#Yeah so since this is a multiple fandoms blog i will do some of them not only ttte coz why not?

[jessythebunny]

🧡 X 💜

Let's change the fandom and have some of smiling critters for a bit 😌✨

[muffinlance]

Wait, what’s going on with Embers???? That fic has been on my read later list since 2021, what’s happened with it???

Brief overview, then I'm likely never touching this topic again, because this is not a Drama Blog:

Context: Embers is a super old AtLA fic that was written during the early fandom days, read widely at the time, and was the origin of the widely-used fanon name of "Wani" for Zuko's ship (kind of by default that it was one of the first popular fics to give his ship a name, I think?), even though most fic writers don't seem to realize it's from there anymore.

"What's Going On": I used to include a link in all my stories to it, because I believe in crediting other writers for borrowed elements, and I was using "Wani" in all my fics. But BOY did I not want to be sending readers that way anymore, so I've adopted a new name for Zuko's ship, and removed all Embers links.

None of the criticisms about Embers itself are new; I'm assuming they date back to when the fic was being written, because this isn't an "it aged badly" thing, this is an "actually yeah this gets worse the longer you think about it and I shouldn't have ignored my bad feelings just because some of the worldbuilding was interesting" thing.

An Incomplete List of Why I Made the Change:

I don't actually like the story that much anymore, and don't want to rec it

I tried to re-read it recently to see if some things were as bad as I remembered and it turns out they were So Much Worse Oh Yikes. More specifically, the treatment of Katara and Aang and their respective cultures has... rather a lot going on. One example: The Fire Nation and Air Nomads are both given multiple backstory elements in an attempt to make the average Fire Nation soldier's participation in the genocide/war in large part the fault of the Avatar and the Air Nomads themselves, and also fully justified from the Fire Nation perspective. And I do mean fully. One of its core tenants is "People from the Fire Nation (and only people from the Fire Nation) who don't follow orders Literally Die, therefore murdering pacifists and babies and continuing the war (and their regularly scheduled war crimes) is the only thing it is physically possible for them to do". I cannot emphasize enough how literal that is.

Also the name "Wani" means "Alligator" and is... objectively a pretty lame name for Zuko's ship? Where's the personality, where's the deeper meaning, where's the resonance with Zuko's themes? @tuktukpodfics initially thought I was calling the ship "Wanyi", and that's what I've switched to, because it is Objectively So Much Better. In their words: “Wànyī (萬一): Literally ‘one in ten thousand,’ ‘perchance.’ Used grammatically in Chinese to mean ‘what if’ or ‘just in case.’ I think a ship called ‘The Perchance’ is perfect for a boy clinging to false hope.”

TL:DR; I don't rec Embers anymore, because I don't actually like the story anymore, and there are things about it that get worse the more I think on them. I've removed links to it and renamed Zuko's ship to "Wanyi" ("The Perchance") because our boy deserves a ship name that reflects his character arc.

[enheene]

hii let me just start by telling you that your blog is just *chef's kiss*🤌

could you write something with this sunghoon in mind? :3

(this episode really turned the whole fandom feral🫠)

thank u <3

Hiii, thank you so much!! Here you are^^

What about the pool party?

18+ MDNI

}^Summary: You and Sunghoon are just best friends. At least that’s what both of you keep saying (even though you’re both in love with each other). Well for the others, it looks quite different.

}^Warnings: bff!sunghoon x afab!reader (it’s not mentioned in the fic but it’s friends to lovers), riding, fingering, exhibitionist!hoon, unprotected sex (please practice safe sex), food, alcohol was only mentioned, not consumed, idk what else

}^Words: 1.4k

}^A/N: It’s pretty rushed so i’m not that satisfied with that story and I feel like this trope(?)/plot(?) is overused and I literally had no ideas of what to write.. I’m really sorry for the outcome!!

Knowing the siblings for over 15 years now is quite long, isn’t it? Well, today is the 23rd birthday of your best friends brother, to which you’re of course invited to. Jay decided to make it a rooftop pool party at their apartment, since their parents will be heading off to their colleagues “hangout” party. And since he knows a lot of people from high school and college, Jay obviously had to invite them.

You were as usual invited for the close friends and family only celebration before the actual party took place, so you already took all of your clothes and things you need, thinking that you will probably end up sleeping there.

After everyone sang happy birthday and gave their presents, you and Sunghoon headed off to his room to start getting ready for the rooftop pool party. “Sunghoon, which one is better?” You asked him showing him a bikini and a swimsuit to choose. “Hm, I like the swimsuit one but it’s up to you.” Bullshit. With you wearing a swimsuit he was hoping he wouldn’t get as horny because of you. That’s bullshit too. He’s horny all the time even when you’re wearing your homeless type of outfits. Letting out an “okay” under your breath, you decided to ignore his ‘help’ and wear a bikini just to provoke him for fun. Already wearing the bikini, you have put on in the bathroom, you asked him how you look. He cursed multiple times in his head as he did NOT want to get hard right now and especially not in your presence. “You look okay, I guess.” You scoffed at his answer and put on one of your shirts and shorts, since the party is still some hours away. “Imma get something to eat. You want something?” He asked you as you answered with a simple “No, thanks”.

Walking to the kitchen, Sunghoon saw his parents getting ready to leave the apartment, exchanging a “Bye.” with them. He saw Jay and a friend of his packing all of the alcohol and some snacks that were officially for the pool party asking him “What are you doing?”. His older brother answered “Basically, more people than I’ve actually invited will come, so we decided to move my birthday to this one lake we always went to.” Sunghoon was a bit confused. What lake? “I don’t know what you’re talking about but won’t it be too dangerous there? Because of the water and you know.” “Yeah, but here is it as dangerous as it’s there.” Sunghoon wasn’t so convinced about this idea but whatever, it’s not his life. Though he already decided that the both of you won’t be going anywhere, just stay here and have fun at your own.

Going back to you with some snacks and soda, he shouted your name and for you to open the door. You did so as he went into his room, placing the snacks and drinks on his desk, telling you to change back into your normal clothes. “But what about the pool party?” You asked him. “They’re going somewhere else but we are staying here.”

You were disappointed but still did as he said and changed back into your strap dress that is on the shorter side, but this time not putting on the bra, as it’s going to be just the two of you.

After some time spent together in his room, you decided to go to the kitchen and eat some proper meal with him. Preparing all the needed ingredients, Sunghoon comes up with with the idea of eating outside and enjoy the view of the city, to which you agree. Sunghoon sets the table outside and puts the already cooked pasta in the middle of it. To your surprise it’s not that late but the sunset is already there, so after you finish eating you tell Sunghoon to stand up and follow you. As you stand in front of the pool you try to push Sunghoon in but with his sudden grip on your dress, he pushes you in with him, making the both of you wet. You start splashing water at each other which makes the both of you laugh and scream out loud. The harsh movements in the water made you slip, though with the fast reaction of Sunghoon grabbing your waist, you avoided the fall.

As you found the balance in your legs, you stand up staring deeply in his eyes. He does the same. Feeling shy, you look down noticing his soaked, white, long sleeved shirt which was now fully see through, making you get a glimpse of his toned abs and chest. He followed your eyes, spotting your hardened nipples, getting him hard as well. Sunghoon takes your chin into his hand and makes you look at him, as the other is still holding your waist, and asks “Can I kiss you, y/n?”. You slowly nod your head as a yes. Sunghoon leans in to kiss you. As your lips meet, you put your hands on his chest and he pulls you in even more. The kiss is passionate, sweet and tender. Grasping for a breath, you take your lips off of his and lean your forehead against his, your noses touching. The short pause made the both of you want even more, so he picks you up and you wrap your legs around him. You feeling his bulge poking your still clothed cunt made you even wetter, so you started to kiss him again as he placed you on the edge of the pool. Pulling up your dress and taking off your panties, he looks at your cunt and touches your clit moving his finger in circling motions and up and down as you whimper his name under your breath. „Love, you’re so wet.” He puts his finger into your hole making you moan and lean down on your elbows, throwing your head back. He chuckles seeing your reaction as he adds another finger in your clenching hole, massaging your thigh. With a mischievous grin, he led you to come to your high on his fingers, you moaning his name as he praised you for doing so well for him. He picked you up so he could sit down in the pool, you on top of him. You unbuttoned his shorts, pulling them down enough to free his cock and immediately after put your hands back on his shoulders. “Are you sure you want this, love? There is no going back. You know that, right?” He asked making sure that it’s not against your will. “Yeah.” You answered him smiling somewhat naughty. Sunghoon pushed his tip into your still slightly throbbing cunt as you opened your lips and scrunched your face from the mixture of pain and pleasure. Your best friend started breathing loud and hard, you letting out a loud moan, when his cock is stretching you out, being now fully, deep in you. You slowly start bouncing on him revealing all the sounds he had always wanted to hear. Water splashing around you. Him groaning and whimpering into your ear. His one hand on your waist and the other one on your hip. “F-fuck, love, faster please.” He pleaded you. You have never expected riding in water being so hard, so you ask for his help and he sped up the pace. “Hoonie, ughhh, I love you so much.” “I love you too, love.” With the feeling of your approaching orgasm, you let him know about the need to cum soon while he’s cursing and mumbling out a “me too, lov-fuck.”

What the both of you didn’t know is that Jay and some of his male- as well as female- friends came back into their apartment to get more alcohol and snacks and that the both of you were fully visible to them all through the big windows in the kitchen-living room.

As you both reached your high at around the same time, you exchanged an intimate and lingering kiss with each other. You smiled against his teeth deciding that it’s time to head back inside and shower. Turning your head to spot your panties, you saw multiple people inside looking right at you. “FUCK HOON, they’re all standing there! They saw us!”. “And what about it, love?” Sunghoon brushed it off quickly being proud of it. “Your brother, Jay, also saw us? That’s about it, Hoon.”

“Well, wanna show them some more?” Sunghoon suggested smirking.

[worldsbiggestnerd101]

intro post!!

hi there! my name’s emmy, welcome to my blog! i’ve been here for a good while now but since i’ve started to gain more attention, i figured it was time to make an intro post!

basic info:

name(s): em/emmy/emeline, angie/angel (no preference)

age: minor (NO NSFW BULLSHIT PLEASE)

birthday: january 4 :D

orientation/sexuality: bisexual (femme/wlw leaning)

gender: cis girl

pronouns: she/her (they/them is ok but not preferred)

nationality: born and raised in the US of A (new york babyyyyyyy), but my parents are guyanese, so i’d say guyanese american

race: mixed, my mom has light skin (she gets mistaken as hispanic a lot) and my dad has medium brown skin so i’m somewhere in the middle (i too get mistaken for hispanic a lot)

other info: i’m neurodivergent, possibly autism or adhd (or both) but i was a “gifted” kid if that counts for anything, oh and i have anxiety

fandoms:

this a multifandom blog, so while i do have my phases/eras/hyperfixations, i will be posting about multiple fandoms at once, even if one’s taking up more posts than the others combined.

here are some of my mains!

roblox piggy

murder drones

hazbin hotel + helluva boss

gravity falls

ride the cyclone

welcome home

it’s easiest to tell what my current main hyperfixation is by just looking at my pfp/blog theme, as i’ll usually set it to something related to my current biggest hyperfix. i’ll update this list as needed, but i’m also active in the percy jackson, american girl, and stranger things fandoms. i’m also into a lot of cartoons, like she-ra and the princesses of power, steven universe, the owl house, carmen sandiego, mlp gen 4, etc. so feel free to ask about those! i’m also a major theater kid, some of my favorite shows are hamilton, dear evan hansen, wicked, mean girls, beetlejuice, and six, so you can ask about any of those too! (i’ve only seen wicked and hamilton 😭)

links

ok so all my links to other posts or blogs or accounts or anything really are here!!

youtube: here!!

hazbin hotel high school au masterpost: here!!

discord server bullshittery masterpost: here >:3

tags

#em rambles - original post tag

#asks - any and all asks i get!!

#mutuals - any asks from/posts about my mutuals will be tagged with this, and it's like a guarantee that you'll get your own name tag too!!

#anon - if you send me an anon ask, just look here to find it :D

#emmy’s edits - all my original edits!! they’re up on my youtube too but you can find them here under that tag

#hazbin high school au - my own au!! i made this by myself with a few ideas from friends but this is like my own creation that i'm working on!!

EDIT: AS OF 07/06/2024, ANYTHING RELATING TO HELLUVA BOSS S2E9 APOLOGY TOUR WILL NOT BE TAGGED AS SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE EPISODE I ADVISE AGAINST SCROLLING.

edit: as of 07/16/2024 i have a girlfriend!! her name is hannie, aka the wonderful amazing absolutely adorable @furryrainbowscreature i love her so much <333

dni:

homophobes, transphobes

supporters of israel

queer exclusionists (anti "conflicting" labels, terfs, etc)

racists

blogs with heavy amounts of nsfw content (i’m a teenager so. please.)

sexists/misogynists

pedos/“maps”

so yeah i think that’s about it!! thanks for reading y'all <3

also: FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸

[annahiril]

The cringe anon who sent you hate is definitely some annoyed Haladriel shipper lol.I love your oc though don't be discouraged and keep drawing whatever you like🥹

Thank you so much for your support 🥹✨️❤️

I'm so happy you like my OC, it mean a lot 🥰

And don't worry, I won't stop sharing my work ✊🏻 In fact, I'm currently working on multiple drawings at the same time 😂

I will be sharing about it soon ❤️

Well, when I first read the anon ask, I thought the same thing 🤔 People get usually mad when OCs are an "obstacle" to their ship.

But maybe I'm wrong? I know some people just don't like fandom OCs in general...

But let's be clear, I have nothing against haladriel/saurondriel shippers.

I do appreciate them and they are welcome on my blog ❤️

But you must know that I have my own opinion on haladriel/saurondriel.

I've never talked about it before, but this is how I see their relationship:

I do believe that Galadriel truly felt something strong for Halbrand during season 1. Whatever if it was love or just a deep friendship/connection, she has felt something for him. (I would be lying if I say otherwise).

But, I don't believe in Galadriel being in love with Sauron, at all.

I think it was made clear by the showrunners since the end of season 1:

When she learned Halbrand was in reality Sauron, her first reflex was to stab him (without any hesitation BTW). Plus, she clearly refused his offer.

In season 2, she also made it clear that "The door is shut".

Let's also recall that Sauron is implied in Finrod's death (her dear brother). That she (probably) loose Celeborn because of the war and that Sauron directly killed Celebrimbor (her friend).

She has absolutely no reason to love him, believe me.

So, I think we can all agree on the fact that Galadriel felt something for Halbrand, but not for Sauron.

It was also shown multiple times during season 2:

I'm thinking about her discussion with Gil-Galad when she said "Halbrand" instead of "Sauron". Or her reaction during episode 8, when Sauron took back his Halbrand form.

But what about Sauron?

He is the great deceiver... So in my opinion, he deceived Galadriel the same way he did with Celebrimbor, Mirdania or everyone else in this series.

He offers people what they desire. And this is exactly what he did with Galadriel, because he thinks she can help him to achieve his goal to rule over Middle-Earth.

That's all.

I will take this sentence as an example: "I will make you a Queen" and not "my Queen".

The use of "a" instead of "my" is what make me think he doesn't have any feelings towards her and knows she doesn't either.

When he offers her to be a Queen, he gave what she deeply desired. And in this case, it wasn't being his Queen. It was, as she said herself "an army" or the power to become a powerful ruler.

Don't you think that he would have offered her to be his Queen if he knows she was in love with him? I mean, love is a strong feeling that Sauron could have use to have her on his side. But he hasn't!

So, yeah, I'm not taking any of Sauron's offer for Galadriel as love proposal...

Although, Sauron being in love is not something I'm against! (Has you can guess)

But in the case of saurondriel, I don't see any romantic feelings.

So, to resume, I do believe Galadriel felt something strong for Halbrand, but I don't believe into Sauron and Galadriel being in love.

But I guess, only the showrunners know the truth after all...

So please, note that even if I'm not an haladriel/saurondriel shipper, I do respect all people who enjoy this ship.

In fact, I can understand why you like this pairing. The rivalry between light and darkness make their dynamic really interesting.

So, even thought I'm not into it, I still enjoy looking at haladriel/saurondriel fanarts or read fanfic/theories about this ship.

Also, I would like to finish by saying that's OK if you don't agree with my interpretation. After all, we all have a personal one.

But please, I will ask you to respect my own vision of haladriel/saurondriel.

Thank you ❤️

And thank you again anon for your kind message 🥰✨️

I wish you a nice day ✨️

[charmac]

People seem to forget that transmasc people can still dress feminine and vice versa. Men can wear wigs and dresses and women can cut their hair and grow beards. I think Charlie is transmasc and discovered this early so since he transitioned and looked like a male Bonnie dressed him femininely and he felt fine with it. some people are acting like men cant wear dresses and its annoying

It's definitely absolutely insanely accidental, but RCG really wrote Charlie as the most gender character of all time.

The Bathroom Problem is kinda the best example you can give anyone as to how you can have an infinite interpretation of gender: "cis man who poops transgender," I give you transman who can still enjoy wearing a dress in a certain environment, transfem whose closet is a bathroom stall, genderfluid in the place of bodilyfluids (okay, wait. WAS it definitely accidental?)

We're all on Tumblr, we all know anyone can look and dress any way and be any gender (or, if you don't understand that, I encourage you to explore and talk to trans mutuals!), which is why I think it's quite nonsensical to spend time arguing over a headcanon being dismissive of another. Charlie can be anything! Or nothing! (TY Charlie Day for my favourite line in Right to Chop "I don't really identify..." <3)

People aren't required to share the same interpretations or agree on what is a good or bad headcanon, and I think if you're getting upset by someone's own personal preferences or their interpretation for character analysis, you're just not supposed to be in the same circles of the fandom, and that's okay! You can share your own opinions, you can post your own content, but you can't keep people from personally disagreeing or expressing why they dislike a certain interpretation in their own, personal spaces online.

A lot of Sunny is pretty deep and also, very heavy. It's not surprising that people end up pulling a lot out of it, often projecting, and then find themselves very personally connected to their own interpretations and feel extremely validated when others agree with them, or feel upsettingly thrown when they see conflicting ideas. I feel all of that constantly, about many different aspects and characters, and a lot of the time I need to talk about it! I spent two years trying to do that on the SUBREDDIT and that's why I made this blog (and why my Twitter account is all but overrun by Sunny, lmfao). I think that's why most of us are here? And a lot of the time we're going to very heavily, crazily, completely agree with each other, but other times we're going to disagree as well.

Sometimes disagreement is something you can shrug off and move past (yeah, there are very clearly multiple interpretations), something you can just get over by venting more privately or one-on-one, but sometimes it's something you think is genuinely important to address/speak about, and I think that's actually how we can end up having very interesting and meaningful discussions and learn from each other.

(But if that's no good, just unfollow and block if you need to. Some people just don't get along or come from too-far distant places to agree on certain things, and that's a fact of life! This show has thousands of fans who think The D.E.N.N.I.S. System is actually a genius method, and a couple thousand more who think he is genuinely a killer ladies man)

[many-faced]

Many-Faced's Introduction post

Hello! I'm Many-Faced, but I typically use Tea as a nickname. I'm fine with any nicknames as long as it's clear you're referring to me!

I'm a self-taught artist. I also do animations sometimes! You can occasionally find me participating in Multi Animator Projects or making animation memes and posting them on youtube! Though uh... it's mostly shitposting. Oopsies.

I am Agender!

I use any pronouns :>

This includes neos! Specifically I'm testing the use of ze and xe. Please do keep in mind that I tend towards masculine pronouns over feminine ones, and while I don't mind she/her, I'd prefer they/them, he/him or neos.

Before you interact!

I am a minor!

Please do not bring extremely suggestive or NSFW content anywhere near me or my blog. Not only am I 16, but I am also asexual and get very uncomfortable around those topics.

I sometimes struggle with tone.

Please use tone tags where possible so I don't take a joke as an accusation or whatever! I overthink... way too much. Oopsies..

I do in fact swear a lot

While you'll notice on Youtube I try to stay mostly clean, although I do swear now and then. I do generally swear a lot. Especially on Discord, the swear jar for me and my friends is always overflowing.

I am unhinged and I talk and type faster than I think

If I say something weird or irrational and need to go back and correct myself, yeah that's normal, it happens a lot.

I am Autistic and have ADHD

It's unlikely to cause any problems further that what I've already mentioned, but as mentioned before please please PLEASE tonetags where you can, I don't wanna misread something

Do NOT interact:

If you support any sort of discrimination. Any discriminatory messages will be immediately deleted and you will get no response, I'm not fuelling someone like that.

If you use AI unethically. Unlike many other artists, I am neutral on AI. If it was ethical, I could see the benefits, yes, but it isn't. We're using in a way that harms creatives, replacing them with robots that cannot ever truly make anything new. So if you pedal AI 'art' or think a movie created by all AI would be so 'great', you can leave now.

Cryptobros. Don't pedal me your scam coin, because I'm not buying it.

If you're just here to send hate and start drama. Seriously, if you have a genuine criticism I'm here to listen, but if you're just hating to hate, what are you even doing?

Proshippers. I hope I don't need to explain why some relationships are actually just illegal. Illegal things in general obviously are not welcome here.

Hey look, Cool people!

@darkhatkid - the shadow in the corner of my room that tells me to draw insane shit

@mugzymiik - absolute nutcase, don't trust em ever, e likes kissing shapes and robots/lhj (they have also beta read a few of my fanfics!)

My Fandoms

This list may be rarely up to date... Don't be surprised if I suddenly spawn in with a bunch of art for a fandom not on the list.

Rain World

Warrior Cats

JSAB

Stray

Inscryption

Worldless

My AUs and Stories

The Halfway - An original work made from the ground up by me that asks the question 'if there are multiple realities, what's between them?' Sounds all philosophical, right? Well, kind of, but also I just found it funny to turn vague concepts into insane pseudo-deities and put them through the wringer of existing. A serious story with a comedic streak, hopefully.

JSAB: Reloaded - A JSAB AU. I don't currently have much to say about it since it's under reconstruction. Remind me to rewrite this at some point when I get the story nailed down.

Rain World: False Affirmative - A Rain World AU. Asked the question 'what if Five Pebbles succeeded in making the taboo bypass?' and snowballed into an entire AU with a zombie virus rot and a whole lineup of new slugcats and iterators while also expanding on the canon ones.

Worldless: Polarized - A worldless AU that is sort of on a semi-hiatus.

Other socials!

Want to find me somewhere else? Here's where you can!

Youtube

Other/Notes

Please do not send me random art requests in my askbox!

Moots, dw, ya cool, I won't met mad at you for doing that [don't expect me to actually do it though,, I might,, maybe].

What I don't want is random followers sending me art requests, even if it's of fandom characters from fandoms I'm in. I don't reaally like being asked to do something by someone I don't know well. This has happened a few times and I promise I'm not mad at any of you! Just keep this in mind, please ^^

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/739283879438991360/if-im-posting-a-fic-about-a-poly-pairing-is-it?source=share

You're absolutely right about poly ships, but in general with supporting ships I think "would people searching for JUST this pairing be interested?" is a good litmus test. That's often what I ask myself when trying to decide if a B-couple should be tagged as their own ship or should go in additional tags.

By the way, if a couple just shows up briefly or otherwise has a really small role such that people there for *JUST* that couple wouldn't be interested, PLEASE put it in additional tags rather than ship tags for the love of god! So many people don't seem to understand this is an option, and perhaps those kinds of people aren't the kind to read your blog, lol, but I still want to say it. Someone in the replies was talking about a poly fic that constantly updated with a bunch of chapters, clogging their ship tag where it's just two of the people in one of the poly ships, not a focus itself. My tag has like FOUR different regularly-updating, multi-chapter fics right now where it's tagged as "background ship" clogging it! I hate it so much. This is especially common and agonizing if you're in the fandom for one of the less-popular canon ships, since they're so often in the background of some more popular couple. I was in a fandom where an only-really-popular-as-support F/F canon couple was my OTP, and most of their tags was fics focusing on the more popular M/M and F/M couples where my OTP were there for like, maybe a paragraph at most. And people never tagged it in a way that made it clear if it was that or something that might genuinely feature them. Agony! I know you can use "otp: true" but I'm not averse to a good fic with multiple ships where my OTP actually matters in it!

On that note, I wonder if it's ever polite to maybe make a note of it in comments? I'd probably do that anonymously, but especially when you see people who are relatively new to AO3, I wonder if they just don't realize that that's what they should do in these cases. I wonder how many people just don't realize that "putting ships in the additional tags" is an option, and are thinking of tagging more in a Tumblr "indicate the ship is there so people who don't want to see it at all avoid" way than a "tags are for finding it if you WANT it" way.

--

Yeah, for real.

In most of my fandoms, side ships shouldn't be tagged most of the time just because of the typical posting dynamics. Fics that really merit that b-plot ship tag are rare.

In other ones (BTS, I'm looking at you), there's shittons of fics featuring like three separate ships, all of which have significant page time even if one is the lead. Even the "rare" ships aren't that rare unless it's a specific OT4, so it's not that annoying to me when something else is in the ship tag.

But The Untamed? Get your damn juggernaut tag out of my rarepair so I can use otp:true!!!

And yes, tons of people think AO3 tags are for warning people away or for tagging every single ingredient, not for making a fic findable.

They are wrong and they should feel bad.

[tryingmyhand-atwriting]

BEGIN AGAIN 

Chapter One : An Unplanned Run-In

Notes: Hi, everyone (or no one if no one bothers to read!) This is my first ever attempt at posting fan-fiction that I have written, although I have been a reader of it for years. I’ve been in multiple fandoms through out the years but never had the guts to post anything out of fear of not being good enough or no one liking it but I figure - if one person likes it or one hundred people like it, it will all mean the same to me which is utter gratefulness that will swell within me. I am posting under a side blog so no one will know it’s me although I think there is someone who has found me (if so, hi Elise I love you.) Even if you hate it and it sucks and is boring be nice to me please I am baby. That is all - if you have made it this far I am grateful for that too.

Warnings: SLOW BURN. Hang in with me folks once we get to the good stuff it’s promising. Also, new writer - that’s a warning in itself too.

Word Count: 6545

Ashley Tisdale would argue that at times she knew her best friend better than he knew himself. Since the first day they met their connection had been instant and not even time or distance had proven able to dispel the friendship they both helped to nourish.

Not seeing him for three years didn’t change a thing between them and the older sister intuition kicks in when he’s over for the first time upon returning, meeting Jupiter in person now that he’s home, when he says, ‘Member Isabela?” And a lightbulb goes on over her head.

Ashley remembers a pretty, young eighteen year old interning for Austin’s personal assistant in 2013 to 2014. Isabela had been kind to a fault and so gentle as a person that Ashley–and Austin–had developed a protectiveness over her. She had fit into their group effortlessly and there was a close friendship that had developed between Austin and her. So close they were, Ashley would joke about being replaced. It all went downhill after the Great Incident of 2014 and Ashley never heard Austin nor Vanessa speak about Isabela again.

She exits her kitchen, resting against the doorway with her arms crossed. “Yeah I do,” she replies wondering where he would take it next. Austin hums but doesn’t reply as he continues stroking Jupiter’s back, the toddler asleep on the couch beside him. “Did you run into her or something?” She probes.

“Nah, just been… reminiscin’, I guess.” But Ashley knows her best friend, knows by the clench of his jaw and glint in his eyes that he has more to say. Things he may not want to admit or isn’t sure he should admit. “When Lydia told me she was stepping down after havin’ her baby I asked if she had any contact with Isabela but she said they don’t talk anymore.”

Ashley does a double take. “You wanna offer her the job?” She isn’t sure how to explain to him that if someone reached out after years with no contact , she would have a lot to say to that person. Granted, Isabela would never give anyone a piece of her mind but to save Austin from rejection she knows he is in desperate need of some womanly advice. “Don’t you think that’d be, uh–I’m not sure these are the right words but–awkward and mean after what happened?”

“It doesn’t have to be for the job, Ash.” Austin shrugs his shoulders. “With all these new changes in my life I guess I just uh–I know what people I want in my life now.” Ashley has seen firsthand what he means. While paparazzi had always been a part of their lives, the recent attention and invasiveness being introduced to Austin’s life was something new. A level of fame even Ashley hadn’t achieved with High School Musical..

Ashley had faith in Austin and his talent, even if he wasn’t as confident in himself. She could see his wildest dreams coming true but with Elvis, Ashley also knew he had learnt some lessons scary enough they would never shake. She saw he was frightened to death of being made to be someone he wasn’t, of being put on a pedestal and failing to meet expectations. Most importantly, Austin was made aware of how quickly people came around for the wrong reasons, ready to take advantage of success, money, and fame. Someone who freely gave loyalty and honesty expected it in return, a betrayal of that nature would hurt Austin the most. Ashley had seen Austin lose himself and have to find who he was again, but the man who reemerged was skeptical, with a new point of view.

“So you want to make amends?”

It takes Austin a while to look at Ashley, his hand rubbing soothing circles on Jupiter’s back. “More than anything I just wanna talk to her.” But she sees the longing in his eyes when they meet hers and pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together.

That’s how Ashley ends up at Chucky’s Bar in Los Feliz on a Thursday night. She didn’t tell Austin that she occasionally chats with Isabela over Instagram because she didn’t want him to do something embarassing like slide into her DMs with a lame greeting and possible emoji. Austin was smooth and charming in many ways, but at the end of the day, he was only a man and this situation was better handled with a woman’s touch. All it had taken was a ‘miss you! when are you free?’ before Isabela responded saying that this was where she’d be on her last night in LA before she traveled to Hawaii for a work trip.

“Ashley! You came!” There’s a girly squeal and arms squeezing her from behind before she turns to face Isabela. There’s a wide smile on her face and her hair frizzes with the humidity of the crowded bar. Sweat shines on her face, mascara smudged under her eyes, but Ashley has to smile– Isabela never let perceived-imperfections dull her shine. “You look hot.” Isabela checks her friend out with an impressed grin.

“I feel out of my element. I can’t remember the last time I dressed up.” Ashley giggles, taking in her surroundings. “I’m also scared I’m going to start leaking and ruin this dress.” She gestures to her enlarged breasts, made more noticeable by the deep V-cut of her dress.

Isabela lets out a loud laugh. “Some guys like that,” she whispers conspiratorially and Ashley slaps her on the arm. Isabela grabs Ashley by the hand and begins leading her to a table, “Come on, a friend saved us a table. Victoria’s got bar duty tonight but she’ll be checking in occasionally.”

“Victoria’s still working here?”

Chucky’s Bar brought back many late night memories for Ashley. There were many drunken nights spent at the low-key bar where Ashley, Austin, and Vanessa had never been recognized. It was at this bar where Ashley met Isabela and her tough as nails cousin, Victoria, who was cold the entire night and would only make rounds to their table to make sure Isabela was drinking enough water to go along with the tequila. It had taken almost a month for Victoria to warm up to the former Disney kids. Ashley was sure any kindness on Victoria’s part was thrown out the window after the Incident.

Ashley would have found Victoria’s over protectiveness creepy if she didn’t understand why. Isabela was sweetly naive, always seeing the best in the world and people around her. An innocence that had probably broken her heart more than once. It hadn’t taken long for Ashley to feel the same way towards Isabela, like she was a younger sister.

“She practically runs this place. Derek’s one year away from retiring and he’s already promised to leave it to her.” Isabela’s face beams with pride. As they approach the table she turns to face Ashley briefly and catches the uncertainty in her eyes, the awkward hunch to her shoulders, that only comes when someone feels unwelcome. Isabela reaches to hold Ashley’s fingers in hers. “She’s gonna be on her best behavior, okay? I told her you were coming and anyways, everything that happened that day had nothing to do with you.”

Doesn’t it, Ashley wants to ask. Guilt gnaws at her, knowing she was meeting up with Isabela for selfish reasons. To do her best friend’s dirty work, get him into contact with someone who probably, most likely–definitely–wants nothing to do with him.

“We talking about how Victoria breastfeeds you?” There’s a busty redhead seated at the table. She’s loud in her proclamation and beautiful in a sheer silver dress. She’s gorgeous, her hair swept back in an updo and her legs crossed, the hem of her dress rising dangerously high. Already there’s more than a few curious eyes glancing towards their table. She smiles at Ashley but it drops when she catches sight of Isabela’s empty hands. She guffaws, offended, “Where are the shots? You get up and come back with no shots?”

Isabela tumbles into the seat beside her, laughing good-naturedly at her friend’s offense. It was obvious the girls had started drinking before her arrival but Ashley didn’t mind; she was planning on an easy night. Hangovers tend to be a multi-day affair once you hit thirty. “Luis said he’ll bring ‘em out to us,” Isabela tells her friend before presenting her to Ashley. “This is the worst influence in my life and the devil on my shoulder — Ash, meet Sky. She was my college roommate and yes, Victoria hates her. Doesn’t give you any right to talk shit about her though,” Isabela pinches Sky’s underarm for good measure.

“I wasn’t talking shit about her, I was making fun of you. The pretty princess stuck in the tower–you’re twenty-six.” It must be a sermon Isabela has heard before because all she offers in response to Sky’s mocking tone is an exaggerated eye roll and a shake of her head.

“Don’t worry, Victoria hates me too,” Ashley tells Sky. “She’s just always gonna look out for Isabela. No judgments here.”

Sky puts a hand on Ashley’s arm,eyes twinkling. “Oh my God. We should totally start a club.”

“I think you two booze hounds have had enough,” a blond waiter approaches their table, balancing a tray of shots. He looks toward Ashley, clarifying, “I mean those two. Especially this one,” he shoves an elbow into Sky’s side, the woman yelping and returning the hit.

Isabela leans over to touch his shoulder, imploring.. “Luis, you’re just in time. Their conversation was sobering me up.” She pouts, her lower lip jutting out.

“You just don’t like hearing the truth–”

“Not you too!”

“Ladies,” Ashley holds up her shot glass and a wedge of lemon, a strategic distraction, putting an end to the conversation. The constant back-and-forth chatter is definitely enough incentive for her to break her own self-imposed sobriety. “Are we taking this shot or what?”

“I like you,” Sky states, preparing her lemon with salt.

“Wait! We have to cheers to something,” Isabela insists when both Ashley and Sky go to throw the tequila back. She purses her lips to the side in thought, “What’s something all three of us can cheer to?”

“How about this,” Ashley begins, leaning forward on her elbows, “Sky’s here for you and so am I. So how about a cheers to Isabela for bringing us together tonight?” Isabela flushes, her lashes fanning against her cheeks as she avoids eye contact, flattered and flustered all at once. Ashley momentarily feels like she’s kissing ass, knowing she’s still wrestling with guilt over her ulterior motives, but she isn’t lying about her affection for her friend.

Sky extends her shot glass forward. “To Isabela.”

The night is a whirlwind after that. Ashley remembers a Pitbull song coming on that had Sky pulling both she and Isabela to the middle of the dance floor, smack between other dancers. There was another shot–or four–taken and by the time the girls are dancing to the fifth song of the night, now joined by a group of girls they had befriended at the bar. Ashley has to momentarily return to the table, ridding herself of her jacket.. It isn’t lost on her that the reason for her random request of a girls’ night out hasn’t been brought up once, but she doesn’t have it in her to ruin what has been an amazing night so far.

She could always try again. Preferably when it wasn’t her first time reuniting with an old friend in months.

As Ashley saunters back over to their spot on the dance floor, she catches sight of Sky’s silver dress towards the bar with Luis, no doubt asking for another round of shots. Ashley hopes–and doubts–that Sky forgot to order her one, the beginning of a headache pounding behind her eyes. Isabela’s still where she left her but a man has since joined her. He’s handsome, Ashley must admit, and standing almost a foot over Isabela who’s lacing her fingers together in front of her repeatedly. She has a smile on her face though,so Ashley doesn’t feel the need to interject as she nears.

“You’re sweet, but I’m here with my friends. Sorry,” Ashley catches Isabela apologize, her lashes fluttering as she blinks rapidly, and her teeth gnawing at her bottom lip. In anyone else Ashley would have taken the actions to be coy or flirty, but in Isabela she sees them for what they are–nervous tics. More words are exchanged and Isabela moves away when the guy places a hand at her hip. Ashley is debating on whether or not she should intercept and tell the guy to get lost, knowing it would be quicker than Isabela’s kind approach, when he throws his hand out beside him in a fist in annoyance before storming away.

Isabela stumbles back, flinching violently at his outburst, and Ashley’s beside her in the next moment, a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” She asks, scanning over Isabela. She didn’t see the guy touch her, but Isabela’s response worried her, as if he did more than utter cruel words to her. “Did he hurt you?”

“No, no.” Isabela shakes her head and attempts a smile but her eyes are glossy with unshed tears. “He just got mad and it caught me off guard, I guess. I’m fine.”

“Isabela—” you don’t seem fine, is what Ashley’s going to say but she’s cut off by the arrival of Sky–who did conjure up another round of shots–and two blonde girls they had been dancing with earlier.

“I got us more shots, bitches,” she whoops loudly, pumping a single fist. She drops the act once she takes in the heavy atmosphere. “What’s wrong?”

Ashley hesitates. Some guy was rude to Isabela and she almost cried, which was technically true, but her reaction hinted at something deeper–although the man hadn’t seemed to lay a hand on her. What worried Ashley was the possibility of someone else having done so..

“Some guy was a dick and caught me off guard. Ashley’s never seen my freak outs before.” Isabela shrugs, feigning nonchalance and maintaining eye contact with her friend. There seemed to be a million words said between them but their mouths didn’t move once. It was a look shared between best friends with no words necessary.

Sky shakes her head, turning to Ashley with another smile and extending the tray of shots again. “Isabela doesn’t go out much, so every time she does she gets shocked at what big assholes guys actually are.” She said by way of explanation, handing a shot to Isabela. “She’ll survive; it just takes her a couple seconds to shake it off.”

Ashley detects the bullshit lie, but it isn’t a topic she wants to press so publicly. Instead she politely declines the shot, “I need water for the next hour before Ubering home. It’s Jupiter’s birthday party tomorrow and I need to be up early to set up.”

“Oh, no,” Isabela’s brows pinch and she places her shot back in Sky’s hand. “I’m so sorry, I wouldn’t have asked you to come out to a bar if I knew you had to be up early tomorrow.” She interlocks her elbows with Ashley’s, pulling her to Luis’s section of the bar and signaling him for two glasses of water.

“I’m a grown woman, Is. And lack of sleep is nothing new to mothers. Having a newborn is like a hangover that lasts for months.”

Isabela chuckles, sliding her glass of water over. “What a lovely comparison!”

“I love being a mom,” Ashley defends, laughing. “But it’s not as easy as people make it out to be. At least it wasn’t for me. I called my mom crying so many times, sure that I was failing or ruining this perfect little person somehow.”

“You’ve officially talked me out of ever wanting kids.”

“Come on,” Ashley rolls her eyes. “You put everyone before yourself; you’d be the perfect mom.”

Isabela shrugs a shoulder, her elbow leaning on the table. “I don’t know. Maybe. I wanted kids when I was younger, but the past few years have basically been about my career. One thing is for sure though, I’d want it to happen on my terms and at the time I’m ready. No time soon.” The conversation and glasses of water have helped both of them sober up and, for that, Ashley is glad. The room isn’t spinning as much as it was before. Now, Ashley just feels drowsy as the alcohol leaves her system. Isabela must catch her tired expression because she hums, “What time should I be at your house tomorrow to help you set up?”

Ashley shakes her head vehemently. “You’ve got a flight tomorrow, miss. You’re going to need all the sleep you could get.”

“I could sleep on the flight,” Isabela returns smartly, her tone matter-of-fact. Ashley pushes her knee, sending her spinning on the bar stool. Isabela continues. “I feel guilty I had you come out! No way in hell are you setting up alone tomorrow before hosting a kids’ party. I’m helping!”

Luis interrupts their conversation, throwing a rag over his shoulder and refilling both glasses with more water. Ashley smiles. “Two beautiful ladies like you must be starving. My momma always said the way into a girl's heart was through her stomach.”

“I think your mom had it wrong; isn’t it supposed to be a man’s stomach?” Ashley laughs, but she has to wonder because food certainly sounded like heaven then.

“Two burgers to go please and then an Uber.” Isabela shoots him a dazzling, cheesy grin, her cheeks dimpling as she throws a hand over Ashley’s shoulder. “We’ve got an early morning tomorrow.”

—

Waking up early after a night out is harder to do the older she gets. If Isabela hadn’t offered to help Ashley with Jupiter’s birthday party set up and have a flight scheduled for later on that day she would have stayed in bed nursing her hangover for the next forty-eight hours. The breeze is fresh as she waltzes up to Ashley’s front door to ring the doorbell. It’s early spring and as is regular for Los Angeles the sun is bright and scorching but the wind is a welcome reprieve from the heat. Various trees are surrounding Ashley’s front yard but Isabela doesn’t dare take off her glasses. Her eyes were probably swollen and red from lack of sleep and overdrinking the night before. Come to think of it, she still felt slightly drunk.

She had been woken up two hours earlier when Sky had crawled into her bed. Ashley and Isabela had left the bar before anyone else and the late time Sky showed up at her apartment meant that Luis and Victoria must have let her and a few others continue drinking after closing time. Isabela doesn’t understand how Sky did it. Isabela hadn’t drank half as much but knew she would be suffering twice as hard compared to Sky.

“Hi, sunshine.” Isabela can only grumble in response to Ashley’s greeting, letting her usher her inside the house with a laugh. “I told you to sleep in. I’m making Chris do all the heavy work anyway.”

“I’m perfectly able,” Isabela insists, sliding her glasses atop her head. She claps her hands, taking in the balloons and empty candy bags surrounding the living room coffee table. “Put me to work.”

There were fifteen other children in Jupiter’s daycare class and each one had a specific diet request which meant each candy bag must contain different items and not be confused. Ashley handed Isabela a list of the kids name and items their goodie bag must contain and sat her down in front of all the miniature snacks and toys. Jupiter’s party was space themed and the small moons and planets that Ashley had bought to go in the bag made Isabela coo. Why were tiny things so unfairly adorable?

“I want to make sure they are perfect,” Isabela defends with a fond eye roll when she sees Ashley arching an eyebrow as she triple checks a bag. There’s a small smile on Isabela’s lips from Ashley’s teasing but when she puts her mind to a task she always has to make sure it is done right. Not to mention that focusing her full attention on the goodie bags had her paying less attention to how sick she still felt. Even when she was younger she had never handled hangovers well.

“Do you want me to place the trash can beside you? Need a reminder as to where the closest bathrooms are?” Ashley teases her friend, noticing the large inhale and exhale she’s continuously doing and knowing it is in efforts to tame her growing nausea. She had offered Isabela tums and breakfast but Isabela insisted the only thing she would be able to keep down was water.

“I hate you,” Isabela returns, leaning back to let the couch cushions swallow her. “Drinking is not meant for me. I don’t know why I keep letting Sky talk me into nights out.” She closes her eyes for a few moments. Her eyelids feel heavy and she wonders if her eyebags are as horrible as she imagines. Isabela knew she looked a mess when she was tired. She wasn’t lucky enough to be a cute drowsy girl. No. It was all dark eyebags and swollen eyes for her.

“Think of the memories,” Ashley insists. “Memories are all we leave behind anyway.”

Isabela pops one eye open. “That was dark,” she laughs, never having known Ashley to be anything but optimistic. She gets what she is trying to say though. It doesn’t matter how much money someone left you if they were pieces of shit throughout your life, you would have rather had good times with them.

There is a shift in Ashley’s attitude, a tension in the air and Isabela knew it would come up sooner or later. She remembers being back at the bar. Crowded and sweaty and that guy had been an asshole but it was nothing new — it wasn’t until he had turned his hand into a fist and swung it beside him that she had reacted. Isabela had flinched and it made her feel weak but knowing Ashley had caught sight of it caused anxiety to flare up in her chest and overtake every feeling in her body. Hangover and shame be damned. She was sick to her stomach deciding whether she wanted Ashley to know the truth or not.

“Is,” Ashley begins, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. Isabela doesn’t want to seem flippant or uncaring of the worries her friend is bringing up so she sits up and mirrors her position. Showing she’s listening but keeping what she hopes is a blank expression on her face so nothing is given away. “Last night at the bar… when that guy asked you to dance —” Ashley cuts herself off and Isabela has been through this before. Knows that the people in her life care about her and it hurts them to think about and they can hardly bear to ask. “If you don’t want to answer it, that’s fine. We’ll move on and I promise I will never bring it up again but I have to ask at least once. What happened with that guy at the bar?”

Isabela thinks back to her sophomore year in college, freshly twenty and in love with the new usual that had taken up residence at Chucky’s Bar. He’d been a couple of years older and had only recently graduated from university, he was on his way to taking over his family restaurant. He was sweet and funny, his family had been warm and welcoming and within a blink of her eyes her sweet dream had turned into her worst nightmare. His tight grips became punches, his jealousy became delusions, and the hopes of him changing for her were flushed down the drain. She knew the saying, ‘if they did it once they will do it again’, but she had been so young and dumb and blinded. She considers herself one of the lucky ones. The incident had only escalated once and she had managed to get away.

It’s been years and she’s had therapy. Isabela isn’t angry at the world. She doesn’t hate all men. Hasn’t sworn off to ever date again or anything like that but the memories still feel fresh in her mind. Sometimes more than others and they always succeed at making her feel weak because she can’t help her body’s physical reactions. She can admit that the memories paralyze her every single time she has to deny someone something or she is in a position to displease someone, even minimally. It’s what had happened at the bar: Isabela’s palms had begun sweating the second the guy approached her because she knew she was going to turn him down. He had been kind in asking but not so nice once she had declined his offer. It hadn’t been the curses he had called her that made her flinch. The flinch had been in response to the arm he’d thrown out in exasperation and more than anything she’s only embarrassed of her lacking strength.

It’s one thing to have your weakness known and another entirely to have to explain it. It was like baring your soul to every person you came in contact with and Isabela trusts Ashley but she’s not ready for the way Ashley looks at her to change. She doesn’t need another person in her life viewing her as needing to be protected.

“My ex boyfriend wasn’t so nice,” is what Isabela settles on and she hopes that it’s enough for now. She remembers her mothers tears and Victoria’s anger when she woke up in the hospital. Ashley’s eyes soften and tear immediately and Isabela isn’t ready to draw out any other reaction. She reaches over to place a comforting hand on her friend's knee, assuring her she was with her now. “Oh Ash, don’t cry,” there’s a wobbly lip accompanying her chuckle. “It was a long time ago and I’m fine, okay? I’m right here.”

There’s astonishment in Ashley’s eyes, wonder over the strength of the woman sitting in front of her. Talking of her pain and still choosing to comfort others. “I hope Victoria killed him,” is all Ashley can think to say and Isabela lets out a watery laugh with one last pat to her knee before bringing her arm back.

“Let’s move on to these balloons, yeah?”

Three hours are spent blowing up balloons and taping them together as well as convincing Ashley to not change every detail over the chosen theme. Chris had been seconds away from crying when Ashley suggested for the tables to be moved and it was only when Isabela convinced her otherwise that the tension in his shoulders seemed to release. He had made a crazy motion behind his wife’s back and Isabela had to bite back her laugh. She sympathized with the stress on Ashley in ensuring the party was perfect for Jupiter and she was glad if she was able to ease a sliver of that.

After meeting the gorgeous and chatty Jupiter she found herself bummed that she was unable to stay. Jupiter was kind in providing Isabela with a tour of her playroom and allowing her to color in her favorite art book. There were lots of gibberish and babbles that ended with Jupiter looking up at Isabela waiting for a response so all she could do was pretend she understood the little girl with responses of ‘oh yeah’ and ‘wow’.

“I don’t want to let her go,” Isabela complains with a pout, squeezing Jupiter for a goodbye hug that the toddler was more than happy to return. “She’s perfect. I don’t understand how you guys get anything done, I just want to have her in my arms all day.” She takes advantage of having her in her arms and decides to take one last whiff of her baby head before letting go. “Have the best birthday party, little lady. Eat cake until your heart's content.”

“Uh oh, someone has baby fever.” Chris cocks a playful eyebrow in Isabela’s direction.

“No, no, no. I’m more than fine being the cool aunt who gets to spoil them rotten and hand them back during tantrums,” she replies, placing both hands on her knees to rise from her couch on the entryway, Jupiter having disappeared to the backyard. “You two should have another one, though.”

Chris’s wide eyes and immediate head shake have Isabela laughing. Ashley elbows her husband slightly, rolling her eyes at him before responding. “That one runs us ragged. We wanna wait until she’s a little older.”

Isabela can understand that. “My flight is in three hours and I still need to shower —”

“Is that what I smell?”

Ashley rolls her eyes at her husband, “Ignore him. It’s what I do.”

There is a bright smile on Isabela’s face, content to be around friends and their marital teasing. Maybe she missed them more than she thought. She feels guilty for believing Victoria when she said Ashley must have had ulterior motives for an impromptu girls night. Isabela had been nervous and taken more shots than she should have before Ashley’s arrival, convincing herself it had something to do with the mishap from years before. Fortunately Victoria and Isabela were both wrong and she found herself letting tension release in Ashley’s presence.

“Make sure to send me lots and lots of pictures of Jupiter. I want to see her chubby cheeks smothered in cake frosting and her little face when she opens her gift.” The adults peek over in the direction of the distracted toddler. “Thanks for having me over.”

“Are you kidding? Thank you for helping. I would still be stuck in a stress frenzy if you hadn’t been my sound board today,” Ashley replies, pulling her old friend in for a hug. Chris has the door open for Isabela behind them as he lets them say their goodbyes in peace, knowing it may be a while before the girls would be able to see each other again. “Let’s not go that long without contact again, ‘kay?”

Isabela shook her head. “Now that I’ve met your little monster you aren’t getting rid of me.” There’s another round of waves and goodbyes before Isabela exits their home and they close the door behind her. She feels lighter than she had when she arrived that morning, sleep deprived and slightly hungover. The air breeze against her no longer has the morning freshness and the LA heat has managed to set in.

She takes solace in the fact that in a few hours she was going to be in Hawaii. It was a light work trip with her client only having one single interview and photo shoot so she knew she would have downtime to hit the beach and local restaurant. Isabela’s making a mental note to text Jessica, her coworker and client’s social media manager, as well as opening her notes app to see the packing checklist made the day before when she hears footsteps trudging towards her and her name being called.

There's a sinking feeling in her gut. A part of her wants to run away and hide, remembering the embarrassment and shame that was brought upon her that day, but there’s a voice in her head telling her to keep her head held high and act like nothing was off.

“Austin, hey,” she hopes her tone isn’t filled with the dread she feels.

There’s a pause before she allows herself to face him for the first time in seven years. Isabela has seen him on television shows and movies, on the cover of magazines and gracing the front pages of tabloids with his then girlfriend. She would have to be in hiding to not have seen him this past year alone with all the Elvis promo, but seeing him in person manages to take her breath away. He’s handsome and that hasn’t changed. If anything, time and new opportunities have done him well. She remembers a sad boy who had just lost his mother and didn’t know what to do with his life; he was skinny and lanky and hadn’t got a haircut in months.

The man in front of her had life in him. He’s filled out since the last time she saw him and she sees a gleam in his eye that wasn’t there before. Austin must be happy, its the only guess she would make, and no matter what he put her through, happiness and health is all Isabela would have ever wished for him.

“Ash didn’t tell me you’d be here,” he says as he approaches closer to where she stands. Isabela expects the hug, finds herself accepting it, and then she immediately hates herself after. “It’s so good seeing you. I’ve been thinking about you.” Austin has never been one to shy away from his feelings, he’s always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, but this once she wishes he wasn’t so honest because it somehow hurts more to know she’s crossed his mind and he never reached out. “My assistant, uh, Lydia, remember her? She's pregnant. Told me last week and she was really happy. She’s gonna become a stay at home mom after, I think.”

There’s a brow arch because she’s unsure of how the news pertains to her. Isabela has talked to Lydia frequently through the years and the woman had called her a few days prior to share the news. “Yeah, she told me. Her and Raul are really excited. I mean, good for them, I know they’ll make the best parents.”

Austin looks like he’s gonna continue as he nods his head along in agreement but, “Hang on, you keep in touch with her?” He asks and he looks genuinely confused. It makes two of them because Isabela has no idea what’s going on in this conversation or what she could possibly have to do with Lydia being pregnant and why on earth it would be the first thing Austin wants to share with her after six years of no contact.

Isabela nods slowly. “She’s been a great help to me through the years. Helped me finish my internship and get an interview at this agency I’m at. I tell her she makes me feel like a nepo baby with all the connections she offers.” The fond eye roll shows all the love between the two women and transports Austin back in time to when there was a genuine friendship between them and he remembers to put the conversation back on track, where he wants it to head.

“Well, the job’s yours. If you want it.” There’s a dead silence that takes up the space between them. Quiet enough where he can hear the sound of the leaves rustling on Ashley’s front yard and the faint sound of a car honking from a block over. Austin feels the need to explain, “The past year has been amazing, Is, and I’ve actually got some of my favorite directors asking for me to read for their films. And with Elvis coming out, despite how it makes me sound like a complete dick, things are changing for me and I want people I can trust around me. You know, people who won’t come around for the wrong reasons or with bad intentions. When Lydia told me she’d help me find someone new all I could think about was offering it to you. I’ve got James, Kate, and people I trust around me and I wanna keep that going. I trust you. And I already know you’re damn good at your job.”

The betrayal that has simmered beneath her skin for six years - a betrayal from a friend and former employer, a betrayal that Isabela had forced herself to forgive without apologies being exchanged for her own emotional health - she feels the betrayal awaken in her chest as if it’s the day of again. She didn’t need anyone to plead for forgiveness and she didn’t need to be fought for but she always hoped that if a thought from him was spared for her it was because of more than him needing her for a job. A job he was only offering because he was big and famous and people were out to use him now.

Did Austin wake up and think, “hey, she was humiliated and treated like shit in my backyard and never spilled the beans to any tabloid so I must be able to trust her?”

Isabela reminds herself to take a deep breath. Austin was many things but he was never selfish or inconsiderate of others. His mom and sister would have never allowed it. Isabela had to come to terms with the fact that a moment of great disappointment and disloyalty in her life didn’t create an impact in his life. He hadn’t spent three days crying in bed afterwards or had a hard time getting hired for months after because gossip had made the rounds. Nope. The humiliation, sadness, and shame was left for her.

“I, um,” she knows that anyone else would have a lot to say. She wishes she had the guts to do the same but she doesn’t want to engage in an argument or have him give a meaningless apology. She doesn’t want him to know how much she still cares when he obviously had moved past it. “I’m taking a year off. Gonna take some time to travel and all that, but thank you. For thinking of me and offering.” She hopes her eyes aren’t brimming with tears because they sure are currently burning.

Austin looks disappointed and she wonders why he’d be anything but aware of the fact that she wouldn’t want to work with him again. Do they remember the day differently or something? She doesn’t have the gall to say any of that and she bites her lip to stop herself from easing any discomfort between them so the awkward silence grows between them before Austin moves to break it.

“Let me take your number down, at least,” he says as he reaches into his back pocket to pull his sleek black iPhone out and hand it to her. She takes it, noticing no phone case on and she cringes because her phone wouldn’t survive a day. “In case you come back from vacation early.” There’s a teasing lilt in his tone and she offers a small smile as she inputs her number for him, “Or just so we could catch up. You’ve been missed.”

There’s that eye roll again and it makes his stupidly handsome grin immediately return. For her part, she offers another small smile and wave as she heads down the pathway, “until next time, then,” she replies and when she turns she takes a deep breath to disperse the tightness in her throat. Although it’s unlikely, she wishes the next time is never because she wouldn’t survive another experience.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hey Steph :) Just a silly little question, out of curiosity. How do you personally find new stuff to read? Do you still go into the recent uploads of your pairings and just ... browse? Or do you mostly search for specific tags and scenarios? Or maybe you get most of your new reads from one of your own "What to read next?" list or from other people's recommendations or just follow the uploads from authors that you already know and like? I am asking because as a reader I grow "fandom fatigued" very easily. I very much enjoy looking through specific tags to find new gems but as soon as it turns into "work" because I have already read all the "obvious" picks I very easily drift out of the fandom space for a couple of months in favour of a different one. Hopefully to return at some later point when there is new writing to discover. Now usually I enjoy this process and there obviously is nothing wrong about it, but I am currently working on writing a fic in the fandom myself and I know that if I start focussing on a different fandom or pairing now then I probably will also fall out of interest with my own story for a while and it will be more difficult to pick up again later. I already found many inspiring new recommendations in your many lists so much thanks for that, I was just curious to hear how you continue to find new stuff to read and recommend, even after having read SO MUCH already :D

Hi Nonny!

Not a silly question at all!! I do get asked similar questions so having a public answer handy is great, ha ha! I'll answer each of your questions one at a time, since I think each question can be answered separately because of the nuance my brain is insistingI give to y'all.

How do you personally find new stuff to read?

This one is actually pretty easy, but it also depends upon the fandom I'm in the mood to read for. For Sherlock, literally it's BECAUSE I run a fic rec blog that encourages interactivity. You guys give me recs, and if they sound like something I want to read sooner than later, I add them to a Notes App Note and download the ePub to put on my iBooks to read later. I don't think I've browsed the AO3 ship tags for years for the Sherlock fandom. Also, I follow a lot of authors, and whenever they have a fic or suggest one, I add it to my MFL list.

If it's a new fandom though, I start with sorting by kudos or bookmarks and ship tags, and browse collections just to get an idea of what the fandoms offer. After that I sort by new uploads, but ALWAYS ship tags and filter out languages and tags that don't interest me.

So yeah, I run a fic rec blog, LOL. It helps a lot.

Do you still go into the recent uploads of your pairings and just ... browse? Or do you mostly search for specific tags and scenarios?

As I said above, only for other fandoms do I do this. For Sherlock I have fics recced to me daily so it helps. And yes, I go to my own blog's MFL lists to find or remind me of fics to read. AND I also decide "hey, I want to read a pining fic today" so I tag-search my own offline list so I can find the fics and read the descriptions without having to go to AO3 over and over. It's faster, having your own file on your computer, hahah.

Or maybe you get most of your new reads from one of your own "What to read next?" list or from other people's recommendations or just follow the uploads from authors that you already know and like?

As I said above, yeah, having an interactive blog helps IMMENSELY, and I also peruse other peoples' lists when they come across my dash. Follow on Tumblr or subscribe on AO3 to your fave authors and that's a good way to guarantee fics you will enjoy as well :)

=====

So yeah, it's just mostly stuff given to me. I can understand "fic fatigue". For me it's "fandom fatigue" really. I tend to just jump fandoms once in awhile since I found out I can read multiple fics as long as they're different fandoms and my brain won't confuse the plots. Or I get into a new fandom or thing and I MUST consume more from that universe. I used to feel guilty about it because I feel like people EXPECT me to only read Sherlock fics, but I just... need to be in the mood these days for a new fic in my well loved fandoms... I have re-read SO many Sherlock fics this year because I just love the squishy feeling I get from them.

AND I need to "have the spoons" to digest a new story, I think. AND another LARGE part why I haven't read many new Sherlock fics these days, is that because of the nature of my blog, it's actually work whenever I read a new fic since I have to "tag as I read" so that I can make the listing once I bookmark them. Reading Sherlock fics is genuinely work for me. Jumping to new fandoms removes that element for me.

So yeah, it's just me, LOL. Anyway, the TL;DR of this entire post is: I don't need to look, because people suggest new stuff to me all the time and it pleases me so. Only for other fandoms do I actually do the work to look for new fics unless I come across a fic rec list by happenstance while perusing tags on Tumblr, hee hee.

[alaskashigh]

Just leaving this here because I saw a post talking about how it "isn't okay to ship regions" or some shit, and I have also seen people be assholes about ships in fandom (cough- on tiktok- cough)

I have no problems whatsoever with any ships as long as they are legal and not disgusting. Every ship is welcome on my blog, so you will never see me seriously shitting on a ship because I "don't like it" unless the ship is, like I said, gross and illegal. I may jokingly say I hate Texacali, but I don't mean it, nor do I hate anyone who ships it. Yeah I may not really read it or talk about Texacali since it isn't a ship that i'm interested in, but that doesn't mean that other people who are aren't allowed to be here. Hell, you can talk to me about Texacali and I would happily give you my input or headcanons on it! Shitting on ships that other people like can make fandoms an unsafe place for those who do genuinely enjoy that ship, and we wouldn't want that now, would we.

This also goes for the people I've seen on tiktok making hate pages for WTTT ships, including servers, and even attacking those who enjoy those ships. I'm not saying you have to like a ship, just don't go around being an asshole to others because they like a ship that genuinely makes them happy. Ships aren't for everyone, and if it ain't for you, then fuck off. I don't go reading or engaging myself in things I know I don't like, so why would you?

This fandom is one of the nicest and kindest communities that I've seen in a long time. It's a safe place for many, and a place that everyone can go to talk about the things that they enjoy about Ben's fandom, so let's not ruin that by attacking people for their ship preferences or adding unnecessary rules made just to keep peoples creativity and the things they love in a small box. I'd hate to see this fandom get turned into just another toxic and gross community.

I'm not writing this just because of the post that I saw, but also because of the things I've seen on multiple occasions that have been pissing me off. Let's keep this fandom a safe place for creative thinking and ships, as long as they are legal and not harmful or gross. Thanks.

(If anyone wants me to add or change something about this post, let me know and I will.)

[crimson-moonflowers]

ANNOUNCEMENT

Hello there. Just as seen above, this blog is entering a phase of an undefined hiatus.

To make things short and clear: I'll be taking a break from Tumblr. I don't know for how long or if I'll be back. So until then, I wish y'all the best.

Longer explanation will go under the cut, in case anyone cares.

Right.

So, why am I doing this?

To be honest with everyone, Tumblr doesn't feel the same as before, for multiple reasons.

Most people have moved fandoms, although it's sad, I understand and respect such decisions.

The fandom is pretty dead, which means you get little to no engagement on posts (I appreciate those that interact, but I'd like to think that you understand the feeling too).

I'll be real, I'm not really that active when it comes to interacting with others either. For some reason I find this difficult or like I seem to have a fake interest.

Everything feels so... Monotonous.

The selfshiping community has become toxic AF and I'm tired of discourse and DNIs

I've cut ties with some people here since they turned out not so nice after truly meeting them.

So... Yeah. That's pretty much it.

But! Please don't worry about me, I'm not in any situation or mental state as to want to give up on everything, social media just tends to be exhausting.

Anyway! If you read all this, thank you. I hope I'll find it on me to come back. If not, then it was nice to meet you all!

[the-s1lly-corner]

Splendorman headcannons; catchup edition

General hcs plus some of the prompts that I did for multiple characters!! Idk how this is gonna look but we'll see (I tend to write these notes before writing the actual... post..) so!! Yeah!! I've been meaning to expand the base list of characters I do for hc posts; esp since it's so small and I dont feel comfy writing romantic stuff for a lot of the popular characters in this fandom <\3

Anyways! I'll have this split off into like. Segments. One for basic hcs, and different areas for prompts I did in the past (ex. Pet names, plushie stuff, ect!!)

This is gonna be a looooong post

General hcs;

To be fair, I'm still fleshing out how I want to interpret Splendor, and how I want to write him into my au

Obviously he's going to be related to Slenderman; as well as Trenderman (whether or not I add trender to this blog isnt decided yet, since I feel like not many people would be interested)

Most days he couldn't hurt a fly even if he wanted to.. however on the off chance he does need to fight/defend himself; he will

He can be just as, if not more, devasting than his brother

"The devil shivers when a nice guy loses his temper" except its splendorman and he actually is a nice person with a rare but hot temper

Usually his ugly side doesn't show itself unless someone tries to hurt those who are innocent

Perfect segway into the concept idea I have for him in general/in the au; but I like to think of him as a guardian

Now I may be getting silly, since he reminds me a bit of itward from fran bow; but I wanna use itwards whole imaginary friend/whimsical being as a basis for splendor

Also this is propaganda for fran bow; go play it, it's a nice game and it's been a hyperfixiation of mine since it released

Carrying on

But for splendor, rather than solely appearing to children, he appears to all

Bros like an anti dementor; adds life into a room

Actually he's kinda like scp 999

Guys can you tell my minds all scattered with vague ideas

Anyways

Similar height to slenderman; about 11-12 feet by default but he can also shift his height around for intimidation/convenience

Going with the hc that he has bells on his tentacles; you can hear him walking around/j

Said bells are also semi sentient; they still bend to his will most the time but sometimes they can snip at people... lil bites n stuff; like you know how bells usually have those lil.. gaps? In them? Idk what they're called but the X shaped things on them; that's the "mouth" for each bell

Actually unlike slenderman, you can actually see splendorman walk around, whereas slenderman just. You blink and he's moved.

Gives the absolute best hugs; also does the thing LJ does, and snakes his arms all up around you

Adding onto the idea that splendor is basically itward/scp 999, he basically shows up for people who need company, or need their spirits raised

Torn between giving him an actual face, or making it a blank face line slenderman where the smiley face is just markings; if he does have a face I'm also torn on whether to give him a perma smile or not

Idk

I like both ideas

Has clown/magician logic. Can pull next to anything out of his hat and/or suit sleeves/pockets

Reaction to s/o having plushies;

Doesnt mind it one bit!

In a way he finds it cute, and endearing!

Would never ever make fun of you for it; in fact he wouldn't make fun of you ever

Seemingly manifests plushies and accessories and all that for you

Does one have a stain or tear? Hes already working on fixing it!

Makes you handmade plushies as well; they have that charm to them, some having mismatched fabric patches, button eyes, ect

Yes he WILL smooch each of them if you ask him to, even if you ask as a joke

AND he will tuck them in!!!!!!

What he calls you/wants to be called;

He calls you: sweetheart, sunshine, my dear, sunflower, schnookums and similar dumb lil names! I feel like those would be more teasing/joking

He wants to be called: he has no preference, as long as the term is endearing and meant for him, hes happy

Downtime;

Off days with Splendorman usually are filled with fun and activities

If you want to spend time outside, he will pull something together. Gardening, picnics, stuff like that! Unfortunately, since hes still considered... a monster, he needs to remain out of sight, so walking out in broad daylight is a no go for him, unless the area is isolated - so that does make things a little limited in terms of time and location :(

But if you want to spend time indoors, he's more than happy to stay!

Baking, arts and crafts, ect ect! If it's something fun that at least two people can do together, its an option!

I feel like he would have lots of fun reenacting things with you; like dramatic retellings of your favorite books or movies or whatever

He gives a passionate performance

Ideal Partner;

Like most the other characters in the other post I made on thing, he doesn't have many preferences when it comes to partners: both in regards to personality and looks

Looks really mean nothing to him, you could be tall or short, fat or skinny or buff, guy or gal or anything else, and he wouldn't care so long as you're you

Personality? As long as you aren't a bully or otherwise cruel, he can love you with his whole being

That's really it, Splendorman isn't very picky

Just don't be a jerk and you're set

Though he will be thrilled if you share the same energy as him; though it's not required

Perfect date;

I covered a lot of things in the downtime section, so this spot isn't going to be too long, as to avoid me just repeating the same thing reworded

But this dude has a list of ideas as long as he is tall; he is not picky!

He doesn't really have a "perfect" or "ideal" date, as he's down for anything and everything

Well almost

Anything that puts ANYONE in danger in an immediate and hard no, same goes for if it puts anyone in emotional or physical distress

Otherwise anything else is possible! He's free to let you pick and take the lead; however he'll hardly mask his excitement if you tease the idea of doing something he very much enjoys/wants to do

It's kinda like watching a dog get excited after mentioning a treat or a walk

Romantic hcs;

Writing this first before I have the chance to forget: but when hes about to leave, he'll kiss you.... and when he turns around to leave, he'll let the lil bell monster things on his tentacles kiss you all over the face as a extra bit of affection

Now onto how I wanted this segment to start

S tier partner, out of the (creepypasta) characters that I have written for thus far, at least in my opinion

Great listener and willing to give advice, amazing comforter, and generally adds an air of excitement to life while also keeping things stable

Moving on

He gives the best hugs, as mentioned in the segment above, his can snake his arms around you in a similar fashion that LJ does

Speaking of that segment, depending on how you see his face working kisses can go multiple ways

If he does have a face, kisses go as expected; but if he has a perma smile it can get awkward since his face is constantly pulled into that large grin

But if its the "the smiley face is a group of markings" route, he can't really... kiss you.. at least not in the traditional sense

He'd approach it the same way slenderman does and imitates the act by gently nuzzling/knocking his lower face against you

He loves quick little pecks; on the cheek, forehead, and mouth, nose, loves it all

Always gives you flowers; usually defaults to sunflowers and daisies but if you have any particular favorites he'll provide it

Likes using that hat trick of his to present gifts

Just

Takes off his hat, puts his hand in it, and BOOM ! He pulls out a bouquet of flowers for you

If you get sick he'll be a mother hen and fret over you; won't back off until you're back at full health, and even then he'll hover over you for a few days afterwards just in case

He always let's you know how much he loves you; he'll remind you at least once a day

[robbyykeene]

Hey, quick non-CK question - what do you mean you got in trouble for hoarding URLs?? I didn't even know that was a THING?

Yeah haha. Not sure how long you’ve been on tumblr, but back in the day (like 10-12+ years ago) hoarding URLs was a big thing, especially in fandom spaces. Basically the idea was that you create a bunch of inactive sideblogs to save a URL that you might want to use in the future. At this point in time, switching back and forth between URLs was also a lot more common. I think some people even used to sell their URLs, or trade other URLs for them which is crazy. There was an entire URL hoarding real estate. It was actually a huge problem lol, I remember wanting to enter certain fandom spaces but being unable to get a URL related to it. And back then I feel like fandoms were a little harder to breach into, especially if you didn’t have a blog that looked like it should belong there—or maybe I was just younger and didn’t know how to interact with people lol, but either way it was still frustrating.

However, Tumblr has since (not sure when exactly) banned URL hoarding. Idk what exactly they quantify as hoarding, but I did have at least a few dozen URLs saved from over a decade ago that I honestly didn’t even remember I had. Most of them were related to emo bands lmao. I think what happened in my case is that this sideblog got caught in the tumblr spam filter somehow, which is why for months I wasn’t able to reply to people and was bot having posts appear in the tags. A lot of people have been having problems with being incorrectly flagged as spam in the last couple years, due to the algorithms they use to detect potential spam accounts. The real problem is that once your account has been flagged tumblr doesn’t notify you or communicate the problem to you, so if you don’t know what to look for (which I didn’t) you don’t know how to properly report the problem. I contacted support a few times but because I reported it as a bug, I suspect it didn’t go to the right place. Eventually this led to my account being terminated without warning or notification. I reached out to tumblr support on multiple platforms, and I think when they looked into the issue they saw that I had a bunch of URLs hoarded and suspended my main account (but restored access to this one). I deleted all the saved URLs, emailed support back, and they released my main account back. All in all I’m just happy with how quickly they resolved the issue tbh, I know a lot of people have spent months trying to get a terminated/suspended account back so I feel pretty grateful. And honestly I think it’s good that tumblr enforces the ban on URL hoarding, bc I remember how upsetting it was being like 12 years old and unable to get a URL related to the thing I really cared about.

[louisisalarrie]

"louis leaked the weed video to daily mail and you cant convince me otherwise"

the weed video is so funny to me, I wasn't in the fandom back then so I don't really know how the fandom reacted. But looking at it now is so funny considering how he has a song high in california and even harry has admitted doing drugs not to mention his lyrics. but the funniest part about that video is that zayn says "i know you like dick"

Hello anon!! This was meant to be a lot shorter, but… yep. Here we are. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these but, well, welcome to the show…

It was sooooo clearly planned. And hilarious. And at the time, because a lot of us were on the younger side, we were shook at this video. tried to rationalise it by them being excited about the actual food chicken, not coke, and there were more than a few people who unstanned. People burned physical concert tickets, deleted their blogs, sent nasty tweets to the boys… It was not something we were expecting, particularly because it just came out of the blue one day, and a lot of us were too young to have dabbled in the devil’s lettuce.

but yeah… louis filmed for a long time, clearly putting the joint in the middle of the frame multiple times so we wouldn’t miss it, spoke super loudly so we’d know it was him, kept talking about how they were smoking weed, and basically removed all plausible deniability. and there wasn’t really too much attempted clean up afterwards. things just kinda kept going on as normal, even after the video was leaked.

SC did a half assed attempt at saving face, Liam made a series of tweets to try and save their butts (as per usual, he cleans up haha), TMZ said One Direction’s lawyers were getting involved because someone stole that video and leaked it (which like… how? It was literally filmed on louis’ phone, and im sure there would be much more interesting things to leak off there), and then articles about how upset Harry was at Louis for the whole thing were planted the next day to a) push larry further apart and continue their enemy thing, and b) push harry for another reason for a solo career.

BUT the thing is… SC’s statement, came roughly a week after all the articles had come out. It wasn’t straight away. And you wanna know why I think that was?

This article from the BBC.

Plainly put, it’s a short speculation piece about whether or not One Direction were still happy. That was a massive thing that came out of that video… was just like, Zayn and Louis being annoyed that they were putting out ANOTHER book, and that it was just the same old boring stuff that the fans had seen and read all before (I have all the books still, and yes, he is correct). I think that probably encouraged a statement from SC, because what’s the best way to show you’re unhappy and wanna step away from your brand and get back at your big boss who has full control over your career? You guessed it! A scandal.

While they certainly were smart enough to do this while in a country where it is legal to have a small amount of jazz cabbage for personal use, to avoid further complications with the law etc., and never actually using any explicit terms like “cocaine”, it got them off the hook enough that this leak was successful while still protected them from “going too far”. And I 100% stand by that it was Louis who planned to film and leak it, and that’s why “I know u like dick” came out, too.

Precious Mr Tomlinson has always been a bit of a mastermind with a master plan, and he knew that by posting this, the media would jump on them doing drugs more so. That was meant to be the main feature, with a splash of hating their brand and wanting to do more for fans. But for us Larries? Well… zayn saying he knows louis likes dick and then a loud louis cackle was pretty huge. Louis encouraged it and probably suggested zayn say something along those lines just to stir the pot (pun intended) some more. This video truly had the trifecta: hating SC/the 1d brand, doing drugs, and encouraging gay rumours.

And theeeeen SC hit louis with a punishment, which was Eleanor was to accompany louis for the rest of the tour because she’s a “great influence on him” (lol) which was announced on the same day of SC’s statement (coincidence?).

That same article then commented on how louis was so upset about the video because he was trying to make a deal to buy the Rovers at that time and didn’t wanna jeopardise it (he knew that vid wasn’t gonna jeopardise shit lol).

I think Louis saying the N word (which we all argued about whether he said it or not for ages bc damn louis) is totally inexcusable. That was by far the worst thing that came out of this video, and the media noticed it too. I don’t think he intended on it being in the video leak, because regardless of how much he wanted to piss off SC, I don’t think he’d ever intended to hurt anyone else and him saying that obviously did. I won’t excuse that and I kinda think well did he even watch it back before leaking it? Did he rewatch it still stoned and didn’t think twice about it? Either way he shouldn’t have said it regardless of being on camera or not and he did really hurt a lot of people. It was stupid.

The vid still available online is cut exactly at 5 mins, and is chopped up and doesn’t show the whole thing (I think there was a longer version somewhere that came out too and it was like over 8 mins but didn’t have the cuts in it? Idk I remember there being a longer one that disappeared???) but yeah… it truly was a time.

[lemotmo]

I feel like something has to have happened behind the scenes. I don't know if it has anything to do with anyone being told specific story arcs, because I have no idea how 911 does those things in the off-season so I don't want to assume any of the actors have been told anything. The radio silence from Oliver is not abnormal or unexpected this is kind of his routine. I feel like the interviews that came out with Ryan immediately following the season finale you could tell he was not thrilled with the storyline. He's had time to rest, reflect and maybe been given some ideas about the upcoming season and this interview came across much more positive. I do think he was comfortable with the interviewer as well, which is always noticeable with Oliver and Ryan.

The absolute radio silence from Lou across the board is the big mystery here. First he completely shuttered his cameo account. He went from multiple daily posts about 911 and Tommy to absolutely nothing. He's no longer liking posts. He's no longer replying to Twitter messages. Absolute silence. I know some people are saying it's because he was 'attacked' and is just taking a break but I don't buy that at all. You don't go from being a complete attention seeker to dormant because a few people called you out on Twitter. Now you have his goon squad talking about how they're being blocked by people who work on the show, and the jounos who cover the show have started publicly calling them out, which they've never done before (as far as I can remember?) to Tim flat out saying it was a mistake to have ever engaged in the first place even out of politeness.

I don't know but it's weird how sudden it was. I saw one post on Twitter this morning where one of his fans (gag me) said they were getting a little concerned because not only did the BTS videos show a clear separation between him and Oliver when they're not rolling but now Kenny, who I guess was the one cast member who 'liked' Lou's posts had stopped doing that shortly before Lou went dark. Ryan pretty much debunking all their nonsense in one interview didn't help their cause either. I don't know, this got rambly but it's noticable and it's odd so I'm very curious what happened.

Hey Nonny. I must admit that I'm a bit hesitant to post your message on my blog. Mostly because I always try to stay respectful towards people. But I really wanted to reply to this, so I decided to go for it.

For anyone coming across this: Me replying to this message is not an invite to send hatred my way. I myself am not hating on anything or anyone. I simply want to give my input and opinion on this message that was sent to me, since it's an interesting topic. Remember, every opinion is valid and it's okay to post about your opinion on your own blog.

Ryan did seem so much happier doing this interview. You could see that he wasn't struggling to look for answers that were 'acceptible'. So yeah, I do think something shifted bts. I can't know for sure, but to me it seems that he got a YES for the storyline he has been wanting to do for a couple of seasons now. So yeah, I choose to believe that this is about queer Eddie's journey.

As for Lou. I have no idea what happened there. It's possible the showrunners talked to him about the cameos or his recent behaviour on social media. I don't know and I also don't want to spend too much of my precious time speculating about a man I really don't like. Ultimately I don't think it matters. I don't see him lasting very long in season 8.

Basically the truth is that we don't know for sure what is going on. He could just be on a vacation for all we know. I think the guy earned enough cameo money over the last couple of months to afford a trip to the Maledives. :D

As for all the other stuff... again, I don't know. Did it seem like he didn't get along with the rest of the cast? Yes. Is it true that Ryan talked about a lot of subjects that were used against him by certain people in the fandom? Yes.

Are some of the BT fans really 'passionate' about the ship and do some questionable things because of that? Yes. But please keep in mind that not everyone is like that. I know some perfectly reasonable fans that just like the BT ship dynamic. I might not understand it, but it's their take and it's valid. We need to keep them in mind as well when we speak about the BT fandom. It doesn't do any good to lump everyone together in one big general heap of shippers. Everyone is different. It's the same in the Buddie fandom.

So, look... am I curious about what is going on bts? Hell yes. But mostly in function of how they are planning Eddie's coming out and the eventual Buddie of it all. The rest is really not that important anymore.

All we can do now is focus on the things we do know: the possibility of queer Eddie Diaz in season 8? BIG HUGE YES!