#can you imagine in the two years after DAI? 2015 and 2016. Saying that there isn't a difference between templars and mages?

[howyouducan]

I am so fucking ready for Dreadwolf to metamorphose the DA fandom into something new. To be real, it desperately does need like 500 new young people with fresh eyes who have not been waiting ten years for a video game

[ishallgivehimupforever]

Here We go again Bellarke warriors, if you can hear me, it's been about 1680 days since I stopped caring (or so I thought)

I hadn't been to tumblr in years, before I decided to give the 100 a rewatch in June of this year, as I had given up somewhere around the start of season 5 (I remember hating the LONG ass timeskip teased at the end of S4, I guess some other media must have swallowed me during hiatus, and when I tried to give that season a chance I vividly remember 1) I couldn't see shit on my screen 2) I hated what the timeskip did to the established relationships) and so I dropped it for good, looking back I almost can't believe I could just...not finish it like that because let me tell you I did NOT fuck about Clarke and Bellamy, and Raven, and Monty, and probably some other characters back in 2015-2016. I think I maybe did not appreciate season 4 enough at the time it was airing (because I think binge-watching is very flattering for that season, watching it live I remember it was frustrating to watch the characters go on side quests in 4A) but now knowing what the character arcs are and where it was going makes it my second-favorite season. BUT, I digress, wow. This is meant to be a rambling, incohisive love letter to the compelling relationship between Bellamy and Clarke. I warn you, they truly do not fucking leave you as it turns out. I would go to the trenches for them back in my fandom days in 2015-17, and I realised, after binge-waching the show over 4 sleepless nights (seasons 1-6, which are the only seasons in existence, obviously)that I STILL just FUCKING CARE SO MUCH. I NEVER CARED ABOUT FICTIONAL CHARACTERS SO MUCH AS CARE FOR THESE TWO SEPARATELY, AND AS SOULMATES. Because let me tell you, Clarke and Bellamy, they fucking love each. Like actual, happens-only-in-romances LOVE. It is frankly INSANE how JRoth, K*m Shum and other managed to gaslight me over some of the bellarke scenes in S2-S3 as to make me think it's in my (and thousand's of fans') head WHEN IT IS SO FUCKING OBVIOUS FROM SCORE, EDITING CHOICES, LONGING LOOK SHOTS, HANDS SHOTS, LINES, AND FINALLY, ACTING AND DIRECTION THAT THESE TWO ARE LOVERS.

I have never, ever, before or since, followed two characters who were so compatible, so equal, so trusting in each other, so open with one another, so mindful of the other's emotions and needs, so so so made for each other, that it is no surprise to me that they are top 10 F/M pairing on AO3. Because Bellamy and Clarke would fall in love in every imaginable scenario, in every universe, across time. I am not usually that cheesy or cringy, but it is true. I could not put my finger on why they are my absolute favorite to read fanfic for and then it occurred to me. That as long as the hands of fate put these two in proximity of each other, it;s a done deal. That chemistry transcends the limits of a single tv show. The depth with how Clarke and Bellamy love each other honestly makes me pause for breath sometimes. It is not just the iconic, famous bellarke scenes, but also the quiet moments.

Like in 6x05 or 6x06 (cant remember) when Clarke's body was stolen by Josephine after her one-night stand with Cillian. (stay with me) Bellamy, unaware that Clarke isn't herself at that point, comes over to chat, he's clearly at least a bit jealous over her sleeping with Cillian, and yet he says "happiness looks good on you" with that wide, earnest smile. And just wow. How must he love her, to be so utterly happy for her own happiness that has in that instance nothing to do with him. so selfless. well, selfless is basically Bellamy's middle name.

Or how in season 4, after a lot of the characters and at times the narrative wanted to push this idea on Clarke that she is the sole leader of her people, gets right back on track to her co-leader dynamic with Bellamy, constantly checking with him, considering his input, and respecting choices that she herself would maybe not make (releasing the ensalved arkadians and grounders vs ensuring they get a machine necessary to generate water) but always understanding that these choices agree with his core values, and she loves him for it.

This post is way too long. I love Bellamy. I love Clarke. People often use the 'MY PARENTS" about ships on twitter, and you know what, in my case that's kinda true with bellarke. I met these characters when I was 15. I am 25 now, and with an adult perspective to my surprise I found their relationship even more profound then I remembered, and I was insanse about them already. They are truly THE power couple of all time. I miss the 100, If you wanna ramble about it together, feel welcome to send me ask, I'd love to have an excuse to share some of my (sometimes unpopular) opinions lol.

[wei-ying-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those of you who don’t know, I decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s queer cinema syllabus, which is comprised of 9 units. I have completed four of the units (here is my queer cinema syllabus round up post with all the films I’ve watched and written about so far). It is time for me to make my way through Unit 5- Lesbians, which includes the following films: The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995), Bound (1996), Water Lilies (2007), Saving Face (2004), D.E.B.S. (2004), Set It Off (1996), The Handmaiden (2016), Carol (2015), Imagine Me and You (2005), Two of Us (2019), Rafiki (2018), and The Color Purple (1985). 

Today I will be watching:

Rafiki (2018) dir. Wanuri Kahiu

[Run Time: 1 hour 22 minutes, Language: Swahili, English, Available on: Tubi, Google Play, Apply Play, Amazon Prime, YouTube rentals]

Summary: "Good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives," but Kena and Ziki long for something more. When love blossoms between them, the two girls will be forced to choose between happiness and safety.

Cast:

Samantha Mugatsia as Kena Mwaura

Sheila Munyiva as Ziki Okemi

Here is what I have learned about Rafiki (main source is Wikipedia):

Rafiki was adapted from author Monica Arac de Nyeko’s short story Jambala Tree. 

Rafiki was the first feature film to feature two women falling in love to come out of Kenya.

Rafiki was the first Kenyan film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

Rafiki was banned in Kenya for promoting homosexuality after the writer and director refused to change the ending. Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya and can result in 14 years imprisonment, but support for LGBTQ rights is growing. 

The writer and director, Wanuri Kahiu, sued the Kenyan government in order to allow the film to be screened in Kenya long enough to meet the eligibility criteria for entry into the Academy Awards.

The ban on the film was lifted for seven days, and every day it played to a sold out audience and brought in millions of shillings (1 million KES is ~7,700 USD)

Rafiki won Best Narrative Feature at the 2019 Seattle Queer Film Festival and a Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival. In total, Rafiki received 17 nominations and 17 awards at various international film festivals. 

This was Samantha Mugatsia’s first role and Samantha won an award for Best Actress from the FESPACO festival.

Wanuri Kahiu is also the cofounder of a media collective called AFROBUBBLEGUM which supports African art “for its own sake.”

Samantha Mugatsia was in another film in 2018 but I do not see additional credits on IMDB, Sheila Munyiva was still getting work as recently as 2023, and Wanuri Kahiu is still working as well. 

So needless to say, this film is incredibly important and successful despite the barriers it found around it. I saw some reviews for this film that mentioned how the narrative was rather simplistic and the characters fairly flat and while I do not entirely disagree, though I also do not consider that to be 100% accurate. I think there are a lot of little moments of dimensionality in some of the characters that make me want to see more of them. Blacksta’s clear romantic interest in Kena and the way in which he is constantly kind and friendly to her to the point where he is the one she goes to for comfort after everything goes to shit only to have his last appearance be him stalking off angry that Kena is “hurting all the people that care about” her when she tells him she loves Ziki. 

Mama Atim being homophobic to the point of a) aiding in the discovery and subsequent facilitation of a gay bashing by the local community and b) not letting Kena touch her when they meet in the hospital where Kena is working as a doctor, only to immediately turn around and tell Kena that Ziki is back in the country, thereby facilitating their reunion and the hopeful ending that got this film banned in the first place. 

Kena’s father being kind and relatively accepting of his daughter’s homosexuality while there are implications around (though never direct references to) the reason he may be divorced, and remarried, with a child on the way. 

Ziki being the one not to care about how much of their intimacy the public may see only to be the one to pull away from Kena after they get caught, because she is experiencing severe consequences for perhaps the first time (that is an assumption on my part, I just know the girl is relatively wealthy). 

All of this to say that often the moments of complexity are small, but they do exist. 

Anyhoo, I think what I am thinking the most about in way of this film is less the plot and more everything else around it. Because this queer cinema syllabus is a warm up to watching BL, the challenges this film had with getting funding (their funding sources all came from outside of Kenya), with distribution, the legal battles Kahiu had to fight to get this film seen in a country she so clearly and deeply loves. Despite that, this film was a success, it broke a number of different barriers, and I will perpetually find it interesting how the prospect of money or positive attention can do so much to get a story out into the world. 

This film promotes illegal behavior, this film was banned from airing in Kenya as a result. Yet, this film still aired in Kenya because someone making a legal ruling gave it a chance to meet eligibility criteria for one of (if not the) most famous awards shows in the world. And at the end of the day it wasn’t even the film that Kenya ended up submitting to the Academy Awards. This film sold out theaters, it raked in cash, it was the first in a number of ways. 

It just makes me think of countries like Korea where, sure, homosexuality is not illegal, but where certain rights are still denied to queer people. Where very few celebrities are openly queer for risk of losing their jobs, yet continues to create BLs that gain international attention. Hell, even Thailand, which has established themselves as a BL soft power, sees many openly queer people struggling to find work in the film industry in spite of how many queer stories are getting pumped out. Also, I will no longer be accepting dead fish kisses from queer shows if the first lesbian love story out of Kenya gave us actual kisses. 

I don’t know exactly where I am going with this, I do not consider the situation of BL and the situation of Rafiki to be identical, just similar. That Rafiki still obtains concessions from a country where being queer can get you incarcerated because it has the chance to be seen in high profile competitions is an interesting, though not entirely surprising, phenomenon. 

About the film itself: I loved the use of color in it, it falls into the same trend of all other lesbian films in that a lot of it is comprised of silent glances between women longing to be together. I think it went for a wider net with a shallower lens rather than a smaller scope and deeper exploration. I felt like the film definitely started slow, but that the relationship between Ziki and Kena developed incredibly fast, to the point where I wondered if they were maybe already together in some fashion before the film even started (not dating, but at least both already having established a mutual interest, etc). I do think Kahiu did a good job of putting enough detail in that it felt like there were other things happening around the main plot to flesh out the world these characters were living in. 

I loved that when we first learn about Ziki’s desires, it is to get out of Kenya, go somewhere people have never met an actual African, and not be like other Kenyan girls. But that when the choice to leave is removed from her, and she is sent to London to escape the societal backlash from being caught being queer, that she does not want to go. I loved that Kena was the one who spent a lot of time hiding her sexuality and her affection for Ziki before they were discovered, only to be the person to try to continue, to be visible, to be with Ziki after they are caught and beaten. 

I thought it was so incredibly brave of Kena to walk up to Ziki’s door, look Ziki’s mother in the eye, and ask to talk to her daughter after everything that had happened the previous night, after being threatened by Ziki’s mother when she first catches them, and insulted by her mother when she comes to pick Ziki up from the police station. 

I am in awe of people who stick to their convictions in cases like this. Wanuri Kaihu, who just wanted to “portray a "normal love story" that acknowledges the heroic challenges of choosing a "difficult love"” and does not see this act as a political one did not back down when faced with the options of removing hope from the ending and letting the film play in her own country or letting these girls meet again, in the sunshine, and have it kept from her own people. It reminds me of Strange Fruit from Unit 4, actually, when Kyle Schickner rejected $6 million in funding for his film because it would not have then been able to make his main character Black and gay. I marvel at how often people do not make those same decisions. 

Favorite Moment

Okay, so. It is a very short and simple moment, only a few seconds long, but from my perspective it is one of the most important scenes in the entire film. Right near the end, after Kena has gone to see Ziki and Ziki has told her she will be sent to London, she goes and sits on a bench by herself. And after a moment someone just quietly takes a seat next to her. It is the other out, gay character who we have seen multiple times in passing. They just look at each other, neither of them says a word. But dear GOD I loved it so much. 

Every time we have seen him before this moment, he is being harassed on the street. He is clearly living an entire life with his own struggle that exists completely outside of Kena and Ziki’s. At one point his face is bandaged, a clear indicator that he had recently been physically assaulted. Every time Kena is present when he is being harassed all she can do is get up silently and walk away. She never stands up for him, she never checks in on him. I actually had a moment of disappointment at one point when Kena storms off and Ziki goes to check on her upset because Kena left her alone. Kena opens the sliding door of the van and I thought for just the briefest of seconds that it might cut to that guy sitting there. 

Instead it is candles, and they have sex, and that is also great and I am glad that scene exists, but I think in the times we are living in now, I was a little sad to see that they were not silently supporting each other. WHICH IS WHY I AM SO GLAD THAT HE DID AT THE END. 

It is so so so so so important to me that this gay man, who has been living his life openly and suffering for it, and knows what it is like just sits down next to Kena to let her know that he is watching, that he is there, and that he understands. And he doesn’t even have to say a fucking word. That is community looking out for each other, and it will be beautiful every time. 

Favorite Quote

“I wish we could go someplace we were real”

Score

8.5/10

It was not my favorite film, but I am so grateful that it exists, and I hope that the queer people living in Kenya who need movies like this one have found a way to watch it, and I think that the fact this film exists at all is amazing. 

Coming up next, the last film in Unit 5: Lesbians- The Color Purple. I actually just got the audiobook from the library so I am looking forward to approaching the film viewing with more of an adaptation lens on it.

[batsplat]

after 2015 until 2018 it seemed that things had calmed down a bit between valentino and marc, in the sense that they had started to be polite between them again and valentino no longer seemed to be on a war footing. then after argentina obviously the situation worsened again. in the podcast where valentino spoke in 2021 if I'm not mistaken, when he talks about marc,however, he only refers to the events of sepang and not to what happened in argentina which instead seemed to have been the final “divorce”. so my question is, during 2016 and 2017 did valentino just pretend to put up with marc? because in that podcast you can feel valentino's resentment is still a lot even after many years, so I imagine it must have been even greater in the two years immediately following sepang, even if it didn't seem if you see how he behaved

well. look. it was reflected in how valentino behaved... I think sometimes if you see isolated photos and gifsets, you can maybe be left with a bit of a mistaken impression of what that dynamic actually looked like for those two years. they got to a point post-catalunya where they were civil to each other, and maybe they'd exchange two lines in greeting, at podium celebrations, when somebody in a presser made a joke... and maybe marc at the very least was sincerely hoping they could get back to something like what they had before 2015. in reality, though, it was still very very far away. it wasn't open hostilities... at some point in 2016, valentino realised he simply couldn't go on like this. I talked about it a bit here:

you get this discrepancy in his 2016 output, actually. if you compare what he's saying that autumn for written press interviews vs what he's saying with marc right next to him... he'd clearly decided there was zero point in directly fanning the flames. at the sepang 2016 presser when marc and him are quizzed on what had happened the previous year, he just goes with marc's response and decides against reopening the controversy by adding anything from his side. but he still made it clear he hadn't changed his mind in interviews from the exact same time period! at times, he tolerates marc's tentative advances - at other times, he's almost accidentally sucked in, like he can't quite help himself from laughing at something marc has said. but there was never a period where he forgave marc for what he'd done... for various reasons he just decided he wasn't going to harp on about it too much. he did basically say as much post-argentina 2018:

but yeah, argentina 2018. it's an interesting one, isn't it? the stuff that valentino says there doesn't actually feel... quite in line with anything else he's said about marc. typically, when valentino criticises marc, it really is all about sepang 2015 - it's very focused, very specific, he's talking about being unable to forgive marc on a personal level for something marc had done to valentino... but it's not like he's really coming at marc for anything else... when other riders have gotten into spats with marc, he's stayed out of it - and generally he remains pretty neutral when he talks about everything else concerning marc. so, for example, there's a world where the moment alex rins is saying marc doesn't respect other riders in 2019, valentino immediately jumps at the opportunity to offer his hot take... but he doesn't do that. and yes, he had criticised marc's riding before, in particular in marc's moto2 days, but obviously those criticisms were considerably more restrained and sounded at times quite worried for marc's sake. (he also got close to that in silverstone 2016 when he remarked marc had 'something special' for their battles, but a) he's not wrong, except insofar as it's clearly mutual, and b) he explicitly said he didn't have a problem with that fight and considered it hard but fair). in 2017, when valentino was criticising other riders for being too aggressive... well, he wasn't doing so with marc, and he even conceded the point to marc in subsequent races after marc had obliquely criticised valentino at cota for his rhetoric not matching up to his own riding. when valentino's young riders have gotten into their own spats with marc, he's not waded in either, at most saying stuff about marc's fight with pecco that from his lips sounds almost like something akin to praise. radio silence after bez's run in with marc at the end of last year... argentina 2018 is the exception not the rule

and you know... at the end of the day, that was an emotional reaction. valentino might be wearing the habitual smile on his face during the media debrief and sound reasonably calm and composed, but he was furious. which, it's always worth remembering, isn't an entirely unreasonable reaction to that specific situation. yes, valentino doesn't have a clean track record either, but you're going to struggle to find such a... weaponised carelessness, a blatant disinterest in his fellow riders while shoving them aside, in the way marc was exhibiting that day - and indeed that whole weekend. looking back, of course argentina 2018 ended up being an isolated blot on marc's track record that he's not come close to repeating since (yes, he's made high profile errors that took out other riders, but it's different)... but we didn't know that at the time. also, I doubt valentino much appreciated being treated just like an obstacle in marc's path! the fact that valentino wasn't the only marc victim that weekend kind of has an interesting effect, because you have to doubt whether it would have helped if valentino felt like he was being targeted specifically by marc, but on the other hand... well, it's almost disrespectful, isn't it... being singled out is in a way still better than being brushed aside like any other rider

still, valentino's pushing it with his criticisms, he's out of line, and he clearly did lash out in the heat of the moment - which was of course largely a product of the resentment he'd been holding onto those past two years. calling marc's behaviour that day dangerous? sure, you'd find a lot of agreement for that. saying that marc was ruining the sport? that he was intentionally causing other riders to crash? ... well, hold on one moment. I reckon the simplest explanation is the best one here: valentino was angry and said stuff he wouldn't otherwise say, which we know because he's not done so before or since. of course, he was never going to retract what he said about marc that day - he wasn't ever going to apologise for it. not with their history, not when there was still just enough about those argentina comments that he meant... so he wasn't going to feel too much regret about the bits he wouldn't have said under any other circumstance. the problem post-2015 for valentino is that constantly signalling his fury to the world wasn't doing him much good... but pretending like everything was just fine clearly also took a bit of a toll. argentina 2018 wiped the slate clean - even though they gradually crept back towards basic civility after that. and valentino really didn't continue with that line of critique... since then he's basically completely reverted back to a sepang 2015-centric approach. maybe a few hints at it... in 2021, he said something along the lines of how he doesn't feel good when he's on-track with marc, but that's pretty generic while also crucially being personal - he's not saying marc is a problem for the series, he's saying it's them specifically that have an issue with each other

which doesn't mean he didn't believe what he said in argentina 2018 in the moment... when they reconvened in cota and had marc and valentino do separate media debriefs from the main presser, valentino said he stood by his comments - but also didn't actually repeat them or elaborate on them or anything. he's back to terse short responses to the press' questions, saying he wants to focus on the race ahead: kind of the go-to approach when it comes to marc post-sepang (with notable exceptions). he's walked his strongest comments back as much as he was probably ever going to - by simple virtue of the fact that he's left it at that. and you know, he's a complicated guy... 2016-17 was both pretending and it also wasn't. he didn't act like everything was forgotten, but he certainly was willing to let people believe that this relationship might end up being mended - which quite frankly was probably never going to happen. mostly, he was just sort of sick of the whole thing, struggling to enjoy himself in what had become such a charged, hostile environment for all the riders involved. at the same time, look - fundamentally, the interpersonal chemistry with marc was always fine. they click as people! they click as riders! marc makes valentino laugh! sometimes, that line between 'pretending' and 'letting yourself pretend' and 'actually not pretending at all' can be quite thin. when valentino talks in that time period about how much he enjoyed a battle with marc, of course he isn't lying - because he really does enjoy those fights! that's what racing is all about for him, and that's something him and marc still share! as long as marc isn't barging him aside and causing him to crash, that is. maybe it'd be easier if it were all a pretence, but it wasn't... sometimes, when you say you thought a race was hard and fair, you really do mean it and you really did have a lot of fun. sometimes, the struggle isn't actually acting nice for the cameras, it's trying to bite down the temptation to laugh alongside your sworn enemy

see also assen 2016... like, isn't this kinda wild? you've just had catalunya the race before, you've just had the mere semblance of a tentative start to a possible reconciliation - then they return to the place that was really the beginning of the end for them. they go on a few track familiarisation laps, including to check out the resurfaced final chicane (aka the scene of the crime). they race each other on said track familiarisation laps. then marc brings it up in the presser, giggling about the whole thing, and apparently valentino also finds it pretty funny - before he visibly swallows up his grin. later that weekend, marc pointedly decides to try out valentino's final chicane move himself during the warm up session. this is all obviously deranged, but it's a type of deranged where they are fundamentally on the same wavelength. it's the kind of ridiculous behaviour they're both incredibly fond of... you see it in how valentino shrugs off the towing at catalunya 2019, and thinks it speaks to marc's smarts and wiliness - unsurprising, really, because they're so similar in that regard, and valentino has never shaken his admiration for marc as a competitor

valentino can clamp down on his animosity towards a rival during his direct interactions with them... lord knows if you watch a few of the casey and valentino face-to-face interactions over the years, you really wouldn't match that up with the sheer vitriol of some of the stuff they were concurrently saying about each other in the press. that rivalry was never really personal (on valentino's end), it was never fraught in the same way (for valentino anyway) - still, it shows he's theoretically capable of separating this stuff out when he needs to... and he just about managed with marc for two years. if he had just been waiting for an excuse, surely you would have heard at least a hint of that when him and marc swapped paint in 2017. you never quite knew how he was going to answer the inevitable questions about marc's riding, but no direct criticism was forthcoming at any stage. the post-argentina 2018 rhetoric wasn't in any way premeditated from valentino's side, and personally I don't think he was just waiting for an excuse either. it was the result of a constant internal conflict between knowing that engaging in any more active beef with marc wouldn't do anyone any good, and the fact that he still hadn't forgiven marc... and then a race came along that simply pissed him off enough to push him over the edge

from 2016 onwards, valentino both very much wanted and very much did not want further conflict with marc, and neither of those impulses ever quite go away. usually, he's disciplined enough to avoid stoking the flames any further... potshots to the press outside of the paddock are essentially a free and harmless outlet in that regard, and even there you can tell he was trying to scale it back in the years where he was being forced to directly interact with marc. he was pretending and not pretending and sometimes pretending like he wasn't pretending and sometimes pretending like he was pretending. maybe it would have always just taken one major on-track confrontation for things to fall apart between them again... but you do kinda have to acknowledge the whole thing was really unfortunate. I've long thought that something like sepang 2015 was pretty inevitable as long as valentino managed to put himself in title contention once marc had joined the premier class, but I don't actually feel the same way about argentina 2018. an awful marriage of circumstance and coincidence and bad choices caused the relationship to fall apart again this badly. valentino might have had some more or less sincere misgivings about marc's riding, but at the end of the day he wasn't going to ever express them unless it got personal - because all of these people are incredibly self-centred and valentino wouldn't have felt like it was worth it. he lost his temper, he said some stuff he might partly but not fully believe, he's not inclined to bring it up again. that's that

[peachjagiya]

https://www.tumblr.com/peachjagiya/749351087478292480/httpswwwtumblrcompeachjagiya7493066218434560

I hope you don’t mind if i add my two cents. I read this ask and realized that we as human beings really have a problem seeing these idols as actual human beings who have layers and complicated feelings.

This non shipper anon mentioned that Jikook stopped being as close around 2021 but that is definitely not true. First of all, many shippers especially taekookers feel like there was a sudden uptick in jikook moments around a certain time (2017) but that is not true at all. Go back and watch content from the very beginning and pay attention to the boys talk on Lives, during festas and other moments and you discover that Jk and Jimin had always been very close. Jimin was the one who Jk spoke to when he got back from the US and contemplated abandoning his dream to become an idol and go for dancing instead.

https://x.com/chicknbunny13/status/1750750874031296552?s=46

In a log they did in 2013, we had Jimin and Jungkook telling us that the two of them were in the habit of putting blankets and sleeping together on the floor outside their rooms. The very first bangtan bomb that was ever posted was a of Jk taking videos of Jimin back in 2013. During Festa 2014, we heard from the members that Jk usually piled clothes on his bed to go sleep in Jimin’s bed and even back then, when Jk was asked which hyung comforted him the most, he said it was Jimin. Fast forward to 2015 when Tae did a Live from Japan in the hotel room that he shared with Jimin and mentioned that Jimin and Jk were together even though the 3 of them had planned to do a Live together or in 2016 where Jimin was the first member Jk ever gave a birthday gift to. I am listing some of these moments chronologically just to show u that Jimin and Jungkook had always been close, very close infact it’s just that jikook as a ship gained excess popularity in 2017 after Jungkook posted GCF in Tokyo. So it’s not really that there became an uptick in Jikook moments from there, it is that people started paying more attention to Jikook after Jungkook’s GCF. The best way to see some if these things is to watch Vlives and bangtan bombs from pre 2017 era and you will see what i am saying.

As i mentioned before, non shipper anon said Jikook used to be close till like 2021 and mentioned that their last sighting outside of work was around march 2022 but that’s not true at all. Remember that in PTD Vegas Jikook were joined at the hip, they left the concert venue together on all 4 days of the concert and one of those days, they went out to eat with Yoongi and staff and some non shipper Armys visited the restaurant they went to in Vegas and said they were told that Jikook sat together on one table and yoongi sat on another with staff. Plus Jimin and Jk still boxed together with Tommy Saem (Jk’s boxing coach) and based on that April 2022 Live with Vminkookkhope, jikook were even on a diet together. So many times people forget to facture in the point that Jimin started working on his album in May. Immediately after PTD in Vegas Jimin moved in with Pdogg to work on his album because he literally had nothing prepared so i can imagine that during that period, Jk and Jimin didn’t spend as much time together because Jimin was busy and i also noticed that Taekook seemed to get really closer during that period. Infact we all saw taekook hang out outside of work more frequently by the end of 2022 and part of 2023 than we had seen in all their 10 years of being BTS. Like anon said, jikook were the ones always together everywhere both in and outside of work. Even in 2021 while they were in LA, we found out that Jikook worked out together everyday, came back from concerts together, ate together and untop of that, Jk spent alot of time in Jimin’s room hanging out with him. So i feel like the distance we sensed between jikook starting 2022 was mainly because of how busy Jimin got. It tracks.

I am not someone who really believes that any of the members are dating each other but i know that Jimin and Jungkook have and have always had an extremely close bond since debut. It wasn’t always very visible because of their somewhat complicated dynamic and because of the fact that other pairings like taekook, yoonmin and Vmin overshadowed jikook but that bond had always been there and if you pay attention, you see it.

I believe that taekook too have always been close but i also believe that there was a period where they grew a little distant. I know that, that is not something taekookers will ever agree about but it is clear to me because i have been in this fandom since the end of 2015 and have watched alot of things unfold. I agree that jikook were paired up alot at some point but i think that was because of their chemistry and closeness and not because BH had some agenda to push. How does pairing pple in subunits potray them as closest or a couple? Jikook as a ship gained recognition and popularity not because of the company but because of Jungkook and his GCF and yes seeing them together alot on content enforces certain beliefs but did yoh ever think of how you saw them? What are they doing when you see them on content? Most times you see them together in the back even when they are not the main focus of the camera or you see them coming and going together or you see them staying back to rehearse or practice together, or you see them staying back to watch and support each other during their solo practices, or you hear members talking about them as a unit. Hobi saying Jk and Jimin always stay up late together, or Joon saying after watching Jimin and Jk run around/ get along so well he got inspired or Tae mentioning on more than one occasion that Jk and Jimin were spending time together late at night, or Hobi saying that he ate with Jikook who ordered food together. It’s not one thing and certainly not company content that gives people the impression that jikook are extremely close.

Even in chapter two where it was clear that those two probably didn’t see each other as much, anyone could still feel how much they love and missed each other, especially Jungkook with his Jimin centric Lives and constantly inviting Jimin to come over for chicken, boxing, lives etc. Those two are really good friends who are very important to each other and it is normal that sometimes, when life happens and people get busy, some distance creeps in. I feel like that is what happened with Jikook after 2022. They started doing different things, Jimin working on two albums at once, Jk not working on anything and was bored outta his mind up to the extent that at some point, my man was visiting almost all the meat restaurants in korea all alone lol and then he started hanging out with Tae alot after that and then later got busy again. That is life.

I'm not going to assume this is your intent but tangentially, I'm feeling real tired of "JK hung out with Tae cos Jimin wasn't available."

Tae is only valuable when someone else isn't available? That's dehumanising.

But I'm sure that's not what you're saying because you at least recognise Taekook are close and aren't total strangers who got invited seperately to the Dreamiere and just happened to bump into each other.

Jimin was recording an album, he wasn't in solitary confinement?! Tae and JK recorded albums last year too? They all found time to go to Jeju together when JK was undoubtedly busy with album stuff.

Oh I don't know. It's ok if Jikook didn't see each other cos they didn't want to and made time for other people during their schedules, man. TKKrs accept there are times when it looks like JK and Tae might have been beefing. That is also life.

[foxes-that-run]

Sweet Creature

Harry said that Sweet Creature is about one person, and that he will never say who, adding if he would never tell them it wasn't about them. I think the protagonist has changed since it was written. It was a closer in the Live on tour set, and often emotional like this time in New York.

It was played once on HSLoveOT at Wembley. Harry talked about Gemma first bringing him to London for xfactor and he’d “like to play a song for her tonight”. He thanked London. So its matured in meaning and he sung it to Gemma, who had a baby 8 months later:

19 February 2016

At the Troubadour (at 21:40) on it's launch 19 May 2017, Harry said Sweet Creature was written a few weeks after his birthday 1 February 2016. It was written at the Village in Los Angeles. There is a photo of him at the studio on the 19th February. He also said it was the first song he wrote “for” the album (1:22). Harry said that one song (two ghosts) was written before leaving the band but everything on debut except 3 songs were written between July and December 2016.

Sweet creatures opening melody is similar to Blackbird by the Beatles. Blackbird is a McCartney song, interestingly, Harry was photographed with Ringo at the Clive Davis Grammy party. From I'm Not Happy (possibly the same night) and Pop Tart it might have been the first time they saw each other after the 2015 BBMAs 8 months earlier, 1D had been touring for most of that.

Cry “O sweet creature!” then kiss me hard

‘Sweet Creature’ appears in Shakespeare’s Othello. A tragedy, Othello is newly married to the beautiful (and faithful) Desdemona. The villain, Lago resents Othello and drives him mad by insinuating that the handsome and charismatic Cassio had an affair with Desdemona. Lago tells Othello that he heard Cassio talk in his sleep:

In sleep I heard him say “Sweet Desdemona Let us be wary, let us hide our loves.” And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand, Cry “O sweet creature!” then kiss me hard…”

It’s a really interesting reference. On one hand, Harry is singing with genuine affection and fits the imagined role of Cassio. However, as described in Woman Harry was jealous and he’s also the villain, messing with CH, in a laughably effective way.

If the Othello reference holds, Desdemona had also not cheated on Othello. But by 28 February Harry tweeted 'You can shake an apple off an apple tree.' And by April 29 that may have changed (Illicit Affairs / I did something bad).

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Sweet creature Had another talk about where it's going wrong But we're still young We don't know where we're going But we know where we belong

In out of the Woods and interviews about it Taylor talked about the relationship being tentative and plagued by challenges and poor communication.

Harry did not know where he was going, One Direction was broken up and although he started recording he had not signed a solo record deal.

TS and HS were unable to let each other go for years, often singing about belonging, or eventually being together. Particularly Someday, Satellite, As it Was, The 1 and End Game.

[Pre-Chorus] And, oh, we started Two hearts in one home It's hard when we argue We're both stubborn, I know But oh

'Two hearts one home' references Hopelessly by Crosby, Stills and Nash hoping on Harry’s Another Man Mix Tape. “They are One Person / They are Two Alone”, Nash was longing for Joni Mitchell, an idol of Taylor’s. This line is often read as referring to Gemma and when played it again in 2023 Harry agreed. However I think it wouldn’t have been dropped from the set if it was about Gemma.

In 2016 though, his 'home' was not a building. In the first 2 minutes of the Fine Line interview with Zane Lowe Harry talks about not feeling at home and feeling lost in his house in London on a 5 day 1D break, and glad when it ended. Taylor was a home of the heart, a part of his world and separate to the band. Woman Exile has more on ‘home’.

The idea of one’s sweetheart being home is in the Notebook, Harry’s favourite movie. Old Noah says it to his kids when they ask him to come home with him, his wife is his home.

[Chorus] Sweet creature, sweet creature Wherever I go, you bring me home Sweet creature, sweet creature When I run out of road, you bring me home

‘When I run out of road’ reminds us of the amount of Driving in Haylor songs. But this is referring specifically to Harry’s anxiety going solo and trust/hope that Taylor would be there for him. 7 months later in New Years Day she agreed: “I'll be there if you're the toast of the town, babe, Or if you strike out and you're crawling home”

[Verse 2] Sweet creature Running through the garden Oh, where nothing bothered us But we're still young I always think about you and how we don't speak enough

I think here though the Garden is the beach at Taylors Rhode Island home, (bought when they first dated) where the 1989 and 1989 TV covers and rolling stone beach shoot was. This shoot is referenced in the videos for Style and End Game.

Similar lyrical references are in Cruel Summer (snuck in through the garden gate to seal our fate), Blank Space (Rose Garden filled with thorns) and Betty (In the Garden would you trust me).

Not speaking is also a common theme, best put in Fine Line: "Spreading you open Is the only way of knowing you", and The 1: "And if you wanted me, you really should've showed."

And he posted this when it was released

[thegeminisage]

as someone who wasn't around in 2014....can you tell me what it was like? (stucky) can you give me a taste of the gardens of babylon etc

what was it like...this is such a fun question i want you to know i gave serious thought to my answer and also discussed it at length with my 2014 friend last night and i know already it's gonna be so long. sorry that i answered your ask at fuck o clock in the morning i am scheduling it to go up later and also at the time you sent the ask in to make sure you see it

ok so like. i mean, you're on the fandom website, right, so i assume youve been in fandoms. idk if youve ever been in a really, REALLY big fandom, at the same time that said fandom was also producing content (even if the source material was not). think d*stiel post nov 5, or undert*le circa late 2015/early 2016, or z*lda after totk came out, or h*rry p*tter as the seventh book was being released. (i'm censoring to avoid a false positive of anybody's blacklist except in the case of the last one, which i am censoring out of <3 disrespect.) like there's something REALLY luxurious about being in ANY large and active fandom and it's mostly the power of crowdsourcing. st*r tr*k 2009's tarsus iv headcanons. the storm trooper lore re: the f*rce awakens before the second two movies came out. everyone just kind of agreeing that dean w*nchester was a teenage hooker. you know?

like, that's "just fanon," sure, but part of the beauty of it is that no one person makes up fanon, we all gather in the biggest writing group in the world and collectively go insane and bat ideas back and forth. there are a hundred THOUSAND fics about bucky barnes on ao3 and that's just the people who were writing, not even counting artists and gifmakers and meta-writers and people who just reblog stuff. i can't possibly begin to put an accurate number to how many people are in any given fandom at any given time, but imagine (on the low end, i'm sure) there are THOUSANDS, perhaps tens of thousands, of people going nuts about stevebucky at all times. tens of THOUSANDS people doing "yes and" with each other on the internet 24 hours a day seven days a week. it's just like being in any fandom, you log on to your dash and see what the mewchies posted while you were gone, but in a fandom so huge and so active you were getting bombarded with idea after idea after idea every single second, so if you don't like one you're spoiled for choice in what you engage with next. it didn't even matter that cap3 was two years away or that it sucked when it finally got here because we collectively wrote cap3 a million times over. like, genuinely, it was a mass creative exercise. it's the biggest writing group in the world. for better or worse, we were shaping our own version of that universe, without any input from or regard to the people who actually created the characters and movie, in a way that compelled most strongly to our own tastes and demographic.

what made this particular movie/fandom special though was a few things. firstly i still genuinely believe it was ahead of its time...marvel shit pre disney was allowed to be political in ways it is ABSOLUTELY not now. like, cap2 could say "the government is secretly full of nazis and they all need to burn" in 2014 two years before the 2016 election and 7 years before jan 6. like you just couldn't say that now. "war bad" is an oldie but goodie, but "our entire government is corrupt and needs to be torn into flaming pieces and cast into the potomac" is um. pretty radical. so is, by the way, "men as victims" and "men having emotions" etcetc. like, not in fandom, fandom all but invented that shit, but as far as dumb superhero movies go. i can't tell you the number of metas i read AND WROTE discussing steve rogers and masculinity and how all that was portrayed, intentionally or not, in that fucking film. i had entire separate universes built up in my head for steve who was born a cis girl and steve who decided later in life that "nonbinary" or "trans woman" was a better fit and then steve who was born as a cis boy and remained a man his whole life but felt weird and different ways about being queer which clashed with the weird and different ways BARNES felt about being queer. i'm not saying the film (or the fandom! good lord) was perfect, it was a product of its time, but it was also WAY ahead of its time too. it was weird to expect the next film to come out and actually, like, be good. it wasnt, but we fully believed it would be and that wasn't delusional behavior because the last one had been. i would never have that kind of faith in a marvel project now because they've been bought by disney.

oh yeah and that's the other thing too like. speaking of queer people. gay marriage wasn't legal in the US on a federal level until 2015, and you couldn't just flip on your TV and see them whenever you wanted. ten years doesn't seem like that long ago in the grand scheme of things but like, we lived on glee and cw/mtv queerbait (disclaimer that i personally only participated in cw queerbait) and that was it. we had crumbs. and like when people write gay characters theyre Just Gay, but if you decide to be crazy stupid in a slash fandom you can decide these layered characters are gay and that's even better rep than um whatever was going on in other pieces of media. these guys are both so lonely and out of step with time and lack other people with "shared life experiences" (girl what the hell was that) and their connection w each other keeps them afloat in a world that doesn't want them so like of COURSE it seems like it's supposed to be romantic. and like, i could and did make myself and my tumblr buds crrrazy (and got made crazy by them) thinking about:

how steve's size when small and again when big interacted w his gender identity and his sexuality and how that sexuality manifested. barnes's identity As A Man hinging on his ability to go to war for his country bc Thats What Men Did but now he's no longer fit because theres worms in his brain. loss of bodily autonomy which usually happens to women and natasha being later in that journey than steve and bucky are and so close to being at peace with it but not there yet. stigmatization of seeking treatment for mental health issues lessened by the presence of sam who could have been a Macho Tough Guy but actually gives off strong Talk About Our Feelings And Be Soft vibes. don't even get me started on the relationship (predatory) between steve and rumlow and how it parallels the one between barnes and pierce (and if any of you motherfuckers BREATHE a word of that h*dra tr*sh p*rty shit in my direction i will END you) and the stigma that comes from being preyed on when vulnerable As Men. steve's depression and ptsd and him getting triggered by, yes, the fucking ALS ice bucket challenge. the collective belief that he was conscious when he was frozen even though nobody said that so that he and barnes could have that in common too. the headcanon about barnes having roma heritage - shoutout to not easily conquered my beloved, and the 14k smut coda i wrote for it✌ speaking of smut, i would be remiss also not to mention there was a STRONG element of collective lust involved. i'm immune to 99% of it bc im ace but the winter soldier was uh. VERY graceful. you know? i didn't write 14k of porn because i was uncompelled. we were on one. we went fucking crazy. fandom in general but especially big fandoms have a kind of nonstop endless well of creative energy born from obsession that is the absolute envy of people like my mortal enemy grrm. we NEVER quit.

also, HISTORY (and other vaguely educational subjects). we were all so desperate to know how steve and bucky would have lived in the years we couldn't see them it sparked a sitewide interest in 1940s american history. there was a thing about bananas tasting different now because of a plague. m&ms being invented as wartime candy. stuff about how shoebox apartments looked and how rations worked. 1940s recipes and radio shows. the 1940s queer movement and how it interacted with ballroom dancing and private drag get-togethers. how amputations work and how prosthetic limbs work in real life so we could extrapolate it to fantasy. how to hand-draw that fucking arm in photoshop. why soldiers are trained to say their serial numbers when captured. what ww2 was like. what dog tags are for. what did they get in the ration packs. what brand of cigarettes did they smoke. what brand (and i am being so serious, i STILL own a tube) of LIPSTICK did peggy carter use. caloric intake of someone with a 4x speed metabolism and how much famine peanut butter he'd need to eat daily to keep from starving to death. oppression of irish immigrants and their children/grandchildren back in the 1940s. the difference between conservatives and fascists, back when there was a difference. what activities generally took place on these mysterious but ever-present new york city docks. just exactly HOW many terrible movies and tv shows has sebastian stan been in ranked by his resemblance to james buchanan barnes in each one. (i personally went through his entire imdb list at the time and then made a venn diagram.) electroswing! teachers and professors would have killed for their classes to have the kind of enthusiasm a bunch of mentally ill teenagers and 20-somethings on tunglr dot edu were showing about this one very specific set of subjects. this film also sparked my love of fight scenes. if you've read this fic or this fic and liked the Big Fight Scenes in them, you can thank cap2 for leading me down that path.

and then yes there was also discourse. my personal most hated thing was the above mentioned h*dra tr*sh p*rty (DO NOT GOOGLE THAT, i will just tell you it's nazi rape porn🤢 and i hope everyone involved is having a bad day today) and also the fact that SOME FUCKING PEOPLE can't understand "don't be shitheads about a fanfic where the author can see you doing it." but then ofc people were also sexist about nat and racist about sam and minimalizing those guys (and every other character besides tony really but sometimes him too) for the two white male leads was a whole thing. and on the funnier side of things you had (justifiably, i suppose) bitter st*ny fans who HATED what those two got in avengers and got real mad when stucky started outpacing them on ao3. and people complaining about the characters being too uwu soft. and then other people arguing whether or not barnes counted as disabled when he was missing a Whole arm. and THEN discourse about was it ethical to remove the arm and build him a new one ESPECIALLY without his consent (if people don't know they're being ableist in their fanfics hypothetically is it still ok to kill them with hammers?) and why was tony doing it if that guy killed his parents and is it ok that we keep making tony not that mad about his dead parents is it not enough that barnes stole his limelight as the guy who gets shipped with steve but what if all three of them fucked but can you really fuck the guy who offed your folks but ACTUALLY isn't it cringe to like tony anyway since RDJ and gwenyth paltrow are bad people and who says chris evans are sebastian stan are such good people etcetcetc. and let us not even get started on the plausibility of the avengers tower fanon after age of ultron came out and it turns out nobody became friends and they all still hated and mistrusted each other. and whether or not the avengers could be considered found family if the other characters were constantly getting shafted into being barnes's little support animals. and then ofc every once in awhile one of the actors of people involved creatively would say something ranging from mildly controversial to absolutely horrible on the internet and we'd all fight about THAT for awhile like a dog with a bone. i mean. typical infighting of any fandom tbh.

but i was very happy. it was all the most enormous thought experiment and creative endeavor (and semi-educational adventure??) that we all participated in daily for like two-ish years without stopping ever. i loved doing it. AND, when you click with a piece of media like that, you also click with other people who clicked with that same piece of media, so in addition to the sheer level of dopamine going into my brain at all times i also formed decade-long friendships that will certainly last the entirety of my lifetime, and when we're in our 90s in nursing homes i will be able to say, "we are friends because i wrote 14k of smut for your fanfic" or "we are friends because i couldn't get enough of your gifsets" or whatever because you know, we quite literally went to stucky together.

[gremlinandacrow]

Valentine Drabbles (Final)

Finally, I have one short, and only one, that has to deal with self love. This is the longest, so it's fitting that it's the last, right? Yeah it went off the rails and I didn't want to stop writing it when I did.

So funny story. K311Y is one of my older OCs, I'd say at least 2015/2016. Not my oldest, not by a long shot, but damn I can't believe it's been almost ten years. Anyways, to try and keep this context blurb short, K311Y was once a character I had for a collection of superhumans (heroes, villains, whatever), she was specifically a mutated human who was also essentially a humanized glitch. I ended up scrapping/forgetting about her until last year. Her concept wasn't bad, and her story had potential! So I ended up revamping her character and her lore. She's still a part of this small superhero/superhuman world, but now she's 1. considered a hero, and 2. she's a robot. Technically, I think she'd be classified more as an android, but I'm not getting into semantics lmao

And for extra context, Lady Magdalene is K311Y's creator/funder/boss/[REDACTED FOR SPOILERS]. She's the head of the group K311Y's a part of.

Akira is also in that group and he's a newer OC! That's all I'm gonna say because I've said so much already.

Content Warning: Existentialism

There’s a strange question that K311Y always had, but could never answer herself: “Can a robot love?”

It was a question that always plagued her. She was one, but…She wasn’t sure. Every time she looked at her reflection, she saw herself. She was K311Y, and K311Y was her. That was life and how it works.

But at the same time, she knew she was more than that. Her entire existence was built on the foundation of continuing to live for the person she was modeled and named after. She was not her own person. She wasn’t a person. A thing, a model, a puppet if she had to stretch her logic.

Not even Lady Magdalene, her base’s relative, treated her the same. It was always words of layered commands and directions she was built to do. That, by its definition, wasn’t love. K311Y didn’t seek it, instead it just came to her, if she still used its definition. Akira usually said it after a rough fight, and he’d say it in a soft tone.

He meant it, she thinks.

Yet the days pass as the robot faces her reflection. She’s still K311Y, and she would never truly be Kelly. She knew that, but there would never be a day where she was truly content with it. That thought went against her programming, but she’d never tell anyone, Lady Magdalene the least. What good would that do for her?

She spends what little alone time she has, which was always during her resting mode, thinking…What little of her does she like about herself? What were the things she could mention that weren’t a reminder of her purpose? Was it her shell that protected her wires and hardware? No, those were based on Kelly’s body, not K311Y’s own. What about her soles, the same she used to traverse-?

Those were based on Kelly’s skates. From the memories that were programmed into K311Y, she adored rollerblading wherever she went. That was a “bust”, as Akira would say. Thinking about him again, she wondered if maybe she was looking at this from the wrong, incorrect angle. Maybe a fresh, human perspective was in order?

One day, she was able to do it. Everyone was walking away, back to HQ, after yet another fight. This time Akira had to take a backseat, as the creature they fought flew around the city, something he couldn’t exactly tackle without grave bodily harm. So instead he wrangled people to evacuation stations. As everyone went by, leaving the two behind, K311Y brought up her dilemma.

“Sheesh,” Akira said, ruffling his hair back, “Can’t imagine what that’s like, Kell, I mean, I like everyone, so…”

“Akira,” K311Y tried to guide him back to the topic at hand, “What do you specifically ‘love’ about me?”

He tapped a finger to his chin. Then after a few seconds he stuck his tongue out. “Oh!” He finally answered, “I love that you care about all of us!”

But that was part of her programming. She couldn’t let anyone, let alone her teammates, get hurt in her presence.

“And there’s this thing you do…” Akira sighed, “Uh, when you get really happy-!”

Happiness? It was really a positive response to stimuli, but-!

“You beep! Like, bee-beep-beep! And it makes my day.”

Oh! She does do that. It’s still a positive response she’s meant to make, or at least some part of her code allows it to happen.

“What do you love about it?” K311Y asked.

“Oh man, it’s kinda like a tweet! But like, not like when a pigeon does it.”

“Pigeons coo.” K311y corrected him.

“Still! There’s not a lot of birds around…And your little beep-boops are nice to hear.”

Bee-beep-beep!

Huh, the sound was pleasant. It was meant to be.

When she was in resting mode against, standing within her charging port, she slowly tried to make the sound again.

Beep!

It wasn’t the same, maybe because she was manually doing that. But it was nice.

Beep! Beep! Beep-beep!

Maybe if she really wanted to, she could use it for morse code! Wait…

.... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. / .. / .- -- / -.- ...-- .---- .---- -.--

Huh…It came out a bit lighter than she wanted to…But she liked it. Fortunately, with her charging station being isolated and soundproof, K311Y allowed herself to repeat the message for a while after.

[lemoncrushh]

hiii. chiming into the face claim discussion with 0 hostility, just a friendly chip in of my two cents for the sake of furthering the discussion :) nothing negative towards previous anon, anyone who prefers “real harry au” or “faceclaim harry.” as a writer, reader, and longtime harry fan though, i feel as though whether someone is writing “real” harry OR “faceclaim” harry, he’s been objectified and sexualized inherently (at least to some extent in both). sure, no one MEANS to do this, and no means anything negative by it, but at the end of the day, if you’re looking at a faceclaim from the perspective of “this is a real person” and writing or reading fantasies, you are objectifying a real person. ykwim? it’s like you said, it is what it is. i would argue that this is far more prominent with “real harry” type of au’s because, like i said, you’re trying to imagine and exemplify a real person. for those who use him as a faceclaim, he has the perspective of an actor if that make sense. he’s filling a role. sure, his name is being used (for the sake of reach in an established reader base), but besides his looks and his name, most other details are swapped out in the story because he’s filling the role of an oc. some people have opted to “use him a face claim” for his silence regarding gaza (which is a totally different discussion, so i’m not even going to get into it), and others really just feel… weird trying to exemplify a real person that we don’t know? it really does feel like crossing a line to write a whole storyline about a real person. again, nothing against those who prefer “real harry” au, but those au’s are not even really real harry. because none of us know real harry. anyways, my point being, i actually see it from the whole other perspective as previous anon— if anything, writing or reading “real harry” smut sexualizes and objectifies him, as a person, so much more than if someone were to use his face to fill a role (like an actor) in an unrelated au. just my take!

Hi hon, thanks for this message! I'd like to start out by saying fanfiction (at least in this fandom since I don't belong to any others) has VASTLY changed over the years. Granted, I still saw many people complaining about us writers sexualizing and objectifying him back then (2015-2016), but the stories themselves were much different from what I see written now. I think a lot of writers simply write AUs now so that it doesn't seem like they're objectifying the Real Harry. But to be honest, back then, unless it was a little blurb like the ones I've been reposting, most Real Harry fics were long, chaptered stories (which I have written as well). And while they had smut in them, they were more like romance novels, you know? They weren't written just for the sake of smut. I know there are exceptions, but for the most part it was like "what if Harry Styles did this..." and it was never in a creepy way. Still, there are those who prefer it not to be Real Harry, which is great because you can imagine him as ANYTHING else. And truly, that's what fanfiction is. It's pretending, whether it's the real celebrity or an alternative one.

In my own experience, I saw a lot of this change after he went solo, but it mostly flip flopped around the pandemic (which is funny because that's when I wasn't writing as much). The focus seemed to be more on the smut and less on the story. And that is totally fine too if that is your preference. But I think because of that, more and more writers are thinking less of him being Harry Styles and more on him being "some guy".

I don't have issues with any of this. You do you, boo boo. The only question I have is, if he's just a face claim for you, do you still consider yourself a Harry Styles fan? Because for me personally...I'm not writing fanfiction about any other celebrity just because he's attractive when I don't care anything about the man. And same goes for reading. I would hope that people read my stories because they like my writing, yes, but also because they like Harry.

[sunnyhoneyshimmermagic]

I can say without a doubt that while the strip clearly starts running out of steam around 2015, and to me, March-April 2016 was when it began being bad, there were still enough decent arcs and strips from 2016 to 2020 where I wouldn't call it TOTALLY terrible, more like an on and off period.

2021 to today is where it loses all control. I genuinely struggle to even remember the arcs I liked during this time. It's all so repeated, and what's "new" is almost always something refreshingly bad.

Examples:

That may 1st 2022 sunday where a girl actually likes Nate for once so Kim threatens to tear her arms off and NO ONE CARES.

Nate and Kim checking a haunted house, a 2-3 week arc where the big joke besides ha ha kim is a bitch is it was Chad playing the oboe.

Countless and I mean countless arcs of Nate having an idea but instead of us actually getting to see it fail it's his friends all making the same jokes you've seen 1000000 times, and none of which feel like they are being said by anyone else, all his friends turned into damn Francis.

Too many school arcs, Peirce has got to branch out from there. Even Gina arcs are less fun because you know now that no matter what, Godfrey and Gina will win.

Nate in general has really lost his old winning chances. I think he won some sport arc at one point, that's about it.

The knitting arc, 3 whole weeks for the most predictable result imaginable with nary a twist.

Nate sharing a locker with molly only the locker has none of the fun random stuff of the past and Molly is just Francis.

All the characters do is argue now.

Nate trying to stop eating Cheeze doodles, that totally didn't happen in a similar arc (it wasn't a bad arc but you get my point).

Hey, Chad, instead of being the fun and bright spot you are, how about just making food jokes?

EVERY. SINGLE. GIRL. BEING. SUCH. A. BITCH. Two girls just walk up to Nate randomly and start laughing at him. HE WASN'T EVEN DOING ANYTHING.

The arc where Nate and Francis break up, talked about it before, you know the drill.

Dee Dee is just... An egomanaical bitch. None of her once sweet nature, nor her realness with Nate are there. Now she's just girl Francis most of the time, and when it's time for some drama, she's become a real jerk. Oh, but wait, only Nate can get called out on that, carry on.

Oh, a golf/dog for christmas/Artur/Ailurophobia/school picture/sports/kim arc, gee, I wonder if there will be any variety at all, outside of Gram joining in on the golf once.

To me, the biggest change from the old days is the lack of adventure and story telling. Outside of the pretty decent school budget arc (and I guess the Nigel arc but I think that could have been less mean and more interesting), we just don't do story anymore. There are no totally different arcs you've never seen before (and if their are they're Nate in love with a tiktok star), no adventures, no quests, no big moments, barely any cliffhangers. Now it's just "here's a joke you've seen 100000 times with barely any twist, I bet it's funnier this time!".

And no, I don't care for the excuse "but it's hard to think up jokes after all this time." No it's not. I'm an inexperienced fanfic writer who hasn't even begun film school and has zero credits to his name, and I can come up with tons of original arcs!

In short... Dear lord are these last few years terrible. I literally went through 2023 at one point to get something for the AMV and I was like "wait this happened? wait, this was an arc?"

[tinydeskwriter]

You mean her exes?

Yes

A/n: in the Cosmopolitan Couple Timeline Harry and Liam are mentioned, this is a complete list of her ‘exes’, some are only rumours, but they still made it to the list.

Cosmopolitan: Here’s a Complete Timeline of Everyone Y/n Y/l/n Has Dated (and Rumored Dated)

Let’s be real: Y/n Y/l/n has had the dating game on lock for a while now. I mean, she had an adorable thing going on with Shawn Mendes when they were teenagers, ended up marrying the very handsome, very hot, rapper turned actor Jack Harlow, she (possibly) dated the talented Timothée Chalamet, ofc there was her fast-moving, PDA-filled international relationship with Harry Styles, and then she mended (and broke again) the heart of the super hot Australian actor Liam Hemsworth…we can only wish we had that kind of track record. Along the way, she’s always been super honest about her feelings, whether she’s in a relationship or enjoying being single. And that’s pretty damn admirable.

Luckily, we’ve created a complete history of Y/n’s love life, from her early days up to the present, and laid it all out for you here. Feel free to use this as a template/inspiration/dream board for your own romantic life.

Shawn Mendes: 2015- 2017

They met young, Shawn was still 16 when the two started dating in 2015. It's unclear how these two met, but it's impressive that they stayed together until 2017. Y/n and Shawn broke millions of hearts when they announced their split. of their cute relationship. In an interview with Ellen in 2016 Y/n confessed that Shawn was her first boyfriend. Cute.

Harry Styles: 2017- 2019

Y/n and Harry were first photographed together in Italy a few weeks after the actress broke up with Canadian singer Shawn Mendes. The couple never posted anything on social media, nor did they ever confirm their relationship. But photographs speak a thousand words, and for almost a year the couple was spotted around the Globe together. PDA included. Rumor has it that she was Harry’s muse for a few of the songs in Fine Line.

Timothée Chalamet: 2019

Y/n and Mr Chalamet were reportedly ‘getting to know each other better’ after being photographed together around New York City. But that same month Y/n sat down with Elle US and told that she isn’t in a relationship, saying, “I’m 21, I’m going on a few dates.”

Liam Hemsworth: 2019-2021

Miley Cyrus got into a relationship with Cody Simpson, Liam Hemsworth went public with his relationship with Y/n. And what a beautiful couple they made. 

They looked like they were made to last. Both genetically blessed, family inclined, with traditional family views, very discreet people.

Rumors of an engagement began to surface since Y/n moved to Australia during the pandemic to be with Liam. Things seemed to be heading towards church bells when out of nowhere the couple announced their separation.

According to sources close to the couple “Liam was  ready to remarry, he was sure with Y/n, he wanted to start a family with her, I mean his family loves her, everyone was on board for her to join the Hemsworth clan, they are all sure that she was the one for him, but Y/n is only 23, she's too young, she likes Australia to spend sometime, but misses Vermont, she doesn't see herself living in Byron at all, and she still doesn't imagines herself as a wife or mother for five to ten years, while Liam wants that now.” Yep.

Jacob Elordi: 2021

Shortly after moving back to Los Angeles post-break up Y/n was photographed in the company of another Australian, Euphoria actor Jacob Elordi.

Jack Harlow: 2021- forever (?)

They met on September 13th 2021 and have been together since. Their love story is tooth-rotten sweet (we covered it here). Jack proposed to Y/n on July 13th 2022, less then a year after they met. Romantically enough they got married (legally), one year and a day after they first exchanged glances at the Met Gala, on September 14th 2022 in Las Vegas with only their parents present as witnesses.

Their wedding in November 13th was nothing short of fabulous.

Jack and Y/n got married in Italy. Drake was among the groomsmen, the guest list was eclectic and star filled, three of Y/n exes were in attendance, Harry, Timothée and Shawn—we love an evolved couple, and if there's one thing Jack doesn't lack, is confidence for this kind of ballsy move—, 600 people were invited to the weekend long celebration. The bride wore a very romantic creation by Dior, while the groom wore Givenchy. Taylor Swift—a friend of the bride—serenaded the couple on their first dance with the very romantic ‘Lover’. 

The newlyweds left for their honeymoon in a yacht.

In January 2023 we got confirmation that Y/n legally changed her last name to Harlow “We are that kind of people, it was important to him, it was important to me, my mother has my father's last name, and so on, I didn't drop my last name, I just added my husband's last name. I don't understand why people are making such a big fuss about it…”

The couple recently announced that they are expecting their first child.

[seoul-bros]

Imagine Your Korea - Yoonmin Retro Chic

Jimin and Yoongi have spent the last month wrecking us with their stunning visuals in a series of videos for the Korean Tourist Organization. Ostensibly designed to introduce us to three cities and the island of Jeju they also gave us an insight into the history of popular music in South Korea.

The whole atmosphere of these ads is retro chic, and I can't imagine any other BTS member pulling it off quite like these two perhaps with the exception of Tae.

The teaser (released 14/10) sets the scene. When was the last time you saw a Walkman? Many people probably never even owned one. A whole section of Tumblr oblivious to the joy of painstakingly crafting a mix tape for your crush or the devastating disappointment of a well-loved cassette being lost forever in a knotted mess of tape.

We have two dudes listening to some rad tunes in an apartment that is floating in time somewhere between the early seventies and middle nineties.

An on a side note, one thing is certain, nobody's parting Jimin from that necklace this year. Work or play it's become a permanent fixture.

Busan Blues

On 20/10 the Busan Blues ad came out and made a big impression. How many times did you watch Yoongi and Jimin stroll nonchalantly into the bar that day. Me? Well let's say a few more times than was strictly necessary.

The loose open shirt and white vest, the cravat like tie and the waistcoat. That right there is a great look for Jimin.

Who wouldn't want to share a whisky with these guys?

The classic tune “Come Back to Busan Harbor” by Cho Yong Pil was released in 1972. It was Cho Yong Pil's first solo hit after working in bands. Today his career spans more than fifty years and he is said to be one of the most influential figures in South Korean pop music.

Daejeon Rock n Roll

The Daejeon Rock n Roll video was released on 20/10. A classic 1980s rock theme was used, and big glasses and cool jackets were the order of the day.

The song used is “A Chance Encounter” by Songolmae who were active from the late seventies to the beginning of the nineties. This particular rock classic was released in 1981.

Nothing like seeing Yoonmin grooving to 1980s vinyl.

Pohang Hip Hop

The Pohang ad came out on 27/10 and to celebrate the Iron City of Korea producers delved into the back catalogue of SK Hip Hop.

The background track is "Do you know Hip Hop?" by Drunken Tiger which was released in 1999. These guys rejected many of the traditional kpop rules e.g. they didn't do choreography. They had their share of controversies but are credited with helping bring hip hop into the mainstream in South Korea.

RM has collaborated with Drunken Tiger in the past including a very powerful performance in Buckubucku in 2015 (see RM solo from 2.36 m onwards) and Timeless in 2018. Look out for the Bangtan Bomb of him performing with them live at the Seoul Music Awards in January 2016. There is also a video of the rest of BTS getting in on his camera action which is hilarious. They were boisterous and happy. BTS was really riding a wave back in 2016.

Jeju Jazz

Finally on 8/11 we got the Jeju Jazz ad. The island features in so many kdramas and reality shows that by now I have started to think I know my way around.

They are both breathtaking in this ad. There has been a lot of talk recently on Yoongi's long hair and to be honest I am not usually a fan. I have realised that to me he looks better with glasses and in full professor mode like the recent photofolio behind and reaction videos.

But in this case I can definitely make an exception.

The song is "The Wind is Blowing" by Park Sung Yeon. She is known as the 'Godmother of Jazz' in Korea and dedicated more than 40 years of her life promoting Jazz music in the country. She died in 2020 a year after recording the song with Park Hyo Shin.

This is Tae's mate who has posted with him a number of times in the past year including in January on Tae's Instagram and July on his own Instagram when V went to see his show, The Man who Laughs.

Wow what started as a summary post for the Yoonmin ad series has turned into a wide-ranging voyage through the South Korean music scene. If you have made it to here, thanks for reading.

All I have left to do now is get to Picadilly Circus to see Jimin and Yoongi on the big screen before the ad rotation ends.

Source: @KTOLondon

Post Date: 18/11/2022

[formula-what]

Brocedes time line for a very patient anon

Lewis quotes in orange, Nico quotes in pink, everyone else is blue.

okay first some background knowledge:

Nico is rich as fuck. only child, born in Germany, brought up in Monaco. son of world champion Keke Rosberg

Lewis was born on a council estate in Stevenage and his dad had to work multiple jobs for him to start karting

Honestly I think the difference in their backgrounds is one of the things that pushed them together, they were both isolated from the rest of the kids, but I’m keeping this purely facts rather than speculation.

2000

They’re both 15 years old and are karting teammates for MBB (Mercedes Benz McLaren) in Formula A

Robert Kubica: “there was always competition. But they didn’t fight. It was friendly competition. There was always laughing afterwards.” // “they would even have races to eat pizza”

They often shared hotel rooms at the races which was a “scene of many wrestling matches between them”

Dino Chiesa (their karting boss) – “many times I was called by reception about some problem in the room. It might be noise, or they might have broken something. They would never sleep so they were always tired the next morning”

“they both liked ice cream so much, particularly vanilla. During the night they wanted to eat ice cream always, so I had to go out everywhere to find some and keep them happy”

Lewis would often persuade Nico to buy him sweets

They would have competitions over LITERALLY EVERYTHING

Lewis: “we always had great competition whether on the racetrack or computer games or playing football”

“probably the first bit of competition we had was when Nico used to ride a unicycle everywhere so I thought, ‘I’ve got to learn how to ride this unicycle. Ive got to be better than him.’ I spent all my time outside the go-kart learning to ride this unicycle”

Apparently it only took Lewis 2 hours to teach himself how to do it

In maybe 2013 ish (when they were still friends) Lewis reflected with– “I have never laughed so much than when we were racing together. Nico was kicking everyone’s butt at that time. We had so great races together and built a great relationship”

“we were just arriving and enjoying go-karts and eating pizzas every weekend, fighting all the time and just having fun, whereas now it’s all business.”

many times they would talk about what they would do when they got to f1, made plans hoping to be teammates and become world champions together.

“Nico would say ‘when I’m in formula one’ and for me it was always ‘if I ever get to formula one’. Because obviously Nico’s dad was a formula 1 driver- he knew he was going to make it.”

F1

Nico joined f1 in 2006 with williams, Lewis 2007 with McLaren. And man I WISH I knew what went down with this two when Lewis nearly one his rookie season (missing out by one point to mr fernando alonso) and then WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP in his SECOND SEASON (again by one point thank you mr alonso)

2008 Australia

Nicos gets his first podium, and ofc Lewis is there (he won it) and they are jumping around in the cool down room. Just, two kids who are literally living the one thing they have spent their whole lives dreaming about together. Lewis won the championship that year and oh wow I can only imagine their celebrations together.

2013

They’re teammates in Mercedes!!!

Nico: “every other day there are moments or things that pop up and I can smirk and thing, ‘that’s exactly the same as it was 15 years ago’”

2013 Malaysian Grand Prix gets an honourable mention. This is the race with red bulls good old multi 21 but merc also had their own team orders, stopping nico from fighting for his first merc podium, but Lewis disagreed with it so it didn’t really spark that much tension between them- more the team.

2014

the start of the turbo-hybrid era so y’all know this was good in terms of performance.

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

They were both fighting for the win and had a collision which prompted a “mock fight” in parc ferme after the race (which I really hope there’s a video of).

Turns out, Nico won because he had used engine modes banned by Mercedes to get a power advantage in the closing laps. which kinda pissed Lewis off

2014 Spanish Grand Prix

Lewis’ fourth win in a row and took lead in the championship. They were fighting till literally the last second and Lewis crossed the line 0.6 seconds ahead of Nico, who says he could have passed him with one more lap.

Lewis defended using the same banned engine modes that Nico had used in Bahrain. Yeah.

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

This is IT. This is peak petty bitch. This is the one people still cry about.

It’s the end of Q3, both of them are out on a lap, Nico ahead of lewis. Nico’s already on provisional pole but Lewis is pretty close.

And then,, Nico just,, parks his car?? He says he made a mistake but the guy doesn’t even crash he straight up just,, rolls to a stop into a slip road. So the yellow flags come out forcing Lewis to abort a lap that was in the makings of pole.

The stewards say it was a-okay but Lewis was convinced it was intentional (and let’s be honest, yeah it probably was) and he even claimed that merc’s data proved it. (low key surprised he didn’t just tweet out the telemetry but I guess he got a stern telling off from mclaren last time)

But *this* is when Lewis tells the world that they aren’t friends anymore. An iconic interview.

Nico then wins the race too, ending Lewis’s four win streak and putting Nico in the lead of the championship.

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

Lewis has an engine failure in quali meaning he starts from the pit lane, but he does good to make his way up the pack but THEN there’s a safety car which puts him ahead of Nico but on a different strategy.

Nico asks if Lewis can let him past as he needs to pit again before the end of the race, which will give him the place back anyways. Lewis straight up refuses, he’s on a role here. He started from last, and Nico started from pole, why should he slow down to let his title rival through.

Mercedes strongly suggest that his blocking fucked up Nicos race but Niki Lauda is on Lewis’ side so he doesn’t get punished (We stan a supportive father figure) even though he did blatantly refuse to be a team player.

And guys, this is the last race before the summer break so you know Nico was left seething for four weeks.

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

Second lap, Nico attempts a clumsy move and there’s contact, giving Hamilton a puncture and knocking him out of the race.

There’s a lot of controversy but basically it turns out he crashed with him intentionally, not backing out of the corner to “prove a point”. Nico ended up finishing second but was punished by the team, forced to apologise, and even booed on the podium.

2014 Abu Dhabi

For some reason it ran for double points?? The first time in History??? But idk???

Lewis had a perfect start and went on to win it and take the title, Nico had a problem and was told to retire the car but he kept going anyway and finished 14th. Nico went into the cool down room to congratulate Lewis on the championship win, which. cute.

Lewis claimed his second championship. Which not only was huge because of the inter team rivalry, but also because of the large gap between his first win. This guy had lost out on winning the championship in his ROOKIE season by ONE POINT, and then WON it in his SECOND season, and then there was like a FIVE YEAR gap before he won it again.

2015

Damnnn this car was fiiiinneeeeeee.

They do more laps in testing than any other car AND do it on a single power unit. And then. Australia. They take a one-two THIRTY FOUR seconds ahead of the third place Ferrari.

2015 Chinese Grand Prix

Nico is second in a one-two but claims that Lewis kept backing him up into Seb, trying to compromise his race (and help out his boyfriend).

Lewis gave zero shits: "It's not my job to look after Nico's race, it's my job to manage the car and bring the car home as healthy and as fast as possible. That's what I did."

2015 U.S. Grand Prix

If Lewis wins here he could also claim the title with three races to spare (you have to remember back then the title fight often went up to the last race so this was pretty cool)

Lewis very aggressively forced Rosberg wide at Turn 1 to claim the lead, and then there was some sexy fighting between the Mercs and Redbull all race. Nico led in the closing stages but made a mistake, running deep into a corner and letting Lewis past with only a handful of laps to go.

Nico finished P2 and had not only lost the race but the championship title. Nico was fuming, saying Lewis’ move at the start was “one step too far”.

This is the infamous cap throw in the cool down room. Lewis throws Nico his P2 hat, Nico straight up yeets it back at him. I tear up just thinking about it. They grow up so fast.

2016

Nico had came so close to winning and I guess this was just, the last straw. All or nothing. This year he literally gave it everything he had. Lewis and him stopped speaking, Nico gave up literally the rest of his life and even stopped sleeping in the same bed as his wife and taking care of his kids, instead spending every moment trying to get into Lewis’ head. Honestly, I think he might be the only one that could beat Lewis. Just because he knew him *so well*. He literally threw away like 16 years of friendship. But also it’s like, he had to be world champion. He *had to*. His dad was champion and his whole life he’s been preparing to win it too. Tough luck that he raced in the same era as Mr. Best Driver The Sport Has Ever Seen.

Nico won the last few races of 2015, and the first four races of 2016. Lewis had a couple car problems and Nico had a good lead on him in the championship.

2016 Spanish Grand Prix

Gentlemen. A short view back to the past. Nico had made a switch error on the formation lap causing the car to go into the wrong engine mode. So he was running a lot slower than Lewis, who was fighting to claim back the lead.

Nico closed the door to keep him back, and Lewis lost control on the grass, and spins into Nico and taking them both out of the race in the first lap. This is probably one of the most iconic crashes. I’m pretty sure there’s a clip of this somewhere in black and white with the titanic music over the top.

Niki Lauda blamed this one on Lewis (I guess even a supportive dad has to be critical sometimes) "Lewis is too aggressive. It is stupid, we could've won this race".

2016 Austrian Grand Prix

Nico had been struggling with a brake issue all race but was still on the way to win it. But in the last lap Lewis had caught him up and gone in for the overtake.

Typical Nico not taking any shit, refusing to be the guy that backs out and they collide. Lewis took the win and a damaged Nico dropped to fourth. From first. In the last lap.

Both of them blamed each other and tired dad team boss Toto Wolff threatened team orders in future races.

The stewards blamed Nico for the incident, issuing him two penalty points for failing to allow "racing room" and causing a collision.

2016 Abu Dhabi

In the final laps of the race, Lewis ignored team-orders from his race engineer and the technical director.

He deliberately slowed and backed Nico into the pack hoping they overtake him, and there would be enough of a points difference to win the title.

Nico finished second and won the title by five points.

And then,,, Nico announced a surprise retirement during the FIA prize giving ceremony.

Lewis’ response:

"This is the first time he's won in 18 years, hence why it was not a surprise that he decided to stop.” (We stan a petty king)

“But he's also got a family to focus on and probably wants to have more children. Formula One takes up so much of your time."

“In terms of missing the rivalry, of course because we started karting when we were 13 and we would always talk about being champions. When I joined this team, Nico was there, which was something we spoke about when we were kids. So it's going to be very, very strange, and, for sure, it will be sad to not have him in the team next year."

And now they are kind of on speaking terms but not really, they are both pretty private but I think they are at the ‘awkward small talk when we run into each other at the supermarket’ stage of the break up.

[feelingofcontent]

DNP Rewatch: Viewers ROAST my outfits!

Date video was published: 07/12/2021 (X)

DNP Main Channel Rewatch: 444

This seemed like such a random video concept.

0:01 - Phil starting with a squirrel impression...seems about right. also the golden pig is still missing after Dan hid it in Phil’s last video

0:06 - I can’t imagine dealing with this level of notice from Phil

0:26 - the “nervous boob grab” and the self call-out 😂

0:28 - I love that he’s willing to laugh at his past self

0:38 - some of these roasts are so good...starting out with a perfect one. that was quite the selfie back in 2016

0:48 - it is a very loud sweater

0:56 - he was amused enough by this one to include it even though it was from VPMO and not his fault

1:15 - I had never really noticed that before...but yeah

1:20 - okay, I’m with Phil on liking that one

1:45 - I want to know what other shiny things he picked out for the house (besides the golden pig)

2:14 - his favorite spon to have

2:31 - “I mean I’ve got Dan”... “I mean I’ve got Dan” Phil really just saying things I guess 😭

2:45 - show us more of this shelf Phil! they got the plushie when they went to a pop-up shop for Final Fantasy’s 30th anniversary. and they were apparently playing a lot of Final Fantasy during this month too

3:10 - oh uni Phil. the era of many of the looks that appear in this video

3:18 - again...this one really wasn’t his fault. I love the editing here where he put current-him on the TV in the past clip 😂

3:29 - yes okay that one is bad

3:39 - these two are more the hair issue than the outfits I think

4:05 - “caught in a moment” sure

4:28 - we were seeing...um...a lot of those gray shorts in summer 2021

4:43 - well that's a change from VPMO 2 when Dan said Phil was the only one who didn’t like how that shirt looked

4:47 - an unamused but still slightly amused Phil. here’s the unedited version of that, lol

5:02 - “those bomber jackets” like that he’s apparently grouping Dan’s matching-ish one into this as well

5:10 - this might be the worst one 😂

5:35 - that is quite the photo...just in what situation was he wearing that and posing like that. Phil doesn’t even have a further comment

5:50 - he says he’s doing the top ten but then gets distracted and does some of the others too

6:08 - oh, babies! he does look so nervous even in just that tiny clip

6:27 - I wonder how many tweets he read through before picking out what he would use for this

6:38 - patiently awaiting the “fashion moment” where Phil wears a crop top

6:45 - they really did dress to match the branding during the tour

6:54 - yeah Phil has a lot of random-phrase t-shirts...I don’t think he can comment

7:04 - always an oversized green hoodie as a sick hoodie over the years 🥺

7:15 - awww! he’s had that shirt for a long time (since at least 2015). and now every time he wears it I think about how he must have wanted to feel confident like this on that day

7:18 - he sort of managed an actual wink there!

7:26 - “a lot of gay vibes” is a perfect description of pco-Phil’s content

7:33 - he did bring it back later in the year for a video

7:43 - I really really thought he wasn’t going to mention the Dan mention in this tweet thread at all...and then he just read it out! and commented on it! so far from the (especially Dan’s) constant denial of clothes-sharing back in 2011ish. it really is a shared jacket 🥺

8:02 - he really does look good in purple. and blue. and black.

8:07 - well this Twitter thread/poll was from before VPMO 2 was made, so...

8:13 - this “number editing” became a bit of a thing for a few videos

8:19 - more aww! I think you can see that in his content and that’s probably partially why that got voted as the top look

8:38 - a lot of Dan mentions for no real reason other than he can. the casualness is so nice

8:54 - the annotation editing here is great 😂

9:01 - he had mentioned how bad this was in Answering Questions I Would Usually Avoid

9:18 - every element is pretty bad

9:48 - and now so does he 😂

10:09 - slight eyebrow raise at him saying “wedding” twice in a minute of video

10:28 - nice Phil!

10:39 - I love that he doesn’t seem to care what people think about his clothes

Honestly, this is one of those videos I was not that excited for from his initial tweets asking for the “best outfits” thread and roasts. But then I ended up really enjoying it; one of my top solo Phil videos from 2021, actually.

[dailytomlinson]

While many artists would jump at the chance to tell you how lockdown has been a fruitful opportunity for self-improvement, full of pseudo self-help books and pompous podcasts, former One Directioner Louis Tomlinson is adamant that he has done, well, nothing.

“I’ve just watched loads of s___ TV,” he says after a long pause. “The Undoing is decent, isn’t it?”

Twenty-eight--year-old Tomlinson from Doncaster was always the down-to-earth Directioner, frequently describing himself as fringe member who spent more time analysing the band’s contracts than singing solos, known for chain-smoking his way through several packs of cigarettes a day and swearing like a trooper. A rarity, these days, among millennials who’d rather suck on a stem of kale and tweet about their #blessings.

He's getting ready to rehearse an exciting one-off gig that will be live-streamed from a secret London location on December 12, announced today exclusively via the Telegraph. The proceeds of the night will be split across four charities: The Stagehand Covid-19 Crew Relief Fund and Crew Nation, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and Marcus Rashford’s charity FareShare, to help end child poverty.

The gig means a great deal to Tomlinson, whose first ever tour as a solo artist, to promote his debut solo album WALLS, was cut short back in March after just two concerts in Spain and Mexico. It was an album he’d spent five years working on: a guitar-led project that ruptured with the preppy pop anthems of One Direction, inspired instead by Tomlinson’s love for Britpop.

No doubt he was anxious to get it right following a decade “grown in test tubes”, as Harry Styles once described the band’s formation on the X Factor, where they came third before going on to make a reported $280,000 a day as the most successful band in the world. The pressure, too, was intense: all four bandmates had already released their own solo debuts.

Was he left reeling, I ask, unable to perform at such a crucial moment?

“The thing that I always enjoyed the most about One Direction was playing the shows, so my master plan, when I realised I was going to do a solo career, was always my first tour. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to for the best part of five years now. I got so close, I got a taste for it, and it’s affected me like everyone else, but I’m forever an optimist,” he says down the phone, with what I can only imagine to be a rather phlegmatic shrug.

Sure, I say, but the last year can’t have been easy. Didn’t he feel like his purpose had popped?

“You know what,” he says, reflecting, “maybe because I’ve had real dark moments in my life, they’ve given me scope for optimism. In the grand scheme of things, of what I’ve experienced, these everyday problems...they don’t seem so bad.”

Tomlinson is referring to losing his 43-year-old mother, a midwife, to leukemia in 2016, and his 18-year-old sister Felicite, a model, to an accidental drug overdose in 2018. The double tragedy is something he has been open about on his own terms, dedicating his single, Two of Us, from WALLS, to his mother Johannah, while often checking in with fans who have lost members of their own family.

It’s not unusual for Tomlinson to ask his 34.9 million followers if they’re doing alright, receiving hundreds of thousands of personal replies. It’s not something he will discuss in interviews, however, after he slammed BBC Breakfast for shamelessly probing his trauma in February this year. “Never going back there again,” he tweeted after coming off the show.

“Social media is a ruthless, toxic place, so I don’t like to spend much time there,” says Tomlinson, “but because of experiencing such light and shade all while I was famous, I have a very deep connection with my fans. They’ve always been there for me.”

In return, Tomlinson is good to them. Last month he even promised some new music, saying that he’d written four songs in four days. Does this mean that a second album is on the way?

“Yeah, definitely,” he says. “I’m very, very excited. I had basically penciled down a plan before corona took over our lives. And now it's kind of given me a little bit of time to really get into what I want to say and what I want things to sound like. Because, you know, I was really proud of my first record, but there were moments that I felt were truer to me than others. I think that there were some songs where I took slightly more risk and owned what I love, saying, ‘This is who I want to be’. So I want to take a leaf out of their book.”

Fans might think he’s referring to writing more heartfelt autobiographical content such as Two of Us, but in fact, he’s referring specifically to rock-inspired Kill My Mind, he says, the first song on WALLS. “There’s a certain energy in that song, in its delivery, in its attitude, that I want to recreate. People are struggling at the moment, so I want to create a raucous, exciting atmosphere in my live show, not a somber, thoughtful one.”

He sighs, trying to articulate something that’s clearly been playing on his mind for a while. “You know, because of my story, my album was a little heavy at times and a little somber. And as I'm sure you're aware, from talking to me, now, that isn't who I am.”

It must be draining, I say, the weight of expectation in both the media and across his fanbase, to be a spokesperson for grief and hardship. To have tragedy prelude everything he does and says.

“Honestly, it’s part of being from Doncaster as well, I don’t like people feeling sorry for me. That’s the last thing I want.”

Too many incredible memories to mention but not a day goes by that I don't think about how amazing it was. @NiallOfficial @Harry_Styles @LiamPayne @zaynmalik . So proud of you all individually.

The problem is, says Tomlinson, he doesn’t have the best imagination. “I have interesting things to say musically, but what’s challenging from a writing perspective is that I write from the heart, and I can’t really get into someone else’s story. And right now, being stuck at home, you have so little experience to draw from. It’s actually quite hard to write these positive, uplifting songs, because actually, the experiences that you're going through on a day to day basis, you know, you they don't have that same flavour.”

There is something that’s helping, though: a secret spot near Los Angeles, where he divides his time. “It’s remote and kind of weird, and I’m going to go there for three days and write. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to it. I found it via a YouTube video. It’s got some very interesting locals who live there, it’s sort of backwards when it comes to technology. It feels like you’re going back in time when you’re there. But I don’t want to give it away.”

Another source of inspiration for his second album is the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ back catalogue. “I grew up on their album Bytheway. And during lockdown I've been knee deep in their stuff. I’ve watched every documentary, every video. And I find their lead guitarist John Frusciante just fascinating.”

Has he spoken to Frusicante?

“I f______ wish,” snorts Tomlinson.

Surely someone as well-known as Tomlinson could easily get in touch?

“No, honestly, I think he’s too cool for that. He’s not into that kind of thing.”

Tomlinson’s passion for all things rock is also spurring on a side hustle he picked up as a judge on the X Factor in 2018: managing an all-female rock band via his own imprint on Simon Cowell’s Syco label. While the group disbanded before releasing their first single, and Tomlinson split from Syco earlier this year, the singer is keen to nurture some more talent.

“I'm not gonna lie, my process with my imprint through Syco, it became challenging and it became frustrating at times,” Tomlinson says a little wearily. “The kind of artists that I was interested in developing – because I genuinely feel through my experience in One Direction, you know, one of the biggest f______ bands, I feel like I've learned a lot about the industry – they weren’t ready-made. So I had lots of artists that I took through the door that were rough and ready, but major labels want to see something that works straight away. I found that a little bit demotivating. I love her and she's an incredible artist, but not everyone is a Taylor Swift.”

Tomlinson spends much of his free time scouting new talent either on YouTube, Reddit or BBC Introducing – he’s currently a huge fan of indie Brighton band, Fickle Friends. His dream is to manage an all-female band playing instruments. “Because there's no one in that space. And I know eventually if I don't do it, someone else will!”

Before he drives off to rehearsals, we chatter about how much he's been practising his guitar playing, and how he can't wait to take the whole team working at his favourite grassroots venue, The Dome in Doncaster, out ice-skating after he performs there on his rescheduled tour. “Because I've got skills,” he says, and I can hear his chest puff.

And then I ask the question every retired member of One Direction has been batting off ever since they broke up in 2015, after Zayn Malik quit. Rumours that his bandmates saw him as a Judas went wild after some eagle eyes fans noticed they’d unfollowed him on Instagram. Payne, Tomlinson, Horan and Styles have barely mentioned him since. Recently, however, they re-followed him, and Payne has teased that a One Direction reunion is on the cards.

So: might 2021 be the year of resurrection?

“I thought you were going to ask something juicier!” say Tomlinson witheringly. “Look, I f______ love One Direction. I'm sure we're going to come back together one day, and I'll be doing a couple of One Direction songs in my gig. I always do that, so that's not alluding to any reunion or anything. But, I mean, look, I'm sure one day we'll get back together, because, you know, we were f______ great.”

[jikookuntold]

When do you think members knew abt jikook.

I don't think they told members before they were in a stable position as a group or a couple.

You can't say yeah we are gay and dating one day and cancel it next day right.

I think members knew or speculated it but there weren't given a verbal confirmation.

I think jin speculated things were different between them by 2016 , as either he observes what they are doing or get genuine mly confused coz of their dynamics. That eatjin dec vlive was a perfect example he was confused by them and several other moments.

Maybe just maybe tae and hope as they were very close to jikook especially that time also roommates of jm.

But other I don't know , as 1. I don't think namjoon or yoongi were having lot or free tym or spending tym with members off days as they are very busy with music making etc etc 2. I think by that time boys were not discussing who were dating who were not also rm told this in an interview in danger era that they don't discuss about that things now and in past they used to. 3. I dont think they are not so eager to know very personal things about members until they are ready to reveal it themselves. 4. Those tyms bts were busy af they were even shooting continuesly for 2 days during grun era without even sleeping much so dating things were not even a topic within them coz of their schedules.

I think they felt some jikook shenanigans were different but either ignored it or waited till they say it themselves. Coz even in mid 2018 namjoon asked them if they were a couple coz they were wearing matching shirts in Canada. It was not him being funny or cheesy he was genuinely asking them that too when camera was not focused on them. So why he would ask of he knew their relationship status.

Hi Anon. Sorry for answering your ask a bit too late. I agree with you. I can't imagine them going to the hyungs saying: "hey guys, we are dating, deal with it." Stating something like this is a big deal, and a bit selfish, considering the consequences, and first, they themselves had to become sure if they are a thing or not. But, I think the members had guessed something is going on between them even from their early years. Indeed, they weren't into each other's private businesses, but they were living in a small dorm, and all the members, especially the closer ones (Jin as their drinking partner, Tae as a part of maknae line, and Hobi as Jimin's roommate for a long time) had sensed different vibe in their relationship from 2015 and 2016 (a few moments are proving this theory, for example, Hobi's reaction appearing on Jimin's hotel room in 2016 Tokyo vlive, or Tae's 2015 live when he said Jimin doesn't come to his vlive because he is spending time with JK). Of course, they didn't know for sure but considering them being obvious in front of the cameras, it wouldn't hard for them to guess.

But here is something I should state. Don't take it in the wrong way, but hookups and flings (het or queer) are not uncommon between the idols, even the idols of the same group, and probably the members had thought it's not a big deal and would not turn into something serious. But it did regardless of their expectations, and that's why their reactions to Jikook moments became more awkward in early 2017 (Thinking about Hobi's reaction to Jimin's ring in vlive in February 2017 or Jin's shocked face when Jimin almost kissed Jk's neck in fansign a few weeks later). But after that, there was nothing to hide, and all the members and probably the company knew about them, and they wanted to protect them from the potential dangers and maybe make the others get used to it. This attitude became more obvious in late 2018 and 2019 when Namjoon asked them if they are a couple or something or Jin asked "are you two dating". Of course that wasn't because the didn't know, and the editors could easily cut out this moments but they didn't, and it makes more sense if we think they keep those moments because they want us to "get used to the idea of them being a real couple", than "make us think a fake couple is actually a real couple".

Anyways, this is my take on this topic, and I can be wrong.