#I ONLY KNOW LIKE FIVE OF HER SONGS and basically only the most famous ones

[evansbby]

Excited for Taylor's new albuum?

No 😭😭😭

[shima-draws]

I've been teasing her for months!! But at long last her ref is complete 🌷

I actually DON'T have a 5 page essay on her backstory this time (like I did for Ilari LMAO) but I do have some info about her if anybody is curious!

Name: Ione

Age: 25

Hair color: Silver

Eye color: Orangish-yellow

Element: Light

Grabbing info from the few posts I've talked about her already, Ione was originally a very famous singer, pretty much an idol within the world of ATS. She'd hold huge concerts that were always sold out and people from around the world would flock to see her perform. Eventually tho all of the attention started to attract the wrong kinds of people, and sooner or later Ione was "scouted" by a very rich man who wanted her all to himself. She was manipulated and blackmailed into signing a contract with him that would essentially end her touring and make it so that she would become a private singer for him. He basically chained her with this contract and so she disappeared from the public eye.

Ione soon discovered that other people with similar talents had also been gathered and trapped by this man's contracts. Among them was a prodigy violin player who she grew very close with. The two of them struggled under the demands of this man, and eventually violin boy started to get physically abused by him 😭 Things escalated to the point where Ione decided she wanted OUT and was determined to do anything to escape. This led to a very...traumatic event that caused her to go mute by choice.

When Ione finally makes her escape, thankfully she's changed so much that people don't recognize her in public (mostly her hair! It used to be short and didn't cover one of her eyes before). Shortly after she runs into Nahu and his group, and is unceremoniously recruited to join them lol (Nahu can be VERY persuasive). Ione communicates with them through sign language, which luckily a couple of them are fluent in--Ezio and Sage to be specific. They then teach the others in the group sign language too. It takes Nahu a bit to get the hang of it bc he has like, no attention span whatsoever, but being a dragon elemental helps since his senses are super attuned all the time, so he can generally tell what Ione is feeling and what she's trying to convey when she talks to him :")

Over time Ione grows closer with them, and like everybody else is hit with the Found Family, and realizes that yeah. She'd do absolutely ANYTHING for this group of crazy weirdos. She starts to fall in love with Nahu (bc who WOULDN'T), and slowly gains the courage to use her voice again. This leads to secret meetings with Sage, who helps her relearn how to use her vocal cords.

Eventually her past catches up with her, of course, but the group all bands together to set her free from it. She has to face off against violin boy, who thought she'd abandoned him and got Messed Up Mentally as a result, so THAT'S a thing she's gotta deal with. But she's able to reach him by singing for the first time in over five years, and everyone absolutely loses their shit at how beautiful her voice is and they all cry and it’s very emotional!!

Even after regaining her voice she still prefers to stay quiet most of the time, as that is what she's comfortable with, but she's totally okay with speaking when she needs to. Also I need to mention this but bc she used to be like. An idol. Obviously her routines consisted of both song and dance so she's a pretty good dancer. Out of everyone in the group, Ione is the ONLY person Ezio will dance with (and he is a very VERY good dancer himself, but will only dance with someone who can keep up with him, which Ione can). Everyone is very jealous of this, ESPECIALLY Nahu lol bc he wants to dance with Ezio too 😂

Ione's a light elemental! I haven't given a LOT of thought into her powers yet but I do know that her singing makes her stronger and also gives her powers a boost, which in turn helps the rest of the group. She also can ride on these light waves--I will have to draw them sometime bc I can't really explain them in words, it'd be better to show them visually lol

And that's her!! My flower light mute girl <33333

[mariatesstruther]

okay but wait @bumblepony u GENIUS. you gave me an idea:

mariatommy step up au

in which pro-dancer maria miller is in desperate need of a waltz partner for the american dance championships. to her rescue comes tommy miller, the younger and more troublesome and secretly phenomenal swinging-dancing brother of famous ex swing-dancer, joel miller

guess what i did 😋 i made it long

so we start with pro-dancer maria miller as she wins as many dance titles as she possibly can, trying to prove to her mother that quitting law school for dance was worth it. she’s already been taking home a fuck ton of titles as a ballet and lyrical soloist, but lately she’s been interested in smooth forms of ballroom, like the waltz and tango

a good friend of hers, frank, has been her partner for three months, and they’ve been unbeatable so far. literally every competition she they shows up at, other dancers will groan and rolls their eyes like “aw come on bro this is unFAIR” because they already know who first place is going to: maria motherfucking miller. every goddamn time

then, four titles in and two months away from their biggest competition, frank tragically breaks an ankle doing some stupid gardening shit with bill. and it is exactly that: a tragedy. he’s maria miller’s partner, and now he can no longer be that. he might as well be a dead man

frank makes bill tell maria, both because it was his idea to have sex do work in the garden and because he’s too scared to. when he does, she cusses him out so bad that, for once in his life, he has no grumpy smartass response. maria is fucking pissed—because that entire competition, that title, that trophy is supposed to be fucking hers. they already have the perfect choreography, the perfect costumes, the perfect music, the perfect everything. she’s already made space on her awards wall for the crown, the sash, and three-their trophy. this is a batrayal, frank. how could he do this to her????? how could he?????

but maria miller does not dwell on problems: she fixes them. she has replace bill or withdraw from the competition—which she has never done in her entire life. withdrawing, like losing, is not an option. she needs another partner, and she needs one fast

of course homegirl tess would come through—her best friend, retired fellow dancer, and one of the most reputable talent managers in the region. maria calls tess hoping to get in touch with her ex-partner, joel miller, because she wants only the best. he’s known and respected in the dance world as an amazing swing dancer and phenomenal lead in partner-work—much to her chargrin, unfortunately, he’s not dancing anymore. he’s apparently too busy with a new baby, which—great, beautiful, kids are great—does not help her. maria needs someone available, someone good, and someone now

enter tommy miller 🤠 who maria is at first not even willing to consider, because he’s never danced competitively in his entire fucking life (“are you fucking with me, tess? are you trying to fuck with me? i thought we were past the point of fucking with eachother. i though we were friends.” she says, when tess tells her. she gets an eye-roll in response)

to his credit, tess tells her, he’s been dancing alongside his joel all his life. he’s watched him and learned from him and is apparently just as good—he’s even danced with tess, and he impressed her. this impressed maria. when she asks tess why he hasn’t done anything officially to actually prove himself, tess says he’s “not the competitive type,” which is a major turn-off. maria is more than the competitive type—she’s the competition entirely.

still, tess convinces her to give him a chance. they basically meets blind-date style because tess is just like “dude just trust me trust me TRUST ME. meet him at our studio on saturday and freestyle with him. one song. then tell me what you think”

so maria goes, and she waits. she’s dutifully ten minutes early, as she is to every rehearsal. what would be five minutes before their meet time, she hears the studio doors open behind her and lets herself be only a little pleased that he is early. then she turns around to him—and boy, is she very much so pleased

tommy is broad-shouldered and well-dressed and tall, but not too tall, and well-groomed for a man—especially with one with so much hair. my god, just this man have a beautiful head of hair. as admires him, she also appreciates that (aside from his audaciously hot suede fur-lined jacket and cowboy boots, lord help her), he look’s ready to dance: black loose muscle tank, black breathable joggers, and black sneakers held in his left hand. in his right hand, to her suprise, is a single red rose.

is he fucking with me? she immediately thinks. a rose. a fucking rose?

“what’s that for?”

“uh, the rose? it’s—,” he hesitates, clearly thrown off guard. somehow, with only three measly words, maria notices that his voice is nice and low and gravely and— “it’s for you, ma’am. you’re maria, right?” —southern and sexy and distracting. his voice is far too distracting. it will present problems for her.

“right. i’m maria,” she repeats, mostly to remind herself who she fucking is—maria fucking miller. maria miller, who does not get distracted by tall sexy cowboys at dance rehearsals. “you’re tommy?”

“yes, ma’am.” he has to stop. he has to stop with the ma’am thing. it’s another distractor.

no distractions. she’s at a rehearsal, albiet an unofficial trial one. it is still a rehearsal—one for a competition that she will win.

maria straightens her shoulders, gets her head on straight, and steels her voice to say coldly: “well, tommy, i don’t like flowers. i like trophies. you think you can get me one of those?”

at that, tommy smiles as bright as the sun, white and pearly and perfect. distraction number three. she’s fucked. “i reckon i can,” he says, amused and sure.

“then prove it,” she responds, voice still steely. “let’s dance.”

and they do

for @bumblepony for your amazing writing as always and @marceltheshellwithflipflopson for your loveliness and inspiration and @clickergossip wifey and @ameerawrites miss u baby and @liveandletcry23 MISS U CAT and @hypnotisedfireflies because the work youve been doing with IO????? INCREDIBLE????? its been making me want to get back to writing so bad

all my mariatommy truthers love u guys kiss kiss kiss

[lakenfletcher]

LAKEN  FLETCHER  on  the  cover  of  this  week’s  most  recent  tabloid!  many  say  that  the  25  year  old  looks  like  RUDY PANKOW,  but  i  don’t  really  see  it.  while    the  DANCER/ACTOR  is  known  for  being  MAGNETIC  my  inside  sources  say  that  they  have  a  tendency  to  be  FRIVOLOUS  i  swear,  every  time  i  think  of  them,  i  hear  the  song  MR  JONES  by  COUNTING  CROWS .

DISCLAIMERS !

a lot of the background is repeated from his sister star fletcher up until the teen years. brief mentions of the death of a loved one.

BASICS.

FULL NAME: lake rodney fletcher (goes by laken)

BIRTH DATE: april 18th, 1998

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: pansexual

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single

FAMILY MAKEUP: rod fletcher (deceased), mary-sue fletcher (44), star fletcher (24)

POSITIVE TRAITS: charitable, energetic, friendly, forwards, creative, determined, invested, hard-working, loving, non-judgemental.

NEGATIVE TRAITS: short sighted, frivolous, temperamental, inconsistent, short attention span, easily distracted, fake to an extent.

BACKGROUND.

star fletcher had the unfortunate luck of being the first born daughter of MARY-SUE FLETCHER , although her twin brother LAKE only followed a few minutes behind . from birth , they were raised as more of a brand than anything else and their mother had a constant infatuation with the limelight . she was obsessed with her twins and wanted them to be the next big thing to the extent that it was pretty much the only option … where as their father , ROD , sat back and watched the chaos unfold never saying much .

it became apparent by the time the twins were five or six that they did actually have some talent for acting and dancing and their mother insisted that they be partners for their entire dancing career . they did have some early success that made a pretty penny … which MARY-SUE rubbed together with glee !

the twins were forced to be partners in their career for the longest time , their mother also butting in at any opportunity . STAR and LAKE didn’t have a life unless it was the one that she managed for them but they worked hard to earn her favour because although their father was very loving , he simply had no concept of the industry they were up against . it was a fletchers vs the world war in their mothers opinion .

TW DEATH . just as they broke through in the acting world landing a spot on a show at the age of twelve , their father passed away in a shocking industrial accident . this should have been the tragic part but what happened next shocked the twins as much as the rest of the world ; three weeks after her fathers death , star would find out through tabloid magazines that her and her brother were reportedly the love children of a FAMOUS AND EXTREMELY MARRIED ACTOR . this fractured her family forever .

while it might have been negative attention , eventually it seemed to pan out in even stranger results … star and lake were not happy with their mother but MARY-SUE loved the attention . she was finally in the middle of things again reliving her youth . a dna test confirmed their identities as the biological child of redacted & they now had a nice little trust fund behind them .

still , STAR continued in the industry as the rumours swirled down in her late teens and her mother encouraged her to be flirtatious to get what she wanted . she had no self preservation techniques , she didn’t mind being a villain or a nice girl as long as it pleased her mother when she got screen time - the personal brand was a nightmare and it was a matter of years before the FLETCHER FAMILY was more of a train wreck than anything else .

LAKE turned back to dancing and moved to new york city swearing that they should never talk to their mother again but knowing his sister would be unable to resist the sirens call . 

in new york city , he was able to make a name for himself and toured with an elite company all around europe several times . he was known for his technical skill , being hard - working and he adapted his name to partly try and keep his mothers dreams for himself dead and buried . 

CURRENTLY : 

it is unclear why lake has changed his career from dancing to acting and joined the cast of two bush mountain . it’s rumoured that it involves some kind of accident on set or medical condition but none of this is confirmed by any fact or close sources . 

[changelingz]

LAKEN  FLETCHER  on  the  cover  of  this  week’s  most  recent  tabloid!  many  say  that  the  25  year  old  looks  like  DACRE  MONTGOMERY,  but  i  don’t  really  see  it.  while    the  DANCER/ACTOR  is  known  for  being  MAGNETIC  my  inside  sources  say  that  they  have  a  tendency  to  be  FRIVOLOUS  i  swear,  every  time  i  think  of  them,  i  hear  the  song  MR  JONES  by  COUNTING  CROWS

DISCLAIMERS !

a lot of the background is repeated from his sister star fletcher up until the teen years. brief mentions of the death of a loved one.

BASICS.

FULL NAME: lake rodney fletcher (goes by laken)

BIRTH DATE: april 18th, 1998

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: pansexual

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single

FAMILY MAKEUP: rod fletcher (deceased), mary-sue fletcher (44), star fletcher (24)

POSITIVE TRAITS: charitable, energetic, friendly, forwards, creative, determined, invested, hard-working, loving, non-judgemental.

NEGATIVE TRAITS: short sighted, frivolous, temperamental, inconsistent, short attention span, easily distracted, fake to an extent.

BACKGROUND.

star fletcher had the unfortunate luck of being the first born daughter of MARY-SUE FLETCHER , although her twin brother LAKE only followed a few minutes behind . from birth , they were raised as more of a brand than anything else and their mother had a constant infatuation with the limelight . she was obsessed with her twins and wanted them to be the next big thing to the extent that it was pretty much the only option … where as their father , ROD , sat back and watched the chaos unfold never saying much .

it became apparent by the time the twins were five or six that they did actually have some talent for acting and dancing and their mother insisted that they be partners for their entire dancing career . they did have some early success that made a pretty penny … which MARY-SUE rubbed together with glee !

the twins were forced to be partners in their career for the longest time , their mother also butting in at any opportunity . STAR and LAKE didn’t have a life unless it was the one that she managed for them but they worked hard to earn her favour because although their father was very loving , he simply had no concept of the industry they were up against . it was a fletchers vs the world war in their mothers opinion .

TW DEATH . just as they broke through in the acting world landing a spot on a show at the age of twelve , their father passed away in a shocking industrial accident . this should have been the tragic part but what happened next shocked the twins as much as the rest of the world ; three weeks after her fathers death , star would find out through tabloid magazines that her and her brother were reportedly the love children of a FAMOUS AND EXTREMELY MARRIED ACTOR . this fractured her family forever .

while it might have been negative attention , eventually it seemed to pan out in even stranger results … star and lake were not happy with their mother but MARY-SUE loved the attention . she was finally in the middle of things again reliving her youth . a dna test confirmed their identities as the biological child of redacted & they now had a nice little trust fund behind them .

still , STAR continued in the industry as the rumours swirled down in her late teens and her mother encouraged her to be flirtatious to get what she wanted . she had no self preservation techniques , she didn’t mind being a villain or a nice girl as long as it pleased her mother when she got screen time - the personal brand was a nightmare and it was a matter of years before the FLETCHER FAMILY was more of a train wreck than anything else .

LAKE turned back to dancing and moved to new york city swearing that they should never talk to their mother again but knowing his sister would be unable to resist the sirens call . 

in new york city , he was able to make a name for himself and toured with an elite company all around europe several times . he was known for his technical skill , being hard - working and he adapted his name to partly try and keep his mothers dreams for himself dead and buried . 

CURRENTLY : 

it is unclear why lake has changed his career from dancing to acting and joined the cast of two bush mountain . it’s rumoured that it involves some kind of accident on set or medical condition but none of this is confirmed by any fact or close sources . 

ALANA . previous friend and romantic interest but after pursuit , realised that the spark felt different .

[lolly-pop456]

1. Steven Universe, Spy X Family, and that new sonic one that I can’t remember the name of lol

2. They’re purple and a bit taller than my usual ankle socks. They also have lil sushi’s on them too.

3. I adore smoothies of any kind

4. Depending on the occasion and season it’s usually a semi formal dress or a nicer shirt with dark pants.

5. Over medium

6. A group of bookmarks I’ve collected over the years. Rn I’m using a tarot card that just described the deck.

7. Black probably. It goes with lots of things.

8. Other than books and movies I like older hats. They look very cool and interesting to me and make fun decorations.

9. The ocean for both. Even though I never grew up by it I just find it very soothing to me for some reason.

10. Colors. They can represent more than what someone is telling me to think (aka lyric questions).

11. Glasses. Eyes are too sensitive for contacts.

12. That she’s big and not shy about it since she can’t help her weight for the most part.

13. Pencil. I’m a fast writer so I make a lot of mistakes usually.

14. My back porch or backyard in general. It doesn’t face anything but the trees so it feels very private and uniquely mine.

15. Only one since my wife and I are too forgetful to have more lol. And maybe? It’s technically my wife’s but she forgets about it all the time… poor lil cactus.

16. A very oversized dark grey one with a family friend’s tattoo company logo on it. I got it on sale as it was the last one and not selling well, I like it because it makes me feel small.

17. Like five books hahaha… all from different series that I have one or two of on my shelf already.

18. When they discovered Tenochtitlan. Experiencing the wonder they experienced while first seeing the city would be amazing.

19. I dressed up as a spunky dark fairy once and loved the hell out of it despite having to wear a winter coat.

20. Algebra.

21. Uhh.. I think it’s called Starry Night Over the Rhine? It’s by Van Gogh and basically like that famous stars one but a different perspective I guess.

22. Iced.

23. Love songs. Idk why they’re just the easiest for me to sing.

24. Perhaps too aggressive at times but I’d like to think so. I at least use my blinker.

25. Yep. I want lots more tattoos and my nipples pierced.

26. More so a cook than a baker though I guess I could bake if I focused more. Don’t really have a specialty unless making a family recipe is one lol.

27. Just one amethyst skull, it’s got some creamy white lines and it’s supposed to be a good stone for protection.

28. Oh yeah. I definitely do, been called a mermaid most of my life as a joke.

29. Nope.

30. Yeah. I hang my shirts to the far left, then pants, then like: seasonals and fancy stuff. Then hoodies and bras.

31. Nails, hair, hips I think.

32. One of those iridescent rainbow looks 😍.

33. Earbuds.

34. Easily.

35. When I was little my favorite was a pink dog with a heart nose named Valentine. He went EVERYWHERE with me but uhh… at some point I became convinced he was haunted by something. That’s a story for another time if anyone’s curious.

36. Air hockey.

37. As long as they’re respectful of my space and let me know if they’re behind me.

38. I really like classical piano pieces actually. They really soothe me and not many people would guess that about me probably.

39. Realizing I didn’t sleep until 7pm lmao.

40. Apple. They hold lots of fond childhood memories for me.

41. Black pepper and rose.

42. A few. I think my favorite is the pixel coloring one, since it lets you upload your own photos to draw.

43. On. Fear of the dark is really a bitch.

44. Put it in my Toothless piggy bank.

45. No hahaha. I wrote too hard and fast usually, and even if I slow down it looks like a young kids.

46. I think a band? That or a podcast.

47. When the weather is nice.

48. I mean… I prefer plastic over porcelain but that’s about it.

49. Read a good book.

50. The air is cold but not freezing, indirect air is being pushed in from the ac with a slight hum. Silky sheets and pillow cases with a light fuzzy blanket that’s big enough to keep me underneath despite me tossing and turning. Also a body pillow with a stuffed animal to cuddle.

50 Questions Just Because

What are three shows in your watchlist that you’ve been meaning to get to?

Describe your favorite pair of socks

Do you like smoothies?

What do you wear when you have to dress nicely?

How do you like your eggs?

What do you use to keep your place when you’re reading a book?

What color dominates your closet?

Do you collect anything? If so, what?

What sounds or scents calm you down?

What’s your favorite kind of uquiz question? (Lyric, color, aesthetic, etc)

Do you wear glasses or contacts?

What’s something about your best friend that you love?

Do you prefer to write in pen or pencil?

What are some places where you feel most at home?

Do you have any houseplants? Do any of them have names?

Describe your favorite hoodie. How long have you had it? What makes it unique?

What’s the last thing you ordered online?

What’s one historical event that you would have liked to have witnessed?

What’s your favorite Halloween costume from when you were a kid?

What kind of math are you best at?

What’s your favorite period in art history, your favorite famous work and/or your favorite style of art? If you don’t know any that’s ok!

Iced or hot drinks?

Which songs do you like to sing in the shower?

Are you a good driver?

Do you have any piercings or tattoos? Are there any that you want?

Can you cook or bake? If so, what are some of your specialties?

Do you have any keychains on your home or car keys? Describe them!

Can you swim very well? Do you like swimming?

Did you play with Legos as a kid? What was your favorite set?

Is your closet organized? If so, how?

What’s the last music video you watched?

If you could dye your hair any color, regardless of how you think it would look, what color would you choose?

Headphones or earbuds?

Can you read analog clocks?

Describe your favorite stuffed animal, either now or from when you were a kid.

What’s an arcade or table game (air hockey, ping pong, etc) that you’re really good at?

Do you mind if others are in the kitchen when you’re cooking or baking?

What’s one show you watch or musician you listen to that your friends know nothing about?

What was the best part of your day today?

What’s your favorite kind of tree?

What scent is your deodorant?

Do you have any games on your phone? If so, which one(s) is/are your favorite?

Do you shower with the lights on or off?

What do you do with spare change?

Do you have good handwriting?

What’s the last thing a friend recommended to you that you looked into and actually liked?

Do you like to go on walks?

Do you have a favorite plate or bowl?

What’s your favorite thing to do when it’s raining?

Describe your perfect sleeping conditions

[rainbowdelicsunshine]

Hiiiii bff I’m here to make you busy for an hour. Do all of the identity asks bc I want to know the answers 💚

1. If someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

I'll make this a short one to start things off!

To Read: Iguana Girl by Moto Hagio

To Watch: Chucky/The Child's Play Franchise (esp Bride and Seed)

To Listen: (This time I'll be giving out two songs for this since it'll represent two sides of me as a person) The Clown by Beecake and NRG by PonySauce

2. Have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? if so, who?

One person that comes to mind for me would be none other than Opal Whiteley!

She was a naturist and a writer who became famous for her childhood diary that she started at the age of five called The Diary of Opal Whiteley or The Story of Opal: The Journey of an Understanding Heart, which tells her account of befriending and hanging out with fairies and talking animals in the forests where she grew up nearby Cottage Grove, Oregon

I just find her to be an extremely fascinating person who I highly relate to due to her views of the world and mythical creatures and talking animals (plus I have a feeling that she was autistic so yeah)!

3. List your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with

For this ask, I'll shorten this to five of my fandoms since I'm in so many of them!

Chucky/Child's Play - Glen Ray

Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Master Shake

Danganronpa - Teruteru Hanamura

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers/The Freak Brothers - Freewheelin' Franklin

Welcome Home - Barneby B Beagle

4. Do you like your name? Is there another name you think would fit you better?

I do like my IRL name since it's both unique and pretty (plus it's a biblical name that means "weary-eyed" so there's that too)!

The thing is, I'm basically namefluid so I LOVE being called nicknames and other names that aren't my real name (for example being called Fozz and Hobbes makes me super giddy since I love being called multiple names

(also my IRL name is Leah, but ONLY CLOSE FRIENDS/MUTUALS/MY GF ARE ALLOWED TO CALL ME BY THAT)!!

5. Do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? Do you identify yourself by the things you do?

OH, I DEFINITELY SEE MYSELF AS A HUMAN DOING MORE THAN ANYTHING!!!!!!!

I never heard of this saying before, but now it makes so much sense to me, it feels like two dots connected for me and I love it!

But yeah, I have a VERY hard seeing myself as even human, let alone a human being lol!

6. Are you religious/spiritual?

As stated in previous asks/posts, I am very spiritual, just in my own way where I just mish-mash a bunch of things about life and how it came to be into one belief system of my own making!

These beliefs include believing in the multiverse, believing in past lives/being otherkin + fictionkin, believing that certain kinds of mythical creatures like fairies and magic, and believing that Jesus was actually a wizard that knew and was capable of magic due to being a demigod of sorts!

7. Do you care about your ethnicity?

Other than my heritage in German, Irish, British, and 1/16th Native American (Shawnee), there's not really much about my ethnicity that I truly care about due to how white me and my family are!

8. What musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime?

For this question, I'll give out a top three list since, again, there are so many musical artists that I've connected with over my lifetime!

Daft Punk

Sublime

ICP (Insane Clown Posse)

9. Are you an artist?

That would be a big fat YES!!!!

10. Do you have a creed?

I have a feeling that I do, it's just not the definition that was created from Christianity!

11. Describe your ideal day

At this point in my life, it would be spending my entire day with my girlfriend since we're currently long distance/online so I've been waiting for the day that we'll be able to do all the cutesy couple things I've been LONGING to do!

12. Dog person or cat person?

Most definitely a dog person! I just love dogs and the way they show their affection, plus I just wouldn't want to have a litter box in my house, or to deal with cat shit n piss in general (ew sorry)!

13. Inside or outdoors?

Though I love going out to do things (like eating out, going out to malls, going to dispensaries, etc), I mainly just love to hang out at home and binge-watch TV and other indoor activities with my friends if we're all broke or there's nothing better to do! (sorry to those who like walks and hiking with no destination like a store or food, but its just not something I'm into unless someone else is walking/hiking with me)

14. Are you a musician?

I may not make money off of any of my singing/music I make but I do consider myself a musician of sorts!

15. Five most influential books over your lifetime

Any and All the Calvin and Hobbes books

Goodnight Punpun by Inio Asano

Most Books written by Beatrix Potter

The Eye Book by Dr. Suess and Theo. LeSieg

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

16. If you’d grown up in a different environment, do you think you’d have turned out the same?

I have a feeling that since I have autism, I feel the only way I would've turned out differently was if my family had more money/had connections in money. Another would be if we had more family around us that wasn't dead or dead to us

That way, I feel I would have more opportunities and connections to make myself money/get myself a job and a one way ticket tf out of where I live currently cuz I hate it!

17. Would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”?

Personally, I feel myself online/on social media is a much more genuine and authentic version of myself than my IRL self since I'm in an environment where I have to "tone down" myself so I come off more "quiet and introverted" than I personally would like to present myself as

Plus autism and other shit makes me super anxious IRL, thus not being able to be as open and easy going as I want to be IRL (plus other people and their anxieties and pressure they put on me doesn't help either)!

18. What’s your patronus?

Since I'm not a Harry Potter (and never will be), I will not be answering this question!

19. Which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle?

Please refer to the previous question above for your answer!

20. Would you rather be in Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, or somewhere else?

I would LOVE to live in the world of MLP:FIM!!

I just feel that it's pretty much the world in its most ideal state and the only problems are god-like beings, monsters, magic, and racism against other species (which got stomped out straight away like it should) which is all very easy to take care of, so why wouldn't I wanna live there?

21. Do you love easily?

I would say I do to varying degrees depending on how close I am to a particular person!

Like, it's not easy for me to find someone to fall in love with but when I do, I do fall HARD and super easily so there is that!

22. List the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order

Alright it's gonna be hard since I don't do much on a daily basis but I'll try!

Sitting in my bedroom, on my bed, browsing around on my phone and doing nothing

Smoke Weed

Wandering around my house, doing various chores like taking out garbage and washing dishes

Napping/Sleeping

Drawing/Working on Artistic Projects

23. How often would you want to see your family every year?

I mean, since I live with my dad and brother I see them every day (and it gets tiring ngl lol)!

When I am able to move out and live on my own, I would visit them a couple times every four months or so

But once I have a family/kids of my own, I would visit a lot less due to that, but will still try to see them anytime possible that's not just birthdays or holidays!

24. Have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone?

Oh I've had a few mind-melds with people online, my best friend here (aka you lol!) and in IRL, and my girlfriend but I feel that's only a few people in my life since its pretty rare for me to connect with people right away in the first place!

25. Could you live as a hermit?

I would only be able to live like a hermit for half of the time, but I still LOVE going on trips and going out to do fun stuff (I am an ambivert after all!) so being a full time hermit is out of the question of me!

26. How would you describe your gender/sexuality?

Man,,,,,, I can explain them in the most stupidest and simplest of terms so here we go!

My Gender: I'm everything and nothing under the sun, you can basically call me whatever you feel fits me, even if it's Burnt Toast!

My Sexuality: Mmmmmm Hot people,,,,,, but most rlly Hot people who are good people and aren't douchebags! Plus hot people who love to cuddle!

27. Do you feel like your outside appearance is a fair representation of the “real you”?

It. Does. Not!

Mostly because I feel like being human in a human body constantly with being able to shape shift into something else to change things up to not get bored of myself

But half because I feel my IRL appearance is too "plain jane-y" for even my taste (like, I literally look so boring, even the outfits and wardrobe I have barely helps)!

28. On a scale from 1 to 10, how hard is it for someone to get under your skin?

Honestly, it varies highly on what's being said to me and who's it's being said by!

For strangers, it can vary from 3-5 depending on how horrible what they said was

For people I know, friends and family, it's a definite 5-7 since I feel they know how to get under my skin and get away with it by making me out to be the bad guy who's ""overreacting""!

29. Three songs that you connect with right now

Seafood Sushi BBQ - Geordie Kieffer

The Blasta - Insane Clown Posse

The Pot - TOOL

30. Pick one of your favorite quotes

"The Touching of Hands"!

- Chucky (Scene Commentary from the Child's Play Anniversary DVD)

I just find it a very funny and underrated Chucky quote that has contributed to my vocabulary and the way I talk today so hooray!

-----------------------------------------------------

Thank you soso very much for sending in this ask Beetle my awesome bestie, I had such an awesome time with this post even though it took forever to type all this down XD!

I hope to see you drop by again and have a fantastic night my friend!!

[remythologise]

I don't have twitter and I'm seeing posts but a lot of them involve knowing what I'm looking at...can you pls explain the latest spn/Jensen news, pretty please?

Sure! Explanation of the events of the past week (some of these dates might be relative to my timezone, apologies for any errors):

JUNE 24: News breaks that Jensen Ackles and Danneel Ackles’ production company has a prequel in the works focusing on John and Mary Winchester; entire fandom displeased

Fandom ire at the prequel focusing on John and Mary momentarily overshadows the fact that it seems like Jensen Ackles has the rights to Supernatural (!!!) and has ‘five shows in the works’ of which this is only the first

Showrunner is Destiel fan-favourite Robbie Thompson, responsible for such Absolute Banger Episodes as ‘Meta Fiction’ (see more here)

A lot of blowback from absolutely all sides of the fandom - BiBros et al mad that it focuses on Not The Brothers, Destiel fans mad it focuses on Not Resolving Destiel, everyone largely mad it focuses on John Winchester (widely regarded as abusive) and the ‘epic love story’ of John/Mary (canonically forced by cupid magic)

Various cast members including Misha Collins, Jim Beaver, Jake Abel, Ruth Connell and Julie McNiven reply to the article with comments indicating they’d like to be involved

Eric Kripke tweets that Jensen and Danneel are ‘the perfect people’ to take control of this story and Jared is ‘too busy Texas Rangering’ to be involved

JUNE 25: Jared Padalecki tweets about being left out of the loop on the prequel; absolute chaos ensues

See this ask reply for a list of tweets, events and reactions

I’ll also add that this gets large enough to get coverage on Vulture, Variety and other news sources

Robbie Thompson retweets his tweet from 2019 saying ‘I ❤️ you #SPNFamily’ in response to… everything

JUNE 26: A scramble for Jensen, Jared and Eric Kripke to do PR damage control on the Jared issue. Meanwhile, Misha Collins does his best impression of this scene from the Lion King to promote GISH

Eric later deletes all tweets about the issue, which is VERY funny. Man can’t handle the heat!

Very funny contrast between Jared’s ‘have a talk, as we often do’ and Jensen’s ‘miss these talks'

Jensen later changes his twitter header and bio from Supernatural/Dean Winchester to The Boys/Soldier Boys which IS somewhat unfortunate and perhaps deliberate break-up related timing

Jared tweets that he ‘doesn’t want anyone to receive hate or threats’ which is like… Jared YOU started this, YOU tweeted this to your millions of followers

JUNE 26: Jensen Ackles does further damage control by tweeting ‘Canon? we got you’ and linking to this article about what the show might hold, which points out the Problems of John Winchester

See article for further details but this implies Jensen actually does care a lot about doing right by the fans and the narrative canon

This, combined with the fact Robbie Thompson is running it, convinces most Destiel-side fans that the show Might Be Better Than Expected and one CW-approved stepping stone to greater things

BiBros are furious because article is written by ‘known Heller’ Natalie Fisher, who is friends with writers such as Meredith Glynn and Robert Berens

Meanwhile, Steve Yockey references the ‘Steve Yockey is dead?!?’ tumblr meme on twitter in a reply to Ruth Connell

JUNE 27: Gen Padalecki posts an instagram story which may or may not be shady commentary on Jensen Ackles

However, yesterday Danneel Ackles also promotes the Padalecki MLM product on HER instagram - can I just say I simply love the use of a) product promotion and b) instagram stories as tools of warfare and diplomacy

JUNE 28: Various scripts drop thanks to the team at tumblr’s spnscripthunt (go support and fund their efforts if you can!)

Notable changed content includes Castiel telling Dean to ‘parent’ Jack in 14.16 and Castiel texting emojis to Claire in 12.16 (possibly an in-script joke about Dean being attracted to a poodle?)

JUNE 29: News breaks that Chaos Machine Productions was started as ‘Free Will Entertainment LLC’

The name was apparently changed in October 2020 - was that as a result of the 15.19-15.20 filming? Or something else?

The idea that Jensen set up a company called ‘Free Will Entertainment’ to continue telling the story of Supernatural is honestly BONKERS. A lot to unpack here to do with the textual and metatextual narrative of Supernatural that I don’t have time to get into, since there’s about twenty wild implications that could be speculated from that name alone

Stock price on ‘Jackles’ Sexy Silence’, conspiracy that Jensen didn’t like the ending of Supernatural and was quietly plotting to take the narrative under his own control, to bring Dean back to life and possibly to canonise Destiel, reaches historic high

The fact does not go unnoticed that, through coincidence or not, Jensen and Danneel registered the company on a Thursday very close to September 18, the Lazarus Rising/Castiel Anniversary Date when Dean was saved from Hell

JUNE 30: Misha Collins makes a social media post with Castiel art for the last day of Pride Month

Twitter post liked by Robbie Thompson

On his instagram, Misha also puts music on the story of ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’ a song made famous by Elvis and then subsequently Destiel AU Fanfic Twist and Shout

“The song was initially written from the perspective of a woman as “Can’t Help Falling in Love with Him”, which explains the first and third line ending on “in” and “sin” rather than words rhyming with “you” - Wikipedia knowledge obtained via @jurisffiction

Falling… sin… But we don’t have time to unpack all of that-

JUNE 30: 8.17 Goodbye Stranger script excerpt surfaces with Dean’s ‘I love you’ to Castiel

Fandom has long known that the ‘I need you’ was formerly an ‘I love you’ because Jensen believed Dean saying it in that moment to Castiel was out of character - but we did not have the script to prove specific changes

Additional ‘I forgive you’ not included in the episode - the original scene reads as very romantic, since this was Dean absolving Castiel for past crimes and telling him he loves him in the moments before death, as well as ‘I love you’ of course being what ‘broke the connection’ of Naomi’s control

Notably this episode written by Robbie Thompson, the very man Jensen and Danneel chose to helm their next project

JUNE 30: Misha Collins misses his blanky text

To cap all this off, Misha Collins texts fans a selfie of himself at ‘the spare room at Jensen’s apt in Vancouver’, saying he ‘misses his blanky’, implying he has spent many nights there

It has been an open secret that Misha basically shared Jensen’s apartment in Vancouver since around 2018 due to [redacted dubiously obtained information] but it’s never been publicly stated (to be clear, this does not imply anything other than friendship, as actors in Vancouver often share accommodation and Misha had previously couch-surfed at Jared and Jensen’s places)

Cockles shippers go wild. Does the ‘blanky’ refer to Jensen? Was there a reason to send this on the last day of pride month? Will this man ever shut up?

Hope that helps! May this wild carousel of News About A Show That Ended Eight Months Ago never end!

[mountmasxn]

The Next Step

You and Mason take the next step in your relationship 

You pulled up outside Mason’s house just as your mum finished telling you about the weekend trip that her and your dad went on. ‘Sounds like you had a good time.’ You said as you started to gather your things from your passenger seat. ‘Oh we did, it was one of the nicest places we have been in a while, you know I said to your dad last night that the next time we go you and Mason should come with us and your brother and his wife too. It would make a lovely weekend. What do you say.’ You hummed in response, ‘Umm yeah, I’ll speak to Mase about it and see when he has a weekend free, we should maybe aim for summer so the weather is nice and the men can all go golfing or something.’ You started to plan out ideas of what you could do that weekend and you could hear your mum agreeing with you on the other end of the line. 

‘Yeah, we’ll get it organised honey, oh your dad’s just pulled up with the food so I’ll talk to you again tomorrow, love you.’ You nodded in agreement, even though she couldn’t see you, ‘Yeah mum, talk soon, love you’. And with that you hung up the phone and gave out a sigh of relief. Not that your mum’s phone call bothered you or anything, but you had just spent all day at uni after hardly getting any sleep last night because one of your housemates decided to bring her boyfriend home for the night and neither of them knew how to have quiet sex. You hadn’t ate since lunch time today and even then you only ate half of it as you were trying to work on your dissertation at the same time. So sitting in your car in almost complete silence was a welcome peace for you, even if it only lasted a few minutes. 

You knew Mason would be wondering what took you so long getting out of your car considering it was nearly five minutes ago that he opened the gate of his house for you on the app on his phone. So with another sigh you reached into the back seat to lift your over night, not that you needed it, Mason had basically bought you everything you needed for his house. But you finally willed yourself to get out of the car and make your way into your favourite place in the world. 

You stayed at Mason’s most nights during the week, despite paying rent in your student house with your friends. Sometimes the peace and quiet of your boyfriends was all you wanted. And that was all you wanted tonight. 

As soon as you unlocked the door to your boyfriend’s house you were hit with the smell of Mason’s famous pasta dish; your favourite dinner. You smiled to yourself as you took your coat and shoes off and slipped on the pair of slippers that were always kept at the door for you. You padded your way into the kitchen to find Mason with his back to the door softly dancing to the song that was playing on the Alexa. He hadn’t realised you had come in so you took this opportunity to sneak up and scare him. You felt Mason tense when your arms wrapped round his middle although he relaxed when he realised it was you. 

‘Hey you, making your favourite, should be ready in 5, wanna pour us the drinks.’ He said as he brought your hand up to his mouth to give it a small kiss. His lips lingered over your knuckles until he felt you nod against is back in response to his statement. ‘White or Rosé?’ you asked as you made your way to his wine fridge that was out in the little hall off the side of his kitchen. ‘Rosé’ he shouted back as he proceeded to set the plates out on the counter, getting them ready for the food. You found two wine glasses already sitting out on the island, thankful that Mason had thought ahead, given that your too short to reach the glasses on their shelf. 

You poured the wine into the glasses and left the half empty bottle in the middle of the island knowing that it would be drank throughout dinner. You continued about the dinner routine that you and Mason fell so easily into. You got the cutlery, he set the plates out on the placemats you has set out on the island, both knowing without even speaking to each other that you would eat her as opposed to the large dinning table in the next room.

This was your routine. You knew where everything was. Both of your almost knew what the other person was gonna do before they even done it. Everything about being domestic with one another was second nature to you both.

You both talked about your day as you ate your dinner, Mason telling you about training and about a video of his niece that his sister had sent him, while you filled Mason in on your drama filled day and the plans you and your mum had loosely made. This was your happy place. Simple, mundane things within your big time footballer boyfriend who wasn’t really a big time footballer to you, he was just you Mase. 

Once you both had finished dinner, you both left the plates in the sink agreeing they will be dealt with in the morning. You made your way upstairs while Mason locked the house up and set the alarms so the two of you could have an early night. When Mason walked into the master bedroom he found you already in you jammies in the walk-in wardrobe. He smiled at you as you stood in one of his old tops and a pair of old gym shorts you had left here years ago. This was his Y/N. The Y/N that only he got to see. 

He gave you a kiss as he walked passed you to throw the jumper he had just taken off into the laundry bin. You followed you went on about your night routine, Mason joining you in the en suite bathroom just as you were washing your hands. ‘We showering now or in the morning.’ You asked, letting out a yawn mid sentence. Mason chuckled and stood behind you, making eye contact with you in the mirror as he reached over you to lift both your tooth brushes. ‘Think you’re too tired for that now baby, wanna just go to bed.’ You nodded your head and leaned back against Mason to almost hold you self up. 

You both brushed your teeth in silence, apart from the occasional laugh that came from both of you as you playfully bumped against each other. You moved onto your skincare routine, with Mason following along with your steps. This was something new for the two of you. Doing a skincare routine together as Mason only recently gave in to your nagging that he needed a consistent skincare routine if he wanted to keep is flawlessly glowing skin. Your routine consisted of a few extra steps so Mason left you to finish off as he made his way over to the bed. ‘Meet you in there’ Mason muttered into your hair as he left a lingering kiss on your head. 

Once you were finished you padded over to the bed, switching off all the lights and closing all the doors in the room before falling into bed with a huff. Mason chuckled as he tapped you bum to get you to move over slightly so he could get himself comfortable beside you. You lay in silence for a few minutes, both of you laying on your phone to get that final social media check in before you put your phones on charge. 

‘Move in with me’  Mason said softly while stroking your hair. ‘Mase you-’ you were cut off with Mason placing a soft kiss to your lips. ‘Move in with me’ he whispered again, only this time it was against your lips and your pretty sure he didn’t even hear himself say it again. Mason pulled back a bit and sighed ‘I know you have uni and wanna have that experience before you become a full time WAG-’ 

That earned him a poke to the chest as you raised your eyebrow to almost challenge him as it was an inside joke between the two of you for him to call you his WAG, knowing you hated the title. 

‘As I was saying, you only have a few weeks on uni left so why not start planning to move in with me now. That way we have the whole summer together before your stolen away from me by all the amazing opportunities I know you’re gonna get. So please move in with me.’ You pondered what he had said for a few minutes before pressing your lips against his. 

You loved Mason so much and appreciated that he waited until you were at the right stage in your life to officially do this. Despite staying in Mason’s most nights of the week all throughout uni and basically all throughout semester breaks and summer, you never officially lived there, you wanted a normal uni experience and living with your millionaire boyfriend in uni was not normal. 

Mason had offered to let you move in with him when you told him you were moving to London for uni, but you insisted that you wanted the full uni experience. And that included the messy uni parties, all the nights out and living with your best friends in shitty, over priced accommodation. Mason understood your argument then when you were a first year at uni, but now you were in your final year and the two of you had been together since you were 16, so nearly six years. So in his mind the only logical thing for you to do was move in together, but you always came back with the uni experience excuse. But not anymore. 

You had lived the uni experience you wanted to, maintained your rising YouTube and influencing career and came out the other side in the same relationship you started it all with. 

As you pulled back from the kiss with Mason you whispered out a little ‘okay’ with a nod to the head. ‘But please, for my sanity, get rid of the framed chelsea shirts from the hall way, I want grown up, mature décor, not I’m an 18 year old rich footballer décor.’ you teased Mason as he hugged you closer to him. ‘You can have whatever you hand baby, whatever you want.’ 

[corvase]

Hello! I was wondering if you have any advice or suggestions for book titles. Particularly in the action/romance/drama genre. Thank you!

advice for deciding on a book title

firstly, thank you for asking me! :)

this is definitely one of the hardest parts of writing (along with character names).

for the romance/action/drama genre— or for any genre frankly, there are three ideas i approach to tackle this aspect of writing.

sayings, idioms, and or classic media

^^ cross out titles as a way to switch up phrases

describing how your characters meet, or something relating to their relationship in the novel specifically

to start with #1.

i search up (and or think of) idioms, or media, or things people say in general. then i either use those, or twist it a little and give it my own flare.

an example of this would be the book much ado about you by eloisa james, which put a twist to shakespeare’s much ado about nothing, or one like you deserve each other by sarah hogle, which is just a phrase people use often.

i use this site most often for sayings. i think it also helps to pay attention to daily life.

take the book very sincerely yours by kerry winfrey for example— that title is simply a way to sign off an email— and there are many different variations you could come up with depending on the book, like “yours truly,” or “with love,” or “thinking of you.”

let’s say your story is a comedic/romance/action/drama one about eeehhhh a gal who meets someone who’s a detective on her crazy family’s case (but she doesn’t know at first and they fall in love or something (don’t shoot me okay i just came up with it now)). you could have something simple like “first comes love, then comes cuffs”, or you could go simpler with, “humor me.”

keep in mind:

your title doesn’t actually have to be something blatantly plot specific.

it can be about one component of your story, or two, or five— or it could be about one throwaway line you had in the book (you deserve each other does this).

take for example famous last words by katie alender, where the title only targets the horror/action/hollywood-esque part of the story, although there’s more plot to it. it’s also a relatively common saying and is effective despite being known already.

or on the flip side, there’s the flatshare by beth o’leary, which quite literally tells you exactly what the book is about strictly from the title. a flatshare. it is simple and to the point and doesn’t take away from the story itself. same with howl’s moving castle by diana wynne jones.

#2 (which is basically a subsection of #1) is cross out titles, which are also very neat to me (and make for pretty cover art). these are where a title cuts out a part of the original title and only keeps parts that fits their novel.

for example the saying “out of sight, out of mind”, which could turn into “out of sight, out of mind” or “out of sight, out of mind my life” or something silly like that.

a more serious (and real) example is everything i know about parties, dates, friends, jobs, life, love by dolly alderton.

#3 is a title that describes the way your characters meet, which i find have a wistful effect to them.

an example of this would be it ends with us by colleen hoover, the wedding date by jasmine guillory, or aristotle and dante discover the universe by benjamin alire sáenz.

some titles straight from my head that follow the theme of describing the characters relationship (again, titles aren’t my strong suit) are “and yet, there is you” for something along the lines of a second chance romance, or one where the characters hate each other but are still drawn to each other despite it. either that, or “a song for your thoughts,” for a story where one of the characters enjoys singing, or maybe karaoke is an inside joke between them.

was this just me talking about some of my favorite books? maybe! do i regret it? no!

i hope this helps even if the effect is minuscule! happy writing! :)

[thefanficmonster]

Phone Call Anxiety

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: None

Genre: FLUFF, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: When wanting to make quality merch, one needs a quality team there to produce and work on quality ideas. Great minds think alike. Great eyes see alike and great hands make alike - the three keys to the formula of creating a clothing line that will be fashionable and up to his brand. Luckily, Corpse knows just who to call.

Requested by Anon. Hi hun! Thank you so much for your wonderful request, I absolutely loved the idea! Sorry you’ve had to wait for it to be turned into a fic for so long, but I still hope you come across it and give it a read in which case I hope you enjoy it! Love, Vy ❤

He’s not a fan of phone calls. Anyone who knows him even remotely is very well informed on Corpse’s distaste for phone calls and upholding a conversation over the phone. He’d even go as far as to say talking to a person face to face is less stressful for him than that previous option.

But still, seeing as how the person he’s trying to reach lives in a different state and is rather busy all the time, arranging an IRL meeting is basically impossible at the moment, and sending her a text results in running the risk of having the text overlooked or completely lost in the sea of notifications she probably gets on the daily.

Therefore, a phone call was his only proper way of reaching her. And it’s what’s got him pacing the room with his nervousness peaking.  He doesn’t know anything about this girl, nothing concrete at least. He was referred to her by Jack who brought her up in their passing conversation when Corpse mentioned how paranoid he was regarding his upcoming merch project. He specifically stated he doesn’t want anything basic and he wants the clothes to be fashionable, suitable for anyone no matter the age or gender and to be endurable. With all the love he has for his fans, he doesn’t want to give them anything less than what they deserve - the best.

“My friend’s the person you’re looking for.“ Jack said enthusiastically and confidently, “She helped me design the latest merch line I put out and I’ve never been more satisfied with my own merch. I’m planning on offering her a position in Cloak for her birthday. Make sure not to let that one slip out if you give her a call though.“ He warned half-jokingly. 

Bottom line, with that kind of intro, Corpse couldn’t help but let his interest be piqued. And so, he asked for this girl - Y/N’s contact info from Jack before he went to surf through her social media where she thankfully posted plenty of pictures of her creations, never failing to mention specifications in the caption of each picture so the viewers would get the perfect and most detailed idea of how high the standard for her work is.

And so he’s finally managed to talk himself into dialing her number that’s been sitting in his phone for weeks now. As he paces his living room, his nerves chewing him out like a dog would with a toy, listening to the ear piercing ring of the dial waiting to get picked up by the girl he’s trying to reach. 

Just then, Corpse’s head turns so that his eyes meet the glowing red numbers on his digital clock on his desk and he damn near hangs up the call right away - it’s half an hour past midnight. Fast as lightning, he removes the phone from his ear, his thumb flying over to press the red ‘end call’ button. Just then, a faint ‘hello’ reaches his ears, coming from the phone’s speaker. She’s answered the call.

He hurries to put the phone back up to his ear.

“Hey, sorry for taking so long to pick up, I ought to clean my desk eventually cause my phone was literally BURIED under a pile of papers.“ A cheerful sing-song voice rattles his stale and sleep deprived consciousness, as if awakening him from a half-dream state. “You’re either a wrong number caller or a last minute client, aren’t you? Need something done urgently?“

Corpse is taken the hell aback by her strong and downright awing first impression. Not to mention her energy at an hour unsuitable for calls. Lord knows he wouldn’t have picked up if her were in her spot. With the intention of not wasting any more of her time than necessary, he hurries to explain his situation. “Y/N, right? Um no, I’m neither actually. I was told about you by a friend, he said you were a real miracle-doer with fashion design.” He trails off for a second, not completely sure of how to hold this conversation, “Uh, sorry for the odd timed call, I lost track of time. I’ve been meaning to call you for hours now but I...I was nervous.” He cringes the second the word leaves his lips, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He doesn’t know why he wants to leave her with a great, better than realistic impression of himself but he does and as of now he deems his attempts as ultimate failures.

He hears her giggle from her end, rifling through what sounds to be papers, “Yeah, I’m her. And boy is it refreshing to get someone who’s calling with an actual purpose.” She sighs as if a weight’s been lifted off her shoulders, “And don’t worry about the phone call anxiety. Makes two of us, to be honest.”

This catches him off-guard. The last thing he’d expect is for this girl to have phone call anxiety. In fact, she appears to be a natural, God-given talent at carrying conversations and upholding chit-chat with people. Maybe he’s a little too quick to judge - probably, considering he’s ‘known’ her for less than five minutes and knows nothing but her occupation, her name and the state she lives in - but that bubbly persona she greeted him with gave off the impression that it’s immune to any and all kinds of social anxiety - or anxiety in general. To hear such an honest and counter-to-assumptions confession on her part rattles him a tiny bit. In a good way though.

“How does that work for you? Isn’t your whole job depending on your phone conversational skills?“ He doesn’t mind that he didn’t phrase that too perfectly or that he straight up blurted it out. He knows he’ll be understood. She’s obviously a person who understands. Not just something specific, but everything. She simply understands. How he drew this conclusion and how accurate it is, he may not know until further notice.

“Well...“ she sighs as if genuinely looking to give him a proper answer, “You see, after doing it for so long and having been caught off guard quite a few times with some absolutely absurd orders, I’ve grown prepared of literally ANYTHING and I have a line prepared for anything the caller has to say. I just no longer let them catch me off guard and it’s fine. Helps avoid any possible awkward silences.“

Corpse’s eyebrows shoot up, her explanation only raising more questions rather than providing answers. But he’s not gonna be the annoying dumbass asking those questions at close to 1AM and bugging her. After all, if she agrees to this partnership, they’ll be hearing and potentially seeing a lot more of each other soon. “Impressive, honestly. You’re gonna need to teach me sometime.“ He’s unaware he’s smiling until he catches his reflection in the window. However, he doesn’t bother hiding it. This conversation is actually making him feel good, serving as a reminder that he’s not the only one who periodically goes through turmoil over small things. 

She giggles again, this time the sound manages to draw a blush out of him, coating his cheeks, “I’d typically stray for revealing my secrets to professional success, but I’m willing to make an exception for you...” she pauses for a second as though she’s just now remembered something, “Oh shoot, I don’t even know your name.”

He wheezes out a nervous laugh, realizing he never introduced him, “Oh yeah, sorry, that’s my bad. My name’s Corpse, nice to meet ya.”

“Nice to meet you too, Corpse.“ Y/N replies, sounding pleased but teasing simultaneously, “Now tell me, you didn’t call me about my phone call secrets, did you? What may be the real purpose of your call?“

Oh shoot, he himself almost forgot what he was calling for. Luckily, the reference designs displayed on his computer screen remind him. “Right, well, I’ve been thinking of launching a new merch line either this month or the next, depending on how long the procedure will take, and I needed someone great on my team to make some merch actually worth the money people are paying for it. And, as I said, I was told you were in that ‘someone great’ category.”

“Told by who, if you don’t mind me asking?“ She briefly cuts him off, her voice now giving away the fact that she’s half-absent-minded in this conversation, added evidence be the ruffling of more papers on her end.

“Jack. I mean, Sean. You know, Jacksepticeye.“ Corpse explains, contemplating whether he should’ve ratted Jack out like that. Hearing the sound of delight Y/N lets out eases his worries ASAP though.

“Oh Gosh, I haven’t seen that cutie in so long! He’s like a brother to me so a friend of Jack’s is a friend of min-“ this time she cuts herself off so abruptly Corpse thought the line was cut or she hung up on him. She doesn’t let him wonder for long though, “Wait, wait, wait....Merch? And you’re friends with Jack?“ She pauses for a second once again, once again not a long enough second for Corpse to speak up. “You’re a famous YouTuber, aren’t you?“

He was completely unaware of the fact Y/N hadn’t realized he was someone famous yet. In fact, he didn’t think of it because he thought it wouldn’t be a big deal to her considering she’s friends with Jack-fucking-septiceye! In his mind, his ranking is far lower than Jack’s - despite that mindset being absurd - so the last thing he expected was for her to have some sort of impressed reaction to have been talking to him on the phone this whole time. Hell, she doesn’t even know his full YouTube name or what kind of content he produces.

“WAIT!“ She shouts urgently, startling him a tiny bit, “You’re Corpse Husband, aren’t you? Oh my God, yes you are, how didn’t I put it together sooner? Ah crap, I really need more coffee for this.“

“No! No, you need more sleep.“ Corpse hurries to correct her but is very clearly ignored or overlapped with the many sounds that are coming from her end, “What are you doing?“

“You’re getting the first rough sketch of a design by tomorrow morning.“ She says, taking a sip of whatever beverage she’s acquired for the purpose of keeping her awake, “You go ahead and get some sleep, I know exactly what I’m doing. Don’t worry about it.“

“I’m not worried about the design.“ He hurries to say before she, God forbid, hangs up on him, “It’s 1AM, woman, you need sleep! I don’t need those designs done by tomorrow. Hell, I don’t even need them this week!“

“You don’t, but I do.“ Y/N says, sounding almost breathless because of what seems to be overwhelming excitement, “You don’t get it - I’m designing merch for Corpse fucking Husband! You have any idea how crazy that is?“

“I personally would say it’s underwhelming. I mean, I’m no Pewdiepie, after all.“ He says, now sat at his desk with his free hand rubbing his temple as he stares at the designs he’s pulled up on his screen, ones he probably won’t need given that he’s now working with a professional.

“Oh, shut it.“ She chuckles, “Shut it and get some sleep, ok? I’ll talk to you in the morning.“

“Noooo...“ He leisurely stretches the word, “Tell me, Y/N, do you have Discord?” She clicks her tongue instantly, giving him a signal that the question he’s asked is bordering into the territory of ridiculous. He playfully rolls his eyes, “Alright then, lemme find you. If we’re partnering up on this, we’re both staying up.”

“You know you can just straight up tell me you don’t fully trust me with this? Like, I won’t be offended, I get it.“ She murmurs in-thought, the sound of clicking evident on her end. 

“You know you can just straight up tell me you don’t want me bothering you and want me to leave you alone?“ He mimics her statement, smirking to himself as he pulls up Discord, knowing he’s already won.

She huffs and tells him her Discord info, quickly adding a small comment, “...but only because great minds think alike. I know we’ll be getting along on this design pretty nicely.”

“Yeah, yeah, right, sure, whatever you say.“ He laughs, “Accept my friend request and let’s drop this phone call.“

“Hey! - um, before we do that, I just wanna say a quick thank you.“ Y/N murmurs quietly, as if half-hoping he doesn’t hear her.

“For what?“ Corpse asks, his brows furrowing, unsure if they’re on the same page about this gratitude.

“For never once triggering my phone call anxiety.“ She admits, “I mean, I know I said I have lines prepared for every conversation scenario possible, but you totally caught me off-guard.“ She giggles a tiny bit, now sounding dangerously close to nervous, “But, not in a bad way, if that makes sense. Sorry if it doesn’t, I need more coffee.“

“No, no, it does!“ He hurries to reassure her, “It really does. And thank you too. Thank you for, you know, tolerating my BS at this hour. God knows I would’ve ignored your call if our roles were reversed.“

He hears her scoff and can’t help but laugh, “Huh ok, I see.“ She says, sounding greatly triggered and mock-pissed at his confession, “I’ll make sure to think of that next time you call me after midnight. Or at all, ever.“

Laughing his butt off, the only thing Corpse can think of in this moment is:

Damn, this girl and I are gonna get along

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[angelmavmurdock]

Home

summary: you and tom haven't seen each other in months and he surprises you.

SUPER fluffy !requested one shot!

you can either listen to the song while reading or start listening to it when it tells you to! Home by Caite Turner - the song in which this is based off of :).

***********

5 months.

5 months since I've seen Tom.

He's been in Atlanta for filming Spider-Man No Way Home and at Christmas he spent time with his family before going back.

I hadn't seen him in so long. Facetiming and phone calls could never come close to the feeling of being with him. It feels like such an alien thing now, even thinking about us spending time together. Like it's something of the past...

We tried to call every day but that became difficult as Toms only day off is Monday and I'm working and the time difference. Everything just seems so difficult and forced. But we still do it. Because we want to see and talk to each other but it's just so exhausting with the time difference.

I'd wake up earlier to call and say good morning and I'd end up staying up late on Facetime with him. So my sleep schedule was completely messed up, along with all the emotions that come with a long distance relationship. Then it's heightened even more because Tom is famous and tabloids follow him everywhere. The recent buzz for Cherry has had people asking about his love life - or rather our love life but they don't know we're together. No one apart from our friends and family do.

I missed him. I really missed him. It hurts my heart every time he posts to Instagram or I see interviews from him.

We had scheduled a Facetime for tonight. It was 10pm for me and 6pm for him. Not too bad.

I was absolutely knackered so I was just getting ready for bed when my phone started ringing.

I grinned, picking the phone up and answering the call.

"Hey, handsome." I giggled at the phone screen, sitting it up on my dresser as I got changed.

"Hey, darling. How are you?" He asked, placing a forkful of pasta into his mouth.

He was in his signature pink hoodie with a baseball cap on backwards. His phone was rested against something on his dinner table and I watched as he ate his tea.

"I'm good. Tired but good. How about you? How was work?" I asked, taking some makeup wipes out.

"Oh, sorry baby." He pouted.

"No, no, it's okay. M'used to it." I laughed lightly.

He furrowed his brows slightly as I wiped my makeup off.

"y/n."

I looked at him. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry-

"I love you." He said with a slight smile.

Don't cry, don't cry-

"I love you too, babe. I miss you." I swallowed, trying to keep the lump of sobs from bursting out.

"I miss you, too. It's been 5 months since we've seen each other. I left for Atlanta 5 months ago today." He sighed, taking another forkful of food.

I took a deep breath, throwing the makeup wipes into the bin, "It's been so long."

"I know, darling, I know. But..."

He reached over the table. I heard papers shuffle and I quirked a brow as I got into bed, only my bedside lamp giving me a warm light. I snuggled into my blankets, propping my phone against a pillow.

"I just happened to be coming to London next Friday." He said nonchalantly, fiddling with a plane ticket.

My eyes widened and I stared at my phone screen.

"Y-you're kidding." I felt my heart rate rise.

He grinned, "Nope. Filming finishes next week. I'm coming to you next Friday, love."

I gasped, sitting up and squealing into the phone.

"Oh my god! I can't believe it! We're going to see each other! For real!" I exclaimed.

"For real." He laughed.

"Oh my fucking god...well, I don't know how you expect me to sleep or work until then." I smiled widely, settling back into bed.

"I can't wait. Can't wait to see you again." He bit his lip.

I raised a brow, "Can't wait to see what part of me?"

He laughed, "Hmm, I'll leave that to your imagination. But I'd definitely call your work and tell them you won't be able to come in the whole week because your legs will be too sore."

I spluttered a laugh and got myself flustered.

God, it had been so long since we touched...

"I can't wait to fuck you again." He said lowly.

I widened my eyes, "Are Racheal and Harry not there?" I hissed.

He shook his head, "Racheal's not here and Harry's working in his room."

I shifted onto my side to face him completely.

"Okay then...if you want to fuck me so bad...tell me what you'll do to me when you get here."

***

It was the next night. Friday. Finally. Tom had said he wouldn't be able to call tonight because he was on set all day. I was fine with that, though. Last night was an extremely heated Facetime call.

I went into work and sat at my desk, staring at a blank word document just wishing words would start typing themselves onto the page. My mind was somewhere else. It was with Tom. I didn't sleep much last night as it was an eventful night so I was absolutely knackered by the time I got home from work.

I managed to stay awake long enough to make myself some mac and cheese. I managed one episode of friends, I ate my dinner and I snuggled on my couch, stripping my jeans and top off to leave me comfortably in my underwear with blankets draped over me. I didn't particularly mean to fall asleep at 7pm on a Friday night. It just happened.

-

Toms POV

"Good luck, mate. Have fun." Harrison laughed cheekily on the phone as I entered y/n's flat building.

"Div. Bye." I chuckled, ending the call.

I hyped myself all the way up to y/n's flat. I looked at myself in my phone camera to check how I looked. I couldn't hear anything from inside but I knew she was in. The bouquet of flowers in my hand kept crinkling loudly and I tried to shut them up seeing as it was midnight.

I could feel some jet lag already hitting me but the nerves and excitement completely cancelled it out.

I was surprising her. Filming finished a few days ago, not next week. I had everything planned out. And she had no idea.

I took a few deep breaths and sat my suitcase and bag down. I lifted a hand to her door and hesitantly knocked. Adrenaline rushed through me.

She was going to open the door and we'd have the best moment, then we'd kiss and then...

She wasn't answering the door. Her car was outside and it was midnight so she should be in.

I gritted my teeth anxiously and knocked again.

Still nothing.

I looked around in slight panic, not knowing what to do. But then I tried her door handle. It opened.

I'll have to tell her to lock it next time, I reminded myself before opening the door slowly. The flat was quiet, only the sound of traffic coming in from the open windows filled the room. I wheeled my suitcase and bag in quietly then shut the door behind me equally so.

I walked further into the flat and that's when I finally saw her. And why I finally saw why she wasn't answering the door.

y/n was curled up on the couch, blankets sprawled across her basically naked body and the couch. Her hair lay messy on top of her head and her mouth hung open slightly as she slept.

My heart filled with love and joy as I watched her. 5 months since I had seen her and she was like this. In her most perfect form. Natural and messy and cute but also hot because the underwear she was wearing and the fact I hadn't seen her body in nearly half a year made me nearly get a full hard on.

I walked closer to her, placing the bouquet of flowers next to her abandoned bowl of mac and cheese. I caught a glimpse of the TV.

Are you still watching?

I smiled and turned back to her, kneeling to come face to face with her. I could smell her signature perfume and it made my heart swoon so massively.

I smiled uncontrollably as I reached my hand to her cheek, brushing my fingers over her skin. I missed her skin on mine. I brushed some of her hair behind her ear and then cupped her cheek softly, rubbing my thumb back and forth to gently awaken her.

y/n POV

I felt a hand on my face, a thumb delicately brushing my cheek. It felt familiar and suddenly I could smell something that made my heart ache. Whatever it was smelled like Tom. Like his natural scent mixed with his usual aftershave.

"y/n..."

I heard my name being whispered. I hummed and nuzzled into the pillow more, enjoying whatever dream about Tom I was having. His hand was warm on my face and it was like it was really there.

"y/n, darling..."

Mmm, the nickname. I missed his voice.

"Love...you awake?"

I furrowed my brows. What? Tom didn't say that in my dream. I felt myself being brought back into consciousness gradually and the heat and weight of a hand on my face was very much there, along with the prominent smell and the literal presence of someone.

I slowly opened my eyes, blurry at first but then everything came into view.

Tom.

He was kneeling in front of the couch, his hand still stroking my cheeks, his face in a soft but wide smile, his skin tanned and glowing but the bags under his eyes were visible.

"T-Tom?" I stuttered in a whisper.

Was I dreaming? Was I hallucinating? I mean, I had been thinking about him a lot and I was exhausted so it made sense.

"Hey, darling," He chuckled softly.

"I- what the- are you- what?"

My eyes were heavy, my voice was quiet, in fear of it breaking and I was so incredibly confused.

"Surprise." He chuckled, tucking a hair behind my ear.

I blinked a few times to clear my vision and I saw a tear run down his cheek.

He was here.

"Tom," I whispered, grabbing him and pulling him into me, my arms wrapping around his neck.

He held me just as tightly around my waist. His skin was on mine. He was here. He was actually here. We were actually touching.

He slowly pulled me off the couch and onto the floor with him, welcoming me onto his lap. I wrapped my legs around him and nuzzled my face into his neck. I fisted his light jacket, trying to get a hold of every part of him.

Suddenly it was as if every emotion I felt in the past five months came flooding to the surface. Sadness, hopelessness, excitement, happiness, love. His hands wrapped completely around my waist, holding me flush to his chest. I felt tears tickle down my face but I didn't care.

His face was nuzzled into my neck, too. He moved a hand up to cradle the back of my head when he realised I was crying. I was actually sobbing. Audibly. But so was he now.

We both pulled away at the same time then immediately crashed our lips together. A new wave of tears pooled into my eyes. He tasted good. He tasted like him. Minty and perfect. I ran my fingers up and into his hair. God I missed his hair.

Our tongues pushed into each others and we both moaned slightly, revelling in the feeling of one another again.

He was here.

We pulled away breathlessly and stared into each other's eyes. I cupped his face and he did mine. I wiped the tears from his face, he wiped the tears from mine.

"I missed you so much." I croaked.

"I missed you too, darling."

"Please just promise me you'll never do that again. I can't live without you for that long again. I can't." I half-joked.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying here with you." He rested his forehead against mine.

"I'm home." He whispered.

I sobbed happy cries at his words. He suddenly pulled away and brought his phone out, shakily going onto Spotify and playing 'Home' by Caite Turner, turning it all the way up.

"Dance with me." He whispered.

I stood off of him and he joined me. He held my hand and twirled me around, inspecting my body.

"I feel so naked," I laughed.

He shed his jacket off and then he pulled his t-shirt over his head. I widened my eyes at him. He had gotten fitter over filming, along with a new tan.

"That's better." I sniffled with a smile.

He brought me into him and held me by my waist with one hand then my hand in his other. I had my free hand on his cheek. I traced up and onto his sun freckles, down his crooked nose and then back to his left eyebrow and down to his jaw then back into his hair.

He leaned his head down and encased my lips in his. It was soft and breathless. One of those kisses you wish you had a picture of to capture the moment. I missed kissing him. Our lips slotted together perfectly like they were made for each other.

He slowly pulled away and we rested our heads against each other's, still swaying in time to the music.

"You're my home, y/n." He whispered.

I closed my eyes, feeling a few tears escape my eyes.

"Wherever you are is home to me. I can't be without you again." He spoke quietly and shakily, on the verge of another sob.

"I feel the same. I'm going everywhere with you now."

He chuckled lightly and we pulled back. He brushed my hair behind my ear and looked into my eyes with his gorgeous brown ones. I cupped his face and me sighed into my touch.

"I love you." He stated quietly.

"I love you." I replied.

"You're the one, y/n. No questions. I can't fucking live without you."

I felt my chin quiver at his words. I didn't know how to even respond verbally.

I pulled him down to my lips, my tongue slipping into his mouth almost immediately. He hummed and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"You're it, Tom," I whispered between kisses.

He pulled away slightly, our lips just ghosting over one another's.

"You're my home."

[dailytomlinson]

While many artists would jump at the chance to tell you how lockdown has been a fruitful opportunity for self-improvement, full of pseudo self-help books and pompous podcasts, former One Directioner Louis Tomlinson is adamant that he has done, well, nothing.

“I’ve just watched loads of s___ TV,” he says after a long pause. “The Undoing is decent, isn’t it?”

Twenty-eight--year-old Tomlinson from Doncaster was always the down-to-earth Directioner, frequently describing himself as fringe member who spent more time analysing the band’s contracts than singing solos, known for chain-smoking his way through several packs of cigarettes a day and swearing like a trooper. A rarity, these days, among millennials who’d rather suck on a stem of kale and tweet about their #blessings.

He's getting ready to rehearse an exciting one-off gig that will be live-streamed from a secret London location on December 12, announced today exclusively via the Telegraph. The proceeds of the night will be split across four charities: The Stagehand Covid-19 Crew Relief Fund and Crew Nation, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and Marcus Rashford’s charity FareShare, to help end child poverty.

The gig means a great deal to Tomlinson, whose first ever tour as a solo artist, to promote his debut solo album WALLS, was cut short back in March after just two concerts in Spain and Mexico. It was an album he’d spent five years working on: a guitar-led project that ruptured with the preppy pop anthems of One Direction, inspired instead by Tomlinson’s love for Britpop.

No doubt he was anxious to get it right following a decade “grown in test tubes”, as Harry Styles once described the band’s formation on the X Factor, where they came third before going on to make a reported $280,000 a day as the most successful band in the world. The pressure, too, was intense: all four bandmates had already released their own solo debuts.

Was he left reeling, I ask, unable to perform at such a crucial moment?

“The thing that I always enjoyed the most about One Direction was playing the shows, so my master plan, when I realised I was going to do a solo career, was always my first tour. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to for the best part of five years now. I got so close, I got a taste for it, and it’s affected me like everyone else, but I’m forever an optimist,” he says down the phone, with what I can only imagine to be a rather phlegmatic shrug.

Sure, I say, but the last year can’t have been easy. Didn’t he feel like his purpose had popped?

“You know what,” he says, reflecting, “maybe because I’ve had real dark moments in my life, they’ve given me scope for optimism. In the grand scheme of things, of what I’ve experienced, these everyday problems...they don’t seem so bad.”

Tomlinson is referring to losing his 43-year-old mother, a midwife, to leukemia in 2016, and his 18-year-old sister Felicite, a model, to an accidental drug overdose in 2018. The double tragedy is something he has been open about on his own terms, dedicating his single, Two of Us, from WALLS, to his mother Johannah, while often checking in with fans who have lost members of their own family.

It’s not unusual for Tomlinson to ask his 34.9 million followers if they’re doing alright, receiving hundreds of thousands of personal replies. It’s not something he will discuss in interviews, however, after he slammed BBC Breakfast for shamelessly probing his trauma in February this year. “Never going back there again,” he tweeted after coming off the show.

“Social media is a ruthless, toxic place, so I don’t like to spend much time there,” says Tomlinson, “but because of experiencing such light and shade all while I was famous, I have a very deep connection with my fans. They’ve always been there for me.”

In return, Tomlinson is good to them. Last month he even promised some new music, saying that he’d written four songs in four days. Does this mean that a second album is on the way?

“Yeah, definitely,” he says. “I’m very, very excited. I had basically penciled down a plan before corona took over our lives. And now it's kind of given me a little bit of time to really get into what I want to say and what I want things to sound like. Because, you know, I was really proud of my first record, but there were moments that I felt were truer to me than others. I think that there were some songs where I took slightly more risk and owned what I love, saying, ‘This is who I want to be’. So I want to take a leaf out of their book.”

Fans might think he’s referring to writing more heartfelt autobiographical content such as Two of Us, but in fact, he’s referring specifically to rock-inspired Kill My Mind, he says, the first song on WALLS. “There’s a certain energy in that song, in its delivery, in its attitude, that I want to recreate. People are struggling at the moment, so I want to create a raucous, exciting atmosphere in my live show, not a somber, thoughtful one.”

He sighs, trying to articulate something that’s clearly been playing on his mind for a while. “You know, because of my story, my album was a little heavy at times and a little somber. And as I'm sure you're aware, from talking to me, now, that isn't who I am.”

It must be draining, I say, the weight of expectation in both the media and across his fanbase, to be a spokesperson for grief and hardship. To have tragedy prelude everything he does and says.

“Honestly, it’s part of being from Doncaster as well, I don’t like people feeling sorry for me. That’s the last thing I want.”

Too many incredible memories to mention but not a day goes by that I don't think about how amazing it was. @NiallOfficial @Harry_Styles @LiamPayne @zaynmalik . So proud of you all individually.

The problem is, says Tomlinson, he doesn’t have the best imagination. “I have interesting things to say musically, but what’s challenging from a writing perspective is that I write from the heart, and I can’t really get into someone else’s story. And right now, being stuck at home, you have so little experience to draw from. It’s actually quite hard to write these positive, uplifting songs, because actually, the experiences that you're going through on a day to day basis, you know, you they don't have that same flavour.”

There is something that’s helping, though: a secret spot near Los Angeles, where he divides his time. “It’s remote and kind of weird, and I’m going to go there for three days and write. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to it. I found it via a YouTube video. It’s got some very interesting locals who live there, it’s sort of backwards when it comes to technology. It feels like you’re going back in time when you’re there. But I don’t want to give it away.”

Another source of inspiration for his second album is the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ back catalogue. “I grew up on their album Bytheway. And during lockdown I've been knee deep in their stuff. I’ve watched every documentary, every video. And I find their lead guitarist John Frusciante just fascinating.”

Has he spoken to Frusicante?

“I f______ wish,” snorts Tomlinson.

Surely someone as well-known as Tomlinson could easily get in touch?

“No, honestly, I think he’s too cool for that. He’s not into that kind of thing.”

Tomlinson’s passion for all things rock is also spurring on a side hustle he picked up as a judge on the X Factor in 2018: managing an all-female rock band via his own imprint on Simon Cowell’s Syco label. While the group disbanded before releasing their first single, and Tomlinson split from Syco earlier this year, the singer is keen to nurture some more talent.

“I'm not gonna lie, my process with my imprint through Syco, it became challenging and it became frustrating at times,” Tomlinson says a little wearily. “The kind of artists that I was interested in developing – because I genuinely feel through my experience in One Direction, you know, one of the biggest f______ bands, I feel like I've learned a lot about the industry – they weren’t ready-made. So I had lots of artists that I took through the door that were rough and ready, but major labels want to see something that works straight away. I found that a little bit demotivating. I love her and she's an incredible artist, but not everyone is a Taylor Swift.”

Tomlinson spends much of his free time scouting new talent either on YouTube, Reddit or BBC Introducing – he’s currently a huge fan of indie Brighton band, Fickle Friends. His dream is to manage an all-female band playing instruments. “Because there's no one in that space. And I know eventually if I don't do it, someone else will!”

Before he drives off to rehearsals, we chatter about how much he's been practising his guitar playing, and how he can't wait to take the whole team working at his favourite grassroots venue, The Dome in Doncaster, out ice-skating after he performs there on his rescheduled tour. “Because I've got skills,” he says, and I can hear his chest puff.

And then I ask the question every retired member of One Direction has been batting off ever since they broke up in 2015, after Zayn Malik quit. Rumours that his bandmates saw him as a Judas went wild after some eagle eyes fans noticed they’d unfollowed him on Instagram. Payne, Tomlinson, Horan and Styles have barely mentioned him since. Recently, however, they re-followed him, and Payne has teased that a One Direction reunion is on the cards.

So: might 2021 be the year of resurrection?

“I thought you were going to ask something juicier!” say Tomlinson witheringly. “Look, I f______ love One Direction. I'm sure we're going to come back together one day, and I'll be doing a couple of One Direction songs in my gig. I always do that, so that's not alluding to any reunion or anything. But, I mean, look, I'm sure one day we'll get back together, because, you know, we were f______ great.”

[mcwriting]

Lost in Rome

hello, friends! Ever since "La Vita Dolce," I've wanted to write something else involving Italy and at least one Italian phrase, and so this lil story was born! Hope you all enjoy!

Ship: Tom Holland x Reader

Word Count: 1488

Warnings: mentions of drinking, vv slight language

★

You had been walking around Rome for what felt like an eternity.

(It had only been like 30 minutes)

You knew the bar was right near Piazza Navona, but you'd only been to that part of the city one other time, having been staying south on the other side of the river in Trastevere.

You felt embarrassed knowing you were dragging your friends around the city without much of a guide, but you were too stubborn to admit that you were actually lost.

"Maybe we should've gone to Bar San Calisto again. It was cheap and close but noooo. I just had to look up a 'best bars in Rome' list" you thought as you continued to trudge on.

Not only were you lost, but you also didn't have the ability to look up where you were going, since you'd decided to go cheap and not buy an international plan or a vpn, choosing to only using wifi so you'd "stay in the moment."

That moment seemed stupid now that every marble wall and cobblestone street started to meld together in your brain as it continued to darken.

A trip to Rome was something you'd been wanting to do for years, so when your university offered up the chance to go study abroad for 4 weeks, you immediately began scrounging up the funds to go, even scoring a scholarship based on the fact that you'd taken Italian classes in school.

You'd only been there a week but thankfully had bonded with your roommate before even going, having struck up a conversation at the informational meeting the semester before. Since then, you had also bonded with those in the room next door, them sticking to you as their translator.

Finally, you couldn't take it anymore, stopping.

"Okay, look, guys. I'm really sorry but I literally have no idea where we are," you admitted, feeling guilty. Everyone else smiled.

"That's okay! This place is beautiful! I'm sure we'll find it eventually," your roommate, Olivia, said.

"Yeah. Didn't you say it was at Piazza Navona?" Aaron, one of your neighbors, asked. You nodded. "Well as long as we can find that, then we're basically there!"

After some wandering, your group found itself in the square in front of the Pantheon, which was a step in the right direction, but you were determined to actually find the right place.

There was a hotel right there, so you quickly stepped in to ask the desk worker to point you towards the Piazza, who explained that it was only a couple streets East of where you were.

Relieved, you and your friends quickly walked that way, breathing out a collective sigh when you walked into the giant open square, looking around at the familiar structures from the second day of class when you'd toured the area.

"Sooo... where's this bar?" Aaron's roommate Joseph asked.

You all circled the square from the inside and out a couple times, not seeing any signs with the name "Bar del Fico Roma" anywhere.

Dread started to wash over you as you realized the website must not have meant the bar was actually on the square, but was somewhere nearby. You felt stupid for not screenshotting the website page or, you know, actually looking it up first.

"Fine, that's it! I'm marching up to the next person I see and asking where this darn place is. We've made it this far!" you said, exasperated.

The first thing that caught your eye was a group of people who looked close to your age, talking in a small group. They were pretty well dressed, typical of a young Italian, so you immediately started over towards them, expecting them to be the most helpful in giving directions.

"Wait, y/n!" Olivia protested, but you ignored her, walking between a shorter boy and taller girl.

You couldn't help but sigh out the words as you started speaking, placing a light hand on the boy's arm.

“Scusa, potresti dirme dov’è la-" "Excuse me, could you tell me where the-"

"Sorry! I don't speak Italian!" the boy answered in a British accent, turning to face you with hands in surrender.

You both seemed taken aback when your eyes met.

Tom Holland?

"Um, oh what was the word for sorry in Italian again?" the actor in front of you asked, looking to one of his many Spider-man costars around you. Before one could answer, you blurted out one for him.

"It's 'mi dispiace' or 'perdonami,' depending on how you want to say it," you started, realizing how stupid you probably sounded to be teaching a world famous actor Italian words after accidentally infiltrating his conversation.

However, Tom was more shocked by your American accent. Your eyes still widened as you realized what was actually going on.

"Oh my gosh, what am I saying, um. I- I'm so sorry. We're just trying to find this bar and got lost and-"

"Which bar?" he asked in return. You furrowed your brows and looked at him funny, wondering why he would care. He seemed to take notice. "It's just that, we're also headed to a bar and can't seem to find it, either."

You chuckled at the situation, baffled.

"Well, um, it's called 'Bar del Fico Roma.'"

Tom's eyes widened.

"Hey, that's where we're headed!" Jacob Batalon cut in, making you look at him and the rest of the actors in surprise. You could see your own friends shock from your peripheral.

"No way! Really?" Joseph said for you. The group nodded.

"I just got it pulled up on maps," Zendaya said, holding up her phone. Realization suddenly hit that she of all people was the one who you had been standing next to this whole time.

You and your friends all gasped incredulously, amazed at your luck after spending all that time lost.

"If you want, we can show you the way," Tom offered.

"What? No, no we couldn't impose like that," you began, knowing your friends were probably internally screaming at you.

"Oh come on," Tom responded. "We're all going to the same place anyways, not like we won't see you there. It's barely a five minute's walk."

"Seriously, y/n. Do you really want to go around asking more locals for help when we've got it right here?" Olivia asked, raising a good point.

"Alright, fine," you started, rolling your eyes. You turned back to Tom. "You know what they say, 'when in Rome.' Seriously, thank you. All of you. You're definitely saving our asses."

He chuckled as Zendaya began leading the way. Though the sun had set, lights throughout the roads and emanating from various shops lit the way.

Without meaning to, you fell into step with Tom, easily matching his gait as you crossed through the bustling piazza.

"So what brings you to Italy?" He asked. "You don't quite sound like a local."

"We're studying abroad through our university. Unfortunately for me, these goons keep following me 'cause I speak the language," you joked, causing Olivia to slap the back of her hand to your shoulder.

"Ah, I see. I was definitely confused when you went from Italian to American in an instant. Y/n, was it?"

"Yes! Yeah, that's me. And you're obviously Tom Holland."

"You better remember that later, he tends to forget his own name after a few drinks," Zendaya called back to you, causing the group to laugh.

"Hey! That was one time!" Tom defended himself. "Not my fault I was going through a breakup!"

He turned back to you.

"Don't listen to them. I'm quite fun to drink with. You should see for yourself."

"Is that some sort of offer..?" you questioned playfully, tucking your hair behind your ear.

"If everyone's alright with it, I figured you all would join us at the lounge. I'm more than happy to pay for a round or two," he winked.

The group was approaching the bar, and any anxiety you'd had about finding it finally quelled when you could see people outside laughing and drinking as they enjoyed the summer night.

"Hmm... I don't know..." you sing-songed, looking up at the sky.

"Dude are you crazy?" Aaron exclaimed, causing the others to argue in agreement with him.

"Okay, okay. Of course we would be happy to join you for a drink. Thank you."

Both groups cheered in approval.

"The only thing I ask in return is a little lesson in Italian and, if all goes well, a pretty lady's number at the end of the night," he said smoothly, giving you a look.

The others looked between you with wide eyes, surprised at his open flirting. You couldn't help but smile and blush before replying.

"I think that's something I can manage. Now come on, your first lesson will be in ordering drinks," you said, grabbing his hand to lead him in what was about to be the best night of his life.

And yours.

★

A/N: Okay fun fact I thought up this concept immediately after publishing La Vita Dolce and just... never wrote it? The entire work was actually written around the one Italian phrase I used haha.

Anyways... Hope you all enjoyed as per usual and feel free to hmu anytime about anything :)

Send a message or ask if you’d like to be added to my permanent or series taglists so I can verify you’ve been added!

@jackiehollanderr, @one-big-fangirl, @agentnataliahofferson, @spider-babe, @justafangirlduh

[lochtayboatsong]

The Jesus Christ Superstar essay absolutely no one asked for.

Last weekend, I watched the pro-shot of the 2012 arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar starring Ben Forster, Tim Minchin, and Melanie C, because it was Easter and it was up on YT for the weekend.  I never managed to do my annual listen-through of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass this year, as is my usual Easter tradition, so I figured “Why not watch/listen to this instead?”  It was my first time seeing and hearing JCS in full, and Y’ALL, it has been living rent-free in my brain ever since.  I have a mighty need to get my thoughts out, so here they are, in chronological order by song.  

1) Prologue: I love the way JCS 2012 makes use of the arena video screen.  The production design and concept clearly took a lot of inspiration from the “Occupy ______” movement, which makes it feel a bit dated now.  But every single production of JCS is a product of its time period, so this is a feature and not a bug.  

2) Heaven On Their Minds: This is a straight-up rock song.  It wouldn’t be out of place on any rock and roll album released between 1970 and 2021, and it boggles my mind that Webber and Rice were both in their early twenties when they wrote it.  Also, the lyric “You’ve begun to matter more than the things you say” hits hard no matter the year.

3) What’s the Buzz: A+ use of the arena screens again, this time bringing in social media to set the tone.  Also, this song establishes right from the outset that Jesus is burnt out and T I R E D by this point in the story.  Seriously, can we just let this man have a nap?

4) Strange Thing Mystifying: Judas publicly calls out Mary and Jesus claps back.  Folx, get you a partner who will defend your honor the way Jesus defends MM in this scene.  Also Jesus loses his shoes and is mostly barefoot for the remainder of the show.

5) Everything’s Alright: Okay, this is one of the songs I have A LOT to say about.  First, it’s important to know that I was a church musician throughout all of my adolescence and into my early adulthood.  The pianist at the services I usually played at was a top-notch jazz pianist, and also my piano teacher for about six years while I as in high school and undergrad.  (Incidentally, I had a HUGE crush on his son, who was/is a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist and also played in the church band, but that’s a story for another day.)  One of the hymns we played a few times a year was called “Sing of the Lord’s Goodness,” which is notable for being in 5/4 time.  Whenever this hymn was on the schedule, it was usually the recessional, or the last song played as the clergy processed out and the congregation got ready to leave, so we were able to have some fun with it.  After a couple verses the piano player and his son would usually morph it into “Take Five,” a famous jazz standard by Dave Brubeck which is also in 5/4 time.  Anyway, the first time I listened to this song in full, it got to Judas’s line “People who are hungry, people who are starving,” and I sat bolt upright and went “HOLY SHIT THIS IS ‘SING OF THE LORD’S GOODNESS/TAKE FIVE.’”  And I was ricocheted back in time to being fourteen and trying to keep up with this father/son duo in a cavernous Catholic church while simultaneously making heart-eyes at the son.  Final note: This is the only song in the musical to feature all three leads (Jesus, Judas, and Mary Magdalene) and is mostly Jesus and MM being soft with each other in between bouts of Jesus and Judas snarling at one another.

6) This Jesus Must Die: I LOVE that all the villains in this production are in tailored suits.  LOVE IT.  Also, Caiaphas and Annas are a comedy duo akin to “the thin guy and the fat guy,” except in this case it’s “the low basso profundo and the high tenor.”  Excellent use of the arena video screen again, this time as CCTV.

7) Hosanna: My background as a church musician strikes back again.  It honestly took me two or three listens to catch it, but then I had another moment of sitting bolt upright and going “HOLY SHIT THIS IS A PSALM.”  Psalms sung in church usually take the form of call-and-response, with a cantor singing the verses and the congregation joining in for the chorus.  If I close my eyes during this song, I have no trouble imagining Jesus as a church cantor singing the verses and then bringing the congregation in for the “Ho-sanna, Hey-sanna” chorus. 

8) Simon Zealotes: This is part “Gloria In Excelsis” and part over-the-top Gospel song.  Honestly it’s not my favorite, but it marks an important mood change in the show.  The end of “Hosanna” is probably Jesus at his happiest in the entire show, and then Simon comes in and sours the mood by trying to tip the triumphant moment into a violent one.  Jesus is not truly happy again from this moment on.

9) Poor Jerusalem: Also not my fave.  It kinda reads like Webber and Rice realized that Jesus didn’t have a solo aria in Act I, so they came up with this.  But it has the distinction of containing the lyric, “To conquer death you only have to die,” which is the biggest overarching theme of the story.

10) Pilate’s Dream: Pontius Pilate might be the most underrated role in this entire show, and I love that this production has him singing this song while being dressed in judge’s robes.  

11) The Temple: The first half of this is one of the campiest numbers in Act I, at least in this production, and it’s awesome.  The second half is one of the saddest, as Jesus tries to heal the sick but finds there are too many of them.  Also the whole scene is almost entirely in 7/8 time, which I think is just cool.

12) I Don’t Know How To Love Him: Mary Magdalene’s big aria, and one of the songs I knew prior to seeing the full-length show.  This production has MM taking off her heavy lipstick and eye makeup onstage, mid-song, which is kind of cool.  Melanie C says in a BTS interview that MM’s makeup is her armor, so this is a Big Symbolic Moment.

13) Damned For All Time: The scene transition into this song is played entirely in pantomime, and I love it.  The solo guitarist gets to be onstage for a bit, A+ use of the video screen again to show Judas on CCTV, etc.  Love it.  And then this song is Judas frantically rationalizing what he’s doing, and what he’s about to do, with Caiphas and Annas just reacting with raised eyebrows and knowing looks.

14) Blood Money: This is where the tone of the show really takes a turn for the dark.  I think this might be one of Tim Minchin’s finest moments as Judas, because his facial expressions and microexpressions throughout this scene speak absolute volumes.  And the offstage chorus quietly singing “Well done Judas” as he picks up the money is a positively chilling way to end Act I.

15) The Last Supper: Act II begins with major “Drink With Me” vibes.  (Except JCS came WAY before Les Miz, so it’s probably more accurate to say that “Drink With Me” has major “The Last Supper” vibes.)  Jesus and Judas have their knock-down, drag-out fight, and it’s honestly heartbreaking, thanks again to Tim Minchin’s facial expressions.  A well-done production of JCS will really convey that Jesus and Judas were once closer than brothers, even though their relationship is at breaking point when Act I begins.

16) Gethsemane: This is Jesus’s major showpiece and one of my faves.  Jesus knows he has less than 24 hours to live, he knows he’s going to suffer, and worst of all, he doesn’t know whether it’s going to be worth it.  It’s an emotional rollercoaster to watch and to perform, and it goes on for ages: something like 6 or 7 minutes.  Fun fact: the famous G5 is not written in the score.  Ian Gillan, who played Jesus on the original concept album, just sang it that way, so most subsequent Jesuses have also done it that way.  Lindsay Ellis has a great supercut of this on YT.  John Legend notably sang the line as written during the 2018 concert.  

17) The Arrest: Judas’s Betrayer’s Kiss is played differently across different productions.  The 2012 version is pretty tame - I’ve seen clips and gifs of other productions, including the 2000 direct-to-video version, where they kiss fully on the mouth and have to be dragged apart by the guards and it is THE MOST TENDER THING.  Then the 7/8 riff from “The Temple” comes back and the 2012 version lets the video screen do its thing again as Jesus is swarmed by reporters.

18) Peter’s Denial: Not much to say about this one, as it’s basically a scene transition.  But it’s a significant moment in the Passion story, so I’m glad they included it.

19) Pilate and Christ: The 2012 production continues with the theme of Caiaphas, Annas, and Pilate all being bougie af, since Pilate intentionally looks like he just came from tennis practice during this scene.  Also he does pilates...hehehe.

20) King Herod’s Song: Tim Minchin says in a BTS interview that JCS works best when Jesus and Judas are played seriously and the rest of the production is allowed to be completely camp and wild and bizarre all around them, and he is bloody well CORRECT about that.  Case in point: King Herod.  There is not a single production of JCS that I know of where Herod is played “straight.”  He’s been played by everyone from Alice Cooper to Jack Black, and everyone puts a different zany spin on him.  In JCS 2012 he’s a chat show host in a red crushed velvet suit, who is clearly having the time of his LIFE. 

21) Could We Start Again Please: This is another of my faves.  Just a quiet moment where MM, Peter, and the disciples try to grapple with the fact that Jesus is arrested and things are going very, very badly.  This is also my favorite Melanie C moment of the 2012 show.  Her grief is very real, and the little moment she has with Peter at the end is very real.

22) Death of Judas: This is basically Tim Minchin screaming for about five minutes, and incredibly harrowing to watch on first viewing.  

23) Trial Before Pilate: Possibly my single favorite scene in the entire 2012 production.  This is another harrowing watch, but there’s so much to take in.  The “set” that the entire show takes place on is essentially just a massive staircase, and the people with power are almost always positioned above the people without power.  In this scene, the crowd shouting “Crucify Him!” is positioned above Pilate, which is a very telling clue to Pilate’s psychology during this scene.  Jesus is at the very bottom of the stairs, of course.  Excellent use of the video screen once again during the 39 Lashes, to show the lash marks building and building until the entire screen is a wash of red.  Pilate’s counting also gets more and more frantic, especially starting around “20.”  And all the while the guitar riff from “Heaven On Their Minds” is playing.  Jesus’s line “Everything is fixed and you can’t change it” is played quite differently in different productions - here it’s defiant, but elsewhere (in JCS 2000 for example) it’s almost tender, like Jesus is absolving Pilate for his part in the trial.  But it always ends the same - with Pilate almost screaming as he passes the sentence and “washes his hands” of the whole sorry business. 

24) Superstar: The most over-the-top number in the show.  Judas, who died two scenes ago, comes back to sing this.  There are soul singers.  There are girls in skimpy angel costumes.  The parkour guys from the prologue are back.  Judas pulls a tambourine out of hammerspace midway through the song.  And Jesus is silently screaming and crying as he gets hoisted onto a lighting beam while all this is going on.

25) The Crucifixion: More of a spoken-word piece than a song, it’s Jesus’s final words on the cross over eerie piano music, and another harrowing watch.

26) John 19:41: An instrumental piece in which Jesus is taken from the cross and carried, at last, to the top of the stairs, before being lowered out of sight as the video screen turns into a memorial wall and everything fades to black.

So.  I know I’m anywhere from three to fifty-one years late to this particular party, but I am on the JCS bandwagon now and I’m thoroughly enjoying myself.  :)

[paradisetemporarilymisplaced]

Book recs: Similar to but less sad than TSOA

Hello everyone! @lordeteams requested some book recommendations that are not as sad as The Song of Achilles so here we go. I read a lot of books and since 2019 I've kept a running list of what I've read so honestly I'll take any excuse to subject people to my interests🤗 List is below the cut, not in any particular order (except from the first entry which is my current favorite), and includes NA, YA, and adult fiction. If you're curious about the distinction I'll refer you to this (sadly, now-deleted) tweet from Maggie Stiefvater:

One Last Stop (Casey McQuiston, NA): This one is brand new and instantly became a favorite. F/F romance in which August Landry, newly transplanted to Brooklyn, meets Jane Su on her morning commute. Turns out, Jane is stuck on the train and has been since the 70s, but has no memory of how it happened or of her old life. Part romance, part time-travel mystery, but entirely a love letter to queer communities everywhere. Found family trope abounds with August's roommates and coworkers, which include drag queens, people of every flavor of queer, and a real life psychic, all of whom are ready and willing to help solve the mystery of why Jane is on the train and how to fix it. In the process, August learns things about her own family, as well as events in American queer history that few people remember today. I really cannot express enough how much I love this book. Please read it.

Red, White, and Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston, NA): Odds are, if you've heard of Casey McQuiston, it was because of her first book (this one). M/M romance about Alex, son of the first female US President, and Henry, prince of England. Enemies to friends to lovers, featuring queer self-discovery, coming out, PR/corporate closeting (hello, larries!) and just a delight. This is a very different queer story from OLS - OLS is a romance, but more plot-heavy and the romance isn't the entire focus. In RWRB, the romance is the plot and it reads like fanfiction which is very fun.

The Raven Cycle (series, Maggie Stiefvater, YA): This series is a character-driven, coming-of-age, found family story about a bunch of weird-ass teenagers (affectionate), magic, prophecy, and Welsh kings. This is the rare story in which every single main character plays a critical role in the plot and grows and changes with the story. You will fall in love with all of them and their relationships with one another. Plus, the worldbuilding is incredible and has such an intricate mythology that you'll want to reread just to get the details. Followed by the Dreamer Trilogy, of which two books have been published, but I've only read the first one so far.

All for the Game (series, Nora Sakavic, YA): This is the series that got me back into reading for fun five years ago and as such it holds a special place in my heart. The plot is wacky and convoluted - college athletics, a made-up sport, a kid on the run from his mob boss father - but don't let that discourage you. Hella found family. (Are you seeing a pattern?) I will warn you, this deals with some pretty heavy stuff, including torture, abuse, addiction, sexual violence, and more. Here's a comprehensive list of trigger warnings, with detailed descriptions at the bottom. It's intense, but the friendships and romances make it worth the read imo.

Grishaverse (series, Leigh Bardugo, YA): This is actually three series: the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars duology (which I haven't yet read). If you've seen Shadow and Bone, the S&B trilogy covers the Alina storyline, while SOC covers Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, and Matthias. S&B is a chosen one/coming of age story, while SOC is found family committing heists. It's great.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Saenz, YA): Coming of age M/M romance. Set in the 1980s in El Paso, it describes the friends to lovers journey of Ari and Dante over several years, as well as Ari's journey of self-discovery. It is the most beautiful book and one of my comfort reads. There's some themes of homophobia and violence, but with a happy ending.

Carry On (Rainbow Rowell, YA): This is basically Harry Potter fanfiction, but better because (a) it doesn't take itself too seriously and (b) the author is not a violent transphobe. Seriously, this book is so fun. It's a twist on the chosen one trope because Simon, said Chosen One, is just spectacularly bad at what he is supposedly destined to be. Plus you have an enemies to lovers storyline, which is my personal favorite trope. Followed by Wayward Son, which is literally a road trip AU, and Any Way the Wind Blows, which will be released next month.

The Queen's Thief (series, Megan Whalen Turner, YA): Fantasy series centered on Eugenides, who is very proud of being a great thief but also wants to be famous, two goals which are not really compatible. This series is interesting because every novel is told from a different character's point of view in an increasingly zoomed-out lens such that you're seeing how Eugenides' influence grows over time and space. The setting is vaguely based on the ancient Mediterranean region, but with a mythology all its own.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Taylor Jenkins Reid, adult): This is a frame story in which aged Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo, famously tight-lipped about her personal life, hand selects a young journalist, Monique Grant, to finally tell her story. Evelyn tells Monique all about her life - how she became an actress in the mid-twentieth century, how she got involved (and uninvolved) with all seven of her former husbands, and who was the true love of her life. There are some sad moments for sure, as it's a retrospective on the very long and very full life of an actress at what she knows is the end of hers. But it's such a good story and worth the bittersweet tones.

This Is How You Lose the Time War (Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone, adult): Sci-fi novel told by Red and Blue's letters to one another across time and space. They are on opposing sides of the Time War and as they perform their respective missions, they leave letters for the other to find. Their letters start out as "I'm coming for you, you better run" but then eventually turn to friendship and then love. Ultimate enemies to lovers. It's a short novel but you'll read it again and again to pick up more details. It's so good.

The House in the Cerulean Sea (TJ Klune, NA): This book feels like a warm hug. Linus Baker is essentially a child protective services worker, overseeing the orphanages housing magical children. He is then assigned to the most remote orphanage in the system, in which six dangerous children reside, to determine whether any or all of these children are capable of bringing about the end of the world. Once more, with feeling: FOUND FAMILY. Also nice because it's a metaphor for queerness that also features canon queer characters.