#and like…for the teenagers out there it’s also a marketing and projection thing

[nezumasa]

“Why do all the Persona fames have to feature underage highschoolers? It’d be so much better if they were in college/out of school!”

Not everything has to match up to your life experiences and you can just play a different series. Atlus has tons of them.

[satansapostle6]

Love The Sinner | Dexter Morgan

Dexter Morgan, a vigilante serial killer hiding in plain sight, loses sleep for the first time in his life when he’s met with the very last thing he expected: a kindred spirit.

Warnings: Violence. Mature language and themes. Sexual content.

Part One. Eyes of Darkness.

Most people, when they’re getting arrested, shit their pants with fear. Some scream, some cry. Some rage, and some try to run, and some just freeze. That’s what you usually see, when you’re in your parents’ living room, and your dad can’t wait to turn on the TV to the channel dickety-six news, of all things. But sometimes, people have other reactions when being handcuffed and shoved in the back of a squad car. Sometimes people enjoy it, for one reason or another. I smiled when Miami Metro put me in cuffs on the news. Laughed, even. You see my story is many things, but boring certainly isn’t one of them.

Let’s start simple. My name is Nicole Carvalho, and as of today, America knows me as ‘Murderous MILF’. You really can’t make these things up; I love this country. I keep reminding myself, if I ever go free, I need to clip that out of the newspapers. But see, right now, at this very moment, I’m sitting alone in an almost blindingly white interrogation room at the precinct, waiting for a cop to question me while they study me on the surveillance footage. I can’t lie, I’m sitting back right now in my chair, smirking. You see, I killed the men who violated and later took my baby girl’s life, and I’m currently very pleased with myself.

I don't think my grandfather pictured this when he left Brazil. This truly is the American dream; committing a crime and letting your own peers decide whether or not it was justified. In all honesty, a jury will be much kinder to me than ‘God’ has been. So, I figured I’d let myself have this one thing. I think I waited about a half an hour before they sent someone in; a female detective. They must’ve figured a matching vagina couldn’t hurt. The first thing I noticed about this detective was that she was strikingly young; close to my age. I’m thirty-six, so I would estimate her to be maybe a little younger.

But apart from her age, the next thing I noticed about this detective was that she was very robotic in how she interacted with me; she didn’t necessarily look like she wanted to be there. She barely looked up at me when she came in, holding my files and looking down at them like a teenager doing a presentation in high school.

“So. Nicole Carvalho. I’m Detective Morgan.”

She sits down across from me less like I’m a murder suspect and more like she’s interviewing me for a secretary job. I look at her, sitting forward as I join her in the conversation, still smug as ever. I think she was secretly hoping I’d say it, the four words that usually drove most cops insane that, for some reason, no one ever thinks to say in the movies.

“I want my lawyer.”

I smile as I say it. Detective Morgan also smiles, looking down at the table before getting up. I’ll never forget how pleased she sounded.

“Guess that means I can’t ask you anymore questions.”

She gets up and walks out, and that’s the end of it. In all honesty, I don’t think she was looking forward to questioning a woman about the murder of her daughter’s rapist. After the detective left me alone, I was allowed to call myself the lawyer that I had in mind. This, of course, was a friend of a friend, a perfectly shady guy named Johnny Bertelli, who was, in the nicest way possible, a fucking scum bag. You see, I work as a project manager at a marketing firm, so I’ve met my fair share of good lawyers, but Johnny was the fucking best.

He made Johnnie Cochran look like an idiot. He was the kind of lawyer who laughed at the prosecution in court, and I needed him. So there i was, in the Miami Metro precinct punching a number I’d gotten off Google into a wall phone. I looked around the precinct as I waited for someone to pick up, and suddenly it was like I felt a pair of eyes on me. I turned around, and I saw a pretty timid, mild-mannered looking guy who seemed as if he’d been standing there trying to figure out how to get my attention.

But the strange thing was, he didn’t seem to want my attention, at all, actually. If anything, he seemed perturbed by the fact that I was looking his way. I looked over at him, not knowing what the fuck his story could’ve been. Miami’s a weird place, because in this moment, I realized the guy wandering the precinct in a Polo and khakis could very well be an employee. I looked at the guy, not knowing what he could’ve wanted with me as I struggled with the phone. Funny enough, he actually just wanted to be helpful.

“You gotta press pound,” he says quietly, “For the call to go through,” and I almost laugh.

I appreciate the odd moment, just thanking him.“Thank you.”

He just nods, and says nothing as he quietly retreats to wherever it was he came from. I took his advice, and sure enough, the phone worked and patched me through to Johnny’s office. I wasn’t quite sure at the time, seeing as I was obviously a bit preoccupied, but I felt that strange man’s eyes linger on me for a moment. Even as I turned around, I could sense his surreal sort of presence that he had. Sure, I was used to having men’s leering eyes on me out in public; it was hardly unusual. But this was different.

Like he was less looking at my body and flesh, but more so imagining what was underneath it.

*****

The next couple years of my life were eventful, to say the fucking least. Johnny of course advised me to take my case to trial instead of taking a plea, for obvious reasons; there was no way any jury was going to give me the maximum sentence, or God forbid, the death penalty. I was a single mother who stabbed her twelve year-old daughter’s rapist seventeen times. In the eyes of the public, I was practically a fucking hero. Johnny’s confident that any jury would feel sympathetic to me, despite the brutality of what I’d done. As he says, the facts are still there.

My neighbor, a weasley little creep named George Randall got me, and my Isabelle, to trust him, and took advantage of her in the worst way. Then she killed herself, because of what he did, and I had to find out through a note left on her desk for me to find. So, I went to George’s with an empty baking dish of his, and once he let me in, I whipped out the knife I’d borrowed from him, the same knife I used to use to cook for my little girl, and I made his stomach burst like a water balloon. At this point, I’d already chosen to show little remorse for the crime I’d committed, feeling perfectly at peace with the possibility of prison, or the death penalty.

But Johnny said there was probably no need to be too fearful of either. He’d even told me there was a possibility I’d just get a few years, and then parole, or something, and I wasn’t sure that wasn’t bullshit, but I also liked his confidence. The reality of it was, Johnny had made much worse people look way better. To him, my case was already closed. All I had to do was play the part of the grieving mother, which took no effort on my part. I had to wait almost a year for my case to go to trial, which I of course did outside of a cell.

This gave me enough time to get all my affairs in order, or so to speak. My job was okay for the time being, and I knew I’d probably still have it so long as I wasn’t convicted of murder, given my ‘years of dedicated service’. Things were going to be relatively fine, eventually, but for now, I was stuck being paraded around like a jester on some twisted apology tour for avenging my daughter’s death. I’m a pretty good actor, but even my patience has its limits. And maybe wearing my white So Kate’s to court wasn’t necessarily the best judgement call.

But Johnny, being more than worth the money I pay him, made it work. I walked into the courtroom with him, humble and graceful, and didn’t let my eyes linger so as not to appear guilty. But even then, I caught a glimpse of him in the room. The guy who helped me with the phone. He was watching my trial, probably just as a police department employee. Probably.

“Will the defendant please rise?”

I complied with Judge Willis’s request, with my trusty guard dog by my side. I remained dignified, my head held high, but not too high, of course, as the proceedings began.

“Miss Carvalho. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty, your honor,” I told him.

The damage was done. My fate rested entirely in the hands of twelve strangers, and for some reason, there was a thirteenth who seemed oddly invested in the outcome.

-

Part Two.

[alexanderwales]

The Index

This is an index of things I've written and posted online, with minimal descriptions because most of them have blurbs if you click the link. This list is not exhaustive, especially because there are a bunch of short stories and dribbles in various places. If something you liked is missing, let me know.

Web Serials

Worth the Candle - Juniper Smith is a teenaged Dungeon Master who ends up in a world filled with all the things he dreamt up for his campaigns, along with signs of his friend who died months earlier. This Used to be About Dungeons - Five teenagers live in a house together, bake bread, tend the garden, and occasionally fight monsters in dungeons. Thresholder - Thresholders travel from world to world, fantasy one minute and scifi the next, always encountering an opponent, growing stronger as they battle. Shadows of the Limelight - Fame gives you superpowers, and Dominic just saved the world's greatest hero from defeat in full view of a large audience. Glimwarden (unfinished) - A small town huddles around lanterns that keep the darklings at bay. Four teenagers must grow in power as the darkness encroaches. The Dark Wizard of Donkerk (unedited) - Two men steal a baby from an orphanage, then find out he's too cute to sacrifice and raise him as their own.

Fanfic

The Metropolitan Man (Superman) - Lex Luthor attempts to unravel the secrets of the alien. A Common Sense Guide to Doing the Most Good (Superman) - Superman gets really into effective altruism. Instruments of Destruction (Star Wars) - A fable of project management aboard the second Death Star, through the eyes of Admiral Tian Jerjerrod. Branches on the Tree of Time (Terminator) - Sarah Connor is working as a software engineer at UCLA when a naked man shows up on her doorstep. A Bluer Shade of White (Frozen) - Elsa can make life, and Olaf is smarter than he looks.

Shorts

Eager Readers in Your Area - Artificial intelligence has left authors scrambling for readers. Charlotte clicks on an ad. Variations - An orc visits an art exhibition where she feels out of place. Contratto - Julia takes a job as a marketer, working for the vampires to keep their secrets safe. The Randi Prize - James Randi offers a prize for anyone who can demonstrate supernatural abilities. Coming Home - After a long time isekaied to a fantasy kingdom, an errant father has coffee with his estranged son.

I also post short stuff to this very tumblr, which can usually be found under the #microfiction tag unless I forget. Usually this is mirrored on AO3, unless I'm lazy.

Web Comics

Millennial Scarlet - Lamont Pearce is a gig economy demon hunter whose mother ran a government agency meant to defend against Hell. Worth the Candle - A webcomic adaptation of the web serial

Non-Fiction

The AI Art Apocalypse - Slightly outdated thoughts from 2022. Why to Write a Sex Scene - Observations on the narrative purpose of carnal pursuits. Game Review: Underhill - This review contains no screenshots, because this game does not exist. Writing: An FAQ - Accumulated wisdom from 4 million words and counting. Creating Interesting Magic - A much-requested post on making interesting magic systems (and characters, and plots, and worlds). How to Write a Web Serial - It's both easier and harder than you think. The Trouble with Writing Nazis - On giving villains too much credit. Interesting Things to do with Time Loops - Exploring the boundaries of the conceit.

[curtsycream]

My Heart Lingers in Italy

In which James Potter visits Italy for a school trip just to meet two girls that change him forever.

This is pretty short but it is only my first installment of this series if you want to call it that. It will be part of my summer project for my writing. So updates may be a bit slow but quality over quantity right? Anyway I hope you enjoy, it wasn’t beta read this time I wanted to get it out before I rewrite it completely or just scrap the idea. Also when they trade IDs it was supposed to be for Line and such like that but couldn’t find a face social media maker for that one, so yeah also English is not my first language so if my grammar or spelling is off I apologize in advance.

“Lily, where are we going?”

The two girls held hands as they weaved through a crowd of tourists. The streets of Verona normally weren’t so packed but it was tourist season. Smiling Lily tugs Y/N forward as the two girls walk, “Remember you said you’d go to Piazza San Zeno with me. I explicitly remember telling you last week when you were busy talking with Sienna.”

Y/N smiled broadly, “don’t tell me you were jealous again. You know you never have anything to worry about, she just wanted to know if I would be applying to universities outside of Italy. I told her I’m going wherever you go,” she whispered.

Ducking her head down Lily tried to use her hair to hide her reddened cheeks. “You’re so annoying sometimes, come on!”

The two girls, one smirking and the other blushing made their way to the open flea market. It was packed with locals and foreigners alike. Y/N waved to any and everyone she knew running different stalls. When Lily stopped walking she bumped into the shorter girl’s back.

“What’s the hold-up, Donnina?” Y/N glanced up to notice a group of teenagers. All about the same age as the two of them. But what stuck out the most was a group of boys playing around near a booth. Their playful nature was animated and rather funny.

Grinning she wrapped an arm around Lily’s shoulder, “oh I see it’s those tourists. They’re rather cute I’ll admit,” she commented.

“What do you think about that one?” Lily asked pointing at a bespectacled boy with dark hair.

Squinting Y/N finds herself analyzing the boy from his charming behaviors to his handsome looks. “Attractive,” it was simple but for someone like Y/N, it meant a lot.

Lily and Y/N knew each other inside and out better than most people did. So a simple compliment from Y/N meant she wanted to get to know him too.

“Should we talk to him?”

“What about that thing we rushed here for?”

“Aldo will be here next Sunday with the book I want to look at, should we talk to him?”

The urgency in her voice was clear, it hinted at her fear of passing up on what could be a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Nodding her head Y/N nods her head in his direction, “Let’s go.”

Pulling Lily along she smiled softly when standing in front of the boy. Up close he was much more handsome than she gave him credit for.

James was listening to Remus explain the difference between the two books in his hands to Sirius. He knew Sirius only did this to rile him up. Looking away from his friends he noticed two girls walking towards him. One was short and flushed and the other tall and grinning.

He would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel something. They were opposites of each other yet they looked so good together. Like that of sunshine and rain where together they equal out to rainbows. A balance is what they represent one that he wanted to be a part of. It was a strange feeling but it felt meant to be.

“Ciao,” he said without thinking.

The tall girl smiled with a laugh, “Ciao.” While the shorter one looked away before looking back at him with a smile, “Ciao.”

“I, I didn’t really pass Italian just enough to end up on this trip,” he explained. He felt as if he had to as if he owned them something.

“No it’s fine, we know English. Your accent British?” The tall one asked with just as much interest as a puppy. Her accent is thick as she speaks fluently and confidently.

“Yes, I guess the accent was very obvious,” he joked.

“That among other things,” the words from the shorter girl made him grin. Her voice was lithe sneaking up on his ears with agility. While the taller girl’s voice felt like velvet wrapping around his eyes blinding him with mystery. Both were opposite but equal in the effects they were having on his senses.

“Oh, what are these other things?” He asked leaning forward enough to smell figs and jasmine on her. A floral and fruity scent that made him lean back some.

“If I told you so easily it wouldn’t be as fun,” she told him.

“She’s always like this if you’re wondering, you’ll have to pry her secrets from her cold little hands to know.” The glint of amusement in the taller girl’s eyes was evident. Just like the smell of mint and lemon when she stepped closer to whisper that to him. The crisp and citrus scent was exhilarating like a cool breeze sweeping over him.

“I’ll keep that in mind for the next time we meet,” he tells her.

The confidence in his tone was enough to cause Y/N to look away. Lily found herself squinting at him, “who said we would meet again?”

“I can’t say for sure but I hope so,” he says. “You’re both really interesting.”

“We’ve said less than five sentences each,” she tells him. All he did was shrug a look of certainty on his face. His expression revealed it all as if he knew they would.

“Then let’s trade IDs?” He asked them.

“How do you even know we have the app?”

“I don’t, but I’d like to hope you do, red.”

Laying in her bed whilst looking up at her ceiling Lily sighs. Sitting up she glanced over at whom she deemed her other half. The other girl was sculpting something with clay her headphones probably blaring some loud music.

Each time Lily tried to sleep her mind would wander to the bespectacled boy they met. His charisma was refreshing in a way she had not expected. Though she denied it on the trip back home she did enjoy his company.

His words so easily teased and left her cheeks red. She couldn’t understand how he so easily did so. Before she could think longer about the British boy she felt arms snake around her waist. A head resting on her chest, “What are you thinking so hard about, Donnina?”

Weaving her fingers through the taller girl’s hair the ginger sighs. A look of contemplation on her freckled face. “That guy…the British boy. He’s not easy to forget,” she uttered.

Mulling over Lily’s words she agreed, “I get that..he’s very charismatic in a way. But under all that, there is this heart tug where you can’t help but enjoy his company.”

“Exactly!” Lily exclaimed as she brushed hair out of the other girl’s face. Her finger trailed down her forehead and along the bridge of her nose. “I wonder if that’s normal…to feel that way about someone you just met.”

Humming softly Y/N’s fingers ghost over Lily’s sides before resting on her hips. “Maybe it’s a British thing? To be so charming and have people eager to see them again.”

“I thought that was the French?”

“It’s all relative, or how do people say Greek to me.”

Lily snorted shaking her head, “I think this is why you shouldn’t skip out on your literature classes.”

“Why would I stop when I have such a beautiful tutor to teach me when I don’t show up for classes?”

“You’re such a flirt.”

“You wouldn’t have me any other way, donnina.”

Verona was beautiful at night, James remembered Remus telling him it was the city of Romeo and Juliet. A lovely Italian city where lovers can go and enjoy the sights around them.

Lover or not he had to admit that the city was more than he expected. The town with its medieval architecture and the meandering Adige river. It was hard for him to stop looking out of his window as the moon reflected perfectly upon it.

He could hear Sirius and Remus’ hushed tones within the room. The two had spent the day with James although James made it clear he was okay alone. He didn’t want to ruin the time his friends could have in such a romantic place together.

But he was grateful, sighing he glanced down his eyes finally leaving the river. People were still walking about outside conversing. he expected the nightlife to not be as active. From the morning and afternoon being busy with bustling marketplaces, piazzas, shops, and gardens. But from the way people were chattering and laughing it seemed there was more to the city.

For some reason he found himself watching a duo of two women. One tall and the other short both of them laughing and clinging to each other in their drunken state. He wondered if they did similar activities, or rather he wondered what they were doing now.

A small ding left his phone, his hand dived into his trousers pocket to retrieve it. A message from Y/N appeared on his phone, eagerly he opened it.

Typos are on purpose because they are messaging in English. To better clarify when it’s just Lily and Y/N speaking together it will be in Italian. I’ll better indicate that in the next installment, but Y/N is terrible at English but she tries. I’m such a sucker for this trio already.

[thatsmzbitchtoyou]

The Fuck Up Chapter 1

Summary:  Bucky fucked up.  A few times.  Will his best friend ever be able to forgive him?

Warnings: language, smut, mentions of war, injury, pregnancy

Next chapter

Y/N and Bucky had been best friends since they were teenagers. They met on the first day of high school in English, both groaning over the fact that the assigned reading was The Grapes of Wrath, considered an American classic but an incredibly boring read. They were paired up in a project together and became inseparable ever since. Y/N had no family, having been passed from foster home to foster home until finally being placed with the family she was with now who were willing to keep her. She had a hard time trusting people, and Bucky liked a challenge. They quickly became the most important people in each other’s lives. They were teased about dating each other, and as much as they each had moments of having more romantic feelings towards the other, nothing had ever come to full fruition. Bucky’s family took Y/N in and treated her like their own. Even with her new adopted family, she had never felt so loved in her life.

After high school they had planned to go to college together, but the housing market crashed and Bucky’s parents, Winifred and George, had to use his and his sister Becca’s college funds to keep their house, and no companies were giving out scholarships as they all tried to protect their assets. Y/N had been able to use a grant system to get into college. Bucky came from a military family, and although he had had no plans of ever joining, it seemed he had run out of options. He enlisted in the Marines. Y/N was upset, not wanting him to risk his life, but understood. She supported him as he went through boot camp and then the rigorous special operations training, but the military was hard on him. Bucky had always been an emotional person, and Y/N hated watching him have to deal with the PTSD and the group mindset that the military instilled in him, changing him from the happy-go-lucky kid she’d known to an anxious, trauma-ridden mess. She finished college and got a digital marketing degree, working for a major online company while doing some photography as a side hustle.

Twelve years later they were both in their thirties, barely getting to see each other but keeping in touch. Bucky had had a few close calls while on special ops the last few years and his family was pushing him to not re-enlist.

“Please, Buck, no more,” Winifred begged him. “You’ve served your country well. You’ve almost died three times over the last few years. Please stay,” she cried as he looked at the re-enlistment papers.

“I know, Ma, I know,” Bucky sighed, setting them down. “I…I just feel like I got one more tour left in me. I need to do this.”

“Hey everybody!” Y/N called as she entered the house.

Winifred spun around. “Y/N! Come here please!”

Y/N followed her voice to the kitchen. “Hey Winnie…wait,” she looked between them. “What’s wrong?”

“Bucky is thinking of re-enlisting,” Winifred said, sniffling sadly.

The look on Y/N’s face when her head snapped towards him made him flinch. “You…” she stuttered, her eyes wide and her brow furrowed. “You just got back.”

“I know, honey,” Bucky walked up to her and grabbed her arms. “I just need to do this. One more tour.”

“No,” she replied, pulling away from him. “You said you were done. We wrote to each other about it. You promised me,” Y/N’s eyes started to fill with tears.

“Please don’t cry, Y/N,” Bucky begged. “I can’t handle it when you cry.”

“Well that’s TOO DAMN BAD!” Y/N screamed at him. Bucky stepped back, surprised by her reaction. Winifred gasped, also shocked by her outburst. Y/N was not one to normally get emotional or react out loud to things. Y/N shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to breathe normally as her hands clenched at her sides. “You promised me,” she whispered.

Bucky sighed and bit his bottom lip. “Y/N, please understand—”

“No, you need to understand something,” she interrupted him, her eyes opening and glaring at him. “I don’t know where this weird obsession came from with you wanting to run into danger. You joined the military so you could get help with college. But then you re-enlisted, and re-enlisted. And now you have this codependent relationship with an organization, in a government, in a country, that doesn’t care about you!” She walked closer to him until she was toe to toe with him. “You are just another body to them. If and when you die, they’ll easily replace you. We can’t replace you!” She gestured to Winifred and herself. “I need you,” she cried, the tears finally falling down her cheeks. “You are wanted, appreciated, and loved here, at home. Why is that not enough?”

“It is enough,” Bucky said, blinking rapidly to stop any of his own tears falling.

“Obviously not,” Y/N whimpered, her chin wobbling as she tried to keep her emotions at bay. “I can’t…I can’t do this,” she whirled around and left the way she came.

“Y/N, hey wait,” Bucky called after her, following her to the front door. “Come on, honey, please don’t leave, let’s talk about this!” Y/N didn’t answer him, continuing to walk through the front door and out to her car. “Y/N…honey please!” She didn’t even spare him a glance as she got in her car. He tried opening her door, but she had already locked it. She quickly backed up and left his parents’ house, her tires screeching as she peeled down the street. “Fuck,” Bucky grumbled, running his hands through his hair.

He knew she was right, that it was stupid of him to re-enlist and put himself in harm's way. He had made a lifelong friendship in the military, and through some misguided idea of brotherhood had promised his friend he’d come back for another tour and join him for more special ops. But he had also promised his girl he’d be done after this last time. His girl?

**picture found on Pinterest...can we all agree that A.I. is dangerous just for this picture alone? #buckywiththelonghair

[cantcompetewhereudontcompare]

Louis - the Liam Gallagher cosplayer

I said my next project would be Louis as a homophobic bully - with proof. But the hard proof I have is in a hard drive I can't access right now, so I'll leave that for later (but it is coming as soon as I can).

I thought instead I'd tackle a huge thing that's been bothering me, especially in light of the Oasis reunion.

I'm personally a huge fan of Oasis, and everything about Louis regarding Oasis annoys me, but particularly these two things:

He's not an actual fan and never was. Just a casual listener who's marketing himself a certain way to appeal to a certain audience

He's attempting (rather embarrassingly) to be a copy-paste version of Liam Gallagher

I'll divide this into two parts, and this first post will be about point #1, because it'll be too long otherwise.

Anyone who was a fan of One Direction in their early days would know that Louis' Thing, the music he said he enjoyed, was Top 40 radio. He can act like he's an indie rock band enthusiast all he wants, but that's just simply not true. In fact, that was HARRY'S thing throughout his time in the band.

Fans called him a hipster (the whole Frat Harry thing came later, at the time, in 2013, fans said he was a hipster). And Louis LITERALLY mocked him for liking "obscure" bands.

Here, March 13 2013, One Direction's Take Me Home Tour in Dublin. They read Twitter questions and answered them on stage. The question was "What's the number one song played on your iPod?" and Louis introduces the question to Harry with "Harry, got any indie bands we haven't heard of?"

Here's the video. The question is at 2:06, first he talks to Zayn, then Niall, then at 2:36 to Harry.

This isn't a one-time incident, but it's one I distinctly remember (because I went to multiple shows of that tour and followed it closely!) and can physically point out. It happened multiple times. It was a Thing Louis mocked him about constantly. Keep in mind, Louis was 21 when this happened, a fully developed grown adult who had been in the industry for three years and was a professional musician.

Why do I say this? Does it bother me that he mocked Harry? No, that's just banter lmao. But what bothers me is that a few years later, he would rebrand as someone who enjoyed indie music, as an indie musician himself, who enjoyed and propped up unknown bands. And his fans would act like Harry was the popstar who made and enjoyed shallow music and Louis was a rock connoisseur all along.

At 21 Louis... distinctly wasn't that person - he also wasn't that person at 22, or 23, or 24, he started being that person in 2017, when he decided to craft his entire persona around being a Donny chav who gave you a two-finger salute and wore trackies to red carpet events.

Louis didn't even try to act like his musical style was indie rock back then. in the early 2010s there was a type of social media called Ping where you could log in songs that you liked. It was connected to your Twitter account and your iTunes account. Because in late 2012 (Louis was almost 21, might I add), it was about to shut down, a fan (a Larrie) documented the whole thing in screenshots. Here's the post. Of course they make everything about their conspiracy, but the account was legit (connected to his verified Twitter account) and the post made the rounds on normal Tumblr, so I remember seeing it at the time and saving it because it was interesting.

Some of the songs that he added to his Ping:

Thinking of You, Part of Me, Wide Awake, and the entire Teenage Dream album by Katy Perry

Talking to the Moon by Bruno Mars

Look After You by The Fray

Someone Like You by Adele

Far Away by Nickelback (he got this as a tattoo lol)

Who Knew by Pink

Bedshaped by Keane

I'm With You Avril Lavigne

Take Care by Drake

Yellow, Shiver, Talk, Fix You by Coldplay

Moves Like Jagger and Payphone by Maroon 5

It Girl by Jason Derulo

Without You by David Guetta & Usher

Love Story and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift

Domino by Jessie J

Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

Goodbye My Lover by James Blunt

Titanium by Sia and David Guetta

Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye

Turn Up The Music by Chris Brown

Let's Go by Calvin Harris

Mr. Brightside and Somebody Told Me by The Killers

We Are Young by Fun.

Stop And Stare by OneRepublic

She Moves In Her Own Way by The Kooks

Basket Case and Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day

Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen

I Miss You by Blink 182

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous by Good Charlotte

Bright Lights (the album) by Ellie Goulding

Believe (the album) by Justin Bieber

Naive by Lily Allen

Imagine by John Lennon

How We Do (Party) by Rita Ora

All of these songs are heavy rotation radio hits. I'm not sure how many people will see this post, if any, but if it happens upon any young Gen Z or Gen Alpha eyes, who happen to not know some of these, they're literally just... the most played songs on the radio at the time, and Imagine by John Lennon (which was the only song older than 2000 in his entire Ping).

The only bands he has on this entire log, are Two Door Cinema Club, who you might say "oh wait, that's indie isn't it?" except they reached #2 in the UK albums chart in 2012, when this log happened. Literally following trends once again. Same thing goes for Owl City, it's a somewhat indie project, but they had a big hit (certified Diamond and hit #1 in the UK and the US), Louis logged in the project immediately after this song made it big. A bunch of John Mayer songs, who in 2012 was hyper-mainstream. Or the #1 album Coexist by The XX. And songs from the #1 album in the UK Contrast, by Conor Maynard. That plus the incredibly mainstream hits by some more rockish bands (I'm surprised he didn't log in American Idiot by Green Day) and pop. That's it.

What about Oasis? It's there.

Stop The Clocks - a greatest hits record.

Stop Crying Your Heart out - literally the #3 most popular song of theirs on Spotify

Little By Little - a huge hit off one of their latest albums (33 million YouTube Views, 85 million Spotify plays)

I'm sure he enjoyed himself some Oasis. He was a British boy growing up in the late 90s and early 2000s. It'd be weird if he didn't. But he never talked about going to see them growing up (he was 16 when they played in England for the last time). He logged in just one album, and it was a greatest hits. He logged in two songs, and they were both huge hits. He logged in a ton of songs by Coldplay, or Katy Perry. Hell, he has more songs logged in for DRAKE than Oasis.

It's obviously not definite proof, but he had that Ping account for two years, and all his iTunes purchases or likes showed up. I also don't remember him mentioning them in any particular way throughout his time in the band. Nor him mentioning going to see them. Or wearing their merch. Or...

Despite both Liam and Noel having a Twitter account as far back as 2009/2010, Louis didn't follow either of them until 2017

So that in and of itself is bizarre for someone who in 2017 would give a million different interviews specifically mentioning Oasis and Liam Gallagher, right?

But the most egregious part of his pretend act, is that he's just flat out wrong about Oasis in and of itself.

First of all, in every single interview he mentions Oasis, he singles out Liam Gallagher. You can look it up, because frankly, there's so many interviews where he does this that I could probably be here forever. He talks about Liam Gallagher so much it's almost obnoxious (and we'll get on to that in part 2), but he almost never talks about Noel. Who he mentions is Liam. Even though he says Oasis was a huge part of his inspiration as an artist, who he mentions is Liam. And this is in the context of Oasis, as a band who inspired him growing up, not Liam Gallagher as a solo artist. OASIS. Liam.

To the uninitiated on Oasis, Liam is my favorite because he's great. He's funny, he's charming, he has a distinct voice that makes Oasis stand out. He's a mean tambourine player. But to name Liam as your inspiration when you admire Oasis, as a musician, is akin to doing that with Ringo and The Beatles.

Just so we're clear, this is the writing credits for their debut album:

Their second album

Third album

Shall I go on?

Liam doesn't play instruments, except the maracas or the aforementioned tambourine. Noel:

Just:

You have to actively ignore everything about the band to pretend that your inspiration, musically, as a musician, is LIAM GALLAGHER if you actively like Oasis. What the hell are we talking about?

To be clear, Louis didn't say in these interviews that he admired Liam's vocals (which he could never in a million years imitate, and I beg him not to try), or attitude, or charisma, or fucking tambourine expertise. He talked about lyrics, and music, and songwriting. And yet, he never mentioned Noel Gallagher. IN THE CONTEXT OF TALKING ABOUT OASIS.

Listen, I fucking hate Noel Gallagher. He's a c*nt. But I happen to like Oasis, and I know, despite how much I despise him, that Oasis wouldn't exist without him.

So why did Louis mention Liam??? Well, two main reasons.

His fans don't give a fuck. They don't care about his musical opinions because they're not fans of his music or him as a musician. It's why they don't listen to it. They're fans of his status as a purported underdog or the conspiracy theories surrounding him, or rate him as a part of the band they once liked. Some of them pity follow him. He could say his musical inspiration is Miley Cyrus because of how well she plays banjo and it'd make absolutely no difference for them. Also, most of them are musically illiterate and would find a way to justify anything he says, despite being completely nonsensical, if they even listen to him in the first place.

Because of #1, Louis has been on a quest to capture a specific type of audience. He tried to capture the 1D audience with Just Hold On and Back To You (which are songs that are actually up his alley in terms of the music he consumed). But despite being his best commercially performing songs, they failed to actually and significantly move the needle. And he saw the writing on the wall even in the middle of promo for Back To You. Which is why he gave up trying to be commercially successful with that crowd and has been relentlessly trying to shift his audience.

It's why he wears sweatpants and sneakers everywhere, why he called himself a chav in 2017/2018, why the horrible haircuts, why the constant smoking and drinking in promo pics, why the pivot to "actually, I'm a die hard indie enthusiast" even though four years prior he mocked his bandmate for that exact musical taste. It's why he markets his own music as indie, rock, etc, even though it's decidedly not. It's why he does the photoshoots he does, hires the people he hires, and has the bands he has in his narcissistic "festival."

It's put-up on. I suspect it's partially borne out of deep insecurity and wanting to appeal to the type of guy he went to school with. I think his mates, despite enjoying the wealth of 1D's success, took the piss out of him for being in a boyband. This is pure speculation, but we're talking about the guys who openly retweet Andrew Tate (Nizam Kabir), or mocked his singing voice in his ex girlfriend's posts...

Let's actually expand on that, Hannah Walker, Louis' ex girlfriend, uploaded a video to her instagram account singing with a sore throat. It was captioned "sore throat singing" and this is what one of his "best friends" from childhood, Calvin Rodgers, commented on it:

This wasn't some gentle banter either, this was around a point in time where Calvin and Louis weren't hanging out (2013/2014). I actually saw Hannah's post and the comments a few years ago, but her account has gone private since.

"Calvin (unprompted) In theory, the singing wasn't AS flat as Louis" another friend (Dan Woollet) replies "Fair point" to which Calvin replies "Not only fair, but true." Hannah replies "controversial."

Louis cheated on Hannah with Eleanor (I can do a deep dive on that later), and at first Hannah didn't know, so she and Louis were on good terms, but she has been openly very negative about Louis ever since late 2011.

Calvin is also a musician, by the way. His comment was fair and true. Louis' singing IS flat. I doubt he'd say that to his face when he's on good terms with him, especially because he greatly benefits from Louis' money and status (his friends have mooched everything from access to events, to paid vacations on yachts by being with him, to outright jobs). But from things Louis has said in interviews, such as "I don't have a skincare routine because my friends would make fun of me" or "if I showed up wearing designer clothes my friends would never let me hear the end of it," it does seem like he has this need to fit in and seek approval from these idiots. I'll never understand it, and I'm not going to try and psychoanalyze him (and he doesn't wanna do therapy because he's too good for therapy anyway), but I think he wouldn't be seeking this audience otherwise.

His attempts have clearly failed. His music is consumed less and less. He's at 2.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Just so we're clear, Spotify has a chart of the most monthly listeners per artist, where they chart the first 500 artists from 1 to 500. #1 currently is The Weeknd with 107M. #2 is Billie Eilish. Harry is #53 without having released music in 2 and a half years (which is amazing).

The #500 is Lynyrd Skynyrd with 16,147,684 monthly listeners. Louis would have to gain 14 MILLION monthly listeners to be at the bottom of the list. That is SEVEN TIMES the total amount he has right now. That's how bad it is.

His fans don't listen to his music. They're just incredibly annoying online because their idea of stanning him or being his fan is Twitter, and TikTok, and some of them on Tumblr and never shutting up despite having zero actual arguments to back anything up (which is why I'm venting on this blog, and potentially giving Harries tools to shut these idiots up because I know how annoying they are).

I think he's still trying to market himself this way because deep down he still wants the acceptance of his high school buddies and other men like them, and his idea of cool is (deluding himself into believing to) have a career that his buddies would actually respect (as opposed to 1D).

To close off this part of the post, I'll leave with the worst part. How do I know he's not and was never a fan of Oasis? How do I know that he's lying when he says they were his inspiration as an artist?

Well, this:

He said variations of this multiple times in multiple interviews. He bashed metaphors a ton, for instance:

“[So how you classify your genre?] Oh, that’s a big question. Wow, that’s hard. In terms of what I’m looking for from a production point of view, I want things to sound organic and live. Not too many programmed instruments. I want it to feel authentic. From a lyric perspective, almost like indie-pop, very conversational. All these sexy metaphors people put in their music? I ain’t got time for that. I like it straight to the point. It’s hard to classify it as a particular genre.”

Source.

Here's another he gave for MTV:

Though "Back to You" is certifiably pop, Tomlinson grew up loving guitar-based rock bands, he said, and that when it came time to sit down and create solo music of his own, he found inspiration in the acts from his youth: mainly Oasis and Arctic Monkeys, both from Northern England (like Tomlinson). "The way that they write I've always found very interesting because, you know, if you look at a pop song fundamentally, lyrically it's very different to the conversational style that Arctic Monkeys or Oasis might use, and that's exciting to me," Tomlinson said.

All I can say is.. What the actual fuck is he talking about?

Obviously I have a lot more that I can say. But. WHAT?

Let's ignore Arctic Monkeys, because yes, I would absolutely call "honest and to the point" early Arctic Monkeys. Honest meh, because early AM was so conversational and so casual and about such mundane things that honesty wasn't really a factor, but whatever. It was incredibly to the point. BUT OASIS? OASIS??? Honest and to the point? OASIS?? OASIS??

Just so we're clear, the most mainstream song Oasis has ever released is Wonderwall. Everyone knows that song, correct? What the fuck is a wonderwall? That is not A WORD.

The word "wonderwall" came from a George Harrison album. And the lyrics have absolutely nothing to do with it. The song itself is a "Hollywood-esque song" that talks about "some unfathomable crazy love story."

The entire premise of wonderwall is that one person who's always there for you, but told in an abstract metaphorical way. That is by definition the opposite of what Louis said he wanted and liked.

In fact, Oasis FAMOUSLY worship the ground The Beatles walk on. Hell, Liam named his kid fucking LENNON. One of the most known facts about The Beatles was the amount of fucking NONSENSE they wrote in their lyrics. I Am The Walrus?! Like, this is music 101. Louis you are supposed to be a musician (yet play no instruments).

The second most mainstream song by Oasis is Champagne Supernova.

This is a verse from that song:

Wake up the dawn and ask her why A dreamer dreams she never dies Wipe that tear away now from your eye Slowly walking down the hall Faster than a cannonball Where were you while we were gettin' high?

Exactly what part of this is honest and to the point? I thought he hated metaphors?

Remember the songs he Pinged? Let's see those lyrics.

Little By Little

'Cause little by little We gave you everything you ever dreamed of Little by little The wheels of your life have slowly fallen off Little by little You have to give it all in all your life And all the time I just asked myself why, you really here?

I'm gonna go insane. What the fuck did he mean by "honest and to the point" immediately after saying the word "Oasis"? Is he OKAY? Is he having a stroke and smelling colors? How else can he describe this as "honest and to the point"?

The other song was Stop Crying Your Heart Out

Hold up Hold on Don't be scared You'll never change what's been and gone May your smile (May your smile) Shine on (Shine on) Don't be scared (Don't be scared) Your destiny may keep you warm

I'm swimming in directness and honesty here, you guys. I can't believe how to the point these lyrics are! Metaphors? Never knew 'em! Soooo conversational!

But maybe I'm cherry picking songs, and the rest of Oasis' discography actually fits what Louis said, right? RIGHT?!

Let's look at Stop The Clocks, the Greatest Hits album Louis pinged back in 2012. Literally the first verse of the songs in order. Just so we're very clear.

Rock 'N Roll Star

I live my life for the stars that shine People say, "It's just a waste of time" Then they said, "I should feed my head" That to me was just a day in bed I'll take my car and drive real far They're not concerned about the way we are In my mind my dreams are real Now you concerned about the way I feel Tonight I'm a rock 'n' roll star

Some Might Say

Some might say that sunshine follows thunder Go and tell it to the man who cannot shine Some might say that we should never ponder On our thoughts today' cause they hold sway over time

Talk Tonight

Sittin' on my own, chewin' on a bone A thousand million miles from home When something hit me Somewhere right between the eyes Sleepin' on a plane, you know you can't complain You took your last chance once again I landed, stranded Hardly even knew your name

Lyla

Calling all the stars to fall And catch the silver sunlight in your hands Come for me and set me free Lift me up and take me where I stand She believes in everything And everyone and you and yours and mine I waited for a thousand years For you to come and blow me out my mind

The Importance of Being Idle

I sold my soul for the second time 'Cause the man don't pay me I begged my landlord for some more time He said, "Son, the bills are waiting" My best friend called me the other night He said, "Man, are you crazy?" My girlfriend told me to get a life She said, "Boy, you lazy"

Seriously I wanna sit down and ask this man what the hell he was talking about. How can he, with a straight face, say that LIAM GALLAGHER was his musical inspiration growing up because of the lyrics of OASIS, and how straight and to the point, devoid of metaphors, they were. It's the most nonsensical talking point I've ever heard. If he was even remotely relevant the way people would've laughed their head off at him saying this would´ve been diabolical.

He said Oasis and Arctic Monkeys because they fit the persona he wanted to build (even geographically).

There are SO many actual indie bands from up north who write the type of lyrics he claims he likes, but he's too lazy to actually do research into this put-upon image he chose for himself (I hardly think a competent group of people was behind any of it).

He changed his hair, his facial hair, his clothing style, the way he talks, walks, the words he says, how he stands in front of a microphone, his facial expressions, the aesthetic surrounding him, even the people and teams he hired for his career, to cosplay Liam Gallagher. This isn't a case of inspiration. Inspiration is normal. It happens in art every single day. Everything we do is an amalgamation of stuff others have done before. Everything is invented. I want to make it very clear that I don't find any of that problematic in any way.

But Louis is an inch away from wearing the skin of Liam Gallagher as a winter coat. I'll actually dive deep into that in a second part of this post, because it really does go SO deep.

And I sincerely doubt he likes him or his music all that much. He just likes the idea of people viewing him like they view Liam and the "respect" he would get from men.

[yurnu]

Excuse no heaven war? The most interesting thing in a media about angels and demons? Right. At least I can hope Lilith has attacked Heaven because why is Sera so paranoid? Why heaven is full of weapons? I know she loves Lucifer but it is terrible example of favoritism. Plus I think making him innocent cinnamon who didn't nothing wrong is boring!

Damn possibilties , like Lucifer felt guilty about but his pride is stronger, or Charlie find out and has a fight with lucifer like "They didn't trust my project!because you give them no motive to trust" Giving Chralie trust issue about every person in lifer liying to her

And also how can you remove something so epic? I feel HH is following the road of Lore olympus, which 90% anti were ex-fans and series lost a lot of readers. I was one of them and I stopped to read after 2 season. I don't feel we are going to have more of 3 series, because if her market are teenagers they will grow up!

||🪽Divina Consecutio 🪽||

Although I doubt they will delve into the reasons why heaven is full of weapons despite being a place where peace supposedly prevails, I have very low expectations, it would be a great plot twist if they reveal the reason for a previous war between heaven and hell making sense of Sera's paranoia and Adam's hatred (although I doubt it, considering who the author is).

Personally I hate it when they make Lucifer a fucking cinnamon roll, we're talking about the fucking lord of darkness, use him as such.

Although there will be no trial in my comic, too much work and I am a certified slacker, there will be a fight between two special little people (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hi can you please do a bucky teenage reader from the avengers hey can you please add that the teenage reader has Bucky's trauma and metal arm thank you 😁☺️

Also it's nice to have you back 😋☺️

-You held onto Jack’s hand with your one good hand, as you were still hesitant about doing anything like that with your metal arm, as you didn’t want to hurt them, as he led you through the farmer’s market together.

-You had been found after a raid on a Hydra facility, after you had attacked your new family, you had failed your mission and you were put back on ice.

-When you were freed, authorities wanted to lock you up, like you had any choice, but to your surprise, those you had attacked came to your defense, as you were only a teenager.

-Granting your family the authority to become your guardians, you were allowed to stay with him, as everything was discovered about what Hydra did to you, from the torture to the brainwashing, turning you into a sleeper agent, turning you into a weapon.

-You were a kid, one who should have never dealt with anything like that, but lucky for you, your new family was ready to take the challenge head on.

-They never made you feel like a burden, never yelled at you, they didn’t treat you like a weapon, like they should be afraid of you.

-Your large appetite surprised them, as you had been on ice for so many years, having been taken in 1937, just before WWII, to be a weapon, but they underestimated the complexity of the program and just iced you until they could handle the project.

-You were almost like an animal, protective of your food, as if they would take it away, because it happened before, but Eve and Parvati, who were in charge of feeding you, would just grin and give you another helping.

-Buddha was another one in charge of your food, giving you so many different types of treats that it was almost overwhelming.

-Going to therapy was very hard for you, as your memories, your mind, was all jumbled, it was hard to focus sometimes, and you would lash out in anger or you would completely shut down.

-Your massive family was with you, going with you to therapy, holding your hand, grounding you, taking it one step at a time, baby steps are what Kojiro called it, telling you that you had to learn how to walk again before you could run.

-You had activities with each one of your family members, from simple things like meditating, yoga with Shiva turned out to be way harder than it looked, sparring with Hercules, Lu Bu, and Thor helped a lot, as it was a good way to burn stress and energy, Adam would just let you sit with him and he would dote on you, patting your hair gently, while Loki and Raiden were trying to teach you how to have fun.

-Jack was enjoying the market with you, monitoring your inner colors, how you were feeling, as you both looked at the different booths, getting fruits and veggies.

-Jack was the one to help you go out in public, as they didn’t want you to be a hermit, but they never forced you into high stress situations, so doing things like this, going to the farmer’s market which you’ve been too a few times, was okay.

-As the day went on and it got a little busier, you started to get a little flustered, overwhelmed by the amount of people, but Jack spoke, “Deep breaths, slowly Y/N. You’re okay. Nothing will happen to you, not while I’m here.”

-You gave his hand a small squeeze, eyes closing as you inhaled slowly, like how Buddha taught you. Jack felt the slight trembling in your hand as you opened your eyes, taking in another breath.

-Your eyes then zeroed in on something and Jack saw your color go from stressed to elation and he followed your gaze and chuckled, “C’mon, we deserve a treat.”

-Minutes later, you were holding an apple hand pie in your metal hand, holding it carefully as you took a bite, as you were still trying to figure out how to control your strength.

-Jack chuckled, having one himself, “At least I know that food is a good distraction.” Your soft smile made him return it with a chuckle as you enjoyed your treat, calming down a bit more before heading back out, taking Jack’s hand once more, clinging to him.

[f1endish]

Ok so my brain has decided to spiral from the headcanon of Papa Ed and Eddie Chiplucky being related which has turnt into me thinking up a whole backstory for both which I need to expel from my thoughts sooooo

Basically in the order of events:

* Ed and Eddie are twins whose parents separate when both are in their teenage years. Predominantly raised by their mother, I can imagine their dynamic is very similar to that of Stan & Ford from Gravity Falls, Ed ends up as a scientist and Eddie being considered the black sheep of the family with him being transmasc & gay and they live in Texas (not the most accepting place for the LGBTQIA+ community from what I've heard, probably worse since I imagine he's in his late 30s-early 40s so he was probably born somewhere in or around the 80s) so gets kicked out by his mom and finds work on the black market.

This work involves being paid privately by clients to track gather blackmail on people normally with photos/videos. As an example, a suspicious spouse paying him to see if their partner is out cheating on them or a business owner wanting to get more stakes in their company so get Eddie to get evidence of their co-owner doing shady stuff so blackmail them into getting their claim of the business. I chose this since 1) I myself am into photography and am taking it for one of my college courses 2) It gives opportunity for Charles & Eddie to have possibly worked together in the past before properly meeting and in turn Charles knowing who he is and what Eddie can do. Not only being able to find people (A bonus of this is that Eddie has the gift in my mind, it was definitely stronger when he was younger but it has still stayed around a bit. In a nutshell Eddie has a spider sense thing that helps him identify if someone also has the gift) but get out of situations where he was probably caught by the people he was getting blackmail on and having to talk his way out of that situation, which would be good for convincing people to get into the whole Rollerama thing; And making it to where I can compare Eddie to Daniel from Interview with a Vampire so that makes Charles Armand and in turn Golden Treasure as Devils Minion sounds perfect in my mind, and 3) It gives Eddie at least a tiny connection to Blinky cause I swear he does like, from the Blinkys song instrumental playing in Yellowjacket when Ethan & Hannah are in Pizza Pete's to the whole looking through security cameras being the first time we meet him.

* Back onto the main plot of the backstory, Ed worked on the project that created Otho and had a lot of concerns over it. At the same time, Eddie & Ed's mother contacts Eddie begrudgingly cause she's concerned over Ed and can't get into contact with him since he moved out and didn't give her his number. So Eddie takes on the task of finding him and ends up in Hatchetfield where he runs into Ed and they talk, Ed expressing how worried he is about what Otho could do if the project were to be completed so asking Eddie if he can break in there with a key card Ed gives him and gather evidence against the project to get it shut down or at least halted as for as long as possible.

* Eddie agrees, but later on ending up getting caught and questioning on who gave him the key card to get in. Eventually, ending up getting punched in the mouth by one of the security guys there (who I like to imagine is Bruno since I like the idea that he gave him his iconic golden tooth he has in Yellowjacket). Charles who has heard of what's gone on since of how Eddie getting in could have been a bad thing cause of how much he invested into Otho, comes to see Eddie who he recognises and has a talk with.

* Very much like the song 'The Other Side' from the Greatest Showman, he gets Eddie a drink to loosen him up (hopefully enough to get him to talk) and says he basically just simply wants to know who gave him access and Eddie would be good as gold. Even offering him the recruiting job at the Rollerama. Eddie considers this, he's not stupid and he knows if he doesn't eventually rat Ed put, he's fucked. These guys mean real business. Eddie is not a brave man. And Charles is considering him after everything, offering him a more secure job than he had before, he has had experience talking with the guy briefly before but to get his talents noticed is a thing Eddie hasn't dealt with in a while, looking at him like he's... good treasure. His mother had always favoured Ed over him, with him being the more academically successful, while he was probably just the screw up who only was contacted by her to find her golden child of Ed. He's been bitter and doesn't want to be in this level of trouble cause his brother couldn't even deal with his own problems himself. So... he agrees.

* Charles thanks him, and Ed gets taken in and probably exposed to some sort of other project him and the other scientists were working on and then promptly fired, so now probably very traumatized he ends up adopting Peanuts the Pocket Squirrel as a coping mechanism to focus on. Eddie's corruption arc furthers to how he is when we see him in Yellowjacket.

* Ok, so this probably doesn't line up with the proper timeline of the Hatchetfield Franchise and might be a bit ooc. Still might make a fanfic or an au around it one day, who knows 🤷

[silviawordsworth]

A comprehensive reason as to why I, as a teenage girl, think the marauders fandom is heaven on earth. (+ a few faults)

In simple terms, its a pit of representation. The characters, even the ones mentioned more than just a name drop, have very little known information about them. Like yes, we know remus lupin marries tonks and we know james marries lily, but besides that? They were teenagers at hogwarts, its fun to play around with the dynamics of them.

And its also a passion project. The marauders is by no means an actual thing. Sure, theyre side characters in hp. But the marauders fandom is created solely on headcanons and fanon info. Its almost like if i were to pull finnick and annie from thg and develop them with such depth that it contextualises things that couldve been explained better in the actual books.

And not only that, but it shows creativity. Its like weve all taken these characters, aged them down to make them more relatable, and projected our own teenage experiences onto them in a way that jk could never as she wrote them as an adult and likely has never experienced the struggles of the lgbtq teens nowadays

The lgbtq is also a good point to bring up. Nowhere anywhere else on the internet will you find a fandom so full of lgbtq characters solely bc 'it doesnt sell'. The marauders is a prime example of how marketing realistic teenagers to teenagers is not unprofitable.

Mental health is also a big thing that needs to be explored more in media. And not as the main plot, but as something that just exists. Its done well in the marauders fandom.

Usually when watching a show or reading a book, you think these characters arent that realistic. In their world, sure. But its hard to relate to characters who link nothing to you. The marauders, though wizards, are teenagers in school. They are relatable.

Also the ability to create everything out of nothing. I adore pandora rosier and regulus black but in canon they are never even shown in the movies besides reg.

The poc inclusivity, the non skinny inclusivity, etc etc.

However! There are issues.

The marauders fandom is primarily girls, yet this fandom is an excellent example of the preference that male characters get. Like, i love regulus. But pray tell why jegulus gets more hype than pretty much any wlw ships combined? And why do i see so much of lily being a surrogate or her dying and james and reg getting harry? If youre gonna cut lily out of james life for him to be w reg, atleast find another way for them to have a kid. Lily is more than her uterus and a plot device for a kid.

And theres also sm arguments over headcanons. Like, if i were to say i hc james potter as straight, i would get attacked in todays fandom. It just gets a bit strange sometimes when people disregard canon at all. I get the seperation of canon from fanon is definitely inevitable in this fandom, but i dislike when people push their hcs as canon when its literally contradicted by canon.

I love the marauders fandom i do, and i love the way the characters are developed enough to be interesting to everyone, and not just babied down enough to be advertised to kids. Theres so much you can do when you dont have to worry about pr.

Anyways, thanks for listening to my rant. Please feel free to reblog w any questions or comments, il respond to everyone x

[vasito-de-leche]

;NSR MAYDAY - General Headcanons

Compilation of general headcanons and analysis about Mayday and other Mayday related things.

I just needed an excuse to fleshen out / analyze Mayday and any HCs I have for her bc I'm thinking soooo much about this game <3 there's also Zuke stuff in here because you can't talk abt one without the other lmfao

Aside from music, Mayday and Zuke share an interest for fixing, modding and tinkering with machines (any piece of tech discarded out in the streets).

Their approach to reverse engineering all the tech they get is different - Mayday focuses on recycling to build something entirely new and more powerful, while Zuke focuses on fixing and perfecting whatever it is that he's tinkering with, to make it more precise.

This is most notable with their respective instruments. Mayday's guitar is 100% built from scratch, spare parts and passion, it's also modded and tuned to her liking. This means that she's literally the ONLY person who can understand how it works, and why she couldn't replace her old guitar once it was destroyed at the end of the game. Meanwhile, Zuke opts for using NSR-brand drumsticks - the best of the best in the market - which he mods to work better with his way of playing.

The workshop in their base is attributed to Zuke because he's the one who cleared out the area to have all of their little projects located in an organized spot, since most of their living quarters were filled with unfinished projects, wrenches and bolts everywhere and so on. This is because Mayday has a very short attention span and gets attached easily, so she never has the time to finish anything nor the heart to discard her projects - especially when she keeps drawing faces onto everything.

A lot of their equipment was just made by Mayday herself, since she needed speakers strong enough to withstand the power of her guitar without getting fried after every performance. Many of their mutual friends see Zuke as the genius of the duo, but he insists that Mayday is the one doing most of the carry for B2J.

Both Mayday and Zuke got into music because of their loved ones.

It's canon that DK West is the reason Zuke got into music, and I like to think family was also one of the main reasons Mayday got into music, namely rock. One of her dialogues in-game mentions how her grandma used to listen and sing to the Goolings with her using an old radio, despite not knowing the lyrics nor understanding the music.

Whereas Zuke was influenced by his brother's rap career to give music a try, it was kind of the reverse for Mayday - rock music became a big interest for her from a young age, and her family supported her wholeheartedly. They would take her to concerts, buy merch for her whenever it was possible and basically hype her up. Her father can probably name every different phase and era in Mayday's childhood and teenage years based on the groups she was into at the time.

Judging from dialogue, I think it's implied that Mayday was born and raised in Vinyl City, and that she never really travelled outside. So it's not impossible for her family to attend her first concerts (in small, local venues as a teenager, before she and Zuke even met) and her proper debut in B2J. Her family is also the first ones to receive official B2J merch, shirts that she and Zuke designed and that look AWFUL but that they love all the same.

I think this family aspect also ties in nicely with the base game, specifically Yinu's fight since it's the first moment of tension for Mayday and Zuke in which they realize they might not be the good guys for hijacking concerts.

For Mayday, music is a lifestyle, not something to be forced onto people - she goes directly against NSR because of the EDM enforcement and the rock ban, after all. So it makes sense to me that she becomes a bit too engrossed in fighting Yinu's mother, someone who is directly puppeteering her own child and represents parents who live vicariously through their talented kids, to the point where she also forgets that Yinu is a child. A fact that she also initially brushes aside herself since Yinu is part of NSR.

I don't know, I just like when characters are flawed and multifaceted! Mayday and Zuke should be allowed to be hypocrites, as a treat.

Mayday taught herself how to play.

My personal agenda is to also hype up Mayday for being a music genius at 21, so yeah! I like to think she's 100% self-taught, which parallels Zuke's musical education rather nicely. They're both extremely good in their own unique ways.

She used to play by ear, trying to figure out how to play her favorite songs when she was younger, and later began to actually study music notation and so on.

When spontaneously coming up with new melodies and songs for B2J, she mostly uses her phone to record herself singing, as opposed to Zuke immediately needing to jot down everything.

It took awhile for Mayday to pick up and use Kul Fyra's guitar.

After the events of the game, Mayday ABSOLUTELY needed some time to properly process everything - her dialogue is all about realizing that she was in the wrong and reconsider the reason she picked up music in the first, wondering if she began to rebel against NSR because she couldn't cope with B2J and rock (two things very dear to her heart) being rejected, etc. So she wouldn't have had the heart to use her idol's guitar without coming to terms with a lot of things first.

My favorite headcanon to think about is that the cutscene at the very end, during Tatiana's speech, is of Mayday and Zuke performing after B2J's hiatus, after they both help each other mature and grow up a bit. And Mayday using Kul Fyra's guitar is symbolic of her renewed love in music and taking Tatiana's words to heart - "where I have failed, I want you to go beyond".

Mayday doesn't have any powers unique to herself.

I KNOW, I KNOW - it's kind of UNFAIR since EVERYONE has WORLD BENDING ABILITIES AND WHATEVER. Even Zuke is implied to have inherited DK West's shadow puppets and all, BUT consider THE FOLLOWING....THAT'S THE POINT.....

Every major character in NSR represents a type of musician or figure in the industry - and I'm not sure if it was meant to be read like this or not, but Zuke reads as that type of person who has really good connections with important figures, who had the chance to pursue higher education and afford expensive equipment, who is knowledgeable when it comes to the ins and outs of the industry BECAUSE he was there to see and experience it all firsthand (if we're taking into account the fact that DK West was implied to be a revolutionary activist related to NSR). He's even the one who is the most reluctant to go against NSR and gives them the benefit of the doubt, which can easily be attributed to him being the calm and collected, reasonable half of the duo but also because he personally knows EVE (and DK West if you count him as an important major figure). He's a huge fucking nerd with a degree and it makes sense that he's the one giving ALL the information about the music industry when interacting with all the objects around Vinyl City.

But May? Her dialogue is all about more common things, the way she talks about certain people shows that she knew them personally, that they were friends or acquaintances from all over town instead of the important figures Zuke speaks of. She complains a lot about the fact that from a surface level, NSR does look like a bunch of sellouts and really offers that underdog vibe in B2J. She has NO connections to ANY major character in NSR other than being a fan of Kul Fyra. We know virtually nothing about her backstory too.

So to me it makes sense that Mayday lacks any sort of unique and incredible ability, as she IS part of the little guys that B2J fight for. The underdogs that get brushed aside for whatever reason, because they're not relevant or seen as profitable and so on. She represents the artists who are naive, full of passion for their craft and determination to make their dreams work regardless of how cruel the industry might be.

My personal hot take is that instead of powers and some innate talent, Mayday offers something else: deep connections with people.

This example might not click with everyone since it's how I personally perceived the music and all and I actually know absolutely nothing about music other than It Sounds Good and It Makes Me Want To Dance, but yknow!

When listening to the B2J solos, there are times when Zuke's solo is very aggressive and almost takes over the entire song, which makes sense since it's a solo and they ARE trying to win over EDM. But Mayday's solos blend in so well with the base track of each boss fight, like she really is trying to match their vibe using her own genre rather than fight for the spotlight.

This is most noticeable in Eve's fight - both Zuke and Mayday's solos match Eve's base track perfectly. You can understand why Zuke would match her, since they know each other intimately and when you explore Dream Fever, he's the one giving ALL the in-depth explanations about Eve's vision when creating her sculptures and art. But Mayday would have no reason to match Eve at all, she doesn't understand any of her art let alone know her as a person. And still, the ONE thing Zuke tells Eve at the end of the fight is that if Eve came to know Mayday the way he does, she would like her as well. Zuke is happier being Mayday's friend and bandmate despite the fact that he's Mayday's antithesis, than being part of a big company and records label with his super hot girlfriend.

I like to think that Mayday's solos, the fact that she is Zuke's direct opposite in almost every way, that she's closely tied to the regular people and citizens of Vinyl City and that piece of dialogue from Zuke are a testament to Mayday's ability to really reach out to people through music. Not to say that her power is just friendship, but just the fact that she can adapt and come to understand anyone - as long as it's in a musical setting.

Personally I like it more when Mayday is just a regular girl without unique powers, but you could take these aspect of her and turn them into its own power!

[whatiwishfanfiction]

Lorax Rewrite Excerpt

Without focusing on Ted, the story can start earlier and show more of Once-ler's background trying to sell his Thneed. What bad influences did he have when it came to running a business? Some of the advice in this chapter are real things I've been told...

Excerpt below:

He pulled the Thneed from his neck, and spread it on the table. "Ah, you know what, let me just show you."

"It's brilliant," said the main representative immediately.

He was the shortest man and wore a sleek white suit. "The audacity is stunning. It's the perfect balance between essential and useless. Whimsical enough to capture the imagination, yet quaint enough to be marketed as a necessity. This is, indeed, something everyone needs. We would just have to make it out of a better material. For the most part, there's not a single thing that could be improved. However…" He looked up from his spinny chair at the long table. "There's one problem."

His colleagues in smaller chairs around him nodded their heads knowingly.

"Whaddya mean?" asked Once-ler.

The salesman pressed his fingers together and leaned forward. "To sell a product, you need to have a certain degree of charisma," he explained. "The creator's image is even more important than the thing itself when it comes to commerce. That is, you can't just come into a company in your dirty lumberjack clothes, dragging a mule, singing out of tune, and expect to be a success."

Once-ler turned red. There were no barns in North Nitch, so he'd been taking Melvin everywhere with him on a leash. The buildings were so big it hadn't occurred to him there was anything wrong with it. Plus Melvin was such a well-behaved mule, or maybe it was just that he hadn't had any human friends in so long, Once-ler had unconsciously started to think of him as a person.

He also resented his spiffy new outfit being called dirty lumberjack clothes. The fashion of his old town must've looked that way to outsiders no matter how new or clean they were. He observed the stiff, sleek blazers the businessmen wore and took note.

"There seem to be two of you here right now, Mr. Ler," the salesman said, and Once-ler got the feeling he wasn't talking about the fact that he'd brought his mule.

"On one hand, I see a powerful inventor with an ingenious work ethic, capable of bringing impressive ideas to life. But you can’t let humility hold you back. My advice to you is to try and think of yourself a little more selfishly, if you know what I mean."

"No, sir… Could you expand on that?"

"I mean stop thinking of yourself as someone small from a lowly background. You have to imagine yourself as bigger than everyone else."

The salesman hopped from his chair and drew his own short body to its full height in front of the towering woodsman.

"It doesn't matter if you're the tallest person in the world, if you never think you can reach anything." The businessman threw a pointed glance at a geeky young intern with glasses and braces. "Isn't that right, Aloysius?"

"I get it, Dad." The teenager rolled his eyes.

The salesman folded up the Thneed, and handed it back to Once-ler. "You have potential, but come back when your marketing strategy has improved. Have you ever read The Virtue of Selfishness? I look forward to hearing back from you. In the meantime, have you considered applying to other job options at one of the O'Hare companies?" He handed Once-ler a pamphlet.

Once-ler walked out of the building buzzing with embarrassment. He'd butchered his delivery on his first try. Why was it so easy to sing about Thneeds at his family's farm, in the forest, or the privacy of his wagon? He hadn't expected to start shaking like a leaf the instant he started playing for other people. He needed to practice.

Full story here:

[authoralexharvey]

INTERVIEW WITH A WRITEBLR — @on-noon

Who You Are:

Onnoon || N/a

I’m interested in many different topics, from genetics to geology. I try to fit those into my writing but more often end up just making things up. (Benefits of being a fantasy writer, I can make up whatever I want)

What You Write:

What genres do you write in? What age ranges do you write for?

Fantasy and sci-fi. Young adult and adult.

What genre would you write in for the rest of your life, if you could? What about that genre appeals to you?

Fantasy. I love being able to make up a world, figuring out what rules would need to exist to tell the story I want to tell, & then what else those rules would effect. Also magic is cool.

What genre/s will you not write unless you HAVE to? What about that genre turns you off?

Romance. I can barely write romance as side plots, I would not be able to write a story with romance as the main focus.

Who is your target audience? Do you think anyone outside of that would get anything out of your works?

I don't target my writing to an audience besides myself, but I suppose other people who like magic schools would be my main audience. I think other people can enjoy my books, of course.

What kind of themes do you tend to focus on? What kinds of tropes? What about them appeals to you?

A lot of stories I have end up with themes about family, or about like the morality of laws? For tropes, I have a lot of magic schools. I really like magic schools because it allows me to force characters together.

What are you currently working on? How long have you been working on it?

Countdown to Magic, a story about a magic school. The two main characters are Abora, who is intertwined with an ancient spell & Horatio a teenager too young to know if he has magic, but who is teaching magic theory to students older than him.

Why do you write? What keeps you writing?

I write to get the ideas out of my head.

How long have you been writing? What do you think first drew you to it?

I've been writing somewhat seriously since middle school, I got drawn into writing because I like reading, and I like stories.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Is that how you got your inspiration for your current project? If not, where did the inspiration come from?

The best way for me to get inspiration is to write. When writing stories I come up with so many ideas! Most of my current main story ideas actually come from changed versions of previous stories I wrote, or offshoots. My current story, though, the inspiration comes from the title.

What work of yours are you most proud of? Why?

Right now I'm fairly proud of a short story I just wrote, mostly because it is finished, but also I like the story & especially like all the basically headcanons I have for it.

Have you published anything? Do you want to?

I haven’t published anything, and I’m not really looking to.

What part of the publishing process most appeals to you? What part least appeals to you?

What appeals most to me is having someone help me edit and also pressure me into editing. Having to market doesn't appeal to me because I have no good idea of how to do that and would rather just write.

What part of the writing process most appeals to you? What part is least appealing?

I really love coming up with ideas & writing a first draft (especially the beginning). Editing, specifically structural edits do not appeal to me. It just seems so overwhelming to me.

Do you have a writing process? Do you have an ideal setup? Do you write in pure chaos? Talk about your process a bit.

I usually write with music on, sitting in a chair with my laptop on my lap (but not neccesarily sitting straight in the chair). My writing process is opening up a doc and just typing away at the story, no chapter organization, in basically chronological order.

Your Thoughts on Writeblr:

How long have you been a writeblr? What inspired you to join the community?

I've been a writeblr for approaching a year now, and I joined mostly to share my story ideas &characters.

Shout out some of your favorite writeblrs. How did you find them and what made you want to follow them?

There are so many cool writers here on tumblr! I don't remember much how I found most of them, but I definitely am glad I do! @aohendo has this one story, Prince for Hire, which is this fantasy prince-competition story of the type I like, and has one of my favorite characters (Kaar Kulok). @junypr-camus has this mall horror story that made me think I might like horror? @vsnotresponding has a story with an islands's magic rock that's failing, and I need to see it fixed @ambigouspuzuma writes short stories with some great worldbuilding, and some great plots (I loved captchured, it wove it's plot perfectly into the world created) @my-cursed-prince has a whole set of characters & all the characters have got such great complexities & arcs) @salty-super-computer has some pretty good sci-fi worlds & i love the humor in his writing. @treessndwords writes enviroments really well. @blind-the-winds writes my favorite romance, Mick & Eleanor are great together @aether-wasteland-s wrote this one ghost story, the cursed, that I loved. The whole half-ghost concept? And also the history inherently tied to the story. I like so many of the writeblrs here. It feels like I have a never-ending stream of amazing stories

What is your favorite part about writeblr?

Reading other people's stories! I read such good stories here on tumblr.

How do you contribute to the writeblr community? Do you think you could be doing more?

Of course I could be doing more. There's an infinite amount to do, and I haven't reached that, but I'm satisfied currently with my contributions, commenting on others' posts, doing tag games. I would like to send asks more, though.

What kinds of posts do you most like to interact with?

I love reading excerpts of writing, and also people shouting at their characters/stories

What kind of posts do you most like to make?

I really like replying to writing prompts, & also

Finally, anywhere else online we may be able to find you?

I have a website with a few of my writings on it: onnoon.neocities.org

[pfirsichspritzer]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

tagged by @menina89, thank you. Doing this required more introspection than I initially thought, but it was a lot of fun 💕

1 . How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I had my first encounter with fanfiction when I was around 12 or 13 and discovered the (no-longer online) site myfanfiction.de. Back then I was really into twilight and so I created an account and started writing (in German). My first story was like 200 - 400 words per chapter and I think I gave up after 5 - 6 chapters. I posted a few more one-shots but honestly, the site was terrible and overly moderated. Two of my stories got banned for apparently being wrongly rated G and that was pretty frustrating. I wrote a few more stories for myself, but during most of high school and university years I only wrote assignments and papers. I stopped reading fanfiction altogether too for a while and only came back to it when discovering fanfiction.net and then ao3. There were so many stories and so much more engagement on those English sites, which was amazing. I did think about writing a few times but I was intimidated by the thought of doing so in English, which is not my mother tongue, so for years I was simply lurking in the shadows.

Then came 2022, which was a very rough year for me and induced a lot of anxiety, so in autumn after a spontaneous idea for a fic, I just started writing again to cope with some of those feelings. I posted the first chapter for the hell of it, but the Rogue One fandom was so nice and encouraging, that I just kept writing. 

The idea for my first story in the Lockwood & Co. fandom was born because I was looking for a specific story I. When I could not find it, I simply wrote it myself. 

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

Four fandoms I published something in. Probably one or two more, writing just for myself. 

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

The first fic on my ao3 account was posted October 2022. 

In my teenage years maybe another 4 years ?

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

Definitely read. 

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

Writing multi-chapters. I used to lose interest in them pretty quickly. But I’ve actually finished 2 in the last one-and-a-half years, which I am actually kind of proud of. 

Other than that, I like to think that my English has gotten better (I hope) and I am less critical of myself, actually enjoying reading my own stories once in a while. 

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I once went down a rabbit hole researching the Jacobite uprising and the Glencoe massacre, including watching a 1,5 h documentary (for a 1000 word case fic). That was probably the most niche topic. 

Other than that, I often research medical conditions, to not get them completely wrong. I did a lot of research on pregnancy and childbirth, including making a detailed calendar on gestational age and events that should take place. I generally like to make timetables for longer fics, to get the seasons and months right and to not give a month too many days. 😉

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

I love each and every comment. I maybe tend to reread comments more often of people pointing out things they liked, their favourite part, or swooning over characters. Also, when someone catches a hidden meaning or reference to another chapter, that is really amazing. But honestly, every comment makes my day and puts a huge smile on my face. 🥰

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

Probably struggles with fertility. Other than that I think I’m pretty mainstream.

Though, I wrote a Christmas market one-shot set in the city I live in once, which could be considered niche because of the non anglo-american or British setting. 

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

It takes me a long time to write descriptions. Often there is a scene in my head that I want to bring to paper (or computer screen). But then I realize that I lack the vocabulary to formulate the sentences as flowery and beautifully as I’d like. So, I end up googling words for hours. 

10. What is the easiest type?

Fluff. I love writing tender scenes between characters. 

But also Angst, I think. Probably because I am a very anxious person. 

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

On my computer. I write in MS word. Then I copy the whole text into google docs, and do the editing there. 

Most ideas come to me while commuting, going for a walk, or showering. So, I either take quick notes on my phone or actually sit down and type it into my laptop, if I have time. Mostly, I end up writing in the evening, but I am actually more productive in the morning (again if there is time) 

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

Smut. 

13. What made you choose your username?

I chose it, because I am a microbiologist at heart. It could be argued that Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as bakers’ yeast, is one of humanity's oldest production animals. It is also one of the first microorganisms I was able to observe under a microscope and I think the cells look adorable. Apparently, someone else thought so too, because the username was already taken. That’s why I chose Saccharomyces_97

Tagging: @alphacrone @woahpip @oceanspray5 @cate-deriana and @the-biscuit-agreement (I'm terribly late and don't know who has done this before. So sorry, in case of double tag 😉 )

[valuunit]

Cornerstone. ii

Part i

Inspired/based by Arctic Monkeys’ song.

Content: Angsty to Fluff (don’t get tricked by this).

Disclaimer: English is not my first lenguaje so if there’s any mistake i’m sorry, i’ll try to correct it. Also, some dates are mixed up, so the real life time line would be a little bit affected. Hmmmm… This turned out longer than i thought, so if i how many parts will end up being.

3rd person narrator

2018

Y/n was back in Holmes Chapel with her parents and sister. And her whole family will arrive soon to their home for the December holidays.

If you’d ask her, she would tell you that this wasn’t her plan of passing the christmas holidays. She wanted to go out, but she already promised her mum that she’d be there to help.

Right now she was, like a teenager, planning in escaping through the window of her childhood bedroom and go to a bar.

She was having a hard time pretending to be okay. After the her split with Harry, they only talked once, to agree how to lift her things from their home to sell the it. She paused her work activities, her whole life was in pause for this horrible situation.

“Y/n?” the voice of her mum muffled through the door.

“Now i go.”

“We need some stuff from the store.”

“I’ll go, don’t worry” she got up quickly, wanting a distraction from her overthinking, also not wanting to be help in the kitchen. She found her mum at her door.

“Thank you, darlin’ ”she said sweetly and hugged her before accompanying her to the front door. Y/n was mummy’s girl. And also a little daddy’s girl…

When Y/n finally arrived to the market she saw a pair of familiar silhouettes, she hoped to the universe that it was just a vision trick and tried to continue her shopping.

“Y/n/n?”

“Shit…” she whispered to the cereal in front of her, then turned around giving a sympathetic smile. “Hi!”

“How are you darlin’?” Anne said giving her a hug.

“I’m good, thank you. What ‘bout you?”

“Oh, i’m good as well, with the last minute shopping.”

“Yeah. I get it” Y/n laughed pointing to her cart.

“Is your mum with you?”

“No, i’m on my own”

“Oh, that a shame, i was hoping to say hi to her, we haven’t had time to talk.”

“I’ll tell her”

“Thanks, sweety”

“No problem” A not so awkward silence settle in the group of women. “Oh. Am… I must rush, my mum‘s gonna be mad. It was great to see you girls.”

“It was great seeing you, darlin’ ”

“Yeah, nice seeing you, Y/n/n.” Gemma said clearly uncomfortable, same.

And then she wanted to cry, this was probably the last interaction that she was going to have with this women, that she saw as sister and second mother respectively.

“Yes. Great. Have a nice day, amm, and happy christmas.”

“You too!”

Harry’s POV

2018

I was waiting in the car, listening to the new sample of a new song from the new album.

It’s been probably an hour and i don’t see my sister and mum wanting to leave any time soon. I’m bored. I’m sad. I’m feeling like shit, basically.

I didn’t expect that i’ll be sitting all alone in an almost empty parking lot in christmas eve. What i expected was watching my family creating chaos trying to have everything set for the dinner, with laughs, jokes, anecdotes and fun.

I expected to be with Y/n, talking about the wedding plans, our projects, us. Then i started crying, for second time of the day.

Now this is my life like. Wake up, cry, being forced to do something by Gemma, cry again ‘cause i do everything wrong and sleep.

The muffled voice of my sister and mother passed gently through the car.

“She looks sad.”

“Mum, i love you, but stop it. We don’t know what’s going on.”

“Yeah, but, i wanted to tell her how… is. They could talk”

“Anne. No. They are adults, they’ll know what’s the best for them.”

“They clearly don’t.”

“Excuse me?”

“Shh… we’ll talk later.”

They entered the car. “Everything’s okay?”

“Yes.” Gemma said simply.

“What was that?” I asked.

“What was what?” my sister let out a nervous chuckle. “Can we go?”

“Am… well. What were you talking about?” I started the car.

“Oh, that… It-It’s nothi-”

“We found Y/n/n on the market.”

“Mum!” Gemma yelled looking back at her.

“Oh. Y/n/n like… Y-Y/n Y/n?”

“Yeah, that’s not important right now. We have to start preparing the food. Let’s go.”

“I didn’t know she was back home.”

“You knew it well, Harry.”

“D’you think’s a good idea to go to talk to her? You know, for our- uhm, the apartment situation.” I ignored the comment, understanding how stupid my question was in the first place.

“No.”

“Yes!”

“Why not Gemma?” I said, slightly offended, i don’t know why.

“We know you do not just want to talk about the apartment.”

“What’s the problem with that?”

“That’s gonna hurt you, and her too.”

“What?”

“I just think the wound it’s still very fresh.”

Just when i was about to give her the reason, mum interrupted.

“It’s good for you guys to talk, alone.”

“Yeah…” I said.

“No! What would you talk about?”

I didn’t responded.

“Exactly, mum, let him make his decisions on his own.”

“You just told me to not go to talk to Y/n/n.” I argued to my sister.

“Alright, then do whatever you want, i was just giving you some advice.”

“Me too.” said mum.

I sat there for a moment, thinking what would be the best option, i understood and kinda agreed with Gemma, but also wanted to see her.

A girl with two bags was walking to the only other car in the lot, a guy was following her with two other tote bags.

I could definitely tell who the girl was, even if i only saw her back.

“Now i come.” I quickly took off my belt and got out of the car.

“Thank you, Matt.” I haven’t heard her bounce in so long.

“There’s no problem. It was nice to catch up. Nice day, Y/n/n” he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“You too!” He started to walk away.

I walked closer to them. Her back was facing me.

“Hey mate! How’re ya?”

Now I recognized him. He is Matt, we were in school together, with Y/n too. He gives me a friendly hug.

“Hi man. Good, you?” I said nervous.

“I’m great! Heading to home to help. The dad life’s tough.”

“Woah, congratulations, i’ll have to meet them.”

“Of course, will be great. We should also have a drink one day, like a double date.”

“Sorry?”

“You and Y/n/n and me and my girlfriend.” he said confused, pointing her with his thumb.

“Oh. Y-yeah.” I was about to tell him the truth, but it was too much, not the time. “Sounds great.”

“Perfect. Have to go, see you?”

“Definitely. Bye, nice day.” He gave me a slight slap in the back and walked away.

I was taken aback by the conversation, it was a signal that i shouldn’t go after Y/n?

“Harry?”

Or maybe not.

“Yeah?” I said stopped overthinking. I saw her, she looked tired but so angelic at the same time, the light behind her definitely helped that image.

“A-am… hi.”

“Hi.” I smiled.

“Are you okay?”

“Mhm…” she looked at me with concern. Did i looked bad? “y-yes.”

“D’you want me to call your mum o…or Gemma?”

“Uh… no? They’re in t-the car.”

“Oh, okay. Well.” she said awkwardly, great. “I should get going. Goodbye, Harry.”

“Am… Can we talk? Not now if you don’t want to, b-but maybe later? I’ll be here for some weeks…” I offered her an smile. She reciprocated it.

“Uh… I’ll check my agenda” She doesn’t have one. I let out a giggle looking at the floor, she must’ve notice. “Don’t be surprised, Styles, i have one.”

“I didn’t said anything.” I smiled again, she did too, wider this time. God i missed this.

“Your number’s still the same?” Bold. Just like i remembered.

I nodded.

“Okay, i’ll call you then.”

“I’ll be waiting for it.” She nodded again.

“Happy christmas to all over there.”

“Thanks, same for your family”

“Thanks.”

“Bye” I smiled even more.

“Bye.” she muttered with a little smirk.

She got into her car and before starting her car she said goodbye with her hand, then she left.

I punched the air in bliss spinning in my feet. It was the same reaction that i had when we had our first kiss. Thing could be like before… no. Are going to be better.

“What happened?” my mum asked exited.

“I think i have a chance to make up everything.”

“Another one?” Gemma laughed sourly.

“Gemma.”

“Okay. Good for you H. Don’t mess it up this time.”

“I won’t.” My smile was not going to leave my face anytime soon.

Y/n’s POV

2018

Stupid Harry and his charms.

“What took you so long?” Was the first thing i heard when i entered the house, my sister groaning.

“She’s here. That’s what matters. Honey, help her with some bags.”

My dad grabbed the two bags that i had in my hands and offered me a smile.

“It must been very busy.” Said my mum when we were going to get the other two bags.

“No, just, some… unexpected encounters. Ah, Anne says hi. And uh… Harry says merry christmas.”

“Harry?” she said shocked for obvious reasons.

“Yeah…”

“How?”

“Uh… the faith?”

“Oh, sweetie. That must been pretty hard.” she hugged me.

“It was really good actually. We probably talk soon.”

My mum gives me a look that i can read. “Oh, okay.”

“D’you think it’s not a good idea?”

“No… you know what you do and… if that makes you happy it’s okay to me.”

“But i want your advice.”

“I honestly don’t trust him anymore.”

“Why?” I asked genuinely curious.

“I just… think that he takes you for granted. It has happened more than once.”

“Being honest, i’ve thought about that as well.”

“I think he has to do some reality check.”

“Okay. Well, he probably has done it now?”

“I don’t know honey. I really hope so, i do think you two are soulmates.”

I nervously chucked. I’ve thought that too.

“Maybe.”

“But, it’s not time for that, now, help me here.”

We entered the house with everything.

“How can i help?”

“Go to the office and wrap the grift, please” answered my sister.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Ugh, you have become way too american.”

“I know, it sucks.”

“Go.”

“ ‘Right, on my way.”

This is depressing. Maybe it was not the best idea, but i don’t care, i have the christmas melancholy.

“Hello?”

“Am… hey Harry, It’s Y/n.”

“Oh, hi. How’re you there?”

“Honestly, a little bored.”

“Yeah, me too. I can’t help in anything.”

“Why? You’re a great chef.”

“They won’t let me, I’m here in the couch.”

“Uh, great. I’m wrapping some presents.” i left a small chuckle.

“You?” He said with disbelief.

“What do you mean with by me?”

“You’re not the greatest with crafts.”

“Ouch? For your information i’m doin’ a great job.”

“That’s good to know… Am, don’t to sound harsh but can i help you in anythin’?”

“Well, distract me from the boredom…” I’m so stupid.

“I’m always glad to help.”

“And to ask you when you are free to… talk.”

“I’m always free fo’ you.”

“Too flirty, Styles.”

“No! I wasn’t trying anything…”

“It’s okay. But really, when?”

“We could go to the cafe down the street of the church on Wednesday?”

“Perfect, in the morning’s good for you?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a plan.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“Great.” i laughed quietly. Probably neither of of wanted to hang up.

“Am… would you mind accompanying’ me in this nightmare? I just ripped a whole sheet of Peppa pig patterned paper. Kara’s gonna kill me.”

He laughed out loud. “Kara’s too sweet for that, plus she hates Peppa.”

“But loves George and now a multiple of them don’t have a head.”

“It also had George?”

I wish that I could get this everyday of the rest of my life, and maybe i could still happen. I really want that.

3rd person narrator

2018

Y/n was up very early in the morning casually jogging around a few neighbor houses, concentrated in dissect the new album she recently bought.

Meanwhile, Harry was coaching himself and also practicing every possible answer he could use in the mirror.

The two of them were nervous about their appointment not so later that day, non of them really knew what was it for.

“I’m going out, I’ll be right back.”

“Be careful, Harry.”

“I know mum. Love you.”

“Love you.”

Harry walked at a leisurely pace, knowing he was almost half an hour early. He thought of all the possible inputs for a conversation about their relationship, but also overthinking about what would you want to talk about.

«What if she doesn’t want to go back? What if she's over it? Does she is tired of me?»

“Mornin’! How can i help you?” a guy on the other side of the counter.

“Hi, uh… i would like a dark coffee…” should i order for Y/n/n? “And an iced coffee with oat milk please.”

“They’ll be ready in a minute.”

“Thanks.”

He waited one of the benches sitting outside of the little place, bouncing his leg up and down. There was only a few people around at this hour, all of them minding their own business. He had nothing better to do, so he was watching them although didn’t recognized a lot of them. A few waves later the coffees were ready, and his date if you want to call her like that, arrived.

“Hi”

“Hey… do you have a lot of time here?”

“No…” Yes. “I jus’ arrive.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Here, uh, i ordered for you. I hope doesn’t bother you.”

“Thanks! Ah, does it has oat…”

“Oat milk? Yes.”

She smiled looking to the ground.

«You’re making it a difficult task to play it cool, Styles.»

“Do you want to take a seat, there’s a table for two.”

“Yes please, i’m exhausted.”

“What’s that for?”

“The daily run, remember?”

“Yeah, you still do it? I thought you hated it.” he smiled.

“I hated to always have paparazzi around.”

“Me too, sorry.”

“It’s not your fault…”

“Kinda.”

“Well, yes.” she smiled too.

“How was your christmas?”

“Ah, I can’t really tell you, i had a whiskey bottle in my bedroom, don’t really remember much of it.”

“What? Really? But weren’t you on med…”

“I’m joking Harry. Jesus… Do you really think that of me.” She faked an offended tone, Harry’s worries want partly gone.

“I don’t know…” he chuckle as a gasp scaled the lips of Y/n. “Mines were okay.”

“Yeah, that’s the perfect description.”

“Our call made it better, though…” Harry muttered while he was watching his coffee cup as if it was super interesting.

“Ah… We already started with the hints.”

“Well…”

“What do you wanted to talk about.” Y/n pressed her knee up to her chest.

“About the apartment.”

“Really? I already told you to take it, do whatever you want with it.” Her tone had some disappointment aside with annoyance.

“Okay, I also wanted to talk about us, i don’t think we even make our… break up official?” those words broke him, he didn’t want to make it official.

“You wanna make it official?”

“Uh…” Was she giving him a chance? “No.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I’ve thought about us. I would also want to try it again… I mean… I guess you want it too.”

“Of course.” Harry leaned on the table and put his hands on it. He never left her eyes.

“But i want you to promise that you’re a hundred percent sure that you’re gonna be as invest in this as me, i think that’s what failed…”

“Definitely.”

“I want you to answer me more than monosyllables. We both failed in something not just one of us, I already told you what i think went wrong, tell me what you think, i want to know, please.”

“Well.. Uhm. I think out schedules have been rough since, you know, the band and your degree… We could organize our lives together, and the commitment as well.” He was nervous, didn’t know why.

“Okay, thanks for telling me…” she grabbed her hand around his. “I agree with you…”

“So… would you like to work in this, together.”

“Yes.”

The rest of the days, no, weeks, no, almost months. They passed their days like the teenagers they once were, but always having in mind to have more maturity, or that’s what they said.

It was undeniable that they still love each other with all their hearts.

“H…” Her lips were attached to his.

“Yes?” He mumbled against her gloss covered lips.

Y/n moved her head and lay it on his chest, hugging him.. “We should go.”

Her hair smelled like his shampoo. “Why? It’s so calm here…”

“You sound like a child.” She laughed.

“I’m feeling like one.” He looked it the sunset.

“It’s a nostalgic day…”

“Also. But this, being here, with you, the view, everythin’. I would like to freeze in this moment forever.”

“That so cheesy…” She could felt the vibration from his chest by his laughter.

“Thanks, love.”

“No problem, bae.”

“Okay, you officially ruined it.”

“Wu! Let’s go, i want to go to the new pub.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

@tiaamberxx @lomlhstyles if you want me to tag you for the next part just tell me!

[emletish-fish]

My belated Netflix ATLA thoughts.

Things I loved

I think all the actors did a great job with what they were given. Dallas was especially great as Zuko. Perfect mix of smushable teenage petulance and trying-his-best. (Lol, it's always Zuko's actor, eh? Dev Patel was the only watchable and redeeming bit of the first live action. A bright spark of talent in an otherwise bleak cinematic experience).

All the kids were great too. Sokka was spot on and got to do some heavy character work. Daniel dae kim was living his best life as a villain and you can tell he had fun with the role. ABED!!! Sorry, Daniel Pudi - amazing choice for the mechanist. Shout-out to the lady who played Suki's mum.

(Love the Suki's mum plot and how Kyoshi's isolationism was explored).

Also Zhao's actor added a wonderfully Uriah Heap-esque obsequiousness layer. Very skin-crawling. Well done that guy.

low-key loved how careful the show was in casting POC. It's so great and refreshing to see so many wonderful actors get more work and recognition.

Loved the costuming and make-up and how it looked like at least some care and thought went into it. Details like the gold corners in the Kyoshi make-up were inspired choices. Shout out to whatever hair stylist did Jet's hair. They managed to achieve cartoon levels of foofiness.

Loved seeing Aang meditate with all the past avatars. Like that his relationship with each of them is being fleshed out early. Some very interesting theories and takes. It also does a great job of showing us all the past avatars were flawed people.

Loved some adjustments to Zuko and Irohs story, like the funeral scene and the division becoming Zuko's crew.

Loved how these changes affect the way we see the relationship. In the cartoon, Iroh is a goofy comic relief character for most of season 1. It's a front for his white lotus sneakery, but that is only obvious to viewers in hindsight. But Netflix ATLA knows who Iroh really is and where his story is going, so his guilt and grief and war crimes are all out in the open from the get go.

Because Iroh's grief is more obvious, Zuko's caretaking role is more obvious too. We are shown how he takes care of his uncle above other duties and it makes their relationship and more balanced one of mutual care. Zuko's moments with his uncle are elevated from occasional pet-the-dog instances to a fundamental part of his character.

Loved some of the fight choreography and scenes. The market place fight was especially entertaining, with the colour saturation of the scarfs and the random lady getting all up in Zuko's business for attacking a kid. She was great. Shout out to her.

In general there was a lot to love in this version, and I appreciate the work that went into it on a technical level. Whilst it maybe a cash-grab at a studio exec level, it's obvious the people working on this project really care about what they are making and it shows in their work.