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thefiery-phoenix · 9 months ago

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YANDERE THOMAS SHELBY HEADCANONS

There is a REASON he is known as the Devil of Small Heath around Birmingham. Pretty much all the men who come for a drink at the Garrison have the common sense not to mess with Thomas Shelby, just by hearing his mere name sends shivers up people's spines and for a reason too because of his dark deeds against people who stand against him. If there's one thing he values the most, it's family. He's willing to kill anyone who dares to prove to be a danger to his family

You were new to the city of Birmingham after completing your education overseas at a reputed university and you had a dream and passion for becoming a writer, to make a name for yourself in the literary world. You were supposed to meet your childhood friend Russell whom you've known ever since the two of you were in your school days as you opened the door to the Garrison and took a shaky breath as you entered the pub and sat down on a stool. You fidgeted with the sleeves of your dress nervously as you'd never had the habit of consuming alcohol much less even stepping foot inside a pub. The bartender Harry Fenton's eyes landed on you, as he had a polite smile on his face. "Where are you from miss, haven't seen you around here'' he said in a friendly tone as you told him about you visiting Birmingham for the first time and how you were supposed to meet your friend Russell. The bartender offered you a drink on the house but you politely declined as his lips curved into an amused smile at your refusal, finding it amusing that even though you were in a bar, you'd refused a drink of alcohol. Little did you know, there were 3 pairs of eyes watching you without your knowledge from a nearby booth

"Oh, she's new. Haven't seen her around'' said Ada to her brothers as she sipped her drink and looked at you with an interested expression on her face. "I know...she looks like a goody two shoes, bein' in a pub an all and not drinkin'' said Arthur as he smirked to himself as he gulped down his beer. "I know...real beauty ain't she?" said John as he grinned and took a swig of his drink as the three of them started discussing about you. Just then, they went quiet when Thomas entered wearing his glasses, his smart black suit along with Polly by his side as the two of them sat down at the booth with the rest of them. "Alfie's men are causing trouble again...need to get rid of that bloody dolt for good'' grumbled Tommy as he fished in his pocket for a cigar and lit it as he took a puff of smoke and sighed. His eyes fell on John who was still staring at you as his gaze landed on you as well and he surveyed you with his calculating piercing gaze. "Whos' she?" he asked the others with a stoic expression on his face as they told him about you and how you were waiting for someone

He couldn't help but feel slightly amused when he heard you wanted to become a writer at Birmingham of all places which was definitely NOT the place for you in his opinion. Yet his eyes never left you, as he kept observing you from a distance. "Oh, looks like you fancy her now don't you?" asked Ada in a teasing voice. "Shut up Ada'' he retorted as he continued to look at you. However a few seconds later he spotted some lousy drunk sleazebag trying to make you uncomfortable as he kept getting too close to you and you had an uncomfortable expression on your face. You tried to keep politely declining his offer to join him for the night but the man finally had enough as he grabbed your wrist. "I'll show you what happens to wenches like you who think they're too good for the world...little brat'' he drawled as his eyes traveled down your body hungrily. Within a matter of a few seconds, the man let out a sharp scream of pain as the whole pub fell silent and the chatter around you ceased at once

"She said no...'' said Thomas in a cold voice as he glared at the man who tried to have his way with you and twisted his hand till the man fell on his knees, writhing and groaning in pain. "Pathetic...next time you do something like that, I'll be sure to actually cut your bloody hand off and feed it to the dogs'' said Thomas as he looked down at the man in contempt as the man whimpered and got up and left. Thomas looked at you as you thanked him and he waved his hand dismissively telling you it was nothing, Deep down, secretly, there was a part of him that was glad he could just help you in time. Your friend Russell arrived into the pub a few seconds later as he looked at Thomas with a slightly pale expression on his face. "How about you be punctual on time and not make a lady wait...'' said Thomas as he glared at Russell before he went back to join the others at the booth and continued to stare at you and Russell talking with each other. He hated the feeling that was rising in his chest when he saw you talking to someone else, it was a bitter feeling bubbling inside him

Russell and you talked about your old school memories and how things were back in your childhood days as the two of you caught up with each other on what was going on in each other's lives. Thomas couldn't stand the way you were laughing at that moron's dull jokes, as he scoffed slightly to himself. He saw Russell hugging you which made him clench his fists till his knuckles turned white and he couldn't understand why the hell he was behaving like this for someone he'd just met. Yet, he didn't like the feeling of seeing you with that dimwit. Congratulations, you've managed to spike his curiosity regarding you so you now have the most dangerous mobster in all of Birmingham at your back. He's determined to find out more about you when he's determined to do something, he takes his task at hand very seriously

He'll have Arthur and John dig up information regarding you for him, everything from your history to your daily activities and your likes and dislikes. He's a complete stalker and blends really well in the shadows, his family don't even call him out for his behavior, they're just glad he's finally found someone to love and don't see anything wrong with his obsessive and possessive behavior towards you. Polly is looking forward to making you a part of the family as soon as possible. He'll start off slow, getting to actually know you personally and talking to you. He likes your company and likes hearing your voice. It soothes him and whenever you tell him something about yourself, he'll just smirk slightly to himself since he already knows everything about you, nothing he hasn't heard of before but he'll still play along for your sake

He'll start leaving little gifts at your doorstep like your favorite chocolates or a pretty dress for you to wear or something like that or some of your favorite flowers. You have a feeling like you're being stalked and when you rush to him for protection, his eyes glint with amusement, oh you sweet child, you truly had no idea. But all the same, he's glad and pleased he was the first one to come to your mind when you felt like you needed protection and he's more than willing and pleased to protect you and keep you safe. Rivals? What rivals? He's Thomas FOOKIN Shelby of the Peaky Blinders, when he wants something, he gets it. It's best if you don't know how many people's he's killed for daring to get too close to you. He'll either send John and Arthur to abduct the schmuck in the middle of the night and take the person to a deserted secluded location where Thomas will just use a single bullet to put the lousy scumbag who dared to lay his filthy eyes on you to put them to sleep permanently

He WANTS you to rely on him, it just feeds into that god complex ego of his, but also because he loves you, in his own twisted manner of course. He hates it when you show interest in someone else who's not him, it's like you're insulting him to his face and telling him that he's not good enough for you. Deep down he's just insecure and he doesn't want to lose you, he's already lost plenty of important people in his life and the last thing he wants is to lose you too

He's a control freak, he wants to know EVERY thing that happens in your life and his men are ALWAYS watching your every move. He finally decides to take things to the next step and approaches your parents to ask them for permission to marry you while you aren't in the house. Your father is slightly surprised to see Thomas standing outside his house as he invites him in and after the usual small talk and serving tea, Thomas clears his throat and decides to speak. "Sir...I would like to marry your daughter'' he said as the atmosphere became slightly tense. "Mr. Shelby, with all due respect, I am a father who wishes the best for his daughter. I know what kind of man you are Mr. Shelby, my daughter shall not marry a man as dangerous as you where her life would be at stake constantly or get thrown into the madness of the underworld. Please refrain from seeing my daughter again'' said your father in a firm tone as your mother agreed with his words. Thomas had to hand it to your dad, he was a gutsy courageous man who could actually stand up to him which would make things far more interesting

Seeing your parents and asking them for their permission was merely a formality, he already made preparations to being you to Arrow House which even your parents could not stop. "Mr. L/N, you are a smart man, a father who's willing to protect his darling daughter and I admire that to a certain extent. Your daughter WILL be mine one way or another, coming to see you was just a mere formality. Good day'' said Thomas as he put on his hat and enjoyed the way your father's expression turned pale at his words

That night after you returned back home from your publishing office and you set your books down, during dinner, you saw your parents looking slightly tense and nervous than usual. "Mom, dad...what's the matter'' you asked them gently as they stared at you with mournful looks on their faces. Your mother took a shaky breath before she spoke "Darling...your father and I love you very much, but you...you need to leave Birmingham immediately. It's for your own good'' You stared at them in shock, what were they saying? "Mom, dad... have I...have I become a burden to you both?'' you whispered as your eyes welled up with tears. "Shush child. Don't say such nonsense. You are the light of our lives but that man Thomas Shelby is a dangerous man...he's a relentless monster who wants to make you his and I'll be damned to let my darling daughter get married to a monster like him...you are to leave Birmingham immediately. We've already packed your trunk, you'll be taking the next train to Istanbul where you'll be staying with your aunt and uncle there for a while...it's just temporary my dear...hopefully'' said your father in a gentle tone as he sighed heavily and his eyes welled with tears too

"Mom...dad...I don't want to go, please...'' you said as you sniffed sadly. "It is not up for argument pumpkin, it's for your safety'' said your mother as she said as her voice cracked with emotion and she gulped down a glass of water. After dinner was over, you sat in the carriage with Russell who helped you with your trunk and you hugged your parents as tears streamed down your cheeks, you didn't know how long it would be before you'd get to see them again. You made it to the railway station and got out of the carriage as Russell helped you with your trunk. "It's for your own good you know, Thomas Shelby is a dangerous man...your parents are right. I'll miss you, don't worry, we'll keep in touch with letters'' said Russell as he placed a comforting arm around your shoulder. There weren't any people at the station since it was midnight but you thought it might work in your favor, unaware of what the universe had in store for you

"Step away from my future wife before I shoot you'' said a familiar voice nearby as you saw Thomas and the rest of the men from his Peaky Blinders gang head towards you. Your eyes widened in horror as you tried to back away from them when Russell stood in front of you to protect you from them. "Leave her alone Shelby'' he said. "Tch...how annoying, you know, I'm not a man with regrets but I regret not killing you that day at the Garrison. Not to worry, that can be arranged today'' said Thomas as he brought out a revolver and after a loud bang, your dear friend Russell was now on the ground dead, his eyes looking lifeless as the blood oozed out from his wound and you let out a scream of horror as tears streamed down your eyes. The train to Istanbul was approaching as you saw the train from a distance and your heart almost leapt from relief, this was your chance to escape and leave

John and Arthur held you by your arms and prevented you from escaping as you flailed and screeched on top of your lungs. "Shhh... don't worry, you'll be happy with me. Just be a good girl for me...I'll keep you safe'' he said and those were the last words you heard from him before a rag was placed on your face and you passed out. His passion for your love is beautiful and terrifying at the same time, laced with extreme obsessiveness and devotion to keep you safe. Love truly was the most powerful force of all...

#yandere thomas shelby #yandere thomas shelby x reader #yandere thomas shelby scenarios #yandere thomas shelby headcanons #yandere thomas shelby oneshots #yandere thomas shelby imagines #yandere thomas shelby x reader oneshots #thomas shelby x reader #thomas shelby #thomas shelby headcanons #dark thomas shelby #dark thomas shelby x reader #dark thomas shelby imagines #peaky blinders #yandere peaky blinders x reader #yandere peaky blinders characters #yandere peaky blinders characters x reader #dark peaky blinders #dark peaky blinders x reader

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study-in-uk-for-indian-students · 4 months ago

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#BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY IN UK #BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY

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aaravsharmaabroad · 1 year ago

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Birmingham City University September Intake

This is to announce you that Meridean overseas director Mr. Amar Bahada and BCU regional manager MS. Disha Gupta will be conducting a live Youtube session on 14th July 2021 at 5:00 PM india time.

In this sessions all students are welcome to ask their questions on below points:

1. Admission process at Birmingham City University

2. Interview process at Birmingham City University

3. Pre- Cas process at Birmingham City University

Current situation at UK and Birmingham

Please subscribe our channel and and click reminder button on the live session link

Subscribe here to watch live session !!!

#birmingham city university #birmingham city university uk #birmingham city university intakes #Youtube

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kanishkasaini · 2 years ago

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Getting a Scholarship in a Reputed Birmingham City University

#Birmingham City University #study in uk consultants

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dolliethv · 4 months ago

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Thinking Bout You

summary: English is not my first language, so if you notice any mistakes I'm sorry!! After writing a romantic story and two stories with smut, I wanted to try something new with angst inspired by the song "Thinking Bout You" by Ariana Grande, enjoy it xoxo.

Pairing: Jude Bellingham x fem reader!!

Word count: about 1,9k

It was a rainy afternoon in London, and the gray sky seemed to mirror your mood. With your brown hair tangled in a messy bun and your glasses sliding down your nose, you were lost in the designs for your final university project. You were studying Fashion Design and Production, a world you immersed yourself in to escape your own thoughts, especially when those thoughts revolved around Jude Bellingham.

Jude, the young English football star, had entered your life by chance. You’d crossed paths in a small café near the Birmingham stadium. You had been sitting, absorbed in your sketches, when Jude, soaked from a sudden drizzle and with a cap barely concealing his famous face, sat at the adjacent table. It was a chance encounter; your eyes met, and the rest, as they say, is history. But not just any history. It was one full of ups and downs, intense moments, and above all, pain.

At first, everything was beautiful. Jude was charming, charismatic, and had that infectious laugh that made your world, always so structured and orderly, burst into color and chaos. The first few months were a whirlwind of emotions, with text messages late into the night, video calls from hotels in cities you could only imagine, and promises to see each other soon whenever Jude’s schedule allowed.

On the nights you managed to meet, the world seemed to stop. The walls of your small apartment became witnesses to muffled laughter under the sheets, bodies intertwined in the dim candlelight, and whispered secrets at midnight. They were moments of intimacy you both cherished, where the worries of the outside world did not exist. Jude would often stroke your hair while you rested on his chest, and in those moments everything seemed perfect, as if nothing could ever separate you.

You clearly remembered the nights when Jude would hold you after particularly tough days. He’d wrap you in his arms and kiss you gently, assuring you that everything would be okay. You’d stay up late talking about your dreams, laughing at silly things, and planning a future together. Jude would tell you stories about his training, how he imagined celebrating his goals with you in the stands, while you’d describe the dresses you would someday design, dreaming of seeing him wear one of your jackets at an important gala.

But over time, the distance and the demands of your respective lives began to take their toll. Jude found himself caught between his rising career and the media pressure that followed him at every turn. You, on your part, struggled with your own dreams and the growing sense that you would never measure up to the perfect world surrounding Jude. The nights that were once filled with laughter and conversation turned silent, with Jude too exhausted from training and you worn out after hours of working on your designs.

One afternoon, Jude called you from a crowded airport. It was the first time you didn’t hear excitement in his voice. “I don’t know how to handle all of this,” Jude said, with a vulnerability you rarely saw. “I need you, but sometimes I feel like I’m dragging you into something I’m not sure I can control.”

You felt a knot in your stomach. You needed him too, but the uncertainty and constant lack of time were starting to wear you down. Still, you tried to reassure him, hiding the tremor and pain in your voice. “We’ll get through this, Jude. We always do.”

First Confrontation: The Crumbling Reality.

One night, in a small Italian restaurant where you used to meet when Jude was in town, the tension finally erupted. You had arrived early, your fingers drumming on the table as you mentally reviewed what you wanted to say. Jude arrived with his usual smile, but there was something different about him. His gaze was distracted, as if his mind was somewhere else.

“I miss you,” you said, breaking the ice with a tone that sounded more like a plea than a mere statement. Jude looked up, his eyes reflecting a deep fatigue that went beyond the physical.

“I miss you too,” he replied sincerely. “It’s just that... all of this is so complicated.”

Feeling your emotions overflow. “I don’t know if I have you or if I’m fighting alone for something that I don’t even know still exists.”

Jude looked away, unable to sustain his painful honesty. “I don’t know how to do this better, darling. Football, the pressure... sometimes I feel like I’m losing everything that matters, and it really hurts.”

You leaned toward him, your eyes filled with unfallen tears. “And I feel like I’m losing you. I see you more in the news than in person.”

Jude clenched his jaw, struggling with the words he knew he had to say but that hurt too much. “Maybe we’re asking too much of each other... maybe this isn’t our time.”

Dinner ended in silence, both knowing there were no easy answers. You left the restaurant with a heavy heart, feeling each step take you further away from Jude.

Second Confrontation: The Unspoken Words.

A few weeks later, you and Jude tried to fix things during a rare weekend together. But instead of the reconnection you both hoped for, reality reasserted itself. You were at your apartment, surrounded by sketches and fabrics you had left unfinished. Jude sat on the sofa, watching you try to concentrate on your work, but the tension was palpable.

“Why don’t you tell me everything?” Jude broke the silence, his tone laden with contained frustration. “It seems like you’re not letting me into your life, like you’re keeping all your struggles to yourself.”

You dropped your pencil and turned to face him. “Do you want to know? I feel alone, Jude. All of this is too much. I try to understand your life, but sometimes I feel like mine has no place in it.”

Jude closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. “I didn’t want this to affect you like this. I always wanted to protect you from all of this.”

You shook your head, your voice trembling. “But you can’t protect me if it means pulling away from me. I need to be with you, not just in the good times, but in the bad ones too.”

Jude nodded slowly, feeling the weight of his own decisions and the pressure of a world that seemed to sweep them away. He moved closer to you and hugged you tightly, as if trying to capture that moment in memory, as if his life depended on it, knowing that things would never be as they were before. Both of you knew that the nights you shared, those of intimacy and tenderness, were no longer enough to keep you together.

The Last Conversation: Accepting the Inevitable.

Finally, on a cold January morning, you gathered the courage to face what you had feared for months. You found him at the door of the apartment that once was your refuge. Jude looked at you with tired eyes, knowing exactly what was coming. There were no shouts or accusations, only a silent understanding that, no matter how much you loved each other, your lives simply did not fit together.

“I will always love you with my life,” Jude whispered, his voice breaking as you gathered your things. “But I can’t keep hurting you.”

You nodded, tears falling silently down your cheeks. “Maybe we weren’t meant to last, but at least I have the memory.”

Jude looked at you, a lump in his throat, struggling against tears. “No one understood me like you did, baby… ‘nobody got me the way that you did.’ You’ll always be the only person who truly knew me, i love you.”

You smiled sadly, recognizing in his words a truth you both knew. “I feel the same way, Jude.”

The process of separation was slow and painful. Every time you saw Jude on TV, your chest tightened, reminding you of all you had left behind. Jude, for his part, every time he scored a goal, would look for your gaze in the crowd, hoping to see it, hoping to feel that everything you had lived wasn’t in vain.

Months later, you presented your final project, inspired by everything you had experienced with Jude. Your collection was called “Memories of Us,” and was filled with details that only someone who knew your story could understand: colors that reflected the emotions of your best days together and textures that evoked the fragility of what you once had. The collection was a success, but you knew it was not just a professional triumph; it was a bittersweet farewell.

#Spotify #jude bellingham fic #jude bellingham #jude bellingham stories #jude x fem reader #jb5 x reader #jb5 #jude bellingham angst #angst #jude angst #real madrid

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cartermagazine · 11 months ago

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Today In History

Angela Davis, political activist, philosopher, academic, and author was born in Birmingham, AL, on this date January 26, 1944.

Davis knew about racial prejudice from a young age; her neighborhood in Birmingham was nicknamed “Dynamite Hill” for the number of homes targeted by the Ku Klux Klan. She also knew several of the young African American girls killed in the Birmingham church bombing of 1963.

Angela earned a scholarship to study French Literature at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. After graduation, she studied in Germany and completed a PhD in philosophy.

In 1969, Angela became a professor of philosophy at the University of California at Los Angeles. Governor of California Ronald Reagan learned about Angela’s political connections and pressured the university to fire her. Angela fought back, and took her case to court. The Supreme Court of California ruled Angela could not be banned for party affiliation. However, several months later, the university found another reason to fire her. They claimed that her comments in recent speeches were too politically incendiary.

Around the same time that Angela lost her job, she became involved in the Soledad Brothers Defense Committee. On August 7, 1970, an armed gunman and brother of one of the Soledad Brothers entered a courtroom in California and took several people hostage. An investigation revealed that the gunman used a weapon Angela bought at a pawn shop several days earlier. Distrustful of the government, Angela went into hiding. During that time, the FBI added her to the “10 Most Wanted” list. In October, she was arrested in a hotel room in New York City. She was held in jail for 18 months.

On June 4, 1972, an all-white jury found Angela not guilty on all charges. Angela said it was the happiest day of her life.

“As a black woman, my politics and political affiliation are bound up with and flow from participation in my people’s struggle for liberation, and with the fight of oppressed people all over the world against American imperialism.”

CARTER Magazine

#angela davis #carter magazine #carter #historyandhiphop365 #wherehistoryandhiphopmeet #history #cartermagazine #today in history #staywoke #blackhistory #blackhistorymonth

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kanishka1234 · 2 years ago

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Birmingham City University Ranking is indicative of its excellence and dedication to providing quality education to all its students. It serves as a testament to the hard work put in by faculty members, staff, and students alike.

#Birmingham city university ranking

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cantcompetewhereudontcompare · 23 days ago

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DECONSTRUCTING FANDOM MYTHS: "Harry Styles got to where he is because he was pushed by the label"

In light of Liam Payne's passing, certain middle-aged bloggers who have come back with a vengeance to spew lies all over the fandom (lies that get repeated and permeate the opinion of every chronically online fan that's adjacent to any degree to the 1D fandom or its solo artists), so I decided to deconstruct those lies. One by one.

This will be a series of separate posts analyzing it in detail.

"Harry Styles got to where he is because he was pushed by the label"

Absolutely not, not even CLOSE to the truth. I know people are aware, tangentially, of what Liam said in Logan Paul's podcast. Impaulsive, a couple of years ago. Clips of that went viral and he got a lot of hate for it. But actually go and watch it. I cued the relevant bit in the link, so you won't have to watch any unnecessary part.

In the podcast Liam says that he went from 180,000 people who auditioned down to the last 24. For the uninitiated, The X Factor was the most popular show on TV around that time and SO many people auditioned. I'll explain the process of the show briefly because it'll also be relevant later in this post.

You first send a tape in, and then you get a callback to audition in front of producers (this was in March-April). If you go through, you go to the live auditions which in 2010 happened in six cities (Glasgow, Birmingham, London, Dublin, Cardiff, and Manchester). Liam did Birmingham, Niall did Dublin, Harry, Louis, and Zayn did Manchester. 211 acts made it through after live auditions in 2010, to the next stage which was bootcamp.

Bootcamp lasted 5 days. On the second day, about half the acts were dismissed, leaving 108 standing, which were divided in four categories. Boys, Girls (these two were ages 16-27), Groups, and over 28s. There were four judges and each judge "mentored" a different category. Because of the format of the show, each category has to have an even amount of contestants (in 2010 it was 8 acts per category). The "Boys" category was very full, so they dismissed the 1D guys unless they agreed to form a group. They did, so they then went to the next stage, which was Judges' Houses. Simon was mentoring Groups that year, so 1D went to "his" house in Spain alongside the 7 other Groups. The goal of this stage is cutting the acts to 4. Only 12 acts make it to the Live Shows.

1D passed Judges' Houses and went on to the Live Shows, there were 10 Live Shows in total, with the last one being the Final. 1D made it to the Final and came in third (the winner was Matt Cardle, runner-up Rebecca Ferguson).

Anyway, as I was saying, in 2008 Liam made it to Judges' Houses, and since Simon was mentoring Boys that year, he was his mentor. He didn't make it to the final 4 acts, and was instead cut off. In the podcast, Liam says that after being cut off, Simon had dinner with him, his mom, and one of the X Factor producers, who would later become a 1D manager, and told him that he wanted to put him through but that he was too young and needed to get his education in.

Another small tangent, education in the UK goes Primary School (until age 11), secondary school (until age 16), and then two years of what's called Sixth Form (also known as college, also known as A Levels). These last two years weren't mandatory if you weren't going to university back then. Liam was 14 in 2008, so if he waited two years, he would finish secondary school. The X Factor actually lifted the age limit to 16 after this. Harry has said that he always wanted to audition to the X Factor but he was always too young (remember, he's 6 months younger than Liam so he didn't make the age cut-off in 2008, and then they lifted it even higher). And I'm adding this here because it drives me nuts, Harry DID FINISH HIGH SCHOOL. He took his GCSEs which are the exam you take to finish high school. He just didn't do those extra two years of college (none of them did, btw, Louis did first year twice because he failed it the first time, but he didn't finish either).

Anyway, so Liam has dinner with Simon, where Simon essentially tells him "you have what it takes but I'm not taking you out of school. Come back when you finish." And Liam does just that. Not only that, but he (and I'm quoting here) "sings everywhere he can." He sings for money, he takes vocal lessons. He sings at old people's homes, at his local soccer stadium in Wolverhampton (which is not a small deal, btw), he sings in pubs. He literally talks about being paid a lot for performing at times "more money than I'd ever seen."

I think a lot of people don't know this. A lot of people have no idea that Liam WAS actually a professional singer BEFORE 1D. And he's not lying, he's not exaggerating, he's not gloating in this part of the interview. It's 100% true.

Then Liam says that because of the promise Simon had made him, he worked around Liam's face to create a group. I know we've all seen the footage of Nicole Scherzinger putting 1D together through their headshots. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the X Factor is highly staged. They didn't decide to put the band together in front of the cameras on the fly. Simon has been trying to recreate that ever since, and he's put several groups together in similar circumstances since then (Little Mix and Fifth Harmony are successful tries at it).

These boys had been auditioning since March, as I said. In fact, Liam says in the podcast that "it's pretty obvious who's gonna make it through because cameras start following them around." Remember, Zayn had the whole "where is Zayn" saga, and Harry had that segment "playing" all the female contestants. (Don't get me started on how disgusting that was, considering he was 16, but oh well). Both of these things happened in bootcamp. Why? Because the producers saw something in Harry and Zayn and knew it'd probably pay off to have footage focused solely on them. I'm not claiming it's all a big conspiracy, but clearly they saw value in them.

Liam didn't claim that he was the only reason the group got put together, but he was one of the reasons, and I think he's 100% correct.

With the fact that he was auditioning for a second time, once the show started airing, he created his own little niche fanbase.

He had a website where he sold signed wristbands.

And even had a name for his fanbase:

He'd gone to talk shows YEARS before 1D was formed. This is him on Lorraine in 2008. The video itself was uploaded BEFORE he first even auditioned for the X Factor for the second time.

Here's the actual video:

youtube

And now I'm going to show you, factually, how Liam was who the producers of the show thought would be the main guy and who was ACTUALLY pushed to the front.

This was their entrance for their first ever performance at the X Factor live shows

This is how they were standing while waiting for feedback from the judges. Liam tended to be in the middle or in the front in most photos and interviews. None of this is accidental, btw, blocking in TV is a serious matter, whoever is at the center is who your eyes will be drawn to.

It doesn't matter how many times The Hags try to rewrite history and claim that Harry was "pushed to the front," nothing they say, no matter how many times they repeat it, can change history and what we can see with our own eyes.

That doesn't mean that they would blindly push Liam no matter what. They would course-correct if someone else started to give signs of testing better. They, in fact, did just that.

Keep in mind, back in 2010, social media was in its infancy. Instagram had just been created (and it only became a thing since 2012), Facebook was huge but it was very personal and none of the guys really used it much.

Twitter had started to become relevant in 2009, and most young people were flocking there. Justin Bieber and One Direction fans were the backbone of what's today known as "stan Twitter."

What I'll do is analyze Liam and Harry's popularity on Twitter going by the air date of their X Factor episodes, which you can find in the picture below.

Liam's audition aired September 4 (auditions 3) and Harry's audition aired September 18 (auditions 5)

I'd love to do a proper breakdown of their follower counts but that's not really possible because there isn't an archive that can tell you that accurately. We'll have to rely on their own tweets and tweets from fans.

I'll also analyze their performances, the solos they got, how blocking was handled, etc. There was extra content where 1D was featured, and I'll address that as well, but keep in mind the extra content was only seen by a handful of people relative to the amount that watched the live shows - you can see the ratings above. We're talking 13 million viewers on average.

Neither Harry nor Liam would be featured on the X Factor again after their auditions until bootcamp aired. As you can see above that was September 25/26. There were glimpses of them the 25th (like the ones I mentioned before about Zayn dancing and Harry dating), but the main thing was the 26th when they were cut from the show only to be brought back and put in the band.

Liam had nearly 7,000 followers on September 15 2010 (10 before bootcamp).

Meanwhile Harry had 2,800 September 26, right before the episode aired:

The next day, after the episode aired, Harry nearly doubled his followers.

And so did Liam by September 30, with 14,000

Judge's Houses was when 1D was first introduced as such and they performed Torn. This aired October 2/3. I don't have data for these days.

Something must've happened October 6 (I'm thinking maybe a Twitcam?) because we have the first archived version of their accounts and we can actually see their followers.

Liam had almost 24,000 and Harry had almost 19,000

Liam still had an edge but Harry was rapidly approaching. Liam went from tripling Harry's followers, to doubling them, to only being a few thousand above.

Here we have the airing schedule for the next couple of shows.

1- First live show, October 9/10: They performed Viva La Vida.

Liam opened and closed the song, Zayn and Niall had short-ish solos. Harry and Louis had none. I posted pics of how they were standing above, but Liam was blocked in the middle the whole time.

2- Second live show, October 16/17: They performed My Life Would Suck Without You.

Liam opened the song and had a second solo in the second verse. Other than a single adlib by Zayn of two words mid-song, only Liam had solos. Liam was also blocked in the middle and close up for most of the song. (You can fact-check, just watch the video). At this point it's pretty clear Liam is the one being pushed. The others are barely singing. In both performances so far Liam has giant close ups that last a very long (for TV) time.

3- Third live show, October 23/24: They performed Nobody Knows

Liam opens the song and sings for quite a bit, Harry gets his first solo, performing the bridge. They're static the entire performance, with Liam blocked in the middle.

Before every performances they showed a short interview about their week, and this week they showed footage of and talked about going to the mall and how that caused hysteria with fans. After the performances was over, Dermot O'Leary, the host of the show, asked them who had to sign the most autographs. They all said Harry. Keep in mind, at this point (when the whole autograph thing happened), this boy has had NO SOLOS in the live shows. Just that one performance of Torn and his audition.

I'll now address the part about the other bits of footage they showed aside from the main performances. They had bits and pieces in a show called XTra Factor, Megamind, Question time, etc. You can find a full playlist of 1D's appearances in these videos here. That, and the video diaries, of course were the only pieces of content the X Factor made about them. These were fluff pieces that either aired during the week or after the live shows, or were internet exclusive, so like I said, the audience that consumed this was pretty small in comparison to the live shows and as such it doesn't really warrant an analysis. That said, all the members were featured pretty evenly on these, with Louis perhaps being the main one because he was very loud and energetic.

I think these videos were fundamental to establish a fandom, but I wouldn't say it really affected who was popular. Louis was by far the least popular member while they were in X Factor (this is a fact, not me being shady, and this would of course change while they were in the band), even though he was the one who was probably featured the most in this content (he was also pretty much always front and center in the video diaries, for example).

Aside from that, there was social media, where all five did Twitcams and tweeted fans and stuff. Liam was the most active on Twitter and it was an inside joke both in the fandom and with the guys that Liam was always doing a Twitcam.

We're in late October and so far, Harry has not been pushed at all. I think we can all agree on that. And yet, by the 26th, he was the most followed member, juuuust edging Liam

You can see how Niall and Zayn have about half the followers Harry and Liam have and how Louis is trailing all five.

4- Fourth live show, October 30/31: They performed Total Eclipse of the Heart

Niall and Liam did a call and response bit where Niall would say "Turn around" and Liam respond with the rest of the verse. Louis and Zayn had small solos. Harry had no solos, being the only one not to have any. Just saying. No solos. They start the performance sitting down. When they stand up Harry is blocked in the middle, but they switch when the song ends with Niall ending up in the middle.

5- Fifth live show, November 6/7: They performed Kids In America

Liam started the song, again. Niall had a small solo and so did Louis. Harry and Zayn did a bit where they harmonized together. Harry had one (1) solo adlib. He was blocked in the middle the whole performance, to be fair, first time this has happened so far. I can sense the air shifting but still very short solo time.

6- Sixth live show, November 13/14: They performed Something About The Way You Look Tonight

Liam starts again, Zayn has a few small adlibs. Harry has an actual big solo (and he knocks it out of the park). He's also blocked in the middle again. We're 2/3 of the way through the season and more than halfway through the live shows, btw. The X Factor started airing August 21st and finished almost exactly a month after this performance on December 12. It's clear the producers are starting to notice just how popular Harry has become and they're shifting the focus in front of our eyes. When Harry starts singing the audience SCREAMS (jump to 0:40 seconds in the video).

7- Seventh live show, November 20/21: They performed All You Need Is Love

Liam starts once again. Harry is now permanently blocked in the middle, it seems, and he has a solo following Liam. Niall has a solo after the chorus, Harry takes the solo after Niall as well, he also closes out the song with a call and response, where he sings "Love is all you need" and the rest chorus "love, love, love." The shift is in full swing. Liam is still opening, but only because he sets the tone now, and seemingly not because he's the de facto leader anymore.

8- Eighth live show, November 27/28: They performed Summer of 69 and You Are So Beautiful (other contestants were being eliminated so now the ones remaining are singing two songs).

Summer of 69: Liam starts, and he's the only one to have a full solo, the rest of the song is mostly all five with Harry doing a couple of adlibs. Zayn is blocked in the middle at first, but Harry ends up in that position when the song ends.

You Are So Beautiful: Liam starts. Harry takes the solo after. He's blocked in the middle again. Zayn has a solo after, then it goes back to Harry (complete with a high note), and he ends the song. I don't think Niall and Louis opened their mouths.

We can now update on followers, because I can finally find some more data.

December 2, Harry has 118,000 followers

December 3, Liam has 101,000

The shift has shifted, fully. Sorry, Liam, you had a good run.

Jokes aside, Harry forced their hand. He became the most popular one with little to no solos, while someone else was supposed to be the focus. He wasn't the focus of the extra content (that would be Louis) and he wasn't the most active one on social media (that would be Liam). It just HAPPENED. 100% organically.

Yes, of fucking COURSE once they saw the raw attraction this boy generated in hordes of girls they switched gears. DUH. Wouldn't you??? They don't make these decisions based on nothing. If the audience wants Harry Styles they'll give them Harry Styles. That is how it works.

9- Ninth live show, December 4/5: They performed Only Girl in the World and Chasing Cars

Only Girl: Liam started, Zayn had a small adlib, the rest of the song is all five. They moved around the stage a lot, so the formation doesn't really matter all that much.

Chasing Cars: Liam starts and he's blocked in the middle at first. They switch after the first chorus and Harry blocks in the middle as he takes his solo in the second verse. He's also doing high harmonies so you hear his voice the most throughout the entire second chorus very very loud while the others blend together. This is the first time that happens so clearly. He also closes the song. This is their last performance before the final, and it'll echo the way most One Direction songs will go for their entire discography.

I have to say, the audience gets loud before and after every performance, and every time they switch solos too. The audience adores all of them. But they get SO loud when Harry starts a solo. I'd watched all of these years and years ago but had forgotten that detail.

Also, the myth that Harry wasn't as good as Liam and Zayn at this point is just preposterous watching these performances. His voice is so solid when he has to sing. Liam is obviously more steady (literal years of experience vs a couple of weeks), but he's not better than Harry by any means, just better equipped, I'd say. Zayn's voice is very thin and way more off pitch than I remembered (Harry can get flat as well, but he belts with a lot of power while Zayn at this point cannot, probably nerves tho).

Anyway, the X Factor final would air December 11/12. Obviously it aired at night, so the next two tweets are right before the final.

Liam gained 3,000 in about a week.

Harry had gained 20,000.

And if you've watched all the videos I linked, you'll know exactly why.

I don't really have more insight on their followers in 2010. I can't find any other tweets that mention numbers. But for the sake of completion, let's analyze the final two performances.

10- Final, December 11/12: They performed Your Song and She's The One.

Your Song: Liam started. They were blocked with separate spotlights but when they formed in line, Harry was blocked in the middle, and immediately started his solo. The bit about Harry doing high harmonies for the second chorus happens again. This time Liam closes the song.

She's The One: Liam starts. Harry is blocked in the middle yet again (it's so funny lol). He takes the second solo. Louis introduces Robbie Williams after Harry's solo, who stands right next to Harry and takes the next solo (and all the solos after this). Robbie hugs Harry for most of the performance, then Louis who's on his other side. The camera is solely focused on Robbie with a little bit of Harry, which I find fucking HILARIOUS. What incredible foreshadowing.

Anyway, was Harry PUSHED by "The Powers That Be"? I mean, sure, but only after they realized how insanely popular he was. They stubbornly tried to push someone else to the forefront for two thirds of the competition and only clued in towards the end.

More so, when they gave in and started to push Harry, it actually worked. 1D became massively popular with hordes of fans, and most of them latched onto Harry. It's not like they switched gears, pushed Harry after Liam, it also flopped and someone else was more popular, but they stubbornly decided to continue pushing Harry. If it happened with Liam, it could've easily happened with Harry. But it didn't.

What you need to understand is that you can push whatever you want to an audience, but just because you push it doesn't mean it's gonna work out. Some things and some people click and others do not. Marketing can only help so far. And these decisions aren't made lightly. There's a ton of market research, of analyzing data, and checking reactions. If Harry hadn't tested well once they shifted, they wouldn't have kept pushing just for the sake of it. Just like they didn't with Liam.

Things don't happen in a vacuum. Harry didn't have any industry connections to warrant a push from the start (that would be Louis, who's mom knew James Corden). He hadn't been on TV or taken vocal lessons (that would be Liam). He also had never taken musical lessons for any instrument (that would be Niall). His family was working class. His mom has recently talked about how many jobs she had when he was growing up and how exhausted she was. Gemma talked about her and Harry being latchkey kids, having to fend for themselves. We know Harry worked multiple jobs since he was a child and until he was put in the band (since he was like, 10). He'd never gone to London before X Factor.

When The Hags claim that he was "chosen" and "pushed" they never explain the why in detail. Because THEY CAN'T. Not without admitting that Harry is talented and charismatic. I've seen some say "people like him because he's attractive." I mean, of course, he is. He's very attractive. So are the others, though? Different levels of attractiveness, of course, but they all got put in that band because of their looks. If they could sing but looked fugly they wouldn't have been put in a BOYBAND. In fact, I think being cute was more important than being able to sing at the time. Not naming names, but...

There's also been claims of "well, he was probably easy to manipulat." Brother ALL OF THEM were easy to manipulate. They were working class kids with a dream. I know part of being The Hags is having a bitch eating crackers attitude to him breathing, so of course they're never going to admit that he's not just good looking, but he's also charismatic, and has a great stage presence, and has a beautiful tone of voice, and an incredible work ethic.

But most importantly he had that Thing that people just latch onto. It's not something tangible you can describe. He just has it. It's the reason The Hags have been foaming at the mouth for a decade. There was nothing extraordinary about him that would producers want to push him above the others nefariously. The reasons you want to push an artist are typically very benign because that's the nature of the beast.

He didn't get an unfair advantage among his band mates.

Someone was ALWAYS gonna be in the forefront. Every single band in the history of bands has had at least one front-person. The producers initially thought it'd be Liam, put him in that position, but Harry took that from him organically, as much as it pains The Hags.

Fast forward to right before 1D released their first single (What Makes You Beautiful, which came out August 19 2011), and Harry now has 120,000 more followers than Liam (25% more). Louis Niall and Zayn are all pretty close together in followers, about 30,000 behind Liam and 150,000 behind Harry.

Now fast forward to around the time of their debut album release (mid November 2011)

The difference has now stretched to >200,000 (cannot get this tweet to embed but it says Liam is almost at 800,000).

This distance will grow bigger and bigger until the end of 1D and the start of their solo careers. By the end, Niall had solidified himself as the second most popular 1D member. These were the numbers on January 2016 (after 1D ended but before Zayn started his solo career):

Yes, once Harry became the frontman, he became THE FRONT MAN. In their first single, he sings the bridge and sings directly to the girl in the music video.

We also know Harry was BY FAR the most prominent voice in the group.

I haven't independently verified these screenshots, but I've been seeing them make the rounds on Twitter for ages with no one fact checking them, plus they... well, they sound about right. If there's anything that's wrong about them, please let me know, but counting these numbers sounds like an absolute nightmare that I'm simply not willing to put myself through.

This is counting ALL the albums, of course, but we know Harry consistently had the most amount of solos throughout their discography.

He also lead most choruses by far

And while for the first two albums Liam would start basically every song, Harry would quickly catch up with the latter three

And I was actually able to independently verify this (because it's not that hard), and the numbers aren't exactly the same but they're very similar. Somehow I have more songs? Maybe whoever did this only used the standard versions of the albums.

These are the totals: Liam 36, Harry 31, Niall 11, Zayn 9, Louis 4.

When they did interviews Harry was almost always sitting right next to the host (this would depend on what was the best spot for blocking in terms of the cameras and lights the show would use, but typically it's next to the host)

He was typically in the middle or in whatever place gave him more attention in photo shoots and he was, for instance in the thumbnail of most music videos, a lot of the times alone

Anyway, what's the point of this? The point of this is that my mama didn't raise a liar. Harry WAS pushed to the front once he became the most popular one... in the middle of the X Factor. And because he was pushed to the front a vicious circle (I'd describe it as virtuous, to be perfectly honest) was created, where more people heard his name, and he became even more popular, so he was pushed more. And so forth.

The media picked up on this, of course. It very quickly became "Harry Styles and his Directions."

Harry was very gracious about it, and we'll touch on his attitude towards that and his potential solo career in a post soon, but rumors of him going solo started almost as soon as they became huge.

1D released their first single in August 2011 and their first album in November. Neither of these would be released in America until 2012 (January for WMYB and March for UAN), once they did, 1D became massive worldwide. Harry started dating Taylor Swift towards the end of 2012, and that gave him a surplus of name recognition. He was already the most popular one by far, as we've established, but dating America's Sweetheart only created more distance between his celebrity ant he other four.

Thing is, he didn't date Taylor Swift for this reason. I know The Hags tend to be conspiracy theorists (or former conspiracy theorists that never lost their ways), so they will absolutely tell you it was PR to further his career, but I PROMISE you, it wasn't. This is something that can be very easily verified by virtue of just... paying attention to Harry and Taylor's relationship a little closer than the average tinhat tends to.

I'll clarify that I'm not fond of Taylor Swift. I flat out don't like her. I don't like her and Harry together either. But I don't just believe in things I personally enjoy. I believe in REALITY. One day I'll make a breakdown post of their relationship (which has been overly romanticized and minimized in very similar amounts). But the point I'm making right now is: yes, she raised his celebrity, but no it wasn't PR. In fact, the audience was aware of them being a couple for like, two months, when they had something going on, on and off, for several years (mostly off, let's be real).

After Harry was linked to Taylor, the talk about him going solo hit mainstream media. I mean, even before he was linked to Taylor the media discussed it.

May 2012

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These reports come from The Daily Star, which is National Enquirer levels of BS, of course. Harry once sued them for alleging on their cover that he had leaked nudes and posting a manipulated picture of his "naked" body (it was photoshop). But still, why did they make this rumor in particular up? Well, because he was the most high profile member, even in May 2012.

The reports kept coming, April 2013.

Harry Styles Going Solo?! One Direction Rep Says There's "No Truth" to False Album Reports. Source

The source for this one is The Mirror, which is slightly less terrible than Daily Star, but still quite terrible. The Sun would've been their go-to publication if this was something that had any type of substance (The Sun is also quite terrible, but they did have a lot of ties to 1D's team, particularly their publicist). Of course, 1D's team shut the rumor down immediately. They did this over and over. I'm not going to show you every instance. There were even leaked emails where it was asked that Harry did events on his own and Sony politely informed them that, no, Harry didn't do events on his own without the rest of the band.

The song Don't Let Me Go leaked in June 2013, and of course people jumped.

youtube

Truth is they all recorded versions of the songs individually. This is something Louis touched on, I think in his documentary? Harry wrote Don't Let Me go, and he recorded a demo of it, because they all did that. The song was for the band, not for himself.

In terms of writing, that's another topic I'll expand on later, but while they were all slowly dipping their toes into songwriting, Harry seemed to want to branch out. 1D had been assigned a team of writers and producers spearheaded by the super talented and successful Savan Kotecha, who was their coach in the X Factor (he's an Oscar shortlisted and Golden Globe and Grammy nominated songwriter behind a huge amount of enormous hits (Can't Feel My Face, God Is A Woman, Love Me Like You Do, DJ Got Us Falling In Love, etc).

He quit after 1D's second album, after being harassed by Louis (I will absolutely expand on this some day), but he maintained a good relationship with the others. When he left, he recommended a set of songwriters and producers to take over his place for the three following albums, this time spearheaded by Julian Bunetta (also very accomplished, but, yeah, slightly less so than Savan).

While Harry did write a few songs with both of those teams (he actually wrote Happily with Savan for 1D's third album, the last song Savan wrote for 1D before leaving). He also sought out other songwriters.

You can find a complete breakdown here, but while still in 1D Harry wrote with the likes of John Legend, Gary Lightbody and Johnny McDaid (Snow Patrol), Dan Layus (Agustana), Jake Gosling and Chris Leonard, Gavin DeGraw, Ryan Tedder, Johan Carlsson, the band Kodaline, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Max Martin, et al.

Harry started writing songs he kept for himself in 2014 (he mentioned this about his song Two Ghosts, which he later released in his debut album, for instance). And he also wrote songs for other artists, such as Ariana Grande, Alex & Sierra, and Michael Bublé.

Of course, this branching out got him a ton of connections and a ton of grace from members of the industry (who have always spoken wonders about him). He mentioned meeting his current manager and longtime friend Jeff Azoff in Toronto in 2012. Obviously The Hags get bent out of shape about this, because Jeff is son of legendary music manager Irving Azoff.

But Harry's connection to Irving is completely irrelevant in terms of his popularity. As I established here pretty plainly, he became the most popular member in 2010. Their team had to visibly pivot from promoting Liam Payne as the de facto leader to promoting Harry. People latched onto him organically.

Yes, when you have that once in a lifetime reaction from the audience to an artist, different types of music people with high positions of power will take notice and want an in for themselves. We'll get more in depth about this in the next post, so I don't want to continue to waffle on a lot longer, I think this whole "Harry was only popular because he was pushed" thing has been thoroughly debunked.

He was pushed because people CHOSE HIM.

And it was a good decision to do that because he was a huge part of 1D being successful. People try to humble him so often, "he wouldn't be famous if it wasn't for 1D."

You don't know that. Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube in 2009. Harry was in a band in high school. He did musicals in school. He loved doing karaoke and was an avid music enjoyer. He was very much musically inclined and could have very well become famous without 1D. He could've auditioned for the X Factor again at a later date. He was SIXTEEN when he was put in the band.

It is not a fact that Harry wouldn't have become famous without 1D. He could've. But we also know that the minute Harry said he wouldn't sign his contract again, the band disbanded (and that's the subject of the new post).

Harry could and has thrived without 1D. But One Direction has never thrived without Harry. So.

#fandom myths #long post

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