#I drew him w his scars too but. I’m too embarrassed to show those lol

[cheridraws]

hiiii lol. look at my men

[awhiskeyriver]

PSST AMELIA (i have hit the level of comfort where i feel i can scream at you, oop) TELL ME UR BETTY THOUGHTS.... also me too, i really wanna write stories based of Taylor's songs all the time. there's a whole subset of tumblr ask game called like, taylor universes, where we personify songs and on God it's my favorite (i wish i had more swifties in my ranks or i'd host one)

LOL, you can always scream at me! Oh man, that sounds seriously so fun! I would love to personify one of her (or all of her, lol) songs and turn them into stories. She has such a vivid way of writing music it begs to be seen in story form, lol.

Okay so....you may regret asking me for my Folklore thoughts, LOL. This is long and it might make absolutely no sense to anyone other than me but I hope that’s not the case!

Obviously **I know this isn’t true and wasn’t Taylor’s point at all** I’m just a writer and things spin out of control in my head and...yeah...basically this is how I’ve managed to link (almost) all of the songs in Folklore together into one story line of James/Betty/August.

The story begins with in the song Betty, towards the end of Junior year, at the prom.

//I know where it all went wrong, your favorite song was playing from the far side of the gym. I was nowhere to be found, I hate the crowds, you know that. Plus, I saw you dance with him.//

I think James has anxiety of some sort [more to come on that later] and in my mind, Betty is more charismatic, maybe even casually popular not in the core group of popular girls but very well-liked and known around the school. Editor of the school paper, ran for student president, etc. Meanwhile James is more low-key, out of the limelight, and the idea of being in such a large crowd dancing gave him anxiety which is why he said no. Seeing her dancing with someone else (even innocently), made him feel worse about himself and his insecurities as well as a little mad at her for not standing with him, but choosing to go dance with friends [‘him’] instead. 

So, he left the dance early [walking home on broken cobblestones] when August sees him [when she pulled up like a figment of my worst intention. She said, James get in let’s drive. Those days turned into nights. Slept next to her but I dreamt of you all summer long.]

Personally, I think James only officially cheated on Betty once. The night of the dance with August. August is a more overtly popular; more obvious beauty that is noticed by many boys, maybe a cheerleader, etc. Many people think this popularity instantly equates with happiness, but she’s not happy, actually suffers from self esteem issues and the pressure to conform [Mirrorball: I can change everything about me to fit in]. But James doesn’t ‘oogle’ her or treat her the way typical guys she dates or fucks do, so she’s attracted to him. They kind of bring out this excitement in each other that Betty and the other guys in August’s life don’t. [Mirrorball: I’ll show you every version of yourself tonight. I’ll get you out on the floor- August can pull James out of his shell in ways that Betty can’t]. This is maybe a more “obvious” song link to make, but also how in Mirrorball it’s talked about “spinning in my highest heels love, shining just for you.” And in Cardigan, when Betty is describing August “high heels on cobblestones.” 

ANYWAYS. James feels mad guilty about what happened between August and him, swears her to secrecy, but the weight of the secret weighs on him. At the end of the year, he tells Betty he thinks they should take a break over the summer, so they do. August and James continue to talk, first through platforms like Instagram, commenting on a photo or story, then it turns into constant talking, to texting, to hanging out and inevitably having more sex. For James, it’s a vice of sorts. He feels guilty, he wants to forget that feeling meanwhile August is starting to develop Feelings™. [entire song of August, obviously, but lines like “you were never mine.// your back beneath the sun, wishing I could write my name on it. ] To her, James is also developing feelings for her and wants to be with her. [I remember thinking I had you. Wanting was enough, for me it was enough.] But as the summer starts to end, things become more squirrely between the two of them, and the feeling of being James’ side piece starts to sink in more, and the more she begins to lose him, the more desperate she is to hold onto him. [August: cancel plans just in case you call and say meet me behind the mall. Illicit Affairs: Leave the perfume on the shelf that you picked out just for him so you leave no trace behind, like you don’t even exist.// A drug that only worked the first few hundred times.// what started in beautiful rooms ends in meeting in parking lots.]

It comes to a head at the end of (the month of) August, as summer is ending and the new school year is approaching when James tells August he wants to get back together with Betty and what happened between them meant nothing to him. [Betty: Slept next to her but I dreamt of you all summer long.] August is rightfully hurt, embarrassed and angry [Illicit Affairs: Don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby look at this godforsaken mess that you made me. You showed me colors you know I can’t see with anyone else. Don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby look at this idiotic fool that you made me. You taught me a secret language I can’t speak with anyone else.// And you know damn well, for you I would ruin myself a million little times. Peace: All these people think love’s for show, but I would die for you in secret. Mirrorball: When I break it’s in a million pieces.]

So, senior year begins. Betty and James gets back together. August goes back to the way she was previous to her summer with James, but truly she is broken. Can’t even look at him. The guilt and stress of August is still eating at James, but he’s trying to forge ahead with Betty and the two of them grow stronger and closer throughout the first part of the school year. August’s friend, Inez, obviously notices her downfall, but August continues to allude to “the guy she met over the summer” without saying names. One drunken night, she slips and says James, and Inez being the gossip she is is like w h a t. [Peace: Your integrity makes me seem small.// I talk with shit with my friends, it’s like I’m wasting your honor.// And you know that I’d swing with you for the fences, sit with you in the trenches. Give you my wild, give you a child.// Give you my sunshine, give you my best. But the rain is always gonna come if you’re standing with me.] August forgets about the conversation [she was drunk], but Inez doesn’t and can’t help herself but go to Betty and tell the rumor she heard about James fucking August. Betty, being a newspaper editor, doesn’t believe her without gathering up facts. But as she’s piecing things together, Inez’s story begins to make sense. She confronts James about it, who reluctantly admits to everything.

Betty, of course is devastated and heartbroken. The boy she trusted the most, her first love, wasn’t at all who she thought he was. [Cardigan: you drew stars around my scars, but now I’m bleeding.] And the fact that he didn’t just come clean and tell her after the first time, but continued to cover it up (and keep seeing August) is unforgivable. [Cardigan: tried to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy--Betty is ready to grow up, think about college, think about life, meanwhile James is clinging to the excuse that he is ‘only seventeen’ [(Betty) Would you trust me if I told you it was just a summer thing?], refusing to grow up and own his mistakes. 

Betty breaks things off with James. James hates August thinking she did it on purpose. Betty hates them both. August kind of does too.

[August- Mad Woman: Every time you call me crazy, I get more crazy and when you say I get angry, I get more angry.]

[Betty- Cardigan: A friend to all is a friend to none, chase two girls lose the one.//When you are young they assume you know nothing.] 

After months of being broken up, James is still not over Betty and tries one last time to win her back at her graduation party before she leaves for college. [Betty, I’m here on your doorstep and I planned it out for weeks now but it’s finally sinking in. Betty right now is the last time I can dream about what happens when I see your face again. The only thing I want to do is make it up to you. So I showed up at your party]. The end of the song, where he’s talking about kissing in her car again, etc is him building their makeup up in his mind, psyching himself up for confronting her because he thinks it will all pay off.

Betty is shocked to see him, as is everyone else at the party, they’d become something of a spectacle, she brings him outside in the garden to talk in privacy without everyone interjecting or staring. Jame’s apology comes in ‘This is me trying’ where he’s trying to explain his actions more logically than placing blame on everyone and everything else, from Betty. [I don’t quite know what to say, but I’m here in your doorway. // They told me all of my cages were mental (the fact that he has anxiety, etc) so I got wasted like all my potential//pouring my heart out to a stranger, but I didn’t pour the whiskey (his and August’s first encounter/cheating incident after Prom). But “this is him trying, at least he’s trying...it’s hard to be at a party when [he] feels like an open wound” and quite honestly, “it’s hard [for him] to be anything these days when all [he] wants is [Betty]. It’s a great apology, he wears his heart on his sleeve, but Betty doesn’t want to fix things between him, she wants to move on. It was too difficult for her to get over him once, she can’t open herself up to trusting him again. [Cardigan: I knew you’d linger like a tattooed kiss, I knew you’d haunt all of my what ifs.// I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired, and you’d be standing in my front porch light.] 

Betty leaves for college.

A few years away in college has caused some healing for Betty and some insight into life outside of her small town and high school boyfriend [The One: If you never bleed you’re never going to grow, but it’s alright now]. But when she’s talking with her mom and something comes up about James, thoughts and feeling she hasn’t felt in years come racing back. She can’t help but wonder how things might’ve turned out if things didn’t end how they did because as much as she hates to admit it, she’ll always love James in some way. [We were something, don’t you think so?// if my wishes came true, it would’ve been you.// it would’ve been fun if you would’ve been the one.// I persist and resist the temptation to ask you if one thing had been different (if he hadn’t slept with August) would everything be different today?.// You know the greatest films of all time were never made.] [My Tears Ricochet: And I can go anywhere I want, anywhere I want just not home. And you can aim for my heart, go for blood, but you would still miss me in your bones.] 

***Now, things get a little more dicey here not as tight, lol but bear with me***

Betty comes home after graduation from college and runs into James. They’re cordial and nice and when James asks if they can get dinner and catch up, Betty agrees. They have a good evening, reconnect a little, but when they go riding and drive to some familiar places from their childhood, past hard conversations re-arise. It brings a lot of unwelcomed emotions back up in Betty, and she realizes it’s harder than she thought it would be to forgive James. [The One: the greatest films of all time were never made. Exile: I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending.] Meanwhile, James just wants to forgive and forget the past, after all, they were kids, only seventeen. His hurt comes from the fact that after he tried to patch things up after graduation, not only did Betty dismiss him and leave, but she never reached out or spoke to him again. [Exile: It took you five whole minutes to pack us up and leave me with it. Holding all this love out here in the hall.] He came to the front porch/door to try and fix things with her, and she “left out the side door.” 

Betty [My Tears Ricochet: Even on my worst day, did I deserve babe, all the hell you gave me? Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you, til my dying day. // And I still talk to you (while I’m screaming at the sky) and when you can’t sleep at night (you hear my stolen lullabies)// Hoax: My twisted knife, my sleepless night, my winless fight this has frozen my ground.] 

Hoax is where things come to a head with Betty and James. [Stood on the cliffside screaming, “Give me a reason. Your faithless love’s the only hoax I believe in. // You knew it still hurts underneath my scars, from when they pulled me apart. But what you did was just dark.]

Mad Woman continues as August finds out that Betty and James get back together, and cannot get over it. She never got over James either. Only her sadness turns to anger. [Now I breathe flames each time I talk. // They say “move on” but you know I won’t.// It’s obvious that wanting me dead has really brought you two together.] 

Invisible String comes when Betty and James are in a stable, happy place in their relationship again. Possibly engaged for marriage. [Time, mystical time, cutting me open then healing me fine.// Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire. Chains around my demons, wool to brave the seasons. One single thread of gold tied me to you.// Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven.]

And, I like to think that August did eventually move on and found someone who appreciates her and truly loves her, isn’t just using her for revenge, or because she’s hot, or because they’re trying to forget their own problems. But someone who actually values her for herself. (Invisible String: Cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart. Now I send their babies presents.)

AGAIN, this is obviously just my own theory/fun. Not meant to be taken seriously. Hope you enjoyed!

[mystichoneybuddhachips]

How would the RFA+Saeran react to MC being insecure about her stretch marks?

yay for body positivity ^o^ midterms week begins for me tomorrow... someone please pray for me LOL i’m so stressed T___T

Yoosung:

you only decided to show him because he wanted to go to a water park and you didn’t know how to tell him why you were too self-conscious to go

when you lift your shirt just slightly to show your stomach, you’re already waiting for him to be taken aback or go “oh.. alright let’s not go”

but nope this boy is fascinated

“that looks so cool! i’m so jealous :(”

“um no, this is not something to be jealous over”

“:( they look like battle scars :( i think it looks really cool :( i want some :(”

at that point he’s pouting so much you’re too busy laughing to be uncomfortable over revealing your insecurity

he keeps on insisting that you look fine and that he think you’re even more special for having them

but he says if you’re still not ready to go to places like water parks, he’ll wait

“we can swim together in our own bathtub” he says with a smile on his face someone tell this boy two people can’t swim in a bathtub

you go red in the face when you picture you two in the bathtub

he sees your expression, realizes the implication of what he said, and then he gets even redder than you what a pure child

“w-wait! i didn’t mean to sound so… ahh, this is embarrassing” 

he’s too busy looking at the ground now, and you two are just standing in his apartment having a blush-off

and then he chances a glance back at you, looking extremely nervous

“i mean… i wouldn’t mind, though. if you wanted to…”

dear god who knew yoosung could be so brave?? you’re shook

but before you even give a reply, he’s screaming with embarrassment and running out the room

Zen

he noticed you never wore shorts, even during the blistering summer heat

not that he was one to judge your fashion choices, but sometimes you looked like you were dying in those leggings or jeans

so he carefully brought up the question, only because he was concerned

you’re reluctant, but it’s zen and you trust him, so you take a second to go into your room and change into some shorts

he blushes a little when he sees your legs, but his eyes widen slightly when he takes in the stretch marks near the upper part of your legs

immediately wears a warm grin and gestures you over

“aww babe… come here”

you do, but at this point you’re itching to change back and cover your legs up again

“i know, they’re gross…”

zen looks almost offended by what you say “what?! no no no, you look beautiful” 

“no lying, zen! it doesn’t make me feel better.”

now he’s frowning, leaning over and pulling you into his lap instead

“babe, i’m not lying. you look perfect.”

you keep waving his words off, but he keeps saying it as he hugs you close

afterwards, you occasionally have the courage to start wearing shorts around in the house at least and he’s thrilled

did the dramatic collapse onto the ground when you first willingly stepped out in shorts

“ah, fair maiden! your beauty has rendered me helpless! that wonderful face, those dazzling legs! where in heaven did you descend from?”

“zen please stop that is so embarrassing if you keep doing this i swear i’m never-”

Jaehee

it only came up because she was talking about her hair and how she was self-conscious about how it looked and so you shared one of your own worries

to your surprise, she’s not even that phased when you mention it, and you ask why

“stretch marks are normal for women, it’s nothing to be ashamed of”

“but they look…”

“i think they look absolutely fine”

she literally always cuts in every single time with a neutral compliment before you get to make any negative comments about it

so you stopped bringing it up, but still refused to show them to anyone

and one day you woke up to a piece of paper taped to your bedroom door… and bathroom window… and fridge

they’re all of the same article titled “10 Reasons Why You Should Love Your Stretch Marks!”

at first, you’re almost embarrassed that she went out of her way to do that, but after reading it, you actually feel a lot better about them

she never mentions what she did, but grins when you give tackle her into a big hug

“i hope you realize that i love and admire you for what’s on the inside, and even still, you look incredible. if anyone else thinks otherwise, i’ll deal with them myself”

you read the article every morning now, and it makes you feel more confident in wearing shorter clothing

Jumin

he was splurging again on clothes for you to wear while he was abroad on a business trip

and arrives home with his bodyguards carrying armloads of beautiful dress and tops

you’re lowkey worried about how you’re gonna tell him you’re never wearing those

but when he recommends one particular dress for dinner tonight, you come clean and tell him you don’t wear things with short sleeves in public anymore because of the stretch marks on your arm

he goes quiet for a long moment before ushering his bodyguards away

then walks over and gives you a big kiss before hugging you to his chest

“my love, i won’t force you to wear anything you don’t want, but it pains me to hear that you don’t appreciate everything about yourself”

“jumin, they’re stretch marks… no one likes having them”

“i don’t see why you should be so ashamed of them. you still look beautiful”

the next time he came back home, though, his bodyguards had a bunch of luxury long-sleeved dresses

since you still didn’t feel comfortable enough wearing short sleeves, you’re touched at the gesture

at night, he likes to kiss your arms and cuddle you before going to sleep 

707

he bought matching cat t-shirts to wear together for your next outing to the pet store

it was all fine until he noticed you were wearing a cardigan too

“MC!! it’s so hot outside!! and the cardigan covers the kitties on the back!”

you grimace, saying you have bad stretch marks on your arm and don’t want to show them

he gets all serious then, stepping away from the door and sitting you down on his couch

you two proceed to have a long talk as you tell him why you feel so insecure and him trying to tell you why you shouldn’t feel that way

he’s sad that you’re negative about them, and announces that he’s set a mission to make you appreciate and love yourself

will literally compliment you every day

sticks post-it notes all over the house saying cringeworthy things like “you’re so beautiful today that you made me forget my pickup line”

you lowkey love it though, and feel better about yourself with each passing day

one night you even show him that you have stretch marks on your stomach while lying in bed together

he makes this loud gasp, and you think that it’s out of disgust

but then he looks up, eyes shining

“cotton candy”

“…what?”

“it looks like cotton candy!”

“seven;;;; no”

“look! it does! i love cotton candy!! and you!!! this is surely a sign that we were made for each other!”

Saeran

he only knew because you were talking about this new shirt you got that you can’t wear once you realized it showed the stretch marks on your arms too much

for a short while, he never brought it up because he didn’t know how to

like he wants to tell you that you look completely fine with them

heck, he thinks you look more attractive with them 

he finds the way they look fascinating on you

but god forbid he ever drew up the courage to admit it out loud

yet as time went on, and you continued to torture yourself in the summer heat with long sleeves and pants, he started to get agitated

cause why were you suffering like that?? what was the point??? 

so one day he just tossed you a t-shirt while you were lounging on the couch watching TV

and you’re all confused as to why he gave you it

“you’re sweating, isn’t it obvious?”

“i’m fine… i don’t mind it”

“if this is because of your stretch marks, there’s no point”

now you’re slightly annoyed at him for saying that

“there is a point! they bother me, and i don’t want to see them! no one does!”

and then he suddenly raises his voice, “well I do! i like them and you look perfectly fine even with it!”

there’s a longggg silence before you realize he actually said that

“saeran, what did you–”

“no i didn’t”

“i haven’t even finished my–”

he’s blushing furiously “i didn’t say anything i don’t know what you’re talking about” then he speed-walks into his room

later when he walks about out after you call him for dinner, he sees you changed into the t-shirt

a ghost of a smile touches his face, but he immediately schools his expression while helping you set the table

he does compliment your shirt later on though, and you start wearing t-shirts around the house more cause you lowkey notice him smiling whenever he sees you in them and you love it