A Supporting Characters Tale

Mishra Fae C. Allid (2014-75800) COMM 1 First Paper

To every tale theres a protagonist. The one who makes the turning points in the movie, the one
who gets the best character development (for the best or for the worst) in a novel, the one whos
life events are surreal (sometimes) that leave the readers or watchers in awe (or enraged since
everyones a critique these days) and then theres the characters like me, the supporting
characters. The one in the backgrounds, the one standing by the main characters side as they
venture of into their journey to the unknown, the ones offering their help to the protagonist to
boost their spirits in times of despair, the ones who people dont usually see at a glance because
theyre just side characters who support the protagonists back.
I used to describe myself as a supporting character. There would always be a tale that I worked
behind the scenes in, that I gave someone the slightest push to have them achieve or that I was
just there to cheer someone from the sides. I could tell all the amazing tales of my friends who
have achieved something great or had have something happened to them that was spectacular
while I was there looking at them at a close distance. I was just that: a part of their lives that
served as a pillar for them to be held up.
In high school, I had friends, all of them which you could categorize as protagonist material.
They could be those characters in any literature that had something special about them that got
everybody set on seeing how they make it out in the end.
I had three friends in my close personal circle that were dancers. I could remember them
performing for our intramurals modern dance competition that they entered for the first time and
I was there, their number one fan girl, screaming on the top of my lungs: GO ZACH, CYZ,
AND RIKKU! while waving a banner up in the air, as high as I could. When theyve finished
their number, the crowd was chanting from how amazing it was and I cant help a grin from
breaking from my face. I couldnt stop thinking about the practices I watched that continued late
into the night until they mastered the steps. They ended up sore in the morning from practicing
but even so, watching them perform that time made my heart swell with pride. Even though I
wasnt part of the performance, just watching them ace it and amaze the crowd made me so
happy for them. Ever since then, they got more performances and I would always be there to

watch them and give my loudest cheer when they would. I sometimes wondered what would it
be like to have a talent like theirs and to be able to showcase it but I didnt have a single one.
One of my close friends was a multimedia editor like me. I started editing long ago when I was
in sixth grade. I eventually became better at the art with constant practice and that had led to
influencing my friend, Tyrion. We shared a lot of ideas at first, I was always teaching him the
tricks that Ive learned and urged him to edit and put it out there. I had already put some of my
work out there some of them werent the best since Ive been uploading while I was perfecting
the art, but when he released his first work, everyone was stunned, even I was. It was an amazing
start and he remained consistently getting better every time he did something. He even got in a
well-known group in the editing community we were in after we both auditioned. I was so proud
of him when I saw the results of that groups audition. I knew he could get in because his works
were truly amazing and I was glad I had played a part as his teacher when he barely knew the
icons to click and now everybody in school came to him for graphics design. I didnt see the
need to have another one who was good at it.
The other two of my friends were part of the student supreme council and a plethora of other
clubs, other than that, theyd have a love story youd find in romance pocket books. Naomi and
Sierra were the two types of girls any boy would fall in love with. They were both kind, pretty
and mature, the ideal dream girls. They were a whole level above me when it came to maturity.
They talked to me like equals but they always seem to know more. I always looked up to them
not because of their love lives but because theyd have that feel of someone wise. I guess thats
why people looked up to them. Maybe if I grew up a little, people would look up to me too.
I was okay with being all that. Being the cheerleader, a mentor of sorts, and being the person
who looks up to someone, I was honestly okay with all of it. I knew that it was a role that
someone had to fill for all of them and I just happen to fit the shoes for everyones need. Each of
them had a tale, and every one of them had something they fulfilled and it made me happy that I
was their supporting character maybe up till one day.
I was walking the hall with Zach and Cyz, when younger years started saying hi to them and I
awkwardly walked by their side. The kids from the lower batch had ignored me and went their
merry way and I stared at their figure disappearing from my sight. It didnt bother me at all at
first but as time went by, things like that happened a bit often, and my thoughts shifted from

being the happy supporting character to one whos questioning if being the supporting character
was ever worthwhile.
I guess I began to notice how everyone was finally being noticed for their achievements and
people knew them around school. I was always around them and I would forever be known as
the girl that was their friend. I dont even know if anybody would know my name if I left the
school for college. Everybody around me had made their mark and I helped them but no one
would notice that. No one paid much attention to the supporting characters in movies, so why
would they in real life?
It was stupid to think about something as trivial as no one remembering me. I was moving on to
college and no one was going to have any knowledge of me there anyway, yet my thoughts are
still in this state. I figured it might be being surrounded by friends who have achieved so much
has got me afraid of the mini oblivion that was almost in front of me.
What did they have special? Was it because they had special talents? Was it because they
were better at me at something? Was it because they had a whole other level of emotional
maturity than I did? Was I forever doomed to be the supporting character? These questions
were the things that kept me up at night.
Zach caused a shift in roles one day. He had been one of my closest friend in the close group of
friends I had. He endlessly listened to my rants and was interested in the weird things I was into.
To other people, my interests were really not their cup of tea but Zach it was like he was
genuinely getting into it to. He even remembered the smallest details and I was ecstatic.
Someone was paying attention to me as much as I paid attention to everyone else.
I still continued to be the supporting character to everyone but I didnt think much about my
insecurities anymore. If someone had thought of me even just as bit as amazing as a protagonist,
then Im alright with just that.
Yet time passed, people drift apart and the hardest part of that is when youre the one who has
gotten attached. Zach had eventually found someone more interesting to listen to and I am back
to being under the shadows. I again became insecure about not being special enough like
everybody I knew and it was worsened when Zach and I had a rift in our friendship. The

questions then again kept running through my mind more than before that I didnt have much
thoughts about anything else.
Ironically, these thoughts are what had pushed me to become better. I had looked for everything
in me, for which parts of me were the best, and I made use of that. I began doing what I want by
paying attention to myself and I realized a lot of things.
Firstly, I didnt need to have a special talent to become known like Cyz, Zach and Rikku. If I
wasnt really good at anything worth showcasing, it was alright. Maybe my talent was meant to
support other people. If it was, then helping people with it, Ive already showcased my talent to
them. Ive already shared something special.
Secondly, I didnt need to be better at editing than Tyrion, my work is great on its own and its
different from his. It was just chance that the judges for the audition had favored his and I have
no reason to stop doing something I loved because someone was better than me.
Thirdly, I didnt need to be grown up like Naomi and Sierra to have someone to look up to me.
Even if I wasnt mature enough, people would look up to me for other reasons.
And Lastly, I wasnt a supporting character in every way possible, I was my own protagonist. I
am a protagonist to my story, my roles are various, and it would include supporting others.
Upon these realizations, I had become me. The most me that I could ever be because I was free
of my expectations of myself from what I thought of others. I dont blame them. I really dont.
They made the best version of me and now, people have noticed it. I was no longer under a
shadow, I have shone on my own. I had my own sparkle that people were beginning to
appreciate.
Im not a supporting character, I am my own protagonist in a story that Ill continue to write.