#as an australian I’ve had it on Stan the whole time

[noodles-and-tea]

BBC Sherlock is on Hulu! :)

Congratulations!

[a-distantdreamer]

Only Us

daniel ricciardo x ofc

word count: 5222

thank you to the lovely @leclerc-stan for always being there and @strawberrysainz and @forteafy for convincing me to post this 🫶🏻 i haven’t posted any of my writing in a while but with some encouragement and support i have built up the courage again. i hope this is okay. 🤍

tw: nausea, vomiting, pregnancy tests

Sienna felt like shit.

Her hands trembled as she dragged her suitcase up the front path, trying to ignore the sweat beading on her hairline. As expected for the Australian summertime, it was as hot as hell, but she had been sweating and nauseous even in the depths of the air conditioned airport and the taxi.

Daniel had, of course, offered to come and collect her from the airport, but she refused, knowing that they were hosting his parents for lunch that afternoon. She wouldn’t deny Daniel the rare, quality time with his Mum and Dad for anything, no matter how much she wished he was there to give her a cuddle when she’d first got out of the airport.

As Sienna fished through her bag for her keys, her stomach knotted again, and she inhaled slowly through her nose, bracing the palm of her hand on the wood of the door. Mentally, she noted that there was a perfectly good hedge next to their front door that could be vomited into, if needed.

Eventually, the churning of her stomach eased a little, and Sienna managed to unlock the front door, pulling herself and her case into the entryway. She set her backpack and suitcase by the foot of the stairs before beginning the search through the house for her family.

Rounding the corner into the open-plan living space, she smiled at the sight of Daniel standing at the kitchen countertop, chopping salad and bopping along to the summery music of one of his many playlists. He was clad in a pair of navy shorts and a bright blue, noisily patterned shirt. His feet were bare. She was home.

Slowly, Sienna walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his narrow waist. She felt him tense for a moment and giggled when he swore under his breath, before he looked down at her hands, which curled over his tummy.

“Well, hey there, cutie,” he murmured.

Sienna sighed contentedly, turning her head to rest her cheek between his shoulder blades as his voice settled over her like smooth caramel, “hi, baby.”

Daniel took hold of her hands to loosen her grip on him enough that he could turn to face her. She rested her hands on his hips, as his came up to cup her face. His stubble had grown a little since she had left, and one unruly curl of hair was hanging over his forehead. She reached up to smooth it back into place, with little effect.

“I fucking missed you,” he admitted, his gorgeous brown eyes scanning her face as he spoke.

Sienna nodded and leant up on her tiptoes to kiss him, “I missed you too.”

He smiled against her mouth until she lowered back to the flat of her feet. The motion alone made her head spin and she let out a groan, leaning forward to rest her head against his chest.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his large hands running up and down her spine.

She shrugged, “I’ve felt awful for the whole journey home.”

“In what way?” Daniel probed, his concern growing.

“Nauseous, dizzy, hot even in the air conditioning. I haven’t managed to eat anything today,” Sienna listed.

“Still?” Daniel queried in confusion, “you were feeling sick before you left for Sydney too.”

“Must’ve just been the start of it. The nausea feels the same,” Sienna admitted, “although I feel like I’m running more of a temperature now.”

Daniel shook his head and lifted his hand to press the back of it to her forehead, “you don’t feel warm, you’re just a little…damp. With the sweat, y’know?”

Sienna snorted out a laugh at his choice of words, “probably because it’s hot as hell here, as usual. Who’s bright idea was it again to move out to a farm in The-Arse-End-of-Perth, Australia, again?”

“Oh I do wonder,” Daniel teased in return.

They knew full well that both he and Sienna had painstakingly searched for a house just like the one they were standing in for years, and were equally enthusiastic when the farm had come on the market. The day they had moved into the house, 4 years into their relationship, had been one of the happiest of Sienna’s life so far. It was their home, and any time that they had spare from Daniel’s hectic racing calendar in the year since they’d bought it was spent there.

Sienna tilted her head back to peer up at his handsome face, her fingertips gripping at the silkiness of his shirt, “are your mum and dad here yet?”

Part of her hoped he’d say no, so that they could cuddle, and she could nap, even though she was desperate to see Grace and Joe again too. She adored Daniel’s family.

Daniel nodded, “they’re outside. But if you’re not feeling well enough to come out now, you can go lay down for a bit. They’ll understand.”

“No way,” Sienna shook her head, even though she was dying to crawl into her own bed and just sleep, “I want to see them.”

The Ricciardos were out on the patio, looking as put together and gorgeous as ever. Grace was holding a glass of red wine, watching Joe heating the grill with a beer in hand. Daniel came out, holding the large bowl of salad he’d prepared in one hand, and leading Sienna out with the other.

“There’s our girl!” Joe cheered at the sight of her, abandoning the grill to rush over as Daniel let go of her to put down the food.

Sienna never had to force a smile around Daniel’s family. They were always so incredibly welcoming to her.

“Hey, Joe,” she greeted, as he engulfed her in a tight hug. Grace had also made her way over in that time, greeting Sienna with a hug and a kiss on the cheek once Joe let go of her.

“How was your journey, darling?” Grace queried softly, cupping her cheek.

Sienna managed a weak smile, “it was a little rough. I don’t feel all that well.”

“Oh, sweetie, go and rest if you need to!” Grace exclaimed, her hands resting on Sienna’s shoulders, “don’t mind us one bit.”

Sienna shook her head, “I’ll be okay. I think I just need some food and fresh air. I haven’t managed to eat yet today either, so that probably explains it.”

Grace still looked uncertain, but let it go, taking her seat back at the table with Sienna beside her as Daniel went to assist Joe with the food again. Grace and Sienna chatted about her work trip to Sydney and other current affairs, occasionally looking up to laugh at the banter between Daniel and his dad over the barbecue, or the ridiculous way Daniel was shaking his hips to the music. They talked about her and Daniel’s plans for the rest of the summer break, including their upcoming trip to Southern Italy.

Throughout, Grace knew that Sienna still wasn’t herself. She was awfully pale, and Grace noticed how Sienna’s hands were trembling a little whenever she went to take a tentative sip of water. She also noticed how Daniel would glance back over at Sienna regularly to check on her, the small crease between his eyebrows showing concern.

In the distance beyond the patio, Sienna spotted their flock of sheep migrating over the red-dirt hills towards their pen. She made a mental note to go down and visit them first thing in the morning, along with her horses. She had missed them so much in the four days that she was away. Having enough space to own animals had always been a dream of hers, and she felt blessed that she and Daniel were in a position to do so.

Suddenly, a slight breeze blew across the patio, carrying the scent of the cooking meat on the barbecue across the table. Sienna’s nose scrunched as the rich scent of steak and seasoned chicken engulfed her, and her stomach lurched. She slapped her hand ove no r her mouth and pushed out from the table as bile rose in her throat.

Daniel could only watch in confusion as Sienna raced back inside the house. He quickly handed the spatula back over to his dad and took off his apron, not wanting to risk anything that was making Sienna feel more sick getting close to her.

“Poor thing,” he heard his mum saying sympathetically as he followed Sienna inside, “she really isn’t well at all.”

The door to the downstairs bathroom was flung wide open, and Sienna hadn’t even bothered to turn the lights on before falling to her knees in front of the toilet. There was no relief that came with actually vomiting though, and now she had started she feared she wouldn’t be able to stop. Already, there was little more than stomach acid coming up, burning at her nose and throat and only making the nausea worse.

“Oh, Peach,” Daniel sighed, crouching down beside Sienna’s exhausted-looking form. He carded his fingers through her sweat-dampened hair, ensuring it was all pulled away from her face before he kissed the crown of her head.

“I’m here, baby,” he soothed as she continued to vomit.

One of her hands shakily reached for him to steady herself, her clammy palm gripping onto his thigh where his shorts had ridden up a little to expose the tanned and tattooed skin.

Sienna let out a tired little sigh once her stomach finally stopped heaving, and she turned her head to rest her rosy cheek on Daniel’s thigh. She felt completely drained, and didn’t even try to open her eyes.

“All done?” Daniel asked softly, not wanting to speak too loudly and make her feel worse.

Weakly, she nodded, and Daniel shifted her until they were both sitting on the floor. Sienna was cradled in his lap as he smoothed his hand over her hair.

After a few moments, Daniel spoke quietly, “I’m going to put you in bed for a little while. If you’re feeling better later, you can come sit out with me and mum and dad again, yeah?”

Sienna didn’t even have the energy to object or explain how embarrassed she felt about getting sick in front of Daniel’s parents, so instead she just nodded. Daniel gently slid Sienna off his lap and onto the floor, before getting to his feet and bending down to lift her. He hooked an arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back, encouraging Sienna to curl into his chest.

“I’ve gotcha sweetheart,” he murmured when she let out a quiet groan of discomfort. Even the slight movement of him starting to walk up the stairs was making her feel sick again.

By the time Daniel had reached their bedroom, Sienna was fast asleep against his chest. He pulled back the covers with one hand and lay her down on the mattress gently. He made sure the air conditioning was set just as she liked it, that she had her childhood Snuggle Cat close by and a cold glass of water on the bedside table. He took a moment to perch on the mattress next to her, noting the tension in her forehead and the little crease of her skin between her brows, even in her sleep. Something was definitely off.

Of course they’d seen each other sick in the last 6 years, even suffering through a rough bout of Covid-19 during the pandemic. Daniel couldn’t remember ever seeing Sienna so unwell before. Usually she would still manage to soldier through any symptoms, and simply curl up on the sofa under a blanket to watch trashy TV, but this time, she seemed completely drained.

Daniel gently kissed between Sienna’s brows, before smoothing over the spot with his thumb, encouraging her to relax, shushing her softly. She let out a little groan, arching into his touch before she snuggled further into the pillows.

Joe and Grace had finished off cooking the meat and veggies on the barbecue by the time Daniel wandered back out onto the patio. They’d even set the outside table and brought out the side dishes from the kitchen.

“How’s our girl?” Joe asked, as Daniel raked a hand through his hair, sinking into a chair opposite his mum and dad.

“Uh, she’s sleeping,” he said, reaching for the bowl of salad, “she’s totally wiped.”

“I could tell something wasn’t right as soon as she got back,” Grace admitted, spooning a few baby potatoes onto her plate, “we can save her some of the plainer food in case she’s hungry later, Bub.”

Daniel nodded in agreement, “thanks mum. She’s not been feeling well for a while, even before she left for Sydney. It might just be a bit of a nasty virus or something.”

Grace set down the dish she was holding and stared at her son, “she left on Tuesday?”

Daniel, still not looking up from where he was loading food onto his plate, nodded again, “yeah, she was away for 4 days.”

“Might even be worth seeing the doctor if she’s still not feeling great after 4 days,” Joe suggested, pushing his chair out from the table, “I’m gonna grab a beer. Want one, Dan?”

Daniel shook his head, “nah, thanks. I’d better not in case Sienna needs me later.”

Joe nodded, grabbing his son’s shoulder on his way past him back into the house. Once Joe was fully out of earshot, Grace leant across the table towards Daniel.

“Danny…I think you need to go and buy a pregnancy test,” She said.

Daniel’s brow furrowed, “what? For Sienna?”

“No. For you,” Grace joked, before she shook her head, “obviously for Sienna.”

He felt his stomach clench a little at the suggestion, “you think…?”

“It all adds up, Bubs. I was so sick when I was pregnant with you that I was convinced I had stomach flu for two weeks. I was just like Sienna is now - couldn’t stand the smell of any food, I was vomiting, I had nausea and headaches,” Grace explained, ticking off the symptoms on her fingers.

Daniel let out a little laugh of disbelief, “holy shit.”

Grace shook her head quickly, seeing Daniel’s excitement at the prospect growing, “it might not be, but she’s got the symptoms. Might just be worth checking.”

“She should have had her period by now,” Daniel noted.

He couldn’t remember the last time Sienna had put sanitary products into their basket while shopping, curled up with a hot water bottle pressed to her belly or taken one of her ‘magical’ Epsom salt baths for her cramping.

It had been a while.

Grace nodded slowly, giving her son time to process his thoughts, “why don’t you run to the store now while she’s asleep? Your dad and I can stay here with her. I won’t say anything to Dad.”

Daniel’s eyes flitted to his mum, who gave him a reassuring smile. He nervously raked a hand through his hair, at which his mum leant forward, offering her hand to him across the table.

He took it and she gave it a squeeze.

“It’s gonna be okay, Dan. You don’t need to be scared,” she whispered.

Daniel stood, staring blankly at the shelves in the tiny convenience store. He didn’t think it was possible to have so many different variations of the same product. Surely they all just did the same thing, right?

He snapped a photo of the shelves and sent it to his mum, followed by one word. ‘Help.’

While he waited for her response, he started at one end of the small aisle, eyes scanning across the various boxes to see if any of the tests stood out to him. There were early result ones, ‘dip’ ones - whatever the fuck that meant - and a plethora of digital ones. They boasted the highest accuracy percentage, and Daniel trusted statistics, so he began picking a digital test from each brand off the shelf and dropping them into the basket at his feet.

His phone pinged, and Grace had replied; ‘digital is better. ClearBlue is what Mich used.’

Daniel nodded and slipped his phone back into his pocket, continuing his journey down the aisle. His mind kept drifting back to Sienna, who was laying in bed back at their house, unbelievably sick and potentially pregnant with their child. The thought of her carrying their baby was almost too exciting for Daniel to bear. He knew he had to get home to her quickly.

A dip in the mattress made Sienna stir from her deep sleep. She yawned and stretched, accidently shoving Snuggle Cat onto the floor before she opened her eyes.

Daniel was perched beside her, his large hand settled on the curve of her hip beneath the comforter, “hey, Peach. How are you feeling?”

Sienna smiled sleepily at the nickname, which made Daniel relax a little. She finally seemed a bit more like herself.

“Um, not as sick, I think?” Sienna answered tentatively, scrunching her nose as she gauged whether she was at an immediate risk of throwing up on Daniel. After a second, she decided that they’d be safe for the moment.

Daniel nodded, “good. That’s…good.”

Sienna then noticed the plastic grocery store bag in his lap, “what have you got, Dan?”

He looked down at his lap, and then back at her, “I went to the store while you were asleep. Mum suggested it.”

“Oh?” Sienna asked, rubbing at her eyes with a closed fist, not caring if she was smudging her already ruined mascara even more.

Daniel reached into the bag and pulled out one of the boxes, setting it on top of the quilt between them. It took Sienna a moment to register what she was looking at, but as soon as she did, she felt her mouth go dry.

“What-?”

“Mum said it might be worth taking a test,” Daniel said softly, hoping he hadn’t overstepped the mark, “that she was so sick when she was first pregnant with me, just like you have been, and I just thought-”

Sienna just blinked at him, her hand coming up to rest on her pale cheek, “I-I could be. I just don’t know.”

“You don’t have to,” Daniel insisted, reaching forward to take hold of her hand, “I know I’ve just sprung this on you which is pretty shitty of me considering how unwell you’re feeling. I’m sorry.”

Sienna shook her head, looking up at him from beneath her lashes, “do you want me to take one?”

Daniel didn’t really know how to answer. Of course he wanted to know if they were going to be parents, but for her, he’d wait to make sure she was comfortable. After all, she hadn’t had much time to process the idea.

“Only if you want to,” Daniel said softly.

Sienna took a shuddering breath, “I’m scared.”

“It’s okay,” Daniel replied, “I’ll be here the whole time.

True to his word, Daniel accompanied Sienna to the bathroom, leaning back against the countertop as she peed on as many of the tests as she could manage. After each one, she’d pass them over to Daniel, who dutifully lay them out in a neat line across the counter.

“Jesus, Si, keep ‘em coming,” he teased, quite impressed by the amount of pee she was managing to produce.

“Shut up, Dan,” she grumbled, her cheeks flushing a bit at his words as she clicked the cap onto the 6th and final test and stretched her hand out towards him. He smiled at her and took it, turning his back only to allow her the privacy to clean up and flush.

“How long do we wait?” he asked, as Sienna perused one of the many test boxes stacked up on the countertop after washing her hands.

“They take around 2 minutes apparently,” She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself.

Daniel was staring down at the line of tests intently, as if his gaze alone was enough to give them a result. She knew he was trying to stay composed for her, but she could spot his excitement a mile off. In that moment, she knew exactly what she wanted, and the real fear came from not being able to give Daniel that either.

“Danny,” she croaked, her eyes brimming with tears.

He turned to look at her and crossed the short distance to where she stood. As soon as he got to her, she crumbled, her arms wrapping around his neck and her face nuzzling into his shoulder to dampen his shirt.

“Hey,” he whispered, his hands running up and down her back, “it’s going to be okay, baby. Talk to me.”

She shook her head against him, and he gently squeezed her hips enough to hoist her up so she was sat on the counter. His hands cradled her face gently, those big brown eyes peering into hers.

“I love you,” he said quietly.

Sienna's eyes brimmed with tears again, “I love you.”

“What’s going on?” He probed, his thumbs stroking the fresh tears from her cheeks. The way she was trembling and crying was breaking his heart.

“I’m scared that you’ll be disappointed,” Sienna admitted, the words alone causing more tears to fall from her eyes.

“Disappointed?” Daniel’s eyebrows furrowed, “how could I be disappointed, sweetheart? If those tests are positive, I’ll be absolutely elated, and if they’re not, sure it’ll sting, but I know that one day when we do get a positive, it’ll be the best day of my life.”

Sienna felt her heart burst with love for the man standing in front of her, and she leant forward to allow their foreheads to meet. Daniel pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.

“Do you want them to be positive?” he asked against her skin.

Sienna closed her eyes, and without a second thought, nodded emphatically, chewing at her bottom lip, “more than anything.”

Daniel let out a sigh, finally understanding why she was so anxious, “listen, if they aren’t positive, and you do have some shitty virus, then as soon as you’re feeling better, we’ll get on board the baby-making train.”

Sienna peered up at him, “really?”

“Really,” Daniel said decisively.

Suddenly she let out a giggle and rolled her eyes, “I can’t believe you just called it ‘the baby making train’.”

“Is that not what everyone calls it?” Daniel teased, laughing at his own joke as always. Sienna adored him for it.

“I don’t think so, honey,” she sniffled, bringing her arms to loop behind his neck so that she could run her fingertips through the soft curls on the back of his head.

“I think this might be the longest two minutes of my life,” Daniel admitted, turning his head to look at the row of tests again.

Just as he did, the first test began to beep quietly, the small light on the front flashing as if anyone who had taken one of those tests wouldn’t already be watching it like a hawk.

Sienna looked at him, letting a slow breath fall from between her lips. Daniel turned back to her and kissed her softly, silently reassuring as his hands gently took hold of her waist to ease her off the counter.

“I don’t know if I can look,” Sienna admitted quietly, her hands starting to tremble as the second timer beeped too.

Daniel’s hands ran up and down her ribs, “tell me what you want me to do.”

Sienna peered up at him, her vision blurring through her tears again as she saw the excited little smile playing on Daniel’s lips. She knew how much this moment meant to him, so she let him have it.

“Go look,” she urged.

Daniel kissed the top of her head before padding the short distance to the other side of the sink, where the tests were all lined up and waiting. For a moment, Daniel was frozen, his hands pressed to the counter on either side of the tests and his head bowed as he surveyed each of them carefully. It was the quietest Sienna had ever heard him be and the stillest she’d ever seen him.

After a few seconds of just listening to his steady breathing, Sienna mustered the courage to stand alongside him, staring at the side of his handsome face to try and gauge his reaction.

“Dan…what do they say?” Her voice was shaking, and she gripped onto the fabric of his shirt like a lifeline, too petrified to look down at the tests.

Daniel exhaled, turning round to face her, and it was then that she saw the tears on his cheeks. Only once he had her in his arms, did he nod, and let a beaming smile spread across his face. His hands came up to cradle her face, and he looked at her, grinning like a fool.

“Daniel…” Sienna warned shakily, as he continued to stay silent, “what-?”

“You’re pregnant.”

Immediately, Sienna buried her face into his chest and began to sob, as his hands wrapped around her tightly, one curling against the back of her head to hold her against him as she cried. He gently pulled back, pressing kisses all over her face even as she giggled and cried, completely overwhelmed.

“Oh my god,” she whimpered, leaning round Daniel enough to pick up the first test off the counter.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but she just needed to see it for herself. Sure enough, the little display screen showed a plus sign, followed by the word ‘pregnant’.

The next 5 tests each said the same.

Sienna clutched them all in her hands, Daniel laughing joyously at the sight of her holding them all with a look of pure amazement on her face.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, “Danny…”

“I know,” he laughed again, raking his fingers through his curls, “I can’t believe this.”

“Me neither,” Sienna admitted, setting the tests down on the counter gently, “we’re going to have a baby.”

Daniel laughed, more tears falling down his cheeks as he reached for her. She stepped into his grasp again, her arms resting easily around his waist as her chin dropped to settle on his sternum, allowing her to stare up at him.

“I love you,” she said softly, as his shoulders heaved with another sob.

“I love you too,” he whispered, leaning down enough to press a gentle kiss to her lips.

The pair stood like that for what felt like an eternity, sharing kisses and tears in each other’s arms. Suddenly, Daniel pushed away from her gently, enough to drop his gaze down between their bodies.

“What are you doing?” Sienna laughed, as his hand came down to rest on her flat tummy.

He continued to stare at her body intently, brows furrowed, “just trying to imagine what it’ll be like when you can’t see your toes anymore.”

Sienna snorted and shook her head, “well for me, it’ll be ridiculously uncomfortable. For you, it’ll be like standing beside a beached whale.

Daniel shook his head adamantly, lifting his head again to look at her, “no way. You’re going to be the cutest pregnant woman of all time.”

“Oh really?” Sienna asked, as his hand stroked across her belly. He nodded and kissed her forehead in confirmation, completely overwhelmed at the thought of watching Sienna’s body change and grow over the coming months.

He couldn’t wait to experience it all with her: the scans, deciding on decoration for the nursery, helping her tie her laces when she couldn’t bend down anymore, feeling their baby kicking for the first time. It was all so exciting.

“Really,” Daniel affirmed, leaning his forehead against hers, “I think this is the happiest moment of my life.”

Sienna’s eyes watered at his words, “oh Dan…”

“I’ve always wanted this with you Si,” Daniel continued softly, “we’re going to have the cutest babies.”

Sienna sniffled and laughed, nodding, “we are.”

Daniel grinned, each of his pearly teeth on show as a hand drifted to stroke across her flat tummy, “do you think it’s a boy or a girl?”

“I have no idea,” Sienna laughed, shaking her head, “what do you think? Do you mind?”

“I don’t mind,” Daniel shrugged, “I mean my parents had one of each, your parents had one of each, you can’t get more statistically even than that right?”

“I guess so,” Sienna smiled, leaning forward to nudge the tip of her nose against his.

Daniel lifted his gaze to look at her, and she pressed her lips against his. They kissed for a moment, soft and sweet and gentle, before parting. Sienna whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Daniel murmured, pecking her lips twice more before his eyes lit up, “how do you feel about telling my parents they’re going to be grandparents again?”

Sienna giggled and nodded, as Daniel grabbed one of the many positive tests from the countertop, “let’s do it.”

Daniel grasped her hand, and gave her a little tug to follow him out of the bathroom. Sienna followed, one hand interlaced with his while the other grasped at his tattooed forearm. Just as he turned the corner and reached for their closed bedroom door, Sienna squeezed him, squeaking out an urgent, “wait.”

He stopped in his tracks as suddenly as she had, turning to eye her up questioningly, his eyebrow quirking worriedly, “you’re not gonna puke again are ya?”

Sienna bit her lip and shook her head, tears welling in her eyes again, “Danny, I…”

He let go of the handle and turned to face her, giving her hand a comforting squeeze, “yeah?”

“This is our last moment of only us knowing about the baby,” she whispered, tears threatening to fall more with every passing second.

The more she imagined the tiny little life growing inside her, the more her stomach churned with nerves and excitement.

Daniel nodded and took another step closer, “do you want to wait to tell them? We can wait if you’re not ready, although I’ll have to come up with something to tell Ma.”

“No,” Sienna insisted, shaking her head before giving him a shy smile, “I just want a minute longer to really remember this feeling, before it’s not only us anymore.

With that, she looked him up and down, taking in his luscious dark curls, his warm honey-toned gaze and gorgeous nose. She admired the way his boisterous party shirt hung off his frame and the glimpse of his thigh tattoo peeking from beneath the hem of his almost-too-short shorts.

When her eyes met his again, he was beaming from ear to ear, each of his pearly white teeth showing in the way that made her heart flutter unconditionally. She knew she’d remember him in that moment, and the way he looked at her knowing she was carrying their first child, for the rest of her life.

“I fucking love you,” she hiccuped, trying to compose herself, even as tears fell down her flushed cheeks.

Daniel snorted a laugh and pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers firmly, “I fucking love you too, darling.”

Sienna pecked his lips twice more, before pulling back to look at him, her gaze still soft and watery, “I think I’m ready.”

Daniel smirked and nodded, “then let’s do this.”

[horsetailcurlers2]

okay… because i’ve finally swung back to greys anatomy after only watching private practice, i have some thoughts on season five so far.

1. izzy is just gonna,,,, have sex with the ghost of her dead boyfriend???? that’s just something that’s gonna happen?????? and we’re all just gonna let it????????????????

2. i do not like meredith’s weird vaguely australian ex girlfriend. her vibes are very strange. not as strange as the ghost sex. but still.

3. i’ve gotten spoilers aplenty on how sucky owen ends up being so it’s frustrating me and pissing me off that i actually really like him so far. i do wish people would stop dating their attendings. but i suppose it wouldn’t be greys anatomy without all the potential HR violations.

4. okay i wanted to like derek’s mom but i really really detest the whole ring situation??? maybe i’m biased as an addison stan but they had like 10 happy years of marriage together before everything went to shit and shes like “addie clearly wasn’t the right girl. i didn’t give you your dead fathers ring for the girl you’d been dating for five years at the time bc somehow i knew with my mothers intuition that she would fuck your best friend one day, but your first year resident girlfriend who i met for eleven minutes and you’ve been dating less than a year clearly deserves it bc i say so.” i’m sorry but the logic is a little bonkers.

5. i’ve also really really enjoyed callie and mark’s friendship this season

that’s all.

[keef-a-corn]

Dat’s right, People, it’s time for ‘Keef watches TFP and you just get the notes!’

This is for season 1, episode 21: T.M.I.

Please reblog or comment on this with your thoughts! I really want to know what your opinion of the episode was!

I write down the timestamps, but I watch Transformers Prime on Stan (an Australian streaming service) so they may be slightly off.

ALSO! I try my best to note points for every character, but tend to get a little caught up by Bee (although I think I do a pretty good job with the notes regardless) so do be warned.

~~~~Transition~~~~

00:08 - would watching these sorts of shows be the equivalent to watching really gorey fight shows for the bots?

00:17 - ‘the baddest beast machines on the planet!’ Then the camera immediately pans to Ratchet

00:21 - I’ve never related to Ratcheg more than I do in this moment.

00:31 - so it is 0-0 (Ratchet looks so pretty I can’t rn)

01:15 - Why is this not brought up later? A missed opportunity really. Like imagine if during a mission the bots had come across a cave with scratches in it and a dead body, it being the effects of a different cylinder.

01:23 - she said the title!

01:53 - the delivery, the way he holds the mop, everything. That was flawless!

01:54 - he’s so smug, I love it. + A shot like this highlights just how large Ratchet is compared to Miko.

02:01 - how did Ratchet miss the sound of the broom hitting the floor?

02:03 - AND WASN’T THE GROUNBRIDGE CLOSED?!

02:06 - WHY DOESN’T MIKO EVER LEARN?!

02:10 - the way Knockout and Optimus are fighting makes it look like Optimus is Knockout’s trainer at a gym.

~intro~

03:12 - they didn’t need a shot of Bee fighting. But I’m glad it’s in there.

03:21 - Optimus just standing there to say that is unbelievably funny to me. + Arcee fighting Breakdown in the background and winning!

03:30 - so.. Optimus just stood there to say that, before proceeding to leave the artefact unguarded?

03:34 - I laughed a bit too hard just then

03:45 - Are they just taking up human phrases or?-

03:49 - I’m so confused XD

04:07 - that’s the way a dog reacts when you call for them and they didn’t notice you had left their side.

04:15 - I’m pretty sure Bee’s been fighting the same Vehicon this whole scene.

04:21 - the way her hair moves tho

04:22 - When did he get all the way over there?? AND WHY?? I seriously doubt that Bee would’ve found ramming into that Vehicon very effective.

04:26 - Couldn’t Ratchet just use Miko’s phone coordinates?

05:07 - he didn’t even try to move! Well.. maybe it was holding him there??

05:13 - the way his wheels slowly rotated.

05:19 - Damn.. I wish there was more of Knockout interacting with the autobots. Actually any decepticons interacting with the autobots.

05:21 - weird jump cut. Hehe What’s with the medics being so smug? I love it.

05:25 - they left the Vehicons behind.

05:32 - …what? Cleary the joke is that it wasn’t even remotely correct in phrasing but.. but why would ‘smart�� be involved in the sentence at all?

05:33 - Miko looking up at him in awe after the dumbest sentence ever.

05:35 - pretty background

05:43 - Ratchet doesn’t push Bulkhead at all, he just guides him back into a sitting position.

05:49 - Something to consider is how often Bulkhead resists proper medical treatment.

05:54 - Her interpretation is so unbelievably irrelevant in this situation.

06:02 - the broom is so small hehehe

06:07 - Bulkhead’s laugh

06:26 - hehe, short.

06:43 - h e y . Unnecessarily rude towards Breakdown.

06:46 - Breakdown appreciation moment.

07:14 - I want to know what Ratchet’s imagining rn.

07:34 - Why does Optimus’s have a battle mask on?

08:03 - the way they look at each other while theorising.

08:04 - A very peculiar way to say ‘would’ve shot up into space’ especially for a bunch or robots that don’t believe in heaven.

08:07 - EXTREMELY WEIRD WAY TO SAY HEAD. (+I cannot look away from Bee rn. What is he doing? Why is it so cute??)

08:19 - I refuse to believe that the cylinder lay on Earth completely undisturbed. 100% an animal would’ve gotten to it first.

08:28 - Yet she won’t learn.

08:31 - what did he say?? Is Arcee rephrasing the question? Why would she need to? I guess maybe he could’ve said ‘and the paintings?’ Because very few times do the beeps line up with what could’ve been said.

08:35 - when Ratchet says ‘anyone’ he looks at Optimus. It also just so happens that both are moving quite a bit.

08:42 - Optimus’s face-

08:43 - Bee just busting a move in excitement is so adorable and silly and AAAAA-

08:57 - Woa- Bulkhead is moving like a muppet. They’re all heavily animated (which makes sense considering that this is an exciting thing)

08:59 - Ratchet and his wandering eyes.

09:08 - just watch the whole scene again and watched the way everyone keeps moving.

09:32 - Concerned siblings

09:33 - ARCEE NO! Respond to him! WHAT DID HE SAAAY?!

10:03 - that’s sad

10:06 - Purging

10:12 - finishing each other’s sentences

10:20 - height difference

10:27 - heavy clipping on Arcee.

11:23 - I can’t believe he forgot his own work mother!

11:33 - how did she pick up on that so easily??

11:38 - He sounds like a parent rn..

11:55 - No, why is this so heavy?! TFP pulling at the heart strings rn.

12:20 - Something to recognise is that Optimus isn’t standing there, composed and stoic. He’s actively forcing himself to look that way for everyone’s sakes. There’s only so much a character can take before a stoic look becomes forced. I also could be looking too far into it, but where's the fun in that?

12:54 - A clever way to avoid answering without lying.

13:05 - she should’ve tried boyfriend- Does she just… have that photo open all the time?

13:34 - I THOUGHT SOMEONE HAD TO MANUALLY PULL THAT DOWN

13:42 - that paint’s gonna dry.

14:13 - missed opportunity to say ‘bring me the bull’s head.’

15:27 - someone thought ‘Knockout should do a flip’ and everyone else agreed. Makes the world a little bit better.

15:33 - Oooooh like ‘a little too much to drink’

15:43 - *throws to the Optimus fans* FEAST!

15:50 - …We all saw Bee do a one-handed cartwheel, right?

16:07 - Bulkhead isn’t there + they doubled up on some models + it’s very inconsistent with the order, number and types of cars there. It keeps changing.

16:45 - A nice detail is that Knockout uses the cares to help him get up.

17:57 - that’s so dark omgawd

19:18 - smart

20:01 - now if she were a real person, I would not being saying this because I’m not that evil… but yes. If she had stayed back like she was supposed to none of this would’ve happened.

20:05 - THE WAY OPTIMUS SAID MIKO! AA-

20:16 - Arcee’s gentle voice, Bee’s quick little nod.

20:20 - EVEN RATCHET. AHH. I know understand people that do bot x reader stories like this.

20:26 - as Miko gets an idea there’s a dong in the audio. It’s perfect.

20:46 - Bee is the only one that moves in this shot. Literally everyone else, including Miko, stays put.

20:58 - her hair acts like animal ears, goddamn.

21:04 - he’s alive!

21:06 - everyone leans in s l i g h t l y

21:18 - considering that she strummed it once, does that mean that Bulkhead and Miko ist listen to the same song on loop?

———————

So that was TMI

I didn’t expect to cry so much. I’ll tell ya that. It’s a good episode, but one I would skip during a more select viewing experience, but will sit through during a binge.

[clatterbane]

I'm just trying to rewatch Bordertown after Netflix pulled it here, and ran across this.

And that’s what I love about these characters. They are flawed people with human qualities that are well represented and valuable to not just autistic people, not anyone viewing. You might not know anyone like them, but autistics have picked up on their characteristics and feel a kinship with them. They aren’t presented as robots or sexless superhumans, they are real people in society that have a whole personality that isn’t just their “quirks”.

I’ve seen a better ‘accidental’ representation of autism from these two shows than I have from Australian, English, and North American shows combined! Sure, they both have the same job which can be seen as typical of their gifts, but the way they have been written and performed has really touched me and has made me feel respected and included. I urge you to watch both if you can (subs are better than the dubs but you do you). I know Bordertown is on Netflix and if you’re Australian, The Bridge is on Stan.

I tend to like Nordic Noir anyway, but yeah I think this does have something to do with why I particularly enjoyed both of these series.

Sofia Helin's portrayal of Saga honestly just kept reminding me a lot of my aunt if she were from my generation, Swedish, and had taken a rather different path in life. (And no freaking wonder I felt like I understood her better even as a kid than a lot of other people seemed to. We used to be close, before she got her mad on at me years ago.)

Though I personally end up resonating more with Kari Sorjonen. And it's probably just as well--for so many reasons--that I never even considered going cop as a career option.

But yeah, both of these characters do just come across as "some people are like that" portrayals of actual people getting on with their own complicated lives. (And, honestly, within social contexts where coming across as kinda standoffish at times really does seem less likely to get in your way so much as in some other places.) Some of us really are Like That, and the ones who can keep it together enough do seem to often be drawn into certain fields.

[morizoras-cave]

Sleepover (Collab with @lozzypoz321)

Sebastian Stan x f!teen!co-star!reader, MCU Cast x f!teen!co-star!reader

Genre: fluff, crack honestly

Description: You and the MCU cast have a secret sleepover on set.

Warnings: language!!

A/N by morizoras-cave: this was even more fun than the last fic, loz is so so funny and so so talented and i just feel so comfortable writing with her :) also so many… bad things… happened while we wrote this. I mean it was chaotic.. I hope you enjoy its LONG

A/N by @lozzypoz321​: this was so much fun to write and I loved it!! Honestly you do not want to know what happened behind th scenes because that was a m e s s. Vic is suck and amazing writer and deserves so much love! Hope you enjoy!!

“Kid, open the door!” your head snapped to the door of your hotel room. You recognised Sebastian’s voice coming from outside. “Open up!”

“I’m coming” you yelled, padding over to the door and opening up. Sebastian and Anthony stood out there. They looked oddly child-like as they stood there with their sleeping bags and dressed in pjs. You snorted. “Well, hello to you too!” 

“Don’t laugh, N/n, this is serious.” Anthony said as you walked out, you also dressed in your marvel pjs and with a sleeping bag in hand. Although, you thought, it was hard to take him seriously when he was dressed in Winnie The Pooh slippers. 

“Whatever you say, man.”

The entirety of the marvel cast had planned a sleepover on set. It was very secret, apparently. You didn’t know the full story, but they had seemingly asked the directors if they could have an onset sleepover and they’d refused, so someone had to steal a key. It was a whole process, but nonetheless you found yourself on the way to set at around 10:30. 

“Is anyone bringing snacks?” you asked. You, Seb and Anthony were walking down the street. You could see the set already. “Damn, I hope so” Anthony mumbled and you all continued walking. 

When you got there Elizabeth was standing outside, holding the door open with what you assumed was the stolen key. She ushered you inside. “You’re late and for some reason I’m not surprised.”

Inside all the others were already waiting, the entirety of the cast. Notably, you could see that Robert, Scarlett and Mark had created a pillow fort, and were hiding out in the coziness with a bag of popcorn. 

“Welcome, late-comers!” Robert greeted you dramatically, standing up in his Iron Man onesie. “You’ve missed the pizzas. You know, because you’re late!” 

“It’s fine, we already ate. Which is why we’re late,” Sebastian pointed nodded to Anthony. You nodded along.

Everyone sat down on a large stretch of couches, blankets and pillows, where Elizabeth had placed a projector pointed to an empty wall of the set. You sat down with Tom (Hiddleston), Sebastian and Mark. It was a rather weird thing to see so many grown men and women (that you had previously had respect for) in their most colourful pjs, but you supposed it was on you to expect any differently from this cast of people. 

Chris (Evans) had picked a movie and, unsurprisingly, he picked Iron Man 1. Robert protested for about two seconds, before he let everyone shower him in compliments because that movie was so damn good. “Okay okay, I guess we can watch it if we really have to”

Scarlett lightly laughed and pressed a button on the projector to start the movie after placing the disk inside that Chris (Evans) had brought from his collection at his house. “Where’s the snacks?” You heard Chris (Hemsworth) loudly whisper to Scarlett who sat next to him. 

“Ooh do we have popcorn?” You quietly asked Sebastian who nodded and reached across Anthony who was laid next to him to retrieve the salted popcorn that Mark had gotten just for you as he was in charge of the snack committee. Chris (Evans) silently got up, after making sure nobody noticed him (except from you), and crawled across the room in his rapunzel pjs on his hands and knees to reach Robert who was now on the verge of unconsciousness with dribble falling from the side of his mouth. Trying to be discreet, he raised his hands scarily behind him, gaining everybody’s attention in the room except Robert, and suddenly pounced on him in a playful manner. 

The man leapt up without warning with wide eyes the size of dinner plates and held his hands up as if he was doing karate in a mode of self defence. Everybody in the room burst out laughing at his reaction, Chris (Evans) reaching for his left pec as he leant back on his knees in a full on belly laugh. “You looked like you were a 6 year old girl” Scarlett laughed out and shook her head towards the man, who was now grumbling as he sat back down on his spot with an abundance of blankets by his side. 

“All the snacks are gone” Anthony exclaimed to the cast, making Tom (Hiddleston) look up from the screen and ponder “well we could do something that doesn’t require food” he suggested, making everyone look at him to continue. 

“I mean, we could play hide and seek?”

“Oh!” You exclaimed excitedly, one of your first inputs of the night “I’d love to play hide and seek! My dad used to do it with me all the time!”

Your happy demeanour made them all smile as you began explaining how he would hide next to you while your brother tried to find both of you. “Well it’s settled then, we’re playing hide and seek!” Chris (Hemsworth) announced in his Australian accent, before you could be told twice, you jumped up and grabbed Sebastian's hand before racing out of the room, not even giving anybody a second glance. 

“Woah, where are we going?” Sebastian chuckled, following your rapid footsteps. “Don’t worry about this, Seb, I’ve the perfect hiding spot!” It was a little bit embarrassing to admit, but every time you entered a new place, you thought about the best hiding spots (in case of an unwarranted game of hide and seek). 

You pulled Sebastian into the costume room and shuffled awkwardly into the back. There, you found your masterful hiding place. It was a vent, but not a small one. It was big. Sebastian looked at you in surprise. “Not bad, Y/n.” 

You popped the cover right off, catching Sebastian off guard. “I unscrewed it back in February,” you explained and jumped inside. Sebastian seemed to want to question you further, but instead just shrugged to himself and followed you inside, closing the vent cover behind him.

“This really is the perfect place,” he mumbled, voice echoing slightly in the vents. It was pretty cold, but stable. “And hey, didn’t you say that your dad used to hide with you?” He asked while looking around the airy place. “Oh, um, yeah” you said sheepishly, just now remembering the moment in the other room. 

“Um- I-I mean, not that you’re my- Like, my dad-” you stammered, blushing at the awkward moment, “Like- My dad is my dad- You’re just- I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to make this awkward, I just-”

“Shut up!” Sebastian hissed suddenly. You looked at him, taken aback. He was staring out the vent covers, and then looked back at you with a grin. He pointed to it silently. Your brows furrowed, and you looked out. You saw Chris in the room, hand holding a flashlight while aiming it around the room, trying to find a sign of anybody. You held your breath. 

“I know you’re in here! I can smell your fear!” he yelled trying to act scary. Meanwhile, he just looked kind of goofy in his Disney princess pjs. You saw Sebastian beside you, trying not to laugh. His face was contorted into a forced frown, but a smile still crept up the corners of his mouth. Seeing his face, you started feeling the urge to laugh too. 

You both laughed silently, trying so hard to not give away your position to Chris. You were failing miserably. 

“I will find you!” Chris said again, and this time Sebastian let out a laugh, immediately clamping a hand over his mouth. His eyes widened and so did yours. Chris stopped moving, snapping his head around furiously. “Who was that? Where are you?” 

You saw the moment Sebastian decided to give up on hiding, as he just suddenly started laughing like a maniac. You did too, both of you clutching your stomachs. Chris scoffed and tore the vent cover off, revealing the two of you laughing uncontrollably. 

“Come on, guys, it wasn’t that funny!” Chris sighed, but he was wrong, it was definitely that funny. You guys went back to the movie room. Robert, Tom, Scarlett and Anthony had all already been found.

“Welcome to the losers!” Tom grumbled. You both sat down with him and chatted while waiting for the others to turn up. The next was Mark, who had been hiding under a table, and then Elizabeth who wasn’t even trying, but was somehow second last anyway. 

Then came the waiting game. Hemsworth, the biggest of you all, the goofiest, and seemingly the easiest to spot, was still at large. Chris was hopelessly searching, but came back every ten minutes with a more and more depressed look on his attractive face.

“I can’t find him!” he admitted finally. There was a collective sigh, and then everyone started searching together, simultaneously calling out “Chris! The aussie one!” Eventually you did find him, crammed behind a couch uncomfortably. 

When you finally did, Anthony (as well as several others) seemed to have only grown hungrier, and the need for snacks was larger than ever. “I swear to god if we don’t find food right now I may just quit the job” Anthony swore and huffed as he crossed both his arms over his chest. “That seems a bit dramatic but okay” Scarlett laughed as the ten of you rounded a corner in the building to only come face to face with an abundance of vending machines that everyone used at break and you all had seemingly forgotten about. “Woah” Tom said, impressed at the arrangement. 

“Food galore,” Elizabeth expressed and was the first one to walk towards, closer to the arrangement, leaving the rest of you by the wall with your jaws dropped. “If I’m sick, don’t blame it on me” you quietly expressed, making Mark laugh from his spot next to you. 

Trying not to seem too excited, Anthony ran forward, eyes following each and every item of edible food and drink. “I think you better hurry up” Tom commented from his spot the furthest from you, noticing the way Anthony and Chris were now eyeing your favourite type of chips. 

“Umm yeah, that sounds like a good idea”

You, Robert and Sebastian immediately went over to the vending machine that was holding doritos, lays, and other classic chips. “Um, about earlier,” you mumbled to the Romanian man as Robert began to shake the machine with force, hoping something would fall down “I didn’t mean it like that” your cheeks flooded with embarrassment as the memory came flashing back to you.

But before you could start apologising even more, he stopped you and sent a reassuring smile your way “don’t worry about it Y/N, I know what you meant.” He gave your shoulder a small squeeze, before going back to watching Robert yelling at the Doritos to “fall out, you big pussy!”

Before Chris (Evans) and Tom could come over to your side of the room to be responsible adults and make a rational decision, Chris (Hemsworth) had already come bounding over to you and kicked the glass where the chips were held behind. He put full force behind the kick, so it shattered and fell loudly with a crash to the ground. 

“Erm. Good idea?”

For no reason at all the situation was just funny to you, so while everyone in the room was stood still shocked (apart from Hemsworth who rocked back and forth on his feet sheepishly) you began to laugh. “What’s funny? You could literally cut your feet if you move!” Tom exclaimed with wide eyes, “you can’t get hurt we need to return you to your mom the same as we got you!”

Without warning Chris (Evans) ran over to you, making sure to carefully avoid the glass panes. “I’m not getting sued for this shit” he muttered as he picked you up and brought you over to a corner, which was a safe distance away from the wreckage.

“Alright, this has gotten out of hand,” Mark ran a hand through his hair, as he surveyed the broken glass on the floor in distress. Elizabeth nodded. You made eye contact with Scarlett and Anthony, who very clearly didn’t share the same concern that Mark and Elizabeth did. You all giggled quietly. 

“But uh, let’s take advantage of the situation, eh?” Chris (Hemsworth) pulled a couple bags of doritos out of the broken vending machine, “Free doritos?” He shook the bags playfully. There was a moment where people seemed to question whether they prioritized their dignity of the free doritos, and it’s fair to say that a large number of them chose the doritos. 

You all went back to the movie room, collapsing on your mattresses and blankets, with your snacks. But before any of you could begin to focus on the movie once again, a sudden gasp broke out from across the room. “He has the last bag of Doritos!”

“No I don’t” Hemsworth was quick to deny Elizabeth’s claim but everyone could see the full bag that he had attempted to stuff under his blanket. All of a sudden, Scarlett leapt out of her sleeping bag, trying to reach the chips before he did, but unfortunately all the gym workouts he had been going to (or yoga lessons you weren’t really sure) were paying off, as he held the woman at bay so he could grab the snack and hold it far out of her reach.

“Give it” she grunted and tried to reach past his grip and take the chips for herself, but before she had a chance, Chris (Evans) jumped up from his spot over by Tom and snatched the bag from him, holding a victorious grin on his face. Chris (Hemsworth) pouted angrily at his costar, not bothering to fight back as he knew it would be a losing battle (he was captain America for Christ’s sake). But you had a trick up your sleeve, you wanted those chips and you were going to get them whether it was the last thing you did.

Picking up the pillow beside you, you held it up as a shield as ran forward as fast as you could, taking in the confused expression Chris held in his face before you smashed into his stomach, knocking the air out of your lungs but unfortunately, not his.

He chuckled deeply as you smashed back into the wooden floors groaning as the pain surged through you. “I don’t think that worked as well as you thought it would” Mark commented from his comfortable spot on his mattress. 

“No, it really didn’t”

The movie ended, and slowly but surely people started going to bed. There were yawns and stretches around you all bundled together on the floor. You too found yourself growing tired, stuffing yourself into your sleeping bag and getting comfortable. 

“Goodnight!” you murmured and those who were awake mumbled it back drowsily. You distinctly heard Sebastian mutter back to you from his sleeping bag “shut up, I’m tired”. You chuckled for the last time that night, as soon sleep overcame you. 

Then, at the the buttcrack of dawn, a scream came from the nearest entrance: “WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK-” 

And that was the inspiring story of how body searches became a daily routine on set, so the Russos could make sure no one had gotten their grubby hands on an extra key.

___________________________

Tag List:

@hera-the-writer @marvel-madness @40srogcrs @whatthefuckimbisexual @snarky–starky @garbage-potato @lozzypoz321 @allthecreativeonesaretaken @missamericana713 @rororo06 @shady80smusicsingercolor @ireadfanficforfun @deephideoutmilkshake @rae-is-typing @sophs-library @herecomesthewriterwitch @alicedanganh @eviemarvel @idk123906 @tamayakii​

[bucksblr]

tagged by @leonzhng​ thanks for making me dig through my most embarrassing crushes 😭✋

i’ll tag @highwarlockkareena​ @yibobibo​ @lan-xichens​ @purplexedhuman​ @aheartfullofjolllly​ @lanzhansmiles​ @nyx4​ i feel like i tag you guys in everything i am so sorry please ignore this if u don’t wanna do it !!

putting this under a read more for reasons

MEN 2010 – 2016

literally nothing more embarrassing than falling on the same type of white man over and over again (with the exception of minho from shinee bless his heart)

tommy joe ratliff → he was the bass player for adam lambert during his glamnation era (think of songs like for your entertainment and if i had you) idk why exactly i liked him so much but i just did.... however i searched him up again quite recently and found out he’s one of those republicans that says the dumbest shit on twitter so Big Yikes

harry styles → “baby you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, and when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell...” and BOOM 13-year-old me was sold for well over two years

louis tomlinson → basically i liked harry most until around 2013 when for some reason i started to like him a little less, and i got more focused on louis tomlinson, and although i didn’t like one direction anymore louis tomlinson always had a special place in my heart

ashton irwin → so ashton is 5sos’ drummer, i discovered 5sos through one direction & i stanned them until late 2014

harries twins → the harries twins (jack & finn) are basically the reason i started spending a lot of time on youtube, they were funny and pretty and they just had good videos in general, so for almost two years i’d watch their content regularly

choi minho → my first steps into kpop happened bc i was watching videos on youtube (most probably the harries twins) and suddenly i saw the sherlock mv in my recommended videos so i clicked on it and then 14-year-old me proceeded to fall for minho like an idiot

brooks twins → still youtubers, the brooks twins were 3/5 of the janoskians (jai & luke brooks, beau brooks, daniel sahyounie, & james yammouni), an australian youtube comedy group that was active from 2011-2018 though i was only around from 2012-2014 (when jai brooks was dating ariana grande)

jc caylen → surprise! another youtuber! jc caylen was part of o2l (our2ndlife) a youtube collaboration channel on which each of the 6 members posted videos on a certain day in the week (mondays with connor, tuesdays with ricky, wednesdays with sam, thursdays with jc, fridays with trevi (my 2nd favorite member bc she participated on the x factor), saturdays with ricardo, and then they had surprise sundays every week) and i remember how much joy jc & the others always brought me with their silly videos

misha collins → up next, you might know him as the gay angel that was sent to superhell after confessing his love to the homophobic hunter on supernatural, it’s misha collins! basically misha was a huge source of comfort for me, and i even went around calling myself emmisha for almost two full years (cringe)

henrik holm → he played even bech naesheim in skam and my crush on him reached that level of ridiculousness where i actually tried my hand at learning norwegian (i can only remember how to introduce myself and some curse words i would make a great first impression on him)

MEN 2016 – 2021

min yoongi → okay so my baby steps into kpop happened through shinee’s sherlock, but i only got really invested when yoongi dropped agust d 1 because Holy Fuck y’know??

kim namjoon → oh man i remember thinking namjoon was cute and a very good leader and then BAM he dressed like THAT at the 2016 mma’s and i fell in love. hard

park seojoon → i started liking park seojoon whilst i was watching hwarang (you guessed it, i watched it bc of taehyung), although he wasn’t my favorite character by far, but he was very silly off camera & i liked that (i’m not that into him anymore tho </3)

kim seokjin → OH BOY LET ME TELL U i liked seokjin from the very beginning (i got to know bts in late 2014) and i always liked seeing him perform and be himself and god once i realized i had a crush on him it just hit me like a mf truck, and he’s still one of my favorite people to this day

jung hoseok → god fake love era hoseok really hits different.... also yes i know i have all of bts’ hyung line on my list BUT bts was a really big part of my life for almost 6 years soooo honestly they deserve it i still think they’re great guys

choi san → when ateez made their debut in 2018 i immediately fell in love with san, he was such an amazing dancer and he captivated me right from the very beginning, to this day he’s still my bias in ateez uwu

xiao zhan → AND THEN, OCTOBER OF 2019 HAPPENS AND I WATCH CQL AND... i fall in love with xiao zhan, something i’d never expected would happen bc when i watched cql for the first time i wasn’t as invested in the story, but i really really really liked xiao zhan and one thing led to another and now here i am as a xfx

wang yibo → the thing is, i’ve known yibo since eoeo except i didn’t know cql yibo was uniq yibo (bc i’d forgotten his name) and when i looked it up i can tell you my jaw dropped to the floor bc holy shit????? also he is very silly and i love him loads ok

lee minho → ah, the man who has been my skz bias since 2018, not only is minho my bias i also kin him (there’s a lot of aspects of myself that i see in minho and vice versa) and he’s very comforting to me

bang chan → honestly, it was only a matter of time before i’d fall for bang chan, i knew the moment i got into skz again that i’d start biasing him and, well, here i am, double biasing chan & minho

WOMEN

this list is shorter bc i’ve in general always had less crushes on women than on men??? blame society forcing me into thinking i was straight for a LONG time

ariana grande → remember the 2011 layout of twitter?? where u could not only have an icon and a header, but also a background and ur twitter page was smack in the center of ur screen with the big ugly menu bar at the top??? yeah ariana grande was always my background for my l*rr* st*l*n*s*n layouts

perrie edwards → this was right around the time she was dating zayn & little mix was breaking out into the spotlight, yeah i just really loved her

andrea russett → okay so remember o2l?? andrea russett was kian’s girlfriend for a pretty long time and they always did videos together and i always thought she was super pretty

lily collins → maybe i don’t like clary in tmi all that much but i sure liked the way lily collins looked

alona tal → MY BISEXUAL AWAKENING, it’s only when i saw alona tal in spn that i realized, fuck i might be gay

park jihyo → i discovered twice (my 2nd jype group after day6) through the like ooh-ahh mv and red-haired jihyo really did something to my heart (i just rewatched it and god zombie bang chan is so mf cute)

kim jisoo → when bp made their square two comeback i was immediately smitten for red-haired jisoo in playing with fire, it’s also when i realized she was my bias out of the four members

shin ryujin → the reason that i have blue hair is partially bc of ryujin and her amazing intro in wannabe :D

xuan lu → her portrayal of jiang yanli was SO ON POINT and she’s just such a kindhearted wonderful person wow i want her hand in marriage

lee yoobin → god i’ve known dreamcatcher from back when they were still called minx and ever since i’ve always looked at dami that bit more than the rest, i was also able to see dreamcatcher live in october of 2019 and the whole experience was just so amazing !!

FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

there’s a whole lot more than just these 10 but i wanted to fit the evolution into one (1) slide as best as i could lmao

peter pan → this movie came out in 2003 (?) and he’s honestly the first fictional character i remember ever having a crush on

legolas → i was really doubting between placing haldir or legolas here but i only really got a vague haldir obsession when i was like 14

zuko → LOOK. ZUKO IN ATLA? HOT. ZUKO IN LOK? HOT EVEN IF HE’S AN OLD MAN.

will turner → man was annoying sometimes but i really liked him and his relationship with elizabeth was cute

jo harvelle → gosh i can’t believe she’s the only female character in here???? yeah she was one of my two spn faves and i’ll never forgive the screenwriters for the way they killed her off

castiel → does your fave ever get sent to super hell for being gay? no? well. mine did

kili → fili and kili’s storyline tore my heart out, spit on it, and then laughed straight in my face, KILI WAS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE DWARF

howl → i only watched this movie for the first time in 2020 so i kinda fucked up the tl cause i watched cql in 2019 but shh, anyways howl with his blonde hair was good looking but howl with his black hair just hits differently. i want a howl

lan jingyi → MY BABY BOY, TINIE LITTLE BABIE WHOMST I MUST PROTECT ok no but seriously this kid. i love him a lot

mu qing → BARK BARK. that’s all (that’s not all i love him a whole lot and it hurts me to see so many people misunderstand his character and only see the bad parts of him when they can forgive others for fucking up (eg. xie lian himself & feng xin) but bc mu qing doesn’t deal well with emotions suddenly he’s the bad guy??? i s2g if ppl are gonna do to him what they did to jiang cheng in the tgcf la i will RIOT)

[amerrierworld]

Just Pretend

Ocean’s 8 - oneshot

Summary: You’ve been spending a lot of time with the Ocean’s crew and your friends are worried. Lou finds a way to get them off your tail.

Characters: Lou x fem!reader, the Ocean’s gang, your friends (F/N). 

Word Count: 1,376

Warnings: Swearing

“Y’know, my friends have been wondering where I’ve been hanging out recently,” you said as you took another sip of coffee and played your next card.

“Hm? And what’d you tell them?” Rose asked.

“Just that I’ve been hanging with a friend that they don’t know,” you shrugged. “Don’t worry, they don’t know about the lot of you. They just seem to think I’ve got a new girlfriend or something.”

The team of nine was sitting in Lou’s loft, lazing about with your newly acquired riches and enjoying each other’s company. You’d met Debbie through Constance being a mutual friend in the city, and she’d hired you on the team instantly. 

You were playing cards with Rose, Constance (who was certainly cheating) and Tammy around the small table. Amita was making excited chitchat with Daphne over some fanciful jewelry while Nineball was tapping away on her computer. Constance had a small portable radio blasting some tunes to fill the spacey loft.

Debbie was in the kitchen, making a phone call to get pizza delivered because Lou had had enough of having her fridge raided, primarily by you and Constance who were nefarious snackers when bored. 

Lou wasn’t anywhere to be seen, much to your disappointment. Over the past couple weeks prepping for the heist, you’d taken a liking to the blonde. Who wouldn’t take a liking to her? Confident, funny, sexy (especially when wearing anything leather).

“A new girlfriend, eh?” Tammy smirked. 

Your liking to Lou hadn’t gone unnoticed, much to your chagrin. You didn’t handle feelings very well, and though you could be cool and collected when flirting casually, you were at a complete loss when it came to approaching Lou. 

“Shut up,” you smacked Tammy’s arm. “They all know I don’t have time for that kind of stuff anyways. They’re just really annoying about it.”

“Annoying about what?” Debbie had joined the group, with a glass of red wine in hand.

“Y/N’s friends seem to think she’s being dragged away by a new lady-lover with the amount of time she’s spending with us,” Tammy smirked. 

“Which is ridiculous- stop looking at me like that!” you huffed as Debbie looked at you knowingly. It was true, with the prep for the heist and planning the aftermath, you’d barely had the chance to see your regular friends outside of the eight co-criminals. You felt a little bad, but you certainly didn’t mind. They were a fun bunch, and the dynamic the group had was comfortable. 

Except when it came to Lou.

Fucking Lou.

Every time she looked at you with her smoldering eyes you felt like the whole world faded away. You were only mildly convinced that she felt something too when she never looked away from your gaze. It made the heist planning only somewhat difficult. 

You wondered where she was now. Probably driving around on her bike somewhere, in fucking leather again. You reached over and took a large sip of Tammy’s water without looking at her, knowing she’d have that annoying grin on her face. 

The door opened just as you played another card. You all turned to see Lou walk in. 

And what a way to walk in. 

First she dumped her bike helmet on the closest table and wiped her hands on a dirty rag she had. Head to toe in stark black leather and black heeled boots. Her fringe was slightly messy and there was a bit of oil and grease from her bike on her forehead. 

Her eyes were lined with sultry black and she unzipped her leather jacket to reveal a deep red button down (with half the buttons undone as usual) underneath. Your mouth went dry and you realized that she was looking straight at you. Rose had turned the music down.

“Y/N, there’s some buggers just outside looking for you. Told them I had no idea who you were in case you didn’t want them coming in.”

You groaned. “What did they look like?”

Lou described them and you sighed heavily. Two of your best mates had come following you to check on you, you figured. You got up from the couch just as there was knocking on the door and your phone lit up.

You picked up. 

“Yo! Y/N, what the hell’s going on? Where are you, really?”

You came to stand next to Lou, halfway between your spot on the couch and the front doors. She looked at you with a bemused smile as you pinched the bridge of your nose.

“Doesn’t matter, F/N. Look, I know you’re here. But just, don’t follow me alright? I’m perfectly fine.”

“Y/N, we’re convinced you’re either involved with some real illegal shit or you’ve found yourself a new lady. Either way, we just wanna make sure you’re okay. You’re not staying at this big ol’ loft are you?”

“What would make you say that?”

You heard your other friend whistle from the background. “Well, if you are, you’ve got one heckin’ catch on your hands, girl.”

As you were talking Lou turned on her heels and walked to the front doors. You followed her quickly, worried that she was going to throw them into the street for annoying you like this. 

“Can we not talk about this right now? I’ll meet you guys for drinks on the weekend. I know, I’m sorry I’ve been so absent lately, it’s just that-,”

“It’s just that her new lady likes to spend some time alone with Y/N at her own place. Is that too much to ask?”

You gawked. Lou had opened the door and leaned, all sexy but nonchalantly, against the frame to stare your two friends down on the front steps. They made eye contact with you and you hung up the phone, your face beet-red.

“I’ll tell you personally that Y/N is perfectly fine and safe here,” Lou continued casually. “How about we all go out for drinks this weekend and get to know each other properly?”

All of you were staring at Lou, and your mind was racing with what she meant, but you refused to let your imagination run rampant. You smiled wryly at your friends who stared at the intimidating figure that was your smokin’ Australian biker lady. 

They swallowed and nodded once. 

“Great! See you then,” And she shut the door in their faces. You jumped at the sound.

“W-huh?” You were completely confused at what just happened.

Lou turned to look at you and smirked. You blinked and unsuccessfully tried to regain your composure.

“Uhm, yeah, thanks for that Lou. I mean, you didn’t have to send them off like that, but I appreciate you pretending to get them off my ass, really.”

Lou stepped closer to you and caught your wrist before you could move away in surprise. She looked at you with sultry, piercing blue eyes and her next words were a low, hushed whisper.

“Who said I was pretending?”

You gawked. Again. Honestly, it was hard not to when it came to Lou. She moved impossibly closer and suddenly her mouth was on yours. She tasted of coffee, cigarettes and vodka. You were dumbfounded and could barely move as she pulled away. She chuckled at your expression before bringing your knuckles up to her lips and kissing them lightly.

It was then that you came back to reality. Your hand pulled away from hers and cupped the back of her neck to kiss her, hard. A low groan escaped Lou’s mouth as her hands grabbed your waist and yours wound up in her bleach blonde hair. You could feel heat searing through every bone in your body, until-

“Hey, love birds. Either get a room or come finish this card game okay?”

You hastily pulled away and looked to see Tammy smirking again. Lou pulled you against her as you turned around and her lips brushed your ear, making you shiver.

“Better go make sure Constance doesn’t cheat you guys again, eh?”

You nodded weakly and made your way back to the group, reaching behind to intertwine your fingers with Lou’s. She gripped yours back in a way that made your heart warm and a wide grin suddenly broke across your face as Rose turned the music back on.

A/N: hello. hi. its me. i have NO idea how long it’s been since I’ve written or posted ANYTHING for tumblr. But hey, it’s been a long time, I just rewatched Ocean’s 8 and I’m a stan for anything Cate Blanchett does, so here we are! A small little ficlet to quench all your quarantine-related thirsts. Be safe you guys. If you want to see any fics written by me please leave a request :) It’s been years since I’ve been on here but I’ve been filled with new inspiration and an urge to write. Who knows what’ll come next?

[magstorrn]

rating the artilleryman actors from jeff wayne’s musical version of the war of the worlds*

*from the perspective of someone who’s never seen the show live but, in my defence, has sought out just about every illegally filmed snippet on youtube and I've seen both official recordings many times. some of these are based on a single recording tho so take my words w/ a grain of salt. im also not going to get everyone because for a number of the actors there’s not enough evidence to go off

david essex

summary: the man the myth the legend. there are only a couple photos of him during recording sessions but he was clearly having the time of his life, and his hoarse voice and cockney accent bring an edge to the character that’s often absent (also means his own background is closest to that of the character). obviously they didn’t kick start the stage show until about 30 years after he recorded for the role but sometimes i daydream about an actual theatre production of twotw in the 70s bc holy shit, he was already doing evita when he recorded for twotw and had starred in godspell by this time and he wouldve been absolutely magnificent. 

he’s also like the only actor im aware of that properly belts the ‘it’s going to have to start’ line and it just. sounds so good. he’s also the only artilleryman actor that imo sounds good in act 1 and like someone who’s genuinely witnessed a traumatic event and is still reeling in shock. he brings this kind of manic earnest with him in brave new world and it enhances the song 100% bc he’s so completely convinced things will work out

iconic moment: the way he yells ‘just’ after the whispered section in the middle of brave new world. chef’s kiss

rating: 10/10 im biased as all hell

alexis james

summary: the true mystery of this man is that he looks so old and so young at the same time (put it down to the incredibly fake weird sideburns and the receding hairline) and that he didn’t seem to do any more work in this vein post-2006. deserves credit for being the first stage show actor in the role, running around for 12 minutes straight pretending to use a massive pencil compass and digging at the stage, and for pulling things off pretty damn well. the almost surgical slit at the knee of his pants irritates me and im glad they didnt do it again

iconic moment: singing the entirety of brave new world with a pseudo american accent for no reason at all. im 99% sure he’s english

rating: 7/10

jason donovan

summary: the day that jason moved from the artilleryman role to the parson role was the finest day of his life as well as mine. he’s absolutely outstanding as nathaniel but tbh i think in the artilleryman role he’s just... bad (and doesnt have NEARLY enough fake blood everywhere). a lot of the lines sound like theyre cut short or like he can’t quite hit the note he’s aiming for, and there’s times when he just sounds completely off, or barks his lines for no reason. like alexis james he was part of the pre-new gen era so he has like two props and he has to pretend to use these for over ten minutes and i salute him for that. speaking of salutes i love how he randomly embellishes some of his lines with a salute

iconic moment: *high pitched australian accent* iT’S You. the MAn from mayBury HILL

rating: 4/10

ricky wilson

summary: ricky wilson was the first artilleryman for the new gen era which was iconic enough in itself, but then he also gave us the black eye, goggles, waxed moustache, the glass of water trick, rolled up sleeves, and so much more. also the tragic victim of the bottle of whiskey line, but he salvages it by just swigging from the bottle right then and there. act 1 RW kinda has the vibe of a man who’s just unexpectedly watched his football team of preference lose badly rather than witnessed a massacre, but by act 2 he sounds like he just came up with a plan to save civilisation at 3am while blind drunk and he’s going to tell you about it whether you like it or not. also pioneered the trend of stripping his coat at the start of the song. he definitely sounds better in the visual recording than on the album as he barely sounds like himself on the latter (why is he like the only actor from the stage show that’s also on the album?? ill always wonder). even then though he seems very jittery and nervous and like he’s trying to overcompensate by being super energetic and the way he basically screams all his lines gets annoying after long enough

that said his swagger and confidence are completely unbeatable and while i wouldnt trust him as far as i can throw him, he deserves a spot in the artilleryman hall of fame, although im still unsure to this day whether he’s using the spade correctly

iconic moment: *hip thrust* WALLOP

rating: 9/10

shayne ward

summary: again this is based on like a single recording but he can SING and i wish he showed off more than he does. he also sounds properly panicky/shaky in the first act which i always appreciate since he’s been Through It and a lot of performances don’t get that across. he’s giving it his all/aiming to give the best performance he can and it shows! he also has a ton of bruises/so much fake blood everywhere and his shirt’s in tatters and it’s great. the high notes sound fantastic also

iconic moment: stripping off the coat about ten minutes before any other artilleryman actor im aware of, and yeeting it off the stage

rating: 8/10

adam garcia

summary: i would say that bc he’s australian i have no choice but to stan but ive already been rly mean to jason donovan so that doesnt stand up anymore. anyway i basically regard adam garcia as the spiritual successor to david essex - similar sound, similar vibes, similar musical theatre background, similar genuine earnest with that edge of manic desperation and oncoming insanity. his facial expressions and gestures and pure enthusiasm throughout BNW are my favourite thing, and he maintains more of a long-sleeved pirate vibe as opposed to the ricky wilson rolled up sleeve vibe. unlike ricky wilson i also think he might’ve actually used a spade before

he also does so so much running around, and has more props than ever - the chair, the blackboard, the goggles, the gun, the spade, but at least he’s kept busy for the long instrumental sections, although i think it’s awful he gets cut off at the end of his song by life begins again while he just like, keeps digging? his singing is rly consistent and really quality, although i think he unfortunately sounds pretty bad in act 1. the whole losing his mind thing in act 2 salvages it tho

iconic moment: *obvious david essex impression* holidees 

rating: 9/10

honourable mentions to daniel bedingfield (can’t find a recording anywhere), michael falzon (i can’t find a full recording of him), and taron egerton (doesnt get to sing in the audio drama but his character is clearly gay)

[sunflowerhae]

Okay👁👄👁

I’m not the mom of the group, I’m just the annoying loud one that gives too much affection to her wife, but it’s our one month anniversary of being a gc and I have literally S O MUCH affection to give🥺🥺✋

Abi

Emoji set that reminds me of her: 😊👉👈💘✨😩🤢(this one bc shes h*t, she knows what that says)

-> @earth-to-that-asian

Abi ur my favorite momma literally ever. You’re super shy, which is so cute, and u seem like,,,like? Kinda have ur life? Together? I mean who does really but youre a really good example of where one should probably be at your age. You say “I-“ literally all the time and are always secretly encouraging our bad behavior so all in all ur a great mom. You are also always sending me asks that are just you giving me love and affection and tbh they make me so happy I love you sm and I’m so glad you accepted me into this amazing gc a whole ass month ago

Grace

Emoji set that reminds me of her: 🥺✋💖✨🏳️‍🌈☁️😭💛😍💍

-> @nct127grass

Grace. Grace. GRACE. Idk when we go married, but I think it’s been like a good two weeks? You are my favorite favorite person ever and definitely my favorite Australian (don’t worry luv we don’t hold it against u). Literally I love flirting on main w you and definitely being the best example of a healthy married relationship to the youngies (and abi bc she’s the only one older than us but she’s L O N E L Y and that’s what she gets for being a he-🤢 I can’t even say it). You’re the Jeno to my Jaemin, and I love ur vibe and ur energy sm idk what the gc would be like without u. Maybe I would have left idk we ALL know how I am in gc’s (you’ve all seen the many many screenshots😔) n e ways MY WIFE I LOVE UUUU😍😍😚😍🥰😘😘🥰

Juju

Emoji set that remind me of her: 😌✋😳👀🤑🤰🏼🌞🌼🌹

-> @nanajaems0308

Juju my forever fav memory of u is the first video call we all had when u came a bit late and I accidentally called u abi and elie had to correct me and I wanted to leave the call and the gc and never show my face then and there. You had the cutest lil voice too omg 🥺🥺 I was like “juju protection squad: assembled” although I never said anything hahaha. Ok I think realistically you’re someone who I don’t interact with TOo much. Like ofc we’re friends but we’ve never had like close close talks before, that being said I think you are still literally amazing. YEp! U heard me! A M A Z I N G! I hope no one lets ur cute lil self fool them bc when u get into fights w zainoo I get ScAred like oh my god zainoo is BRAVE brave. I think ur adorable also tho and u definitely are a good friend that cares for the people u love😩🥺🥺🥺😘

Cissy

Emoji set that reminds me of her: ☁️💘🥵👁👅👁🧚🏻‍♀️👑

-> @bbjisungg

cissy you haven’t been in the gc for long, and I kinda forced you to be in it after u were my accomplice, but tbh I couldn’t have asked for a better person to commit crimes w. You were so wildling and open to everything I roped u into, and then when I forced u to join my gc full of cRaCkhEAds, u were just like “sure fam” and then boom u were in. You had to change ur pfp On Instagram and EVERYTHING. I hope u don’t regret joking our mess of a gc, bc I definitely don’t regret making u join. Idk what gc we originally knew each other from, I just remembered knowing who you were, which is why I messaged u to spy for me (bc u were the only other person who I knew in that messy messy gc that I don’t wanna talk abt) and you just like,,I’ve said it befor I’ll say it again THANK U for going w the flow if you had said you wouldn’t do it I would have cried into the gc ur NOW APART OF and elie and abi would have offered to beat ur ass and it would have been a THING but now they’re willing to beat someone’s ass for u so see it’s the cycle of life🤩 I’m drowning on and boring even myself so I wanted to say I hope we all become much much more closer w each other and that ily vv much😩✋💖✨

Zainoo

Emoji set that reminds me of her: 💅🏻🐙🍃✨🍡🔪💌💛

-> @http-stan-nct

Zainoo Imma lay it all out on the line here and say u scare me sometimes 😳✋ you have this strong personality that can sometimes be intimidating but once someone gets to know you, ur actually just a huge softy that hates bugs and wears lemon socks. And Ik it might not seem that way to you, but idk that’s just how you come off to me,,, u are married to another person named gwen, so ofc you’re already ahead in the game - you and grace seem to have it all figured out correctly - and you are just adorable when u get excited abt something and just have to let everyone know ~lemon socks~ u fighting w juju in the chat is genuinely hilarious to watch it’s free entertainment I don’t think I need Netflix anymore , and ur a comedy legend although if me saying that inflates ur ego even a lil bit then I’m out. I LOVE U😩😩😭 oh and ps STOP USING CLOWN EMOJIS TO REACT TO EVEEYTHING I SAY

Elie

Emoji set that reminds me of her: 🔪👁👄👁😭✋😳😩🔪🖤

-> @ciaojunnie

Elie ur the youngest. And yet,? U have the soul of an 80 yr old murderer😌✨ you are literally the toughest person I’ve ever met, and u genuinely scare me sometimes buT I would pay to watch u beat the ppl at ur school up. You’re the queen of the 🏳️‍🌈 scene and I wish I wish We could all protect u from all the ASSHOLES in ur life but just know that even though we’re not there irl, we are always here to listen to you and we’re all older so we can give 10/10 advice (lmao sure) (see even I laughed at that) (6.5/10 maybe!) also I love ur notes (u were making them on the call I think) ALSO the amount of times u CURSE should be ILLEGAL everytime u say s*x or *ss I literally am like “NOOOOooooOOOOO” and grace and abi encourage it which makes me 👊👊👊🤬🤬😡😡😡 at them but not for long bc they’re literally my mom and my wife so- N E WAYS I’m rambling but you I wouldn’t be surprised if you wanted a knife set for ur birthday or something which is iconic and u remind me of a younger me so keep doing u🥺🥺🥺i🥺L🥺y🥺💖

All in all you guys are the best gc I’ve ever been in and I hope we stay friends for a long time guys🥺🥺🥺🥺 I will never forget that my journey into the center of this hell pit of a gc started w a fanfiction abt jaehyuns belly button but it really set the scene for the next coming month so I’m thankful for it. I love u all, ur all eggcellent, and ur my favorite nctzens ever 😩😩😩✋✋✋💌🍃💘😳😳🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 HAPPY 1 MONTH!

[rainywritingsx]

Hello! I saw your request are open but I’m not sure if my request will be okay if you don’t know the group called stray kids because I was hoping you could do a scenario with Bakugou x Fem!reader where he doesn’t know she really likes his group called Stray Kids especially the member called Chris but his stage name is Bang Chan and maybe he just hears her talking about how cute he thinks he his and how she loves his Australian accent and the cute dimple basically just going on about how much 1/2

She loves him so maybe he either gets jealous or or confronts her depending if you want to make them already dating or just crushing on each other and she’s just like lowkey confused on what he’s angry about until he sees that’s she watching them perform in the common room TV and starts talking about how cool he dances/performs and he’s like OH and just fluffy ending and all please !!💛💛💛💛💛

Do I know stray kids? H o n e y I’ve been stanning them since they were on the survival show!! And chan is one of my faves uwu (along with felix) so I absolutely love this idea!

For those who aren’t aware, Stray Kids is a kpop group consisting of 8 members (let’s all cry bc woojin ;-;) and bang chan is one of the members!

Lemme put a gif of them here real quick hehe :D

Now onto the fluuuffff

Warnings: uh some swearing bc it’s Bakugou

Words: 1098

“He's just so cute! Have you heard him speak English, Mina? His accent is just..."

"Yes!! And gosh his singing voice too!"

"And his adorable dimples..."

Bakugou frowned upon accidentally overhearing the conversation his girlfriend was having with their friend. Who the fuck was she talking about? She wouldn't cheat, right? No way, y/n wouldn't ever do that and Mina definitely wouldn't encourage her. Maybe it was a guy Mina liked or something.

For now, he decided to keep it for himself and continued walking, clenching his hands into fists as he tried not activating his quirk hearing y/n squeal yet again. He didn’t know why but it was pissing him off.

The next day, Mina and y/n entered class, giggling as they continued their conversation. Bakugou nonchalantly glanced at the pair from his seat and grumbled when he realised they were talking about that guy yet again.

"Hey Bakugou!" Mina greeted him before greeting the rest of the bakusquad.

"Hey babe! How did training go yesterday?" Y/n asked sweetly as she looked at her boyfriend. Bakugou scoffed and looked away, causing the girl to frown. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when Aizawa entered the class and soon everyone was in their seats. Her lips formed into a small pout as she had to wait until class was over to talk to her boyfriend again. Why was he acting off? She knew he was a grumpy gremlin, but this was different.

She tried making eye contact with him, but it seemed as if he was completely avoiding her gaze, staring down at his paper or looking at Aizawa. Bakugou was someone who cared about his grades but usually he'd glance at y/n occasionally.

As soon as the bell rang, Bakugou left class, causing y/n to frown again. She walked up to Kirishima who had most likely noticed his friend's weird behaviour as well.

"Hey Kirishima, do you know if anything is wrong with Bakugou? He seems to ignore me." Y/n pouted. Kirishima just smiled at her reassuringly before answering her question.

"I think he probably went to bed a little late. You know how that guy is when it comes to his bedtime." Y/n giggled and nodded. Boy, Bakugou was definitely a disciplined person.

"You're probably right." At least she hoped so..

••••••••••••••••••••

Bakugou sighed, feeling annoyed but not really knowing why. Was he annoyed at y/n? At himself? At nothing? At that jerk she was talking about? He had no idea, but he did know it just didn't feel right.

What was so special about that dickhead, huh? Her boyfriend was right here!

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw y/n, who he had been trying to avoid, sitting on the couch with Mina and watching something on TV.

"Look at him!" Y/n exclaimed as she pointed at Chan. "Gosh I can't with his dancing! And that voice, how does he do that while moving so much at the same time?"

Bakugou was finally putting the pieces together. She was talking about some singer?

"Hey Bakugou, what are you doing here?" Mina, who had caught on Bakugou's jealousy smirked. "Wanna watch too? Your girlfriend here loves this group!" Y/n giggled and blushed as she hit her friend playfully. When she looked at her boyfriend, she noticed his cheeks were slightly red, his face a had an annoyed expression and his head were balled into fists. She squinted her eyes at him and then got up.

"Wait a second. Were you jealous, Katsuki?" Y/n asked as she walked up to Bakugou, who muttered some incoherent words as he looked anywhere but at his girlfriend. Mina couldn't help but let out a giggle before she left the two.

"Why the fuck would I be jealous." Bakugou said, though his angry tone completely gave away that he was lying. Y/n couldn't help but smile before wrapped her arms around him, hugging him as she rested her head on his chest.

"You know I love you right? I wouldn't trade you for the world, Suki." She smiled, knowing that he secretly liked the nickname.

"Don't say that when we're here, dumbass. Someone could enter the room."  Bakugou mumbled, his tone completely contradicting his words.

"I would never ever leave you, not even for Chan." She giggled, to which Bakugou huffed as he wrapped his arms around y/n as well.

"Of course not. I'm fucking awesome." He said, which made her chuckle. His confidence was something she never got tired of. However, she was also aware that he had his insecurities just like everybody else.

"You know, you could've just told me that you were jealous." She said after a small silence. Bakugou sighed before nuzzling his face in y/n's hair.

"I thought it was dumb, and I didn't even know you were just talking about some stupid Korean singer." Y/n pouted.

"Heey, just because hes not as amazing as you doesn't mean he's stupid."

"Whatever." He mumbled. Y/n giggled and glanced up at her boyfriend, a giddy smile never leaving her face before she buried her face into his chest. She sighed contently at the silence as Bakugou’s hand started gently rubbing her back.

“Aww look at Y/n and Bakugou!” A voice suddenly exclaimed excitedly. Y/n and Bakugou both gasped as they pulled away from each other at the speed of light, an embarrassed blush evident on both of their faces.

“Where the fuck did you dipshits come from?!” Bakugou exclaimed angrily as he looked at Uraraka, Midoriya and Todoroki who had entered the room.

“We came back from training.” Todoroki answered.

“Its not our fault you two are acting all lovey-dovey in a place our whole class uses.” Uraraka giggled as the blush on y/n’s face darkened.

“But we didn’t mean to stare or anything! We just walked in and you two-“

“Shut the fuck op Deku!” Bakugou yelled as little sparks emerged from his hands, which made y/n’s eyes widen as she quickly put her hands on his arm.

“A-anyway we’re gonna go... see you all later!” She quickly spoke as she tried pulling the angry blonde with her, quietly giggling at his flustered state. It was quite amusing to see him like that.

“YOU GUYS SAW NOTHING!” Bakugou yelled once more before finally giving in and coming with his girlfriend.

“Jeez babe, are you embarrased of me or something?” Y/n fake pouted to which he just rolled his eyes. He knew that she was just messing around.

“Shut up dumbass. Now let’s go to my room and cuddle.”

[louistomlinsoncouk]

It was the morning after our staff Christmas party that I got on the horn to Louis Tomlinson.

While the entire office was munching on bacon and egg rolls and chugging coffee to revive themselves, I was in the studio, eagerly awaiting a call from the UK to chat to my favourite member of One Direction (yep, you read that correctly).

You see, unlike most folks who occasionally whack on ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ during road trip karaoke or follow Harry Styles on Instagram to stay up to date with his dazzling wardrobe, I have been a true 1D stan since day dot: X Factor.

As soon as the band was pieced together, punters began choosing their faves, most of them picking Harry and don’t get me wrong, he’s an absolute lord (I’ve literally travelled to another country to see Harry live, I’ve had his album(s) on repeat since their release and I have tons of his merch), but I was instantly enchanted by the quiet, brooding, eldest member of the band and as their popularity skyrocketed, so, too, did my love for Louis.

I guess it’s a combination of his sleek style, his dreamy eyes plus the fact that he’s sassy (his public feuds have rightfully earned him the name ‘Sass Master of Doncaster’) and also has a ‘yuge heart and loves his fans unconditionally.

So naturally when the band went on hiatus, I followed Louis’ career like a hawk and, my fellow Louis stans, our time has finally come ‘coz 2020 is going to be THE year of Louis Tomlinson.

Let me repeat that louder for the people in the back:

2020 is going to be THE year of Louis Tomlinson.

The excitement in his voice is palpable as he discusses his debut studio album Walls which drops on January 31, 2020.

“I’m quite big on lyrics, it’s important for me to be honest and real and, at times, vulnerable,” he says of the album.

“My fans already know a lot about me but hopefully I can bring them an album that shows them another side.”

This ~other side~ includes personal yarns and tales from Louis’ life as he explains that he draws inspiration “from my life events.”

“There were times in the past where I tried to write in a fictional sense, and there are a couple of songs on the album like that, but mostly I find it easier to write autobiographically.”

He adds, “Things happen to you and sometimes it might seem mundane but it makes you feel a certain way and it’s worth writing about.”

If you haven’t already listened to his latest singles, first of all what the heck is wrong with you? Second of all, go give them a listen and you’ll know exactly what he means by writing autobiographically.

He says his newest single ‘Don’t Let It Break Your Heart’ is “something that I’m definitely really proud of.”

“It’s a song trying to invoke hope, it’s about seeing the glass as half full as opposed to half empty and no matter what life throws at you, don’t let it break your heart.”

I then point out that he has a lot of positive, inspirational, anthemic bops under his belt and I ask if this is intentional.

“I think so,” he responds. “You always want to write lyrics that are relatable and inspiring, and I think songs like the song I did with Steve [Aoki] ‘Just Hold On’, it’s got the same kind of vibe of hope. I think it’s a pretty cool topic.”

He then talks me through my personal favourite, ‘We Made It.’

“It’s kind of about two things because we started out with just the title and what it meant to me in that moment was me picturing our first show of the tour and all the hard work it took me to get there and with the fans, it’s a collective, we made it here together, and that’s how the song started out,” he says.

Directioners will be happy to know that Louis doesn’t shy away from name-dropping his bandmates and when I ask him to talk me through the best moments from the past decade, he literally lists three 1D-centric mems.

“When we first got put together as a band, that was a magical moment,” he says.

“We didn’t know each other that well and we went through that whole journey together, so that was pretty special.”

“When we played Madison Square Gardens in New York, that was a pretty memorable one. All of our families came down to watch.”

And finally, “We were lucky enough to play at the Olympics which was definitely one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had, definitely.”

Speaking of performing with 1D, Louis’ forthcoming trip to Australia will be his first without his bandmates and he is, as he put it, “proper excited to come back.”

“The gigs [in Oz] are always incredible and also for any Brit, it’s the ultimate dream to travel to Australia.”

But punters who have been lucky enough to see a One Direction show in their lifetime should expect a very, very different vibe from Tomlinson now that he’s flying solo (~obviously~).

“It’s not going to be a massive production with any gimmicks, it’s just going to be pretty straightforward. Just a good live show focusing on music and hopefully we’ll have a good night.”

Going from touring with his besties to being on the road by himself (and the backing band, of course) is bound to be a huge adjustment that Louis plans on easing into.

“I like creating normality [on the road], I just like to be sat with mates chatting, listening to music and then head out onto stage.”

He also gave me this lil tidbit about his travelling style, which should come as no surprise to the die-hards.

“I’m notoriously a really bad packer, I always leave with not enough clothes and not enough things that I need.”

But while he’s often short a pair of sneakers or a sweater or two, he always makes sure to pack the essentials.

“I like to take tea bags with me on tour. You can’t get a good cup of tea everywhere so it’s important to travel with your own.”

Which prompts me to ask about his thoughts on our tea Down Under.

“It’s good, yeah! It’s good,” he assures me.

So now that we’ve discussed what 2020 will look like for him (including starting his sophomore album in the second half of the year!), along with his highlights from the last decade, I’m eager to know what his plans are for the next decade.

Brace yourselves for the response…

“Fucking hell, I’m not that good at thinking far ahead,” he immediately quips. Legit, there’s nothing I love more than when celebs drop an F word in an interview. It shows that they’re not doing the super-polished, media-trained thing and they’re happy just being themselves.

Frankly, if Louis didn’t swear in the interview, I would’ve been convinced that he’d been abducted by aliens and replaced with a cyborg. But you’ll be happy to know that in our nine-minute convo, he swore a grand total of three times which is a great score, IMO.

But anyway, back to the question at hand.

“Hopefully still making music, still making albums. My intention is to get better as a songwriter with every album, so hopefully still making music and still touring.”

We wrap up our good old chinwag with a message to his fans, particularly the Aussies who he’ll finally be treating to his angel voice when he plays the Big Top in Sydney and the Palais Theatre in Melbourne in April.

“Massive thank you for your patience and your support. I’m so excited to release the album. I’m as excited, if not more, to come and see everyone on tour so thanks for your love and I’ll see you on tour.”

Final tickets for Louis Tomlinson’s debut Australian tour are available now via livenation.com.au.

[rekikyan]

thank u @jamesvanriemsdyk for tagging me :)

1. what is the color of your hair brush? 

i have a light blue one with little polar bears in like hats and mitts on it and i have another one that has elsa on it bc we do stan a queen

2. name a food you never eat?

i’m not a picky eater, but i have like a hard time with textures so i just. really hate raspberries or anything else that’s grainy. also apple sauce. stuff like that

3. are you typically too warm or too cold?

i am generally always too cold, like i have a blanket near me at all times and i live in sweaters

4. what were you doing 45 minutes ago?

i think i was eating supper lol maybe or playing among us, what is the passing of time idk

5. whats your favorite candy bar?

my favourite candy bar is uhhh kit kat maybe?

6. have you ever been to a professional sports game?

oh yeah absolutely lol, i’m pretty quiet about hockey on this blog but uh. i’ve been to an nhl preseason game and like the whole weekend long training camp watching practices and stuff, i’ve also been to an nhl alumni game, and an ahl game

7. what was the last thing you said out loud?

“ah, fuck me” when i got caught as the impostor :)

8. what is your favorite ice cream?

i really like birthday cake, esp the halo top one

9. what was the last thing you had to drink?

water

10. do you like your wallet?\

yeah it’s got a little cat face on it and it’s just the right size but i’ve also had it since high school so her time is coming and i’m sad about it

11. what was the last thing you ate?

one of those pillsbury pumpkin cookies that slap

12. did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

i did lol, i bought some new mom jeans and some belts and some jatp merch and i need to stop purchasing things honestly!

13. what was the last sporting event you watched?

the last one i legitimately watched was probably when the leafs got eliminated and didn’t even make the playoffs and i am still sad okay. but i also like, watched enough of the scf to watch tampa win 

14. what is your favorite flavor of popcorn?

good old salt and butter lol

15. who was the last person you sent a text to?

@jamesvanriemsdyk

16. ever go camping?

yes, my grandparents used to own a camper when i was younger so we spent a good bit of time there and we used to go to a cabin like in the middle of nowhere a bunch if that counts

17. do you take your vitamins?

no because i am dumb

18. do you regularly attend a place of worship?

lol no, grew up catholic though! isn’t that something?

19. do you have a tan?

nah man i am so pale lol

20. do you prefer chinese or pizza?

chinese absolutely

21. do you drink soda through a straw?

yes :(

22. what color socks do you usually wear?

i actively despise socks and only wear them outside of the house but there’s like no common theme here, i buy whatever and wear whatever, i’m lucky if they’re matching most days honestly lol

23. do you ever drive above the speed limit?

oh i don’t drive

24. what terrifies you?

let’s see, what doesn’t?

25. look to the left, what do you see?

my water bottle

26. what chore do you hate doing the most?

folding or putting away laundry

27. what do you think when you hear an australian accent?

five seconds of summer -- is it hi or hey?

28. what’s your favorite soda?

cherry coke or sprite

29. do you go in fast food places or just hit the drive thru?

when possible i am in the drive thru lol

30. what is your favorite number?

9

31. who’s the last person you talked to?

ngl it was my cat

32. favorite cut of beef?

what does this mean

33. last song you listened too?

it was probably motion sickness by phoebe bridgers

34. last book you read?

apparently it was “one of us is lying” bc i haven’t read a book since june lol rip

35. favorite day of the week?

i quite like fridays

36. can you say the alphabet backwards?

no i cannot

37. how do you like your coffee?

i usually just put a flavoured creamer in it! typically it’s a vanilla almond milk creamer but i’ve been using pumpkin spice lately

38. favorite pair of shoes?

my white converse or my blundstones

39. time you normally get up?

it’s usually like 10 or 11 rn or whatever time my cat decides i wake up

40. do you prefer sunrise or sunset?

sunset bc i actually see those

41. describe your kitchen plates?

they’re those white corelle ones that are supposed to be like unbreakable

42. how many blankets on your bed?

i think it’s like four or five and sometimes i throw more on top

43. describe your kitchen at the moment?

she’s probably a little messy rn

44. do you have a favorite alcoholic drink?

i love some vodka

45. do you play cards?

my coworkers and i got weirdly into uno this summer

46. what color is your car?

do not have one bc driving scares me

47. can you change a tire?

lol no

48. favorite state?

i’m canadian so i will say favourite province, which is newfoundland bc home. but i would also leave here for pei in a heartbeat

49. favorite job you’ve ever had?

i have like worked the same job since high school, it’s a job in tourism and i get to do a lot of fun things and meet some great people

50. tagging: no one but if you see this, feel free to do it bc i think it’s fun and i’d like to get to know y’all

[kyndaris]

The Great Internet Debate

Since the tail end of 2020, many Australians were informed by Google of a political stoush between big news corporations and the tech company behind our favourite search engine. The open letter to end users read like a doomsday spiel – spelling out the encroaching disaster if a mandatory news code came into effect. The proposed legislation – the News Media Bargaining Code – was explained as a means of paying for news content when all that Google did was provide the necessary links for people to ‘choose’ what content they actively consumed. Google also advised that the News Media Bargaining Code would make it unfair for small businesses as larger media companies would be informed of algorithm changes ahead of time and be given data on users to maximise coverage.

A grim picture was painted. Why should big news media companies receive data and information about everyday users of a search engine? Why should their links be propped up higher than other smaller outlets?

At the start of 2021, after a Senate hearing, Google also warned that the proposed legislation might lead to the removal of Google Search in its entirety in Australia. Why? Because why should it pay to just provide a multitude of links based off whatever a person is searching for?

I know that as a writer, most of my searches aren’t news related. In fact, they’re mostly about things people wore in the 18th to 19th century. I ask the internet when doorknobs were invented or the nature of horse care. There was even one enquiry that might have put me on alert lists across the world: how long does it take for a body disposed in water to rise to the surface?

But that was important for a very singular scene in my story, all right! Murder happens in my stories! I just want to make sure that I’ve got all the facts right as well as the science!

What Google, and by extension Facebook, failed to address was the uneven distribution of ad revenue when it comes to large news media. With the advent of the internet, it’s become much harder for traditional newspapers and television stations to accrue the wealth they had.

The news media Bargaining Code however would force huge tech giants to negotiate with each individual news corporation and find a way to ensure a ‘fair’ means of distributing ad revenue by entering into commercial agreements or be subjected to arbitration. In this way, jobs could be kept and journalism could be regarded, once again, as the respected profession that it should be. So, to be honest, it does sound like a noble thing to do in order to support struggling companies.

As for my personal opinion? Well, I’ll be honest with you. I’m not entirely swayed by any one side. There are pros and cons to each.

My own experience with the search engine is indicative of this. The only time I’ve used Google to search for the news is when I’ve been too lazy to memorise the actual link for ABC News. Otherwise, it’s very easy to simply type into your browser: news.com.au or smh.com.au

Often, I feel that the one great problem with these news websites is their inability to modernise and to accommodate a generation that prefers immediacy. A lot of news websites, based off the newspapers that are still being published, have arbitrary gatekeeping with regards to the number of ‘free’ articles that can be viewed each month and an exorbitant subscription fee.

Let’s, for the sake of argument, use the Sydney Morning Herald as an example. Most of their articles on their main website have intriguing headlines and a small excerpt for what the article is about. One can easily get the gist of the content readily available simply by skimming over the content. There’s no mystery or anything too attention grabbing.

If one were curious and wished to learn more, they’d simply click open the article.

But this is where the Sydney Morning Herald falters a little.

Ad revenue, as most people know, is driven by clicks. The more clicks an end-user makes, the more money a company can make. Perhaps, it’s true, that news corporations could make a few more dollars by partnering with search engines to ensure that ads on their website are linked to whatever other websites that the end-user was previously poring over. After all, I’m not as interested in say a NAB home loan than a new game that’s come out.

Yet the crux of the matter comes from the very fact that the Sydney Morning Herald only allows five ‘free’ articles per month. In order to get around that, one needs to ‘subscribe.’ And the subscriptions aren’t very cheap. Particularly for the younger generation. $3.50 a week sounds nice, but if you add it all up, it can be quite significant. Annually, the Starter Digital is $160 per year.

Not a choice most people are willing to dip their toes in when they also have to pay for Netflix, Stan, Disney+ and a whole host of other things that catch their eye.

So, how does something like the Sydney Morning Herald make money when paper is all but dead? One thing they could implement is additional ads on their website and perhaps at the top and bottom of their articles. They could also stop hiding their articles behind paywalls. No student has the money to pay for it, particularly when they’re only using the website for a school project.

Lower your subscriptions and give more back to the consumer. Make it more appealing.

News.com.au might not have the cleanest reputation, but their headlines catch the eye. It might be click-baity as all hell, but in this day and age, it’s what helps it to survive.

It’s not a perfect solution, true, but it might give them a little bit more of a boost.

And instead of only relying on the written word, it might be prudent now to create more videos to elucidate the topics they want to explore. Particularly when it comes to news that most consumers want on a more instantaneous basis. These days, video streaming is the way to go. Three-minute or five-minute videos are pretty easily digestible. And a lot of it can be monetised. It might not be a huge amount of money, but every little thing counts.

Investigative journalism, on the other hand, would need to be well researched and thought out. You can have a written article and transcript or you could have a well-plotted fifteen-minute video. The dialogue needs to be snappy yet informative. News needs to learn how to target their audiences instead of catering only to the older generation.

As for recaps of movies or television shows? You can’t go wrong with James Weir and his commentary. I might not watch Married at First Sight or the Bachelor, but I’d almost definitely read his recap of the episodes because of his biting comments and snide observations.

APPEAL TO THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR!

Make your websites lively. Make them relevant. Grab the attention of millennials and Generation Z instead of pandering to baby boomers.

Beyond that, find ways to adapt in the current marketplace. So many YouTube creators have to constantly find ways to get around changes to the YouTube algorithm. They complain, sure, but in order to be fair, no one content creator should be told what the changes will be beforehand.

Above all else, negotiate in good faith. And stand your ground. Google and Facebook should not just threaten to remove their services from the good people of Australia just for few million dollars in ad revenue. But, there’s also no need to demand algorithms or have your links unfairly pushed to the top of Google Search and quashing smaller independent voices.

Even if Facebook were to take away the ability to share links, though, I’m sure people will still be able to make do. I know that I, for one, could very easily summarise an article that I’ve read. And if someone wanted links...well...I’m sure I could devise a method to provide an alternate solution to do so. 

In any case, depending on how Google reacts, this humble blogger might have to think about investing in a VPN. Which, unfortunately, might see local Australian businesses suffer because the massive search engine I’m using would be defaulted to another country somewhere in the vast piece of rock we call home. Of course, in saying that, we do still have Bing. So, you know what? Everyone, it’s time to put Bing on the map and make it a serious contender against Google.

So, despite my limited understanding of the entire kerfuffle that’s been kicked up between Google and traditional news media, that is my two cents on the situation. Greed is not good. And don’t use a good honest people as hostages to the regulation of the wild west internet.

Edit: By the time this post goes up, Google has come to several agreements with major news corporations in Australia whilst Facebook has removed all news content for Australians. Which means no sharing of links to news websites for all of us down under.

Unfortunately, news wasn’t properly defined and so many other pages had their posts wiped, such as emergency services and a member of parliament. Here’s hoping that Facebook will also put a stop on conspiracy pages and anti-vaxxer propaganda.

Further edit: After a week of removing news content, Facebook has reversed its decision.

[cleansingreflections]

as someone who studied multiple languages in a language school, including english for 13 very long years across primary, middle and high school, and as someone who studied the development throughout the centuries of my own native language (italian) in the past 5 years of high school, let me say that this phenomenon of aave being wrongly perceived as “stan twitter slang” by so many people is incredibly interesting to me

in this post i won’t devolve into the racist implications of this phenomenon, as a white person it’s not my place to say what is racist and what is not, i just wanna talk about my own personal observation, from a language student’s point of view

as i’ve already said, my native language is italian, and before finding out about it on twitter and tumblr, i had no idea that basically 99.9% of what i thought was internet language, was actually just aave. hell, i didn’t even know what aave was

that can be very easily explained: i live in italy, i don’t know any african-americans irl. i mean, i know some Black italians personally, but in my day to day life i never hear anyone speaking english orally, and my only representation of what english sounds like is only coming from either my white italian teachers in english class, or the internet itself, and i’m sure that it’s like this for a lot of other young people here on the internet

i do find it interesting that most of non-native english speakers don’t even know what aave is, i know for sure that i wouldn’t know about it if it weren’t for Black americans talking about it on twitter and tumblr. i genuinely had no idea that Black americans even talked in a different way from nb americans until i started watching, out of my own personal choice, US films and tv shows with subtitles, instead of dubbed

besides the obvious and popularized difference between the british and the us accent (which, by the way, i could write an entire post about this thing alone, but i won’t talk about it now), if it weren’t for the internet i wouldn’t know that the UK has dozens of different accents, or that the US has different dialects, or that australians have a whole different accent

which brings me to the point i’m trying to make: language teachers should teach about the different accents and dialects; i don’t mean that they should teach you every single accent and dialect at the same time, because there’s no time at all to do that; but i mean that teachers should at least say that there are so many divergences from the usual grammatical rules within the same language

i think it’s extremely important to teach students that not everyone you meet who speaks a certain language will speak in the same way that your teacher does, which i mean yeah it should be obvious, but sometimes it just isn’t?

when you’re used for 13 years to listening to the same words being pronounced in always the same way, you start to think that that’s the only possible way to pronounce them, or that that’s the only grammar that exists

aave is especially an interesting dialect in itself because, as opposed to most dialects, is not regional, but rather cultural; and it can’t be classified as an accent because it’s not just the pronunciation of words that changes, but there are a lot of grammatical divergences from US english spoken by non-black people. it’s a dialect, but spoken by lots of different people scattered across the same country, which is... strange, and amazing at the same time

anyways, normalize teaching students about the more informal parts of a language - dialects, accents, and especially about aave in english, without treating it like a “funny” dialect, but rather as the extraordinary linguistic phenomenon that it is, students not only need, but deserve to know how complex and intricate and deep the language that they’re learning is; i think english is extraordinary as a language and i wish more people understood the complexity of it

and... don’t use aave if you’re not Black, just don’t, it’s not yours to use, and it doesn’t make you funny, especially when you don’t even know the grammatical rules, you’re only embarrassing yourself. i’m saying this as an italian who often sees non-italians trying to be funny by mocking an italian accent and doing our “funny” gestures (which are a language of their own btw)

[elceeu2morrow]

By Matt Galea  18/12/2019

It was the morning after our staff Christmas party that I got on the horn to Louis Tomlinson.

While the entire office was munching on bacon and egg rolls and chugging coffee to revive themselves, I was in the studio, eagerly awaiting a call from the UK to chat to my favourite member of One Direction (yep, you read that correctly).

You see, unlike most folks who occasionally whack on ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ during road trip karaoke or follow Harry Styles on Instagram to stay up to date with his dazzling wardrobe, I have been a true 1D stan since day dot: X Factor.

As soon as the band was pieced together, punters began choosing their faves, most of them picking Harry and don’t get me wrong, he’s an absolute lord (I’ve literally travelled to another country to see Harry live, I’ve had his album(s) on repeat since their release and I have tons of his merch), but I was instantly enchanted by the quiet, brooding, eldest member of the band and as their popularity skyrocketed, so, too, did my love for Louis.

I guess it’s a combination of his sleek style, his dreamy eyes plus the fact that he’s sassy (his public feuds have rightfully earned him the name ‘Sass Master of Doncaster’) and also has a ‘yuge heart and loves his fans unconditionally.

So naturally when the band went on hiatus, I followed Louis’ career like a hawk and, my fellow Louis stans, our time has finally come ‘coz 2020 is going to be THE year of Louis Tomlinson.

Let me repeat that louder for the people in the back:

2020 is going to be THE year of Louis Tomlinson.

The excitement in his voice is palpable as he discusses his debut studio album Walls which drops on January 31, 2020.

“I’m quite big on lyrics, it’s important for me to be honest and real and, at times, vulnerable,” he says of the album.

“My fans already know a lot about me but hopefully I can bring them an album that shows them another side.

”This ~other side~ includes personal yarns and tales from Louis’ life as he explains that he draws inspiration “from my life events.

“There were times in the past where I tried to write in a fictional sense, and there are a couple of songs on the album like that, but mostly I find it easier to write autobiographically.”

He adds, “Things happen to you and sometimes it might seem mundane but it makes you feel a certain way and it’s worth writing about.”

If you haven’t already listened to his latest singles, first of all what the heck is wrong with you? Second of all, go give them a listen and you’ll know exactly what he means by writing autobiographically.

He says his newest single ‘Don’t Let It Break Your Heart’ is “something that I’m definitely really proud of.”

“It’s a song trying to invoke hope, it’s about seeing the glass as half full as opposed to half empty and no matter what life throws at you, don’t let it break your heart.”

I then point out that he has a lot of positive, inspirational, anthemic bops under his belt and I ask if this is intentional.

“I think so,” he responds. “You always want to write lyrics that are relatable and inspiring, and I think songs like the song I did with Steve [Aoki] ‘Just Hold On’, it’s got the same kind of vibe of hope. I think it’s a pretty cool topic.”

He then talks me through my personal favourite, ‘We Made It.’

“It’s kind of about two things because we started out with just the title and what it meant to me in that moment was me picturing our first show of the tour and all the hard work it took me to get there and with the fans, it’s a collective, we made it here together, and that’s how the song started out,” he says.

“And then in the verse you have to add a bit more of a story so we’re talking about me going to visit my girlfriend at the university halls while I was on tour with the boys, so I was going off that dynamic.”

Directioners will be happy to know that Louis doesn’t shy away from name-dropping his bandmates and when I ask him to talk me through the best moments from the past decade, he literally lists three 1D-centric mems.

“When we first got put together as a band, that was a magical moment,” he says.

“We didn’t know each other that well and we went through that whole journey together, so that was pretty special.”

“When we played Madison Square Gardens in New York, that was a pretty memorable one. All of our families came down to watch.”

And finally, “We were lucky enough to play at the Olympics which was definitely one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had, definitely.”

Speaking of performing with 1D, Louis’ forthcoming trip to Australia will be his first without his bandmates and he is, as he put it, “proper excited to come back.”

“The gigs [in Oz] are always incredible and also for any Brit, it’s the ultimate dream to travel to Australia.”

But punters who have been lucky enough to see a One Direction show in their lifetime should expect a very, very different vibe from Tomlinson now that he’s flying solo (~obviously~).

“It’s not going to be a massive production with any gimmicks, it’s just going to be pretty straightforward. Just a good live show focusing on music and hopefully we’ll have a good night.”

Going from touring with his besties to being on the road by himself (and the backing band, of course) is bound to be a huge adjustment that Louis plans on easing into.

“I like creating normality [on the road], I just like to be sat with mates chatting, listening to music and then head out onto stage.”

He also gave me this lil tidbit about his travelling style, which should come as no surprise to the die-hards.

“I’m notoriously a really bad packer, I always leave with not enough clothes and not enough things that I need.”

But while he’s often short a pair of sneakers or a sweater or two, he always makes sure to pack the essentials.

“I like to take tea bags with me on tour. You can’t get a good cup of tea everywhere so it’s important to travel with your own.”

Which prompts me to ask about his thoughts on our tea Down Under.

“It’s good, yeah! It’s good,” he assures me.

So now that we’ve discussed what 2020 will look like for him (including starting his sophomore album in the second half of the year!), along with his highlights from the last decade, I’m eager to know what his plans are for the next decade.

Brace yourselves for the response…

“Fucking hell, I’m not that good at thinking far ahead,” he immediately quips. Legit, there’s nothing I love more than when celebs drop an F word in an interview. It shows that they’re not doing the super-polished, media-trained thing and they’re happy just being themselves.

Frankly, if Louis didn’t swear in the interview, I would’ve been convinced that he’d been abducted by aliens and replaced with a cyborg. But you’ll be happy to know that in our nine-minute convo, he swore a grand total of three times which is a great score, IMO.

But anyway, back to the question at hand.

“Hopefully still making music, still making albums. My intention is to get better as a songwriter with every album, so hopefully still making music and still touring.”

We wrap up our good old chinwag with a message to his fans, particularly the Aussies who he’ll finally be treating to his angel voice when he plays the Big Top in Sydney and the Palais Theatre in Melbourne in April.

“Massive thank you for your patience and your support. I’m so excited to release the album. I’m as excited, if not more, to come and see everyone on tour so thanks for your love and I’ll see you on tour.”

Final tickets for Louis Tomlinson’s debut Australian tour are available now via livenation.com.au.

SAT APR 25 – BIG TOP, SYDNEY

MON APR 27 – PALAIS THEATRE, MELBOURNE