#I was not talking about watermelon sugar I was literally talking about

[stylesunchained]

Some of you really go out of your way and misinterpret what people say and I’m tired.

[daisyblog]

Watermelon Sugar

Our Story Masterlist Summary: How Watermelon Sugar was made.

warning: smut, oral (female receiving), swearing

Very highly requested.

“So Styles…what are we working on today? Do you want to keep working on Treat People?”. Kid asked as he span around on his chair to face everyone, readjusting his hat as he did.

Harry gently licked his bottom lip as he thought about his options. “I’ve kinda got these lyrics that I can’t stop humming…I wanna work on them…see if they go anywhere, but if anyone feels uncomfortable then just say and we’ll scrap the whole thing!”.

“Shit it’s getting fucking deep in here today!”. Tyler joked, earning a snigger from Kid and a small grin from Mitch.

“What are you talking about man, every song is fucking deep”. Kid couldn’t bite his tongue. Harry only flipped him off with a sarcastic smile.

This is what Harry liked about the team, they could joke around, not taking anything to serious. But at the same time, they’d all shared many of the deepest conversations.

“Have you got like a melody or anything H?”. Mitch quietly asked as he prepared to play.

Harry shook his head as he pulled his lips into his mouth. “Nah just go with it and see what happens”.

“Tastes like strawberries…on a summer evenin'…and it sounds just like a song”. Harry acoustically sang, trying to find the right notes and melody.

“What’s with you and fruit, man?”. Mitch asked the question everyone was dying to know. “Plus what the fuck sounds like a song?”.

Harry ran his finger under his nose, a nervous habit he had. “Nothing…it’s nothing…just open for interpretation”.

---

Anne didn’t need an excuse to host a summer garden party, so the moment the sun came out she invited all her close family and friends over for food, drinks and a good time.

Harry and YN had been finding it difficult to leave each others sides, whether that was Harry’s arm reaching around her waist to sit on her hip, an arm over her shoulder or sharing a quick peck when they thought nobody was looking.

So when YN was in the kitchen, reaching across the spectacular spread Anne had put on to place a few strawberries on her plate, she felt two hands slide around her middle and a face nuzzle into her neck.

“I’ve missed you”. Harry placed small kisses up her neck, YN trying not to let her body respond as she took a bite of a strawberry, placing the green on the plate.

“I haven’t been anywhere”. YN giggled as she swallowed the fruit, placing the plate down so she could turn in his arms.

As she wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers gently played with his loose curls. Harry met her lips with his, the sweet taste of strawberry lingered between them.

“Let’s go upstairs”. Harry mumbled against her lips, that were now a darker shade of red.

“Bubs we’re in your mums…there’s a party going on”. YN pointed out as Harry’s lips nibbled down her neck, teasing and distracting her from her thoughts.

Harry only shrugged his shoulders in response. “When has that ever stopped us?”. YN knew he had a point, but she was still reluctant, glancing around to see if anyone would see them wonder off. “Please baby”.

“But I want more berries”. YN wined as she glanced back at her plate, sitting there full of fresh strawberries.

“Well I want you!”. Harry gently pulled her by the neck to place a lingering kiss to her swollen red lips.

---

”All I’m getting so far is you’ve eaten strawberries on a summer evening and it sounds like a song!”. Mitch was literal with his interpretation, looking at Harry like he’d gone crazy.

“Mitch just listen to the fucking lyrics man…we’re only like three lines in and I already know what it’s about.” Tyler laughed at how naive his friend was being right now.

Whilst Kid and Tyler fiddled about with some ideas for mixing and editing ‘Golden’, Mitch tested out a few chords to see what would fit with the current song Harry was writing.

Harry was noticing some lyrics down in his leather book, when Mitch played a particular melody that caught his ears. He listened carefully trying to find the right timing.

“I want more berries…And that summer feelin'…It's so wonderful and warm”. Harry sung, catching the other’s attention, all invested in where he was going with it. “Breathe me in…Breathe me out…i don't know if I could ever go without..”.

Harry paused as he processed where this song was going. But glancing around the room, he spotted a book on the table. Giggling to himself, he couldn’t stop his hands from reaching for it. “I don't know if I could ever go without…Watermelon sugar…High!”.

“Sounds like you’ve just named your next song”.

---

Once their hidden by the four walls in Harry’s room, he quickly reaches for YN’s waist, leaving traces of his fingers behind. Pulling her closer to him as their lips become ones and their fronts meet.

The warmth from their bodies being so close has caused them both to feel hot. Their movements feel quick and fast, but slow and soft all at the same time.

As Harry walks them blindly over to the bed, YN’s hands become greedy and pulls his T-shirt off and leaves it drop to the floor. Taking YN’s route, Harry’s ring clad fingers, find their way to the front of YN’s skirt unbuttoning it as their lips stay together like magnets.

Once her skirt and underwear are pooled on the floor, keeping Harry’s tahirt company, YN finds herself lying with her back on the duvet covered bed. Instead of joining her, YN feels his lips attach themselves to her inner thigh. Her mind becomes dizzy as she feels his wet lips trailing further up.

“Harry!”. Her lips moan, wanting to feel more as her lower stomach began to tighter already. His lips are now needier, moving higher and closer. In a quick movement, Harry grabs a pillow from the bed and places it under her hips.

Leaning forward Harry’s tongue meets her, licking up and down with a slow teasing start. His hands move her thighs so her bare legs are resting over his shoulders. Another moan leaves YN’s lips as she feels his mouth move against her.

“Oh, fook!”.

Her moaning only encourages his movements, as well as feeds his ego. Whilst his tongue teases her, swirling around as he tastes the wetness as it drips down his chin, he moves his left hand to rest on her lower stomach, pushing down gently.

“Fookin’ ‘ell, that’s good!”.

Harry could feel YN’s hips start to buck against him, so he gently held her hips down so the sensations hit harder. The sound of her heavy pants outplayed the sound of Harry’s tongue hitting the wetness between her legs.

Knowing YN was close as she muttered out small encouragements, Harry moved his tongue faster against her, lapping up the sweet taste. The addicted sensation began to build and the heat travelled down YN’s body. Her head swung back on the sheet behind her as the pressure built.

It hit her with force, causing her to feel light headed and unable to think of anything but the climax, when her thighs clenched around his head, Harry had no choice than to keep up his movements as he rode her through her high.

“Oh Harry, oh yes!”.

The sound was like heaven to Harry’s ears as he felt her vibrate against him. Watching her orgasm was still something he could never get bored of.

The energy had been wiped away from YN as she now laid still on the bed, unable to move due to the shakiness. Harry lifted himself up from his position between her legs, wiping away the wetness left behind on his chin.

Harry moved further up the bed with his knees, hoovering over YN’s tired body. He leaned forward pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

“Worth missing out on eating your strawberries?”. Harry sarcastically asked, as he held himself up with his arms.

---

As they continued to work on the song, now known as ‘Watermelon Sugar’, the penny dropped for Mitch as Harry sang, trying to perfect the melody and pre-chorus.

“Tastes like strawberries on a summer evenin'…And it sounds just like a song…I want your belly and that summer feelin'…I don't know if I could ever go without”.

Mitch’s eyes went wide at the realisation. “Shit…fucking hell man…you’re singing about eating-”.

Before Mitch could finish his sentence, Harry cut him short. A large cheeky smirk covering his face as he did so.

“It’s a song about wanting to eat strawberries!”.

Tag List:

@pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @harrys-flower @platinumbarbie143 @frickin-bats@harrysbbyh0ney @chronicallybubbly @goldensunflowe-r  @walkingintheheartbreaksatellite@kaverichauhan @peterholland04 @panicattheuc @or-was-it-just-a-dream @hittiesontour@bunnyharold @fanfictioncafe @lilfreakjez @iamahallucinationnn @theekyliepage @indierockgirrl@buckybarnessimpp @ashleighsss @jerseygirlinca @fake-coolbeans @itsmytimetoodream@treehouse-mouse @mrs-anna-styles211994 @macy-tpwk

[love-takes-work]

I've seen a fair number of people interpret Rebecca Sugar's (and the Crew's) decision to put Ruby in a dress as subversive, and I want to discuss why that feels like a clear miss to me.

Every time--every single time--I've heard Rebecca Sugar talk about the queer relationships on this show, it comes with this expression of wholesomeness, and often glazed with a sheen of wistfulness, flavored something like "I needed this as a child and young person, and I didn't have it." Much of Rebecca Sugar's work to bring this wedding (and other unapologetic queer relationships) to the screen was framed as an emergency--as in, we HAVE to get this out there for those kids we used to be, because we know they're drowning.

Yes, it's funny sometimes when people make jokes about Sugar deliberately "adding more gay" or "making it gayer" as a big eff-you to the people who spoke against it, but that doesn't sit right from where I'm standing. It took so much strength (and resulted in so much battle damage) to fight that fight, yes. But from everything I can see from the interviews and conversations I've seen and read, this wasn't served up in a "ha-HA, take THAT!" kind of way. These characters having these kinds of relationships should have been a non-issue, and the fact that their very wholesome kids'-show wedding and very sweet kiss and very adorable love for each other was seen as Political when it should have been just two characters in love is so sad to me.

I've seen dozens of people suggest that Ruby is in a dress and Sapphire is in a suit "to fuck with the bigoted censors in other countries" or "to give the finger to gender roles," but again, I think it is simpler and sweeter than that. Rebecca's said that Ruby in a dress is how she feels in a dress. Celebration and exploration of feminine-coded stuff felt wrong to Rebecca for a long time, like it wasn't hers, because she wasn't really a woman and didn't want it forced on her. As a result she was robbed of all the beauty that should have been a non-issue, from what TV shows and toys she was supposed to enjoy as a kid to what kind of person she was supposed to marry and what she should wear as an adult.

Ruby never got a choice about how she looked really. Once she got to choose her presentation for a significant event, this is what she chose. It means so much more to see that than to construct it primarily as a reactionary measure, as if it would somehow foil the sinister censors in more homophobic countries (who, incidentally, are not therefore forced to show Ruby in a dress even though they tried to hide that Ruby was a "she" or that she was in a romantic relationship with another "she"; y'all, they just don't show the episode).

We see plenty of other examples of gender-role-related expectations being casually stepped on and squashed, like when they took the trouble to give traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine "clothes" to some watermelons to make the audience think there was a husband and wife watermelon only to have the wife be the warrior and the husband stay home with the child. With stuff like that, yeah, sure, maybe it's designed to make you think "oh isn't that very feminist of them!" Or maybe it's more "well why do I see this as a 'reversal' when it's just a thing that happened?" This show is full of ladyish beings who fight and have power. And as for Steven. . . .

Nobody has negative reactions onscreen (or even particularly confused reactions) when Steven wears traditionally feminine clothes, and it is (of course) also not presented as a "boy in a dress gag"--it's not supposed to be funny. When they go all in slathering Steven in literal princess tropes throughout the final act of Season 5, we understand that it's because the powerful Diamonds expect him to be Pink Diamond, not because the show is trying to girlify him or embarrass him or even make the audience think positive thoughts about boys in girls' clothes. It's more neutral than that in my interpretation: "these are literally just pieces of cloth, and while some of them have meaning, they don't inherently have a gender." I don't see this as transgressive. It's just in a world where putting on what you want to wear doesn't HAVE to be a political statement. (Though obviously it CAN be, and plenty of people wear a variety of clothes as a fuck-you to whoever they want to give the finger to. I just don't see that as happening here.)

Don't get me wrong; Rebecca Sugar certainly knew about the politics (intimately) and has lived at many of their intersections. She was not ignorant of how queer people are seen in this world. She was silenced as a bisexual person because her identity supposedly didn't matter if she was with a man and planned to be with that same man forever. She was shunted into "omg a woman did this!" categories over and over again, which she wore uneasily as a nonbinary person while accepting that part of who we are is how the world sees us. But what is it like if everything someone like her embraces is seen as a statement synonymous with "fuck you" to someone else?

She is married to a person who happens to be a man and happens to be Black. Her relationship isn't a "statement" about either of those aspects of his existence; her love is simply something that is. She is Jewish working in a society that's largely Christian. Her cultural perspective to NOT center her cartoon around Christian holidays and Christian morals; her choices to make an alternate world in this specific way is simply something that is. Her queer perspective as a nonbinary bisexual person has helped inform the Gems' radical philosophy of "what if we learned to explore and define ourselves instead of doing the 'jobs' we're assigned and being told it's our nature?" Her decision to include queer people in a broadly queer cartoon isn't designed PRIMARILY as a battle against baddies, or to drown out all the relentless straightness, or to deliciously get our queer little paws all over their kids' TV. It's an act of love.

So this is just to say that though I DO understand that sometimes subversion and intentional transgression are very necessary, I do not think that's the HEART of what's going on at this Gem wedding. We got a wholesome marriage scene between two of the most lovely little flawed-but-still-somehow-perfect characters, and I very much want to see their choices as being about them. About how Ruby feels in a dress. About how Sapphire feels about not having to always wear a dress. About them incorporating a symbol of their union into their separate lives so they can have some independence in their togetherness. About them celebrating their love by letting Steven wipe his schmaltz all over them.

There are many choices in the show that ARE carefully constructed to counter existing narratives, you know, giving the Crystal Gems' only boy all the healing, pink, flower imagery; having a single-sex species that's ladyish with all the members going by "she"; featuring many nurturing male characters who cry and cook and raise kids without mothers; pairing multiple fighty ladies with gentler guys; and importantly, intentionally loading up the show with stories, characters, and imagery any gender will find appealing despite being tasked with expectations to pander to the preteen boy demographic.

But it's very important to me that the inclusion of queer characters and the featuring of their choices be seen primarily as a loving act, and way way less of a "lol screw the bigots." I want our stories to be about us. Yes, I know it's a necessary evil that sometimes our stories are also about fighting Them. But every time I see someone say they put Ruby in the dress to "piss off the homophobes" or "stump the censors" I feel a little gross. Like the time I picked out an outfit I loved and my mom said I only dressed in such an obnoxious way to upset her, and I was baffled because my aesthetic choices, my opinions, my choices had nothing to do with her. Yet they were framed like I chose these clothes primarily to cause some kind of petty harm to her, when not only was it not true but I was not even that kind of person who would gloat over intentionally irritating someone.

The queerness of this show isn't a sneaky, underhanded act trying above all to upset a bigot or celebrate someone's homophobic fury. It lives for itself. Its existence is about itself. It's so we can see ourselves in a show, and it's so people who aren't queer or don't have those experiences can see that we exist, we participate, we want very similar things, and definitely are focusing way more about celebrating our love at our own weddings rather than relishing the thought of bigots tearing their hair out and hating us.

It's dangerous to turn every act of our love into a deliberate movement in a battle strategy when their weddings just get to be weddings.

I think there’s this idea that that [queer characters] is something that applies or should be only discussed with adults that is completely wrong. And I think when you realize that talking to kids about heteronormativity is just like air that you breathe all the time, it’s kind of amazing that that is not true in any other capacity. I think if you wait to tell kids, to tell queer youth that it matters how they feel or that they are even a person, then it’s going to be too late! You have to talk about it—you have to let it be what it gets to be for everyone. I mean, like, I think about, a lot of times I think about sort of fairy tales and Disney movies and the way that love is something that is ALWAYS discussed with children. And I think also there’s this idea that’s like, oh, we should represent, you know, queer characters that are adults, because there are adults that are queer, and you should know that’s something that is happening in the adult world, but that’s not how those films or those stories are told to children. You’re told that YOU should dream about love, about this fulfilling love that YOU’RE going to have. […] The Prince and Snow White are not like someone’s PARENTS. They’re something you want to be, that you are sort of dreaming of a future where you will find happiness. Why shouldn’t everyone have that? It’s really absurd to think that everyone shouldn’t get to have that! --Rebecca Sugar

[salisburyliam]

My WORST to BEST ranking for Desert Rose's LIs

NOTE 1: I have yet to finish Saeed's route but I don't think my opinion will change much once I do tbh

NOTE 2: I've ONLY played Jack and Cindy's routes until getting their respective achievements in season 2, ep. 7 - and Adil's in ep. 10. I haven't played season 3 with either of them, maybe my list would be very different if I did, but I'm not a big fan of this book to begin with & I REFUSE to read it one more time lmao

7. Saeed - If he didn't look like he was 15 maybe, maybe, he would be higher on the list. But honestly, I'm not quite sure why he's an LI. He's cute, but the "little brother vibe" kind of cute. Also, he has too few scenes for him to suddenly propose to Yasmin. As you can tell, not a fan. 3/10

6. Jaffar - The story of the bodyguard and his protégé would have been very interesting... had it been better executed. The fact that Jaffar literally calls her his "little sister" 🤢 and that there is no romantic interaction of any kind until s3 doesn't actually help. He's more of a background character. Really hot, tho. 4/10

5. Cindy - I'd have preferred Caroline as LI, I find her waaay more interesting & with a more distinct personality. Nothing against Cindy, I just get the feeling that the author never really knew what to do with her?? Their romance feels pretty meh imo 6/10

4. Adil - I KNOW this is going to be an unpopular opinion... but I find Adil very boring. There, I said it 🤷 When I first started this book I chose him as my initial LI not only because he is unquestionably one of the hottest LIs (not just in the book but in the whole app) but because it was obvious from the beginning he was the rebel - it seemed like a promising dynamic. But he literally disappears in the second season and when he comes back a thousand years later Zain has already hooked you (that's what happened to me at least lmao). He is the most beautiful man tho, and has the biggest 🍆 in the whole RC - change my mind. 7/10

3. Jack - I looove the flashbacks of when they were kids (the "woah" scene is so endearing) their friendship and how sweet & passionate he is with Yasmin. The dynamic between the two of them feels tender and warm throughout, and as a bonus I will say that they together have the most ADORABLE son ever. 7.5/10

i mean..... look at this little angel!!!!

2. Mustafa - I've talked about this before. If the dynamic + connection between Yasmin and him in s1 had been the same throughout the book, he would have been inarguably in the first place. But from season 2 onwards he literally is sidelined and when he returns he seems like a completely different character. Yet he remains an 8/10 for his sense of humor, love of watermelons and goats.

1. Zain - You can tell it's the author's favorite route because of how well written and thought out it is. There's undeniable chemistry between the two characters, Zain's constant dilemma, Yasmin becoming more and more interested in him but not wanting to admit it out loud, THE TENSION... I didn't even look twice at him in the first season (to this day his sprite still looks like a Disney villain to me, lol) but the second season is undeniably his and I love that he's an official sugar daddy. 9/10

[chaneajoyyy]

Just watched top gun maverick…… and whooo Chile. Any fics for any of them and a poc or black reader?

You know it! @leahnicole1219

TOP GUN FANFICITON (!black reader or !poc reader)

BRADLEY "ROOSTER" BRADSHAW

"you know what i need in my life is to run and jump iinto bradley bradshaws arms to kiss him like he's gets back imma sprint"- @inkdrinkerworld

"he met me in my im going to stay single phase & now i'm obsessed with him (!au)- @deanscroissant

hit the hard deck series- @purplelily247

crush (bradley x black!oc), good wife (x!blackoc)- @dulcewrites/@dulcelibra

"he puts on such a hard front but he's a total pleaser in the bedroom. he'll go all out if you're having a hard day and not ask for anything in return, no matter how much you insist it'll make you feel even better, the rooster and i series- @princessphilly

LT JAKE "HANGMAN" SERESIN

call me jake series, watermelon sugar, hangman is secretly possessive and loves leaving marks everywhere he can especially if he sees someone else flirting with his girl, Can I request a soft moment between Hangman and the girl he is seeing?, thinking about calling him daddy for the first time. Like, it just slips when you’re begging him to touch or fuck you and the man goes feral., ohhhhh Hangman finally getting with the girl of his dreams but she’s not convinced he actually likes her because she’s heavier and he’s carved like a greek statue, so he spends the night proving to her just how much he’s attracted to her, i know you wanted smutty but I’ve been feeling really blah lately so if you could hit me with some humor fluff maybe slight smut? With rbf reader who is blunt saying 10) “Look, I’m not into choking but I wouldn’t mind if you grabbed me by the neck every once in a while.” To hangman while playing pool just completely shocking him, going off the thought that Hangman has a classic sailor pinup on his thigh... Could we please have some Hangman tattoo worship please?- @princessphilly

mrs. seresin- @afictionalwhor3

jake's love language, cowboy's date with a georgian (xblack!oc), wet dreams, texas roadhouse, jade, alien storytime (another world series) - @entertainmentgirl80

"hello hello my love <3 I thought maybe I could request something where reader has never really been comforted when crying throughout her life but one time Jake walks in on her crying and just comforts her. She doesn’t expect that and it’s all just a bunch of fluff! I love your writing so much thank you for putting your work out for people to enjoy <3- @inkdrinkerworld

you're pretty, so happening, you're alive, trip to the bahamas no fuck that series- @itsthestutterforme

LT RUBEN "PAYBACK" FITCH

"we neverrrr talk about Payback. Tell me about what happens when Reuben takes a girl out on their first date. Since I'm feeling all mushy."- @princessphilly

LT JAVY "COYOTE" MACHADO

"just wanna share sime little thots on Javy but damn does that man look like he gives such good head. He's reserved but when its behing closed doors that mouth can do anything you want ((but you'll have to ask niceky first)) 🥴", "thots on Coyote and pussy worship?"- @princessphilly

daylight, pie, cancelled flights and beignets- @siempre-bucky

if it's worth your time series, promise this ain't a test, i did what i had to do, for better days, how sweet it is...- @coyotesamachado

flight scare- @words-4u

pie- @siempre-bucky

LT BILLY "FRITZ" AVALONE

***

LT MICKEY "FANBOY" GARCIA

what happens when mickey grows his hair out... - @siempre-bucky

take me by the heart, take me by the hand- @rae-gar-targaryen

warped series (with jake seresin)- @anjaelle

ROBERT "BOB" FLOYD

sundress season, bob is a freak in the bedroom, good girls do, bob and his good girl's wedding night, "anything you got for rooster i'll take it...literally anything but like him on the beach playing touch football" - @princessphilly

white christmas (spy/the americans au)- @dulcewrites

morning showers, koko's and bobby's sexy time, koko's insecurities, expecting again koko's & bobby's special day, koko's special valentine's, - @entertainmentgirl80

the new girl, i think you're cute- @ladyelissarose

might be an understatement- @friendlyneighborhoodchaosdemon

***LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY !BLACK READER OR !POC READER FIC WITH THESE CHARACTERS HIT MY LINE!!!***

[foxes-that-run]

Sunflower Vol 6

Sunflower is a sweet romantic song. It references HYGTG and Clean, reminding of her how it used to be to suggest dating again.

My Vol 1 - 5 theory

My theory on Vol 1 - 5 are times they dated or hung out. I have playlist grouped into possible volumes. There is more in the dates and timelines.

31 March 2012, 20 May 2012 - July 2012 (Everything has changed - IKYWT)

28 September 2012 - 3 January 2013 (HYGTG - NTWDT.)

25 August 2013 - November 2013 (Happily - Wonderland)

14 February 2014 - February 2015 (Style - FTDT)

February/29 April 2016 - May 2016 (High infidelity - IDWLF)

To me, Sunflower is contemplating a Vol. 6 (Fine Line/Lover). Sunflower hasn't been played since Live on Tour ended in 2021.

Lyrics

Sunflower Sunflower My eyes, want you more than a melody Let me inside Wish I could get to know you

I wanna get to know you is a reference to the Everything has changed "I just wanna know you better" which Taylor and Ed wrote the week after 20 May 2012.

Love 'I want you more than a melody' which reminds me of HYGTG “say you want me”

Sunflowers Sometimes Keep it sweet in your memory I was just tongue-tied

Wildest Dreams: "Say you’ll remember me standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe" and OOTW "I Remember.."

Harry describes Taylor as sunshine and butterflies and all things summer in many songs:

Olivia “You live in my imagination / The summertime, butterflies”

Watermelon Sugar: “summer evening”, “summer feeling”, “end of June”

Adore You: “your wonder under summer sky”

Canyon Moon: “sky never looked so blue”

They are tongue-tied in:

Two Ghosts "Tongue-tied like we've never known"

Sushi "Blue bubblegum twisted 'round your tongue"

Message in a Bottle "And I became hypnotized by freckles and bright eyes, tongue-tied"

I don't wanna make you feel bad But I've been trying hard not to talk to you Sunflower (Sunflower, sunflower)

Taylors Gorgeous has a similar line “You should take it as a compliment / That I'm talking to everyone here but you (but you, but you)”

I couldn't want you any more Kiss in the kitchen like it's a dance floor I couldn't want you any more tonight (Tonight, tonight, tonight)

Lover (feat. Shawn Mendes): "We could light a bunch of candles and dance around the kitchen, baby"

Wondering headshake Tired eyes are the death of me Mouthful of toothpaste Before I got to know you

Harry brushes his teeth before performing. He met Taylor backstage at the kids choice awards, I take wondering headshake to mean acknowledging each other when they first saw each other.

I've got your face Hung up high in the gallery I love this shade (Sunflower, sunflower)

To me the picture line is not a literal gallery, but a symbol that this person is his person. I think this song and line a response to HYGTG "Remind her how it used to be, be / Yeah, with pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks, cheeks" and You are in Love and has "he keeps a picture of you in his office downtown"

Your flowers just died Plant new seeds in the melody Let me inside, I wanna get to know you

Plant new seeds in the melody is the nicest line. It is a reference to:

Clean "The drought was the very worst / When the flowers that we'd grown together died of thirst".

Call it what you want: "All my flowers grew back as thorns / Windows boarded up after the storm" (more thorns and roses)

Chronologically then Harry says to plant new seeds and try again.

I don't wanna make you feel bad But I've been trying hard not to act a fool Sunflower (Sunflower, sunflower)

Harry has called himself a fool many times, here he is trying to be nonchalant and cool but before he's been all kinds of fool:

I just wanna love you "We can whisper, we can talk about these things / Reconsider my foolish ramblings"

Just a little bit of your heart "I know I'm not your only / But I'll still be a fool / 'Cause I'm a fool for you"

Fools gold "But I'm not done yet / Falling for you / Fool's gold"

Boyfriends "You love a fool who knows just how to get under your skin / You, you, you still open the door" and "You feel a fool / You're back at it again"

In the Long Pond Sessions Taylor later emphasised how James had been foolish, saying fool/foolish 7 times.

[crinkle-eyed-boo]

Do you think Louis’ promo has been good? I know he’s injured - but even forgetting that a tour of second tier radio stations and record shops for signings is pathetic. Where is the play listing and proper radio/tv exposure? It pissed me off that BMG said we were all teens who knew 1D from our siblings - like wth? I’ve been to 5 Louis shows and the demo was MUCH older. I saw more younger kids at Harry’s show (but a wider demographic overall - more older people than at LTWT - I feel Louis’ fans were 80% female 18-40)

The letter is a bit cringe but I think a few home truths would do BMG well. FITF deserves exposure beyond Louis fans.

How is doing signings and meet and greets at radio stations pathetic though? Louis himself said it’s an opportunity for him to actually MEET fans in cities that may not get opportunities. I got to meet him myself at the Rough Trade signing on Walls release day and it’s an interaction that still fuels my fandom to this day.

Proper TV exposure? You do know Good Morning America is the highest rated morning show in the United States, right? That Live with Kelly and Ryan is syndicated nationally? That he did two major late night shows in the US, and I believe Fallon remains the highest rated of the late night shows. What else do you WANT?

We don’t know what UK tv promo was derailed by his injury, but the strategy clearly had him launching the record in the US and then moving to the UK. We don’t know what may be planned for this winter/spring once Louis is recovered because they are sitting on a goldmine with Written All Over Your Face, and with the TikTok dance starting to pick up steam, I would imagine it will be a spring single.

Have we forgotten Watermelon Sugar was the fourth single off Fine Line? That it took weeks and weeks and weeks for Slow Hands to hit number one? I swear to god, this fandom is all about instant gratification and when they don’t see the results they want, the instinct is to blame the teams and say they are sitting around with their thumbs up their asses. He’s gotten great promo and exposure for this album compared to Walls.

Do I wish some of Louis’ promo was different? Of course. I’d love for him to never talk about Freddie in an interview again and I’d love for him to start steering away from the “the hiatus took me off guard” narrative. But that shit is not in my control and I’m also not going to armchair quarterback LTHQ with an open letter when it is literally not my job nor is it what I’m trained in professionally. And that’s all I have to say about that.

[bokutosmochi]

random miya atsumu headcannons

what's it? general

allergen warning/s? mentions of drinking

sugar level? 0.8k

regulars? @hanayanetwork​

♧ one of those people that has wake up alarms set every five minutes (5:30am, 5:35am, 5:40am) because he doesn't get up at the first alarm. you realize why osamu is so annoyed with him.

♧ two words: retail therapy. whenever this man gets stressed, he will spend his entire savings account jk, man is rich-rich on random things that catches his eye, ranging from clothes he'll probably never use, useless trinklets, and albums from bands he doesn't listen to.

♧ goes to the same restaurant he goes to every single day and stares at the menu for ten minutes as if he's planning to try something new before deciding on getting the meal he always gets. the only time this changes is when he goes to onigiri miya because he knows how good his brother's cooking is and he doesn't want to miss out on anything. in that case, he tries everything that's on the menu.

♧ cherishes whenever someone, usually a fan awes at his hair or fantasizes about running their hands through it because god and literally anyone in his life knows it is CRISPY. he has been dying and bleaching it since he was sixteen and his hair is NOT OKAY 💀💀 ignorance is bliss though so whenever someone tags him on twitter thirsting about how his hair would look better with their hands in it, he doesn't say a word.

♧ doesn't know how to whistle and (spit) launch watermelon seeds. atsumu is a man talented beyond belief, but alas, he cannot have everything. he always gets teased by his brother for the former, and his high school friends for the latter. one of his clearest memories were the volleyball summer training camps he, along with his team, had to attend during his high school days. upon learning he can't shoot watermelon seeds, all his friends started a watermelon seed war, leaving atsumu vulnerable and pouting in the corner since he could do nothing but pout, dodge, and try some more, only to fail. it's magic, he's convinced.

♧ i feel like his transition from his high school hairstyle to his current hairstyle was a complete mistake. after graduating, he wanted to try something new so he searched up some styles and tried to recreate it all by himself. one day, he couldn't do the Hairstyle Of The Day so with an annoyed yell, he just messed his hair all up. that was before he realized he was late for his tryout for the msby black jackals so without an option left, he just went out like that. the hair got a few compliments though so he decided that he'll just keep it.

♧ has debated getting a tongue piercing for a long, long time. probably still thinking about it as we speak. osamu says he doesn't care, that if it does turn out well, he doesn't care, or that if it turns out bad and he gets some acute infection, it'd be good for his ears so it'll be able to get some rest from atsumu's day-to-day blabbering. needless to say, asking his brother for a second opinion did not help.

♧ listens to doja cat religiously and can rap all of her songs effortlessly without making a single mistake. you can fight me on this one.

♧ the person in group chats to either never be active or send ten messages in five months. there is no in between with him.

♧ lowkey wishes him and osamu didn't tease each other so much. this man just wants to gossip with his brother sometimes, but it always ends with the both of them arguing and going at each other's throats because one teased the other and it escalated. when he wants to talk about something serious though, he knows he can count osamu to be serious about it too.

♧ for people who wears glasses/contacts, you know those people who are like can you see this?? or how many fingers am i holding up?? when you first get them? yeah, atsumu's that person.

♧ has a secret stan twitter account dedicated to himself. it is actually quite scary how he's able to blend in so well. none of his moots are suspicious of him at all. he makes fancam edits of himself and all.

♧ the friend who considers ten thirty pm early whenever you go out drinking, but is already almost passed out after fifteen minutes.

♧ .. likes sticking his tongue out in photos...

♧ pretended to like the taste of artificial grape back when he was younger just to spite his brother who we all know has the superior tastebuds. it bit him in the ass though because since he's so committed to it, his parents, friends, and other family members actually thought it was his favorite even though he hated it, so as a result, they always bought him grape flavored candies or saved the grape flavored sweet for him while osamu got the lemon soda (aka the superior flavor) flavored ones.

i get: reblog

you get: a tendo sticker

[underworld-park-offical]

CRAIG: Anyways, Spiriiiiit what's your name?

TOLKIEN: …. No

TOLKIEN: Fuck you mean NO??? 

KENNY: Wow Clyde, nice, you scared off the ghost.

KYLE: Probably because he shat himself everywhere

CLYDE: SHUT UP YOU KNOW I HAVE IBS

TOLKIEN: Yeah, he has IBS leave him alone

TOLKIEN: At least he washes his hands

KYLE: …… sure buddy, sure.

TOLKIEN: Whatever…. He may be a walking shitsack, but he's MY walking shitsack

CLYDE: STOPPPP I'M GONNA CRYYYY

KENNY: By the way, Ghost says cuz

STAN: Like… as in just cuz or cousin?

KENNY: “just cuz” you dumbass

CRAIG: I was about to say, Sweet Home Alabama

CRAIG: Tell me you are from Colorado without telling me you're from Colorado

TOLKIEN: Can I strangle him? Can I strangle him, please?

CRAIG: Fine but do you want to strangle me or double it and give it to the next person?

TOLKIEN: I swear to god Craig

CRAIG: lmao hey spirit or demon or something, if you do something funny I'll post it to every social media I have and it’ll get like,

CRAIG: millions of views

CRAIG: Please I will give creds in the description

CLYDE: NOOOO PLEASE I WILL SHIT MYSELF AGAIN

KYLE: You said that like, Fifty Times already.

CLYDE:WAHGYHFIKYJDIYFOUGUUJULUJGBLUWATERMELONUGKYHFMKYFILMTYFLTDLUFY

CRAIG: LMAO not you saying watermelon

CRAIG: Omg it's like that one TikTok sound

CRAIG: Watermelon sugar high…. watermelon sugar hi…. watermelon sugar hiii..

TOLKIEN: Kill him. Kill him right now ghost

CRAIG: You can't kill me, oim ‘arry stoyles…

KENNY: Guys shhhh

KENNY: The door opened

KENNY: Wait wait wait how did it open???

STAN: IT'S THE FUCKING FBI WERE GONNA DIE IT'S THE FEDS

KYLE: ….No…. I think that's just the wind….you dumbass

STAN: WIND INDOORS??? BULLSHIT!!! THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE 

KENNY: Unless the wind came from Clyde haha

CLYDE: OH MY GOD YOU GUYS ARE SO MEAN!!!!

CRAIG: Hold on let me take a pic of this

JIMMY: R-r-r-read the r-r-room, Craig

CRAIG: The room can wait, I need to do a status update

CRAIG: Omg that rhymed

CRAIG: Guys I'm literally Eminem

JIMMY: Th-th-this is n-n-n-not the t-t-t-time to b-b-be on the g-g-gram, we-we-were ab-b-b-bout to d-die

CRAIG: At least I'm slaying rn

CRAIG: You hoes is ugly

TOLKIEN: Gayest shit I’ve ever heard

CRAIG: Don’t talk to me when I get 1 million

CRAIG: ...

CRAIG: Ew this photos fugly

CRAIG: I'm deleting this shit omfg

CRAIG: It's not giving

KYLE: WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT

KYLE: WAIT YOU DUMB DUNKIN DONUTS LOVING HOT CHEETO CRUNCHING FAKE NAIL CLICKING BASIC ASS BITCH

CRAIG: OMFG GOD NOT YOU INTERRUPTING ME DELETING A PIC

CRAIG: WTF DO YOU WANT??

KYLE: See that glitchy shit on your phone?

CRAIG: Yeah, that's why I'm deleting this fugly asf photo

CRAIG: It's the stupidity for me.

KYLE: That's probably the ghost

KYLE: Haven’t you seen like

KYLE: ANY movies?

CRAIG: Only like

CRAIG: Whats popular

CRAIG: Like Kissing Booth and Tall Girl

KYLE: ….You know what?

KYLE: I'm out

KYLE: I can't handle being around your two cent Charli D'amelio ass anymore

KYLE: You guys can get haunted without me

KYLE: I’m officially, OUT

(EDITS MADE BY @pissblanket and @zemoleinyourtrashcan

[neattequila]

Harry's Style Evolution (by an actual stylist) Part 3: Fine Line Era! Part 2 of 2*

Gorlies I can't believe I hit pic limit on the first Fine Line Era post (I can believe it, I have so much to say.)

Anyway this is Harry's Style evolution part THREE part TWO (like how they made Breaking Dawn two movies ya get me?)

*PLEASE read part 1 first. That is linked HERE!

2020

January of 2020 feels like it was a lifetime ago, but here we are. Fine Line the album just came out in December and after preforming the full album twice, once in LA and once in London. Harry's back in London for award season.

The pics aren't revealed til later but H rings in the New Year in the INFAMOUS "But Daddy I Love Him" shirt <3

Later in January arrives at Radio one in a gorgeous Bode jacket carrying Gucci's Jackie purse.

But girls (gender neutral) get comfy because it's time for the Brit Awards and the look we need to talk about is this one.

LISTEN!!! The girls that get it GET IT! Because this was EVERYTHING EVERYTHING!!!

To DATE I think this is the best award show look he's ever worn, contending only with the leather suit at the Grammy. I really thought this was going to be the new style. It's sexy, it's slightly punk, it's BRIT POP references chock full!

The Mary Janes, the Brown suit with the purple sweater and blue lace color with the pearls and the HAIR! THE BRIT POP PUNK HAIR! This was *chefs kiss* I am absolutely devastated that we never got anything like her again.

Also at the Brit Awards he wears this yellow suit paired with purple necktie, and Treat People With Kindness pin. For his beautiful falling performance he wears a full lace ensemble including gloves. This night is also includes my blog name's origins.

Fine Line promo continues and Harry wears a myriad of cozy outfits.

In New York he wears a JW Anderson cardigan, later to become TikTok famous with the "Be Healthy, Eat Your Honey" shirt and Gucci jeans. Later he wears another sweater vest (staple of the FL Era,) and for NPR's Tiny Desk he wears a Gucci mohair sweater.

At the beginning of the end March 2020 Harry's shoot for Beauty Papers comes out. One of my FAVORITE editorials he's ever in.

These photos are gorgeous, camp, sexy, kind of eerie. He's photographed and directed by Casper Sejersen who I think absolutely killed it. Beauty Papers always has amazing queer camp shoots and I highly recommend paying attention to them.

The world goes into lockdown and H releases the previously recorded "Watermelon Sugar" music video "Dedicated to touching."

Most of the ensemble is Gucci but some pieces were vintage thrifted including the loose-knit tank (right.)

Harry grows out his facial hair and becomes even sexier somehow.

Like fr. This is the hottest he's ever been. Left he wears a hoodie that he made himself printed with photographs of philosopher Alain de Botton, and paired with the vintage military jacket he was wearing in Japan during 2019. Middle I just think this pic of him is so hot, and right he wears a custom Bode shirt.

September 2020 Harry becomes the first man to ever be on the cover of Vogue!

Y'all I was so excited when this first came out. So imagine when I opened the magazine and saw the absolute trash outfits they put him in for it. Like literally all of these outfits are some of the worst he's ever worn. Like honey clean up! Vogue is here!

The only piece I adored from this whole shoot was the custom Bode pants. Bode has a chokehold on me and I wish Harry L would've featured more of them in this shoot.

In October of 2020...

The MV for Golden is released after being filmed in Italy and heavily features both Gucci and S.S. Daley pieces. The Eliou necklaces he covets make their first official debut in this video as well.

In November he films (released in December) this performance for iHeartRadio. He's wearing head to toe Gucci with a custom Eliou necklace. His hair and this performance is so dreamy. (Left)

He also starts filming Don't Worry Darling *crowd boos* and among his cozy on set looks this is my favorite. The pictures of him this day really made me go gaga. He wears a Free & Easy shirt paired with Elder Statesmen sweatpants and New Balance sneakers.

2021

It's 2021 baby! Harry rings in the new year by releasing the video for TPWK with Phoebe Waller Bridge

We're jumping to March 2021, I'm scared to hit pic limit again lol, with the GRAMMYS!

Harry wore three! outfits to the Grammy's where he took home his first ever Grammy for Song of the Year. All three looks were Gucci and all featured feather boas which he never wore again! Which is odd because it really seemed like it was going to be a tour staple, but wasn't!

Throughout the summer and into fall his personal style is very casual, this makes sense. We're still in a pandemic and everyone is trending to a more casual fit sense. I had to include the pink beanie because every time I remember that it's $112 I go inside. Girl I got the same one for like $10 from Forever21 5 years ago!

April/May

In April Harry stars in a Gucci campaign along with many other celebs (left,) he also attends the Brit awards in May (Right) wearing a Gucci ensemble that isn't bad but is nothing to write home about. This is the first time we see him in Gucci Gazelle sneakers which will later become a staple.

September the long awaited Love on Tour officially starts!

The tour kicks off in Las Vegas with a fun sparkly Gucci outfit, and continues with these suspender/open shirts/high waisted pants that we saw on the Fine Line cover. These outfits are underwhelming but do ultimately make sense.

The tour outfits really do blend together, the full collection can be found HERE, so here are three of my favorites <3

We'll end our Fine Line coverage with the first annual Harryween!

Harry wore custom Gucci ensembles for both, one dressing as Dorothy and one dressing as a pierrot.

Next is Harry's House Era!

Thank you again for all the love, and for bearing with me when I had to split these into two parts!

AGAIN PART ONE IS HERE!

See you next time <3

[dearweirdme]

Hi, Dear weird me. This is going to be a long ask, which is less of an ask and more of countering a point made on your blog. BUT I promise it has literally nothing to do with #straws but feel free to post a cute Taekook picture anyways 💜 Okay I wanted to talk about some of the narratives and questions I see swirling regarding the direction of Jungkook's music.

Jung Kook said on Suchwita that he was searching for another song similar to Seven for his next single. Clearly listening to 3D, we see he was able to do so. This brings me to question why the narrative when Jung Kook chooses to sing about sex , that the songs must have been chosen by the company for him to make him "appear straight", and that furthermore he had limited or no autonomy in choosing the music to represent himself as an artist?

I don't believe this is the primary narrative that was tossed around when Taehyung was singing about romance on Layover. Which is interesting because those songs also mention women, and we know for a fact that Taehyung did not write any of the songs on layover and that every song was in fact chosen for him to sing. And this is not Tae shade, I think Layover is a phenomenal album. However, I find it a bit hypocritical that Jung Kook gets accused of being inauthentic in his artistry due to the more explicit and poppy nature of his music, which brings me to my next point.

Jung Kook has always been inspired by the likes of Justin Timberlake, Usher, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Harry styles, the list goes on and on. Every single man I've listed has sung about sex. And furthermore these songs stick out in their discography as massive hits. See Sexy Back for Justin Timberlake, Watermelon Sugar for Harry Styles, Climax for Usher, Dirty Diana for Michael Jackson, etc etc.

We know for a fact Jung Kook wants to be recognized as a global pop star, outside of BTS. We know this because Jung Kook has said this multiple times via his lives, and also in interviews. How do you become a global pop star? Why not look at Jung Kook's early steps as a solo artist from left and right, to Seven, to now 3D. Look at these songs and then look at the songs and steps that all of the Massive male pop stars before him have taken, and you can quickly see the similarities. All of this is to say that however, you feel about his sexuality and who he is or isn't dating doesn't matter to me. What does matter to me is to dismiss Jung Kook's art as primarily a form of "bearding" And when I say his art I am discussing the music that he chooses to sing and the visual aesthetic that he either chooses (creative director of the Vogue shoot) or makes his own tweaks to (dazed Korea shoot). As I've stated above none of the songs, or visual aesthetics Jung Kook is choosing is super unique to him, they sound and look great because he's Jung Kook, but they're simply not unique. So either every single male pop star chose to sing about sex to conceal their sexuality or a much less sinister idea, they chose to sing about sex because that is what the general public wants to hear. And what artists choose to lend their voice to does not always have to reflect who they may or may not be off stage. Now we could get into why the GP makes perceived straight sex music popular, but I'd like to stay on topic. Which is why Jung Kook gets accused of using his music to conceal something as opposed to just making the music he wants to make, the music that sounds just like the people who have inspired him and the music that will make him a global superstar.

At the end of the day however you feel about Jung Kook's music,I would gently challenge you and people who automatically jump to relate Jung Kook's music to his sexuality whether it be positive, negative, as a form of dismissal or a form of confirmation, I would challenge you gently to just try not to do that? I think it's easier to realize that maybe Jung Kook is singing about fucking, because every single male pop star does. Maybe he has his shirt off because that body is rocking because every male pop star takes their shirt off, Maybe rappers are being featured because not only does Jung Kook like rap but because pop rap crossovers are super popular. In fact, they are so popular that they beat out BTS several times for Grammys. His music is perfectly aligned to what Jung Kook says he wants for his artistic career and it's healthier to say "He makes this music because it bops and it's going to help him reach his goals" than to say "He makes this music because he's trying to convince the world he's straight" I say all of this to say Jung Kook is going to continue to sing about love, relationships, and sex. And he's probably going to keep taking his shirt off, and looking sexy for the camera. It really shouldn't bother trekkers or anyone who believes he's not straight, because it's his art, and his art does not have to be connected to who he chooses to love. Sometimes art can just be art 💜

Hi anon!

You know what, I agree with you. It wasn’t my intention at all to dismiss his music as bearding, that’s absolutely not the case and I apologize for coming across that way.

I do feel they’re taking a certain route with him, but that’s to reach the goals you mention.. not to make people see him as straight. The main goal is absolutely to get as big as he can get, and he deserves that. Jk is an amazing artist.

Not coming across as queer is never the main goal.. people don’t put out songs for that reason specifically, it’s more something that exists in the sidelines. Like Taennie for Tae (imo ofcourse). Jk singing about sex isn’t that to me.. everyone has sex no matter what sexuality they have. I do feel Jk’s song is specifically about women, no room for queerness and with the exclusion of a queer possibility the general public (or just those who don’t think Jk can be queer) will most likely take him as straight. If Jk is actually queer like a lot of us think, that might be some sort of choice, depending on how many people actually know about him being queer. That does not have to be a reflection of his actual sexuality though.

Thanks for your ask 💜

[oh-styles]

can we talk about SAAF and what songs on fineline and Harry’s house were about her? 😘😘

There is literally never not a time I don't want to talk about our mother.

Okay, so we can say for certain that Golden, Watermelon Sugar, and Adore You are about our girl.

I'll be quite honest, I have absolutely no clue what Lights Up is about. I don't think even Harry knows what it's about. I'm going to say that one is not about SAAF.

Now we're stepping into our break up songs. Obvs they've never broken up, so I can't really say with confidence songs like Cherry, Falling and To Be So Lonely are about her, but maybe Falling could be? Bear with me. I'm sure they've had fights along the way, and maybe a fight comes around and one of them leaves. Just need to get away and get some air. But Harry is dramatic, and his mind is racing with all of these what-if's, and he thinks, "Oh God, what if this is it?"

She, Sunflower, and Canyon Moon are all def about her as well. Fine Line could be as well, stemming back to Falling.

ONTO HARRYS HOUSE

Music for a Sushi Restaurant is definitely about SAAF, especially the line. "I don't want you to go broke."

Quite frankly, I don't know a song that couldn't somehow be about our girl. This was an album about reminiscing, and reminisce he did. Especially Little Freak and Keep Driving. Keep Driving being about the earlier years in their relationship.

There's a line in Little Freak where he says, "You sit high atop the kitchen counter," and it's about this specific memory of SAAF sitting on his kitchen counter eating a popsicle. (Couldn't tell you which chapter that is.) But this is also another song about the earlier years. He even talks about how he was unsure of her and Niall where a thing when he says, "I'm not worried about where you are, or who you will go home to." He was worried.

[circusofclowns]

lol i never say shit but the grammys AOTY throw down had gotten me riled up so imma say my piece and dip back into the darkness

i’ve been a fan of harry for over 10 years now (fuck that’s crazy to say) so i’ll always be proud of him, like to get recognised at the biggest night of the year, my little ol bakery boy, it’s crazy to think honestly, he’s worked hard to get to where he is and i will be in awe of him for the rest of my life, he’s shaped the way i am today and i’d like to think i’m a better person for it

harry’s house was my top album of last year, it was released during my final month at a uni, a truly trying time for me emotionally and physically, it let me escape out of that bubble and i’m grateful for that, but that’s my personal experience with the album, not everyone else’s and just because i was listening to it on repeat doesnt mean i think it’s his magnum opus

personally harry’s house aint his best work, i will always stand by HS1, cohesively as an album, it’s a masterpiece and for his DEBUT single to be sign of the times? legendary, iconic, life changing, the recording academy are just cowards (what’s new) for not acknowledging his debut stuff purely because post 1D, like how can you nominate watermelon sugar but not sign of the times like pls

now i am extremely and i mean extremely proud of harry for winning album of the year, it’s the pinnacle of the music world (conventionally speaking) but it’s a bittersweet win, i love harry with all my heart but jesus christ how the fuck do the recording academy keep on snubbing beyoncé for the top 4 awards, album after album, release after release

now i’m not a full on beyoncé stan but i grew up listening to her music, it became a part of who i am in discovering myself, she has changed the game, i mean hell she has the most grammys ever, an incredible feat that should be talked about for weeks to come, she has worked so hard and her music speaks volumes and represents such important stories that usually get brushed aside, she’s changed the game, so for the grammys to seemingly deliberately keep on snubbing her, it sits so wrongly to me, like genuinely they aren’t giving it to her cos she’s black that’s literally the only answer at this point

personally speaking renaissance isn’t my kind of music i listen to nowadays, and that’s ok! we all have preferences and different tastes in music, that doesn’t mean i can’t recognise when art is exceptionally good (coming from a music graduate)

in a perfect world to me, harry would’ve gotten recognised for his true best work years ago in HS1 and for fuck sake beyoncé should’ve had like three AOTY grammys by now but alas the industry works in fucked up ways

i love and appreciate both harry and beyoncé and i’m allowed to feel both proud and upset by this outcome

thanks for coming to my ted talk that’s all i have to say

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

Have you had a chance to watch the LNT mv? Would be so interested to hear your thoughts if you have!

So this is obviously very old, but I've decided to go on a music video answering spree and so talk about Late Night Talking.

The Late Night Talking music video is a much less successful version of the Watermelon Sugar music video - and how much worse that concept can be done. As someone who hated the Watermelon Sugar video I sort of resent that I now have to acknowledge its strengths.

I think the first problem is that it's just unnecessarily complicated. There are a range of set ups all involving beds. The idea is obviously supposed to be dream like, but it's not weird enough (and Harry's performance doesn't evoke any dream like qualities). So instead it's just 'here's a thing/here's another thing/here's another thing'. These seem that if they were evoking mood (which they largely fail to do) they would evoke quite different moods. While there were quite a few different set ups in the Watermelon Sugar video, they all shared a sense of place, a mood, and a purpose. Those were all quite basic and straightforward, but that was OK, because they worked together.

Harry's performance is terrible - straight up ham, but not connecting with anyone or anything around him. He's not helped here by the filmmaking (it literally looks like they use a different filter on him than on the other people in bed in the first scene with other people in it). He's not present in any of it - he's always just hamming it up for the camera - and that hammy charm isn't being used for anything. The only thing it does is distant him from the situation.

But I think the biggest thing it shows about Watermelon Sugar is the importance of the very first shot - where Harry walks up to the table. That tells us, right up top that this is a situation that Harry (the music video character) is choosing to be in and it helps us understand how he feels about it (he's having fun). In Late Night Talking, Harry has no agency and we've no idea how he feels about anything that's happening. The no agency is intentional, it's supposed to be dreamlike and things are supposed to be happening to him, but that requires a lot of precision from Harry about how he feels about these random things, and that's something he's not able to provide as a performer.

What is most interesting - is that this is absolutely his Achilles heel in music videos. Over and over again he's made videos where he has no agency and we've no idea how he feels about things that are happening about him. It's what Falling and Sign of the Times have in common. In Sign of the Times, it's particularly egregious, because it's not even clear whether he's flying intentionally or accidentally. Harry and the filmmakers aren't even able to convey if he has agency. Then you have Late Night Talking and Lights Up - both of which are trying for the randomness of dreams (which is a common music video technique) - Lights Up broadly works because it's better edited and Harry's performance is more grounded. I even think there's an element of it in TPWK - where it looks like Harry is just doing the dance - it's not clear why he's doing anything he's doing (it doesn't help that Phoebe Waller Bridge is so good at conveying intentionality).

The videos that do display some sort of agency from Harry previous to Late Night Talking (As it Was, Golden, Watermelon Sugar, Kiwi, and Adore You) vary, but it's interesting to me that one of the things that they have in common is that Harry is seen moving under his own volition to somewhere. And I think it says something about his limitations as a performer that you need that literal movement from Harry in order to be clear whether he's somewhere because he wants to be, or because he's compelled to be.

I have two more thoughts - one is that it's very interesting to read this all in terms of Harry's life. It's maybe not surprising that someone who was a popstar since he was 16 is drawn to or finds it easy to tell stories where strange things happen to him and he just sort of sits there. It's also perhaps not surprising that conveying his reaction to strange things happening to him is not his forte. I do think it eventually becomes interesting how much he's portraying himself as having no agency.

My final thought is how novel Music for a Sushi Restaurant is in this context. Here things are happening to Harry, and there's no short cuts of showing him walking to somewhere to tell us that he wants to be there. Instead it's a situation he's trapped in, and yet we still know how he feels and see his agency. I think Music for a Sushi Restaurant is an excellent video anyway, but thinking about Harry and agency and reaction shows how much of a development it is on previous music videos. It makes me really interested in what comes next.

[fallingsunflower]

I don't know if you think the same but most of the songs on the album sound like they're about someone completely different to the songs that anyone can tell are about Camille. Like I fully believe Cherry is about her. With Falling I think part of the song is about her and part of it is about someone else. Like the lyrics "I'm well aware I write too many songs about you" and the "Beachwood Cafe" lyrics don't seem to go together because he never wrote "too many songs" about her but Beachwood Cafe was the place they used to go to when they were together. The other songs like TPWK, She, Lights Up, Sunflower ("Wish I could get to know you" & "but I've been trying hard not to talk to you." Why would he write these lyrics for someone he was in a relationship with? Unless it's about after their breakup), Watermelon Sugar (that song could literally be about anyone he was involved with but I do see why a lot of people believe it's about her), and maybe TBSL (but I do see why it could be about her) so that's why I think not every song on that album is about her but I do believe there are a few.

I agree. And Fine Line is interesting to because he's clearly singing to someone but then he says "I'll get to thinking of her" and it makes me scratch my head. Who's he singing to and who is "her"? I just don't buy the whole "this is only about Camille" narrative tbh but that's a personal thing I guess

[amu-brain-dump]

OOOH can we hear your favourite bubble tea orders? 👀 in as little or much detail as you like!!!

Hohoho I'm VERY passionate about bubble tea 😏

My favourite most amazing adored flavour is Wintermelon milk tea: it's smooth and balanced and milky and creamy and perfect. That is the best milk tea and I won't accept criticism over this.

Second favourite is Peach milk tea. This one can be a bit too sweet (coming from "sweet tooth incarnate") depending on the store's recipe but its overall a great choice when wWintermelon is not available.

Next is Japanese pop rice milk tea. This one is unfortunately only available in 1 of boba chains in the city and all the stores are far away from my house so I don't get to have it that often. It's roasty and smooth and tastes just like the pop rice snacks

Watermelon milk tea is surprisingly good and it's pink! And pink drinks are always cute hehe. Tried it once on a whim and it became a favourite, really refreshing.

Original milk tea is also really good. It's usually the same in any boba chain: black milk tea with "Thai flavouring" whatever that is... in places where bubble tea is mot really popular yet (my hometown) is literally the only viable option 🥲

Some honorable mentions are: Taro milk tea (very creamy, I was surprised), Honeydew melon milk tea, Brown sugar milk tea and Thai milk tea (that it's not the same as Original milk tea🤷🏾)

When it comes to trying new flavours I normally try to choose something that's very different from things I've tried in the past. I'd say most common flavours are good but I have had some fails in the past... very sad indeed. Hazelnut milk tea & Caramel milk tea are the worst I've ever had.

When talking about toppings popping boba is my favourite: any fruity flavour will work but I try to choose something that compliments the flavour of the drink. Tapioca pearls are a classic, pretty solid option and they look amazing with any color drink so there's that. Golden tapioca pearls are better cause they're a tiny bit sweeter and much softer. I don't really like the jelly and cheese doesn't belong on drinks so I never have those. I tried red beans once and was not a fan of the texture...

And that is for bubble tea from stores. When I make it myself at home I buy the strawberry popping ball in the asian grocery shop cause thats the only flavour they have and I rather make the tapioca pearls over buying the premade one but I'm also very lazy and they take so long so I never do 😅 so strawberry popping balls..

With flavour I have 2 syrups: watermelon & mi t and belgian waffle. The watermelon one I use when I make earl grey tea and the belgian waffle when using any other tea type. But I recently discovered another great combination 😳 pu'er tea with homemade peach syrup! Just out of this world amazing.

And that's the end of my rant, thanks for coming to my TedTalk and thank you for reading if you made it this far ☺️ you get some boba as a reward 🧋