Bab 126: Surviving in the crowd
William Taylor pressed his right hand onto Graham Hughes' shoulder, lifting himself onto tiptoes, stretching his body to its limits. With a sudden leap, he tried to jump up. However, the densely packed crowd in front of him blocked out everything. The scene in the central square was completely obscured, with only glimpses of hair at the top, let alone discerning faces; one couldn't even tell whether they were men or women.
Standing beside him, Hope Bates was already pressed in by the throng of people to the point where she could hardly breathe. Her slender figure seemed like it could be swallowed at any moment. She had to shout, "Could you please move forward? Please don't push onto me. There is no Big Bang here, you know!"
Her clear shout was quickly swallowed by the crowd, but the people around her finally eased up a bit. This allowed Hope to catch a little oxygen, even though it was muddied and uncomfortable for her lungs. However, she had no time to worry about that. She patted William's left hand and asked eagerly, "How is it? Can you see? Can you see? Is Renly incredibly handsome? Isn't he? Isn't he?" She instantly transformed into a fan girl, a far cry from her previous coolness.
William grumbled in frustration, "Can't see anything, nothing at all!" He continued to jump up for a while, but his efforts were in vain.
"Well, that's fine then!" Graham picked up the banner in his left hand. On it was written, "Renly Hall, my ideal leading man!" He raised both hands high, shaking the banner vigorously. However, the fans in front were like a sea of people, each holding signs that resembled the flags of the United Nations. They stood in the middle and back, completely immersed in the sea of fans.
William took the left support rod of the banner, and Graham took the right. Both of them stretched their arms to the limit, raising the banner high into the air. Hope looked up at the flags ahead and kept yelling, "Higher, higher!" The banner shook as they struggled to hold it up, finally breaking free from the crowd.
But the two young men couldn't hold it for long. Their arms quickly grew sore, and they had to lower the banner again. William complained with a frustrated expression, "Why are there so many people today? Didn't they say the Emmys wouldn't have many viewers?"
"It's the fans of "The Big Bang Theory" and "Glee". They practically filled the whole place." Hope rolled her eyes directly, not bothering to hide her dissatisfaction.
Hope Bates, a freshman at the University of California, Los Angeles, accidentally became good friends with William and Graham during the freshman orientation. Their common topic was "The Pacific", or more accurately, the character Renly in this TV series.
Being an avid fan of "Band of Brothers", William unexpectedly became a fan of Renly's character. For the first time, he truly felt the difference between an actor and a script. Some nuances were conveyed by the script, certain depths were achieved through direction, but some stories were brought to life by the actors themselves. This made William thoroughly fond of the newcomer actor Renly. What was even more significant was that Renly was only two years older than him!
However, despite searching on Yahoo Communities for quite some time, William couldn't find many like-minded companions. The VHS tapes of "The Pacific" hadn't been released yet, and the fan base was still quite weak, let alone the fact that Renly had virtually disappeared in the past few months. The initial hype had quickly faded, let alone the term "fans".
So, when William and Hope discovered their mutual admiration for Renly's performance and realized they were both freshmen, they were beyond excited. And of course, there was Graham.
After the Emmy Nomination Announcement, Hope was determined to attend the awards ceremony. This was a rare opportunity to get up close with Renly. The ceremony was being held in Los Angeles, and they had no reason to miss it. William and Graham enthusiastically agreed.
This got William excited. During his intense "Band of Brothers" phase and his infatuation with "Harry Potter", he had never truly stepped out of his comfort zone, shattered the fourth wall, and come face-to-face with his idols. Now, the newcomer actor Renly Hall finally drove him to make an impulsive decision.
Since both William and Graham had classes in the afternoon, Hope went alone. She arrived at the Nokia Theatre at 11 in the morning and easily found a spot in the front row. She believed that today she would have a chance to get up close with Renly.
However, by 3 o'clock in the afternoon, "The Big Bang Theory" fans had arrived and secured advantageous positions, slowly squeezing the scattered fans into corners, including her. Hope had a quarrel with someone who wanted her seat, and as a result, a group of people surrounded her and forcefully took her place, exploiting their numerical advantage.
Hope was absolutely furious. She confronted the event organizers, but they explained that this wasn't a ticketed event and once the order was disrupted, they couldn't manage it. Even though she was discontent, she was helpless. Then, fans of "Glee" arrived and began competing for space with "The Big Bang Theory" fans. Chaos ensued, and the scattered fans were scattered even further, unable to unite and protest.
Finally, when William and Graham arrived, they had been squeezed into the sixth or seventh row, with the crowd behind them still gathering. They had become sandwiched, unable to move forward or backward, feeling utterly exhausted. "Do you think Renly saw the banner?" William still clung to a glimmer of hope, asking earnestly.
Hope and Graham fell silent, saying nothing. There were at least 800 people in the audience, over 500 on the left and about 300 on the right. The crowded mass, the dense signs, the noisy shouts created a dizzying scene. The three of them were outnumbered, completely swallowed up. The hope of Renly seeing the banner felt almost hopeless.
Hope gritted her teeth in frustration. "Damn hooligans." She glanced at the densely packed crowd ahead. The face of Sheldon, the male lead of "The Big Bang Theory", formed a continuous wall, his irritatingly mischievous smile completely filling the space. "If only we could gather more friends."
In such a grand awards ceremony, their little group's power was truly minuscule.
Within Renly's line of sight, the crowd was packed, faces blurred into a haze of light. It was impossible to distinguish anything, only large patches of "Sheldon" icons, his iconic mischievous grin flooding the entire left side of the square. Even the headshots of the other main characters in "The Big Bang Theory" had been completely submerged, as if the Nokia Theatre had been conquered by the Sheldon Legion.
By comparison, the fans of "Glee" were less organized. A variety of banners, photos, and signs overwhelmed the senses. Although their presence was equally impressive and their fan numbers might have been slightly larger, they seemed to be at a disadvantage, making it feel like they had entered the home ground of "The Big Bang Theory".
Renly found it truly interesting. In his previous life, he had only heard about fans' craziness and enthusiasm, but he had never truly witnessed it. And now, he was right in the middle of it. Even if these cheers weren't for him, he still found it incredible. It felt like a wave of heat was surging from all directions, enclosing him, and wherever his gaze fell, he could sense immense energy waiting to burst forth.
"You think, when Jim Parsons sees this scene, how will he feel?" James loudly inquired into Renly's ear.
Renly imagined for a moment and burst into laughter. "Just imagine hundreds of your own faces floating in front of you. That might be even more bizarre than the sea of black-suited clones in "The Matrix", right?"
"Who knows, maybe next year it'll be your turn to face this situation. Hopefully, you won't have nightmares," James commented, his expression filled with disgust.
Renly spread his hands calmly. "We'll see."
There were quite a few big-name actors on the square. Although there were no banners for them in the vicinity, their familiar faces were well-known to the audience. Cheers and screams naturally filled the air. As the cheers for Elisabeth Moss subsided, someone began shouting the name of Jorge Garcia. Nearby fans lost their voices in screams as they saw January Jones stop.
The entire square looked like a massive open-air party, extremely lively. Renly's trio, however, seemed like rookies who had just arrived at the party. They were a bit dazed for a moment, unable even to find the location of the bar.
"Look, that's our show's support team." Rami bumped Renly's shoulder and nodded towards a small group of people in the corner on the right. Both Renly and James looked over.
Beside a large "Glee" poster, a group of people were holding "The Pacific" banners high. There were about a dozen of them, but when compared to the enthusiastic "Glee" fans, they seemed like a tiny boat facing a tsunami, completely incomparable. If it wasn't for Rami's keen eyesight, they might have missed it in a glance.
Renly suddenly burst into laughter. "Look, there are two "Band of Brothers" banners as well." The three of them burst into laughter.
Although "The Pacific" had garnered numerous nominations tonight, leading the nominations race and undoubtedly ranking high in terms of discussions, HBO's and miniseries' titles didn't possess significant pulling power in terms of fan appeal. Moreover, they hadn't forgotten the controversies the show had faced during its airing period. The higher the expectations, the stricter the requirements. With the VHS tapes not yet released, the number of fans willing to come and support at the awards ceremony was naturally limited.
The three of them were quite composed. Seeing the banners was already fulfilling for them. They strolled through the square, laughing and chatting, waving at the small group of fans, and then directly entered the Nokia Theatre.
"Phew, we walked down the red carpet pretty fast," Renly teased, making Rami and James both laugh. Then, an elegant and composed voice came from nearby, carrying a touch of playful sarcasm. "I thought young people would want to stay and enjoy the cheers."
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Shallowman
Shallowman Oh, wow, I did it again. The page refreshed for the third time in all the history of my epic transl-editing. Had to redo it. Next time will remind myself to save the progress, hoverer miniscule it might be.
The song of the chupster is "Duke Dumont ft. Ebenezer - Inhale"
Take it, though it is only one chupster, it is worth two for me, so do it, you suckers!
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone