requirements, it’s dead silent everywhere. It’s way past curfew. If we’re caught, we’ll be in big trouble. “I need to find Scorpius,” I whisper to the door, then I push it open. In front of me I see a large, dark room full of odd objects. I hear his voice, whispering something. I follow the sound, and see him sitting on a cushioned armchair, pouring over textbooks. “Hey.” I say softly, pulling off the invisibility cloak. He jumps, startled. “Oh, um… hi.” “Do you know what time it is?” I ask, crossing my arms. He shakes his head. “Nine?” He closed the book and sets it next to him. “No. 12:30.” I raise an eyebrow. “What? Really?” He leaps up. “Sorry.” ‘’It’s fine. What you need to be sorry about is that Peeves is unsilenced.” I grin teasingly. He groans. “Great. He’ll turn us in.” I giggle. “Not if he doesn't see us.” I hold out the cloak.“This is my uncle’s Invisibility Cloak. Yes Harry gave his invisibility cloak to Rose, back off.  If we both get under it, I think it should cover most of us.” “What, really?” Scorpius looks at me skeptically. “Just get under it,” I say with a heavy sigh. “Okay.” We both manage to get mostly covered by the invisibility cloak, but our feet are still visible. “Okay… this is fine,” I say. “As long as nobody is looking for feet, we won’t be seen.” Scorpius gives me a thumbs up, and we shuffle awkwardly down the hall. We make it all the way to the Ravenclaw tower’s door before a problem arises. How will we open the door without talking? I wonder. As if on cue, the bronze knocker chimes, “I am the beginning of every end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?” “It’s E,” Scorpius whispers, and we walk in, throwing off the cloak. Thankfully, the commons are empty. “See you tomorrow,” I whisper, and he nods. “Wait.” I grab his elbow. “Don’t stress about Teddy, okay? He’s a grown man. He can deal with himself. He doesn't need his parents. Besides, Uncle Harry had him.” Scorpius hesitates, then nods. “I won’t. Goodnight, Rose.” He kisses my cheek, then disappears into the boys dorm. I smile, touch my cheek, and go to bed. … I’m kind of appalled at my own bravery. I sit down in the boy’s dorm room. Unfortunately, Lorcan is still wide awake. “Why were you out so late?” He demanded. “I lost track of time.” “Nobody told you when it passed curfew?” “No.” “Why?” “I wasn’t with anybody.” “Not even Rosie?” “No.” “Then why was she gone for so long?” “I don’t know!” “... didn’t you guys have detention?” “Shut up, Lorcan.”

... I lay in my bed in the girl’s dorm, staring at the roof. I can already tell I’m not going to sleep tonight. My brain is running in ten different directions, and I’m getting dizzy. I try to focus on one thought, but then my brain is overloaded with thoughts of Scorpius. I realize that any attempt otherwise is futile and abandon any thought that doesn’t have to do with Scorpius, and daydream.

Chapter Four: New Year, Old You

The next school year arrives rather uneventfully. Summer bores me endlessly- I can’t figure out a way to send a letter to Scorpius without my parents noticing! I sit on the Hogwarts Express in the usual compartment, glancing hopefully at the door every few seconds. Just as the train begins to move, Scorpius slides open the door and steps in. “Scorpius!” I stand up. “Your hair!” I get a rush of deja vu, remembering last year. He smiles, running his fingers through his long, platinum blonde hair. “I thought you liked it better this way.” I scowl. “I never said that.” “You did too. Anyway, I thought you’d be more irritated by the fact that I’m a lot taller than you now,” he points out. My scowl only deepens. “You were always taller than me.” “True,” Scorpius says, sitting down. I sit down on the seat across from him, smiling. This year is already off to a good start. … I hadn’t told Rose yet. How could I? She was gone, and Father’s temper was only getting worse. Luna wrote this and I cried the first time reading it.   Mother would’ve wanted him to move on, to forget her, but I am a walking reminder of the life Father never deserved in the first place. He didn’t even want me. He would’ve prefered to keep Mother for longer rather than have me at all. He wanted the Malfoy line to end. Maybe it would with me. I pull the small ring out of my pocket. My mother’s ring. I press the stone to my lips and try not to cry. ... 3rd year proves to be a lot more stressful than 2nd year. The teachers really have started to crack down, trying to prepare us for the O.W.L.S. that we’ll take our 5th year. We’re in Care of Magical Creatures. My textbook - The Monster Book of Monsters-is open, squashed under my foot as I strain to follow Grawp’s reading. The book struggles, trying its best to chomp on my foot, making everything more difficult. Grawp may have taken over Hagrid’s job, but Hagrid still leads the first years to Hogwarts, even though he’s retired. Grawp looms above us, reading a ginormous version of the same Monster Book of Monsters book. With a grin, I remember how that book nearly ate a student when I was in first grade. I try to listen to Grawp, try to refocus, but I find myself once again overwhelmed by thoughts of Scorpius. I’m not sure I'll get anything done at this rate. “Unicorns, however pretty, can also be useful,” Grawp is saying. “Focus,” I whisper to myself. “What’s that?” Scorpius whispers, leaning to the side. “Nothing,’’ I tell him. “What is it?” He asks, tickling me with a strand of my hair. “Shh! Listen to Grawp!” I whisper. “-can be made with Unicorn hair. Follow me,” Grawp is saying, walking over to his hut. He snaps closed The Monster Book of Monsters and belts it closed. He stuffs it in his cottage and smiles. “What are some other uses that Unicorns have?” I raise my hand. “Rose?” He says. “Unicorn blood can be used to grant immortality, but is also very dangerous.” I say, cursing myself for missing what he said earlier. “That’s right!” Grawp says with a smile. I move on to Defense against the Dark Arts, and get out my textbook, DA Defense by Amelia Storme, and sit at my desk. “Turn to page 394,” Professor Storme says, and I flip to it. Boggarts are creatures that take a form to terrify you, The first sentence reads. I sigh. I know all about boggarts. “Read through page 400,’’ She drones. ... We’re in Charms, and I find myself ignoring Professor Oakwood and staring at Scorpius. Have his eyes always looked like that? His eyes are gray, with light blue traces swirling around in them, which I knew, but I find hints of darker blue rimming the pupil. I could get lost in those eyes, finding all the different grays and blues. Scorpius looks up and catches me staring at him. He smiles and I blush, looking down, but in a few minutes I’m staring up at him again. “Remember, class,” Professor Oakwood intones. “Swish and flick,” The class responds out of habit. I watch Scorpius’ long hair move slightly in the breeze coming from the open window and smile.

Chapter Five: Confessions In The Dark

Later, I sit on my usual couch, writing an essay on Boggarts for DA, when the couch shifts. I look up to see Lorcan Scamander sitting next to me.

“Hey, Lorcan,” I say, and go back to my paper. In order to dispel a Boggart , I write, You think of happy memories and say the charm Riddikulus.

“Hey…’’ Lorcan says, rubbing his neck. He opens his mouth and shuts it, shaking his head.

After several moments of this, I ask, “What is it?”

“You know what? Nevermind!” He says, turning beet red and running off. I watch him, puzzled.

“What was that all about?” Scorpius asks, sitting next to me. He has a medium-sized bag slung around his shoulders, looking light. I wonder what could be in there.

“No idea,” I say with a shrug.

“Huh.” He said. “Are you finished with homework?”

“Almost,” I say. “I just have to finish this essay.”

“Well, hurry up.” Scorpius grins teasingly. I finish the paper in two minutes flat. Who cares if’ it’s half-finished if it means more time with Scorpius? “Want to go somewhere?” He asks nervously.

“Sure,” I say. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.” He replies. He grabs my hand with a smile. “Come with me.”

“Okay,” I say with a smile. He pulls me to my feet and let’s go of my hand with an awkward cough. He leads me through the halls, towards the main entrance, but we are stopped by an all too familiar frame.

“Well, well, well ,” Dolohov says. “What have we here ?”

“Leave me alone, Dolohov,” I snap.

“It looks like it’s the fish and her tail. ” He takes a few steps forward. Dolohov’s eyes are cruel and dark, his hair swirling around his face in a chaotic way as he speaks. “What are you two doing, huh? Probably running off to snog in the forbidden forest!” He laughs, a harsh, grating sound.

“Why do you want to know?” I take a step forward, causing Dolohov to take a hasty step back, almost running into the croon standing behind him. “Are you jealous of the amount of time I spend with Scorpius? I’m sure you’d like it a lot better if I blindly followed you around, right? Just like all of your other ‘friends’,” I say. “Of course, maybe you’d feel better if your parents cared about you.” sorry but that’s so rude. I get that she’s being bullied but damn. Dolohov looks like I’ve just slapped him. “Wha-“I push past him. “Come on, Scorpius.”He follows me quickly, not wanting to stick around. “That wasn’t very nice.”I bite my lip, feeling a stab of guilt. “I know. I shouldn’t have done that.”“No, it was cool,” Scorpius says with a smile.I smile shyly back. “Thanks.”“Hey, I’m supposed to be leading!” He says with a laugh. I slow down, and he leads me out of Hogwarts, across the darkening lawn, and into Hogsmeade.“Why are we here?” I ask, looking around at the surroundings. The cold September air bites at my hands, and the fact that it’s already dark doesn’t help that fact.. Without responding, Scorpius walks up to the side of a shop and pulls down a ladder from the roof.“What's going on? What are you doing?” I whisper, staring at him.“Just… Follow me.” He says with a small smile. He begins to climb up the ladder.“Are you crazy? Onto the roof?” I demand, crossing my arms.“Trust me.” Scorpius says, and he looks straight into my eyes. Something I can’t name stirs in me, telling me to listen to him.“Okay.” I sigh, to both of our surprise. He grins and keeps climbing. I follow him up the ladder, and he turns and pulls me the rest of the way onto the roof. The view is incredible: I can see all the shops, Hogwarts, the mountains surrounding the valley, and Scorpius’s eyes, which are as enchanting as your first time at Hogwarts.And the sky, oh, the sky , is lit up in beautiful stars.“It's beautiful,” I breathe, staring into Scorpius’s eyes, and for a moment I’m not sure if I mean the view or him. Scorpius smiles, and looks down at his feet. I look down at my hands and find them still entwined with Scorpius’. I flush and pull my hands away....“Rose?” My heart is pounding in my chest. I can’t seem to bring myself to say it,“Yeah?” Rose looks over at me, her eyes full of wonder.“My mother died.” My throat seems to constrict around the words, reducing them to the point that they’re barely audible.“Sorry?” She asks, tilting her head towards me. “I didn’t hear that.”My hand dips into the pocket of my robes, and I grasp the ring there. “My mother died,” I repeat. “Oh, Scorpius….” Rose scoots closer to me and grabs my free hand in both of hers, looking into my eyes. “I’m truly sorry.”“There’s nothing to apologize for,” I manage to choke out. “You didn’t cast.. The.. curse,” I gasp a little in between the words, fighting back sobs.Rose’s face twitches, as if she isn’t sure what to say, and settles on a sympathetic look, her thumb travelling in circles on my hand.I swallow heavily and pull the ring from my pocket. “This is for you.”“Really?”“She’d want you to have it.” I place it in Rose’s hands.Realization dawns on her face, and she quickly tries to hand it back. “I can’t take this,” She says.I curl her fingers shut around the ring. “She always wanted to meet you.”Rose swallows and puts it on.”Thank you.”...We sit on the roof for what seems like a short while. This illusion is shattered when the sky starts turning pink. The sunrise is glorious, filling the skies with gold and pink, lighting up the bright shops. Scorpius jumps                          up and starts climbing off the roof, but I am paralyzed, staring into the bright sunlight.“Come on, we have to move!” Scorpius whispers urgently, jerking his head.“Woah,” I whisper. “This is even better than our roof.’’ Scorpius freezes, a painful look crossing his face for a second before continuing to climb down. I shake my head and close my eyes, and bright spots dance behind my eyelids. When I open them, Scorpius is back by my side. He tugs my arm, looking desperate.“I’ll leave without you!” He threatens.“I’m coming!” I say, energized by a sudden realization: It’s light outside. I dart down the ladder after Scorpius. He tugs me after him, towards the Whomping Willow. We sneak around the back and slip in through the great hall. “Crap.” I whisper, flattening myself against the wall and stare at Miss Cod.Why oh why didn’t I think to bring the cloak?Scorpius opens his bag quickly and quietly so as to not attract attention from the caretaker and cat currently halfway down the corridor. He lifts the invisibility cloak out of it and wraps it around us. I give him a confused look, how did you get this?  But he places his index finger in front of his mouth, reminding me of what’ll happen if we talk right now.Mr. Furgle growls at us and sniffs the air.“What is it, love?’’ Miss Cod says, petting Mr. Furgle’s head. “Is a naughty, naughty child out of bed?” She croons. “Find them, love!” She cackles and sets Mr Furgle on the ground. He immediately tears towards us. “No, love.” Miss Cod sighs. “There’s no one there. You must be hungry, poor kitty.” Mr. Furgle growls at us, and his mouth foams. He gives a final sniff then trots off, disappearing into the shadows with Miss Cod.  We wait until we can no longer hear their footsteps, then inch along the wall, walking back to the Ravenclaw tower. “When do you go on red and stop on green?’’ The door asks.“When you’re eating a watermelon!” I whisper hastily, but I can’t help but giggle.“Very good.” She says, and the door swings open.I pull off the cloak as we step inside. “How did you get this?” I whisper, yet again, hoping not to wake anyone up.“You left it in the Room of Requirements last meeting, so I grabbed it today after lunch.” He sighs lightly, but it comes out more like a yawn. In the light starting to pour in through the windows I can see dark circles starting to form underneath his eyes.“Goodnight, Scorpius.” I wave and start heading towards my dorm room.“Goodnight, Rosie.” While I stand in shock at the use of my nickname, Scorpius slips away to the boy’s dorms.

Chapter Six: Howler

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. I twist the ring Scorpius gave me. It’s silver, with a beautiful sapphire set into it.

Why did he choose to give this to me ?

“Meow,” My cat says, and jumps on my face.

“Bloody hell, Gi! Ugh!!” I shove the cat off of my face and hear rustling in the four-poster next to mine, which means I probably woke up Chris. “Sorry!” I whisper. “Gingersnap, be quiet!”

“Mrorow?” She says, then she begins purring.

“Fine. Sometimes I wish you were one of Uncle George’s Pygmy Puffs. It would be so much easier.” Gi stares up at me as if defying my statement. “Alright, Gi, but leave me alone.”

“Meeeoooooww.” She says, as if saying fine.

⋯

Crying. Perfectly normal, a reaction to hormones racing through your brain, and god knows I have plenty of those.

So why can’t I cry?

...

The next day, I’m in Herbology with Scorpius. I am completely ignoring Professor Longbottom again, although it probably doesn't matter, because he talks about his classes at home during the summer anyway.

“What?” Scorpius asks. I realize that I’ve been staring at him while I was lost in thought.

“Nothing.” I say.

Scorpius smirks. “Can't keep your eyes off me, huh?”

I blush. “No! That's not it! Shush! Pay attention!” I swat his arm.

“Rose?” Professor Longbottom asks. I whip my head around to face the front of the room and I can see everyone staring at me.

“What?” I ask.

“What is the main purpose of mimbulus mimbletonia?”

I rack my brain trying to remember. “Uh, Mimbulus mimbletonia is widely known by it defense mechanism, which is to spray a sticky substance known as stinksap.”

“Correct.” He smiles, then goes back to lecturing the class. Slowly everyone turns back to face Professor Longbottom.

...

The next morning I’m eating a bowl of hot cereal when Pig, the family owl, flies in and drops a howler on the table. I stare at it for a moment.

That can’t be good.

“Hey.” Scorpius says, sliding into the spot next to me. He opens his mouth, but I don’t hear what he says next because the howler slides on the edge of the table and hits the floor. I pick it up, the seal cracks, and the letter starts yelling at me.

“ROSE GRANGER-WEASLEY!” My father’s voice screeches. “HOW DARE YOU GO ANYWHERE NEAR THAT MALFOY FILTH!”

At first I’m confused as to what this was prompted by, but then I remember the letter I sent to them a week ago. I must’ve mentioned Scorpius. Oops . I wince.

“DO YOU NOT REMEMBER WHAT I SAID? HIS FAMILY ARE DEATH EATERS! THEY ALL BETRAYED US…” My dad continues to rant about disgusting ‘Malfoy filth’, but all I see is Scorpius slowly sliding down in his chair, all I can hear is the thunderous laughter coming from the other tables.

“EVEN YOUR MOTHER AGREES, WE TOLD YOU HOW SHE PUNCHED HIS SNOBBY FATHER IN THE FACE…” I break out of my stunned trance and quickly turn over my bowl of hot cereal, trapping the Howler underneath and muffling it. “MMMMM!” I hear. I smile sheepishly around at my fellow students and run out of the Great Hall with the Howler, still yelling loudly, but muffled against my robes and the bowl.

“That went well,” A familiar voice behind me says. I whirl around to see Scorpius.

“Yeah,” I say, rolling my eyes.

Scorpius opens his mouth and shuts it before settling on, “Did your mom really punch my dad in the face?

“According to my parents, yes.” Scorpius laughs, and I grin back.

“Yeah, somehow that doesn’t seem like something my dad would want anyone to know about,” Scorpius says between giggles.

Something tingles in the air, offsetting the mood.

Peeves flies in overhead. Of course. Way to ruin the moment.

“Ooooooooooh!” He chuckles gleefully. “Scorpius and Rose, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-”

“Shut up , Peeves!” I yell. He flies out, still singing. “Great,” I sigh.

“That’s going to spread fast,” Scorpius agrees.

I peer at him. He seems carefree, leaning against the wall, smiling and talking, but he bites his lip, and I see the same nervousness in his eyes that I saw in the first day of school. “What?” I ask him.

“Huh?” He says, snapping out of a trance.

“What is it?” I ask him.

“Nothing.” He says with a fake smile. “I’m fine.”

…

I’m not fine.

Chapter Seven: Staying Here

“Please let Professor Oakwood know if you are staying here for Christmas,” The Gray Lady intones as she floats through the Ravenclaw commons.

Scorpius sighs.

I glance up from my book, Hogwarts, A History. “Are you staying here again ?” I ask him.

“Yes.” He frowns.

“Why?” I flip to the next chapter, The Enchanted Ceiling .

He picks up a large book and peers at it. “I don’t like Christmas.” He says, not looking up from it.

“That’s impossible. Everyone likes Christmas.” I close my book and glare at him.

“I don’t like Christmas at home , then.” He turns the page in his book.

“Why not? Stockings… St. Nick… presents... what’s not to like?”

“You can talk all day, I’m still staying here,” Scorpius says.

“You’ll be alone.” I set my book down on the marble coffee table.

“It won’t be any different from last year,” He points out, but we both know it isn’t true.

His mother.

“Maybe it will.”

“How?”

“If you don’t go home this year, I’ll stay too.”

Scorpius rolls his eyes. “No, you won’t.”

“Actually, I will.” I stand up and put my hands on my hips.

He looks at me carefully. “Okay then.”

“Really?” I blink.

He shrugs. “Being stuck with you all break is preferable to going home.”

I look at him in shock for a moment. “I’ll write my Mum and Dad,” I say finally, composing myself.

“You do that,” Scorpius says, his attention back on his book.

…

I set down the book I’m reading as soon as Rose vanishes into the girl’s dorm. I’m not even sure what I was reading; I wasn’t paying attention.

She’s staying here for Christmas?  It’s a weird thought. I’ve had Christmas alone for several years now- It’s always quiet, and calm, with nobody around. I picture my typical Christmas being shattered by Rose bounding out of the girl’s dorm, wearing a horrendous sweater I’ve only ever heard about and squealing, and I can’t help but smile.

Rose emerges again, holding an envelope.

Father will be alone this year. I almost felt guilty, but then the rage builds back up behind my sternum. Maybe he deserves it.

She turns and smiles at me, and a bit of the rage ebbs away. I smile back.

“I’ll tell Professor Oakwood that I’m staying and go give this to a school owl,” she says, holding up the envelope.

I nod. “Okay.”

…

I hum quietly as I enter the common room. Everyone has already left for the train ride home, and Scorpius and I are the only Ravenclaws staying at Hogwarts for the holidays. Scorpius is sitting in front of a bookshelf, looking up at the domed ceiling covered in stars. He turns his head to look at me with a small, slightly sad smile. “Hey,” he says softly.

“Hey,” I respond, sitting next to him.

He looks back up at the stars, silent.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” I ask.

“Talk about what?” He sounds heartbroken.

“Your mum. I know she meant a lot to you.”

“She died 5 and a half months ago, Rose. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

I turn to face him. “Your mum doesn’t mean nothing, even if she’s dead.” He flinches, so I soften my voice. “I’m sorry, Scorpius. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me. But if there’s anything I can do now, just tell me, okay?” I give him a soft smile.

“Alright.” He exhales and gets up. “I’m gonna go down to the kitchens and see if there’s any food. Do you want anything?”

My stomach rumbles. “Do you think there’s any steak and kidney pie left from last night?”

“I can almost guarantee it. Be back in 20.”

…

Mum sends me a letter on Christmas Eve, saying that she misses me and wishes I was home with the family. Hugo signs at the bottom in green, standing out against the neat black lettering. Have fun, Rosie! I chuckle. Only Hugo would be happy that I’m staying at Hogwarts with Scorpius. He thinks we’re “cute”. I have to keep telling him we’re not dating.

Christmas morning I wake up to see a pile of packages at the foot of my bed. I groan when I see a lumpy present in red wrapping. Grandma Weasley. I cringe as I open it, knowing there’s going to be a sweater in there. I exhale deeply, relieved when I realize it’s blue and not maroon.

When I walk down to the commons room Scorpius is already up and has a book in his lap. Gingersnap rubs against his legs before laying down. She paws at his toes and he quickly drags them away.

“Can you please tell your cat to not bite me? That would be much appreciated.” He looks up at me. “Is that the infamous Weasley sweater?” He sounds excited. “It looks a lot softer than I thought it would. Can I feel it?”

I step forward to the couch, and pet Gingersnap. “Be nice!” I reprimand her, sticking my other arm out to Scorpius, who still has his legs curled up against him.

“That is so soft. I’m a little bit jelly.” He says, joking.

“What did you get for Christmas?”

“My dad sent me a watch.”

“That... Hm.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure how to feel about it either.”

Chapter Eight: Senior Prank But It’s Third Years

Too soon, the Christmas holiday is over and everyone returns to Hogwarts. I’d never realized just how loud everyone was. Even just people studying, their quills scratching across parchment, is louder than I thought.  It’s only the second day back and teachers have already started piling on the homework. Deciding to ignore the mountain of homework on my bed, I opt for a walk outside.

Scorpius joins me on the grounds while snow falls around us. We walk next to each other, the ground littered with big soggy flakes.

He shivers. "It is so cold out here." He tugs his cloak around him. His muffler hat is wrapped tightly over his head, but his nose is pink.

"And that is exactly why we're out here." He looks at me, a mixture of confusion and betrayal on his face. "Nobody else is out here because it's so cold, which makes it the perfect place to plan a prank."

"Who are we pranking? And why?"

"We are gonna give James a taste of his own medicine."

Scorpius giggles a little bit at that. "What?"

"You said it yourself. James is a Gryffindor bully. But what if we made him pay?"

"Rose, what are you talking about? I mean, I can get behind making him stop, but what are you planning?"

"So I say that we use my Uncle George's swamp spell and put it in his bag. Or even better, his bed, but that would be too hard because we can't get into the Gryff-unless!" I turn to face him, excited. "We had a spy on the inside." Hamilton, anyone?

"Or..." Scorpius adds, slowing down our conversation. But he looks as if a light bulb just went off in his head."We could put it in his goblet at dinner. Of course, we'd have to make sure the swamp was harmless first, but imagine having a swamp in a cup! That would be so cool!" Nerd

"Okay, so-new plan. You go talk to Professor Longbottom about a harmless swamp. He's the professor, so he should be the best source. And I'll talk to my uncle."

"Rose." He gives me a sly smile. "I have an idea. When the Gryffindor house wins house cup again we could put it in James’ cup.”

I nod at him. “Vengeance.”

…

“I’m sorry. You’re doing what?” I love this reaction.  Victoire exclaims, confusion and anger in her voice.“Look, all we need is details. Who could put it in his cup?” I ask.“Why are you two doing this?”I faux sigh. “Victoire. He’s basically just a Gryffindor bully.”She half shrugs, her light blonde hair brushing against her shoulders. “Yeah, he’s a bit annoying and all, but I don’t think he means to hurt anyone.”“Except for the Slytherins,” Scorpius mumbles.Victoire ignores him. “Look, you two should just stop. Trust me, you don’t want to get on his bad side,” She says definitively and walks out of the Room of Requirement, leaving Scorpius and me alone together.“Do you think we should stop? She seemed pretty serious.”“The one time that she ever got on James’ bad side was when she and Teddy started dating. James ignored her for three months.” I exhale. “But, I trust her. So if she says we shouldn’t we shouldn’t.”…Scorpius and I are awkward around James for a bit afterwards. Victoire keeps eyeing us in the club as if she’s assessing us. James gets suspicious though.“What are you two up to that I don’t know about?”“No-nothing.” I blurt out.He side-eyes me. “You’re lying.” He glances over to Victoire who is looking at us, her eyes pleading as if she thinks that just that is enough to keep us from pranking my cousin. He looks back at us and looks us both up and down. “This is gonna sound repulsive, but are you two dating?”“No!” says Scorpius quickly.“Hm. Interesting.” He steps back. “Alright, I’ll leave you two alone for now. But I’ve got my eyes on you.” He raises his index and middle fingers to his eyes, then points them at us.We sigh in relief as he walks away.“That was a close call.”Scorpius gives me a small smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.…“Are you sure we can’t send letters to each other over the summer?” I ask.“My parents would freak. I’m sorry Scorpius.”I shrug. “It’s alright. I didn’t expect anything different. I mean, I’m pretty sure if my dad found a letter you sent me he’d throw a fit too.”She takes a hold of my hand and lightly squeezes it. I look up at her. Her red hair, her freckles all across her face, and her smile. I smile back.This summer I’m gonna find a way for Rose and me to talk without owls.We both get off the train, separately so our families don’t think we’re hanging out. I watch Rose out the window as she runs towards her family, their arms wide open for her.My dad’s on the far side of the station, away from the entrance. Probably trying to avoid drawing attention to himself.I wait to get off the train until her family has left the station through the bricks. My first time seeing my dad in 10 months is nothing like how Rose’s family reunion went. He stands there while I lug my suitcase and Andromeda my screeching owl towards him.“Hey, Dad.”He nods solemnly at me. “Son.” His eyes look pained, but I don’t know why.Probably Mother.This is gonna be a long summer.…This is gonna be the best summer of my life. Sure I can’t talk to my best friend, but I get to play quidditch with everyone else. And sure we have to visit Gramma Weasley and Grandpa Weasley, but we also get to use their backyard as a field for quidditch and spend our days out in the sun.I’m not actually a big fan of professional quidditch, Mum says I get that from her, but it’s Weasley tradition to play when we’re all together over the holiday.Albus and I spend a lot of time together when Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny bring him and James and Lily over. So we spend part of our days outside underneath blue rhododendron bushes, looking up at the sky in between the soft petals.“I think I like Scorpius,” I say.“Oh?” He sounds disinterested. #just cousin things

“Yeah.” And I leave it at that.

…

Something is wrong.

My dad won’t come out of his office to eat or sleep in a bed or drink water. Sometimes I hear soft snoring, and I saw him asleep on his desk, his head resting against an open book.

But… he still had dark circles underneath his eyes.

“Hey, Dad?” I’d prompted when he started behaving like this.

He responded only with a grunt.

And he hasn’t responded with anything since.

We don’t have maids or house elves; my dad insists we do everything by ourselves. So I make myself and him sandwiches and pasta. I take plates up to his study and leave him be.

I think he likes the pasta. He eats more of that than the sandwiches. A couple bites. Mum used to make pasta once a week, tortellini, angel’s hair, penne, linguine. We’d go to the store and she’d let me pick out the type of pasta we’d have that week. I too love pasta

I should tell someone about Dad. Maybe they can help him. My immediate thought is Rose, but she told me to not contact her over the summer because her family would freak out. My dad told me to never talk to my Grandpa Lucius, and Grandmother Narcissa died a couple years ago. And we don’t have any other family, so I guess my only choice is Rose.

In my room, I grab a piece of parchment and a quill and pen to her.

Dear Rose,

I know you told me not to contact you over the summer, but I think this is really important.

…

My dad hasn’t been talking to me or eating anything besides a couple bites of pasta and sandwiches every so often and he hasn’t left his study in days.  Maybe your parents can help? I wasn’t sure who else I could contact.

Your friend,

Scorpius

I blink, trying to think about the letter Scorpius sent me.

His great grey owl Andromeda nudges my hand and I give her a treat. “You stay here. I’ll be back with a letter for Scorpius.”She preens her feathers, and I take that as a yes.

I run down the stairs, my feet pounding against the steps.

“Mum!” I call, knowing she’ll be more likely to help.

“What is it, dear?” She asks from her favourite blue armchair. Her glasses are slipping down her nose and she has a book in her hand, per usual. Soft grown up Hermione is what I live for. 

I walk towards her carefully, making sure my dad isn’t around.

“Scorpius’ dad needs our help.”

…

“Malfoy needs OUR   help?” My father exclaims. “And what has that idiot ever done for us?”

“Ronald, try and be a little more sensitive. His wife died last year and he’s obviously depressed.”

He grunts then looks up at my mum, and he seems to understand. He sighs in defeat. “Alright. But what can we do? Drag him out of his office? I doubt that would work.” Mum glares at him. “I’ll go call St. Mungo’s.”

…

“So what are you gonna do with the kid? He can’t stay in a big empty house all by himself. And it looks like the only living relative is Lucius Malfoy, who worked for You-Know-Who.” The guy from St. Mungo’s is standing there in a white doctor’s jacket, all buttoned up nice and pretty, staring down at me and my parents.

Someone else is inside talking to Scorpius and I saw multiple people go in to talk to his dad.

I feel bad for both of them.

Thinking about Scorpius, I almost miss it, but Mum glances at Dad, then says “We’ll take him.”

…

“You can’t avoid it forever.” Scorpius won’t look at me. He looks down at the dirt, rubbing the back of his neck. “Scorpius.”

He finally looks up, his eyes bright with tears. “I don’t want to see her,” He says. “If I see her, it makes it real.”

“You kids coming?” Dad is already inside the cemetery, and he waits behind while Mum and Hugo move forward towards the Black lot.

“Yeah,” I call forward, and I look to Scorpius.

He looks at me and sighs.

We move forward together.

…

Dad is already there by the time we reach her grave.

It’s not the first time we’ve visited, and it won’t be the last, but that doesn’t make this part any easier.

I look at Dad.

He looks at me.

The Weasleys lag behind, too polite to impose themselves in our situation, but I kind of wish they would.

Looking over me, Dad says, “Thank you.” It’s stiff and brittle and I’m pretty sure it’s the first time the words have passed his lips.

Mr. Weasley looks shocked. Then he looks uncomfortable. “Uh, yeah, no problem mate,” He says.

A bit of trademark distaste shows in Dad’s eyes, and I allow myself to relax. It fades without him saying anything- another first- and he looks back to me and steps forward to crush me in a hug.

I freeze, and he pulls away before I can hug back. He has tears in his eyes, and if he starts crying, I know I’m done for.

Instead, he says “thank you” again, and the Weasleys leave us alone to grieve..

I almost wish they didn’t have to give me back.

...

The summer is interesting, to say the least. After Scorpius’s extended stay at my house, life falls back into its normal routines. Dad tells me that he’s fine with me being friends with Scorpius now that he knows he isn’t “evil like his father” and I have to struggle not to roll my eyes.

You’d think after everything that happened Dad would have changed his mind about Mr. Malfoy, but I guess they have too much history.

The rumors I overhear on Platform 9 ¾ make me want to throw up.

Why can’t people just be friends?

this chapter is depressing af

Chapter Nine: Quidditch Is What Brings Us Together Today

oh yeah, it’s a princess bride reference

The Hogwarts Express seems different this time. It's where Scorpius and I say hello on September 1st and goodbye at the end of the school year. I guess this time’s just different because he lived with me for a month during the summer before his dad was deemed fit to live at home again. So there's that. But there's also the familiarity with going to Hogwarts on September 1st on the train that calms my nerves.

I haven't seen him in 3 weeks. Will he have dyed his hair like he did second year? Will he have cut his hair short? I inhale and exhale. Checking the time on my wristwatch I'm surprised when it clicks over to 10:57. Where's Scorpius? He's usually here by now. I look all around the platform, but I don't see any sign of his or his father's unique white-blond hair. I start to panic when the clock ticks to 10:58. Everyone still on the platform is wishing their child goodbye as they usher them onto the train.

Where is he?

I sigh in relief when he comes barreling through the brick wall and onto the station, pushing a trolley with his luggage and Andromeda. He slips past people, rolling his cart faster and faster to get across the platform.

He makes it on with a minute to spare.

I pet Gingersnap in between her ears while waiting for Scorpius to get to the compartment. “You’re so cute, aren’t you?” I press the pad of my finger to Gi’s nose.

The door opens, startling me.

“Hey,” says Scorpius, waving at me awkwardly.

“Hey! How was the rest of your summer?”

He shrugs. “It was alright. We did pretty normal things, like going to the opera.” Weird flex but alright.  He sets Andromeda’s cage down on the seat and unlatches it, letting her fly free around the compartment. She hops out, surveys her surroundings, then flies up to the luggage racks above our heads. She preens her wings, then lets her head rest in between her shoulders. Her body rocks slightly with every movement of the train.I scoff. “I can’t believe she just settles right in like that.”“Yeah,” he looks up at her. “It is pretty unbelievable.” He looks back at me and takes a seat on the red cushioned booth. “Anyway, how was your summer? Did you play any more quidditch with your family?”I smile. “Yes, actually. We went over to Gramma and Grandpa Weasley’s house and we saw everyone right before school, so we had time to play a bunch of quidditch instead of doing any studying.”“Wow.” He raises his eyebrow and teasingly says “You’re getting to be so rebellious. How dare you not like studying all the time?”I laugh. “You actually gonna try out this year? I know you have rebellious tendencies of your own.”Scorpius smirks. “Yep. Seeker. Will I see you there?”I try to remain as nonchalant as possible. “Maybe,” I shrug. I love 4th year Rose.  

....

“Join the Quidditch team!” Riley Aberforth, the new Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, stands in the common room, a pile of flyers in zir hands. “Plenty of openings!” One of last years’ beaters walks by, and ze throws a flyer at him and hexes it to stick to his clothes.

I feel a little bad- almost all of our old players graduated last year, and it’s hard to find people willing to juggle Quidditch and studies. “C’mon, Riley, now I’ll never get it off,” The beater complains, trying and failing to pull it off of his robe sleeve.

“That’s the idea,” Ze replies savagely, and he sighs.

“Hey-” Scorpius walks up to zir, scratching the back of his neck. “I was wondering when seeker sign-ups were?”

Aberforth looks immensely relieved. “Two weeks from now,” Ze said, passing a flier to him. “Don’t miss it.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Scorpius says and throws a wink over his shoulder at me.

‘Shut up,’ I mouth at him, and he chuckles as he disappears into the boy’s dormitories.

I watch as Aberforth sticks a flier to the wall with a permanent sticking charm.

Maybe there'll be an easy chaser spot, I think.

…

I exhale and grip the handle of my broom tighter. Now that I’m here, everything seems exaggerated. I look to the stands at Scorpius. He waves, and I smile awkwardly, waving back. I’m really doing this.

Scorpius had been talking about trying out for seeker since he came over for the summer, but I only decided to try out for the chaser position three days before tryouts. It left me with a bit of a time crunch but, well, too late to worry about that now.

“And… start!” Aberforth throws the quaffle straight up into the air. One of the other chasers gets to it first- she dives and twists up in a move that I, luckily, recognize from years of playing with Albus and his sneaky tricks. I get the ball from her easily, and in a whirl of movement, I’ve already scored.

Aberforth blows zir whistle and looks impressed. “Good job, Weasley!”

I blush, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “It’s nothing, really,” I try to avoid, and ze smirks.

“Precisely,” Ze says, and throws the quaffle in the air once more.

...

It’s my turn.

There are a few assembled people- a blonde girl with bright eyes, a boy with comically oversized glasses- but most notably is Lorcan Scamander, looking completely out of place and practically swimming in his borrowed gear.

“Lorcan?” I ask, bewildered. “What’re you doing here?”

He jumps, then puffs out his chest, glaring. “I have every right to be here as you do,” He says defensively.

“Right, of course,” I say, “It’s just you don’t really seem… the type.” He manages to look even more outraged. “I can fly!”

“Right,” I say.

He finally deflates a little. “I mean, I heard Rosie was trying out, so I figured… why not?”

I blink.

He crosses his arms.

I blink again.

“Right,” I repeat.

He huffs and opens his mouth, clearly readying to lecture me, but luckily, Aberforth blows on zir whistle, and he closes his mouth.

“Alright, everyone know the rules?” Ze calls, and there’s no way ze isn’t using a sonorous charm. Even zir lungs aren’t that big.

Most people nod, but I frown. “No,” I say.

Ze sighs sharply. “Basically, I’m going to release the snitch.” Ze opens zir hand to reveal the snitch, wings fluttering against zir palm. “When someone catches it, my wand will flash- like so.” Ze lets it go, only to catch it out of the air immediately. Zir wand flashes a bright blue light twice. “When you catch it, release it immediately.”

“Okay,” I say.

“Whoever catches it the most times wins,” Ze finishes. “Three… two… one… go!” Ze lets it go, and immediately it takes off, zipping up into the sky and blending into the cloud coverage in the span of a blink.

Everyone scrambles to their brooms, Lorcan nearly falling off, and the game begins.

...

An hour of rigorous gameplay and half an hour of random, unannounced bludger attacks later, the game is over.

The blonde girl comes first with 13 catches.

I come at a close second with 8.

The boy with the glasses is third with 5.

Two angry-looking boys yell at each other in what sounds like French with a tie of 3.

Lorcan catches a grand total of 1.

Disappointed, I go to leave, but Aberforth quickly catches up, grabbing onto the edge of my sleeve. “Hey, Malfoy, wait up.”

I stop and turn to zir. “What?”

“Listen, I know what I said, but I think you have potential,” Ze explains. “Would you like to take a Chaser position alongside Weasley?” When my eyes widen, ze smirks. “Don’t tell her yet, postings aren’t up until after keeper tryouts.”

“Yes, of course,” I exclaim. “Thank you so much!”

“Our secret,” Ze says with a wink, and then ze is gone, jogging back to meet with the winner

When I meet up with Rose, she looks sympathetic. “I’m sorry you didn’t get seeker,” She says.

“Eh,” I say with a shrug and a broad smile. “I think everything’s gonna work out.”

...

Rose zooms across the other side of the field as we both head for the goals. I manage to get near the keeper from Gryffindor who’s tall and burly and looks like he could be better suited as a beater with his large shoulders.

Rose passes the quaffle to me, and I throw it into the hoop.

“It’s only their fourth game of the season and they’re already tearing up the scoreboards-That’s another ten points to Ravenclaw!” I know sports *laughs nervously*

We’re becoming awesome players. Not being able to play with Rose and her family was annoying, but now I actually get to play with her and some of her siblings are on the opposite team.

“It looks like Potter is diving towards something- has he spotted the golden snitch?” Jordan's voice booms across the fields. “Hare is going after it too and it looks like it’s gonna be a close call! Oh, and she pulls up right before hitting the ground-and Potter is down!”

I look down to where he’s crash-landed on the wet grass. He gets up on his broom and flies back up to where we are.

Good move, Hare .

The burly keeper throws the quaffle back into the game, and Rose and I set into motion, me going for the ball and her towards the goal. Finnigan from Gryffindor flies up and sends a bludger right for Rose. I can only see it hurtling towards her before shouting a warning.

“Watch out Rose!”

She ducks, but it still manages to hit her elbow, knocking her even more off balance. “Thanks!” She calls to me. She still has the quaffle held in her good hand. She flips herself right side on her broom and passes it to Aberforth, who scores the goal easily.

The game goes on and on, but it doesn’t drag by at all. The adrenaline keeps me watching every move my team makes and I follow the quaffle with my eyes and broom.

Bordeaux scores a point.

“That’s another 10 points to Ravenclaw, making  it 190-160 Ravenclaw,” says Jordan. “This is a close call for Gryffindor, who has won all of their games for the last 2 years.”

I pass the quaffle to Rose.

“And the game’s over! The Ravenclaw seeker has caught the snitch, ending Gryffindor’s streak. Good job, Alaska Hare and the rest of the Ravenclaw team!”

...

“Good job team!” Aberforth calls from the top of people. Ze’re crowd surfing. The crowd whoops.

“Ravenclaw! Ravenclaw! Ravenclaw!” They chant, and I join in. Adrenaline still rushes through my veins.

Scorpius makes his way over to me, two butterbeers in his hands.”Do you want one?”

I take it. “Thanks.”

“No prob.” He rests his back against the wall, taking a sip of his drink. “They’ve also got some roast beef sandwiches from the kitchens if you want one.”

“Sure. Where?” I look over to him. He has a moustache of foam on his upper lip. I giggle. “You might wanna wipe that off.” I point at it.

He blushes and wipes it off with his sleeve. “Better?”

“Yep. It’s all gone now.”

He sticks his free hand in his jeans pocket. “So, sandwiches?”

I follow him to the corner of the commons room, where people are munching on the food offered at the table. I grab a sandwich, and Scorpius grabs the same, plus an apple.

“Let’s go sit down.” I motion towards the seats. Most of them are occupied, but there’s half of a couch still open. I set my plate and drink on the table, and settle into the soft couch. Scorpius does the same.

“Is it bad that I wish there weren’t as many people celebrating in the commons?” He takes a bite of his apple.

I shrug. “I don’t think so?” We barely see almost the entire house in one place besides the great hall for meals. “It’s weird to have everyone in here.” Especially partying. Everyone either has a drink or food in their hands and are chatting. Though there is one person I can’t seem to find. “Where’s Hare?” I ask.

“Probably enjoying the peace of the library.” He sighs wistfully. mood

Chapter Ten: Christmas At The Weasley’s 

I bounce on my heels as I scoop Gingersnap up and stuff her into her container.

“Meoooooooow,” She whines, and I shush her.

“Be quiet, Gi, we’re going home!” I shut the latch on my suitcase and drag both her and the suitcase down into the common room.

Scorpius is sitting by the fire, staring into the crackling flames and not moving.

“You’re staying here again?” I ask. I try not to sound surprised, but he notices. I can tell by the way his shoulders curl up around his shoulders.

“Yep,” He says. “It’s not any different than any other year.”

“You don’t think…” I trail off. It’s not my place. “Right.”

He turns to look at me, and he smiles sadly. “Happy Christmas, Rose,” He says.

I smile back. “Happy Christmas,” I respond.

I would stay with him, but after last year Mum made me promise to come back this Christmas, and even though my parents have warmed up to Scorpius, I don’t want to risk making them resent him.

He turns back to the fire, so I leave without another word.

It feels wrong, but I don’t know what else to say.

…

I climb up the stairs to the Hogwarts Express and walk into my usual compartment. I close the door and let Gingersnap climb out of her cage and explore the compartment. Satisfied, she curls up on the seat and falls asleep. I buy and eat an entire box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans without too much trouble. ( I got a Vomit, Earwax, and a Boogey flavour). The ride is quiet, but I don’t mind. Silence is better than sharing a compartment with James.

I get off the train and see my family.

“How was Hogwarts?” Ron asks my brother and me.

“It was so great, Dad! I got to see a hippogriff!” Hugo says excitedly.

“It was fun!” I say. “I joined the quidditch team and Scorpius, Bordeaux and I were scoring a bunch of points, and our seeker, Alaska Hare, is really good. Like really good.”

“I’m gonna join the quidditch team when I get older!” Hugo announces proudly.

“I look forward to beating my little brother.” I tease.

He sticks his tongue out at me.

“I’m glad you two had fun.” Mum rolls her eyes and picks up my trunk. “Come on,” She says and leaves. I follow her to the car. On the way there, I see Mr. Malfoy looking hopefully at the Hogwarts Express. Why I wonder, is he waiting for someone who will never come? He waits for Scorpius every year. Hopeful, but deep down, knowing the truth. Why I wonder, avoid your family like fire?

⋯

When I get home, the whole family is there for Christmas Eve. Uncle George and Aunt Angelina, with Roxanne and Fred II. Gramma Molly and Grandpa Arthur, Uncle Percy and  Aunt Audrey, with Molly and Lucy, Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur, with Dominique and Louis, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, with James, Albus, and Lily. Victoire and Teddy also show up together. Hagrid is there, too, and Professor Longbottom.

“Happy Christmas, Rose,’’ Professor Longbottom says, and then he has to leave. Hagrid drops off his presents and then is on his way, and then the place goes into chaos. The only other children besides me that aren’t crazy are Victoire and Teddy, and they’re technically not ‘children’, both being 18. James, Dominique, Louis, Hugo, Roxanne, and Fred II all run off to play Quidditch, and Lily, Molly, and Lucy all group up and giggle about things, while Albus sits quietly on an armchair. “Albus!” I wave at him. He gets up and wanders over to me.

“Did you hear,” he says, and then starts ranting about the wonders of unicorns. I smile and nod, but I’m not listening; I’m wondering what Scorpius is doing, alone at Hogwarts without his family.

Soon we are all crowded into the kitchen and living room for dinner. In the summer we always eat outside, but since it’s the Christmas holidays we’re all inside enjoying the warmth. There’s a strong chorus of “Can you please pass the potatoes?” and “Is that turkey? I’ll have some of that, please!” throughout the kitchen. I relax when I step into the quiet living room. At least, quiet compared to the kitchen. You can still hear everyone in the kitchen talking to each other as they pile food onto their plates. I flop onto the couch, careful not to spill my food onto the floor. Soon enough everybody starts walking into the living room.

After everyone eats, it’s Hugo, Victoire, Teddy, and I’s job to put away the food and do the dishes the muggle way. This leaves my prankster of a cousin free to do whatever he pleases.

I hear a very familiar sounding song being sung by James and I pale. “SCORPIUS AND ROSIE, SITTING IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MARRIAGE, THEN COMES THE BABY IN A BABY CARRIAGE!” He bellows.

“Sorry guys, I have to go!” I tell my brother, Victoire, and Teddy. I run up the stairs into the room I’m sharing with Lily and lock the door behind me.

I need to focus, I tell myself. Focus. Focus. Focus.

I take a deep breath in, then exhale. My mind is still racing, but at least my heart has slowed.

I lift one of the floorboards up to reveal a box. I open it and see all the pictures I’ve taken. I look through one pile of Scorpius and I, too angry with James and too embarrassed of what he might have told everyone else to bother looking through the family pictures, look through my pictures of Scorpius instead. My favourite picture of us is when we were on the roof. I bring my camera everywhere, I think, amused. I fall into a fitful sleep, skipping dessert entirely.

⋯

I momentarily forget about my anger with James on Christmas morning. I rush down the long flight of stairs from Lily and I’s room into the family room and start emptying my stocking. All the kids are already there, munching on Saint Nick’s leftover cookies. I brush past them, staring at the mound of presents underneath the tree. I sigh as I see a small box under the tree with my name on it from Gramma Molly. That can only mean one thing. Sweaters. Sure enough, a navy sweater with an R on it is in that box and I put it on, for now, vowing to never wear it again after this day.  

I spend the day mostly happy, (as long as I steer clear of James), preferring to spend my time with Albus (who I am quite fond of) and take pictures.

“Maybe you could be a photographer for the Daily Prophet one day Rosie,” Lily suggests, “Since you love taking pictures so much.”

“Maybe,” I reply.

⋯

Too soon, or perhaps not soon enough, it is time to return to school.

“Good-bye Rosie, see you after schools’ up!” Mum calls after me as I board the Hogwarts Express.

“Bye, Mum,” I say, rolling my eyes to myself.

⋯

I get off the Hogwarts Express without my luggage or Gingersnap, trusting the house elves to take care of them.

I smile as I see Scorpius running towards me from school.

“I was looking everywhere for you!” He says when he catches up to me.

“Why?” I ask.

He takes a deep breath and asks, “If 120-X = 3 times 4, then what is X?” Why can’t I be doing this kind of math in school right now

I burst out laughing. “You ran all the way out HERE to ask me a question about homework?!”

“Yeah,” Scorpius says, looking confused, still panting slightly from running. “Why wouldn't I?”

“Nevermind. What class is this for? Arithmancy?”

“Yep!.”

“Huh,” I say. I didn’t know he took that class.

“Yeah.”

I rack my brains for the answer (I’m out of practice!) and say “It’s negative one hundred eight.”

“Thanks,” he says. He runs his left hand through his hair, and it sticks up. I take a step towards him and flatten it. He looks up at me and opens his mouth to speak. “Hey, um. Do you want to hang out sometime?”

I allow myself a small smile and say jokingly “Don’t we already hang out?” He looks heartbroken. My hand, which is at my side seems to have a mind of its own. It reaches for his hair and I run my fingers through it, successfully messing it up again.. I take a step closer to him and lift his chin up so that his eyes meet mine. “Scorpius,” I say. I hear a crash from the woods, but don’t turn my head. It’s probably just Grawp having another tantrum. Sometimes I wonder why they let him teach. I hear the rustling of the leaves and students’  voices carrying across the lawn.

Wait, there’s no wind. I think, why would the leaves be rustling? Scorpius stiffens, his eyes full of alarm. I turn around and see a beast. It’s lean and almost hairless. It growls.

“Run,” I say. And we do as if a werewolf is right on our heels. So subtle. 

Scorpius trips in front of me and we both go flying. I’m breathing heavily now, adrenaline is rushing through my body and I feel as if we’re being watched. Oh, how I wish I was safe inside the Ravenclaw common room, snuggling with a book in my favourite armchair.

I hear panting, and at first, I think it’s Scorpius, but these breaths sound more… dog-ish. I look five feet to my right and see the beast. It’s sharp canines protrude from its mouth, saliva drips onto the grass and I identify it. Werewolf.

I put my hand in my pocket, searching for my wand. It’s not there. I left it in my dormitory. I mentally bang my head. Stupid, stupid, stupid…Scorpius is lying beside me, barely conscious. “Give me your wand.” I hiss at him. He doesn’t respond. I frantically search through his robes. “Where is it?!? Where did you put your wand?!?” I finally find it and raise it to where the werewolf was standing. It’s gone.

I wake Scorpius enough that he can lean on my shoulder and walk. I lead him to the Infirmary where Miss Moone hovers over us,  warning us to be careful and such things. She starts ranting as she grabs a bottle, but I focus on Scorpius’s face, zoning out.

I sit in a daze by Scorpius’s bed for hours, longer than Miss Moone would usually let a visitor stay, but I sensed that she took pity on me as it is no secret how close Scorpius and I are close. Please excuse the poor grammar. We are but poor grammar nerds who did not notice this when writing or editing. 

Eventually, she shoo’s me off, insisting that I need to sleep, and I return to my bunk, although I do anything but sleep. Instead, I stare at the wall, Scorpius's unconscious form flashing through my brain every time I close my eyes.

…

The sun’s pink rays scrape the sky as I walk out of the dormitory. I sneak down the halls to the Infirmary.  Once I see him lying in the bed I feel the adrenaline fade and I feel as if I am made of lead. I sit in the chair beside his bed and feel my eyes droop.

I am woken by someone shaking me.  “Rose Weasley, GET UP!!!” I turn my head and find Miss Moone’s face three inches from mine.

“Huh?” I say groggily (I never was a morning person).

“You’re going to miss your classes.” My face remains emotionless. “It’s already half past nine. Get up!”

“It’s Saturday. Leave me alone.” Rose is making this up, or is confused. don’t 2 her And she does. But not after protesting a little bit more. I am left in the clean, cold silence. I find a blanket and fall asleep again.

Chapter Eleven: Hogsmeade

I love this chapter

A few days later everything goes back to normal, or as normal as things can be when you see a werewolf. Scorpius gets out of the infirmary and we celebrate by finishing the boatload of homework we both have.  

As we work on our Transfiguration homework Scorpius says “Miss Moone said you were at my bed night  and day.”

I blush a little, then nod. I haven’t done much talking the last few days, and I think Scorpius is starting to worry. I can’t stop thinking about that werewolf. Hogwarts is supposed to be protected from them.

Scorpius waves his hand in front of my face. “Hello? Anybody in there?”

I nod. He doesn’t accept my answer, so I say “Yeah, I’m here.” I look at his eyes which today are more blue than grey. I smile, thinking of that night on the roof…

“Hello. Earth to Rose!” Scorpius says, snaking his fingers in front of my face.

“Huh?” I snap back to reality. “Sorry. I got distracted.”

“Obviously.” He snorts.

I smile at him and turn back to my homework.

“Night and day,” Scorpius repeats.

“Yes! Night and day! Now can you focus?” I snap.

He grins devilishly. “Hm. I don't think I want to.”

“Ugh.” I lay my head on the table. “We're not getting any homework done tonight, are we?” I groan.

“Now, why would you think that?” He says, feigning innocence.

I grin. “Oh, I don't know.”

He grins back. “Hogsmeade?”

“Tonight?” I ask.

“Yep.”

“Like, right now?”

“Yep.”

I sigh heavily. “Oh, why not?”

Scorpius laughs. “Exactly my point.”

He grabs his forest green messenger bag from the back of his chair. We sneak out through the passage behind the one-eyed witch, using the invisibility cloak to shield us from prying eyes and to make sure Miss Cod doesn’t catch us.

I grudgingly follow him out of Hogwarts and into Hogsmeade. I wrap my jacket close to my body in the freezing tunnel. Before opening the trap door in Honeydukes we make sure that nobody’s there. No footsteps can be heard. Peeking up we see the light on, but nobody seems to be in the room. Quietly, we make our way upstairs, invisible.

We slip past the worker and the counter. We make our way out of Honeydukes and down the block before entering the Three Broomsticks. Before we do so we take off the Invisibility Cloak and put it in his bag, brushing the snow off of it.

We buy two butterbeers and I lead us to a booth as far away from the door as possible. We each take a seat, Scorpius sliding across the table from me. Peculiar. I lean my back against the wall and stretch my legs across the seat. He remains sitting up in a more formal position, and I frown a little. It's unlike him to be so formal. Usually, he's the one to stretch out first. He rolls his glass in between his hands, something he doesn’t usually do unless he’s nervous. ;)

I sit forward, his nervousness making me nervous. “What is it?” I demand.

“What?” He asks, setting his butterbeer down and reddening a little. ;)

I narrow my eyes at him suspiciously and sit back.

He opens his mouth, then closes it again, a look of wistfulness in his eyes. ;)

“What?!” I demand.

“I- it's nothing!” He says defensively.

“I’ve known you for four years and you expect me to think it’s nothing?”

“Well- well, there's this- well, it's- well,”

“Oh my god. Spill!” I say, leaning forward again.

“Well, “ he grins sheepishly at me as I glare at him. “It's- it's. There’s a girl.”

“WHAT?!” I yell and the few people in the Three Broomsticks looks at me like I’m crazy.

“Stop making this harder for me!” He whines.

“Fine.” I glare at him and sit back. “Go on.”

“You see, this girl, well-” he clears his throat.“I kinda like her.” He looks down at the table, blushing profusely.

“Oh.” Inside I  feel like a deflated balloon, but I try to hide it. “What's her name?”

“Well,” Scorpius says blushing even more than he already was, “she's- she's- well- her name is Rose,” He doesn’t look up at me.

“Me?” I ask. I feel as if all the wind has been knocked out of me. I can’t even breathe, let alone talk. I open and close my mouth, probably looking like a fish while Scorpius rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.We love reoccuring themes.  At last, I regain my breath. “Yes.”He looks up at me, confused. “What?”I smile at him. “Yes, I’ll go out with you.”He blushes even more and downs his butterbeer in one gulp. “Want some more?” He asks, pointing at my half-empty glass. I nod. We stay there for an hour or two more, dancing around us now dating.When we finally leave the light has faded from the sky and only a hint of the purple is left. The night air is cold against my face and my hair whips at me. I can’t seem to keep a smile off my face as I walk next to Scorpius. He carefully clasps his hand in mine and I let him. We walk side by side back to Hogwarts through the tunnel, holding hands. #awkward

⋯

I grin as I lay in bed, unable to sleep. The feeling of giddiness is overwhelming me. I can't believe it! He asked me out!!! Well, sort of. But it still counts! My only problem in the whole world is how Dad will feel.

I sit up in bed, suddenly worried. How will he feel? Will he throw a fit again? Will he not care? Will he be happy for me?! How will my friends feel? How will Mum feel? How will anyone feel?? Will everyone hate me? Will they think less of me? Will they be disappointed and tell me I can do better?

Stop it, I chide myself. It’ll be fine.

With that thought, I slowly drift into a dreamless sleep.  

…

“Hey,” Scorpius says as I walk down the hall towards Divination, “Meet me in the library during lunch.”

“Okay. Bye babe,” I say teasingly. He blushes and waves, darting away, in the wrong direction. I laugh. “It's a miracle that boy hasn't gotten lost already,” I say to myself.

“Who?” A voice says to my left. I whirl in that direction and see a girl with auburn hair and huge green eyes walking next to me.

“Oh. Just my friend.” I say with a small smile.

“That boy with the blonde hair?” She asks.

“Yes,” I say carefully. I glance at her robes. Weird. Ravenclaw. Why don't I know her? “What year are you in?”

“Oh, I'm in fourth. I just like to keep to myself.” She says, nodding. I notice that she has a copy of the Quibbler in her hands, a magazine written by my friend’s mum Luna Scamander about all sorts of crazy stuff.

“Oh. Okay,” I say as we arrive in divination. I sit at a desk, grab some parchment, and stare at the clock.

All too soon, class is over and I am thrown into the craziness that is pre-lunch hallways. If you thought Muggle school was bad before lunch, try going to a magic school with levels and 142 staircases that move around on their own accord. It's horrible, but I manage to shove and push my way through the crowd to the library.

Chapter Twelve: Strange Conversations

I sit at a table in the library, surrounded by books. Where is she? I wonder.

Finally, the library door swings open, revealing Rose, her face flushed. I catch a glimpse of the huge crowds swarming outside of the library. She slams the door shut and takes a deep breath, adjusting her robes and smoothing out her frizzy hair. She glances around the library before noticing me with a small smile.

“Hey,” she says, sliding into a chair across from me. Her eyes scan the books stacked on the table and pulls one off the top.

“A History of Magic ?” she reads aloud.

“Homework,” I say, and she sets it down, nodding.

“So is this like… a date?” she asks.

“Yeah. Sort of,” I say, feeling heat rise into my cheeks.

“Okay,” she says slowly.

“Okay,” I say back.

She grins at me, setting her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her fists. “So.”

“So,” I repeat.

“Homework,” she says, playfully raising an eyebrow at me.

“Yes, right,” I say, looking down at my parchment. I’m supposed to be summarizing A History Of Magic, but I can't help but glance up at Rose as I write, watching as her hair slips from behind her ear and in front of her eyes, blocking them from view.

She reaches up and tucks her hair back, keeping it up with a hair clip she seemingly pulled from thin air. Her brow furrows as she works on her potions homework, chewing on her thumbnail absentmindedly.

I return my focus to my homework, refreshing my ink and continuing to write. A librarian walks by, smiling down on us as she restocks the shelves. I try to ignore her but it's hard not to as she openly watches us, her eyes feeling like needles on my back.

“Is it just me or is that librarian staring at us?” Rose whispers to me.

“She is definitely staring at us,” I agree.

We both glance up at the librarian, who suddenly is out of books and hurries off.

I grin at Rose, who giggles slightly. She checks her watch then sits up with a start.

“Oh no! We’re going to be late for class!” She says, gathering up her parchment and ink and stuffing them into her side bag.

...

We rush into Potions a few minutes late, with a disapproving look from Professor Engleman. “Ten points from Ravenclaw for tardiness,” he says.

I wince. “He always had a thing against being late,” I whisper to Scorpius, who nods.

When I look at him, I feel a bubble of happiness grow inside me as I realize, for the second time that day, that he asked me out, and that we’re dating.  No, you asked him out.

He gives me a smile, the corner of his lip turning up, before turning back to our empty cauldron.

On the board reads the instructions for brewing Veritaserum, the truth potion. “Get along with it then,” Professor Engleman says, waving at us with his hand.  

“I wonder if Professor Engleman would notice if I slipped some into his drink,” Scorpius whispers to me, nodding at the flask Professor Englman is drinking from.

I giggle quietly, which Professor Engleman hears.

“No talking while brewing!” he snaps. “This should be where 100% of your attention is,” he hisses, pointing at my cauldron. “Five points from Ravenclaw.”

After we brew the potion, Professor Engleman assigns us homework, an essay about Veritaserum.

“I hate Engleman's strict rules!” I groan as we exit the class.

“Yes. I agree that they are quite extreme,” a voice says from behind us.

I turn around to see who it is. “Oh, hey Alaska.” I wave at her. She smiles back. Lorcan’s standing next to her, his hands shoved into his pockets, and a scowl on his face. I choose to ignore him. The arse.  This made me laugh.

“You ready for the next game?” Alaska asks. She’s always kind of quiet, especially when playing quidditch, but it seems to be the only thing she’ll willingly talk about.

“Only if you are.” I snap my fingers and point finger guns at her.

She laughs, her head leaned back for a harsh bark of a laugh. ”I hope so.”

I smile nervously and look back to where Lorcan is. I find him glaring at Scorpius, and I’m eager to knock him over the head with one of my books and tell him to knock it off. I suffice for kicking my leg out behind me and hitting him in the shin.

Lorcan quickly turns back to me with a forced smile. “Anyway, Alaska and I have to go. Come on!” he says, grabbing her hand and pulling her away towards the courtyard.

She looks bewildered. “But-”

“No, no, we'll be late for class!” He says with forced cheer.

“I wonder what that was about,” Scorpius says.

“Yeah,” I agree. “I wonder.” I hate Lorcan ngl

[movedto-mementomoreeyes]

so i saw newsies twice this weekend at my local community college

these are some important things from each show

first of all their jack looked exactly like jerjor?? he was so good

like when i first saw him i was like Huh is that baby jeremy jordan? little teenage jerjor?

anyway crutchie was also very cute he had a pretty face and fluffy brown hair and fuck my uwus

they kinda rushed their lines throughout but it was all kids and not like a Pro Production so,, i’m lettin em off the hook for tht

the santa fe prologue was so,, pretty and lyrical just like in the soundtrack i was yellin

also this is when i’ll note there’s two string players in the pit and the violin is my orchestra teacher at school so i got to say “YOU SUCK” when i saw her at intermission before raving abt how AMAZING SHE IS LIKE DUDE SHE’S THE ONLY VIOLIN OUT OF TWELVE PEOPLE AND SHE CARRIED SO WELL

race was so short?? he was very short and very chaotic

also he wore a big red flannel and i was like “thts definitely not his” and i’ll get to this again later

albert was also very short and had a higher voice (race’s was surprisingly deep) and i was ,, he’s so cute albert was very cute

ALSO SPECS WAS A GIRL. SHE WAS THE BEST CAST MEMBER.

race: chatting w specs from another part of the lodging tower thing // albert: sneaks the cigar from race’s back pocket // race, whipping around: HEY TH

carrying the banner had so much! energy! and they did a bit of the original choreo from the live recording it was rlly good

there were a lot of girlsies and one of them (splasher) went to my school a while back and she was so GOOD

ALSO THEY HAD A BOOTS

katherine looked and sounded like sarah schauer and she was,, so good

romeo was very very tall like i went out after the show and i hit his shoulders (i’m 5’9”.)

so many pirouettes. so much jumping over each other.

oscar was very very tall?? and morris was rlly short i was like Whoa!

also oscar was triple cast as jacobi and the guy jack sells davey’s pape to he was so talented

“whatEVER. happened. to ROMANCE!”

crutchie was so sweet. he was so sweet.

davey was so awkward in his vest and tie and button-up

and les was so EXPRESSIVE the whole time he was so talented

they all only got like 1-2 papes each but thts bc they only had one stack to grab from so it was ok but it was funny when jack counted davey’s one pape over and over again before WHOA NEW KID’S RIGHT

i’m sayin this now. i’m so sorry to the ppl i sat beside and in front of bc i went feral through the whole thing

also i’m sorry to ethan for going feral On him bc i’d grab his hand when i got rlly excited so i didn’t Flap Flap Flap and Kick Time

pulitzer was so tall and proud and his stage presence,, wow

ALSO SEITZ WAS PLAYED BY A GIRL AND I YELLED

she and hannah were very cute and seitz’s dress was so PRETTY

pulitzer’s voice was so good,, wow

davey yellin PAPER! PAPER! EVENIN PAPE HERE! was so cute bc when he got turned down he was :0?

n then he was >:0 when jack lied and more >:0 when les lied

“our father taught us not to lie” “yeah? mine taught me not to STAHVE”

SNYDER WAS ACTUALLY SCARY HE WAS SO SO SCARY TO ME

he had this weird cape-coat thing and a cane he kept drumming his fingers on and a bowler hat

the chase scene was a lot longer than normal???

medda was white which made me :\ but she was still very talented and motherly so

my girl splasher was a bowery beauty and she hammed it up so much more than the other girls i’m sorry i had to say what’s true

that’s rich was so good and i rlly liked the set for the bowery!! it was rlly pretty

also bunsen’s role as the theatre man looked like a carnival hawker i giggled @ his pinstriped vest

katherine nearly smacked jack when she yelled DO YOU MIND??

jojo was played by a girl and she and race were doin their sirens is like lullabies to me thing and when he said “the further away from you i sleep” she punched him in the arm

RACE MISPRONOUNCED HOI POLLOI AND I DIED

also race was very confused at all the headlines i think he was being played as “can’t read counts on the others” which i love

ALSO HE TRIED COUNTING KN HIS FINGERS AND IKE HAD TO HELP HIM OUT

speaking of ike she was so pretty and expressive and she and specs (judging from their relationship portrayed in this) r in lesbians

when they were doin their lil bit before davey explaining a union crutchie seemed like he just wanted to sell papes even if it was more expensive and my heart,

“what’s a statement of PORPOISE”

race was still confused after davey explained my boy

world will know!!!! was so good!!!!!!

WHEN LES WAS YELLIN @ THE DOOR HE WAS SO ANGRY

THEY WERE ALL SO ANGRY

jacobi had a limp and he was hunched over

“we launched our strike in a most auspicious manner!” “[ad lib of what??]” “auspicious means-“ “I DUNNO ABOUT THAT. B”

also mush was also a girlsie!! she had braids and she was a cutie

race was a bit more hesitant when denying taking brooklyn??

also race got the bowery and he was like “and I. got the bowery. >:D”

KATHERINE WAS ABT TO THROW HANDS W JACK EVERY TIME HE MADE A COMMENT

watch what happens was a bit off-beat but kath’s voice was so GOOD

saturday night was better

also on the “cocky little son of a-“ line she tried to strangle the typewriter

“if you see brooklyn, then they’re with us” cue race looking into the distance with hand binoculars

seize the day!!! holy shit!!!!!!

all the scabs were girls. my uwus fell

DANCE BREAK DANCE BREAK OH MY GOD THEY FUVKING

CRUTCHIE DID GUARD SHIT W HIS CRUTCH!!! I YELLED

ALSO SPECS DID THE NEWSPAPER TURN TOMMY BOY DID IN LIVESIES AND FUCK!!!!! MY UWU SUPPLY IS DEPLETING

when they got to the cops and romeo was like THEY’RE SLAUGHTERIN US he got punched in the gut and crawled offstage and my heart. oh god

SANTA FE WAS SO RAW AND GOOD AND JACK WAS LIKE. SOBBING

and when he said “close his eyes and GO” it was more like “close his eyes and-,,,, go,,,,,,,,,” and my HEART

act two!! act two was so Good

during the ya erster bit race kept yelling YA ERSTER over and over again and everyone was like WTF DO U MEAN and eventually albert had to. RACE WHAT DO YOU MEAN. and they all yelled OYSTER at him in unison it was rlly cute

KONY WAS SO GOOD

WHEN KATH DID HER FIRST SPLIT SHE JUST DROPPED DOWN INTO A FRONT SPLIT AND MY JAW D R O P P E D

also specs’s tap solo,,, man

it went specs, then elmer, then race for the tap solos on the table and they were all so GOOD

everyone in the audience was screaming and shouting at the end and i was like EEEEE

letter from the refuge hit me like a fuckimg truck. i forgot abt it and then i saw the candle and was like oh no oh no oh no

snyder yelled @ crutchie to shut up at the end and fuck i’m not kidding when i say he scares me

watch what happens reprise was so good but davey’s voice broke on “poor GUY’S head is spinning”

it wasn’t a fluke ig he can’t hit tht in his belting voice

also when les said “and i’ve got a date!” someone said YEAH YOU DO

when seitz did her bit during bottom line reprise she hit an e5 and whoa. whoa wig

wiesel was the one tht took jack to the cellar and he was rlly rlly mean through it all and :(

OH GOD BROOKLYN!!!

BROOKLYN WAS 80% LITTLE KIDS

spot was played by an understudy and he was LITERALLY LIKE 8 AND HE WAS SO LITTLE MY HEART

THEY LIFTED HIM ON THEIR SHOULDERS AND HE GOT THE WHOLE VERSE TO HIMSELF AND I SCREAMED

I WAS GOING FUCKING FERAL OK

his stage presence was so,, intense he commanded the whole stage and i was SHOOK

saturday night he was played by a rlly cute boy and he rolled his r’s when he talked and oh god. oh god he’s cute.

and he and race were the ones that switched today so guess ypt newsies said sprace is canon

when jack and kath kissed the first time everyone was like Oh?

during something to believe in the sax squeaked and i nearly lost my shit

THEIR HARMONIES THO. JACK HAD A RIFF THT WASN’T IN THE LIVE SND I FELL TO THE FLOOR

(friday night) suspicion confirmed. at once and for all race had the flannel of i think romeo’s brooklyn boy like they switched and i was >:3!

albert was double cast as bill and mike was double cast as darcy and AAAA

the printing press was so steampunk i yelled

DURING OAFA LIKE THE LAST CHORUS THEY WERE HANDING OUT NEWSIES BANNERS TO AUDIENCE MEMBERS I’M GONNA TRY N GET ONE TODAY

update bc i was dressed as a newsie romeo looked at me and said “look like you already joined, huh?”, winked, and kept going i’m so,

i don’t have much to say except spot was brooding the whole time in pulitzer’s office

ALSO CRUTCHIE HIT SNYDER IN THE JUNK W HIS CRUTCH AND IT LOOKED LIKE IT HURT

specs accidentally ripped her pape at the end and oscar was like you ain’t gettin a new one and then she :(ed until he gave her a new one

I WENT FERAL DURING THE CURTAIN CALLS

also when they were all outside lined up on friday i had to kneel to b face to face w spot he was so tiny

saturdays spot was still short but not as short

SNYDER HAD A SWEET FACE BUT HE WAS STILL SCARY

but most importantly i had to tell specs she was my favourite and she just. AAAAAAAA like ME WATCHING HER

UPDATE JACK AND DAVEY GAVE ME HUGS AND RACE AND I SHOOK HANDS AND DAVEY LOOKS AND SOUNDS LIKE WILL ROLAND

that’s all folks!