Lula
I am so ridiculously proud of myself that I don't know what to say. I truly, truly am ridiculously proud of myself.
And it's all because of one of my favorite original characters, a certain Kate Lawson. And... to an extension, her counterpart - Lula May.
When Now You See Me came out a few years ago, call me beyond floored. I loved it. As someone who's always loved seeing the magic in things, who always, always believed in magic, and someone who preferred not to know a magician's secrets, I loved this movie so much that it pained me. And so of course, a few months after I watched the film, I wrote my first - and only - fanfiction about it in 2014. Dark Horse. Dark Horse's plot in a nutshell was this - the Horsemen are in hiding from the FBI, but still have Agent Dylan Rhodes on their side, and are waiting for a sign from him for them to just... let loose. To go out of hiding and to perform again, possibly unmask and unravel more people. But for now, Henley, Merritt, Danny and Jack are now relegated to performing little shows around Vegas, in disguise and obviously not showing their real potential.
Enter Kate Lawson.
I'd stupidly named Kate (and with an 'i-t', too) after myself, both because I couldn't think of an original name in the short span of time (I'd debated with Hailey, but realized that there was a character named Henley, which completely derailed my plan), and just penned in a name that fit. I described Kate Lawson as a young woman, shorter than Jack Wilder (I remember specifying that because Dave Franco is actually short, in my opinion) with dark wavy hair and brown eyes. Kate was snarky, a sleight, a little bit of a mentalist, but skilled with cards. Kate also stole things from Jack without him noticing, and was able to figure out ahead of time that Jack's death had been faked. Dylan Rhodes approaches Kate in a further chapter and invites her to join the Horsemen, telling her that they've noticed her, and that they've chosen her. She accepts, and the Horsemen are well on their way to performing for the first time since their last formal show as the Horsemen.
The thing is, I never finished this fic. I got busy with college, got busy with life, and if we're being honest here, I got serious writer's block, especially when it came to their actual first show. I ended it after 4 chapters, and left it hanging. I got the occasional review - When are you updating? We need to know what happens next~ But since I had officially given up on it, I decided to let things slide. I decided to let go. I started Dark Horse in March of 2014 and posted the last chapter in May of the same year - it was a quick run, but I enjoyed it.
I'd nearly forgotten about it until June of this year, which is when Now You See Me 2 was released. Now, I have my email notifications on, so that I know which of my stories are getting more attention. So imagine my surprise when I get the first email in roughly a year that said that ***** had added Dark Horse to their favorites list. I was a bit curious; all right, so maybe someone had dug up my old Now You See Me fic, which is fine. Movies tend to have a shorter range of available fics.
And then I got about ten more.
I shit you not, Dark Horse continued to get views and favorites, and in that month alone, it got 700 hits. That's a lot for something on the site I publish my fics on. And then I got the first Private Message. "It's amazing how you nailed Lula two years before she was even released!" And I was still confused - who's Lula?
I didn't get to watch Now You See Me 2, sadly. I got busy this year, what with my exams and overall messed-up emotional state, and I completely forgot about it. Sure, I got the occasional email, and I was still clueless as to why people were still reading my fic - I assumed that people were looking at it again, since the new movie was out. I remained clueless until today, when I finally finished downloading the movie... and imagine. Just imagine. How surprised I was when I saw Kate Lawson practically come to life.
Lizzy Caplan plays Lula May, a short-ish, snarky magician who is asked to join the Eye by Rhodes after her skills catch their attention. She's more into deep magic, but she's a good sleight, even being able to take Jack's wallet, belt, and random nuts from his pocket. She has chemistry with Jack Wilder, knows the details about his death beforehand, and is quirky and funny and different. And she was exactly how I envisioned Kate Lawson to be.
And it wasn't just Lula's character that made me swoon, it was the entire plot. I'd have to say that I got it about 50% right, and the scene where Lula snatches things from Jack? Oh, I was familiar with that scene. I loved it. It was like seeing your child grow up into an adult, and seeing them grow into a young, successful person.
But you see, the thing is, I'm not saying that the Now You See Me 2 movie is based off of my fic - of course it isn't! But the reason why I'm blogging about this miraculous event is because the similarities between the two gave me the feeling of a writer whose book had just made it onto the big screen. I loved it, cherished it, relished in it. It had me thinking - if I'm this happy over seeing similarities between a movie and a fanfic I wrote two years ago, how much more happy would I be over seeing my own original work become a movie?
Seeing Now You See Me 2, if anything, spurred me on to become a better writer and a more determined one. Someday, I'll make it, and someday, I'll see my work projected wherever I deem it deserving; whether it's on the shelves of a Barnes and Noble, or showing in cinemas near you. There's nothing I've ever wanted to be more than a writer, a published author. And if my work becomes even more than that? Why stop there? My dream is to make writing my living. I will see my name on the cover of a book, or on a 'Written by' in the credits.
I'll end this narcissistic blog post with a quote from the movie that shot me straight through the chest, and if anything, just spurred me on. In the words of Thaddeus Bradley, You will get what's coming to you, in ways you can't expect, but very much deserve.
Here's to hoping that I do, and that you do, too.
And it's all because of one of my favorite original characters, a certain Kate Lawson. And... to an extension, her counterpart - Lula May.
When Now You See Me came out a few years ago, call me beyond floored. I loved it. As someone who's always loved seeing the magic in things, who always, always believed in magic, and someone who preferred not to know a magician's secrets, I loved this movie so much that it pained me. And so of course, a few months after I watched the film, I wrote my first - and only - fanfiction about it in 2014. Dark Horse. Dark Horse's plot in a nutshell was this - the Horsemen are in hiding from the FBI, but still have Agent Dylan Rhodes on their side, and are waiting for a sign from him for them to just... let loose. To go out of hiding and to perform again, possibly unmask and unravel more people. But for now, Henley, Merritt, Danny and Jack are now relegated to performing little shows around Vegas, in disguise and obviously not showing their real potential.
Enter Kate Lawson.
I'd stupidly named Kate (and with an 'i-t', too) after myself, both because I couldn't think of an original name in the short span of time (I'd debated with Hailey, but realized that there was a character named Henley, which completely derailed my plan), and just penned in a name that fit. I described Kate Lawson as a young woman, shorter than Jack Wilder (I remember specifying that because Dave Franco is actually short, in my opinion) with dark wavy hair and brown eyes. Kate was snarky, a sleight, a little bit of a mentalist, but skilled with cards. Kate also stole things from Jack without him noticing, and was able to figure out ahead of time that Jack's death had been faked. Dylan Rhodes approaches Kate in a further chapter and invites her to join the Horsemen, telling her that they've noticed her, and that they've chosen her. She accepts, and the Horsemen are well on their way to performing for the first time since their last formal show as the Horsemen.
The thing is, I never finished this fic. I got busy with college, got busy with life, and if we're being honest here, I got serious writer's block, especially when it came to their actual first show. I ended it after 4 chapters, and left it hanging. I got the occasional review - When are you updating? We need to know what happens next~ But since I had officially given up on it, I decided to let things slide. I decided to let go. I started Dark Horse in March of 2014 and posted the last chapter in May of the same year - it was a quick run, but I enjoyed it.
I'd nearly forgotten about it until June of this year, which is when Now You See Me 2 was released. Now, I have my email notifications on, so that I know which of my stories are getting more attention. So imagine my surprise when I get the first email in roughly a year that said that ***** had added Dark Horse to their favorites list. I was a bit curious; all right, so maybe someone had dug up my old Now You See Me fic, which is fine. Movies tend to have a shorter range of available fics.
And then I got about ten more.
I shit you not, Dark Horse continued to get views and favorites, and in that month alone, it got 700 hits. That's a lot for something on the site I publish my fics on. And then I got the first Private Message. "It's amazing how you nailed Lula two years before she was even released!" And I was still confused - who's Lula?
I didn't get to watch Now You See Me 2, sadly. I got busy this year, what with my exams and overall messed-up emotional state, and I completely forgot about it. Sure, I got the occasional email, and I was still clueless as to why people were still reading my fic - I assumed that people were looking at it again, since the new movie was out. I remained clueless until today, when I finally finished downloading the movie... and imagine. Just imagine. How surprised I was when I saw Kate Lawson practically come to life.
Lizzy Caplan plays Lula May, a short-ish, snarky magician who is asked to join the Eye by Rhodes after her skills catch their attention. She's more into deep magic, but she's a good sleight, even being able to take Jack's wallet, belt, and random nuts from his pocket. She has chemistry with Jack Wilder, knows the details about his death beforehand, and is quirky and funny and different. And she was exactly how I envisioned Kate Lawson to be.
And it wasn't just Lula's character that made me swoon, it was the entire plot. I'd have to say that I got it about 50% right, and the scene where Lula snatches things from Jack? Oh, I was familiar with that scene. I loved it. It was like seeing your child grow up into an adult, and seeing them grow into a young, successful person.
But you see, the thing is, I'm not saying that the Now You See Me 2 movie is based off of my fic - of course it isn't! But the reason why I'm blogging about this miraculous event is because the similarities between the two gave me the feeling of a writer whose book had just made it onto the big screen. I loved it, cherished it, relished in it. It had me thinking - if I'm this happy over seeing similarities between a movie and a fanfic I wrote two years ago, how much more happy would I be over seeing my own original work become a movie?
Seeing Now You See Me 2, if anything, spurred me on to become a better writer and a more determined one. Someday, I'll make it, and someday, I'll see my work projected wherever I deem it deserving; whether it's on the shelves of a Barnes and Noble, or showing in cinemas near you. There's nothing I've ever wanted to be more than a writer, a published author. And if my work becomes even more than that? Why stop there? My dream is to make writing my living. I will see my name on the cover of a book, or on a 'Written by' in the credits.
I'll end this narcissistic blog post with a quote from the movie that shot me straight through the chest, and if anything, just spurred me on. In the words of Thaddeus Bradley, You will get what's coming to you, in ways you can't expect, but very much deserve.
Here's to hoping that I do, and that you do, too.
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