Upgraded (2024) Dir. Carlson Young

closed starter for tobias, @fram3s

location: el carnaval de invierno, snowball fight

it’s almost criminal to not have a snowball fight at least once during the winter ⸻ maybe that’s just her opinion, but rachel is confident that most would agree with her. with excitement all over her face, her aim is set on a friend before she finally launches the ball. much to her horror, it somehow ends up hitting someone else who just happened to be in the way. “oh shoot, i’m so sorry,” the apology comes quick, almost like a reflex, as rachel rushes over to them. “that’s totally my bad! i wasn’t really looking before i-” and she really wasn’t, because if she did and saw tobias passing by, she would have hold herself back and wait until he’s gone. “i promise i wasn’t doing it on purpose,” you were just in the way, “sorry for getting in your way though. you can hit me back if you want?” rachel doesn’t even know why she said it, but it just sounds right, albeit the wavering tone. “i mean, just do it. that way we’ll be even, yeah?”

“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.”

— Mandy Hale

“so all the cool shit, huh? i see,” she nods at spencer. there is no doubt jackie finds them inspiring; they always seem to know what they want to do with their life right from the start and jackie admires them for that. it’s why she decides to not resent spencer for ghosting her all these years; maybe they just got busy chasing their dream, maybe that’s just something she tells herself so she could stop dwelling on the past and move on. “yeah, that’s right. it’s charlie,” she confirms. another person who used to ghost me, but the words never made it out of her mouth. instead she smiles at spencer when they open the door for her. “well, you better,” she tells them, stepping inside the place. “i’m afraid it’s a little too late for that, babes. maybe there’s one attached to you already,” she teases, looking over her shoulder to make sure spencer’s following. she stops at an empty table near the corner and takes a seat, suddenly feeling nervous now that shit is about to get real. “since you’re the one buying, i’ll let you pick the poison, yeah?”

"mostly just a lot of work," they tell her with a shrug, "collaborating and trying to make hits. the usual." and trying to ignore my feelings for you, but spencer can't say that. and it obviously wasn't a successful endeavor because here they are, heart beating more quickly and palms inconspicuously sweaty. "oh, nice. your cousin, charlie?" they ask. they don't know him well, but they know of him, having spent plenty of time with jackie. their eyebrows raise slightly and her question, though, and they nod, "i was about to ask. let me buy you a spooky ass drink." spencer opens the door for her, offering a small smile, letting their eyes traipse over jackie for a moment, "let's get a table." it's their way of agreeing that yes, they should talk, even though spencer knows it's probably not going to paint them in the best light. they deserve it after the shit they pulled on jackie. "do we need a ring of salt or some shit to make sure a demon doesn't attach itself?" they joke.

although their words should’ve made her heart flutter, somehow they just leave a bitter taste in her mouth. there’s a sudden urge to bite back at spencer, but she has never been the type to lash out at somebody, even if she’s still upset that they just upped and went on with their life one day. “i know,” jackie responds, grinning cheekily. “you must be going through some crazy shit if you’re out here trying to contact demons. what have you been up to without me, huh?” although it comes out as a silly banter, she truly wants to know all about it. there are so many questions she wants to ask, but for now she decides to bite her tongue ⸻ she doesn’t want to risk scaring spencer off now that they’re here. “oh, i’m just visiting my cousin. he’s a really busy man, so i had to come here and find him myself,” she chuckles. taking a moment to gaze at spencer, she wonders if they would stick around this time, or maybe they would try to run away from her again. either way she thinks it’s worth a try, so she asks, “do you want to check out this bar together? see if we could find any ghost or demon to contact?” it’s her way of saying we should definitely talk. “pretty sure they got some spooky ass drinks we could try too.”

i could never forget you, they should say, but instead settles for, "you're hard to forget." despite going no contact, spencer thinks of jackie often, thinks of reaching out, trying to mend things. but they haven't, clearly, as they're standing shell-shocked in front of her. they know that jackie knows they meant what are you doing in chile, but they only hum in reply, "mm, right. i had the same thought, was hoping to see if could contact any demons. brought my ouija board and everything." they joke, trying to act at all like this is normal, like they haven't been ignoring their connection for so long, "i... well, it's a complicated answer," not really, "just been going through some personal bullshit and my mom used to take me here as a kid. just needed a break." they shrug, "now your turn. what brings you to chile? other than trying to find a ghost at this bar, of course." they resist the urge to move closer. even after all this time, there's a natural draw, there's a palpable connection that's hard to shake.

#that’s me right now

closed starter for reyna, @fram3s

location: around el carnaval de invierno

when rachel finally got the chance to visit the winter carnival, she wastes no time to drag reyna along with her. it would have been incomplete to go without her best friend anyways, and now that she's walking arm in arm with reyna, donning matching crochet snoods that she had learned how to make herself for the two of them, this almost feels nostalgic all over again. "so tell me, what do you want to do first?" she turns to reyna with a huge smile. "do you want to play one of those carnival games? or should we get something to eat?" she looks around for a moment, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her favorite ride. "oh, we should totally ride the ferris wheel too!" there are so many things to do around here, that rachel could feel her body shakes with excitement.

– Audrey Hepburn

“oh,” comes out her response, followed by a nod. jackie takes a glance at their surrounding for a bit before her attention is back on salem. “you’re absolutely right, babes. there are so many cats in here anyways, i'm sure they wouldn't even notice they're missing one of these." reaching out to pet another cat lingering nearby, jackie couldn't help but grin at the thought. it never crossed her mind to steal a cat out of here ⸻ only because jackie doesn't want one, but she's also not opposed to helping someone who actually wants it. "i don't mind it, really. it's an honor to be your stealing accomplice," she teases back. "you sure you just want one? why not get two while you're at it? i could help smuggle the other one."

"well paying for it wasn't really apart of the plan. i just figured i could like...subtly walk out with one you know?" it was technically stealing but salem saw it as rescuing a stray animal. "i'm gonna be honest but i don't even know where the owner is. you notice how empty it is in here? they probably wouldn't even realize if i took one." salem teased while rubbing the chin of a grey tabby that jumped into her lap. "let me buy you a coffee first and we can discuss theft afterwards. its the least i could do for dragging you along."