#clickingkeyboards

[riri-loves-cats]

you do not UNDERSTAND how much I love clickingkeyboards and their MMU fics

AND EVERYONE ELSE WHOSE WRITTEN AN MMU FIC TOO!! DELICIOUS CONTENT FOR ME TO CONSUME

[clickingkeyboards]

I’m relistening to The Book Of Mornon for the hundredth time and Turn It Off got me thinking... all the Mormons in their district are under the impression that Kevin’s gay and ‘turning it off’. So... when did they have the awkward conversation?

In the last song, McKinley says they ‘love to dance and shout and let all our feelings out’. They probably told Kevin that he could be gay now, that it was okay. How long did it take him to convince them that he wasn’t gay? Or did he give up on it because he didn’t mind them thinking that. Then realise later that oh, that’s why he doesn’t mind it. Oh.

[clickingkeyboards]

FRIENDLY FIRE

Friendly Fire (by Patrick Gale) has recently become my new favourite book. It details the teenage years of Sophie Cullen, an intelligent teenage girl with symptoms of autism who gains a scholarship to a boarding school that is mostly boys and only a few girls.

After catching a glimpse of a boy (later discovered to be Lucas Behrman: wealthy, Jewish, and entirely unique) dressed in female clothing, she becomes obsessed with finding him and befriending him. Later on in their friendship, Lucas’ sexuality comes to light and Sophie tries her hardest not to be disappointed.

When a boy called Charlie Somborne-Abbot loses his father, Lucas is forced to become his friend when he returns to school and resents every moment of it. Charlie believes he is gay and experiments with men, as Lucas does. Bitterness and rivalries between the two boys transpire over the course of the novel.

Sophie attempts to keep a friendship with both of them although obviously favouring Lucas, while holding onto her life outside of school and her friendship with a boy from the Home she lives at. Throughout the course of this, she realises that she truly values her friendship with Kimiko, a Japanese girl in her Div who she had previously dismissed as clingy and irritating.

I adore each detail that another author would not think to include. Knowing intimate things about each character and being in-the-know about inside jokes makes you feel closer to the characters.

Throughout the course of the book, I learnt that Sophie’s friend Wilf gained his nickname from his mumbled delivery of ‘Will Franks’, that Lucas has an awful habit of spying on his neighbour with his telescope, that Kimiko is forced to copy out her letters to her father in two languages, and that Sophie and Lucas have an appropriate and whispered nickname for Charlie.

The amusing theme of Wilf comparing Sophie’s maturity to the size of her breasts is typical of the sexism of the time and suitably hilarious, as well as proving actual insight into her growth as a person.

Gale satarises the upper-middle class and their shallowness in a picture-perfect way, complaining of the strange acronyms and ugly clothing, all shown through the comically horrendous character of Charlie’s mother.

I fell in love with the world of Sophie, Lucas, Charlie and Kimiko over the course of the time I spent reading this book. If anybody is looking to experience the difficulties of teenage friendships, judgement clouded by love, navigating homosexuality, awkward sex, crushes on teachers, and excruciatingly difficult exams within a single book, Friendly Fire is a must-read!

[clickingkeyboards]

ANNOUNCEMENT

I have finally finished writing my book! 05.05.17 - 19.01.19

Many thanks to @nepturanus-thy-planet @sunlightschadow @let-it-be-canon @nepturanus-thy-planet for keeping me sane throughout this process!

[clickingkeyboards]

watching a falsettos bootleg has got me in a total of five awkward situations today:

my mum walked in while i was singing “bitch bitch bitch bitch funny funny funny funny, bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch all the time”

my mum walked in during “the thrill of first love” where they’re straight-up making out and i didn’t realise because i was covering my eyes

my dad looked over my shoulder at the end of “the thrill of first love”, where marvin’s straddling whizzer and snogging the life out of him 

my mum looked at what i was watching during “the baseball game”, where marvin is awkwardly grabbing whizzer’s head

my brother came into my room to offer me tictacs while the video was paused during “what more can i say?”, where whizzer and marvin are cuddling in bed pretty much only covered my a sheet

[clickingkeyboards]

I’ve just reached 500 days since I began writing my book and I want to thank everyone who has helped me get this far, whether they’ve directly helped me or simply been there for me to speak to when writer’s block is kicking my ass. I’m closer to publishing than ever and I have all of you to thank for that!

@nepturanus-thy-planet @let-it-be-canon @vampiricalthorns @sunlightschadow

[clickingkeyboards]

this is an extract from my musical project, though this isn’t written in script fashion. i have drawn the character Jackson Catseby here if anyone is interested!

i know this won’t be read by many people because it’s original writing, but i love to share my writing so i would love comments or criticism. reblogs would be much appreciated!

“You did it!” I exclaimed, jumping up and throwing my arms around Jackson. “I knew you could do it!”

He chuckled and covered his face. “Oh, shut up. Not that many people auditioned for Scott Thompson, that’s probably the only reason.”

I rolled my eyes in sheer disbelief, my hands still fixed on Jackson’s upper arms. Gosh, can’t he take a compliment? “Like half the company auditioned, Jackie. And you’ve got the main role!”

Hunching his shoulders and he laughed, he covered his mouth, like he usually does. I don’t know why, his braces are cute. “Insignificant stagehand to the main character in the company’s largest performance yet. It’s so rags to riches, isn’t it?”

“Huh, Instagram’s going to love that,” I replied, turning around to see Jaynie running towards us.

She pulled Jackson into a huge hug and I instantly felt a pang of jealousy. I swallowed it down quickly and regained my composure. Nothing good ever comes from falling for your co-star, and I’m rather good at pretending my crushes don’t exist. “You did it, Scamper!” she squealed, jumping up and down. “And Luke’s your co-star. Ooh!”

“Whatever are you implying, Jaynie?” Jackson asked in an amused voice, tucking a lock of his curly hair behind his ear.

“Do you guys not know what your parts are about?” she asked, curiosity (and a small bit of crazy fangirl) rising to her face.

What was she on about? The cocky smirk dropped from my lips.  “Uh, yeah? He’s the apprentice/rising star, and I’m his mentor/best friend.”

“Um… not exactly.” Jaynie scrambled in her bag for the script. I hadn’t yet looked at it, but I knew the show back to front from summaries and the director talking about it. I couldn’t have missed anything, I was sure of it. “Here. Go to the place with the red paperclip. I’ve marked all the important scenes.”

Jackson took it from her and opened it to the place with the marker, skimming over the scene. However, my eyes were instantly drawn to a stage direction at the bottom of the second page.

Scott pulls Willow in by the collar of his shirt and kisses him.

There was a kiss. A stage kiss. I felt like I was floating as the realisation sank it. I was going to kiss Jackson Catseby. I was going to have to practise kissing Jackson Catseby. Of course, the kiss itself wasn’t the issue - I’ve had too many stage kisses to count - but that fact it was with a boy (with Jackson!) made it all the more serious.

I was brought back to reality by a soft, “Oh…” from Jackson.

“Jackson?” Jaynie asked apprehensively. The worry was plain to see on his face. “Jackson?”

“Jackie?” I asked. “Jackie, are you okay?”

Jackson muttered a soft no and rapidly unfroze from where he had been standing, completely motionless. He dropped the script and ran from the room, and I could hear him opening the doors to backstage and running past his lighting desk, and there were bangs as he ran across the stage and clattered down the steps. The rapid footsteps faded out slowly, and it seemed like an eternity before Jaynie managed to say, “Jackson!”

[clickingkeyboards]

Jackson Catseby

“I’m going to disappear off the face of the earth, run away to somewhere where I’ll be heard”

OC from a current musical project - art took around 6 hours total over three different days