#Niall seems to tell small specific stories in promo

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

Adding on to the post abort Niall’s promo, one thing of note is that he has said that the RAH performance was a turning point for him. He said that until then he had been stuck at home feeling angry at the world and he had only managed to write one song. But after RAH, he felt inspired to write again and one of the songs he wrote for the album is called ‘170 BPM’ and deals with feelings of anxiety.

As a side note, he also mentioned that there were some new additions to the band, and people who were present at the taping of the Jonathan Ross Show said that he had two women as backup singers during the live performance of Heaven.

I think that's really interesting - and shows the advantage of being specific about your pandemic experience (and anything else you are talking about). The specificity actually connects much more than more general statements.

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

🎤 Thurs 7 May 🍒

Niall, possibly still cranky from whatever had him under the weather (though he does say he's feeling a little better), went on his semi-annual spree of making fun of fans who say Modest oppressed him (specifically he responded to people talking about them allegedly turning off his mic in live shows) trolling through posts from the ModestIsOver tag that was trending a couple days ago where fans were rehashing the things management and the label and the industry did to the boys, some of them real and some of them misunderstandings that have been accepted as truth over the years after much repeating. Niall's habit of finding random small account fans to reply to is usually considered charming, but in this case there's a lot of people out there feeling that he should be more conscious of the effect him targeting small fan accounts can have (ie them being bullied). Exasperated fans: okay but can someone please turn his mic off NOW??

Louis is in a cute video for kids in the hospital which looks to have been filmed with him sitting down in a literal closet. Plot twist: Louis is the ghost in Liam's wardrobe, lying in wait to egg him.

Capital FM announced a lineup for their Best of Summertime Ball, a televised event they're doing to replace the usual annual live event. Yes, One Direction are listed as performers, but it's a best of, it's old footage. It is not a reunion show. But hey we still like us some 1D though right?? It's on the 16th.

And! Back in December someone wrote up a theory on facebook (of all places), but it went largely overlooked, maybe because it was on FB, but also because things were very busy then. But now they are not busy and it's getting some traction! It goes like this: Cherry was written about Camille and her ex (the "love of her life"), pro-skater and model Dylan Reider. They broke up in 2016 and in 2017 he passed away. Evidence given for this theory includes that they were both in a high profile skate movie (so mostly his thing) called Cherry while together, that she still dresses like him and hangs out with his friends, and mostly that it was just generally a pivotal life thing for her and seems to fit the story Harry tells in a lot of ways. <Insert gif of Harry smiling smugly saying he wrote Cherry "for" someone heavily implied to be Camille> It really does cast his promo commentary on it in an interesting light, ie perhaps factually true but easily misinterpreted, a Harry Styles speciality. Fun fact! As well as calling Dylan the love of her life in social media posts she underlines that by using the phrase Always in my Heart.

[yaz-the-spaz]

Thoughts on scripted?

hey nonnie, so i’m so so sorry i kept you waiting for like four days for this but i just really needed some time to properly process and collect my thoughts (cause i have a lot on this) and take my time to get them down in a coherent way, i still feel like it’s a bit jumbled and unclear at times but i tried my best to explain my thoughts as best i could. i hope it’s sufficient...

My Thoughts on Scripted

so i wanna preface this by making it clear to everyone who may read this that this is strictly my own interpretation of things and my own opinion on what zayn’s trying to convey in this song. personally, i think this song is very much about public images, narratives, and stunting, and sticking it out through all of that, so that’s the direction/theme that a lot of my interpretations of the lyrics in this song are gonna lean towards. you don’t have to agree. in fact, if you disagree that’s fine and i welcome and any all rational and fair/polite discussion on different interpretations of the song and certain verses or lines within it. i’m in no way trying to convince anyone to see anything a certain way (and my own interpretations and thoughts/opinions on this may even evolve or change with time), but i was asked by this nonnie to share my thoughts (currently) on the song and so that’s what i’m doing, and if anyone has a problem with any of the opinions or interpretations stated here i just ask that you address me about it respectfully :)

ok now onto the song analysis:

Blurry TV screens

Fuzzy broken scenes

Finding words don't have flow

Blurry TV screens

Fuzzy broken scenes

Hold her close finding love

so this verse to me seems like it could be meant to have a double meaning, as in 1) the scenes or roles they [he and liam and/or the other boys] have to play out (i.e. stunts, fake dates, scripted interviews, etc. that they feel like they’re playing out like a scene in a movie/tv show - mgmt telling them hold her hand this way, hug/kiss at this angle so it looks more intimate, ok now let’s take this pic/video and then we’ll do another angle; making sure to only show pieces of the story like scenes and only the pieces and angles that fit the narrative they wanna sell, etc.) and/or 2) the time they get to themselves which often feels like only snapshots that go by too quickly and are like a blur/fuzzy in their minds (stolen moments together in between stunt outings and shows and things where they have to perform/are expected to put on and keep up their usual act for the cameras before they can go back to being themselves again/have some time alone together to just be again, etc.), and the “finding words don’t have flow” part could mean because he doesn’t know how to talk about it or express how he feels about it cause he just has so many conflicting feelings (or even just that he can’t talk about it cause he’s not allowed)

Hearts don't feel the same

And the names we like to say

Change with time and age

so this seems to clearly be referring to feelings changing - though not necessarily in a bad way, maybe just maturing and growing together and changing as people, as in the infatuation is gone and you love each other differently than you did when you first got together but there’s still so much unconditional love there it’s just a different (like a more serious or maybe even a deeper) kind of love, or could be referring to friendships (whether between him and the boys or other people from his personal life) and those friendships changing or even fading with time, or even feelings about a situation changing over time; it could also be taken a bit more literally too of course as well and have a negative meaning as in we don’t love each other anymore/don’t feel the same way about each other anymore/aren’t as close anymore (again whether between friends or a romantic partner, or even not feeling the same way about a situation anymore, etc.), it’s all up to interpretation i guess and how you choose to see it but i think it can be thought of in lots of different ways

for the names thing i think this can also have multiple meanings, like maybe it could be referring to names he and liam and/or the boys call each other (friendly nick names, pet names as a couple, etc.) and/or the names they’re made to mention/promo in interviews, like how some periods we would get a bunch of louis and zayn mentioning each other or niall and zayn mentioning each other lilo or niam mentioning each other, etc. and then other times they’d be promo-ing other random people (like liam mentioning charlie puth every 2 seconds for a while, etc.)

[fyi i’ll be skipping over any repeating refrains/verses since there’s no real need to re-hash things over again or take up unnecessary space with lines that have already been talked about]

So I

I don't wanna say what's scripted

Whether you are or aren't with it

I know what I need

'Cause I

I don't wanna say what's scripted

Whether you are or aren't with it

I know what I need

this part i think is pretty obvious (and i think a lot of people agree) that it’s most likely referring to having to say scripted lines in interviews and things of that sort and that’s why he avoids it so much, he doesn’t wanna be forced or used to sell the narratives they want him to sell and say the company lines they want him to say, he “knows what he needs” and that’s to stay away as much as he can from engaging in all the bs

but again i think it could also have a double meaning in that he maybe doesn’t wanna say or do generic things either and this can be in regards to life in general or more specifically with his romantic partner, like he doesn’t wanna say or do what he’s expected to say/do, he wants to be different and to do things differently/do things in his own unique way (in life in general, but also maybe in his relationship like finding other ways to say “i love you” or to show his love, finding other ways to be together that don’t necessarily follow “traditional” paths which also could be a nod them being in a [conventionally-speaking] “untraditional” relationship, which a lot of people would consider a same-sex interracial interfaith relationship between two huge self-proclaimed dorks lmao to be)

i think it’s important to note that he also includes a snippet of an interview shortly after this part in which he talks about sex not being as meaningful anymore with this generation and how that was a part of what he was trying to convey on ‘let me.’ which begs the question why? why draw attention to this specific interview (one that references ‘let me’) out of all the interviews he could’ve chosen? why draw attention back to such a romantic song (and to the idea of meaningful sex and meaningful relationships) in the middle of this dark part of the album that seems to (imo) mostly be about the negative sides of the industry? we’ll get back to my theory on that in a moment but in the meantime…

there’s also the fact that the melody of song is very somber through most of the song and i think that’s intentional because it kind of serves to evoke the pain and sadness he feels over his situation and i think he wants the listeners to feel and understand that as well and to understand why, to understand all the little things about his whole situation that make him so sad and the main thing seems to be that he has to “say what’s scripted” when he doesn’t want to and isn’t truly allowed to be himself or say or do what he wants as much as he would like. BUT—here’s where we get back to my theory on why he suddenly calls our attention back to such a romantic song and to the idea of meaningful relationships

not long after this point in the song (after the chorus repeats again) the melody suddenly changes, all of a sudden it feels less somber (at least to me), i would almost even characterize it as kind of tentatively hopeful/tentatively optimistic if i had to put a label on it, my theory is that he’s setting for the stage for what comes next, getting us ready for a change in tune (literally but also figuratively as in a change in theme) and then we get this

You'd still remember my eyes

Even if the Men In Black flashed

Their light into your eyes

For the second time this night

It feels right when it's, only you and I

so this seems to be a nod to a huge recurring theme on this album which is this idea of always remembering each other/always being fated to find each other (through space and time and making it together through all kinds of obstacles, etc.)—aka SOUL MATES—which so many songs on this album seem to reference over and over and over again…and which as an aside always reminds me of that moment in an interview (sorry i tried but i couldn’t find a link to it) where i think they’re talking about what would have happened in an alternative universe/timeline if they hadn’t gone on txf and weren’t famous or something like that and zayn says he’s not sure if he would’ve met liam cause “i don’t tend to do much in me own time” and liam’s like “but you might have” and zayn’s like “yeah but maybe” not and Liam Not Having Any of It Payne insists “but then again you might have”

but anyway all that to say that i think it’s clear by this recurring theme that zayn’s definitely since come around to the idea lol and has even adopted him for himself and decided to make into a running theme on the album and not only that but clearly he’s come to believe that the romantic partner (i.e. liam) he keeps alluding to in so many songs on the “icarus” side is his soulmate and they can make it through anything

[but again, as with a lot of the other lines in this song (and on this album in general) i think there’s a small chance this verse could also be have a double meaning as well, possibly as a reference to the fans and how mgmt/1dhq has repeatedly tried to basically do a madagasar penguins ‘you didn’t see anything’ move on us and act like the shit we know we saw never happened by panic-deleting videos and releasing bs articles and manipulating the boys’ twitters; it’s a rather flimsy theory i know, esp given that all the other lines surrounding it suggest that it’s more likely in reference to a personal relationship than a more general reference that could be applied to fans but it’s just something that’s been in the back of my mind ever since i first heard the song so just putting it out there]

Oh, you and I

Oh, you and I

Oh, you and I

Oh, you and I

do i even need to say anything about this?

he repeats it five times which…interesting number first off 😏 (and also separates out the other four from the first one which again - interesting)…but also makes it pretty evident that this is a line that’s being very much emphasized, that has serious meaning, that he wants you to pay attention to, that much is obvious not only in the repetition but the fact that it deviates from the composition of the rest of the song - the music changes/falls away to just a very simple (piano?) melody and beat, the focus is mostly on just his voice and it’s the ever enigmatic “you” that he’s singing to (that also seems to be a running theme on both albums, as he often—not necessarily always but often—seems to differentiate between this “you” and other people/pronouns/things referred to in his songs) in a slightly sped up but very similar style to the style of the harmonies in you & i, a song in which he had very notable harmonies with liam (that’s possibly regarded as the most unequivocal ziam song) that they often romantically and openly serenaded each other with (like specifically turned to each other just to sing to each other), that liam said was his favorite song off the midnight memories album, that liam got a line from (“i figured it out”) permanently tattooed on his arm right below the feather that was widely believed to be the missing feather from zayn’s then chest tattoo (and which many believed being with zayn was the “thing” he figured out), a song that liam cried during the first few times they performed it without zayn, and a song that’s about nothing be able to come between two soulmates people in love who are destined to be together and that clearly had a lot of special meaning to them both (and that the fandom knows and that i’m sure they also know is widely regarded as a ziam song because as liam said on many occasions they see what we say about them, they know what goes on and what we think about the stuff they do/say) - all of that leads me to believe that this was a calculated and very obvious/deliberate move by zayn to emphasize this part in the song so clearly, a [huge] red herring if you will, and i would argue that it has even more significance not only just because of all that’s mentioned above but also because of the fact that he chose to include these lines in a song on the “falls” side of the album, the side that’s supposed to be the more negative/dark side (and the side that i believe is largely representative of his feelings and experience with fame and the entertainment industry). which to me suggests that the overarching message that he’s trying to get across/convey with this song is basically that everything may be shit with how things are being run and the stuff he (and the other boys) are made to do and say but he’s always gonna go his own way and regardless of what gets thrown at them he and liam (and the rest of ot5) are gonna make it through together

[femkinkharry]

pieces and parts

or, lauren can’t manage to finish ANYTHING i’m actually on my laptop instead of writing on my phone and i managed to find some things i started [some as far back as december 2016?] and never managed to find the inspiration or confidence or what-have-you to finish! so instead of them collecting dust on my hard drive, i’m gonna shove ‘em at ya! maybe one day i’ll clean them off and find the will to continue, but it’s incredibly unlikely! so here’s just some warm-ups and starts and stops and disjointed ideas that never came to light! enjoy! i don’t even remember what the thought process was behind this as it’s been six months? and i think i wrote this as a warm-up anyway sooooo???

They don’t talk about it. It kind of comes with the territory. Being fed Non-Disclosure Agreements day after day has wormed its way into their psyche. Being chased with cameras makes sure that their own camera rolls are blank.

But it’s okay, Harry thinks. Maybe one day he’ll get used to the clicks of the shutters and he won’t shy away from smiling for the lenses. Maybe one day he won’t shy away from smiling for Louis.

“Already?” Louis asks, smirking in the doorway of his hotel room. He’s fresh from a shower, naked from the waist up, trackies hanging low on his hips. He’s an angel, Harry thinks.

And Harry is young, away from home for the first time, pulled into Louis’ orbit. He didn’t think much of it back in the X Factor house or even in the Bungalow. He doesn’t think much of it now. [Really, all he thinks of is the fluttering in his stomach and Louis’ smile.]

“Too early?” He doesn’t wait for an answer as he strolls into Louis’ hotel room. It’s warm, unbearably so, curtains pulled tight. Louis can’t stand the cold air like he can, he knows.

The mirror in the bathroom is still fogged and Harry can’t see his own reflection [for which, he’s thankful].

Louis waves dismissively, “Never too early.” 

this is the start to a long, involved, incredibly self-indulgent leeds fic i had panned out. turns out the drabble i wrote for carmen satisfied me and i don’t wanna write anything more lmao!

The day is muggy, air thick with smoke and lingering guitar screeches, but it’s absolutely perfect to Louis. Sure, he’s trudging through heaps of mud and he’s pretty sure that the tent next to theirs houses orgies every night, but it’s so worth it. Being out in the middle of almost-nowhere with Harry Styles and his mates and tonnes of bands and loads of beer makes him feel free. Not having to worry about waking up for rehearsals or watching his mouth or hearing a reporter ask for the thousandth time what kinds of girls he’s interested in takes such a load off of him. He hadn’t quite realised how exhausting the whirlwind of promo was.                

He’s lucky. Incredibly so. And he knows it. But when some rando hands him a red solo cup full of questionable liquid and Harry grins at him, motions at him to drink it, all he can think about is how fucking stuffy the air is and how there’s nowhere else he’d rather be. As he downs the cup in a few gulps, he wonders what his life would be life if he and Harry hadn’t met in the toilets during the X Factor auditions. Would they have met another time? They were already at the same The Script concert before they even knew who the other was. Had they been destined to find one another somehow and the X Factor was life’s cruel joke of a way to do it?

i always get 200 words into things and never want to touch them again hahaha! this was going to be a harry-is-an-exhibitionist smut that took place in dallas in 2012 but??? it just trails off cause i can’t finish SENTENCES, let alone stories! :D

Harry loves to perform. From the time he was old enough to speak, he was prancing around his mum’s living room, singing into a hairbrush. Family members would goad him into holding “concerts” for them, laughed as he imitated Elvis Presley and Elton John. And Harry ate up the attention; it left him with his cheeks flushed and heart thumping against his chest because he was <i>entertaining</i>.               

As he got older, the craving to entertain consumed him. He longed to be on a stage, in front of people adoring him, screaming for him, urging him on. He managed to convince his friends to put together a band and scope out gigs at school, but that only left him chasing the irregular high that performing gave him. Of course, he was only fifteen, desperate for any kind of interaction with people that left him fulfilled and validated. He just wanted so much- too much- of anything and everything.               

Auditioning for The X Factor seemed to be the next logical step. A stage where he could be the centre of attention and bask in the applause? It seemed like a dream; one that made his mouth go dry, his stomach coil sweetly. He brushed up on his confidence, stormed the stage, and ended up

this was part of a drabble prompt series that i was super excited about and researched to make it canon-compliant! and it was gonna have niall-centric ot5 but whoops guess what I NEVER FINISH ANYTHING! this prompt was “downpour” and it was set during the turin rainstorm in 2014.

Harry doesn’t remember how the downpour started, just that one minute he was belting out the lyrics to Little Black Dress and the next, his hair was falling in his eyes and there were goosebumps along his forearms. It came as a welcome reprieve from the sun beating down on him even though his shirt sticking to him and his boots squishing under his feet became annoying .3 seconds into it.

this next one is just a small part of something i got 2,000 words into! true to my username, it’s fem kink harry! crotchless tights, specifically. (:

it was all in good fun- something that wasn't ever supposed to be public. and it wouldn't have been, really.               

if harry hadn't managed to sneak a pair of tights out of the x factor dressing room two years ago.               

he carries them deep in his suitcase, wrapped in about fifteen layers of t-shirts and pants. not even louis knows he had stolen them and he tells louis <i>everything</i>. it's his own little secret- one he can indulge in during the nights he manages to convince the lads he needs the single room.

there's a ritual to it, too. one that starts with just thinking about the feeling of the nylon on his legs. he sets himself up all day, allowing his mind to wander during interviews or shows. sometimes, he imagines wearing the tights under his jeans. he hadn't gotten the courage to do it [yet], but the thought alone is enough to send the butterflies in his stomach into a frenzied flight. secretly wearing something <i>feminine</i>, rubbing his thighs together to feel the friction, has him hard in no time. 

SO YEAH um harry likes to be fucked in pantyhose thank you for coming to my ted talk!