#but if the label was better at selling him then I think his instagram would be better put together

[1134soup]

New interview with Art + Art Jr !!!!!!!!!!!

Finally we got some information on more of Paul’s response to those comments Art made a few years back. It is Real fucked up to call him a monster with a napoleon complex that you wish you never met. But I’m glad they’re working it out

And Art Jr. talking about a hypothetical reunion

[fromtenthousandfeet]

https://www.tumblr.com/fromtenthousandfeet/754230657283162113/a-few-days-ago-i-saw-a-post-on-x-from-a-kpjm-that?source=share

I'm confused why would they wanna punish the fans, the cash cows for their future payola album? (I'm just curious to hear about ur thoughts more since I love to read ur blog lot)

Thanks for the ask. It's a good question. Why punish fans?!?

I've probably said this too many times, but I'll say it once more. I think Bang PD can't stand the idea of anyone under a HYBE label being successful without his direct influence. Threatening to put NewJeans on an 18+ month hiatus when they're doing so well is such a red flag. And while HYBE probably can't afford not to release Jimin's music and content (or they are contractually obligated to), they can gatekeep the heck out it by not giving him playlisting, not servicing his music to radio, only promoting his new album on Instagram, not providing pre-save or pre-purchase options. The company accepts that Jimin has a loyal fan base, but the goal is not to grow it.

Think about the extraordinary amount of money Jimin's fans spend on his birthday events/promotions. Can't you see BSH seething at the sight of all that money spent to support Jimin that could have been spent on BTS merchandise? And the fact that no other member - even his precious chosen one - gets that kind of love and loyalty reflects badly on the group. Jimin is a brand unto himself. That's only a boon for the company as long they can control his popularity and make money off of it. At the end of the day, I think BSH resents Jimin's huge appeal and popularity. He, so far, hasn't been able to recreate that love and loyalty for other BTS members or TXT, his other brainchild.

So, BangPD punishes Jimin's fans by gatekeeping Jimin's projects and Jimin himself. Has anyone else had the nagging sense over the last year that maybe Jimin's access to fans is being intentionally thwarted? Why wasn't he given more opportunities to perform live? Why was CTT released when he was already in the military even though the song was records long before? And can we talk about how the company completely ignores fans' requests for better promotion, more CDs, and radio play? That's another form of punishment.

Your question is, how can the company afford to anger and alienate Jimin's fans when they are going to need their purchasing power when the group returns in 2025? Two things.

HYBE can't lose. If they treat Jimin like crap (as they have so far), the fans get their "revenge" by raising and spending even more money on album sales and streams. The right response to his mistreatment should be a complete boycott of all Jimin and BTS merchandise, but nobody wants to hurt Jimin, so it'll never happen. While making Jimin's music rank high on Spotify and Billboard charts may feel like revenge against the company, I promise you it is not, because the company is laughing all the way to the bank as fans mass buy and mass stream.

Chapter 2 has proved that a large portion of ARMY do not care at all about the music and are in it for the parasocial aspect of fanning. Look at V's photo book announced this week. Selling out on the first day, multiple printings, and for what? Photos of his feet? Madness. $100 for BTS Minions Funko Pops? What?!? I keep thinking maybe fans will realize how they're being used as an endless cash stream, but so far no.

Ultimately, none of us know what the heck is going on in BSH's head or within the company, so your guess is as good or better than mine. I leave you with this interview from Billboard Magazine, which has some little gems that I think explain a lot. Let's talk about it soon.

[elxctrics]

(—) ★ spotted!! AXEL FITZGERALD on the cover of this week’s most recent tabloid! many say that the 25 year old looks like RYAN MANICK, but i don’t really see it. while  the MUSICIAN/ACTOR is known for being PERCEPTIVE my inside sources say that they have a tendency to be BROODY i swear, every time i think of them, i hear the song SIGN OF THE TIMES by HARRY STYLES  { HE/HIM, CISMALE }

  ˗ˏˋ ＊ ‣ 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬    :  

connections || musings || instagram || headcanons

𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓼

name: axel mitch fiztgerald

age: twenty five

nicknames: axe

date of birth: march 2nd, 1999

astrological sign: pisces

place of birth: new york , new york

occupation: musician / actor

label: the brooder

positive traits: perceptive, deep, creative, charming

negative traits: broody, irrational, impulsive, addictive

characters/celebrities he’s like: harry styles, britney spears, justin bieber, miley cyrus,

𝓫𝓲𝓸𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱𝔂

the first born son of mitchum and lorelai fitzgerald, although his parents were the heirs to the infamous lvhm group, parenting always came first for them and they were ever present and ever involved, although axel shows all the classic tell tale signs of a rich kid with mommy and/or daddy issues.

growing up in the lavish lifestyle that they did, axel always felt like it was cold - the houses were too big, the designer stuff was tacky, the excess was exhausting and he just felt as though there was more meaning to life then all this stuff.

seeing that their son clearly needed an outlet, they enrolled axel in music classes and almost immediately, he showed an insane amount of talent.

he caught on to guitar and piano rather quickly and after a few years, he was writing his own songs.

with his parent's encouragement, when he was sixteen, he tried out for the x-factor and while he wasn't good enough to make it as a solo artist, the judges put him in a group with four other guys and there, their journey to international stardom began.

the group of five went on to win the show and stole hearts all over the world. teenage heartthrobs, it wasn't long until they were embarking on world tours, selling out stadiums and living the rockstar dream.

however, the dream was a nightmare for axel. because while he was getting all of the attention and adoration in the world, he was singing stupid teeny-bopper sounding songs that didn't mean anything to him. all of his suggestions were turned down and he was simply forced to be 'the pretty one' in the group - the one that girls threw themselves at and while he was standoffish about it for a while, he got to a point where he had no choice but to completely embrace it.

he played the part well - almost every other month had a different super model or actress on his arm, and slowly but surely began to become who people looked at as the 'leader' of the band.

he wasn't that close with his bandmates and instead, formed a clique inside of hollywood that consisted of a group of young people with far too much money and far too much time that enjoyed partying and excess.

it wasn't rare for the paparazzi to find him coming out of the club as the sun was rising with blood shot eyes nor was it rare for him to find himself getting into a drunken fight...or two...or five.

his behavior began to get more sporadic as time went on - often going on instagram lives, smoking a joint and ranting about how everything was pointless and nothing but a meaningless joke, much to the dismay of the band and their management team that tried to present the boys with a squeaky clean image, but after five years of this rollercoaster, axel was beyond fed up.

his parents never interfered with his behavior. they chalked it up to him being young and simply 'trying to find his way' and thought it would be better for him to figure things out on his own, even though he was getting to a point where adult interference was truly what he needed more than anything.

in 2020, when axel was 22 years old, the band's team presented them with a concept for their next album and axel, being high off of his mind in the meeting, threw an absolute fit. it was the same stuff the bad had been singing for the past five years, the same teenage image even though they were all in their twenties now and axel had enough. after a long winded rant and flipping a few tables, axel stormed out and quit the band for good. the band only lasted a few months without him before breaking up.

2021 was the darkest year of his life. he did absolutely nothing but loose himself further in drugs, alcohol, meaningless sex and parties. and all of that started turning him into a shell of a person. he truly didn't care about anything or anyone and after being arrested four times for driving under the influence, the fourth time resulting in him crashing his car into a strip of stores on hollywood boulevard, he was court ordered to enter rehab in the beginning of 2022.

his year in rehab did nothing but further his belief in the fact that hollywood was an evil and soul sucking place and the only reason he ever did drugs or drank in the first place was a way to escape from that. he felt as though he was smarter and already knew better than everyone in rehab and simply put on the act - pretended like he was going through the steps and that it was all working just so he could get the hell out of there and release his truth - his first album which he wrote completely while in rehab.

he was released in the fall of 2023 and after laying low for a few months, he reached out to his team about his album, however they shot it down immediately and said he had to clean up his image first before anyone bought his record.

so, they got him cast on one tree hill - a show about teenagers, the very thing that had drove him insane in the first place - having to act like he was some stupid kid having the time of his life.

he hates everything about the show and his stupid character, nathan scott, and is not exactly keen on becoming friends with his castmates either, but is simply trying to behave as much as he could so he can release the music he act

[stephspurs]

A Family Affair | Euro 2020 Football Fanfiction

Hi besties - here is part 6! We are officially halfway through this fic! Part 6 sees friendships blossom, situationships struggle, and cheeky intercontinental facetime chats! I hope you all are enjoying it as much as i am! I love hearing from you after you've read it! Love always, Steph xx

Part 6 | parte sesta

warnings; a couple of tugs on the heartstrings (in both the best and worst ways)

word count; 2301

writing tools; third person until dashed line, first person thereafter.

next update; Friday 06/08 5pm AEST. Updates are three times/week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday)!

Tags (as requested by users); @footballffbarbiex @obsesseds-world @abysshaven

link to fic masterlist here

Amelia had been back in Turin for a week or so, settling back into her city apartment had been more difficult than she anticipated as she was now alone for the first time in more than 2.5 months. It wasn’t very often, but sometimes she did miss the companionship of having a boyfriend. She missed someone to have breakfast with, to watch movies under the covers, to bring to official events. She still did all of these things, with a date, that was a friend, that sometimes maybe crept beyond the friendship zone and into the we shouldn’t be doing this but it feels so good zone.

Fede was someone that hung around Amelia like a fly to sugar. She enjoyed the attention most of the time. She appreciated his friendship, wisdom, talent and intellect. He could hold a conversation, talk to her about the arts, sell her the dream. She even didn’t mind it when they did cross that line a few times. Long afternoons and even longer nights spent wrapped up together in his bed sheets, her bathtub, his kitchen, her lounge room...you get the point. It was almost as though the two were in a committed relationship - committed being the operable word.

Fede wanted Amelia all to himself, and she was just that - available to him and for him whenever he wished, which was often. That’s what confused Amelia most, he didn’t want to label their situationship. He was happy to be ‘friends’ outside the four walls of their respective homes, but lovers when the curtains were drawn. She would maybe understand if he was elusive, always going out and on his phone but he wasn’t. He spent all of his time with her, there wouldn't have been enough hours left in the day if he separated those he spent with her from those he spent alone.

The Juventus players noticed this behaviour early on, seeing a noticeable difference in the way their number 33 paid attention to their tactical sessions. How he was turning up to the training centre early, with an extra piccolo for the english member of their coaching staff. Federico claimed he was helping Amelia brush up on her Italian, but having an Italian-born mother who insisted on sharing her culture with her kids, meant she was pretty much fluent in the language before arriving in Turin. His teammates weren’t stupid and neither was she.

This was the one area of her life where Amelia felt comfortable to go with the flow, she didn’t need to prepare or overthink anything to do with the charming Italian boy from Firenze. She let him take it at his own pace, she was in no need to rush. She let him take her home to meet his Nonna, she spent quality alone time with his dogs when he’s running late from training, and that’s a rare occasion being that it’s normally her there after him and he hangs back to drive them both home.

Everything was progressing at his pace, and the moment Amelia just asks for some clarification on the situation, he would get visibly stressed. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too. And for a long time he could, he had Amelia's attention and affection at Juve, he even had it during their european campaign. At the end of the tournament, when they all broke up for their summer breaks, Fede conveniently waited until their final round in the shower, if you know what i mean, before pulling her into bed and having a heart to heart with her.

Amelia thought that she was finally getting the clarification that she was after, which in a way she did. Fede spoke whimsical words about how she makes him feel wanted and understood, and in turn he told her about the affects he knew he had on her. It was a conversation that would turn Shakespeare to a pile of rose petals. In the end, he told her that he wanted to continue what they had just how they had been doing it. And so, that's exactly how they left it. No labels. Friends outside of the four walls of their apartments. That was all Amelia needed to be able to enjoy her family holiday in Mykonos, guilt free, not missing the man that became the equivalent of her shadow.

The constant company she had in Mykonos compared to what she was experiencing in Turin made her more eager to return to work than she had previously. Of course, there are group chats and facetimes and phone calls throughout the days that kept her occupied, but she was missing the boys and her brother. Her friendship with Kyle was back to its old ways, memes being shared across the european continent, long phone calls to talk about their problems. Kyle knew all about the Fede x Amelia situation, Amelia having given him the sparknotes version over a wine filled zoom session one evening that same week. Their pre-seasons hadn’t gone back yet so they were able to indulge in a bit of vino, guilt free.

She was surprised about the constant contact, or lack thereof, that some of the boys had maintained with her. Ben Chilwell hadn’t once messaged or instagrammed the girl, despite being active in their group chats and liking her holiday pictures on instagram. He even made the rookie error of liking a picture so far down on her instagram, there was no way to explain his need for being there. She messaged him a couple times, assuming he just got busy with whatever he was doing, but there was radio silence on the other end.

A friendship she was surprised had blossomed so well, considering their flirtatious start to life, was with that of Jack Grealish and Tyrone Mings. There had been more facetimes than she could count between herself and the two villa boys. Whether it was Tyrone telling her about a book he had finished that he thought she would enjoy, or Jack asking her how to cook dinner, maybe even them both cooking dinner together - of course she had to have a later dinner to be able to do so, with the time difference and all...and there was no way Jack was going to be having dinner an hour early “athlete’s schedule an all tha ya’know” he would smirk down the camera, brummie accent on full display.

She met Tyrone through Jack, he facetimed the girl for outfit advice one night before going out with the tall defender and the pair hit it off. Both giving Jack the fashion advice he needed but didn’t want to hear (a Gucci two piece tracksuit set is never the answer). Tyrone immediately noticed a certain attention to detail being applied by his fellow number 10, to the tactics that were being put forward by the girl that was far too good at her job. His training was improving, his set pieces having a certain amount of flare. There was also a lack of attention being paid from Jack to other girls. Instead, much preferring to spend the evening at home watching the same netflix series as Amelia so that he could discuss it with her the next day, or better yet, at the same time.

As pre-season had commenced, Amelia had been applying the same tactics that she developed (and that obviously worked) throughout the European campaign to her Juventus club level. Having faith in the four men that were with her and the Azzurri to ensure that their other teammates were completing them accurately. It appears that her skill was widely recognised, having a few missed calls and voice messages left from English telephone numbers that she was yet to listen to. In all seriousness, she was nervous to listen to them. Worried that they would make her an offer she couldn’t refuse. A wise person once told her that you shouldn’t make any decisions whilst you're at the top of your happy, or the bottom of your sad. You should make important decisions when your life is at its constant. It's very easy to accept things that you wouldn’t normally when you're at the peak of your mood, just as easy as it is to forget the bigger picture when you're down. Who knew Kyle Walker was so wise.

“So, i’ve got a bit of a dilemma” She spoke down to her facetime camera one evening in early August.

“Hit me with it darlin’” Jack spoke back to her, getting his dinner utensils out so that they could cook together again. He didn’t like not being prepared for her tutorial, he got stressed if she added pepper and his pepper was still in his pantry. Each afternoon, when it was agreed upon what they would be cooking together that evening, she sent him a list of what he would need out on his bench to complete the meal.

“I’ve missed a few calls from English teleco numbers this last week or so”

“Ok? Do you think they’re scams? You’re beautiful Amelia but I don't think it's actually an Egyptian prince on the other end that wants to offer you 250k in exchange for your paypal info…”

“Ha ha very funny - that was one time ok and he wasn’t a Prince, he was claiming to be an investment banker and wanted to help me start up my portfolio-ANYWAY JACK I WAS 16! God just forget I even told you that story” Amelia barked down facetime, now pausing what she was doing to point at the British boy with her wooden spoon, the same way her mother would to her when she was being cheeky. All she was met with was boisterous laughter.

“Nah i’m only joking, continue with your story.”

“I began to listen to the start of one and it was a talent acquisition manager for one of the premier league clubs, offering me a job” Amelia said as she continued to stir her pasta. Tonight they were making penne arrabiata. She received no reply from the boy. Looking down to her camera to check the call was still active, she saw him looking at the camera with a serious expression.

“Are you going to tell me what the problem is before I start to get excited that you’re going to be living within driving distance from me? Oh god i’ve just realised - was it from Villa? You could be even closer than I imagined” Jack started to ramble, getting over excited with the prospect of being so close to the girl that he could physically hang out with her, instead of virtually.

“Jack calm down, I didn't listen long enough to find out what club he was from. I have 5 more just like it waiting in my inbox.”

“What's the problem then Mils?” Jack could see the girl had apprehension written all over her face.

“I’m just nervous that they're going to tell me everything I've always wanted to hear. That they’re going to make me an offer I can't refuse and I have to leave my life here.” Their pasta was ready to be dished up now, so the girl poured herself a glass of red wine and got herself comfy on her couch.

“Come on, play the messages and i’ll listen to them with you, be your voice of reason,” Jack offered the girl.

“I should probably call Tyrone, you’re just going to reject every club that isn’t Villa.” she laughed before switching facetime to her laptop, moving to the floor of her lounge room and resting her elbows on her coffee table. With the phone near the screen of her mac, she began to play the messages.

_____________________________________________________________

“Hi Amelia, Shaun here from Newcastle United-” “As if you’d waste your talents at Newcastle”

“Jack! That's horrible! At least i know i already look good in the black and white striped kit”

“No, not happening. Next”

“Amelia, Hope you don’t mind but I got your number off of one of my players who knows you. Long story short, we have a position here are Arsenal” “Bloody Bukayo, needs to keep his silky mitts off ya”

“Jack, give it a rest or i’m calling Tyrone”

“Amelia White, Greg here from Aston Villa Football Club” “Get in Greggles!! That's it, stop listening, you’re taking this one”

“I need to listen to them all Jack”

“So, you’ll consider Villa?”

“I’ll consider all of them”

“You’d really go to Arsenal? Aren’t you a Spurs supporter? Shocking stuff”

“Ok maybe not all of them”

“Ciao Amelia, Mario here from Chelsea Football Club - I’ve heard nothing but good things about you. We could really use you here at Chelsea next season. Give me a call when you get a spare moment to discuss the opportunity”

“What? Nothing to say to this one, Jack?”

“Nah, sounds ok. You deserve to showcase your skills at a big club like Chelsea. And besides, you’ll have Jorginho there to look after you. Come on, next one”

“It’s the last one actually”

“Amelia, we’ve got a fantastic opportunity here at Manchester City for someone with your skill set. It would be a massive advantage to have your tactical insight to the game coupled alongside the fantastic leadership we’ve already got at the club”. “Holy shit, Pep called you himself? Kyle Walker really knows how to pull strings when he wants something”

“I am overwhelmed”

“Hey, you don’t need to make any decisions right now. Sleep on it, talk it over with your family. Speak to Jorgi, I know you’re close with him. And just let me know when you decide to pick Villa so i can start house huntin’ for ya”

“Night Jack, speak soon”

“Sleep tight darlin’, speak to ya tomorrow”

Part 7. | settima parte

[catintheruemorgue]

Random azz headcanons!!

warning: suicide on dazai’s part (very last one), swearing

an: in one whole day i’ve been told i may have covid, my wallet got stolen (tho they only took my bank card and id), my car wouldn’t start and i got bad news but honestly this was just a normal day for me!! (i literally have the worst luck it’s almost funny) anyways i thought of stupid social media headcanons.. this is mainly just crack !! :)

•the ADA have game nights and sometimes play among us (rarely because if Ranpo plays he just calls an emergency meeting and calls out the imposter, “Atsushi your leg is shaking..” so it’s only when he’s too sleepy to join.) If Dazai and Kunikida get imposter duo Dazai will accuse Kunikida immediately but not even for the kill he’ll just say he vented in front of him, which then in turn causes kunikida to start yelling that it's him. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBJbyuspGVo) think this clip.

•Ranpo once found Poe’s myspace from when he was 16 and proceeded to almost bust a lung at all the edgy poetry and how he called his followers his “Ravens” The best part though, was the profile picture. As if Ranpo hadn't humiliated him enough he printed it out and framed it on his work desk. Poe just about passed out seeing the very photo that haunted his memories sitting on his rivals desk for everyone to see-- Poe in a black hoodie, hood pulled up with one eye covered. The word “pain” was edited across the photo in gothic, cursive looking font.

•Mark Twain loves the song Breakeven by The Script. (this isnt social media but so fucking important.)

•If it weren't for opposing sides Chuuya and Mark would be best friends. Chuuya loves his adventurous attitude and thinks the guy is just really awesome. They would have sleepovers where they would sing songs like Fuck You by Ceelo Green and Gives You Hell by All-American Rejects. Chuuya always posts them belting the lyrics on his story on snapchat and when people from the Port Mafia slide up and say something along the lines of “uhhh? This is sus..” Chuuya sends back a huge paragraph on how they are just jealous they don't have an amazing best friend like he does, and that they should be careful, he's still their superior.

•Yosano constantly is fighting with racists and bigots on facebook and will always talk to Atsushi about it for hours. He's awkward but thankful that she keeps him informed. She's very good at arguing and will rip apart disrespectful men when given the chance but has a hard time fighting women. When it comes to fighting a woman she will recruit Ranpo to sit over her shoulder and give her advice on what to say. Some of the things will warrant a light smack to the head.

•Mori’s most used app is Turbo Tax and nobody knows why.

•Oda loves to leave long in depth reviews for items he's purchased, he doesn't even try to be funny but sometimes Dazai sends him screenshots saying “Is this your review?”

•Gin, Tachihara and Hirotsu all downloaded Life 360 and have fun tracking where each other are. All of them have labeled the Port Mafia headquarters as “Hell”. Also Tachi and Hirotsu would get so confused when Gin was always with Akutagawa after hours.

•Kouyou has a blog where she helps people solve their issues. She's rarely on it but when she is she's always giving the best advice. She also reviews soaps and oils.

•Fitzgerald got doxxed and freaked out because he didn't know that was a thing. He immediately replied with “How do you know that ?” Not knowing there could be consequences for bullying for kids online.

•Atsushi accidentally joined a pyramid scheme but when he tried to sell Yosano something she was there, again, to inform him that it was an MLM. “No Atsushi-kun, that one's not good either.” Much better than Tanazaki who didn't know any better (and bought so much stuff) or Dazai who just thought it was funny.

•Poe has a snapchat but has left people on delivered for weeks to months at a time. The only person he actually responds to is Ranpo, but even then sometimes he leaves him on read (very rarely).

•Fyodor always starts his posts with, “unpopular opinion but..” and if he doesn't like someone's statement he’ll end whatever he has to say with, “Spit.” With an eye rolling emoji.

•One time Akutagawa made a bare ass instagram just to dm Atsushi, “I will get you.” The tiger boy just added Dazai to the chat who, for the hell of it, added Chuuya and proceeded to cuss them both out. Not surprisingly Atsushi had to beg Dazai and Chuuya to block one another while ignoring Akutagawa’s threats.

•Dazai is only famous on twitter because his suicidal tweets are “relatable” and because he’s attractive. He actually secretly gets super pissed because he doesn’t think his pain is “relatable” but will tease people with remarks like, “Make way, celebrity coming through!” when he shows up late for work.

[faraway-in-headspace]

I?? I searched Chicken Choice Judy on google out of curiosity because it sounds oddly familiar like there’s a similar-sounding name and I found 4 websites selling the shirt design. But the descriptions on these pages are BUCK WILD??

Written version of the descriptions under the cut (very long).

[Begin ID

First image states:  Long ago, when I had hair, I was an undergrad living in a house with nine other men. Near as I can tell, three of them (not sure which three) never bought food, just lived off what they stole from the Chicken Choice Judy shirt But I will love this other seven. We had several house meetings about it, but nothing changed. One day, I came in from grocery shopping. By coincidence, all 10 of us were in the kitchen. I started putting my stuff away. 1st thing I pulled out of the bag was my half-gallon of milk. I opened the carton, took a couple of drinks from the carton, then gargled some of it, and spit it back in. I opened my tub of margarine and licked the whole surface. By now, the room chatter had stopped because the other nine jaws had dropped open.) To your original question, those specific topics would take several years to build, as they depend on several layers of pre-requisites, which would require either that more advanced topics such as algebraic topology to be taught in elementary school, or that the buildup process happened blazingly fast during high school – both of which probably stretch the biological limits of what pre-teens and teenagers can reasonably be expected to accomplish. I spit on all my veggies, took the bread out of the package, and licked and spit on it, then carefully put it all back in the plastic bag. Remind teenage daughters to look through them before going on date with the boyfriend, in case they want to use one. I labeled it all and put it away. None of it was stolen. I never said a word, but I made it a point to repeat the performance anytime anyone was around to see it. Others began to emulate my approach and food theft stopped. Even I found it revolting, but it solved the problem. Works even better if you are sick or can at least make your thieving roommates think you are. While some cities are starting to reopen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the country are continuing to wear masks in public and practice social distancing. Vogue is committed to staying safe, and offering hopeful, optimistic content that highlights moments of camaraderie and exceptional acts of heroism from around the world. We are all looking for a little comfort too—be it a soothing Instagram account or a stylish creator on TikTok. It reminds us of the power of little things.

Second image states:  A couple of guests informed me my office was too minimalist and that they expected more things to be hanging on my wall the Chicken Choice Judy shirt besides I will buy this next time they visited my wife’s and my home. I kinda hope they held their breath while they were waiting for our next invitation. They both went on to backstab me and my wife pretty bad a few years later. Another set of guests tried to squat. I had driven them all the way from Florida to Massachusetts under the impression that they had jobs and a place to live lined up. They offered no money for gas, hotels on the three-day trip, or compensation for the inconvenience and effort. He even tried to weasel out of the dinner he offered as a thank you by forgetting his wallet. The dude got me off the streets years ago and I wanted to pay him back in some way, but my wife and I were in no position to have extra residents in our home. We just don’t have the room or money. I made all of this VERY clear and told my old buddy that we could only house them for a couple of days max. There are MANY other details, but the disrespectful thing my former friend said was wordless. As I was kicking them out and they were angrily loading stuff into my car to bring them anywhere but here, my buddy left his gigantic knife right in the center of my wife’s desk. Like that was supposed to make us change our minds and let them stay? In the days of dial-up, I had a family call and not be able to get through because we were online. They decided to show up unannounced. They literally caught me in my underwear as they were let into the apartment before I could even react to being rudely surprised. Some of my family members have a history of abuse, violence, and stalking, something at least one of the visitors, my mother, was quite aware of since she lived through it with me. Her tagalong friend decided to put in her two cents and tell me I should get a call waiting or a second line because they were trying to call me. That did it! I suddenly forgot I was just wearing underwear and angrily asked my mother’s friend if she was paying my phone bill. My mother-in-law, stepfather and mom’s friend beat a hasty retreat and NEVER did the pop-in ever again.

Third image states:  That was why when we did get to reality shows, Etro and then Dolce & Gabbana plus Jacquemus later in France, it was wonderful. Clothes are all about contact: As a wearer, you feel them on your skin, and as a watcher, you process them with your eye. The watching part can be done secondhand, but the Chicken Choice Judy shirt in contrast I will get this impact will always be second to the real thing. I read some commentators in the U.S. saying, “Too soon” or “Wear a damn mask!” which I always did, but these opinions while valid enough lack perspective. Milan and its surrounding region Lombardy went through what New York did but earlier. Through sagacious governmental management much more effective than that of the U.S., Italy has managed dramatically to flatten the curve across the rest of its territory. These shows just like the reopening of flights, stores, factories, and restaurants were symptomatic of recovery that, far from being taken for granted, is being tended to with vigilance and cherished with gratitude. The digital Fashion Weeks were better than no Fashion Weeks at all, but as an upgrade on the real thing? Nah. Like everyone, I missed the shows in the experiential sense this season. But for the first time since I began covering the collections several years ago, I didn’t miss a single brand or designer’s contribution to Paris Fashion Week. Which is to say, thanks to the Fédération’s online platform, I was able to watch every name on the haute couture and men’s calendars. This brand on-demand convenience not to mention being spared the logistical headaches of zigzagging across the city was pretty great. Also, everything was on time, from the films to the manner in which we filed our reviews. While efficiency can be satisfying, it’s not necessarily exciting. Ultimately, we had to accept that the focus this season wasn’t going to be the clothes but rather the brands conveying some combination of identity, process, and values. And in the absence of standardized criteria as in, showing a minimum number of looks, specifying a time range, it was interesting to observe how heterogeneous these experiments proved to be quasi–ad campaigns versus short films, conceptual or fantastical visions versus raw and documentary style. A proper kimono takes nearly an hour to put on – I’m sure most Japanese girls would much rather spend a few seconds and slip on a dress. Get survey responses from targeted consumers today.

Fourth image states:  Around a decade ago, not long after he started his own label, Massimo Alba made a great mistake. A batch of shirts and T-shirts he was working on that had already been garment-dyed one color were mistakenly exposed to another. Speaking at his showroom presentation this weekend, Alba said: “It’s very interesting to me that so many good things start out as mistakes like this.” That accident was to Alba what the Chicken Choice Judy shirt moreover I will buy this mold-infected petri dish was to Alexander Fleming: a stumbled-upon eureka that led to a career-defining course of the investigation. This collection featured a series of softly tailored jackets, corduroy pants, and shorts, plus light cashmere sweaters that were hand-overdyed two, and sometimes three colors. It’s a process that led to variations in tone that included acid-trip floods of purple on purple to subtle bleeding of magenta across mustard yellow. Like most of Alba’s garments, these dyed pieces appeared at first glance conventionally prosaic. The more attention you gave them, however, the more their exceptional qualities became evident. Take a pale blue jacket, for instance, which at that first glance seemed passingly related to a surgeon’s scrubs. To the hand it was light and almost textureless in its softness: The fabric was a cotton mousseline developed for Alba by Albini. Long-sleeved, in a delicately mottled finish of washed-out sky blue, it made for an ideal mid-summer shake in pink, sleeveless, it was an impactful shirting second skin. Other interesting developments this season included a cotton pant named the Myles with acutely kinking stitched gather at knee-level on both legs and another handsome pant, baggy in white poplin, with patch pockets. A blue tropical weight jacket named the Lenny, after Bernstein, was Alba’s interpretation of a bohemian creative’s ideal piece of workwear. Collarless shirts in ripstop linen and button-up short-sleeves in terry were further finely effective coups de théâtre. Alba is a self-deprecating yet dangerous designer: Try just one carefully chosen piece and that’s it, you’re spoiled for good because nobody else quite compares. The museum in Prague where this portrait is held describes the ring on her first finger as the ring given to her at her wedding. It’s not comfortable. Maybe a lot of girls think that a see-through blouse can attract the attention of boys or they think that it will make her look much smarter. Meghan has no dress sense: no knowledge of fabrics, fit, styles that flatter, proper tailoring, Her father raised her in L.A. Enough said. Her idea of dressing for an event is “dress up” like a little girl dressing up as a princess. Shiny! Tight! Celebrity “fashion” not elegant, just flashy.

/end ID]

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

Hi Ralph! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Harry, and the way he interacts with the world. There was the guardian interview and his weird statement about dilution (which I agree with your thoughts on so I won’t harp on about here). In the vein of weird interview comments Harry has made in interviews, one I also think about a lot came out in 2017-ish after Miley Cyrus came out. I can’t remember the exact quote, but I do remember the interviewer asked him, basically, what he thought of Miley’s coming out, and if he felt like he as a person in the public eye had any duty to publicly declare his sexuality too, knowing what it would mean to a lot of his fans who are struggling with their own sexualities, and Harry said “I think that’s a weird thing to expect of someone else, and everyone should just be who they want to be.” I don’t necessarily disagree with the content of his comment - you don’t owe anything to anybody when it comes to your sexuality - but I feel a little weird about the message behind the comment which I took to be “just let me sing and make music and stop asking me for anything else.” I think a large part of the reason I extrapolated that from his comment (and I do realize I was reading into it) has been his general reluctance over the years to get involved with any sort of political movement. The only two real exception I can think of are (1) LGBTQ rights kind of, although to be honest some of this seems performative to me, and (2) his weird and sort of short lived foray into BLM with the march he joined and his Instagram post. That, combined with his decision to move forward with his tour and the general outrage and feeling that Harry is “disconnected” from his fans, that he is “money hungry” that he is “using his fans” etc. has had me thinking. I disagree with the discourse vilifying Harry for his tour decision, and I think a lot of it is that people are angry and scared and frustrated (for valid reasons) but they are equating their rightful feelings of frustration with the situation to mean Harry failed them on a personal level, which I don’t think is true or fair. But I do think Harry is a celebrity who seems generally out of touch with what the rest of the world goes through, and worse he doesn’t actually seem to care. I feel like he withdrew so much after 1D days, and in general I do applaud that decision - I imagine he was dealing with a lot of trauma, and a retreat to as much of a private life as he could manage was probably well called for to protect his mental health. But his withdrawal has continued, and we only really see him when he has something to promote. We don’t get anything at all from him expect his music and now his movies. I don’t want this to come across as me yelling “Harry tell me about your personal life!!!” Because it’s not. I believe he should have complete privacy in that realm, if that’s what he wants. But to me, Harry cutting so much of himself off from the world has made him feel incredibly shallow and disconnected from his fan base, except when he has something to sell. And I do wholeheartedly think when you’re in the position of massive privilege that Harry is, you have a duty to be a well educated, well informed, active participant in your communities, and to throw your weight around for good. On the one hand, I do want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He came into this life he has now at 16, after leading a childhood that seemed to be fairly untouched by any real hardships. He has lived a life that is largely insulated from the way the rest of the world lives. On the other hand, he has the ability to educate himself, and not having those lived experiences personally doesn’t, I think, excuse him from learning about them and working to help who and where he can. I don’t think I really have a question here, I guess I’m just interested in your thoughts. I value your input, and your answers always push me to think about things in ways I hadn’t before. This has been taking up a lot of my mental space, and I’m curious if you’ve thought about it any.

Oh anon - there's a lot here and I'll try to untangle some of my reactions.

First of all - leaving outside the politics of all of this - I think there is part of Harry, both artistically and how he presents himself as a celebrity, which is very good at suggesting things, and leaving space for possibilities. And I think, at least at this stage, there isn't necessarily a solid core in there if you push. And that's OK, it has a lot of value artistically - blank space is pretty core to any design. But by the same token, it's OK if you want more. If you're dissatisfied with Harry you don't need to be fair for him - you can just think 'I want something you're not offering at the moment'.

But obviously I'm me so I can't leave the politics aside for long. I want to start with the interview - because context is important - that interview was Dan Wotton and the fucking Sun. Here is what was printed, which I think is a little different from what you remembered:

I ask Harry about sexuality in pop, a topic in the headlines after MILEY CYRUS spoke openly about her pansexuality. What’s his take?

He says: “Being in a creative field, it’s important to be ­progressive. People doing stuff like that is great.

“It’s weird for me — everyone should just be who they want to be. It’s tough to justify somebody having to answer to someone else about stuff like that.”

So has Harry personally labelled his sexuality?

He replies: “No, I’ve never felt the need to really. No.”

Would he like to elaborate? “I don’t feel like it’s something I’ve ever felt like I have to explain about myself.”

I want to be clear that everything Dan Wotton was doing here was wrong, from existing to obviously trying to push Harry out. And while Harry was also wrong to be doing an interview with the Sun, he did a really good job of not saying anything he didn't want to say in difficult circumstances.

I want to make it absolutely clear that I'm with Harry. It is tough to justify somebody having to answer to other people about their sexuality. I mean particularly when that person is Dan Wotton working for the fucking Sun.

But in general I don't think there's anything wrong with Harry saying implicitly and explicitly 'Just let me sing and don't ask me for anything else'. More than that I reject the whole premise. In the questions you imagined Dan Wotton asking, you set up the idea that the only way a queer artists could speak to queer fans is by coming out. And I think it's important to push back at that at every opportunity. I've said it before, but that I identify more with Louis reciting the women he's pretending to be attracted to by rote, much more than I ever have with anyone waving a rainbow flag. I reject every part of the premise of 'you coming out would mean a lot to people and somehow that is your problem'.

Throughout what you've written me, you emphasise a belief that celebrities should be active politically - and I really want to push back and ask why? What good does that expectation do you or the world? I think the last thing this world needs is more commentary from people with large microphones and without knowledge or a perspective. The world isn't made better if celebrities feel oblige to talk about politics. And your experience

You seem to think of politics like charity - as something you do for other people out of a sense of obligation. I would argue that very little useful politics has ever been done under that model. Instead I would argue a model of politics based on solidarity: 'If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.' (Aboriginal Activist, 1970s).

I think this is what makes the English football team so powerful. Marcus Rashford is fighting for school lunches, because he knows what it's like to be hungry. They're taking the knee, because they have experienced racism, or are expressing solidarity with teammates who have experienced racism. I think Jordan Henderson believes that his world and life would be better if queer fans could be themselves at a football match.

Harry has said in so many ways that he hasn't figured out to relate politically, and he doesn't have anything more to say. That might change, but in the meantime, believe him.

Last off I want to point that you seem to be drawing a parallel between him being disconnected with his fans and not interacting politically and I don't think there is any connection at all. You said:

But to me, Harry cutting so much of himself off from the world has made him feel incredibly shallow and disconnected from his fan base, except when he has something to sell. And I do wholeheartedly think when you’re in the position of massive privilege that Harry is, you have a duty to be a well educated, well informed, active participant in your communities, and to throw your weight around for good.

There is no connection between these two points - none. I also don't think there's anything wrong with being cut off from your fan base, or silent on politics. But they're also independent (I mean look at Shawn Mendes at the period of his career when he wouldn't turn anyone down a selfie. He wasn't at all active in politics then).

I don't think there's anything wrong with valuing an artist being out, politically active, or connected with their fan base. But there are plenty of artists who are out (Lil Nas X, Olly Alexander, and I'll give a shout out to Grace Petrie) and there are plenty of artists who are politically active (Jade Thirwell, Dua Lipa, Stormzy). I'm sure there are also lots of artists who connect with their fan base (although I don't track that personally). If that's what you want, find artists that meet those needs. Rather than choosing an artists who offers something else entirely and having expectations they will never meet.

[whenihaveyouromione]

When I Have You - Chapter 26

Read on Fanfiction.net or ao3 if you’d prefer!

Follow this story’s Instagram account whenihaveyou.romione if you’d like.

------------------

Chapter 26

The clock had barely reached five minutes past five when Ron heard the front door to the flat open. A moment later, Hermione entered, shrugging off her Ministry robes. She disappeared into the bedroom briefly without even looking at him, and when she returned she was wearing a t-shirt and plain pants, and her hair was hanging down at her shoulders after having been tied up all day. 

She busied herself for a few more moments, using her wand to sort through the bag she always took to work. Out came a coat, some quills and an empty container that had — that morning — contained her lunch. She did all this without saying a word. 

It was only when the kitchen was in the sink to be washed and her bag was hanging perfectly on the hook by the door did she look over at Ron and smile. She looked happy, relaxed, but there was also wariness in her expression.

He returned the smile, though it didn’t reach completely to the corners of his mouth either. 

This had been their life for weeks now — tentative looks, incomplete smiles and a whole lot of uncertainty about where the other stood. Ron had once been able to easily ascertain what she was thinking. He’d have a fairly good idea about how she was feeling and always seemed to know just what she needed. But these days… things had changed. 

They had both been trying to fix their relationship, and for the most part, it was working. Hermione had been leaving work on time and getting home when she was supposed to, while Ron had been trying to not let what had happened get to him so much, trying to be more understanding of what she needed to do. But it was moments like these — when they’d not seen each other for most of the day — that were still a challenge. It was uncomfortable and a little awkward, because it was obvious to the other what was on their mind. Until now, everything about them had been a natural progression. Now, parts just seemed forced. They smiled, they welcomed each other, yet the knowledge that there was still a problem that needed to be fixed lingered.

They were getting there, and a lot of the time, it was good. It was just sometimes where it still wasn’t.

“Hey,” Hermione said, coming into the kitchen and standing on her tiptoes to kiss Ron. He returned it, relishing in the feeling of her lips against his. They’d been doing this more in recent days. Kissing, hugging, touching each other again. It felt better than Ron would ever admit out loud, but he was fairly certain she enjoyed it, too. After all, she was usually the one to initiate it. 

“Hey,” he replied. “How was your day?” Her eyes drifted to the stove in the kitchen where a pot was bubbling on top.

Ron had come home five minutes before her and he’d started dinner. This was a common occurrence. He got home just that little bit earlier, so therefore he started. It only seemed fair, even if neither of them had ever discussed it. Usually, she’d help and they would cook together, but today, Hermione sat at the table instead.

“It was really good,” she said, nodding. “We got so much done today. So many new policies and things written down. The drafts, of course. We aren’t really up to having a published law yet. But everyone is on board with the ideas I’ve been suggesting. It’s great. After Kingsley asked us to start thinking about stuff, all I can do is think about how many things I want to present to him for the rights of magical creatures. Their skills are so undervalued and underappreciated and it’s just not fair.”

Despite himself, Ron smiled. He loved how she spoke with so much passion about what she did, and the way her eyes lit up when she told him all about her day was something he’d always envisioned after work. Then sitting down to a nice meal, talking about their day and all the exciting things they did. He loved that she was so passionate about her work, and he liked that she was so good at what she did, too. He’d always admired that trait in her, and he wished that this had been them the whole time. He would much rather her come home to him and tell him about what she did than not come home at all.

The fact that she did that now was the best thing he ever could have asked for.  

“That’s great,” he said, peering into the saucepan. The sauce was bubbling along nicely, the spoon charmed to stir once every three minutes.

“How was your day?” Hermione asked. “I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you for lunch today. They gave me a later one than usual and —”

“My day was the same as any other,” Ron said, cutting her off before she gave him a spiel about her work roster. Ever since he’d told her he would like to have lunch with her at least once a week, she’d taken to giving him reasons as to why she couldn’t when she was unable to make it. Despite him telling her over and over again that he understood it was beyond her control most of the time, she still seemed to feel guilty whenever their schedules didn’t line up.  

Sometimes, Ron wished he’d never said anything to begin with. Her obliviousness to the situation sometimes seemed better than her fretting over something they both knew she had no control over.

“Mostly theory with a little practical at the end of the day,” he continued. “Tomorrow’s all practical.”

“What was the topic today?” Hermione asked curiously, sounding genuinely interested in what he was doing in Auror training. He enjoyed telling her about all the amazing things he’d learnt as much as he loved listening to all of her daily successes. 

“Continuing on from yesterday,” he said. “Identifying Dark magic where it isn’t obvious. I think I’m alright at it now. Harry seems to have an innate ability to spot it where the rest of us can’t, but is that surprising?”

“Not really,” Hermione said. “I guess not.” She thought for a moment then smiled up at him. “But I’m sure you’re amazing at it, too. Don’t sell yourself short.” 

Ron shrugged. “There’s some things I manage easier than Harry. This is just his area of expertise. We’d probably make a good team when we’re qualified.”

“Of course!” Hermione said brightly. “Ron, have I ever told you how I know you’re going to make an amazing Auror one day? I haven’t even seen you do anything, but you’re so… this job is right for you. You bring so much to the profession.”

Ron didn’t say anything. He checked the sauce again and turned down the stove. Eventually, he turned back to her and said, “That day seems so far away, though, doesn’t it? Who knew three years could feel so long when you’re really looking forward to something?”

“It’ll come eventually,” Hermione assured him. “And you’ll be one of the best Aurors the Ministry has ever seen. I know it.”

Ron snorted. “Maybe.”

“You will.”

Ron shrugged. That was what he wanted to be, and if truth be told, he really was one of the better trainees (along with Harry) but he didn’t want to label himself as one of the best ever. That felt like a lot of pressure. He just wanted to be a good Auror.

He Summoned some plates onto the kitchen bench. He then pulled out two glasses. “Drink?” he asked Hermione.

“Just water,” Hermione said. “I don’t think I had enough of it today.”

“That busy, huh?” Ron said, refraining from reminding her once again that looking after herself was more important than completing her work. She’d heard it enough. Telling her would only bring tension to what was becoming one of the easiest conversations they’d had in weeks. Besides, it was small steps with her. At least she was remembering to eat every day — even if it wasn’t always with Ron. 

“Just a lot of discussions,” Hermione assured him. “Sometimes my mind just gets away from me…”

“Sometimes?” Ron laughed.

She blushed. 

“It’s alright,” Ron said. “Lucky you have me to help you remember.” He placed the glass of water in front of her and then ran his hand along her back comfortingly. He really did miss their closeness, and tonight seemed like the perfect time to start initiating contact with her again. 

She smiled at his touch, even if she tried not to show it by drinking her water. 

Smiling himself, he turned to go back to preparing dinner, but he was stalled by Hermione grabbing his hand. Soft, warm skin on his that sent shivers all the way around his body. Merlin… he’d definitely not felt that in weeks. 

“Ron…” Hermione shifted in her chair, suddenly looking uncomfortable and completely unaware of the sudden effect she was having on him with her hand in his. 

“Yeah?” he said. 

More hesitation. She averted his gaze for a moment before returning it to him. He’d never seen her so uncertain in her life. She was always so sure of herself, so confident in having an answer for everything. It was disconcerting seeing her struggle with handling their relationship. She seemed clueless at times, like nothing in the Hogwarts library had the information she needed, or the words to express. 

“We’re okay now, aren’t we?” she said softly. “I mean… I know it’s not perfect, and I know we still have things to work on, but… it’s okay, isn’t it? What we’re doing now? How things are progressing forward?”

There was a thumping in Ron’s chest that had not been present before now. He didn’t even need a moment to give his answer. “We’re okay,” he said. “Things are going well, if you ask me.” He withdrew his hand from hers and grinned. “You just touched me and I kind of wanted to take you to bed.”

She smiled. “You can if you want.”

“I’m cooking.”

She smiled again, his words seeming to have some kind of effect on her worries. “I’ve been really trying, Ron.”

“Me too,” Ron said. 

“And it’s working?”

“Is what I’m doing working for you?”

“It never stopped working for me. Ron…” And now she blushed a deep red in a very un-Hermione-like fashion. “You have always made me feel so many things all at once. You’re the one thing in my life that is not logical, that doesn’t always make sense, but also the one thing that I never want to leave it. I love you so, so much, and I hate what’s happened to us. I hate that I never saw it, and I hate that it’s my fault.”

Ron sat down in the chair opposite her, taking her hand again. It was so soft, so gentle, and he didn’t want to let her go ever again. “It’s both of our faults,” he assured her. “We’re both sort of to blame. I got myself into this with you, knowing what you’re like. You… well, you got yourself into this too, knowing what I was like. We both just failed to remember.” He smiled back at her, giving her hand a squeeze. “We’ll be alright,” he promised her. “I can’t imagine spending another day without you. Even when we’re old, decrepit things, it’ll be fine because I’ll have you.” 

“It’s just not like it used to be,” Hermione said softly.

“We were far too dependent on one another before anyway,” Ron said. “We can make it better. It might just take more time.”

Hermione visibly relaxed and Ron brought her hand to his lips. 

Although he knew that it wasn’t, in that moment things almost felt normal again. The two of them sitting at the table, holding hands and talking. This was how it had once been and this was how it was supposed to be all the time. 

Things hadn’t been right for so long, but this felt right again all of a sudden — as if a weight had been lifted from both of them by the simple question of are we okay?

Of course they were okay, because they were both making the effort. They both wanted to be okay. 

They looked at each other, smiling together, and Ron sensing the sudden joy, not just in himself, but in her, too. They loved each other so damn much and for the first time ever, Ron realised that she loved him just as much as he loved her. She just had a different way of expressing her love than he did. 

And as he realised this, his own love for her — something he’d been too afraid to unleash lest he be hurt again — burst from its hiding place, nearly knocking him backwards by the sudden impact. He jumped as such intense feelings flooded him once again, overpowering all of his senses. She was so beautiful, and he could smell her perfume, see her smile, see everything he’d always loved about her. She was… perfect the way she was. 

These feelings, this love, had him jumping to his feet, dragging her up with him. Her eyes… they were so beautiful, so happy to be with him. 

“Ron —” Hermione began, seeming to sense the intense moment that had come on, but she was cut off by Ron cupping her face and kissing her hard on the mouth. A kiss hadn’t felt so good in… well… a very long time. Maybe when they’d first kissed, in the middle of a war, it had been this good. But in a way, this was even better, because it wasn’t a kiss that either of them thought might be their last. 

She responded for a moment, kissing him back with as much force, but then she pulled away, looking up at him.  “Ron,” she breathed. She looked pleased and flustered and delighted all at once. 

He held her for a few moments longer, enjoying the feeling of having her — properly — in his arms again. He wanted to hold her forever and never let her go — never think about letting her go. But that was impossible, he knew, especially now because — 

He swore. 

“What?” Hermione asked. 

Ron let her go as abruptly as he’d grabbed her and hurried back into the kitchen. He peered into the saucepan he’d momentarily forgotten about. The sauce had burnt at the bottom. 

He looked back to Hermione and smirked ever so slightly. “I blame you,” he said.

She frowned.

“I burnt dinner because I was distracted.”

Hermione flushed, another smile creeping up to her lips. And then she laughed, and the sound of her laugh was sweet to Ron’s ears. There hadn’t been much laughter here recently, and it filled him with so much love for her — so much happiness. 

“I wasn’t really hungry, anyway,” she said a moment later.

Ron stared down at the burnt pot and Vanished it with his wand. “You know what?” he said. “Neither am I.” He took the few steps to reach her and embraced her once more. This time, she didn’t pull away, but encouraged him to keep kissing her. 

This was how it was supposed to be. This was how he wanted it to be. All the time. 

They were going to be okay. Even if it took them as many more weeks, they were going to be okay in the end.

They just had to keep having evenings like these. 

[pccrunfortunatesouls]

|| Get to know SEBASTIAN “SKIP SPARKYPANTS” SEGURA who’s TWENTY-TWO years old and works as a POPSTAR in town. He is from NEW JERSEY and is often times mistaken for DIEGO TINOCO while others say he reminds them of SKIP SPARKYPANTS from THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS. ||

Skip has been an attention seeker for as long as he can remember. Being the middle of five children, he was always the forgotten child and he felt like he had to work really hard to be noticed. He was always the king of running into the room shouting “hey mom, look at this!” and showing her a flip or a new dance moved he learned. And she always came back with a half-hearted “that’s nice sweetie”, only half watching and never giving the enthusiasm that Skip was looking for. It only pushed him to be louder and more obnoxious in his quest for getting attention.

He was always the kid in class that was getting in trouble for causing a disruption. You know the one I’m talking about. Since he wasn’t getting the attention he wanted at home, he decided he would get it from his classmates instead. He started out by making little jokes in class, usually at the teacher’s expense, that would make whoever was sitting next to him laugh. Then he started escalating it to physical comedy, one time disrupting the class for a whole twenty minutes because he thought it would be funny to stick his head through the hole in the back of the classroom chair and it got stuck. Even if people were laughing at him, he was getting attention the attention he wanted and he was starting to get addicted to it.

The first time he ever got attention from his peers where people were cheering him along rather than laughing at him was when he performed at the ninth grade talent show. He got up on stage and performed Shiny Teeth and Me, and the crowed absolutely loved it. Everyone was screaming and clapping, asking him to perform another song, and afterwards lots of people came up to him telling him how great he was. That’s how he got the idea to start his YouTube channel.

His YouTube channel was slow going at first, uploading a Chip Skylark cover every month or so and getting a couple thousand views. He was happy with even that, thinking that he was really doing something here. But over time his number of followers started to grow until he was uploading a cover at least once a week to appease the hundreds of thousands of people that were tuning in. And much to his surprise, almost all of the comments were good. People were loving him. For the first time ever, Skip was thinking he might try to make music his career and even had plans to apply to NYU for performing arts when he graduated high school. And then one day when he was eighteen, Chip tweeted out some fan covers, Skip’s cover of Icky Vicky among them, and his whole life changed.

Overnight, Skip’s video had over a million views and he could hardly believe what was happening. Chip Skylark noticing him would have been enough for him, because as much as he didn’t talk about it, Chip was his absolute idol. Watching a latino pop star get such commercial success meant everything to him, and Skip wanted nothing more than to be just like him. He even brushed his teeth religiously, just so if he ever met Chip the man would be impressed with his own shiny teeth. He was obsessed. And now here Chip is, being the absolute angel that he is and kickstarting Skip’s career, because only a week after Chip tweeted his cover, Skip got a call from a talent scout.

The talent scout made all sorts of big promises to Skip about how he was going to be the biggest international pop star in the world, even bigger than Chip, and he jumped at it without a second thought. He didn’t even consult his parents or take the time to thoroughly read the entire contract; he just withdrew his acceptance from NYU, signed the contract, and was ready to get into the studio. Skip was born to be a star, and finally other people were realizing it. Everything he wanted was coming true.

It wasn’t long before Skip learned that he probably should have read the fine print of his contract, because his record label practically owned him. Skip didn’t have any creative say in any of the music he was making, didn’t even have any say on the outfits he was wearing. Which is exactly how he became Skip Sparkypants. One day while he was in a fitting for his first show, a rep from the label came in with the ugliest pair of sparkly red pants that Skip had ever seen in his life. He was no stranger to wearing ridiculous clothes, doing it all the time when he was in high school to get attention from the girls he liked, but he had really thought this was going to be a time to reinvent himself. To go on stage looking cool. He tried to protest, told his manager that under no circumstances would he go on that stage looking like a disco ball, but he quickly learned that he had no say, that this was going to be his thing. It was his way of competing with Chip Skylark. Chip had his shiny teeth, and apparently Skip had his sparkly pants.

While he was originally deeply upset about his lack of creative control, as soon as Skip got his first taste of fame he didn’t care anymore. It turns out that his fans really loved the sparkly pants, so what was he protesting for? It wasn’t long before the fame was completely starting to get to Skip’s head. He’d never received this kind of attention before, never been loved and adored, and it turned him into kind of an asshole. He had high demands, got snappy and impatient with everyone that worked with him, and was just overall a dick. He even started getting so full of himself that he would request things like only red m&ms in his dressing room, because red m&ms were the best, just like him.

As soon as he started developing an attitude, his team put him through extensive media training to make sure he didn’t ruin his image. He was being billed as a sweet, caring, fun guy, a total heartthrob, and his team wasn’t willing to risk losing that image. And he got incredibly good at it. While he’s a dick behind closed doors, throwing around demands, and even somethings throwing tantrums like a petulant child, in front of his fans and the media, he’s the best. Girls want to be with him, guys want to be him, and both his music and his image are skyrocketing.

His rivalry with Chip started out slowly. The first time they met, Skip was so excited to meet his idol, the man that kickstarted his career, and it broke his heart to learn that Chip truthfully had absolutely no idea who he was. And Skip really got his feelings hurt about it. Rather than just waiting until Chip learned who he was, Skip started becoming a little bit of a dick to Chip every time they saw each other. Eventually Chip started being rude right back, and over the years it’s started to grow and take a life of it’s own. Now they absolutely loathe each other and everyone knows it.

It wasn’t that Skip wasn’t a famous pop star, because he was. He was still selling out his concerts, but his venues were just a bit smaller than the ones Chip was playing it. He was still doing numbers on the charts, but he kept charting lower than Chip. He was still chased down by mobs of fans that passed him on the street, but those mobs were just a bit smaller and screamed just a little quieter than the ones that chased after Chip. When he was first discovered, the scout promised that he would be an even bigger star than Chip, and Skip just can’t let that go. Too busy focusing on being better than Chip, he hardly takes the time to enjoy his own success.

The Incident, as he likes to call it, happened so quickly that he barely remembers it. After having one (or five) too many drinks at his place, he was on the way to the club with his friends when a fan stopped him to ask for a photo. He was so excited until she called him Chip, and then something in him snapped. Maybe it was the alcohol, or perhaps it was the years of boiling resentment for the other star, but Skip just exploded. How dare she confuse him for that shiny teethed little bitch? He started screaming it at the top of his lungs, ranting about everything that’s wrong with Chip Skylark. Don’t you know who I am? he remembers yelling, not paying any attention to the fact that everyone around them had started taking out their phones to film his meltdown. He only shut up when his friends physically dragged him away, and even then he went with a bit of kicking and screaming.

After an agonizing day curled up on his couch under a weighted blanket, watching the video being circulated all over Twitter and Instagram, Skip pulled out the old notes app to post an apology to his account. Saying that he made a mistake and didn’t mean what he said, and he was very sorry to any of his fans that he hurt. He was going to try to be better. Skip posted it with all the confidence in the world, sure that it would be enough to get his fans back on his side, but all the negative comments just kept coming. His fans were disappointed, wanting to know what happened to the fun loving Sparkypants the knew and love. Suddenly they were questioning him, they couldn’t trust him anymore, and Skip’s team knew they had to take some sort of action.

Skip originally had no real intentions of becoming a better person while he’s in Corona, even though that’s very much his team’s intentions. They want him to take a long, hard look at himself and work to improve, but he doesn’t want to do that. What he wants is a long vacation on a beautiful island, and the chance to fuck with Chip Skylark. Everyone has heard the rumours that he’s having a hard time finishing his album, and he thinks this is his opportunity to finally get the one up on him.

Though many fans seem to be under the impression that Skip’s real name is Skip Sparkypants, it definitely is not. His real name is Sebastian Segura, but Skip is a nickname given to him by his family from the time he was born, and it just kind of stuck. And Sparkypants… well, everyone’s seen the man’s pants.

While he’s gotten out of the habit of cooking ever since becoming famous, because he has a chef to do that for him now, he’s always been a really good cook. Growing up he was always expected to make dinner for the family at least once a week, and those skills aren’t something that just leave you, even if you don’t use them anymore. His favourite first date move is to invite his date over to cook enchiladas because he thinks it makes him look humble.

The man is loud. Just… so very loud. Even with international love and success, he’s never gotten over his need for attention and will do anything he can to make sure he gets it. Usually that involves telling stories or jokes loudly and obnoxiously so everyone can hear. If he’s in the same area as you, you’ll know it.

Deep down, when he really tries to access his emotions, Skip is incredibly insecure and just doesn’t think he’s good enough. It’s why he’s so loud and obnoxious all the time. He thinks that if he puts on a front and appears confident, everyone will believe him. So far it’s working pretty well.

He has a pet hamster named Cornelius that he absolutely adores. Thinks he’s the cutest little guy in the world. If he’s not posting pictures on Instagram of himself or promoting his music, it’s pictures of little Corny.

[loftec]

Hi! Re reading ntw I started thinking about ian's career and him being famous and i have QUESTIONSSSS. How famous he is? i mean, like, i can't imagine this situation, is he famous like Sia or something? but then he couldn't go anywhere without paparazzi following him around wherever he would go, right? or they do follow him sometimes? or he is not THAT famous ? how many followers he has on instagram? do people recognize him on the street? is he invited grammys? is he famous outside of the us? 🤔

Hello! I love this ask, this is a great ask (let’s see if I can do internet better this time and not close the tab before posting my answer. Sorry this took so long!)

I tried to think of a good comparison of how famous he is and I don’t think I have a 1 to 1, but... maybe think The White Stripes in the early oughts, everyone knew who they were, would recognise at least that one song who was in that film or on the radio that one time for a solid month, but 20 years later, do anyone really still talk about them? Well, I have a signed test print of Elephant on LP (weird flex) and I played that the other day, so I guess we are out here. And I think a lot of people still know who they are? This is maybe Ian’s band in 20 years?

Or maybe Judah & the Lion is a good one, sort of at the other end of the scale. Just a few years ago, they went on small tours playing a lot of covers mixed in with their original material, which is something Ian’s band also did when they played small gigs in Chicago for fifty people mostly there to dance and drink. And then they had a couple of hits and everything changed for them. So, somewhere in between The White Stripes and Judah & the Lion?

And Ian isn’t terribly famous on his own. His band is in the zeitgeist right now, they had a song on a show or maybe in an ad and now they’re selling out shows in venues with capacities for around 3000-5000 people. They probably could sell out larger venues right now, but they’re not terribly interested in playing stadiums. They’re still with the same management and the same label as they’ve been since their debut, they can be recognised because people do know what they look like, but their faces aren’t plastered on billboards or visible in music videos. Paparazzis are not interested in them. Ian isn’t on instagram (maybe he has a private account, but not a public one) but the band instagram has maybe around a million followers? I’m not super good with those kinds of numbers, but there’s an estimation. I think they would be invited to the Grammys! (Though this is another thing I know very little about, but you better believe I have a lil note somewhere about a future one-shot feat. an Industry Event.) I think they’re fairly known outside of the US, and will probably go on a European tour soon. First the US tour, then they’ve got a summer festival tour, and then maybe it’s Europe in the fall.

Does that clarify it a little bit? I could probably go on lol, but I shall spare you for now <3

[ikesenhell]

1985 Camaro

AMERICAN DREAM, Chapter 2. You can find all other IkeSen works of mine here. NOTES: Brief conversation about prior death, otherwise safe. Thank you @missjudge-me for commissioning this piece!

---

They camped out on the back patio until the sun set. He cooked gyoza and rice balls and some pan-fried chicken, and she ordered ice cream delivery, and they nested their knees together and tucked into a pint of something labeled ‘Just Ask’ and when he asked, she wouldn’t tell him, not even when he tickled her (It wound up being a delicious caramel-Oreo flavor). She instead told him about her degree and moving out, about keeping in contact with Mitsunari as he served in Tanzania through hand-written notes on origami paper. They swapped curated Instagram snapshots and embarrassing anecdotes and reminisced. 

“I’m sorry,” she said finally. “About your dad.”

Masamune shrugged. There was nothing to say. It hurt and always would, but that was his private journey. “Old bastard waited too long to have kids s’what. If he’d had me at a nice, respectable age, we wouldn’t be doing this, the old coot!” He waved a dramatic fist at the sky, relishing her giggles. “You fucked up!”

Overhead, his mother’s bedroom light flicked on. 

“Shit,” he muttered. She dropped her face into her hands to stifle the raucous laughter. 

“How—” Now she was whispering. Masamune wriggled closer, their legs reflexively entwining. “How’s that going?”

“Better than it used to. We can talk without yelling. Something something time and distance. I’m planning on hunkering down here for a little bit, and once all of the stuff is settled, I’ll probably go back north. The restaurant owners offered to hold my position for me, which is really nice.” 

“Hell yeah it is. Isn’t that kind of a cut throat world? They must love you.”

“Yeah. Good openings don’t stay open long in the restaurant biz, so that’s really cool.” Absently, he ran his thumb over the whorls of the deck. “What about you? What’s next?”

“Well.” And she paused, eyes luminous. “I got offered a job interview out east. It’s a good job.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Once upon a time, when she was too nervous to really settle her heart on something she wanted, she smiled shyly and fluttered her eyes away. Some things stayed the same. His heart surged as the familiar expression played out before him. “It could be a game changer for me.”

“That the case, huh?”

“Yeah. I mean, I have to do some logistics, and I have to interview, right? But if I get it…” She stretched up to the sky, wriggling her fingers long at the clouds, all the prickled flesh on her arms visible in the cold moonlight. Without thinking, he shuffled closer to warm her. “I mean, I have to actually get to the interview first, so there’s the first hurdle.”

Masamune chewed his lip. “How far out is it?”

“It’s in Virginia. Complete other side of the country. The plane tickets are outrageous.”

“Damn. Guess you’re road tripping, huh?”

A gust of warm breath huffed from her lips. “I mean, I hate going on them alone, but I don’t even have a car right now. Mine got totaled; kid hit me when I was driving down here. Guess I’m taking a damn greyhound.”

His first reaction was to say ‘yikes’, and then… well. Masamune paused, soaking in the possibilities. “So you need a car is what you’re saying?”

“Mmhmm.”

Back in the day, his dad often said that the universe lined things up. Masamune didn't exactly believe in fate—he believed in making things happen—but occasionally, he saw the reasoning. 

“How do you like eighties cars?” He asked. 

She eyed him, a smile in her eyes and voice. “Like the Camaro? Sure, it’s cool. Why?”

Masamune snickered. “Everything in the Date family is cool as hell. What if I told you I could get you a car and a road trip buddy?”

The click of her brain working was almost audible. “Don’t you have to be here?”

“Gotta wait for the death certificates, which is probably a week or so. Mom wants the Camaro gone, and if she has to be around me too long, she’ll probably get sick of me real quick. I might as well make myself scarce and hang out with a dear friend. Besides—I’ll cut you a deal on selling you it. Call it a test drive.”

“A test drive? For like, a week?” But she was grinning, her shoulders angled in toward his. “Weeklong test drives aren’t kosher, Mr. Date.”

“And I’m not Jewish.”

“Are you being serious right now?”

“Serious as my dad’s grave.” Masamume brushed a lock of stray hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “Want me along for the ride?”

Once upon a time, years ago, the whole gang got into an altercation with an older man in a Ford pickup. They were only teenagers sitting on a dock, but the guy pulled up and screamed at them for ‘loitering’. Mitsunari tried to intervene, and when the man acted like he might hit him, Ieyasu almost threw hands himself. They’d retreated into the woods—and when the man left, Masamune, Mitsuhide, and she went back and lit the dock on fire to spite him. Right beforehand, she’d fixed him with the most mischievous expression he’d ever seen: mouth sucked into her teeth, eyes glittering, staring out from under her lashes. 

Now, she made that same expression, and it lit a fire in him. 

“We’d have to leave like…” She mentally calculated. “In three days to make it.”

“Or we could take the long road, do a little sightseeing, and leave tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” She echoed. Only a half second later, that smile was back. “I’m game.”

---

At six a.m. sharp, Masamune tried to wake her by flinging rocks at her window. That didn't work. At last he resorted to calling her, discovering that she stayed in a completely different room now. 

“Could’a used that knowledge,” he chuckled, hopping in place to warm his legs. The fog pressed in around him, September chill early this year. “Don’t suppose anyone is using that room?”

Her voice was thin, but warm over the phone. “No, it’s a home gym now.” 

“Great! I didn't hassle anyone else. Get out here, Kitten, we got a road to get on.”

She emerged twenty minutes later, sweatpants fresh from the dryer, wet hair in a sloppy bun and a suitcase click-clacking behind her. She never was a morning person. Masamune snickered and popped the Camaro trunk. “Wanna drive, or wanna let me do it?”

“You start. Can we get some Starbucks?”

“Ugh.” He clutched his chest, mock-wounded. “All of the coffee places in the world, and you want Starbucks. My palate is crying.”

Rolling her eyes, she slid into the passenger seat. “Drama queen.”

They got Starbucks. She tucked her feet into fuzzy socks and folded them under her knees, clutching the large mocha. Only the rush of the road beneath their tires filled the silence. Asphalt and trees emerged from the mist like a benevolent ghost, Americana obscured. They’d only just merged onto the highway when Masamune realized there wasn’t an audio jack in the car.

“Shit,” he muttered. 

She opened her eyes, head lolling on the headrest. “What?”

He flicked the dashboard. Nope, no audio jack. Not even a CD player. No; amidst all the toggles and buttons of the dash was a cassette player. “I don’t have anything to listen to. This thing won’t hook up to the phones, and I don’t have any tapes.”

“Hm.” Taking a long sip of her drink, she mused, “Maybe your dad has some in here?”

“I guess that’d make sense. Take a look around, would you?”

Sure enough, she was right. Tucked away in the glove compartment was a treasure trove: Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, AC/DC, Prince, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen. “Damn,” she chuckled, “Your dad had good taste.”

Masamune took the copy of Rumors in his fingers, never taking his eyes off the road. The dust was thick under his thumb. “He’d play ‘Back in Black’ when he picked me up from school. It was cool as hell.” With a snap, he pried open the copy of Rumors and popped it into the player. The speakers hummed to life with strumming guitar, Fleetwood Mac echoing. “I know there’s nothing to say, someone has taken my place…” She rested her elbow on the center console, brushing his arm with her as she texted. 

“Guess what?” She murmured. “Mitsunari just got back from Tanzania.”

“Oh shit, really?” How long had it been? Masamune mentally calculated the dates. “I guess it has been two years, huh? The Peace Corps finally turned him loose?”

“Yeah. He’s apparently crashing at Ieyasu’s place—” Masamune barked a laugh, and she tittered, but continued, “—and wants to know if we’re going to head that direction.”

“He’s in Maryland, right?” Fishing out his phone, he checked it. “Yasu didn't tell me about this. Bastard. Well, we get there fast enough, then we can definitely hunker down there for a day or so and celebrate his coming back.”

Classic rock kept them company on the long drive. He didn't mind roadtrips. There was something sacred about them. Forget the American Dream; it was dead. Long live the American Road Trip, a rite of passage for the lost souls from sea to shining sea. Nothing cleared the senses like cranking up the heater on the floorboards and rolling down the window to a blast of autumn air. She let down her hair and it whipped wild in the wind. 

Thank God she was here. Masamune quietly relished her reappearance in his life. She was a gateway to an old world, one with his father alive, one where he still snuck out of the house at night and biked to the 7-Eleven for slurpees at 3a.m. They stopped at a Cracker Barrel for dinner and ordered root beer floats and roasted each other over the annoying ‘jump-the-pegs’ game perched on every table. Though you were supposed to reduce it to one peg, she couldn’t quite manage it. Somehow she kept getting two or three. 

“I got it down to one peg once,” she laughed, shoving it toward him. Masamune swirled it under his hand. 

“I can do it,” he commented. “But that’s because Mitsunari taught me the trick years ago.” He knocked the first peg out of the top of the triangle, moving it elsewhere. “That’s the one that’s gotta be empty. From there on out, there’s a set solution.”

She craned over it, investigating. “What’s the set solution?”

A long, hefty pause lingered between them as he slurped some of his float. 

“Dunno anymore.” He cracked a grin. “I forgot like, eight years ago.”

“Ass! Then you don’t know!” She swatted at his arm and grinned. “Liar!”

“Hey! I was just trying to look cool in front’a you, Kitten, I can’t look like some big dumb stud after all these years—”

“I love how you allow for the possibility that you’re dumb,” she cackled, “but not the possibility that you’re anything other than hot.”

“Am I wrong? Look at me.”

The roll of her eyes was exactly what he wanted. She shoved a biscuit at him over the table. “I think Mark Twain said something like, ‘it’s better to stop talking and appear dumb than open your mouth and remove any doubt’, Masamune.”

He clutched at his chest, but took the biscuit anyway. “You wound me, Kitten.”

As they were paying the bill, she split off and reappeared a minute later, plunking thirty cents onto the cash register and tucking a cinnamon stick into his jacket pocket. “Here.”

“My favorite!” He peeled back the plastic wrapper. “Thanks, Kitkat. You remembered.”

For the first time since they’d seen each other again, her expression evolved to one he’d almost forgotten. He’d only seen it once before. It was a moonlit night back in their senior year, after prom, when they were both lingering in the pool as everyone else passed out drunk. He’d wiped a leaf from her hair and told her she was beautiful, and she’d looked at him like that so long and hard that he wondered if he’d ever known her inner thoughts at all. 

“Of course I remembered,” she answered at last, soft and clarion clear. “I remember all kinds of things about you, Masamune.”

[ingek73]

The Curious Case of William’s Care for Harry

By Irene May 15, 2020 24 Comments

The Curious Case of William's Care for Harry

The Curious Case of William’s Care for Harry. There is not a day that passes without the British and Royal press blasting some headline about Prince Harry or Duchess Meghan, which news supposedly came to them via a well-placed source or a “friend”. Never mind that Harry and Meghan categorically stated that no one in the palace, or any royal source, well-place or whatever speaks for them. You see, since Harry and Meghan formally stepped back from their roles, there has been this insidious strategy to strip Harry of his agency and autonomy as a fully formed and accomplished human. Why would this be necessary? I think it’s a two-pronged aim.

First, it is obvious that despite the abundance of documentary evidence about Harry’s own feelings about remaining within the institution of the monarchy- ones that pre-date his meeting his wife- and since then, just the wretched way in which the media, some in the country and his royal family have treated him and his wife, the media and its puppet masters are trying. Trying to get us to take our thinking caps off and believe that Meghan alone informed their decision to step back. In the face of all logic and reasoned consideration, the powers that be are desperate to persuade us that Meghan is the big bad wolf. It would appear she’s the thing they fear or are threatened by the most, judging by how hard they try. Her power!

Harry dreamed of leaving Royal Family

Harry always wanted to leave Royal Family

Secondly, If indeed Harry didn’t know better and has been supposedly led astray by Meghan, then that leave a helpless Harry in your mind right? Does that sound familiar? “Harry is lonely in Canada”, now “ Harry is lonely in LA”, “ Harry feels out of sorts in LA”, “ Harry misses the UK”, “Harry misses his friends back home” and all that jazz. Poor Harry, you’re being led to think. What would they ever do about poor Harry? I have an idea.

Apparently there is a person who by birth is the second in line to the British throne. For whatever reason, he has been incapable of taking that birthright and his own God-given talents to create a profile for himself, outside of some tangent to his younger brother who is sixth in line to the throne. It’s been the unending refrain since their childhood. Look how responsible William is compared to Harry, or he’s smarter, he’s more traditional, he’s more dutiful, he has more hair… oh wait that wasn’t one of them, but you get the point.

Operation reclaim the spotlight is being resuscitated after an attenuated response to all previous iterations. It seems the role of future king and the business of preparing for kingship( if I hear this one more time…) is not enough to capture the spotlight, so the hunt for the shiniest new medal is on. I give you the embryonic stages of “benevolent future king”. The one who reached out and extended a hand to poor lonely Harry. Take note of the very recent headlines: “William is in touch with Harry” and the latest “Prince William writes letter to Princess Diana Charity from ‘my brother and I’” or “ Prince William Shouts out Prince Harry in Letter to Princess Diana Organization”. What the h-e-double hockey stick? I’m sure Prince Harry was dying for a shout-out like the air he breathes.

This is where I get off my detour back onto the main road. William cares about only William. And that’s what this not so cleverly disguised propaganda is about. Don’t forget that, it is this same William “who dropped Harry like a ton of hot bricks”, and who was reportedly “tired of holding his brother’s hand” during the feverish coverage of Harry and Meghan’s announcing they were to step back.

The timing is also curious because, Prince Harry has been receiving A LOT of great global coverage about his work with Well Child, the Netflix-Thomas The Tank project, Invictus, and recently his support of vets through the Guinea Pig club and CASEVAC club. And may I add, it’s coverage that has not been filtered through the refractive lens of the royal press. So like clockwork, here comes tag-along K to do what he does best, trying to get up the coconut tree. Don’t be deceived, all these weird stories about Harry missing his family, the UK, and XYZ have been laying the ground work for William to not only be inserted into this positive news cycle, but also for him to emerge as a magnanimous figure.

Nice try. This latest round of PR is dead on arrival, because no one is buying what they’re selling. We haven’t forgotten that it is this same brother, who sent his media attack dogs after Harry’s wife in particular, as a way of diminishing their popularity. If you don’t believe me, take it up with Tim Shipman. And while the media went after Meghan and stoked the most negative sentiment against her, this same brother, the principal at Kensington Palace, who is reported to be an anti-bullying advocate and even presided over a failed anti-cyberbullying initiative yet did not avail his digital media resources to sanitize their Instagram feed of the most vile, vitriolic, threatening and at times outright racist commentary about his pregnant sister-in-law. It’s because this team was working overtime deleting comments and blocking posters whose comments were deemed as infringing on his “human rights”. Okay!

It wasn’t even a year ago that, when Harry and Meghan were called every name in the book for traveling on a private jet( something all royals do and are defended for it), his brother tagged along that media cycle to pour salt onto Harry’s wounds. The night before their trip, last minute flight arrangements were made with the now bankrupt budget airline, FLYBE on behalf of William and family to travel to Scotland. He was cast as the responsible and eco-conscious future king for supposedly flying budget. Naturally, the royal rota were swift to his defense, when questions about the convenience of said budget flight were raised.

Naturally, like everything hatched in the dark, that publicity stunt unraveled when a report from the Scotsman uncovered, the last minute arrangements and the lengths the airline went, to position an aircraft for the auspicious royal flying act.

Fast forward to the next media storm around Harry and Meghan- The Southern African Tour documentary. As is customary with the British press’ dealings with Harry and Meghan, they always find the most negative slant and this time, the consensus was to portray Harry as “ mentally unstable” or “vulnerable”. Of course brother, the mental health advocate, did not miss the opportunity to enter the news cycle with his own label, Fragile. Why not ? Mental health advocacy and stigmatization go hand in hand right? The Curious Case of William’s Care for Harry!

William insults Harry and Meghan

William calls Harry fragile

My point is that, every time William has had occasion to be linked to Harry in a news item, it’s usually designed for his benefit. Whether it is a negative story or a positive one, Harry always gets the short end of the stick, so that William can smell like roses. This time is no different. Everything Williams’s actions have shown us does not track with this new narrative, except the part where there is a potential for good press. It is always selfish. They are brothers, and if they decide to smooth their differences, great. I however doubt that any genuine and well intentioned effort will be cataloged in the news. If for nothing, to protect that precious relationship you’re trying to rebuild.

So to the propaganda hacks, I say try another. Harry misses his UK friends? Are these the same ones the media hacks told us that Harry no longer hung out with because, you guessed it- Meghan had chased them away? And now he’s missed his family, the same ones who said they did not support him and his wife, and had moved to distance themselves?

The royal rift - The royal family not speaking to the Sussexes

William distances himself from the Sussexes

The same family which the media told us Harry and Meghan are no longer part of its inner circle? And this was all while they still lived in the UK. The very ones who couldn’t manage polite pleasantries at the last Commonwealth day service. Give me a freaking break! I think Harry is just fine in LA. And his brother could care less. He just wants you to think otherwise.

Nothing new under the sun. Just the tired old alliance whose enterprise is money-making on one hand and profile building on the other.

Silvester McMonkey McBean might think “you can’t teach a sneetch”.

I say, not so fast. “When people show you who they are, believe them”.

Dr. Seuss and Dr. Maya Angelou. Over and out.

-

(I could not post all pictures becaus of the photo limit but they are inthe article linked below)

[lovelybrittxo]

where do I even start?

I’m literally only writing this for myself since typing a whole novel out on the computer is way easier than writing this in a physical journal which is what I normally do. I come to Tumblr though when I have way too much to say and don't know how to say it. I just need to get it off my chest before I blow up. so here it goes...

shall we start at the beginning? I grew up in a decently religious household. my mom, sister and I went to church almost every Sunday with all our aunts and uncles. don't get me wrong, I still believe in God and whatnot and I wouldn't change my upbringing in the church for anything. but it may have suppressed my views on the world. something my aunt said to me a few years ago has stuck to brain ever since and I can't seem to shake it. she told me that she actually believes that being gay is a sin and that you can love the sinner but not the sin. so like, she believes if you're gay, you can be gay but don't act upon it/the sin. she believes, for example, that being trans is a mental illness. like, I just can't wrap my head around that. and honestly, she spoke with so much conviction and “sense” that she actually had me fooled to think the same way for a hot second. and then to learn that my other “cool” aunt also believes this... kinda sad. both of those aunts have literally talked down upon family (and our family is very tight knit) and people they love... what would they do if they ever found out about me?

ive felt a lot of feelings ever since I was young. mostly towards males... but also towards females. I just thought the female part was me wanting to be like them or be their friend and just have them like me and accept me as a chill person to be around. but fast forward to a couple years ago. I was bombarded (in a good way) by social media flaunting (in a good way lol) different sexualities and things. its hard to describe but that “world” was just becoming more prominent to me I guess.

I started to try and put my religious upbringing in the background so I could focus on trying to figure out who I really was. ive been doing this for at least a couple years now. and although im still trying to really figure it out, right now half way through 2020, I think im getting closer to an answer. and guess what has helped me the most? tiktok lmao! no but for real, the internet is an amazing place for discovery in any form. after I started to get into real communities online (like kpop and penpaling) i’ve never felt more connected to the internet and it allowed me to try and find real personal help... if that makes any sense. i’ve just tried to put myself out there and not just google my feelings but piece together a map from asking real people over the Internet here and there to try and figure out who I am.

sometime last year (or maybe earlier) I found a YouTube video of a popular creator retelling her coming out story. I just randomly commented on the video about how I had been feeling, not to get a reply but just to comment. but then I actually got a real reply (not from the creator but still a nice person). they said something along the lines of me basically being bicurious. I had never in my life heard of such a word and I had thought that this person was just making it up. one google search later I found out it was a real thing. although at the time of first looking it up I was still very confused about the word... still kinda am? lol. however, just a couple weeks ago I had seen a post somewhere (an ad I think selling pride flags) saying there was an official bicurious flag. I was in shock. I thought it was a scam, but its not, it’s real (I just don't think it’s talked about very often cause it doesn't seem like a solid sexuality that you can claim your entire life). but anyway.

now what i’m gonna say next I don't want to come off in the wrong way (you nonexistent person reading this lol), but I feel like dating a trans person brought me into that “world” a bit more. like, i had literally never met anyone who was trans before him or anyone who was gay or used a they/them pronoun... never. but in his world, all of that was common and normal. and this is where I don't want to come off wrongly... I don't wanna make it seem like because I dated a trans person i’m qualified to be included in the LGBT community now or to talk about LGBT stuff or whatever. I just think because I dated him, it opened up my shallow world a bit. especially because he’s open about it (on a side note I always loved looking at his huge trans flag above his bed. that was the first flag I had really ever memorized because of him. besides the rainbow one obviously lol). like, his best friend uses they/them pronouns, and although i’ve always been aware of that, i’ve only ever seen things about it through YouTube videos and whatnot. I had never had to actually use those pronouns for anyone I knew in real life until I met his best friend. like, everything I knew about that “world” had only been through online researching/consuming. i’d never experienced it in real life before.

I remember one night we talked about it a little. I knew he was bisexual and so I asked him if he’d ever dated a guy. he asked me if I would ever date a girl and i just said that I had always thought about it and that my tinder profile was set to find both genders. then we talked about pride since it was at the beginning of quarantine and we didn't know if parades were still gonna happen or not yet. he said I could always go as an ally because I told him I felt ashamed and like I shouldn't be allowed to attend a pride parade. (of course he reassured me I can go and he wasn't shocked about me liking both genders at all...he just said ‘nice’ lol)

I still have a little inkling in the back of my mind that I still shouldn't be able to attend though. honestly because I don't know what I would be attending as. I feel like an imposter. I don't want people thinking that im doing all this for attention or just because I dated one person in the LGBT community. i’ve been struggling with this for so long... but it just so happens that now at 27 years old im coming to terms with who I am. I just feel like because I didn't figure it out earlier that I’m not “worthy” of being included. I feel like such an outsider because no one’s “invited” me in yet lol because im still trying to figure it out.

and on the same note, I don't feel like i’m worthy because I still really don't have a solid answer. at the moment I just use bicurious because ive never dated a girl before. the trans guy ive been talking about has been the only person i’ve ever been romantically involved with. im serious. I made it 26 years without being with anyone in any type of way. I feel like I don't have the right to call myself bisexual. however, I feel a tiny bit more confident in using that label maybe after I do end up dating a girl in the future and not feel guilty about using it because that same guy calls himself bisexual but told me right out one day that he’s way more attracted to girls than guys and im in the same situation but opposite. the only difference at this point in time is that he’s dated both and I haven't. but thennnn on the other hand, do I even need to label myself at all right now??

even if I did wanna come out, I don't wanna do it until I really have a solid answer about my identity. i just feel like such a fraud or something because im trying to figure it out so late. and like, im going so over the top with my support this year because I feel like I should fit in and maybe im trying too hard? again, I just don't want people thinking its because I dated one trans guy and all of a sudden im huge into the LGBT community. it’s not like that. all of this is just helping me bring out my true self. ugh this is the part where it gets confusing to put into words. i’m aware and I have pure intentions. im just trying to figure out myself after a long time of trying to figure out myself lol

some days the research is overwhelming. there's so many facts and opinions and different people’s stories and labels. as crazy as it sounds I just want someone who’s been gay their whole life to come up and tell me “yup, your bisexual no doubt” lol or something like that. I guess I just want to be validated in my exploration. and i’ve seen random tiktok comments saying stuff like that, that validates me, but the difference is that their comments aren’t directed specifically to me. they don't know me personally. it’s hard to have a random social media comment resonate with me. honestly, and this may sound selfish and not right, but when I was talking to the guy I was seeing, I almost wish he just told me straight out what I was that day. but instead he said I could go to Pride as an ally. and that was probably just him being respectful and not forcing me to be anything, but it almost had the opposite effect on me. by saying I was an ally it felt like he was giving me that permanent label even after telling him I like guys and girls.... ya know?

something recently happened to me that really stuck with me and I was so happy. I have a penpal who is very southern Texas raised religious. she knows the Bible better than I do. I had posted a Pride doodle I did on my Instagram at the beginning of this month and she was the only one who personally responded with an encouraging and supportive dm. if she can support whole heartedly the LGBT community and still love God, then why can't I?? and that's when I trulyyyy knew that I was right and my aunt’s were wrong and I wasn't going insane lol

I wanted to buy a bicurious or pride flag recently. but then was torn when I saw the ally flag (which I also didn't know existed until recently) and the bisexual flag. I know they're just flags but it feels so solid?? like you buy one when you know what you are.... and I don't yet. so I ended up not buying one at all :/

again, there was no purpose to this post because I know no one is going to read it but I just had to type it out into the world so I didn't have to bottle it up anymore.

[dobrikburrito]

dirty secrets pt. II, d.d.

words: 2.9k

requested by anonymous

have you considered doing a part 2 to dirty secrets? like ending with them getting nearly caught, I want more lol & continuation of dirty secrets where the squad finds out david and reader just fucked?

disclaimer: it is late but it is here. there’s fluff, there’s smut, there’s a little bit of angst. it’s fun for everyone. am I cooking pt. III bc this was too long? maybe. 

⠀

⠀

“Okay, let’s do this.” Jack said, positioning himself a few feet from the pool. “Just do that again, come out of the water and then up the pool.”

I closed my eyes and held my breath, diving in the water from the pool of our Coachella house. My hair was completely wet… as was the crop hoodies and desert shorts from the new fanjoy collab Vlog Squad merch. Once I rise, the water drips from my hole body, as I hold myself onto the side of the pool to sit by the edge, looking straight at the camera.

“That was… perfect.” Jack said. “It looked amazing (Y/N).”

“That will look amazing on the montage.” Zane commented, loving the scene.

“Thank God we have Jeff and (Y/N) to sell the merch. Can you imagine if it were just me? We’d be doomed.” Jason joked and everybody laughed.

“Oh yeah, because this isn’t awkward for me at all.” I laughed, clearing my eyes from the water.

“What do you mean just Jeff and (Y/N)?” Todd asked, hands on waist, outraged. Jason shrugged.

I was laughing at their interaction, when I felt my skin burning. I looked around only to see David staring back at me, smiling and biting his lips. I looked away and smiled, trying my best to keep our little act together.

Since the party, we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other. There wasn’t a day where we didn’t secretly met and fucked. We decided to keep it a secret from all of our friends, which required some skills to achieve. After barely making out unnoticed from the party, with some lame-ass excuse that only worked because everybody was hammered, we were smarter and strategic about our sneaking around. We developed signals and little hints. Making sure our dirty little secret was only ours to keep.

Natalie gave me a towel to dry off, since I was freezing a little. “I desperately need to change clothes.” I told Natalie and in that moment David smoothly entered the house, headed to the one room were Jack was storing boxes of the new merch.

“Yeah, there’s dry ones in the merch room, everybody got the ones we stored in the living room already.” Natalie suggested, mindlessly.

“Oh okay. Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll be right back.” I told Natalie, smiling softly.

I walked calmly to the inside of the house, but as soon as I turned left to face the hallway, I ran for my life. Laughing as I found the right door, I opened it only to find David’s hand grabbing mine and pulling me inside, quickly closing the door behind me. Our bodies collapsed and his hands were on my face, pulling me to a kiss, where I couldn’t help but keep smiling.

“I’m literally making you all wet, baby.” I whispered to him, kissing him back.

“Oh no, that’s my job!” David laughed and I felt his tongue sliding into my mouth.

We found a wall free of boxes and packets, David masterly took off my hoodie and shorts in a split second. “You’re getting better at this, quicker.”

“I’m good with my hands,” He stated as he kissed my thighs from the knee up.

I nodded, “I’m one to tell.” I bit my lower lip, crossing my fingers in his brown messy hair.

We discussed previously that since literally all of our friends were in this house with us for the whole weekend, maybe we should keep apart and not call attention to ourselves. In the end, it was only three and a half days. We could do it, right?

Wrong.

We arrived four hours ago to the house. Posted some Instagram stories. Played some volleyball. Changed clothes to the new merch, filmed endless bits for David’s montage. Took pictures to advertise the merch later. All of the VS protocols, you might say. Needless to say, when I saw David wearing the desert shorts, I sneaked him into his room and got down on my knees.

We didn’t even last four hours. Three and a half days? Yeah, no.

“David, you need to stop looking at me that way. You know what it does to me.” I whispered and closed my eyes when he took off my panties and started licking me. “How am I supposed to keep my hands to myself that way? Oh. OH.” He hit some right spots and I pressed my hands on his hair, harder.

“I can taste what my look does to you, actually.” He teased. “It’s really good.”

“Son of a… Oh.” He resumed his business, knowing exactly how to make me tic.

David positioned one of my legs over his shoulder, giving him more liberty to, well, basically destroy any sanity I had left. The wet and warmth of his tongue hitting just the right places in my clit was giving me a quick build up, which raised even more when I felt his long fingers inside of me. My hand went straight to my mouth, biting the back of my index finger to keep myself from moaning. I circled my hips on his face and he hummed, always loving when I did that, specially when I sat on his face.

Took me a second to reach my orgasm and any strength I had left in my legs were quickly gone. Luckily, David was clever enough to hold me tight by the waist, leading me down to the ground, on top of him. I fell by his side, smiling happily, giggling when he made his way on top of me, kissing my face, lips and neck.

“You look amazing when I make you cum, did you know that?” David whispered to my ear, biting my neck softly. “Even more amazing than when you looked all wet with my merch.”

“You did like that, didn’t you?” I laughed to myself. David nodded, now kissing the valley of my boobs.

“I might not even put on the montage, because I’m jealous of it.” David smiled, knowing exactly how my reaction was gonna be.

“You wouldn’t dare! You know how hard it is to do that and not look like a gumball?” I looked at him, caressing his face.

“You’d never look like a gumball.” David chuckled, giving me a quick peck.

“Wait until the third day of Coachella, you might change your mind.” I joked back.

David changed his shirt to a dry one and left the room swiftly, firstly hearing if anyone was outside and then making a run for his room. I took my time to dry my hair and put on another pair of shorts and some t-shirt. When I made my way out to find everybody, they were still out playing and eating some food that Jason was preparing.

Then Coachella happened, all of us got drunk, danced, walked around from stage to stage, took a bunch of pictures together and had the time of our lives. For the whole first day, David and I spent mostly apart, which was a fun change of pace, because by night, even if we were exhausted from the festival, we’d be texting each other and sneaking out at 4 am to be together somewhere where no one would see us.

Honestly, a part of us were loving being together but the adrenaline of sneaking around and maybe getting caught was giving it an extra thrill. We didn’t want our friends lurking around and asking us a million questions about relationships since we didn’t wanna label anything or ruin this amazing thing we have.

On the second day, though, the girls and I spent the morning getting ready together, helping each other look our best. Not to suck my own dick, but I looked gorgeous, as well as my girls Nat, Cass and Kristen. Needless to say, it annoyed the hell out of me when despite our mutual arrangement of keeping a distance, David spent his day with Madison Beer, Kelsey and Stass.

And I couldn’t even bitch about it to my best friends.

“Oh, you’re in a mood. What’s up with you, girl?” Kristen noticed my grump.

“Nothing,” I said, like a spoiled child.

“Are you 5 years old?” Kristen laughed at me.

“Yes,” I frowned, then laughed with her. “I’m tired, my feet hurts, that’s all. I really want an iced coffee, but I’m trying to manifest it coming to me instead of me walking all the way over there.”

I was great at excuses with most people. Not David, though. He always read right through me. That happened when the little time we spent together inside the group bus after the festival, he asked me something and I barely answered.

I met him outside the house at 3:45 am. I lied down on the grass, looking up to the sky and seeing the stars, something that was hard to see in Los Angeles. David made his way to me and lied by my side, but instead of looking at the stars as I did, he kept looking at me.

I didn’t really say anything about his arrival, “Are you gonna tell me what’s been bothering you?” His fingertips ran through my arms, giving me chills. It’s hard being mad when my body doesn't even follow.

“I can’t.” I told him.

“Why not?” He kissed my shoulder.

“Because if I do, I’m just gonna look like I need to be put into an insane asylum.” I stated. David laughed at me, even though he seemed unsure if he could without making me more upset.

“If it makes you feel any better, I already think you need to be put into an insane asylum, so anything you say or do won’t change anything.” He told me, affective and cute.

I tried really hard not to smile. “I’m going to scare you away.”

“Are you a serial killer?” David asked me, pretending to be serious and furrowing his brows.

“No.” I raised one brow at him, confused at his question.

“Then you’re not scaring me away,” David was destroying any angry bone in my body. I was now back to being my normal pudding self.

“God dammit, you make it really hard to be angry.” I hid my face in my hands.

“Just tell me, please?” His hands caught mine and caressed it. I sighed and nodded.

“Maybe I’m a little bothered by the fact that your day was filled with Instagram Models and Pop singers.” I shrugged, rolling my eyes to myself.

David chuckled. “I was just staying away as we agreed.”

“Yeah, but… I thought that would be around Jason or Dom.” I whined and David laughed louder.

“So, the girls are the problem.” David nodded and messed his own hair. “Okay, I get it. If it were the other way around I’d be bothered too. But honestly, I was just trying to get some content for the montage. I’d rather just have been with you.”

“Did you get any good shots at least?” I touched his face and caressed his skin.

“Not sure, maybe one or two. I’ll probably just walk around with Jeff tomorrow and make him be dreamy and stupid and that will be the montage.” David chuckled, leaning his face on my hand.

I laughed. “Honestly, if you put Jeff doing the most random shit in the world, the viewers will still absolutely go nuts.”

“That’s true.” He smiled at me. “Are we okay? Do I get to kiss you now?”

“I was hoping you’d do worst things to me than that Dobrik,” I bit my lip and pulled him closer by the collar of his shirt.

It was all dark outside, everybody was sleeping. Having him all to myself was enough to get me wet. I was wearing just an oversized merch shirt and panties, which earned me an approval growl when David slid his hand under it to find my boobs. Pulling the shirt up, he put his mouth on one of them, sucking and biting and licking. His left hand spending some time on my other boob, but then sliding down, feeling my body, taking my ass in his hand and groping, pulling me closer.

I loved how at this moment, there was no rush. There was desire and fire, but we could take our time and feel everything. The chilly night weather and the fact that someone could walk in on us was a trigger, but at this point we didn’t really care. David’s mouth found my neck and then my lips, which he continued to kiss intensely, making me breathless of how much feeling was there in his lips and tongue. His hand found my panties, which he slid into and started rubbing my clit, teasing me. His hair was soft on my hand, but I wanted to tease him too, so I found his already hard dick pulsating inside his pants. I took his whole length in my hand and slowly stroke him, competing on who could be the bigger tease.

David one-upped me, thrusting into me with three fingers, which made me moan in the middle of our kiss and made him smirk. Bastard. I bit my lips, pulling him back to the kiss, wanting him more. His curled up fingers inside of me knew how to read the one spot that would corrupt me. As payback, I jacked him off faster, but he was winning by a mile. I bit his lower lip and he moaned, softly, he liked a little bit of pain.

My pleasure was rising fast and he knew, he could feel it in his fingers. “You’re so fucking hot and you’re all mine. Every piece of you is mine to do whatever I want with you and to make you cum as many times as I want.” His whispers in my ear were filled with breathless sighs and growls.

As I was about to reach, he stopped and as a reflex my hand held his arm and my nails carved into his skin. “David…” It was a warning and a beg.

“Shhh… Be a good girl (Y/N).” He bit my collar bone.

In a swift movement, he took me by the waist and pulled me on top of him. Arranging everything, he moved my panties to the side and let his cock out of his pants, positioning himself on my entrance. “I want you to ride me, (Y/N).”

I barely could say anything, as my body easily slid down on his cock and I felt him filling me whole. “Fuck.” I whined in pleasure.

David sat down on the grass to help me ride him, both of his hands on the back of my thighs to give me the support I needed to come up and down on him. First slowly, then gradually getting faster and faster, the positioning allowing him to reach even further inside me. I managed to pull him back to kiss me again, but that lasted a couple of seconds since my moans were taking the wheel here. His kisses went to my neck, sucking it, my head fell back, giving him room.

“Fuck, baby. You’re so good to me. No one rides me like you do,” He praised me and that just made me even hornier. He kept motivating me to go harder and faster, kissing every bit of skin he could. “Yeah, just like that, feel me all inside you.”

His praises were rusky in his deep tone, faded with deep sighs. He slapped my ass, which earned him a louder moan. He loved how responsive I was to everything he did and how, just like him, I loved a little pain. 

I kissed him again, harder and more desperate, as I was reaching my climax, that way helping him come undone as well. I rode him faster and faster and then slower and slower. Finding my own rhythm back down from that high. Once we were done, both breathless and sweating, I kissed him softly and fell beside him on the grass, chuckling.

Todd had the worst headache, which woke him up after a couple of hours of deadbeat sleep. He found some Advil in his bag, but his water bottle was empty, which made him whine and get up, sleepily walking towards the kitchen. He tried to fix his hair, which was all over the place, without much success, and his eyes were barely able to fully open. 

He found the kitchen, opened the fridge and got himself a cold bottle of water, then after a few sips he swallowed the pill. Walking outside of the kitchen, he faced the yard glass door. Everything was dark, but far on the grass bit of the yard there was something moving, something he couldn’t exactly tell what.

“Is that a coyote?” Todd asked himself, frowning.

Quietly, he opened the door and lurked in the shadows, trying to figure out what the hell was happening there. He took a couple more sips of water, until his eyes were used to the darkness and started to give form to whatever that was.

The movements were steady and repeating. Then it hit him. Someone was literally fucking in the house yard in the middle of the night. “Holy fucking shit.” Todd whispered.

“Is that...?” He squinted to try and find out who that was. The girl was on top, clearly, and then she fell onto the grass and Todd saw the guy fixing his messy hair. “David?” His eyes went wide. “Holy shit, but wait… Who the fuck is that?”

Then he put two and two together, realizing that there was only one single girl at the house with that length of hair. “Oh my fucking God.”

He couldn't wait to tell Jeff.  

[bostonstone]

「 chicago’s very own  boston ‘boss’ stone  has been spotted on madison avenue driving a koenigsegg ccxr trevita, welcome ! your resemblance to kja apa is unreal. according to tmz , you just had your twenty third birthday bash. your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re jealous, but being flirtatious might help you. i think being a scorpio explains that. 3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be endless workouts & post of them on the ‘gram, drinking top shelf liquor always and rolling the best blunts .  ( cismale, he/him ) + ( a, 26, she/her, est ) 」

TRAITS:

Recognizable Traits: Red Hair, Abs, Tatted, Tall, in shape, Workout Fein

Personality Traits: Musician, Workout Model, Pothead & Heavy drinker, does other drugs as well, skate boards for fun, still plays football whenever he can, makes sex puns, dad jokes and lowkey loves crime documentaries? 

Closet: dresses usually in a lazy casual look when not in workout clothes, only dresses up to the nines for girls he’s into once comfortable. Really into girls, sex and sandwiches.

STATS

Name: Boston Stone

Nick Names: Boss, BS, Stoned

Age & Birthday – 23 years old - November 3rd, 1996

Siblings – 6

Parents – Mike & Jess

Birthplace – Chicago, IL

Current Residence – New York

Occupation – Musician & Fitness Guru/Model

Sexual Orientation – Straight

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

Body type – Athletic

Height – 6′1

Hair color – Red

Eye color – Honeycomb

Scars – Boston has one scar between his eyebrows and one on the  back of his calf

Piercings – used to have both ears pierced like he thought he was cool, but hasn’t worn them since high school

Tattoos -  both shoulders, chest, arm tattoos, wrist tattoo and back tattoo - 8 in total

ABOUT

Boston Michael Stone was named after the street in Chicago where his parents conceived him. Gross, yes we all know and Boston hates it - hence the nickname Boss. He’s the boss of his own life and that’s how he wants to keep it.

Boss’ dad left him and his mom when he found out she was pregnant. Since they both were only 18, he high tailed outta there. He was never fully in love with Boston’s mom but thought a child would possibly fix things? Then he realized a child cost money and with only his GED in life, he decided to book it for a while. Boston’s dad’s was known to run the streets on the south side of Chicago, selling drugs, stolen goods, etc. 

But then things changed. Once he got his shit together, an actual job, and with a little force from Boston’s grandmother, Mike stepped up. Somewhat. He was in and out of their lives, pissed when Boston’s mother didn’t want to always be with him and had a life of her own outside of serving tables to make ends meet. He didn’t like to be the guy stuck watching his kid while she went out on dates.

He doesn’t know how or why his dad was so obsessed with being with his mom? Especially when he was constantly bringing other women around Boston and home when Boss was with him on weekends. But thankfully, whatever was going on behind the scenes, it helped his mom find love eventually, but with an older, richer man. It is awkward as hell, but he’d rather be with his mom than with his bitch of a dad. Like, he abandoned them countless times, never showed up to important events, had 4 kids that he knows of and Boss hates his guts for it. 

When he was in high school, he was a mess. It was a hard ass time dealing with his anxiety, depression and abandonment/emotional issues all while being a teen, so he didn’t. He hasn’t dealt with it fully and really needs to. It wasn’t cool to cry as a guy or at least that’s how he felt. He went to therapy to make his mom happy, but did it mostly for the medications. That’s when he started turning to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain.

Boston was super into sports, always wanting to play football for the rest of his life and since he was so serious about it, he dedicated his entire high school career to making it into a D1 school. (outside of the drugs of course but shhh). Once he finally picked a school, he started and thought he didn’t have to worry about academics. He never worried about them in high school, everything was just handed to him. That’s what you get when you’re the quarterback, right? Starting QB at a top university on scholarship. Hell yeah, he could literally do no wrong, right?

Once he was arrested for underage drinking, caught with pills, then put on academic probation once they looked deeper into his file at school, his pride got the best of him and he dropped out. But he kept the money from the scholarship to fund the drugs and his future going forward.

Girls are something that Boss has always used to take his mind off of things. From the time he was a freshman in high school, he lost his virginity to an older woman and the thought that it was supposed to be something special, but it wasn’t So now he just sleeps and flirts around because what is commitment? Everyone always leaves anyways.

Bro-friendships and close girls that are friends really mean the most to him, he doesn’t get close to many people out of his fear of letting people in. ‘Too good at good byes’ would lowkey be his theme song but he would cut you if you called him out on listening to Sam Smith.

Boss thinks eating is a personality trait, he loves to tease people, be flirty and be chill. He loves to watch funny videos, tweet, think he’s punny and like, make the sexual innuendos and the worst dad jokes but he’s super sweet under his tall walls but if you get to see that side of him, consider yourself important in his books.

As for becoming famous, his abs were his ticket. Doing live’s on instagram was how he got started and noticed. He was immediately booked for magazines, with fitness companies, and even signed a record label? But he isn’t quite sure what to do. They have him constantly walking runways with his shirt off, doing underwear campaigns and pay him big bucks just to be himself, so he’s really digging this lifestyle. A little too much. He is shit at handling/managing his money. 

Growing up living pay check to pay check, he was like a kid in a candy store that was told you could get whatever you want once the checks started to come and flow in. His biggest splurge was his batman-esque car which his mom almost killed him over, but she’s living the rich life now too and was just recently signed for Chicago Real Housewives so she can pipe tf down.

He’s loyal as hell to things and those he loves, he’s super hard headed when it comes to arguments but above all things, he doesn’t take himself too seriously and just wants to make you laugh/smile because he knows what it’s like to live a life where there’s not much to look forward to as a kid. 

[doomedandstoned]

Nicolas Perrault from Rage of Samedi Taps Deep Emotion in New Solo Effort

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By MelLie

NICOLAS "SCRIOS" PERRAULT -- some of you may have heard this name in the course of the German monster sludgers RAGE OF SAMEDI. German multi-instrumentalist, producer, live audio engineer, creative head in general, and bad-ass bassist of the aforementioned band. Often these artists are mostly referred to us in connection with the bands in which they play and we often know too little about their individual personalities and the solo projects they have to offer. Ashes on our heads!

After six years of walking the path of self-discovery and working on his authenticity as a solo artist, Nicolas has now announced the release of his first full-length album 'Shadows Cast At Dawn' (2020) on May 20th. That's why we should jump at this perfect opportunity to get a foretaste of the new album and take a closer look at Nick Perrault as "singer/songwriter" (a term that somehow doesn't entirely fit him).

With the song "Fires Within," Nick not only offers us a gloomy soul plough, but also a glance into his own soul. It is a gritty absolution punch, with abysmal soundscapes that deal with depression and anxiety. Emotional, melancholic, but in no way melodramatic -- a puristic and minimalistic-looking audio-active encounter with the emotionally frozen world and the breakout of those soul-damaging shackles. Like the Last Judgement runs Nick‘s throaty, heavy, powerful voice through the song and manifests itself like a memorial at the edge of the abyss into which the listener seems to look. This musical work is further underpinned by the impressive video-artwork, which was also created by Nick's own artistic hand.

I hope I have made you a little curious about the excursion into a border area of this heavy genre, which generally receives less attention here, and about the artistic work of Nicolas Perrault. Enjoy the ride through the abyss.

'Fires Within' music video

An Interview with Nicolas Perrault

By MelLie (Doomed & Stoned & Sunday's Heavy Tunes)

First of all, a warm "welcome", on behalf of Doomed & Stoned and our audience, Nick. It's only been a few months since you answered my questions as part of the gang of Rage Of Samedi! But this time, you are in the spotlight with your solo project! It‘s nice to have you here again!

It's an absolute honor to get to do this twice in a single year, so thanks for having me!

Nick, of course I have created my own impression of you in the process of preparing for this interview - at the latest now you still have the chance to escape! (laughs) How would you describe yourself? Who is this guy Nicolas Perrault?

I'm a multi-instrumentalist, tattooer, live audio engineer and producer and slightly sociophobic. So pretty much your average vegan straightedge dude who refuses to get a real job.

What made you decide to sell your soul to the "Devil Of Music"? In other words, how and when did you realize that you were burning with heart and soul to dedicate your life to music?

I've always played instruments, starting with the recorder, then organ and piano, bass, drums, guitar, bagpipes, and everything else. Way back when I joined my first band (a grunge/punk three-piece) and first picked up a bass, I realized I had a lot to say and music quickly became my outlet of choice. So about 18 years ago, but I didn't think of it in terms of a career yet, that only happened roughly six years ago, so I dropped out of university and started to work on my solo project.

You have left some very manifold and genre crossing footsteps on the pilgrimage through your personal music history: PTAH (doom), MOONSAIL (depressive pop-blues), and THRENODIA (black-metal) in former times are on my mind, current side projects are WILLE ZUR MACHT (avangarde) and you are the bass-riffer of Germany's blackened sludge doom monster RAGE OF SAMEDI! To what extent were these different musical influences and band experiences important for your progress as solo-artist?

I've spent a decade and a half working in bands, which would usually split up after a while, when the band became more serious and the others decided they'd rather pursue "real" jobs. So after a couple of those, I grew tired of waiting on the right people and just started working on my own. But every now and then I'd want to experiment with different genres, so I'd start a new project. The reason I'm now releasing under my actual name is that I didn't want to be stuck in one genre. I don't regret any of it, as they shaped who I am and the music I play now.

At the mention of your solo project, I could see the glint in your eyes. May 20th is the day! Let's light a sparkler for a minute! After three released EPs and six years of working as a solo artist, 'Shadows Cast At Dawn' will sail into the world as your first full-length album, which you even produced under the name of your own label Yew & Holly, right? What thoughts shoot spontaneously through your head right now?

Yup. I'm just incredibly excited to finally release this thing! It's been nearly six years and about eight different entire recordings, several changes to the track listing, heck- there are two tracks on the album that I only wrote this year! It's been a long, tedious journey and I'm glad for everything that happened along the way, because it made the final version of the album so much better!

Nick, let's turn the spotlight on the background information for your new album now. How would you describe your it to someone who has never heard your music before and which instruments play a major role?

A genre defying journey through post-modern life in a capitalist reality, focussing on depression and anxiety. Almost all of the songs are two sets of drums, a minute string section of violin and cello plus baritone guitar and vocals, that together create soundscapes so vast you might mistake them for an assassin's creed map.

Listening a little deeper into your work, one does not miss your natural fondness for philosophical thinking -- correct me if I am wrong with my assumption. Where do you get your inspirations from? And is there a message you want to convey to the listeners?

Well, I did study philosophy way back when. I tend to use naval imagery to paint a lyrical picture of depression and bipolar disorder, as a means of sharing the way I experience the world. It's likely not the most accessible thing you will ever hear, but it's a sincere expression of myself and that's really all I can offer.

"Fires Within," btw. Also one of my personal favorites of your album - is the amuse-gueule for our listeners What is the meaning behind this song and what moved you, writing the lyrics for this song?

"Fires" is all about setting boundaries and tearing down unhealthy relationships. If you have people in your life that hold you back instead of supporting you, ditch their ass! They're not worth the time and will poison any creative endeavor. Everyone knows at least a handful of these negative feckers and so did I. I spent years trying to help them get through their shit, but whenever I needed them they'd be more interested in getting drunk.

It's an unburdening from dead weight we carry, a cleansing, if you will. The chorus says "look not towards time, it brings only decay and destruction " and I think this is key to ridding yourself from negativity. Focus on your ultimate goal, that transcends trends and mood swings, that lives beyond time, and let it guide you. Don't stray too much from the path, or these negative influences will be right there waiting to cut you down.

"Fires Within"

Call upon the wind To wipe the surface clean He brings the rain and with it Absolution To carry with it the dust And bittersweet memories lost

Look not towards time To save your soul from fires It brings only decay and with it Destruction The fires burn from within Feast on the sand and it's running thin

Turn away from everything you hold dear To keep yourself safe from despair Cause all they bring is but loss All that remains is darkness when they are all gone Darkness that stretches like shadows cast from a new dawn

I would like to make a short swerve to the album cover. It is the wonderful artwork of Maryland based illustrator Luke Martin (Suburban Avenger Studios) who counts some famous musicians among his clients (Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chili Pepper and others). How does the artwork relate to "Shadows Cast To Dawn"?

I've been a huge fan of Luke's work for years and a while ago he posted this picture to his Instagram. I was looking for something very specific to use as an album cover at the time. I needed it to evoke claustrophobia and a feeling of being safe inside whilst at the same time showing an outside, detached from the rest, just out of reach.

So imagine my jaw dropping as I saw this picture for the first time. It just struck me. So I wrote Luke, if he'd sell it. He had never sold a photograph before (plenty of awesome illustrations, though) so needless to say, I was very happy he did. He basically captured exactly what I had conceptualized -- that it's an actual photograph just makes it even better, as the concept is very much abstract but now has an actual physical representation.

The title "Shadows Cast At Dawn" was something that I had floating around in my head for ever. So when I began to work on the album that became the working title. Since I've worked on it for so long, that title has- in a way- effected everything I wrote, so it seemed to fit perfectly by the end.

Is there a special favourite place where you prefer to let your ideas mature? - a kind of soul-flyer place? I know you live in a small, rather idyllic place and not in a vibrant artists' metropolis! Whereby this way of living has advantages as well as disadvantages for an artist, right?

I love forests, oceans and mountains, so I'm pretty much alright with any surroundings, as long as I can escape civilization from time to time. Living out in the countryside allows me to focus, as you pretty much know where to find people, if you're looking for company but at the same time, you know where you are less likely to be found.

Sure, I need to travel a lot more to get anywhere and there aren't as many connections to be made face to face, but digitalization has granted us loners access to that aspect of life from the comfort of our homes, so I'd say it really depends on what you need to stay sane.

With the release of this album, you could now realize one of your dreams. Do we have another sparkler to light? What else do you have in the works? Are there any future plans that float in space? Or do you still carry around another big dream in your head?

I've already started recording for the next album, so fingers crossed that this time it won't take as long. Apart from that, I really want to tour the world, but circumstances aren't exactly ideal for that, at the moment. Apart from the music, I also tattoo and paint and hope to be doing more of that alongside music in the future. So if y'all wanna get some ink, hit me up!

Thanks a lot Nick, for giving us a deeper insight into your solo project and the things that move you! It's been very entertaining having this conversation with you here. We all will keep our eyes upon Nicolas "Scrios" Perrault in anticipation of your success!

Thank you very much, Mel, it's been my pleasure!

Leave Me To The Waves by Nicolas Perrault

Follow The Artist

Get His Music