#Edit: about the lyrics I'm working on it now so this post is suddenly being edited

[forsythi-amitie]

god I am so sorry I got excited and it made me gag a little (I'm fine.)

I can't be assed to take the time to figure out the lyrics right now but The title is just "the time of flowers" the song starts out pretty dramatic, and the colors are pretty dulled. Mika is also in the background of Shu, placed a distance away, and reaches out, from out of Shu's "shadow". When they touch hands, the stage changes, becoming bright, and Mika is now on the same level as Shu, and they begin to dance in unison. (The music also changes at this point) Around the halfway point however, the music shifts yet again. (there's this ascending-descending bit of music that I thought sounded cool, but also it's the kind of piece you'd hear in something to signal... something. Tension, a sort of buildup to a climax. I'm no music theorist) The two seem to attempt at grasping something (eachother? ) though unable to reach it (well the music changes again and goes back to flowery and pretty) Also they touch hands. Wowie. Actually for the first time in a mv? Up until now they've just brushed hands (or barely)

I want to say that valkyrie's music has changed, as they grow closer as equals. (and partners. in art. and life.) This one feels very "shu", compared to the last one that was very "mika". To me, the MV resembles a stageplay, with all the moving set pieces and such, telling the story of their relationship. The changes in music are like "arcs" for the story, setting the stage for the ups and downs they've been through. Okay I actually do have something to say. wall.

A lot of the previous valkyrie songs had a very dramatic energy to them? Like yeah shu is all into drama and the wondrous spectacle that are their performances, but I feel it's a different kind of dramatic to this new one. -> For one, it's got a very different feel..? Their dances are reminiscent of ballet, and instead of a very powerful show of artistry, it seems more elegant and delicate. Valkyrie's outfits are notoriously... maroon, and the stage matches. Lots of dark reds and purple and gold, things that drape, but also look somewhat heavy? This time, the stage is set to be out in the open, with the lighting kind of resembling sunlight, and with all the flowers around, it gives the whole stage a very weightless look. Their outfits as well, are very fluttery, and I think this is the first time there's been this much white in an outfit, as valkyrie's outfits trend more on the darker side. It's a bit hard to notice, but the two of them are wearing rings on each hand, one pink, the other teal. Actually for that matter the entire outfit is subtly decorated in their colors. I think this is pretty interesting, since the "main" colors are just plain black and white, split down the half. (Here's where I comment about the color palettes again) There's. like no maroon in the outfits this time. Oh, and I went back and watched [迷宮電子回廊] (can't be bothered to type it) again, and their outfits had lots of vibrant teal and magenta accents, maybe also representing their individual theme colors. -> Another point, (forgive my rather lackluster vocabulary) but I want to say that the music itself has a lighter, brighter feel to it. It also sounds rather triumphant, compared to some of the more somber sounding songs of theirs. (I don't really know what key it's in so I can't say anything about that.) Also Shu doesn't do his weird little growl thing. (Yes, I rewatched all previous valkyrie MVs for this)

(so glad shu isn't wearing a damn hat I want to see his round haircut) (Okay bear with me. I do not know the exact lyrics and I can't quite tell what mika is singing in some parts. I can only hope I translated it right. If it's wrong, I'll know once in game MV is available so....) (ahahahaha I hate lyrics) [don't worry about this, I'll post something later] I think. wow they've come a long way. Shumika real.

Uh, kind of ran out of things to say. I don't know if I'm just hungry or still shocked-excited-nauseous. maybe both.

[btsxmalereaders]

break my heart myself

♡ pairing — lee minho x male reader

> genre — fluff | angst

> word count — 4,02k

> summary — despite being integrated into stray kids a little late, minho and you quickly clicked and started a great relationship. unfortunately, some fans can't still see it.

> tags — 9th!member, idol!au, jealousy, happy ending.

> a/n — hihi! i hope you enjoy this, and i'm sorry i'm a bit late posting your request u.u happy belated birthday, lovely anon! 

You were certainly not having the best time now. Starting off by these couple of days have been really tough since your group is having a comeback soon; so you had to deal with rehearsals that didn’t seem to have an ending soon, a lot of photograph sessions with tons of makeup and dress changes, and endless nights locked up in the studio to write and record songs. 

You tried to tell yourself it’s easy. Reminding yourself and repeating comforting words like it’ll all be over soon, and you’d be able to enjoy performing and connect with fans once the promotions started, but you were getting tired. 

“Hey, are you ready for today’s recording? Everyone but us and Minho are already at the studio.” Changbin pats your shoulder and brings you back down to earth, to later nod get up from the couch. You were still sleepy and wanted to take a quick nap in the living room while everyone was getting ready, but you got too deep in your thoughts and you couldn’t get the chance to do it.

Minho exits your shared bedroom and sweetly smiles at you, approaching quickly and opening his arms to embrace you right after. 

“Are you okay, sleepyhead?” He softly murmurs, making you chuckle. 

“Yeah, just a bit tired. I’ll be better once we get to the studio, though.” You tell him not to worry him too much; Minho already had enough on his plate. 

“Alright, the minivan is outside now, let’s go quickly before everyone starts complaining.” Changbin says.

It’s a quiet ride. Changbin decided to put on his headphones and listen to, you suppose, things he composed late night hours the past few weeks, meanwhile your head is resting on Minho’s shoulder as he scrolls down tiktok and laughs with you, liking cute kitty videos and some other random stuff about Stray Kids and another accounts he follows, obviously on a secret account.

Suddenly, an edit from a fan pops up. Short clips and photos of your boyfriend and Han at the rhythm of a love song. You don't say a thing, not even flinch, and Minho just keeps scrolling as if nothing happened. 

Certainly, you have noticed all those fan edits, tweets and messages on vlive about the friendship between Minho and Jisung. It started even before you joined the group, so you understood where they were coming from, it still didn't make you feel comfortable about it. Because, even though you respected and loved their friendship, you didn't like the fact that your boyfriend was being shipped with another person by lots of people, while the attention of your dynamics, despite it being a little bit more subtle for obvious reasons, was being underestimated. 

Nothing much was said in the way, Minho locked his phone a few minutes right before arriving and pressed a soft kiss on your forehead. You walk separately, just in case, but as soon as you're on the 5th floor of the building, he takes your hand and smoothly squeezes. 

"Oh god, you're finally here. What took you so long?" Hyunjin groans and stands up from his chair as soon as you enter Chan's studio. 

"Sorry, I actually took my time to have breakfast, not like you who ate under 5 minutes and ran away."

Changbin tries to defend himself and leaves his belongings on the desk.

"It's not our fault you eat so slowly." Hyunjin continues to joke, so Bin furrows.

"Okay, okay, enough. We have a lot of work to do today." Chan steps up with a smile and starts giving updates for you guys and general directions.

So you all do as told, spending a good time deep in the lyrics of a new song and getting familiarized with it, owning it and adding everyone's details, singing with your hearts and praising each other. It's a song Jisung wrote and you all couldn’t help but be amazed by how great it was. 

After a few hours of singing and arranging, you all decided it was time to take a break and get something to have for lunch. The maknae line offered to go to the cafeteria and get you all food, meanwhile Chan, Minho, Changbin and you waited and threw some ideas to continue with the recording; well, it was mainly Changbin and Chan arranging some stuff, too deep in their world meanwhile you two were snuggled on the couch. 

His fingers on your hair, touching softly, a humming which you could say resembled the singing of an angel, and his other hand with a tight holding of your back. Yet so careful and subtle. You loved the way Minho made you feel; like home, safe and sound. Loved, above all.

 

You were so grateful to get the chance to be part of the group, since you joined a little later, but it still impressed you the easiness of how they welcomed you and how the fans were happy about it. After all, it was meant to be. You 'd like to think that, at least. 

In between the calmness that just set, you look up to find Minho with his eyes closed, so you admire him closely; every mole, his bright and soft skin, his calm breath, his humming alongside the rhythm of his heartbeat making you feel at ease. A feeling you wouldn't trade for anything.

A few minutes later, everyone gets back in the studio with bags in their hands, the smell of food makes you realize you're hungry, so you stand up and kiss the tip of Minho's nose and smile before helping the guys with the bags.

Everyone takes a seat and begins to unpack the food, rushing to eat something to put you all in a better mood for the next few hours of work ahead of you. Occasionally you discuss what you have done so far, but you try to make the rest of the break pleasant and distracting so that everyone feels a little less tense.

"Oh, guys," Felix speaks up as you're about to finish. "Why don't we pair up and upload some tiktoks of what we're doing? It could be like a little spoiler for stays."

"Yeah, it'd be cool, but couldn't we get in trouble for this?" Jeongin asks, concerned. 

Chan simply shrugs, "No, we won't. And if we do, I don't care. It's gonna be fun."

Everyone laughs and decides to go for it, so now Chan makes you all decide whether you should pick your partner or shall he assign them, so you all choose the last option. He knows you well and how you work together, and that ends up with you paired with Hyunjin, Chan is with Seungmin and Felix, Jeongin and Changbin are together and last but not least, Han and Minho.

Now, you didn't wanna seem upset about it, but a bad feeling just settles in you. You would probably not read the comments under their video, though. The tiny hope you'd get to do this with Minho vanished away, and you were not mad about it, just a little bit disappointed. 

"Alright, let's just record a few seconds of the song, meanwhile just do a lip sync and do something nice at the ending, I guess? Like we usually do." Chan indicates briefly as he takes his phone and opens the camera, and so the first ones are Changbin and Jeongin. They end up making finger hearts with a lovely expression on their faces that makes you all chuckle.

Felix, Chan and Seungmin are up next, and they send kisses to the camera, making you cringe a little, and consequently they laugh about it too, but thinking it's funny. Then, Hyunjin and you make a small and improvised choreography as well, and end up with a cool model pose, with your arm laying on his shoulder and looking empowered. 

And finally, Han and Minho simply make a heart with their arms and shortly wave goodbye before the video ends. Chan posts them right after and hopes it all goes well afterwards. 

The rest of the recording goes smooth and quick. You're too deep in your thoughts about this situation, that is clearly out of your control, but you guess that was what bothered you more. The fact that you couldn't stand up and for once and for all put an end to all those rumors and theories just makes you feel even more mad and helpless.

"Okay, that's it for today, let's go home, alright? I'll prepare dinner for you guys." Minho says, causing everyone to cheer up after the tiring day you all just had. He places a kiss on your forehead and picks up your belongings as you head to the back of the building, where the minivan waits for you.

Of course Minho notices you're suddenly quiet rather than being clingy, but he assumes you're tired and lets you sleep a bit on your way back to the apartment. 

As soon as everyone arrives home, Minho gets ready to start preparing dinner while the others take turns taking a shower, watching TV and others on their cell phones.

"Is there anything I can help you with, sweetheart?" you ask sweetly as you approach from behind his back, placing your hands on his waist. Minho lets out a nervous little laugh and looks you in the eye. 

"Don't worry, prince. Let your boyfriend take care of preparing something delicious for you. You just sit back and wait looking pretty as always."

"I heard that!" Seungmin passes laughing and unnoticed through the kitchen, making Minho blush. While everyone is aware of how mellow you guys can be, it was still something they were amused by.

“Okay, let me know if there’s anything I can do.’’ You simply state and go to the living room, taking a seat and opening tiktok. And you promised yourself you wouldn’t read the comments, but you couldn’t help it. You oftenly chuckled at all the things stay came up with, and liked some of them, as you were using your private account. Then, when Han and Minho’s clip popped up you hesitated a bit, but did it anyway. Honestly, you didn’t know what you were expecting, to everyone comment chill and light-hearted things and not focused on their ship? Of course that wouldn’t happen.

All those “They’re definitely dating’’, and “Minsung is real’’ type of comments were getting on your nerves lately, digging deep into the uncomfortableness and bother you’ve been bottling up the past few years. You just reached the point where you can’t hide your disappointment and jealousy anymore. 

After you take a shower and try to relax, you gather with your friends and boyfriend in the kitchen to have dinner. It’s the opposite of being quiet, of course. Everyone is laughing and joking around, as always. But you, on the other hand, are more serene; despite being the other way on the inside. Minho notices it and tries to understand why, but nothing comes to mind. He softly squeezes your knee under the table but you only look at him and give him a fake smile as you finish eating.

You are the first one to finish, so you stand up and wash your plate and utensils quickly, saying nothing more than a goodnight to everyone and go straight to your room, washing your teeth in a heartbeat and deciding to get in bed and sleep before Minho could enter and start asking questions regarding in your behavior tonight. But of course, as soon as you clean your face, Minho's steps in the room and sighs, heading to the bathroom.

"Hey," He says, taking his toothbrush and standing next to you. "Is everything alright? You were very quiet, is anything I c-"

"Don't worry," You interrupt him before he can say more. "I guess I'm too tired. I just want to sleep."

"Are you sure?" He insists.

"Yes," A kiss is placed on his cheek, making Minho blush. "Let's go get some rest, okay? I'll wait for you."

Still, Minho isn't at all convinced, but lets it slide for now.

The night is spent with you both intertwined, your face hidden on the crook of his neck, his heartbeat lullabies you into a heavy sleep and the comfortableness of his arms around you. Tomorrow will be a better day, you say to yourself before falling completely asleep. 

Truth is, the next day is slightly better. Minho is really attentive to you, because he is aware something is up, and even though he knows you're not ready to tell him yet, he wanted to make you feel better and let you know you could count on him and open up whenever you wanted. 

"Today we will just arrange the last track and tomorrow we will continue with dance practices." Chan says once you're all on your way to the studio, getting everyone's attention. "And I thought, after we finish, we can make a short vlive? It's been a while since we've done one together and it's a perfect occasion, in a few weeks we will be releasing this brand new album, right? So… are you in?"

No one hesitates to agree with the idea. Chan is right, it's been quite a while since you all gathered to make a live and have fun, so it sounds like it will be a pleasant and distracting activity after these past days of stress and overwork. 

So all said and done, once you guys are done with the recording of the last track of the album, you get some food and make yourselves comfortable to start with the live. Chan is sitting in his chair, while on the couch in the back is Changbin, right on the armrest, right next to him, Jeongin and Seungmin are along the couch, and on the opposite side to Changbin, Felix has taken a seat.

Minho and Han are on the left side of Chan, and Hyunjin has kept you company on the opposite side, so that everyone can be seen by Stay in front of the camera.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Chan asks once he has set everything up to start, and presses the start live button when he gets a positive response from everyone.

And it's really nice. Everyone is having a pretty fun time, reading the stay comments, they're placing bets and asking about the songs they will hear next. You guys are joking around, making little spoilers in order to make them suffer a bit for the wait ahead until the album is released, thanking them for the kind comments about the last tiktoks you uploaded among some other comments. 

Suddenly the comments drift off to the actions everyone is doing while reading; Jeongin, for example, has started ponytailing Felix's hair and then asked for suggestions to further style his hair, Hyunjin has started feeding you the snacks you brought, while Minho and Han are pushing each other with their shoulders to get more camera, so suddenly some more comments about them catch your attention, which inevitably makes you raise your eyes towards them.

It's a simple, innocent game, but the comments paint it as flirting. And you don't like the way that makes you feel. 

Your spirits are now down, and Hyunjin notices it immediately, so he comforts you, hugging you a little, letting you know that you can count on him if you need to let off steam, and also taking your cell phone so you can no longer read those comments. 

He quickly sends a message to Chan to end the live broadcast promptly, which he does within a few minutes without question, just after everyone has said goodbye and sent good wishes for Stay.

"So, shall we go now?" Jeongin asks a bit concerned at the abrupt ending, to which Chan confirms and says it was gonna last a bit anyway, since he still needed to be at the studio longer and wanted everyone to get more rest.

"Okay, _____ and I are going to the bathroom real quick, meet you all downstairs?" Hyunjin quickly says and everyone agrees, walking off the room as soon as possible and heading to said place.

Once you're inside the big bathroom, you quickly check no one's in the stalls and let out a long sigh, Hyunjin following you.

"Are you okay?" He asks as you wash your face with the cold water.

"Yeah, yeah," You mumble, feeling terrible.  "It's just... ugh, this is stupid. I don't understand why I feel this way, it doesn't make any sense, I mean..." 

Hyunjin only manages to look at you, feeling empathetic. 

"I'm sorry, I'm acting very childish, aren't I? The jealousy I have is quite irrational."

Your friend doesn't know what to say so he simply gives you a hug. Good, his hugs make you feel better. He makes you feel understood. Hyunjin lets you know that what you feel is okay. He won't judge you, he will simply walk you through this.

"Let's go home, Jinnie. Thank you." You simply say and ignore the tears threatening to stream down your face. 

The ride home is quite quiet. Minho is beside you, his head on your shoulder as he plays a game on his phone, but your attention is on the road, your eyes lost in the scenery. And you didn't mean to be so heartless, but this whole situation has really overtaken you for the worse.

As much as you try to think about this and come up with a solution, the truth is that all you want now is to get to your dorm room and rest. Maybe cry a little as an outlet to clear your head and then talk it over with Minho.

So once in the apartment, you quickly head to the bedroom, ignoring Minho's calls, shouting your name so that you at least turn to look at him, but his attempts end up failing. Everyone seems to be puzzled by the situation, but they decide not to intervene; at least not for now. 

Minho is really surprised by your behavior, and once you have locked yourself in the room, he turns to Hyunjin for help, since he knows that he was the last person you talked to before all this happened.

"Go to him, he seems to be avoiding you, but he needs you." He instructs him, so Minho walks quickly and knocks on the door a couple of times before entering.

It's heartbreaking for him to hear you sobbing under the covers. He's so confused and worried, so he approaches quickly but cautiously, taking a seat right next to you.

"Hey, prince, what's wrong?" He whispers, his sweet voice reaching your ear but not stopping your crying. "My love..."

Minho reaches his hand to the edge of the blanket and slowly lifts it, revealing your sad, soaked face. He just wants to come closer to kiss you and hold you so much, he wants you to stop feeling bad.

"What's wrong, do you need anything, can I do anything for you? Tell me, please."

You look at him and try to stop crying, slowly getting closer as he rounds you with his arms and kisses the top of your head. 

Your crying starts to die down, "I'm sorry." You manage to say, with your voice still low, almost in a whisper.

Minho doesn’t understand why you are suddenly apologizing, but he listens to you and lets you continue. 

"I've... This is nonsense, I'm sorry, I don't want you to feel like I'm forbidding you to... I mean, I don't want to-"

"____, hey, it's okay, honey. Take a breath, take your time. It’s okay." He says, now placing a kiss on the tip of your nose and raising his hand to erase the tears on your face.

"It's just that..." A sigh leaves your mouth, in an attempt to calm down your nerves. "Lately, I have read and seen... things that are quite hard for me to process and, I know I shouldn't care about it, cause it's meaningless, but somehow, it gets in my head and now I can't simply ignore it. I hate how this makes me feel."

"What's wrong?" 

"Please don't hate me for this or laugh about it…"

"Of course I won't." He assures you, smiling up a bit to make you feel comfortable. 

"Okay, I'll just say it. This shipping culture the fans have… I try to understand it, it's fun sometimes, but, it's getting on my nerves that all I can see lately it's about you and Jisung… and, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm jealous about this."

You close your eyes, so you can't see Minho's reaction to your words. You said it so quickly you ran out of breath a little bit, and the fact that Minho hasn't said anything in what feels like an eternity, makes you feel nervous. Did you mess up? Is he holding up a laugh? Does he feel attacked? 

"Prince, look at me." He utters, holding your face, which is probably turning red, and caressing your cheek. 

You slowly do as told, cracking one eye open and quickly with the other one after seeing his face is serious. He's not laughing, but there's a small smile that denotes comprehension. 

"I love you." Minho says before pulling you for a kiss. His free hand sliding on your back and holding you tightly. When you run out of breath, he slowly separates, but his forehead is resting on yours and your noses touch up on a skimo kiss.  "I love you so, so much."

"I love you too…" You whisper. "I'm sorry."

"No. Don't be." He quickly says, separating a bit so he can stare into your eyes. "You don't have to be sorry, okay? I understand where you're coming from. What you feel is completely understandable. I just… I wish you had told me before you felt this bad."

A smile is finally drawn in your lips, "I honestly didn't know it affected me that much until now. I mean, I just didn't care about it at the beginning, but now it's… everywhere. In a lot of comments on every single video, every live; on signs at the concerts, on fansigns… It got into my head."

"I'm sorry, prince." He says and kisses you again. "Uhm, I'm sure we can talk it out and maybe, if it makes you feel like this, Jisung and I can stop it by not interacting too much-"

"No!" You interrupt him, making him feel surprised. "No way, no. This isn't what I want to happen. It's not your fault, not Jisung's. I don't want you to stop being friends or having your friendship affected by this. I don't think this is in our hands to solve, I'll have to find a way to ignore it and move on."

"Love, I'd do anything to make you feel better. I don't want you to ever feel sad about this situation, we can look out for a solution with Jisung. I'm sure he'll understand." He says.

"I know, but I love and respect your friendship with him too. You've been friends since forever, even before I took part in the group, and I will never forgive myself if that is ruined somehow because of this." 

Minho looks at you with adoration, "Are you sure? Because we can come up with a solution."

You smile, "I'm sure. I just needed to let it all out to feel better. It's gonna be okay, eventually."

"Okay, just let me know if you ever feel like this again, please." 

"Sure. Thank you, love." 

"No need to, my prince." He says and kisses you again. "Now let's wash up your pretty face and watch a movie? I'll let you pick."

"Deal." 

Minho doesn’t separate from you the rest of the night. He showers you with kisses and whispers sweet words to your ears until you fall asleep between each other's arms. From now on, you know everything will be okay.

[senditcolton]

So Tragic and Rare

January (pt. 10)

masterlist

Entertainment Weekly Magazine

What would you do if your carefully curated good-girl image was suddenly smeared? Would you go into hiding? Would you completely reinvent yourself? Would you come back, teeth-bared, and declare "if you think I'm a villain, I'll be one"? If you are pop princess turned punk rockstar Keely Halloran, the answer is all of the above. Riding the critical acclaim of her new album 'VINDICTIVE', one of our editors caught up with the rockstar in her Boston home to talk about vengeance, missteps, and all of the complicated feelings that have defined her past year.

Rebecca Coy, Entertainment Weekly: I am sure that you have been bombarded with questions about your reinvention, your personal life, and your new album. But before we get into any of that, I just want to ask how you're doing. Keely Halloran: I'm doing really well, thank you so much for asking. It's been a wild year but I think it was all necessary to go through to get to where I am today.

That in of itself is a powerful statement but I'm sure it's shocking for a lot of our readers. You're saying that you wouldn't change anything about the last year? Yeah. I know that seems insane because obviously no one wants to be painted as a villain for simply speaking the truth and basically be forced into hiding because of the immense backlash. But if none of that happened, I wouldn't have found myself, I probably wouldn't have collaborated with the amazing artists that I have, and my album wouldn't exist.

I've listened to VINDICTIVE - it's been on repeat since it came out - and it sounds like it was very cathartic to make. It was.

How did it all start? It definitely started after my collab with Post Malone. I mentioned it when I announced my version "Die 4 Me" but working with him really made me fall in love with making music again. And this album was very... freeing. It was almost like writing in a diary and that's the mindset I took with me when was conceptualizing VINDICTIVE. I wanted it to be honest, sometimes brutally so. You don't write in a diary expecting people to read it. So, I tried not to overly-edit my songs and make them truly confessional. Even though I was fully aware that people were going to hear them.

Those complicated emotions were something that a lot of fans and critics really latched on to. However, I think a lot of people expected this album to be a whole track-list of 'Without Me' and 'Die 4 Me' - all anger and teeth. I don't think they expected the tears. I'll be honest, I didn't expect them either. When I wrote the lyrics for 'Die For Me' back when I collaborated with Post Malone, I loved it - obviously since a made an additional version with every lyric I initially cut - and I thought, "yes, this is the direction of the new album". But when I sat down to write it, all of the other emotions came. And I knew I had to keep them in.

What was the hardest song for you to write? Ooh, I'd had to say the hardest song to write was 'Doing Better'. I actually thought about that being a title track because it really represents everything I was feeling. I was spiteful - prideful, but there was also this weight of sadness and confusion. I was thinking to myself, "I've broken away from a harmful situation I was stuck in for five years and I'm finally living my life on my terms. So why don't I feel better?" That was all in that song. It's so messy and complicated that I debating even putting it on the album. But I promised myself that I wouldn't force myself to be someone I'm not. So, it's now track seven.

It's interesting to hear that is the song you considered scrapping. If we go with that idea of confessional songwriting, I would think it'd be the angry songs that would be tossed. You know, the therapy advice of 'write an angry letter and throw it out'. I think it's far too late for me to take that advice. [laughter]

I don't want to prod too much into your personal life - Thank you for that. - but I do feel like we should touch on it, at least generally, since it's so woven into he album. Obviously, everyone has heard all the different versions of this story and have made and/or voiced their own conclusions. What was it like for you, hearing all this noise? Well, as you can guess from my five-month absence, it did hurt me at first. That's why I'm really thankful for all the people that stuck with me through all this craziness. I'm also really happy that people have picked up on the hurt that did seep its way into the album. Because it did sting. I ended a five-year relationship. Yes, maybe I was young and more than a little naive but you don't spend that long with someone unless you think it's going to be forever. There is a trust that is built and when that trust is betrayed, it rocks your world. Which is another reason the initial backlash hit so hard as well. Anger is a valid emotion to that situation and I couldn't understand why people were mad at me for having - what I thought was - a completely understandable reaction.

It makes complete sense how you felt blindsided in more ways that one. But you survived all of that and now, here you are. Here I am.

Was it difficult stepping into this new authentic version of yourself? It was. All change is difficult but you need to push through it to grow. There was a moment during this 'metamorphosis' where it hit me that this was what I was supposed to be doing. I always knew that there were parts of me that wanted to escape and bloom but I always pushed them down because I was told that was the right thing to do. I couldn't change genres because pop music sells and doing a complete 180 would alienate a lot of fans. I couldn't come out because of the discrimination and hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community. I couldn't go out and smoke and get drunk and get tattoos and make reckless decisions because I was a pop princess, a good girl. That was my image. I was in pain for so many years because I was denying these parts of myself, twisting myself into so many unnatural shapes, but I didn't understand why it hurt so much. But when I started to embrace all those parts of me, there was this realization like "oh, that's why it was so painful; I was wearing shoes that were totally the wrong size."

It was the relief you feel when you find the right fit. Exactly.

It has been a treat sitting down and talking to you. Mind if we wrap this up with some this or that questions, sent in by our readers? Go for it!

Shower or bath? Depends on how much time I have but shower. Cooking or baking? Baking. Being embarrassed or being afraid? Embarrassed, one-hundred percent. Calls or text? Calls. East coast or west coast? East coast, obviously. Hockey or basketball? Tough question for a Boston girl to answer but... hockey. Thought you might say that. Tattoos or piercings? Both but piercings are a little less permanent. Glass half-empty or half-full? Half-full. General admission of assigned seats? GA, all the way. Dogs or cats? I'll let Gigi answer this one. [Halloran picks up her dog, Gigi, holding the pooch near her ear as if Gigi is whispering to her.] She says dogs, of course.

Amazing. Well, thank you so much for accepting this interview and taking the time out of your day to host as well. I can't wait to blast VINDICTIVE in my car on the way back to New York and I look forwards to seeing you perform during the NHL All-Star game next month!

taglist: @fallinallincurls @laureniray @comphy-and-cozy @smileysvech @pyotrkochetkov @thewintersoldierdisaster

let me know if you want to be tagged in this story or if you want to add yourself to my general taglist, click here!!

[azurezra]

man. today has been, something. started off by queuing up some TMR songs. that was. fun. ended up searching for the SEED song lyrics in an attempt to karaoke like the old days. and ended up stumbling upon the name of an old LJ friend in the translation credits, ah,hahahahaa...hah. (;_; )

somehow or other i next decided to check if 平川地一丁目 was on spotify and uh, gee, two separate artist pages. "Hirakawachiitchome" and "Hirakawachi 1Chome"... weird. one had their early stuff, the other was 3 2020's releases... i d k. made a playlist because i still do not fully comprehend HOW TF to use this godawful app. soon enough noticed how tHE ONE. WHOLE. UNAVAILABLE SONG. 「君のくつ」 i immediately recognised the title it was one of the FIRST I EVER HEARD, and thus SURELY the MOST nostalgic and... goddamn.

cue an attempt to listen to it ELSEWHERE? youtube just showed me. a cover. o-ohhh but it WAS, *VERY* nostalgic!!! but NOT THEM. so, i tried another site. it was a *japanese* lyrics site. it actually had a link. to a youtube video. region block. of. course. ........so, my DUMB ASS has just never bothered with a vpn in all these years (used to use proxies on occasion, but...) —so i did not have one handy!! but after NOT TOO MUCH STRUGGLE, i found a jp one (and the site actually seemed familiar? h-huh...) AND GOT IT TO WORK

AND LISTENED TO THE SONG!!! HELL YEAH, NOSTALGIA

....and then the eventual emotional crash. sigh.

i didn't even listen to the pl yet or discover any other songs i used to know, great! and nvm the idea to try to d/l the song cos even tho i HAD it, who knows, now? but ofc MY vpn didn't do jack shit for the mp3 converter websites accessing it from hell knows where. and again. i'm too dumb, to solve, these fucking issues!!

...

so then there was yesterday's shit. the power got shut off by 11am, curtailing my original plans for TMR. unable to even do chores, and lacking ANY offline activities or crafts in this hellhole, i ended up... reading —INITIALLY ONE. and then, ONE BY ONE— ALL, of my, ancient ass, OC writings. the ones i made like a single file each for, thought about in bed for days/weeks until the next ""idée fixe"" took over, but then eventually neglected in favour of my "top 3"...

well there was ACTUALLY some good/cute stuff. a LOT of cringe stuff. shameless asides laughing at my own cringe-but-free writing ability. peppered here & there with many an ancient ass meme phrase i hadn't heard in a decade+

and ofc, far too much, incomplete scenes, suddenly stopped, SOMETIMES NOTED with, "i'll write that later" and then i never. did. (and yet i KNOW there were more scenes??? so it was. thought up in bed. and never typed up....) (;_; )

well that was FUN. ...until the crash. from the high. and the power was still off ofc. *power eventually paid & resolved by 7pm* BUT. the damage was already done.

brain now overloaded with "freshly unearthed" thoughts about ALL of my OCs, not just my top 3 stories.... oh, god.

a-and THEN i started wondering how they looked? i.e. my pathetic maplestory sprites created in bannedstory (rip in pieces)

and so i. eventually dug into my dropbox. o-oh god. SOME ARE. SOOOOOOOOCUTE. SOME ARE. SO ugly. l-lol. cry. "they'll look better when i finally draw them! these are just design drafts!" .......CRYYYYYY.

and NOW i'm plagued by thoughts of posting them, but even MORE tormented by:

a.) not being to edit or adjust any!!! fucking pixels!! on ipad!!

b.) even CROPPING the massive "collages" is a HUGE PAIN on the ipad???

c.) there are multiple versions, across different images, made at different times— and SOME charas look better in one, while others look better in another?!? MORE CUT PASTE CROP EDIT HELL

...nvm all these .bsproj files that can no longer be accessed or loaded up and edited and.... cries. GOD I BET EVEN IF ANY SUCCESSOR APP TRIED TO IMPLEMENT THEM, THEY'D LACK THE ABILITY TO READ THE COLOUR ADJUSTMENTS I TOOK ENTIRELY TOO MUCH ADVANTAGE OF a-and then if i loaded 'em up. HORRID, AWFUL ORANGE HAIR THAT I HAD DESATURATED TO SOME SEMBLANCE OF "SILVER", OR GREEN EYES HUE SHIFTED TO TEAL OR, OR, OR—

[akookminsupporter]

This fandom in general is not only jikookphobic, it is also Jiminphobic and Jungkookphobic too.

Oh honey you have to realize one more important point, pretty sure Fandom, atleast many in fandom, is NOT jungkookphobic. But Jiminphobic. Many either blatantly or secretly HATE jimin. They cannot bear anything good happening to him. If it was jungkookphobic then we won't see people having no problem in announcing Tkk couple or praise namkook as much as they want - the great crush story.

Don't know whether u will read or post this because its long but it's all fact and surely not any hate against any members

Just look at patterns :

1. Jimin in 2018 sets a record for highest viewed fancam ever, trended fancam for days, purely based on his talent and dancing. 1st fancam to start this fancam streaming culture. Next year onwards bitter stans began mass streaming their favs fancam, buy ads etc to increase views. We have a literal example of an ex Jimin anti saying she viewed Jimin as an enemy because he stands out too much in group and his bond with JK. He's the member who brings most fans to Fandom/ go viral among locals but nope it's X and Y member who's popular.

2. Jimin is knows for his dancing skills even outside the Fandom, rest Fandoms praise him for dancing. But ARMYs can't stand that. For one Jhope is a terrific performer. But when someone is talking about Jimin's dancing they immediately bring Jhope to pull down Jimin, saying Jimin told hobi is best dancer. Like susan what do you expect Jimin to say ??? 'Yes I'm the best dancer of the group' ??? So you can call him rude ?? Go through their recent performance videos you will rarely see a comment praising Jimin's dancing and if anyone say something next moment they are corrected by - but hobi... the recent MMA plaque dancer award for Jimin is latest example on how this Fandom hate when Jimin is recognized for his dancing is.

3. Jimin without any vocal training from company debuted as the Lead vocalist of BTS and share 2nd most lines after JK until recently. Again take a performance video or lyrical video you will see people PRAISING rest 3 vocalists. Everyone happy until someone praise about Jimin's vocals. Suddenly it's too high pitched to them, too much autotune, too many lines for him, they prefer Tae's vocals, Jin should have that lines etc. Now tae won a vocal award in MMA Everyone happy, no questions but imagine Jimin winning it ???

4. Jimin being so fucking close with Jungkook and possibly having romantic relationship with him. One of the major source for Jimin hate - 'The great Jikook' lol. No way Jimin, out of all members, can have jungkook, no way their bond is pure, it's all fanservice, why would JK select Jimin when Tae exist, if JK is in relationship with any band member its Tae. No one calls out anyone who's praising namkook's crush but good God mention GCFT is for Jimin you 'disrespected' JK's work. Everyone and their mommas happy when it's Tae paired with JK but can't stand Jimin existing in same place with JK.

5. All members interact with fans, all of them do this lil flirty FS thing, all of them smile at them and talk sweetly. But rest members doing it is so sweet and nice while Jimin, Godforbid, smile politely at someone he's a FLIRT. He maybe just existing simply still he's portrayed as a flirt, pervert and womanizer in edits and comments and it became normalized to the point uts acceptable to call Jimin any names. No way he's polite and welcoming to someone right, everything he do is with a ill intention that is to flirt with them like the fuckboy he is. The only point everyone in fandom come together is to call him flirt or to say he's making men gay because of 'Jimin effect'

6. Jimin not being so masculine according to societies standards. And i have SEEN many hate him for that. Hate him for being queer, embracing his femininity saying how he's not manly enough for them to like him. I've even seen many saying stylists are purposefully putting him in those outfits and makeup for queer coding, it's his persona given by bh, hes making other boys gay or making them uncomfortable by his gay behavior and that's friend what is homophobia. Rest fandoms openly being homophobic and transphobic to him and treating him like a slut of the group. I/we have SEEN it.

7. Jimin being always portrayed as the weaker one in group. For this they exaggerate other members physical and mental strength as if it's a competition. One, Many conveniently forgets he's blackbelt in taekwondo, have years of practice in kendo and other marital arts. You can see them eliminating him from kpop idols with a blackbelt but insert JK who doesn't have a black belt, Because it's JK who's more bulked up and masculine than Jimin isn't it. Two, he's still the ome insecure in his body and visuals who needs validation from others. He used to have some insecurity I agree but so did rest members and they have spoken multiple times about it. But only Jimin is considered insecure, who still starve everyday to look good while all he's doing is working out and maintaining a diet like most celebs in entertainment field and like rest of boys. He is mentally strong af to withstand all the hate he's getting. Jimin is past that insecure stage but Fandom is not.

8. Criminal underestimatation of him as an artist. I've literally seen discussions on reddit on what Jimin will do when BTS starts a solo career. He is so versatile and can carry himself well but nope that's what make us jealous so we will question his survival in industry. He's not doing several other variety projects like rest boys at present, because HE CHOSE NOT TO but nope it's because Jimin is useless apart from group and can't survive in this industry on his own. Jimin tops brand reputation every fucking months- and it's rigged. Jimin's insta followers - bought, jimin broke record of most iTunes #1 - irrelevant. Like every achievement of him as an artist is underestimated.

So yep, MANY MANY in this Fandom hate Jimin or is just including him for this ot7 love all members kumbaya but when in reality hate him and thinks he's unworthy of praising for his talents, Jungkook, his stans and other good things.

It really really hurt when that producer wrote 2 days before - how much he (JM) loves bts army because in return he's getting jealousy of many bitches here. But hey atleast he has many people who genuinely loves him right 😪🤞 who doesn't care if he feed the shippers or not, is gay/straight, is beautiful or not, is giving them content every two days or not.

It's probably my imagination but the 'oh honey' at the beginning of your ask sounded condescending.

While I agree with several of the things you mention in this ask, I disagree with you when you say that this fandom isn't jungkookphobic as well. Because it is. Maybe it's different from how they react about Jimin but this fandom in general, on an individual level doesn't like Jungkook very much because they are envious of him, because they think he doesn't deserve everything he has, what he gets and the praise he gets.

I was not referring to Jungkook with another member, I am talking about Jungkook only. The individual. The Solo artist.

For the above, I reiterate what I said, this fandom is Jungkookphobic too.

[cherrykindness]

let's make babies |

pairing: Harry Styles x Actress!Reader

summary: you and harry are doing a live on instagram, you've drunk a lot of wine and now the world knows that the future Mrs. Styles is ready to make babies.

warnings: mostly cute, but the title tells you what you need to know 🤪

"What is your favorite song from the Fine Line album?" Y/N read aloud, twirling in her right hand the second glass of wine of the evening, the one already halfway through. "Adore You and Watermelon Sugar, of course."

Harry giggled, rolling his eyes upon hearing his fiancée's statement.

"Y/N will always choose Adore You because it was obviously written for her." He accused. "She wouldn't give that answer under different circumstances."

The comments climbed up the screen continuously, most fans gushing about how cute Harry Styles and YN/LN could be while the other part was concerned with wringing even more information out of the slightly inebriated couple who had decided to do a surprise live one early Sunday morning.

As expected after being away for some time to begin filming Don't Worry, Darling in Southern California, Harry enjoyed a lazy weekend in the house he shared with his fiancée and her pets. The days were filled with late naps and relentless Netflix marathons, sublime and ethereal evenings, marked mostly by unexpected declarations and rounds of sex that used to last until the beams of light were shyly coming through the linen curtains. They were not a monotonous couple, so this order could easily be changed.

"Watermelon Sugar is nothing more than about my love for watermelons, don't get too creative." Harry replied to a fan while sporting a corner smile, the message standing out among the rest for its dozens of emojis and large print, questioning the singer about erotic content behind the lyrics of his latest hit. "I really don't know what you guys are talking about."

Y/N laughed, shaking her head before leaning it against her fiancé's chest, propped up on the soft white pillows that were spread practically all over the bed. The air conditioner was on at a minimal temperature and a light rain whipped on the panes of glass camouflaged by the cream-colored curtain, that being the projection of Y/N's favorite nights.

"You can tell them, I'm not shy." She joked, nudging her fiancé's waist.

"You know what it was written about and who it was written for." Harry replied, raising one of his eyebrows. "That's what matters."

It went without saying that much of Harry's newest album, as well as some of his earlier work, had been done in exclusive dedication to his future wife. Y/N had been the muse for a vast repertoire of romantic songs, and even though the singer preferred to keep the story behind his more explicit compositions a "secret", the relationship the two had shared for more than three years was already solid and known enough for the media and fans to distinguish hidden messages in small details.

"It's a song about what usually comes before the act of making babies." Y/N laughed as he pointed at the display. "Honestly, you guys are impossible."

"No, we make babies every day." Harry joked, making a funny motion with his eyebrows. "I would spend my entire career writing just about that."

"Harry!" The actress exclaimed incredulously, slapping her fiancé weakly on the chest. "Children might be watching this."

"You don't want to have babies with me?" He asked falsely offended, accepting the cup that Y/N offered him. "Because I want some babies with you."

Y/N laughed, rolling her eyes as she watched the internet freak out at the dialogue that had suddenly emerged. Since the beginning of the quarantine, it was kind of inevitable that the couple of artists would not become the darlings of all social media; they were fervently active with photos, videos, and lives that depicted step by step daily life in isolation, gaining more and more followers and making the media more and more fascinated by the relationship they both shared.

The wedding was scheduled for the summer of next year and it was perhaps the most anticipated event in the tabloids. Bets about what the model of Y/N's dress would be and lists presuming who would be selected for the short list of guests stood out among countless news stories about the famous people influencing pop culture today.

The possible arrival of a Styles baby was an inevitable topic in interviews. Harry and Niall were the only members of the ex-boyband that had not become fathers yet, and because they had maintained a solid relationship and were seen as one of the most enviable couples during the last four years, Y/N and Harry had gotten used to all this openly asked questions. They didn't mind, they even had fun with the montages and all the anxiety that dominated the whole internet, often mentioning the fandoms' efforts to represent them as such "cool" parents in perfectly edited pictures.

"No, guys, I'm not pregnant." Y/N amusingly clarified the doubt of dozens of new comments. "Please don't believe so many controversial news stories that appear out there. I was on twitter last week and saw several people theorizing about a possible pregnancy, most of the arguments based on a website that used photos from the set of How to Get Away with Murder in the season where I was actually playing a pregnant woman as Laurel." She laughed. "It's so funny! I know you guys love to guess these things, but we won't hide something so special when it actually happen, I promise."

"Especially because Y/N can hide absolutely nothing from anyone." Harry accused, leaving his drink on the corner table before settling into a comfortable position for the two of them. "Anyone who's a Marvel fan knows that. That's one of her most characteristic quirks."

"They gave me a fake script for the last two movies." Y/N agreed, shaking his head. "For me and Tom."

"We agreed to keep the engagement a secret for a while. The plan was to travel to Holmes Chapel to break the news to my family in person, but guess who got a call at ten o'clock at night from an angry Anne because she learned of her son's engagement from an interview Y/N gave the next day?"

Y/N gave a guilty smile, winking gracefully at the camera. "It was all James' fault! I'm sure he already suspected something, those questions were very suspicious."

"Of course the questions were suspicious, babe. You literally said you had a secret that involved both of us but that you couldn't tell because it was important that our families knew first."

"I thought he would think about a pregnancy or something!" The actress defended herself, feeling very convincing in her intonation bordering on obviousness. "That's a mania I can't get rid of, it's in my genes."

"Did you all hear that? Further proof that you guys don't have to worry about guessing when Y/N's pregnancy will be, I'm sure our baby will make sure to tell you everything while still in the womb, mom's genes will make sure of that."

"You are so funny, Harry Styles." Y/N sarcastically stated, holding back a giggle as countless messages with laughing emojis were frantically up. "Yeah, I know I talk a lot and all, but you have annoying quirks too."

It was obvious that live would be news the next day. Although they were completely open about matters concerning their relationship, nothing seemed better than receiving so much exclusive information from a Harry and S/N drunk on expensive wine.

"You wake up in a bad mood and you're dangerously sexy, that should be illegal."

Harry laughed, holding his fiancée's waist a little tighter as he felt her tumble a little further to the side, getting closer and closer to the edge of the bed. Y/N was dangerously weak for drinks, and the singer knew that the actress' body was already near its limit.

"You're the only sexy person here, love." He declared with a corner smile, evidently finding the whole situation funny. "Do you want to go to sleep now?"

"No." Y/N shook her head. "Can we watch some movie? Can we watch Sweet Home?"

"Of course, love." He murmured, giving the woman a quick kiss on the forehead.

Even though Harry knew that his fiancée was unlikely to make it past the five-minute mark of the episode, he made sure to restart the korean series at exactly the scene where she had stopped, the first chapter still halfway through after Y/N realized that it would be impossible to watch such a macabre work without a drop of alcohol in her blood.

She had been so excited by the taste of Argentinian wine and the idea of updating her fans after a few weeks away, that she had forgotten the main purpose of the live. Harry and Y/N had been apart for a few days due to the new movie the Brit was shooting in North America, all happening in an unrestrictedly careful manner due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic.

He was slowly migrating towards acting and the future Mrs. Styles couldn't be prouder. Y/N had felt on cloud nine when Harry had given her the news of his upcoming job, but her only pronouncement on the subject had been a succinct post on instagram. Just a photo of the couple on a trip to Germany with a simple heart emoji didn't seem enough for the actress' exhibitionist soul, and coming to that conclusion was the main reason she decided to invite him, already relatively changed, for a live appearance. Y/N wanted to go on and on about how much she loved that man and work on that whole honeyed speech that would bring her (once again) the title of "cutest bride of all time," but of course Harry had to come home from his trip with his favorite red wine and poison her with those sweet caresses that took her out of orbit, turning the degree of alcohol content into the least of her problems.

"You're going to kiss Florence." Y/N exclaimed suddenly, as if only now realizing that her fiancé would share the screen with Florence Pugh, one of her closest friends in that industry. "Kiss on the mouth."

The MacBook was still open and hundreds of new comments were going up every second, but Harry didn't bother one bit to warn her about the possibility of her becoming a meme the next day. He was having too much fun with the situation to worry.

"Are you jealous?"

"Yes." She stated with a pout. "I am jealous, I just don't know if I'm more jealous of her or of you."

"But you kiss me every day, babe." Harry laughed. "And you've been kissing other people's men for almost ten years." He joked.

"But I only think about you, I already told you that."

Harry shook his head negatively at the camera, knowing he was sharing with the fans the funniest side of his fiancée.

"I know that, honey." He assured, lightly stroking the actress' back. "I think we'd better turn off the TV and go to sleep now, I'm sure you'll have a terrible headache tomorrow."

The brit planned to bid his audience goodbye and put an end to that recording, but Y/N was drunk and her sense of right and wrong had already gone to space. Harry should have been quicker, however, because his fiancée's speech would be cause for new tags and the only subject for the interviewers for at least the next few months.

"I don't want to sleep, how about we make babies?"

That's what Watermelon Sugar was all about, after all.

[pepperf]

Writing questions: *deep breath* 3, 4, 11, 17, 23, 29, 33, 36 *chinhands*

Oh gosh...okay!

3) How would you describe your writing style?

Uh…humour as a distraction, unreliable narrator when I remember to do it, endings that reflect the beginning in a new way (one reason I don't post WIPs is so I can add in foreshadowing once I know what the story is about XD), writing without a lot of specific pre-planning but usually some kind of goal in mind.

4) Do you have any OCs? Do you have a story for them?

Lol – well, yes, but he's a tiny baby so he doesn't really have a plot of his own yet. XD Oh, I have a few people who turn up in fics, and I like to make them come back (lazy writer what?), such as Marija, who Diego is training in the gym and who accidentally destroyed his spleen, and Viv, the lesbian healthcare worker in London who befriended Lila in the 80s and is extremely surprised to meet her again in 2019. I guess I have a few, but they tend to be supporting characters for areas I feel the show hasn't addressed (like FRIENDSHIP, omg, give these people a support network fcol).

11) Three tropes that are fine but overrated.

Hmm. I am, I admit, a little over the coffeeshop AU, but that's maybe because I've read it so much, not because I object to the basic premise. I also don't really go for cop AUs any more, these days. And, um…hmm…I guess I'm not great with the huddling-for-warmth thing, although I have written it? I find the logistics problematic! If it's very cold, I have to look up how hypothermia works again, and then write boring medical stuff - but if it's not that cold, then most of the characters I write are likely to just shake it off and act like they're fine.

17) Past or present tense? Why?

I prefer present tense for fanfic. It is just that much more immediate, it puts you in the middle of the plot and there's less of a feeling of a story being recounted at a later date. I would also say it fits with the kind of genre stuff I'm writing, except that I don't tend to write the spaceships and aliens and explosions part, so that excuse doesn't wash. I just like the feeling that you don't know if this is going to go well or badly, you don't know if they survived, because the story is happening NOW and maybe no one lives to tell the tale.

23) Dialogue or description? Why is the other one so hard?

I prefer dialogue. I don't necessarily think description is hard, but I often find that I don't care about it. That tends to be where the logistics go, and it's more of a functional part. I mean, sometimes I love writing description, but I generally find it more work to make it enjoyable to read, IYSWIM. Whereas dialogue is these two dumbasses bickering. :D

29) What's the hardest thing about writing?

Not writing, due to not having one or more of the three critical things in place (time, energy, inspiration), and feeling nebulously crappy because of that. Also, writing a long-ass thing and then having to go back and edit it when I just donwanna, ugh, it's like homework I've assigned myself.

33) Give your writing a compliment.

I think I'm funny. I do go back and re-read stuff much later, and it still makes me laugh, so. XD

36) How do you come up with fic titles? What's the one you're most proud of?

Song lyrics, usually, or failing that lines from poems or plays. It's not particularly new or exciting, but unless I came up with something along the way, the title is the bit that I hit when I'm trying to post it to AO3 and goddammit aren't all the other words enough now you want five more?!

Actually, the ones I'm most proud of are the ones that aren't song lyrics, such as all the Community ones that were a total bastard to come up with, because Community ep titles were like that. I love Economies of Scale in Social Capital, because basically it's about Jeff finding out that you get one friend, and suddenly you have a bunch more, like a supermarket offer on paper towels. I also love When A Resistible Force Meets A Movable Object, because it's a play on how the Community characters just aren't your TV/movie superheroes or anything, they're just kind of a bit pathetic and bad at things.

Thank you! Phew, lot of good questions there. XD

[spellboundinks]

Oh plot buddies are people you trade ideas with. For years now, I've gotten used to plotting my stories with someone. Now, things went a little sour so I'm kinda :/. O want to know how not to depend on anyone else's word when plotting my stories (if that makes any sense). Sure, we get ideas from anywhere and everywhere but yeah. Help?

Alright, so I totally get what you mean now. I have a couple writer friends and non-writer friends I can usually turn to for advice and that is incredibly helpful. If you ever want an outsider opinion you can totally shoot me a private message or if you send me your email I can get you added to the WIP Book Club on Slack where there’s a whole group of people you can get to look over your work or brainstorm with you! But I get you’re on anon for a reason so I’m gonna do my best to give you some tips for working things out on your own!

Brainstorming/Ideas on Your Own

In terms of brainstorming, whether this means coming up with the first ideas for your story or events/characters/storylines to include later down the road, one upside to doing this on your own is you can focus on what interests you! Dive into fields that you find absolutely fascinating! J.R.R. Tolkien was heavily interested in languages so he invested in worldbuilding and creating complex languages for the different races. There are also a ton of generators online that can help you brainstorm a ton of different things like character names, scenes, towns, races, etc. 

My favourite website for generators: http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/ 

What I like to do for coming up with ideas is to sometimes throw on a playlist and scroll through tumblr or pinterest and make a list of song lyrics and things I see and use that to come up with a story (for example I’m going to try this now: “keeps getting stronger”, dandelion, sorcerer mickey —> I can turn this into a story about a sorcerer who accidentally casts a spell on a dandelion, causing it to grow exponentially, and as the wind blows against the weed it disperses its wish-granting seeds and suddenly the entire town’s wishes are being granted and chaos ensues. Aaaand that’s how you end up with 100+ wip ideas.  

Creating moodboards on Pinterest is also a great way to foster creativity and find inspiration. I tend to keep mine on secret boards but that’s just me.

Also there are a ton of prompt blogs on tumblr and even ebooks you can get now. 

Research

Alright, so another thing about being a writer is knowing a lot of things so that your story makes sense. You’ve probably seen other writers on tumblr agonizing over finding small details like the amount of blood loss a person can survive or the shelf life of a can of soup. Sometimes you have people you can turn to to ask for questions (I have a fairly medical-savvy friend which is great) but sometimes you don’t.

SCRIPT—–!!! There are a ton of blogs on tumblr that help you out with this problem and it is amazing. You can shoot them asks with questions and they’ll help you out with the knowledge they have. @scriptcreature (for animal questions), @scriptmedic (for medical questions), @scriptshrink (psychological questions), @scripttorture (helpful for science fiction stories with test subjects), @scriptautistic (for help with autistic characters). I just reblogged a masterpost with all the scripts and even though it’s not a recent list, most of the blogs are still active! And even if they’re no longer active you might be able  to find your question answered in an older post.

Look for educational websites where you can and also as old fashioned as it sounds, books can be really helpful.

Character-Specific Help

So sometimes talking to someone about character can help you discover your character’s personality, goals, ambitions, abilities, past, etc. There are a ton of OC question blogs on tumblr you can follow that will give you questions to think about for your ocs. It’s also handy to compile the oc questions you find helpful into a character development sheet that you can use as a guideline for writing your characters, almost like their own wiki article (or you could actually make a wiki, @nerathul​ makes wikis for everything and I love that about her). THIS Mary Sue Test is something I find incredibly helpful: http://www.springhole.net/writing/marysue.htm. Not only does the score indicate whether your character is a Mary Sue, but it will also tell you if it thinks your character is underdeveloped. 

Also remember when it comes to characters it’s not just about likes/dislikes. You should be thinking of how their past affects the way they are in the present, motivation/goals/dreams, and FLAWS (characters should not be perfect, not even the protagonists, they should slip up sometimes).

How to plot a character arc: https://dontwaitforinspiration.tumblr.com/post/167378454150/silvokrent-source-i-got-a-question-from-an

Plotting + Recognizing Plot Holes on Your Own

In terms of plotting, the best thing about having plot buddies, as you call them, in my opinion, is the ability to have a second opinion to see things that you might overlook. Which means, if you’re going solo, you might want to learn how to see issues before you’re too deep in the story to fix them. One of the key things I’ve noticed in my own work that leads to plot holes is character motivation. If you’re characters don’t have a reason for doing what they’re doing, there isn’t really a reason for the story or certain events and that can be a big problem. 

Here are some resources to help you find the outlining method that’s write for you, as well as some types of plots that help you figure out what kind of story you’re telling:

https://dontwaitforinspiration.tumblr.com/post/172872205840/snarktheater-a-great-twitter-thread-on 

https://dontwaitforinspiration.tumblr.com/post/171362313255/20-basic-plots 

https://dontwaitforinspiration.tumblr.com/post/170464462500/10-outline-techniques-for-writers 

https://dontwaitforinspiration.tumblr.com/post/170113282360/nano-prep-outline-your-story-like-a-subway-map

https://dontwaitforinspiration.tumblr.com/post/168666648200/quick-plotting-tip-write-your-story-backwards

https://dontwaitforinspiration.tumblr.com/post/168524411960/lady-redshield-writes-one-of-my-favorite-things

https://dontwaitforinspiration.tumblr.com/post/168116646640/creating-plots-with-the-zigzag-method

Sub-plots: https://dontwaitforinspiration.tumblr.com/post/165713335045/oliviapaigewrites-heres-a-little-bit-on

This is my favourite outline guide: http://www.eadeverell.com/the-one-page-novel-plot-formula/ 

Self-Editing

https://dontwaitforinspiration.tumblr.com/post/173164102700/self-editing-for-fiction-writers 

HOPE THIS HELPS!!

[thesoundofmadness]

Ref for Oc day!!

So, since it's OC day and I'm gonna be posting some stories later, here's a quick Ref on my OCs, Lyra and Mack! Please be aware I've had Lyra MUCH MUCH MUCH longer than Mack and she's much more finished/polished. Enjoy~

Lyra:

She's the Purple Ninja and the Elemental Master of Song! She can create music staffs and use them as ropes and ladders, hear better than most, and create optical illusions. She mostly uses her powers to distract opponents on missions. She uses songs about/based off of video games and sings and dances to do so, and uses her powers to create scenes/special effects to make it look legit. (Wouldn't you be confused if you were suddenly standing in the middle of a furby ritual? XD) Her powers work 10x better when she uses songs with lyrics than without, and they're easier to control when she uses calm and quiet songs (something like Dying in La by P!ATD), and gets a tiny bit harder to control when she uses loud and chaotic songs (something like Monster by Skillet)

Backstory: Her mother and father couldn't take care of her so they adopted her into a dysfunctional home nearly a month after birth. Quickly, not being able to stand the pain of losing his ONLY child, her father committed suicide and her mother ran away, after losing her husband and daughter. (She doesn't have any memories of them). Being born with depression and getting anxiety at a very young age, and since everyone in her household was constantly fighting, she only really trusted her younger sister, but then ran away and became a ninja to get strong enough to protect her.

Personality: Hard-headed, serious, hot-headed, cold, distant, laid back, EXTREMELY secretive,

Age: 19

Protective

Fun facts:

-likes rock and indie music

-Can't stand loud noises

-Can't use headphones because of her hearing

-Her purple eye is proof of her powers. If you're a Master of Song, the music staffs and eye glow your favorite color. That's literally the only way she knew about her powers before she unlocked them

-Emotionally fucked

-Can't stand being alone

-Really likes looking at stars

-Loves to mess with pictures in photo editing apps

-Can't stand liars and cheaters, despite constantly feeling like one herself

-Is an insomniac

-in desperate need to cry or scream 24/7 but never admits it

-Never admits to anything that involve her emotional/mental well-being cause she doesn't want anyone to worry

-Has a really good memory and will remember the most Insignificant thing you said

-Remembers quotes more than places

-Really likes horror games

-Loves learning about history

-Will often take over chores to distract herself

-over works herself 24/7

-protective of Lloyd because he reminds her of her younger sister

-her sword is actually the sword her dad used in the serpentine war

NOW FOR MACK!

( the Bow is supposed to be like hairties

For her pigtails)

Isn't an elemental master nor a ninja but she really likes to draw! She often draws fanart for her idols and is really into fashion! Her idols are mainly the Ninja, but she likes other people too!

Backstory: Is Lyra's younger sister, but isn't a ninja. After Lyra ran away, she was heartbroken. She wouldn't come out of her room for days and basically isolated herself for a while. But then she remembered that she had to be strong and kept believing her sister was still alive. She found Lyra on the internet and has been almost stalking her for years now. Her parents got devoirvced and she has been living with her alcoholic dad because no one else could take care of her. Her dad got arrested for drunk driving one night and, since she legit can't stand anyone else in her family, she ran off. She now lives with Lyra and the Ninja

(Like I said, Lyra is I've had Lyra for a lot longer than Mack, so she is a lot more polished. Please excuse the horrible backstory for Mack, I'm working on it)

(Also I haven't gotten a clear story on how they reunite, so don't expect that lol)

Age: 16

Personality: Very bright and optimistic. Doesn't get down easily. Oblivious, slightly like a tsundere, lowkey a little shy, scared easily

Fun facts!:

-Loves fashion

-Loves drawing

-Mega fangirl

-loves to dress up

-can't go anywhere without her phone or something to draw on

-Used to distract Lyra from all the fighting in the house

-Used to try to cheer Lyra up whenever she was sad

-Was fully aware of Lyra's depression and anxiety, didn't understand it fully, but tried her best to help with it

-she was four alright

-loves pop and upbeat music

Mack is just Lyra's little ball of sunshine and Lyra will fucking kick you in the nuts so hard that it kills your chance of having any baby and if you do it doesn't grow probably and your wife has a miss carriage if you dare touch her

Hope this clears up any sort of confusion you have with my stories about my OCs!

Happy OC day everyone!

Byeee!