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melodeathgoddessreborn · 2 years

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Token of The Spiritbox - Part One

Am I crazy? Did I do a Sleep Token/Spiritbox fanfic at midnight on a work day at 32 years old? Yes. Yes, I did. And it’s coming out AMAZING.

Far too warm to be January. Far too quiet to be just outside the city limits. He didn’t like it. Every crunch of brittle tree litter beneath his boots made Mike Stringer uneasy. He knew it didn’t make sense. It was just a pre-tour camping trip before the 3 month long trek across North America, but something about the night air felt too damp. Too thick. He took the winding path back down the hill to the campsite where Courtney LaPlante and Zev Rosenberg were waiting for him by the flames of a dwindling fire.

“About time! Thought you were eaten by a bear or something,” Courtney poked. “I’d like to refrain from looking for a new husband any time soon.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. Don’t you know?” he replied with a cheeky grin, “I wrestled a bear once!”

Courtney looked up slowly from the legal pad she was scribbling lyrics on - lyrics she was not entirely sure she wanted to share. Her glasses were perched precariously on the bridge of her slender nose and for a brief moment, she wondered how she had survived his jokes for so long. To be fair, without that band, she wouldn’t have met him at all and that was not a thought she cared to dwell on. “Just put the wood on the fire, Mike,” she chuckled softly.

“Hey, I thought it was a pretty sweet throwback,” Zev called from his tent. He had been mindlessly drumming with two sticks, enjoying the residual warmth of the fire without being too close to it. He was comfortably tired and cozy in a puffy jacket and sweatpants. It was nice to be out and about again with his friends. Mike seemed a bit off, but he was predisposed to being more quiet than usual right before a long stretch of shows. He took nothing for granted and always had making the fans happy on his mind. If it was one thing that man enjoyed doing, it was playing for others.

Snap.

Courtney dropped her pen with a start. Realizing that she also tilted the legal pad a bit too far forward, she quickly pulled it to her chest. “What was that?” she whispered.

Snap.

The sound was moving closer. Painstakingly slow but moving, nonetheless. She whipped her head towards the treeline to look for her husband. Zev had heard it, too, and crawled quietly towards Courtney, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Mike, without any sort of weapon at the ready, methodically scanned the campsite for something to wield at whatever was out there. So there actually was something out there causing the hair to stand up on his forearms after all. Please don’t let it actually be a bear, he thought to himself. No, that sounded like human footsteps... A human, he could take. The seconds passed like hours and Courtney thought she might stop breathing. Zev could feel her trembling and gripped her shoulder a little tighter for reassurance. And just in case he had to push her out of the way of whatever was about to happen.

A strangely tall figure, fully cloaked and wearing a battered white mask that vaguely resembled what could pass for an alien skull, emerged from the forest. No weapon. No shirt. No…shoes? Peekaboos of milky flesh showed through a thick, black paint.

“What the…?” Mike staggered backwards, not quite sure what to make of what he was staring at.

After a long pause, assumingly to dispel any fear of imminent danger, the cloaked figure spoke.

Sort of.

“Do the three of you make up the musical fellowship they call Spiritbox?” It was a man’s voice through a robotic distortion filter. He sounded vaguely British, but it was hard to tell.

No one spoke. The crickets played their violin legs and owls hooted in the distance. At this point, Courtney had lost her glasses in the dirt beneath her feet and the pen had once again slipped from her fingers.

“Do not be afraid. I am the Vessel of the deity, Sleep. You must accompany me. It is very urgent,” the man said in a calm voice.

Zev shook his head wildly. “Oh, no. Hell no. You can forget that. I didn’t sign up for any of this creepy, ‘ritualistic sacrifice’ kinda stuff when I joined this band. Let’s go.” He took Mike and Courtney by the arms and turned to face the direction of the road.

As if created from the breath of the night sky, three other human forms wearing similar yet slightly different clothing made themselves known, blocking Spiritbox from leaving the campsite. They were surrounded.

“Who are you and what do you want with us?” Courtney barked. The adrenaline kicked into high gear and she stared down the masked leader, her nerves giving way to a steely resolve to get back to her dogs and cloudy Canadian afternoons on the porch.

“You may simply call me Vessel.” He gestured to the other three people. “I, Two, Three, and Four comprise Sleep Token. You have been chosen to assist us in resurrecting the Temple of Respite. The world depends on you. On us. I will explain everything on the way to the worship hall, but you must hurry.”

Spiritbox was silent. The world fell silent. The only audible sound was Vessel’s breath against the back of his hardened clay face covering. Mike eventually cleared his throat. “As ridiculous as this sounds, do we have a choice?”

“MIKE!” Courtney exclaimed. Her deep brown eyes bore a hole through him.

“What?! We’re in the middle of nowhere, we can’t get back to the cars easily, and we can’t hike home. We have to go with them.”

Zev quietly agreed. He was bubbly, kind, and funny, but he knew when to be serious and now was one of those times. Completely disarmed and feeling the shiver settle back into her gut, Courtney mumbled, “Fine,” and they set off into the moonlit night, not knowing how their decision would radically change the future.

#spiritbox #sleep token #fanfiction #metal #alternative metal #I'm just obsessed okay?#It's kind of a problem

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primrose-avenue · 4 years

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The jealousy is strong in this one.

#sidlotte #sanditon #sidney x charlotte #Sidney was watching them like a hawk #he always knew that Stringer had feelings for her #charlotte heywood #james stringer

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twopoppies · 2 years

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Hiiii! (again feel VERY free not to publish, I'm not trying to stress anyone out or hurt anyone's feelings) but yes!! i agree, adele and lil nas and ed sheeran and taylor swift and anyone in the realm that harry wants to be in ARE ruthlessly ambitious. To pretend otherwise is just... wildly naive to me i guess? In what it takes to reach that level of success. I think that was my point? So it's so weird to me when people are sooooooo defensive of harry. Like... he *does* do things that many of his fans probably wouldn't like. People react to any criticism of him like he's some kind of underdog but he's so BELOVED in main stream culture that it makes me be like wut? (I guess that's the point of my original ask, it reminds me of christians being like WE'RE SO PERSECUTED!!!! while most people in the U.S. are christians).

Could you maybe talk about why you don't think that's an interesting/important lens through which to view success? Is it just because it's so obvious? Because I always get the vibe from a lot of the fandom that Harry just happened into extreme stardom without any planning or free will of his own.

Oh and just a small example, but in terms of carelessness, I would say I think Townes is an example of that. He unleashed the fandom on her, and when asked if he warned her, he explicitly said no. I also think he lifted Bukowksi (blah) imagery directly from his poems (you flower, you feast/// this thing upon me like a flower and a feast) without really crediting it, as just another example. Not malicious, but careless.

I truly don't think any of this makes Harry "bad" (though i don't really view people in terms of good or bad) but it makes discussions surrounding him very defensive and flat when everything even slightly negative is ignored because someone wants him to be perfect.

I think I just disagree with the adjective "ruthless" because it denotes having or showing no pity or compassion for others. I just have never seen anything about Harry that gives me the impression that's how he is. He's said if he's going to play, he wants to win. I'd describe him maybe as fiercely competitive. Or profoundly ambitious. I don't know... the word ruthless is so negative that it becomes difficult to have a balanced conversation about it if that's how you see things.

But I hear what you're saying about people being being very defensive about him. That's a layered issue, I think. Part of it is the fractured nature of this fandom. There are so many people who claim to love him, yet turn on him and turn on people who support him, the second something happens. As I said earlier, if you're not condemning him, you're accused of babying him or putting him on a pedestal. I just think there's a middle ground. I also think people often feel as if they're being personally attacked if their fave is attacked. Like, he has to be perfect or somehow I'm a bad person for liking him.

In addition to all of this, I think people can get defensive about him because there's a narrative that a certain faction of the fandom created and pushes that he actually is ruthless and not only broke up the band to have solo stardom without regard to the other guys, but also created babygate in order to ruin Louis, and continues to try and sabotage him (in cahoots with Rob Stringer and the Azoffs). If that's who you believe Harry to be, then please unfollow me because that's such a disgusting thing to say about anyone and there's literally no basis in reality for any of it.

Maybe it's because I've been here for a such a long time that I never see people acting as though he just stumbled into his success. That, to me, is just silly. He's clearly been groomed for this since he was 16 – regardless of whether he was always aware of it, or always wanted it. He had to have realized fairly early on what was going on. Just the fact that he was connecting himself with the Azoffs as early as 2014 gives you an idea that he knew he was going to need big guns behind him to get what he wanted.

As far as Townes is concerned, I doubt that she wasn't told. Just because he said that in the BTA doesn't mean it's true. That would just be bizarre behavior. And from people I know who knew her, she seemed just fine (and also never dated him). Expecting a songwriter to credit imagery from poetry or books or art that inspired them seems like overkill to me. I just think Sony isn't looking to get sued, shit like that would be talked about and sent to lawyers etc. if it was deemed an issue. I mean, Hootie and The Blowfish basically put a whole verses of Dylan's Idiot Wind into their song, Only Wanna Be With You. Dylan was asked, and was fine with it for years, then later decided he wanted money. I'm sure Bukowski's heirs would do the same if they were bothered. Again, I don't think that's necessarily Harry's job. That's why labels have copyright attorneys on staff.

I don't think we should treat him as if he's perfect, but I do think there's so much we don't know about how things are run behind the scenes. It's fine to dislike the way his team handles things and it's fine to complain about it when they've fucked up. And yes, Harry can take his share of the blame when his team messes up. They're "his team" after all. I just think a lot of people have a hard time balancing it all – it becomes all or nothing. He's either perfect or he's the worst. And the truth is, he's neither. But I enjoy him and his music and the way he presents himself, and he makes me happy. So I'm happy being a fan.

in reference to this

#harry's image #lucius #tpwk #fandom dynamics

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galaxcal · 3 years

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Y'all, Neuro playing violin

Yep the au I talked about of yesterday, I honestly love the idea seeing Neuro playing with an musical instrument.

This post is a bit long so if you're interested, you can click 'keep reading' to continue!

Hc time! (With the pretty much same idea from my last post) :

- This is an AU where everything remains the same but Neuro plays violin

- While interested in humans and wanting to understand them more (more like to understand why Yako sometimes took a 360 on several cases), inspired by Aya, he figured he may find a way to understand human emotions by exploring more through human music

- From classical to rock, something still hadn't clicked even though he had listened and looped Aya's song millions of times, until he is visiting the theatre for a mystery and he had to sit through an orchestra

- Hearing from Yako of how orchestra music were usually included with strong flow of feelings, he thought it may be a great start for him

- Anyways he chose violin for his first experiment due to the concert master

- No need to say, he mastered it within a day

- And since then the agency members were going to listen to his playing daily as it kinda became a routine

- They were all amazed by his playing, Godai would not admit it though, Akane enjoyed it with her hair treatment session, Yako was happy but couldn't help and feel a bit sad from the music.

- Neuro plays mostly classical, but there will be always a surprise

- "Em, Neuro, What was that?" "It is a rather popular lullaby from the demon world." "T-that was a lullaby!?" Imagine the 'lullaby' like what you heard from Evil Stringer

- She mentally noted herself to never asked about his tastes in 'music', because she knew she will be suffering from ruptured ear drums

- *3 yrs timeskip* Yako admitted that she indeed missed Neuro's playing.

- Since Neuro returned to the demon world, Yako put his violin in the storage room of their office

- "Are you picking violin up again?" "Oh, did the slug miss its master so much to be eager to listen my playing?" The answer is yes.

- Neuro's playing always brings a sense of peace to Yako, it had been a daily thing for her, and now she found that missing piece of puzzle once again

- Now that Neuro is back, She can start looking forward to the solo musical of Neuro for tomorrow

- Or maybe, Yako maybe has learned how to play guitar and they may have a duel!!

Okay, maybe there's a lot of missing piece but I have fun doing this, I hope you enjoy this au I created (I may add more soon who knows)

I am wondering if I could make a fic for it but honestly I have no idea how. I know nothing about music, or forget everything *looks at my ukulele, violin and flute covered in dust*

#mtnn #majin tantei nougami neuro #nougamineuro #yako katsuragi #sasazuka eishi

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harryskalechips · 4 years

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Illicit affairs

A/N Hellooooo! I haven’t written in a while but enjoy this little sad piece inspired by Taylor Swift! Thank you for all the love! I hope you guys are doing well! Feel free to leave a kind message in my inbox ��️

Y/N was a new intern at Colombia records when she met Harry Styles. Their relationship takes a turn however, when they start an affair.

Tw: Cheating

Thank you @harrysleftchelseaboot for letting me participate in your writing challenge! For any writers out there who want to give it a go make sure to check it out! I would love to read some new work.

Prompts:

“Be a good girl and spread your legs for me.”

“I’d punch you, but that would ruin that pretty little face of yours.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“Leave.”

Note: I do not condone cheating whatsoever! Please mind that this story is fictional! As much as it makes me sad to paint Harry as a cheater, it’s part of this storyline I thought of as I listened to Taylor’s album, Folklore.

Word count: 5k / Masterlist

Y/N never knew she was going to be in this type of predicament. Falling asleep every night in a man’s arms, only to wake up alone in her cold sheets at dawn. For some odd reason, his vanilla scent smothered her atmosphere every time, leaving her in a subspace-like condition. She found her thoughts easily shifting to him or feeling the need to touch him. She’s whipped but sadly also clingy.

Does she have an excuse to feel this way? She was only 21 when she began working as an intern at this man’s record label. He was her first serious relationship and although he was married -there always seemed to be a weird tension between them.

It all started when she was assigned to follow Rob Stringer through his meetings in 2017...nonetheless she met Mr. Harry Styles. One of the members of the biggest boy band, One Direction. She knew exactly who he was, especially since he was sexualized by the media too often at an early stage of his career. She knew his first solo album was a hit and that in her job description, she had to be present at every interview he had. She also knew that the ring on his finger was a symbol of love for his wife that he married a year ago.

Months on end, she barely spoke to him. She was shy -feeling as if her personality would bore Mr.Styles. One night however as the team went out to celebrate his last show for live on tour, he himself invited her.

They were at a club in New York -A very private one to be exact when Harry found himself too interested in the quiet intern. To be honest, his life at home (when he was there) wasn’t what he planned for. His wife was too busy, only fighting him whenever he stepped foot inside. She barely had any more interests in his music or his life -and suddenly, it felt like two strangers living in that mansion. It wasn’t an excuse for him to keep glancing at the girl as she danced with her co-workers nor was it an excuse for him to buy her a drink. Funny enough, he always thought of himself as a hopeless romantic since he was waiting for that particular someone to love him back once again and save his marriage. But before he could stop himself, he was already walking towards the girls dancing on the floor and getting to know them.

After that night at the club, Y/N felt different towards Mr. Styles. Of course, she was still intimidated but she now knew him on a more personal level, leading her to call him Harry instead. That night as they sat in one the booth upstairs, she listened to his jokes and stories and it made her start to have a little crush on him. But hey, he was married and she would never want to ruin a relationship.

As her days became busier at Columbia -sorting papers and running for Coffee, She always glanced at the elevator hoping Harry Styles would come out and was in need of a conversation with Rob in person. She knew he probably called her boss though the phone but her brain was rummaging for ideas why he would start appearing in her life once again. That was until one day she heard Gina and Louise in the staff room during break talking about Harry coming in tomorrow. Boy, did her heart began to beat fast. Maybe, it was manifestation but she was a bit too excited to see him again as it’s been a couple of months since she last saw him.

“Y/N,” Rob calls out for her as he plays with a pen in his hand. “Meet me in the main conference room in five minutes. I need you to note down my meeting today.” He gives her a small smile and quickly walks off. She knew full well that this meeting was about Harry Styles.

As she sat beside Rob at the long table, she realized that the whole table was filled with people from publicity and other departments. Right in front of her was the man she’s been thinking of, beside him was his manager. It’s not like she was deeply infatuated with him but she did love thinking about his pretty eyes.

Matter of fact, as she first glanced at him, her eyes already met his. He was smiling and staying quiet as the meeting immediately began but his fingers played with his pen as he watched her. She was too focused on the shittier details of what they were discussing. He wanted to tell her so badly that she didn’t need to write some things down but he was having fun watching her bite her lip in stress. He wasn’t smooth though. Since she was already feeling his gaze burning through her.

As the meeting went on, Harry became a bit more serious about why he came into the office. They were in the talks of his new second album and now, they had to plan publicity and tour. Some of the staff even asked how his trip to Japan was and although he was so excited to share his fantastic experiences, it was sad to mention how his wife didn’t even bother coming along.

“Are you not going to say hi to me?” Harry teases Y/N as they’re the last ones to leave the conference room after their long meeting. She had to clean up the table while he chose to sit in his chair, pretending to do important things on his phone. When he waved bye to everyone as they left the room, he pointed at his phone, explaining he needed a few minutes to send “important emails” -he just wanted to catch up with his new friend, Y/N.

“Hi.” She tries her best to act normal and unaffected by his presence. “Sorry, I couldn’t say hi earlier. When Rob said five minutes, I didn’t know the meeting was already taking place.” Harry laughs at her apology since he wasn’t petty at all for her lack of greeting today.

“I was just teasing. How are you?”

“I’ve been good.” She smiles back at him as she tosses the last remainder of paper cups in the bin. “I think the last time I saw you was last year. Where have you been?”

“Why did you miss me?” He raises his brow as he spins his chair a bit. He gives her a smirk as he watches her lean herself on the table.

“Just a bit. I loved watching your interviews.” She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms against her chest. “At first I wanted to sleep through them but now I rather go through those back and forth instead of, filling random sheets out for Rob.”

“Heyy, I think I’m pretty interesting during interviews.”

“Oh no! Don’t get me wrong you are! It’s just you have such a raspy voice and you talk so slow! You can literally put me to bed anytime.”

“Am I talking slowly right now?”

“Just a bit. I haven’t seen you in a while. I kind of forgot!” She laughs. “ What else did you do other than Japan? Spent some time with your wife?” Y/N wasn’t going to lie… bringing up his wife kind of made her uncomfortable but she knew this was a good way to get to know him in a friendly way.

Harry couldn’t help but give out a humourless scoff as he rests his head back on the chair. His eyes, however, meet her’s again. She couldn’t help but watch his adam’s apple bob up and down.

“Marriage is hard you know. If I’m being honest with you, I haven’t spoken to her in a week. She’s been on vacation, travelling in Europe I think with her best friends.”

“She’s a model, right? She must have a lot of free time. I’m sure she can make space for you.” Harry slaps his knee in sarcastic humour as he shakes his head at Y/N’s innocent idea of who his wife truly is now. “I’m sorry. I guess it’s more complex than I thought. I haven’t really been in a relationship at least a long term one.”

“Are you free tonight?” Harry asks her out of the blue.

“Yes.”

“Can I come over? We don’t need to do anything but I would love to hang out with you and I don’t know... forget I have all these responsibilities.”

“Sure.” What Y/N didn’t know that this night would forever change her relationship with Harry.

It was late in the night as Harry sat on Y/N’s couch talking to her about everything. His life, his career, his marriage. Usually, it wasn’t easy for him to open up so quickly to a stranger but for some odd feeling, his gut was telling him that he could trust this pretty girl beside him. It’s like he knew she was trustworthy and non-judgemental.

Ever since he first noticed her during his meetings, he found himself involuntarily glancing at her. That was until he grew some balls and invited her to his after-party. Maybe, He did find her pretty and a bit too hot but even if his marriage is going through the rocks, he did not want to cheat. He didn’t want to be that type of guy. Yet during his time in Japan, he found himself thinking of what would happen if he was single right now? Would he actually make a move on her?

“What are you thinking of?” The same woman calls him out as she takes a swing of the wine bottle into her mouth.

Yes, the found themselves enjoying Harry’s expensive red wine so now they’re passing the bottle.

“You.” He was a bit tipsy and so was she but they were still sober enough to choose their words properly.

“Me? Why me? Why not that hot model you call your wife.”

“She left my mind before I even met you.”

“Yet you’re still with her. Why?”

“I don’t know.” He looks at her as he takes a sip of wine.

“Okay, so why are you thinking of me? Are you happy you have a new friend?” Her cheeks were very red at his confession but she was trying to make herself believe it was because of the alcohol.

“I’m happy that I finally got to know the girl who sat quietly in the corner during my interviews.” He smirks at her as he watches her try to hide a smile.

“I was intimidated by you!”

“Why was that, love?” Y/N was not expecting him to call her that. She places the almost empty wine bottle on her coffee table and sits back in her same position as she’s wrapped in the same blanket Harry is.

“You’re Harry Styles. Every woman is head over heels for you and Every man wants to be you.”

“Are you head over heels for me?” Harry squints his eyes as he says the first thing that comes out of his mouth. It wasn’t his intention to flirt with her but they both knew they had overpowering chemistry. The only thing holding them back is well… Harry’s marriage.

“No.” She bluffs. He continues to look at her. “Fine, a bit but you’re married so I know how to control myself.”

“What happens If I can’t?” his tone drops as he mumbles to himself. “I’m sorry what?” Y/N chokes as she looks at him.

“I know I’m married fuck.” He sits up and rubs his face in frustration. “It’s just I never wanted a girl so bad after my marriage. I shouldn’t! I should be happily married but for some shit reason, I can’t get my mind off of you.”

“Harry, there’s consequences about what we’re talking about right now.” Y/N sits up as well as she watches him. Does it still count as cheating if his wife is barely in his life anymore?

“I know. I’m sorry. I know you aren’t that type of girl. I would never disrespect you like this. I should leave.” He begins to stand up immediately. Y/N says nothing as she follows him to the front door of her apartment.

“Thank you for coming, Harry.” She opens the door to let him out. He simply nods as he walks past her through the door. As she watches him walk down her hallway, she closes the door. How was she feeling? Well, she was trying her best to not feel regret but instead relief. She leans her body on the wooden surface, trying to make herself feel happy that nothing happened between them -Yet her heart was beating too fast for a guy she had just met.

The loud pounding on her door, however, makes her head shut up. She immediately opens it to find no one other than the curly-haired man who had just left her apartment a minute ago.

He immediately grasps her face into his hands as he kisses her eagerly, making her shut the door behind him. His body quickly pushing her’s against the wall, as his lips attack her jaw down to her neck. Her hands resting on his shoulders as she leans her head back to give him more area to leave his soft licks and kisses.

“Shit Y/N. You’re making me go crazy.”

“Harry.” She moans as he rubs himself against her centre. He whispers a command to her, making her jump and wrap her legs around his waist and he carries her to the first surface in his line of sight, which is her dining table. It was a dark wood wooden table that was meant only for eating purposes.

He helps her take off the sweater she was wearing as she throws it behind it her without a care. With her hand, she guides his mouth back to hers, making them both moan as this sexual tension is finally being relieved. Her nipples became hard in an instant as they felt the cold temperature.

“Where’s your bedroom?” He pulls away as he’s unbuttoning his shirt. His mouth was open a little bit from their heated makeout and his lips were juicy pink after kissing her. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“You want to fuck me right here?” Y/N blurts. She wasn’t the type to have sex with a new partner for the first time on her dining table but her room was a mess and she was a bit shy letting him in there.

“Are you that eager baby?” A smirk plays on his lips as he tosses his shirt. “Well If you’re that needy, why won’t you take off my pants?” Y/N’s cheeks turn red as she reaches forward to unbuckle his jeans. “You know, how fucking long I’ve been jerking off with my right hand?” Harry asks as his hand runs through her soft hair, letting his thumb rub against her pink plump lips.

“For a long time, Daddy?” She murmurs against the pad of his thumb as she lets his thumb enter her wet mouth.

“Look at you, you’re a little devil.” Harry pushes his pants off until they reach mid-thigh. He quickly helps her out of her tights, pulling them off her almost instantly that she had to hold onto him. “Should I get a condom?” He pants as his hands involuntarily run themselves against her soft thighs.

“I’m on the pill and I’m clean.”

“I’m clean too.” He looks down at her closed legs as he pumps himself a bit. “I promise.” Y/N nods as her hands guide his body back closer towards her.

“Be a good girl and spread your legs for me.” He whispers as he watches her show him her wet needy sex. “Fuck, you look so good right now.” He leans in to kiss her more. His mouth going south as they reach her breast. His mouth sucks on her nipple as the other grabs and rolls her the other one.

“Fuck stop teasing me. I need you.”

“Beg for me, Y/N. I know you want to.”

“Harry please!” She feels his hand directing his wet cock to her centre. Teasing her and playfully slapping her entrance. “Daddy!” His eyes immediately stop looking down as he grabs her hair, making her look at him.

“You okay with this love? Do you like it rough?” Y/N nods her head as she stares into his eyes.

“I need you to use your words, baby.”

“Yes, I want it rough.”

“What did you call me earlier?” A cheeky smile forms on his face as he watches this little girl about to crumble in his hand.

“Daddy.”

“You’re going to keep calling me that or what?”

“Only if you want me-” Harry inserts himself in her, making her choke on her sentence.

“What do you call me?” He leans a bit further downs so their bodies rub against each other as his arm supports her back while the other hand chokes her neck.

“Daddy! Fuck, I call you daddy!”

“I know I’ve been deprived of some good sex but you feel so fucking tight! Do guys not know how to fuck you?”

“Only you can.” Harry pulls his hand away from her neck and instead grasps her face so she can watch their centres connecting.

“You like that view? Is it turning you on? You’re fucking clenching me, baby!”

“Harder, daddy.” Her arm wraps around his shoulder as he pulls away and turns around, making her bend on the table.

“You want it harder baby? I’m going to fuck you so hard, you’ll never be able to sit at this table without remembering how I fucked you so good.”

~ The day after their first time sleeping with each other scared Y/N. As much as she tried to avoid letting Harry see her messy room, they ended up in there anyway. They participated in a couple more rounds and a deep conversation too until they fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.

What Y/N was scared of was how Harry would react when he woke up in her sheets. Of course, they weren’t too drunk last night but the alcohol did give them a confidence boost. Now it’s the day time and they have to deal with this new boundary they had just crossed.

“Good morning.” A raspy voice speaks up as she sets her head on her hand. Her elbow putting all its pressure on her pillow while she watches the man who’s laying on his stomach smile at her.

“Hi.” She gives a soft smile back. Harry immediately notices the hickeys on her neck, making him not guilty but a bit more proud.

“I marked you.” Y/N’s eyes widen as she sits up and wraps her hands around her neck. “Why you don’t like them?” Harry fixes his position too so he can rest his back against the headrest. He rubs his eyes for a few seconds before helping her straddle his waist. “What’s wrong, Baby?”

“You’re married.” Her finger mindlessly traces one of the sparrows on his chest.

“I know.”

“You think she’ll get mad?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think she cares.”

~ Y/N and Harry’s affair went on for months that they even reached his tour and new album reveal. Although they never said the three most important words, Y/N already knew it was there.

What she loved the most these past months with Harry was their privacy. The secret hookups in changing rooms, the knowing glances in a room full of strangers, and their affectionate touches when they had to pass things to one another in front of her boss.

She knows he’s married and there was no doubt, they fought about his relationship status. But Harry explained that divorces in Hollywood were more complex than for a regular couple. And while Y/N pretended to understand, she truly didn’t. She didn’t understand why he had to keep up this act of being in a happy relationship when he can simply leave his wife -not for her benefit but for his own happiness. Still, every time this fight occurred, they chose to sweep it under the rug. Maybe it was because she wasn’t ready to lose him. He had always been so persistent on his reasoning why he’s been delaying that action. She was scared that he would leave her during another fight only to run back to his wife. What she didn’t know was that she may be a bit too right, after all, he wasn’t ready to admit that his marriage was over.

“Hi, Baby!” Y/N opens her door to find her “boyfriend” with a bouquet of flowers.

“Hi!” She wraps her arms around him in a hug as she lets him enter her apartment that they know too well. If she had to be truly honest... despite having so much alone time with Harry, she’s never been on a date with him but you know -that’s something she had to let go when she decided to get involved with a famous married man. Yet it still didn’t stop her heart from feeling envious when she would be in the restaurant with her friends watching a random couple have dinner together.

Harry takes his hood off and hands her the flowers. “I’m sorry I couldn’t text you this past couple of days. You know that woman who lives with me.” He sighs and gives her a kiss on the lips before continuing on, “We were having lunch together and she noticed I wasn’t wearing my ring anymore so we fought.”

“So you’re wearing it.” Y/N places the flowers on the table and crosses her arms.

“I have too.”

“No, you don’t Harry. She’s only wearing her’s for show. You’ve been cheating on her for seven months!” Y/N snaps at him. She hated it when he wore his ring. It was just a real sign that maybe he was lying to her during the times, he said he was over their marriage and he was going to leave her when things become less complicated.

“Baby, hey stop yelling.” He walks towards her so he can wrap his arms around her. “I’m sorry. You know I care so much about you. Please don’t cry.”

“I can’t stand that you’re married to another woman. Please leave her Harry.” Y/N pulls away as she holds onto his shoulders, begging him. “Please.”

“I’ll try.” He breathes out.

“You’ll try?” She pulls away immediately looking at him. “What do you mean? Have you not been trying to do that these past few months!” He rubs his face in frustration.

“It’s hard Y/N. I told you countless times.” “I know it’s hard but what’s stopping you from doing it! You told me that you don’t want to lose me but for some odd reason, it seems like you don’t want to lose her!”

“She was my first love Goddammit!” He finally yells back at her.

And that's the thing about illicit affairs

And clandestine meetings and stolen stares

They show their truth one single time

But they lie and they lie and they lie

A million little times

They both found themselves caught off guard as the silence screamed in their ears. How could this safe space where they spent their nights rolling in the sheets feel so… indifferent? “Harry please be 100 percent honest with me.” Y/N backs away slowly as she reaches a few feet apart from Harry. “Do you want to leave her?”

Silence.

“You told me you did? Did you change your mind?” Her eyes widen as she watches the man in front of her absolutely speechless. “I’d punch you, but that would ruin that pretty little face of yours.” She lets out a sarcastic laugh.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen.” He stares at the ground with his hands in his jeans. “Of course, I want to leave her! It’s just-”

“Leave.”

“What Baby no!” He quickly looks up and tries to make his way towards her.

“Harry, stop. What we have is over! I’m not going to let you use me until your stupid sick marriage fixes itself!”

“Y/N that wasn’t my intention I swear! You know what marriage means to me! I can’t simply-”

“Fuck what you think of marriage! You don’t want to leave her but you rather continuously hide me while you go to awards with her -While you go on fucking dates with her!”

“It’s for publicity-”

“I don’t care!” She screams. “I realized that this isn’t working out and we should stop!” The pressure in her chest was making her hyperventilate. “We should have stopped months ago!”

“Fuck I don’t want to lose you, please. You’re the only thing that’s been making me so happy.” He reaches out to take her hands but she simply pulls away.

“Harry! Listen to yourself! You’re married! I’m starting to think you have a fear of having a failed marriage like your mom and dad! But please for the love of God, don’t drag me around because I won’t let you!” Harry’s faces change into anger as he gives her a cold look.

“Well don’t drag my parents’ marriage into this! I told you that because I trusted you not so you can use it against me!”

“That’s not what I was trying to do!” Y/N pleads. “You won’t lever her Harry! You won’t!”

“How do you think people will react!” He gestures with his hands. “ After three years of marriage, Harry Styles is getting divorced!” He mimics a random news reporter.

“So-” “I’m not going to let myself be categorized under Hollywood’s failed marriages!” “It was already failing before you met me! Can’t you see I just want you to be happy!”

“I am happy when you’re with me!”

“Well, I’m not!”

“You don’t mean that.” Harry scoffs as he runs his hand through his hair in frustration.

“How can I not? I’m hearing stories every day about your fights at home. This isn’t even a relationship Harry! It’s an affair! An illicit one! And I-I’m a secret!”

“I don’t want to share you with the public! They will judge us and they’re going to ruin you as they ruined me!” He rambles on. “I’ve been stalked and judged for things I didn’t know matter!”

“I would rather go through that with you -than to watch you from far away and only have you with me when we’re here inside this apartment.” She points at the floor.

“I can’t Y/N. I can’t let that happen and I won’t.”

“Then this is over then.” She quickly wipes her tears as she notices Harry doing the same. The yelling seemed to die down as they finally realized that this problem they tried to ignore wasn’t going anywhere.

“You know… for some reason, you taught me a lot of things.” Harry clears his throat as he wipes his wet palms on his pants. “Despite only letting you have one half of me. You somehow took over my whole mind. God, I would love to fight for you Y/N.” He looks at her as he feels tears forming in his again. “I do - I truly would.” A pause happens before he continues, “ For you, I ‘d ruin myself a million times but I would never let you do the same.” He emphasizes to her. “ I don’t want to let you go but I know I should because even if I go get that divorce, I’d still want to keep you as my secret -and that’s not what you want.”

“I-” Y/N stops herself. She wanted to tell him that she loves him but she knew it wouldn’t help them at all. “I’ll still see you for a while. After my internship though, I’ll be gone.”

“Do you think we’ll stay in touch.”

“I don’t think we should.” She blurts it out as her eyes glance at the fresh bouquet sitting on her table.

“Alright. I guess that’s it.” Harry sniffles a bit before walking to the door. “I’ll see you.”

“Goodbye.”

And Y/N thought she wouldn’t have to see him again after her internship. Although her heart was broken, she found herself counting the days until she can find a new job. After their unexpected ending, she no longer found herself lonely in the mornings but during the nights too.

The days he came by the office were more difficult than she thought. She would still feel his gaze on her during their meetings but he no longer greeted her nor gave her any attention. He would walk right past her desk when he visited the office but he would act as if he never knew her in the first place - Not a glance or a wave.

And that was fine with Y/N, at least she tried her best to think it was. Until her meeting with Rob a week before Harry’s album release.

“Y/N, I would love to offer you a job here at the company. I will give you a position in Marketing for Harry Styles.” Rob hands her a manila folder across the table. “ You know a few months ago, he spoke about your hard work and how much potential you have and he’s right. This would look great on your resume and the pay will be better here than if you were to start off at another company.”

Days of thinking and non-stop anxiety flooded Y/N’s mind. She knew her plan was to cut all ties with the pop star but the career that had just been handed to her had so much potential. Potentiality can help her with her student loans and give her a more comfortable life. She would be stupid if she passed the offer because of him. So with no more hesitation, she took her phone and called Rob.

“I’ll take the job offer.”

Part two here!!

#zoeyswritersappreciationwc #Harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles angst #harry styes imagines #harry styles one shot #harry styles one shots #harry styles smut #harry styles stories #harry styles fanfic #one direction #solo harry #husband!harry #harry styles fluff #affair #one direction one shots

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evakuality · 3 years

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Mia, episode nine

1. For once, Mia actually has the right take on Alex. He really has been a dick and an asshole, and he is and has been acting condescending. She should be taking this as a warning; he’s totally exactly as she is saying here. Unfortunately, I’m sure she’s going to change her tune because some sort of truth is going to come out about Bjorn and Mia is going to ‘realise’ that Alex is a good guy all along. Except, he isn’t. He never has been, and the fact that Bjorn had to be the one to tell her means that we can conveniently pretend that none of this is important. Also, this ridiculous ‘what he did to me’ stuff is annoying. If you have something to tell her... tell her. Don’t be coy about it.

2. This little scene with Amira is nice. It’s a nice conversation to have with her rather than the others since she’s really the one who can empathise with Mia’s fears and worries. And it’s interesting to see the varied ways in which the library is used. In this scene it’s very cold, black and white colours (even in the costuming), not very inviting. In others it has been a much more cheerful and welcoming place. I guess we’re looking at the black and white, very rigid approach which Mia is using. In other library scenes it’s been much more about bonding with the girls, warmth and connection, but here it’s a Mia who’s having something of a crisis. I may not agree with where this is all going, but I do like what they’re doing with colouring etc here.

3. I get that we’re trying for a whole ‘don’t be so black and white in your thinking’ thing here, but it’s so contrived. Again, I think this is an issue where we as an audience never got to ‘meet’ Alex as he mellowed and became someone Mia would like, and so I just can’t believe that someone like Mia, who is strong in her opinions and principles, would want to give them over for him. He’s proven over and over again that he’s got a lot of issues being open, honest and decent. And for me, principles (eg ‘violence because someone waved at a girl is never okay’ which is where Mia is at rn because Alex won’t actually talk to her) are important, and the guy Alex keeps showing himself to be is not one you would drop those principles for. Nuance is all well and good, but we have to actually see past the shell for the nuance to actually work. ‘I don’t understand why I got involved with him at all’ - no, neither do I, Mia. And given that it’s been only a few short weeks and you literally saw how awful he was to Kiki, I don’t see why this ‘desire is stringer than faith’ metaphor thing we have going on would work. We’re on episode nine and they are talking about how shitty Alex’s behaviour is (which it is - no matter what reason, what he did to Bjorn isn’t okay and lying to Mia isn’t okay), so I’m to believe that within the space of 1.5 episodes none of this matters suddenly? His behaviour is somehow forgiveable? If it follows the og, it’s not even like he changes. All that happens is that we get some ‘perspective’ on the situation. And in this case, perspective may make something make sense, but it doesn’t change how bad the behaviour is. I seriously dislike that Amira says that depending on what reason someone hit someone else that it might be okay. That sort of violence isn’t okay, particularly because regardless of what actually happened between Alex and Bjorn, in the moment the reason he hit him was because he greeted Mia. There’s NO excuse for that!! This whole ‘well I’m as bad as Alex because I was in a fight over Hanna’ is bullshit too. It’s a false equivalence - Alex attacked Bjorn because he waved at Mia and had met her at Alex’s place (exacerbated by their history, but he didn’t attack just from seeing him - that came only after he asked Mia how she knew him). Amira was involved in a fight in the moment and it was on equal terms - they were giving as good as she did. I didn’t like that Sana was sometimes used in this way in the og and I dislike it here too. Making her the voice of reason when she’s saying stuff that pits disparate things as if they’re the same is a problem for me. It’s particularly bad that Amira is saying ‘well I don’t like Alex either, but you looked at each other...’ which is a terrible message for young people. These two were together for half a second. Mia can and will find other, better guys. Just because they looked at each other in a certain way doesn’t mean that they should be together. That sort of romantic ‘star crossed lovers’ stuff is seriously annoying when banked up against all that we see of Alex in this show, Not what we’re told, but what we see. There’s no reason why someone like Mia a) would have got with Alex and b) would have stayed with him after the behaviours he’s shown her (and which she saw over and over again with Kiki). He gaslighted her into getting with him to start and everyone appears to be happily gaslighting her to stay with him. If she has reservations about him, she should listen to them. This isn’t a one-off strange and seemingly out of character thing for him; this is exactly how he’s been for the last many many weeks.

4. The thing that really annoys me about this (and the og) is that we can only accept Alex/William as a good guy if we have another guy acting as a really really bad guy. Like, yes there’s no question that Bjorn is an absolute asshole, manipulative and disgusting. But that doesn’t mean Alex isn’t also a bad guy, manipulative and disgusting. He is those things as well. He has some redeeming qualities? Well, sure. But I suspect so does Bjorn if we’re not seeing him through the villain lens, and we were talking to people who care about him. ‘Look, this is what real gaslighting/manipulation/assholishness etc looks like, so Alex isn’t bad after all’ is again such a bad take. One person can be a problem even if another is worse. It’s also so random that Mia literally just trust Bjorn right away about everything, even down to ‘alcohol solves all problems’ ‘yeah okay I’ll take one’ - like why? She clearly knows it’s a joking lie, and yet she’s all ‘sure I’ll take a beer from some guy I barely know who has some bad history with the guy I’m conflicted about and who clearly wouldn’t want to have him around’ when she doesn’t even want one. None of it makes any sense. If she’s really there to try to listen to Alex, why on earth would she think that chatting with this guy is a good idea? Clearly this ‘has’ to happen for plot reasons, but from a character standpoint it doesn’t make any sense at all. Neither does ‘I’m at your place and I wanted to talk... oh but I can’t talk later because I have to study’ - again I know for plot reasons this has to be this way, but she could just go home now and study and meet Alex later. If she has time to talk to him now, she has time to talk to him later.

5. The fact that she’s spending all this time hanging out with Bjorn is clearly going to come back to bite her, but unfortunately I don’t care because I dislike Alex so much that I’m not even remotely invested in the outcome of this little journey. You can clearly see the way Bjorn is manipulating the situation and making sure there’s video and photographic evidence of them together. And it’s obvious that it’s going to really upset Alex - he bashed him with a skateboard just for waving at Mia, after all. But I have so little interest in this relationship, and I think Mia needs to get miles away from both these guys and so I just... don’t care. It’s done well, this little series of clips etc, and you can see that a lot of care has gone into making this part. But for me it falls flat because not enough time or care went into making Alex into someone I like to start with. As bad as it is, because he’s so obviously going to be such an asshole, Bjorn currently comes across in a much more sympathetic and likeable way than Alex. That’s partly because we didn’t spend weeks watching him trash Kiki and then be all weird and shitty around Mia, but it’s at least partly because we get to SEE and HEAR him being charming, which we never got to see with Alex. Alex’s scenes where he was ‘nice’ were always in montage and whenever we hear him speak it’s always a lot more complex and there’s always a layer of discomfort over how he is with Mia. And for the purposes of this part, when we supposedly don’t know how bad Bjorn is, this works. But it also highlights a big failing in the way Alex has been presented. We never got enough nice, charming Alex to balance out all the shitty things he’s done.

6. The whole bit with Mia getting steadily more blurry is done really well though. It’s obviously coming up on her in a way she hasn’t really noticed and it does make it all start to get uncomfortable alongside Mia as she slowly starts to feel uncomfortable. And alongside that we’re back to mirrors, where Mia has always been in two minds and we haven’t seen any for a while, but now we have one again. This time we can clearly see her in the mirror but she’s feeling blurry and so the image is blurred a little. Alongside the disturbing sounds/music, the extreme close ups, wavering camera and the harsh glare of the light, it’s again obvious that nothing’s quite right here. Again, we had the same lighting etc with Bjorn in the hospital and so we’re being shown he is the problem here. But at this point Mia doesn’t know that, and we are not supposed to know that and so it’s a way of visually showing us that things are wrong without spelling it out. It’s nicely done, even if I dislike the plot. Bjorn really is disgusting, btw. I’m not trying to minimise that at all and what he’s done in this scene is really gross. But that doesn’t change that Alex is also a problem.

7. Exhibit a: Told Mia is sick, he doesn’t leave. Now, he probably saw the stuff on Bjorn’s social media because it was clearly designed to be seen by him, and so he’s probably not in a good space and wants to confront Mia. But if she says she doesn’t want to see him, then he should take that and try again later. Plus, if he hates Bjorn as much as he says he does then first, he should have made his reasons why clear earlier and second, why on earth does HE still want MIA if she’s hanging out with Bjorn?

8. Kiki! I really like this little moment between the two of them. Kiki being able to say ‘I think I look great in my glasses’ when Carlos thinks they’re ugly is so good for her! She’s come so far from the person who tried to change herself because she wasn’t good enough for Alex. It feels a little sad that we never got to see that growth on screen, and it seems very fast from when she was still hung up on Alex, but good for her that she got there anyway. I’m so glad that she agreed to get therapy and has used that for herself. It’s particularly nice that we got to see her helping Nora later on, because she knows what can help because she’s been there. I know I’ve said it before, but I really like Kiki’s development over the series and I’ve become very fond of her. So much of me would really rather this had been a season of Mia realising that all the guys she’s hung out with have been assholes, and finding out that ‘we’re all there for you’ from the girls is what she needs (plus, a relationship with Hanna in a best case scenario, but I’d take just the friendship thing as a much more satisfying end to this part). Honestly, learning to not rely only on herself but on her friends would work so much better than shoving an entire relationship-reboot into the final episode. Particularly when she has literally only just told us how conflicted she is about Alex.

9. Bjorn is entirely and completely in the wrong here. Of course. But in actuality, the bits about Alex aren’t wrong. Yes, she should have reported Bjorn, but also... yes, Alex should be facing consequences for serious assault. Like. Again. This isn’t a one or the other situation. Just because Bjorn is being so overt about his gaslighting here doesn’t change the fact that Alex also gaslighted and did many other things as well. And again it bothers me that this is here to show us ‘see. See. Alex isn’t as bad as we think because this guy is worse’ - I know this is a carry over from the og (and I feel like it’s a much more empowering scene for Noora than Mia which is a shame), but I really dislike the way the shows are doing this. I really really wish this whole ‘crew love’ thing really could be the way we end up this season. That’s a much better outcome for Mia. And I know we have her with the girls in a good place, but honestly, we don’t need any of these boys.

Overall, there are some really nice things about this episode. The acting, for one, is very good. The way things were shot and shown on screen were very effective, and I am very much in love with the cinematography etc of this show as I always am. It’s a pity they had such a terrible blueprint for this season and had to stick to it because there are glimmers in here of what could have been.

#druck #og druck #mia - episode nine #update on feelings about Alex - still dislike him #some long rants in here I'm sorry #I just have a lot of feelings about the way this particular plot line is done #it's the og's fault but also Druck chose to follow along with it

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some-dr-writings · 4 years

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Gundham’s and Kazuichi’s mangaka S/O wants to draw them

Gundham Tanaka:

· Though you were the Super High School Level Mangaka you specialized in historical fantasy! You absolutely adored doing research and finding new mythical beasts and species to sketch and incorporate into your work. It was no surprise that Gundham became your muse the moment you two met!

· Gundham would allow you to visit his creatures and draw them to use as bases for cryptids and monsters of all sorts in your manga. The four Dark Devas often acted as your pose models given how unusually animated they were for hamsters.

· Having asked the Overlord of Ice to allow you near his animals so often you spent much time together and eventually started dating.

· “My Queen, the Stringer of Fates, what curse dares to plague your soul?! You’ve not touched the pages with which you create and destroy worlds, as if it were deadly to do so! You’ve yet to search out a demon to immortalize. Not even have you greeted the four Dark Devas of Destruction as you always have.” You huffed lazily watching the rabbit Gundham was currently grooming. “Artists’ block. I can’t seem to draw or write anything. Either I just stare at a blank page for hours, or I start something which quickly dissolves into an incoherent mess!” Rubbing your temples, you grumbled at the clogged feeling fogging your mind. “I did pull a few all-nighters last week. Maybe I’m just drained. But if things keep going like this, I’ll miss my deadline! I already asked for an extension on it last week, I can’t keep doing this!”

· Gundham watched as you picked up the sketch pad and pencil. There was this stiffness in your movements. Your hand which once flowed about gracefully like a bird in flight now paved plain straight lines. Your eyes darted about unable to focus on anything. “UGH! I can’t even draw a proper circle for the rabbit’s body!” Sinking into your seat you tossed your sketch pad and pencil aside. “Perhaps a day of respite is in order.” “No, I already took a day off yesterday. I feel I’m even worse now than I was two day ago.”

· The Devas quickly scurried over to you, hopping into your lap, or climbing onto your shoulder to nuzzle your cheek. “… thanks.” Gently petting the two in your lap you sighed in defeat.

· It was at that Gundham abruptly stood up. “Where is my Queen, and what have you done with her, villain?!” “… Huh?” “MY Queen would never rot away so quickly into a decrepit state such as this! She’d fight and claw till her final breath! She’d never faulter so easily!” “I Am, your Queen.” “Hmph! No, you are not. Now, tell me where she is.” You marched right up to Gundham glaring at him. “I’m right here! I am your Queen, the Stringer of Fates!”

· It started as a chuckle which boomed into uproarious laughter! “There you are. That determination, your will to live has returned to your eyes. I am glad to have you back.” Surprisingly, you did feel like you had more energy than before. “So, shall we be off? A piece of you is still missing and we must search it out less you start to fade away once more.” “… Yeah, a date sounds nice right now.”

· As a bright blush dusted his cheeks, the Overlord of Ice took your hand into his bandaged one, the other taking your bag of sketch supplies, he led you out of the school grounds into the great beyond!

· The day was filled with fun and laughter as you raced from place to place, doing anything you could think of. A walk in the park, a trip to the arcade, lunch at a café, shopping at a bookstore, and anything else you could have dreamed of.

· As the sun began to set, Gundham and you found yourselves at the clear beach, dancing around barefoot, not a care in the world. “… Gundham. Thank you, today was amazing.” His entire face instantaneously flushed hearing his true name being called. In that moment he just looked so beautiful to you. His sheepish smile, those tender eyes, just, everything about him.

· “May I draw you?” “… Of course, my Queen.”

· And thus you drew, having completely forgotten that morning or the past few days, you were struggling.

· “Ah! Your depiction captured my true form! I should have known you could see through my mortal guise!” He so happily admired your drawing with sparkling eyes.

· While he was distracted you worked on another piece, one of a dark king holding his queen close on the soft shores of the beach.

Kazuichi Soda:

· You never held much interest in machinery till you came to Hope’s Peak and met Kazuichi. It seemed just about every time you saw him, he was tinkering with something, from a small robot toy to a monster truck engine. Often times the parts of whatever he was working on were spread out, and then seeing how they all fit together fascinated you. Without realizing it you’d end up just watching him work for hours and sketching out the pieces and tools he was using.

· Quickly this fascination bled into your own work, incorporating steampunk-esque elements into it. And the more elements you added, the more references you needed. At first you tried getting some on your own, but you’d just end up injuring your hands and fingers in some way or you’d break the pieces.

· “Look, you got me into this mess and now you have to take responsibility.” “W-what!?” Before Kazuichi could panic you placed an old, rusted pocket watch before him. “How do I disassemble this!?” For a week or two after you’d bring some new item to Kazuichi to disassemble and reassemble. You eagerly sketched out the pieces you needed the references of and more.

· Quickly you and Kazuichi became friends. You would chatter away as you did your own things. Before you knew it the two of you ended up spending time together just to be together, no drawing and no tinkering.

· Kazuichi would go to you for advice for his unrequited crush on Princess Sonia to which you’d try your best to help, even if it did hurt a little given your crush on the mechanic. She wasn’t the only thing he spoke of though, so you had plenty of other conversations.

· Kazuichi certainly liked chatting so when one day he was quiet you got a bit worried… Then you remembered something. “Oh Soda. You’ve never been on a school trip before, right?” “Hmm, uh, yeah. I skipped out on the only one I got a chance to go on.” “Because of financial issues, right.” “Yeah.” “Well, I happen to be going on a trip all over Europe for background references and I was thinking who better to take along than my best friend and best mechanic I know!” The news certainly perked him right up, and he excitedly chattered on about traveling! Quickly the news spread, and it ended up becoming a class trip! Honestly, though a trip alone with Soda sounded lovely, you more enjoyed seeing how ecstatic he was to be going on an actual class trip with everyone.

· The trip was fantastic, it seemed to be nonstop fun. Often you’d forget that you were being payed to go on this trip for work and that you needed to get reference materials, thankfully Mikan took more than enough reference photos for you.

· Though during the trip, you noticed how Kazuichi, though still friendly, was a bit more reserved than usual. When you asked him what was wrong, he said he appreciated the concern, but it was something he had to work out on his own.

· Eventually your trip took you all to France the city of love. The place was certainly an artist’s dream, you found yourself drawing nonstop there. It was amazing!

· At one point in your trip your class wanted to get to a restaurant at the top of a rather large hill, but the only way to get there was via a thin road by car. So, you, Kazuichi, Sonia and your driver were the last to get to the restaurant.

· Then the car broke down. Kazuichi immediately went to check the engine while Sonia stood at the edge of the road, looking out at the sunset. It was a gorgeous sight, her profile, the sunset, the city lights, everything. You had started sketching out the scenery when a though struck you.

· You elbowed Kazuich, gaining his attention. You then leaned in real close while still looking at Sonia, not noticing the blush spreading on his cheeks as he kept looking to you. “Hey Soda, now’s your chance. This view is absolutely romantic, and you’re in the city of love. Don’t you think this is the perfect time to ask out the girl you like?” This hurt, it really did, but seeing how happy he was to be going on a school trip without worry like he always wanted, you could hardly imagine his joy if Sonia got together with him at a time like this. It hurt, but you just wanted to see him happy.

· “… Ask out the girl I like, huh…… Okay.”

· Turning to you he placed his hands atop your shoulders. “Y/N I have a crush on you. Please go out on a date with me.” “… Wait? I thought… what about Nevermind?” “I, well, yeah, I do like her, but… I really like you… I… That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out lately and... so I... You get it, don’t you!?” “… Soda, please let me draw you!” “Huh?” “Well, if we start going out, we’ll be boyfriend and girlfriend, right? I’d like to have something to commemorate the moment by.” “S/O!” He pulled you into a tight hug, giddy out of his mind.

· You ended up drawing him at the restaurant. He loved the drawing so much he took a picture to use as his phone’s lock screen. From then on you often drew him for references for poses and though all great, his favorite would forever be the first one you made of him. It was made to celebrate you getting together, it was always so special to him.

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themattress · 3 years

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My Top 15 Favorite Gotham Characters

Plus one Honorable Mention.

Honorable Mention: Silver St. Cloud - She's an honorable mention because of how tragically the show wasted her. Silver was a standout character in 2A's “Rise of the Villains” arc, as we see all the layers peeled back from whimsical, kind-hearted, well-mannered young socialite to cruel, manipulative, cold-blooded agent of an evil religious cult to vulnerable, scared and remorseful girl in way over her head who forges a real emotional connection with Bruce. However, despite all the rich potential for her to develop even further as a character, she was never seen again after the 2A finale.

15. Tabitha Galavan - While as a character she's the very definition of a second-stringer, Tabitha is an interesting case study in what happens when a single ember of innocence is still left burning within the darkest of souls. Raised in the evil Order of St. Dumas and kept firmly under her older brother's thumb, Tabitha is certainly no angel, being the sort of person who will fatally stab an innocent old woman in the back and feel no remorse. But the desire to care and be cared for is still very strong in her, and we see it manifest many times: with Silver, and with Selina, and with Barbara, and of course with Butch. Unfortunately for Tabitha, she is also a case study in how this doesn't guarantee that such a person will receive a happy ending, as she is unable to avoid karmic justice.

14. Butch Gilzean - I didn't really care about Butch initially, since he didn't seem like anything more than Fish Mooney's affably evil muscle. After he became brainwashed into obeying the Penguin's every command, he gradually became more interesting and sympathetic, and by the time he got romantically involved with Tabitha I had become so accustomed to him and his perversely likable sort of villainy that I couldn't imagine the show without him. But maybe the show would have been better off without him after his death in the Season 3 finale, as the immediate retcon afterward of his real name being Cyrus Gold and his resurrection as Solomon Grundy in Season 4 was just nonsense, especially when he ends up just as dead in the Season 4 finale as he was in the Season 3 finale, so what was even the point? Sometimes, dead is better, and I’m sure Butch would agree.

13. Harvey Bullock - For much of Season 1 it felt like the writers were trying to play Harvey Bullock too seriously, and I think that was a mistake because the character always benefits from being played more broadly, and lord knows that Donal Logue can do that very well. Thankfully, that's exactly how he started to be played more often from Season 2 and onward, with whatever serious arcs he did receive such as in Season 4 benefiting from him being so much more likable as a result. I'd rather watch him on screen than Jim Gordon any day.

12. Leslie Thompkins - While initially kind of bland, Leslie "Lee" Thompkins is a character that grew on me overtime. I felt really sorry for her throughout Seasons 2 and 3 as Jim Gordon proved to be the worst love interest ever, bringing her no end of pain, and then in Seasons 4 and 5 she used that pain and anger to shape herself into a total badass anti-heroine who was still all about helping those in need but now was open to using less than moral means to accomplish this. She's a character who finished the show stronger than she'd ever been, and her and Barbara becoming bros is everything I never knew I needed.

11. Sofia Falcone - Sometimes, a sharp and devious mind is all it takes for someone to be a great villain, and damn did Sofia ever put hers to good use. In the comics, this was a forgettable character who was just an obvious thug in design and demeanor, but Gotham's version is terrifying in how petite and pretty and kind and charitable and all around attractive in every way she is...the perfect way to manipulate others and conceal that on the inside she's beyond just a thug; she's a raging, ruthless, vindictive, amoral sociopath who only cares about herself. And kudos to Crystal Reed, whose performance sold the character perfectly. The only real downside to Sofia is that the writers clearly were forced to write her out earlier than anticipated, and her abrupt exit from the show is nowhere close to being as satisfying as the build-up to her gaining power within the city would lead you to believe.

10. Ra's Al Ghul - As wonderful as Sofia was, there was never any question as to whom Season 4's most formidable villain was: the same villain who is the series' ultimate Big Bad, Ra's Al Ghul. Beyond the phenomenally perfect casting of Alexander Siddig, who is hands down the most comics-accurate portrayal of the character in live-action to date, Ra's benefits from the series positioning him as the final answer to the long-running "who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne?" mystery and totally being able to convince viewers that most of this series' events were according to his plans due to the self-assured, in-control and borderline omnipotent way the Demon's Head carries himself. No-one in Gotham City is left unchanged by his machinations, least of all his chosen "heir" Bruce Wayne.

9. Hugo Strange - The Big Bad of 2B's "Wrath of the Villains" arc is in the running for the show's most despicable villain. Professor Hugo Strange is a brilliant psychologist and scientist, but he is utterly devoid of a conscience and will do anything to achieve his twisted aspirations, from ruining peoples' lives with his experiments to bringing people back from the dead to personally ordering the death of those he considers to be friends. What makes Strange enjoyable in spite of his depravity is B.D Wong's performance: he looks absolutely perfect as a younger version of Hugo Strange and his voice seems to be channeling Corey Burton's Christopher Lee-inspired take from Batman: Arkham City. He's a much stronger villain than 2A's Theo Galavan, and tellingly got to return in every following season.

8. Edward Nygma - I really wish I could place Ed higher on this list, since the Riddler is one of my favorite Batman villains and Cory Michael Smith is perfect in the role. But sadly, he's the subject of some really weak writing throughout the show that holds him back from breaching my personal Top 5. Whether it be the constant Nice Guy(TM) hounding of Kristen Kringle, the bizarre Two Face-esque split personality angle, the ungodly stupid Isabella plot device and subsequent clashing with the Penguin because of it, his needless romance with Lee that didn't make sense for either of their characters (which wasn't helped by the fact that it happened at a time where he kept on getting made a fool of in a way that undermined how menacing he was just a season ago), and being used as an obvious red herring in the Haven explosion mystery...he really deserved better material, and it's lucky that Smith makes him so enjoyable to watch since it would otherwise drag him down much further.

7. Jerome Valeska - Cameron Monaghan's performance as Jerome single-handedly forced the Gotham producers' hands when it came to their original plans (or lack thereof) for the Joker in their series, as right off the bat he managed to perfectly capture the same maniacal energy that the likes of Mark Hamill and Heath Ledger did, meaning fans would accept no-one else in the role. While Jerome ends up being more of a test run for the actual Joker - the Beta Joker, so to speak - he still is one of the most frightening and malevolent characters in the show's entire run, spreading chaos for chaos' sake and causing pain to others just because he finds it hilarious, and doing it all in the most theatrical way possible.

6. Jeremiah Valeska - Yes, I agree that this character's whole basis - Jerome's secret twin brother who actually becomes the Joker - and how he was introduced is unbelievably stupid writing; in hindsight it would have made more sense to just find a way to transition Jerome into this kind of characterization as part of a continued evolution toward becoming the Joker. But we're stuck with Jeremiah, and as it stands he is a much worthier Joker than Jerome was. I don't really like the Joker whenever he's written to have no motivation beyond "random crime and chaos because LOL crazy!!!" - the best Jokers always have a reason for doing what they do, it's just that it's always a twisted reason that holds no basis in reality and just serves as an excuse for the Joker to spread pain and chaos across Gotham City and match wits with Batman. (Ex: Heath Ledger's Joker may say he has no plans and just "does things" as a manipulation tactic, but in reality he does make plans and does have the tangible objective of proving his nihilistic, anarchistic worldview to everyone; Batman in particular.)

Jeremiah's penchant for intricate planning combined with the psychotic objectives that lie behind his plans is what makes him more believable as the Joker compared to Jerome, and it really felt like the show's stakes rose to an entirely new, darker than ever before level when he stepped up to the plate at the end of Season 4. I also love his development: being in denial about his own insanity and likeness to his brother until his personal obsession with Bruce overpowers that and causes him to willingly give into the madness so that he can be a worthy enough foil for Bruce as Gotham's Dark Knight, since that gives his miserable life a sense of purpose. Add to this Cameron Monaghan still pulling off that Joker energy flawlessly and you have a Joker that can stand beside Nicholson, Ledger and Phoenix's portrayals.

5. Barbara Kean - This one really took me by surprise. I knew going into the show that Barbara was considered a poorly written, irritating obstructive love interest to Gordon in Season 1, but that she got Rescued From the Scrappy Heap in the following seasons. What I didn't know was the way that rescuing happened - she goes crazy and becomes a surprise villain in the Season 1 finale, and from then on out she is freaking nuts in the most hilariously over-the-top way, with Erin Richards chewing the scenery for all it's worth. Barbara is so entertaining throughout the various guises and positions she goes through across the series, not to mention a complete badass who you just can't help but respect for being true to herself even if she's an awful human being. Her redemption arc in Season 5 was a beautiful way to bring her journey full-circle, and I don't begrudge her the happy ending she got at all.

4. Alfred Pennyworth - We're all used to Alfred the butler, but Gotham got me accustomed to Alfred the soldier. Sean Pertwee is thoroughly convincing in the role of the hard-assed, frequently grumpy or moody yet caring, loyal and dependable Alfred, whose relationship with young Bruce Wayne is perfectly depicted. The only time I didn't care for him was during 2A, where he was cruel and unfair toward Selina because she killed his treacherous war-time buddy who almost murdered him and was planning on doing harm to Bruce. Thankfully, from the midseason finale and onward he managed to redeem himself, regaining his status as one of the show's best-depicted characters and maintaining it all the way to the end.

3. Bruce Wayne - This character was always going to live or die based on what child actor was playing him, and by God did David Mazouz nail it in his performance. Even putting the dead parents and destiny as Batman aside, Bruce Wayne is clearly not a "normal" kid, being raised in the lap of luxury and privileged to the point of extreme naïveté, with an overly formal way of speaking hammering in his distance from the rest of Gotham City. Watching him grow stronger and smarter and more worldly and responsible as the series progressed was always a pleasure, and he naturally made a far more compelling protagonist than Jim Gordon did, with the show ending on the shot that it does making it even more clear that this was primarily his story all along; just one elongated origin story for the goddamn Batman.

2. Selina Kyle - For quite a while in Season 1, the teenage girl who would be Catwoman spent a lot of time just slinking around the fringes of the story and accomplishing little of value. But once she finally met Bruce, Selina's character really took off, and she ended up becoming my second all-time favorite character in the show. Aside from the strong writing and character development, much is also owed to Camren Bicondova, who is utterly charming in her depiction of the cynical, sharp-tongued, street-smart thief with a heart of gold, and she is even able to make her rushed final transition into Catwoman in Season 5 believable. And kudos to Lili Simmons who plays her in the final episode, she is perfectly convincing as an adult version of Selina, looking and sounding just as I expect Bicondova to in a few years.

1. Oswald Cobblepot - OK, this is probably an unoriginal choice, but I can't help it - Oswald Cobblepot, aka the Penguin, is the one character on this show who just did no wrong as far as I'm concerned (as a character, I mean, he obviously did a lot wrong morally!) In addition to being the role Robin Lord Taylor was born to play, there is a consistency in the writing of his character and in the quality of his development that I think is unmatched by anyone else in the cast. Aside from that one blip in the Isabella plotline of Season 3 that I credit as more of a blemish on Ed than I do Oswald, he was always a fully three-dimensional character who acted and reacted believably, and he always stayed firmly on the line between being a heinous, ruthless, murderous criminal chiefly seeking power and a tragic, sympathetic, even funny and likable person chiefly seeking love. And he always remained the "noble villain" when compared to the other villains around him; always the one you could count on to join the heroes and do the right thing when it counted because he's a pragmatist with moral lines he will not cross....and because he loves and believes in Gotham City too, in his own way.

#Gotham #Opinion #Analysis

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cantquitu · 5 years

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THE STYLES COUNSEL, Music Week, 9 Dec 2019

BY BEN HOMEWOOD

Pop stars don’t come much bigger than Harry Styles, and according to Sony Music Group CEO Rob Stringer and his manager Jeffrey Azoff, there are none more fascinating. Music Week meets the singer in London to find out how his lavish new LP Fine Line will blow the business wide open...

“It’s not a place you want to take your pants off…” It’s absolutely freezing in the studio Harry Styles and his band are rehearsing in, and Molly Hawkins, his creative director, is handing out advice about using the bathroom. “It’s across the hall, but keep your coat on!” she says. We’re in a scraggy corner of King’s Cross in North London and, together with various members of Harry Styles’ team, Hawkins is tapping away at her MacBook, their makeshift office set up on a trestle table in an airy room above the studio. The noise reverberating through the floor is about to thrill the world: Styles and his players are running through Fine Line, his 12-track second solo album due on December 13 via Columbia. Music Week is invited behind the curtain with release day looming, and anticipation prickles the air.

Minutes before our arrival, Styles dropped the trailer for the video for Adore You, a peacocking pop-rock number that nestles near the beginning of the record and follows the meandering patterns of intro track Lights Up (138,842,763 Spotify streams) and the plumper, poppier Watermelon Sugar (41,173,626) as the record’s third single. Far beyond our icy surroundings, it’s causing pandemonium. Social media and YouTube are melting (the trailer reaches two million views in less than two days). The video, fans were told, is set on the frown-shaped island of Eroda in the Irish Sea. Ahead of the trailer, the internet flooded with adverts for the place. There’s an Eroda website with testimonials, too (“My pet monkey got a haircut at Eroda’s Adoré Salon and Spa and we were very pleased with our service!” said @summersfeelin).

Turns out, Team Styles fabricated the whole thing, and the island takes its name from the backwards spelling of ‘Adore’. It’s the biggest twist of the campaign so far, and it went deeper than a mere ruse. Columbia printed flyers for Eroda that fans spotted in New York. Reddit threads pored over the evidence, speculating as to its meaning. The Adore You video (actually filmed in St Abbs, Berwickshire) contains references to other tracks on the album, and paints its protagonist as a troubled, lonely boy who favours a single gold earring. Sound familiar? Sony Music Group CEO Rob Stringer is so pleased with how it came out he can barely contain his glee. Talking to Music Week from New York alongside a similarly excited Jeffrey Azoff, Styles’ manager, he says it’s a signal of just how elaborate and lavish this campaign is.

“I’m sitting here and it’s pissing with fucking rain and I’m really excited seeing this launch, it’s happening so beautifully,” he says. “An enormous amount of time has gone in behind the scenes. We didn’t set a deadline, if it wasn’t going to be right in the way Harry wanted it, it wasn’t going to come out. I’ve worked on thousands of records, and when we got it right, we just knew. Harry had so many ideas and we knew we had the tools to go and do some really cool stuff. Now, it feels effortless, which is always the best type of campaign. Pop can be very formulaic, and this record isn’t formulaic. It just isn’t. There is nothing formulaic about him whatsoever.”

The Adore You video supports this idea. It tells the psychedelic story of a boy, Styles, and his relationship with a fish. It’s quite a trip, really. So too is Fine Line, which Music Week listens to in a tiny room lit by a scented candle before joining Styles in the studio. The 25-year-old took a few songs into early sessions with previous collaborator and close friend Tom Hull (one-time indie balladeer Kid Harpoon, now a big time songwriter for Haim, Florence + The Machine and more) and things blossomed quickly. Fine Line became a cosy affair, recorded across California and the UK but primarily in Rick Rubin’s storied Shangri-La in Malibu, where Styles and his collaborators tripped on mushrooms, and Real World in Bath, where the weather was colder and things were more serious.

Tyler Johnson, who contributed to production on Harry Styles, produced the album, with Hull. A close-knit writing team revolved around Styles, Hull, Johnson and fellow debut album mainstay Mitch Rowland, with contributions from Jeff Bhasker (another album one collaborator), Greg Kurstin, Sammy Witte, Amy Allen and Isley Juber. What they made is the product of long days and late nights. Styles values that bonding. Fine Line is lush, epic, grand, intensifying the ’70s West Coast textures explored on his debut, which has sold 244,568 copies (OCC) since opening at No.1 in May 2017. On a diet of Paul McCartney, John & Yoko and his beloved Fleetwood Mac, this time, Styles relaxed into the process, pouring himself into the album. And, because he’s preposterously famous and counts legends such as Stevie Nicks (who was one of the first people to hear Fine Line in an all-night listening session at his London home) as friends, he can do things like find the lady who built the dulcimer Joni Mitchell used on Blue and commission her to make him one. You can hear it on Canyon Moon. Sun-splashed, sultry tracks like Golden and Watermelon Sugar (the most overt of several evocative references to fruit) are euphoric, but elsewhere, on acoustic rocker Cherry, the stricken, piano-led Falling and To Be So Lonely, Styles is wounded by a break-up and wracked by doubt (“What if I’m someone I don’t want around?”). Sex is all over the album, Styles reclines naked within the inlay and fans are already reading into the fruit metaphors (he just smiles when we raise it later). But, sexy or sad, after years of million-selling mania in One Direction, this is the clearest and truest expression of his personality yet. His arena tour taught us his hips pop like Mick Jagger’s and that he values inclusivity, but this campaign will reveal a vulnerable extrovert with a fantastical imagination. Now, we have a rock star, part of the pantheon of British musos seduced by California, on our hands. When Styles makes eye contact and runs a hand through his hair, it’s tempting to write 4,000 words about that split second. He’s that kind of rock star. The noise beneath our feet fades and it’s almost time to hear all about a record that Rob Stringer says, “Will push boundaries”. As if by magic, a door opens and Harry Styles lopes through it. We blink once, and the team and their laptops are gone. The light in the room seems to intensify. Styles’ nails are painted with yellow smiley faces. Dressed in a white vest, a silk pyjama top with the word ‘Sexy’ spelled out on the left breast, roomy brown slacks and white Vans, he extends a hand to say, “Hello…”

The first thing to know about Fine Line is that it shows the extremes of Harry Styles. Adjusting his position on a black leather couch, he fiddles with the hairclip stopping his fringe from flopping and says, “Making this record, the times where I was really happy were the happiest of my life, but the times where I was a little lower were the saddest times.” Styles lost his stepdad in 2017 and has had therapy; he now places more importance on maintaining strong relationships than ever. He spent time alone in Tokyo, reading Haruki Murakami and bar hopping, in the wake of his debut campaign. “It caused me to go through a lot of self-reflection,” he says. “Having been through one [solo] album and one tour, it made me look at everything and be like, ‘OK, what do I want to do?’ and ‘Who am I if I don’t do this?’ You know, and also just questions that you ask when you’re not 18 anymore.”

Styles delayed touring his first album thanks to his role in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, but when he did hit the road, he did so in spectacular fashion, selling out arenas around the world on the strength of a 10-song debut, plus the odd classic from his One Direction days, of course. Styles has found “freedom” since the band stopped touring in 2016, six years after Simon Cowell grouped him together with Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson on The X Factor. Debut single What Makes You Beautiful now has an earth-shattering 1,342,127 sales and its explosion would take Styles into another realm. Fame doesn’t seem to cover it. His days working in W Mandeville Bakery in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, where he grew up with his mum, sister and stepdad were soon long gone, replaced by years of mega-touring, with Modest Management at the helm. One Direction even used to record songs in purpose-built travelling studios. With the addition of forensic interest in his private life, Styles was swept up in a whirlwind. But he’s emerging the other side; exploring parts of himself he wasn’t able to on his first album.

“Because I was coming out of the band, there was a lot of subconscious decisions around making it and the writing of it,” he says. “When I listen back to it now I still love it, but there are a lot of places where I feel like I was trying so hard not to get it wrong, I almost felt like I was making my second record rather than my first.” It might have been slow and sad, but lead single Sign Of The Times (883,494 sales) was also bold and resplendent, hardly the sound of an artist held back in some way. The benefit of hindsight eventually led to emancipation for album two. “I felt like I needed to make this big commercial success album, and there was one night during recording where a couple of us stayed up really late and I was talking about it and saying I didn’t feel like we were getting songs that I really loved,” he recalls. That night, they wrote Cherry, the album’s rawest moment. It ends with a recording of his ex murmuring in French. “I just tried to be hone…” he says, hesitating and half swallowing the word ‘honest’. “We started just by writing a bunch of songs, rather than saying, ‘Oohh we’re making an album,” straight away.” Styles learned the he could also lean on the reception his debut – which has a million global sales and was Sony’s biggest Q2 seller in 2017 – for encouragement. Even so, he still downplays its commercial appeal. “The fact that the last one wasn’t necessarily a radio record, but I could tour it and people came to the shows and enjoyed them, made me feel I had some sort of freedom to make what I wanted to, and I wanted to make some fun songs,” he says. “Coming off the road, there was a definite feeling of, ‘OK, now I know what it feels like to play a show on my own, what do I want the songs to be like if I’m going to tour again?’ And so I definitely went into it with a freedom, that I didn’t have, or didn’t allow myself to have, last time.”

Styles says he wanted to embrace “Whatever made me feel good” while making Fine Line. “I was a little subconsciously afraid of making fun music having come out of the band,” he explains. “I tried to get rid of that a little bit.” Touring around the world, with carefully curated supports such as a pre-Grammy Kacey Musgraves and Mabel, opened Styles’ eyes to the idea that he could flourish under his own name. “When I was touring with One Direction, fans came to the show but it was for something bigger…” he says, flopping a wrist in front of him, studying his ringed fingers and pausing. “The band felt bigger than us, so it felt like they came to see that thing so you know, it never quite felt like, ‘Oh all these people are here for me’, because they’re not, they’re there to see the band. “There’s something in touring and people coming out to see the album that felt like, ‘Oh, that’s what they want from me, to make the music that I want to make and play the show I’d like to play.’”

Styles’ guitar sported End Gun Violence and Black Lives Matter stickers and crowds were often filled with rainbow flags, which he would sometimes hang over his shoulders. He sold T-shirts that said ‘Treat people with kindness’. He soon started noticing people wearing them while out driving. There’s a joyous, brass-filled gospel singalong by that name on Fine Line. You could imagine it in a musical. He calls it “a mantra”. “The atmosphere in the rooms felt really nice and it gave me a feeling that people just wanted me to be myself and be authentic with them. People would say they’d never really seen an environment like that at a show,” he says. And what of the mantra? “I wanted the song to do what the mantra, if you will, did on the tour,” he answers. “It’s universal and important, but it’s a small change that makes a big difference. Just being a lot nicer to each other rather than, “Don’t do this, don’t do that, ‘Not this, yes that,’” It’s just, ‘Treat people with kindness…’” Styles says the title in a whisper. It was the last track to be written for Fine Line, and he was only certain of it when the backing singers were grooving in the booth during recording. “When I wrote it I wasn’t sure if I really liked it or really hated it,” he says. “Then I realised that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.” David Bowie, Styles says, helped him come to this realisation. “I’d seen this clip of him talking about how you usually end up doing your best work when you feel like you can’t quite touch the bottom, and I realised that the fact that it made me feel a little uncomfortable didn’t mean it was a bad song. Then people just seemed to really like it.” When the singers came in, it dawned on him: “Oh this is fun!” The memory makes him laugh. “Then I started imagining it at the show and thought, “That’s going to be so fun…”

Jeffrey Azoff has had more fun than most at Harry Styles shows. “I watch every night I’m with him and am still blown away,” says the manager, who’s been with Styles since he split with Modest in 2016. “He’s delivered in a special way.” We talk to Azoff and Stringer together, and they spar enjoyably, the manager knows bringing up the label boss’s beloved Luton Town, fresh from a 7-0 defeat, will draw a rise. “Oh Luton, it’s too depressing.” Stringer says. “As exciting as Harry is, unfortunately that’s as gloomy as Luton are. I’m dropping off [the line] now Jeff, fuck you!” The laughs take a second to die down, but the double act behind Harry Styles are eager to return to the campaign they believe will blow every other modern pop release out of the water. “The three of us decided to keep it all very, very tight and get a load of things done behind closed doors, to stockpile as many ideas [as we could],” says Stringer. “We made it over a longer period of time than the last one, it was this really exciting thing that we knew would be different to coming off the back of One Direction into the first solo record. We knew we had more space, that’s what was exciting. We did it without as much pressure as there was off the back of 1D. It was more languid, which was great.”

Stringer worked with Styles in the One Direction days and remembers them better than anyone, but this is a new dawn. “When he was in One Direction he was 16 years old, now we’re nearly a decade on,” he says. “You’re dealing with a person who’s grown up in a beautiful way and we’re trying to help him reflect that. It’s our job to help him make those leaps.” Azoff chimes in to praise Styles’ bravery, and he’s got a word for it that fits the fairytale vibe around the new album. “He’s a unicorn. The music people expect from him, and I hate to use that word because I know him so well and I expect him to be nothing but brave, but I can’t tell you how many people say to me, ‘Oh, I didn’t expect it to sound that way.’” Azoff believes the business needs his client. “For [the] music [industry], it couldn’t be more important to have someone with the platform Harry has who’s willing to take risks and put music out that would be considered untraditional, I can’t applaud him enough for putting music out that people didn’t see coming,” he says. With a riotous Saturday Night Live takeover, Later… With Jools Holland and The Graham Norton Show already in the can, Styles will host The Late Late Show with his friend James Corden in LA this week, when he’s in town for a gig at the Forum. The team are deliberately choosing select promo slots, leveraging each one for maximum impact, all part of their plan to realise their ideas.

“We had a whole gamut of stuff to go with when we finally launched this project and it makes me smile thinking about it,” Stringer continues. “Even the bickering was great! Harry is incredibly focused and strong-minded, it’s always fun to deal with an artist on those levels, it’s much better. You don’t want to work with artists who have one idea, you want to work with artists who have a lot of things they want to get done.” Azoff isn’t about to suggest the team “don’t pay attention to charts and positioning”, but he stresses they “don’t spend too much time worrying about it”. The goal here is global visibility and impact, which will surely increase when ‘Harry Styles Love On Tour’ (see box, page 20) begins in April in the UK, taking in international arena dates before ending in Colombia in October. They made sure their artillery was full to bursting, assembling not just video one, but video two as well, plus artwork, imagery and more. Stringer pushed back at Azoff and Styles (which the manager thanks him for, also praising Columbia’s ideas) when they wanted to push the button, holding off until everything was just so. “Everything came together because we hit that point,” Stringer says. “The momentum we’ve got now, we’ve done this in weeks [since Lights Up dropped]. It doesn’t feel rushed, it’s very natural.”

Back in the studio, Harry Styles rocks in his chair, exaggerating his reaction when we mention Stringer and Azoff. “Don’t ask me about Rob and Jeff!” he says, with the flash of a grin. From Simon Cowell, Harry Magee and Richard Griffiths, to Stevie Nicks and his new mate Alessandro Michele, creative director at Gucci, for whom Styles has become both campaign star and muse, he has had plenty of elders to learn from. Stringer and Azoff are the only two he’ll mention by name today, and he diplomatically avoids being drawn on who’s taught him the most these past 10 years. “I’ve always looked at people who’ve been in the industry a long time and tried to learn as much as possible, soak it up, hear all the stories,” he says. “People ask for advice and I by no means feel like I’m in a place to give it because I feel like I still don’t know anything, but ultimately the thing to remember is that music is so subjective.” Styles’ theory on industry expertise is straight down the line. “Obviously there are charts and stuff, but ultimately everyone who works in music is a fan, someone else who thinks they know how it works,” he reasons. “Songs either connect or they don’t, so even if someone is good at picking songs, they don’t really know, it just connects or it doesn’t. People who are really good at the business side are smart, obviously, but it’s almost like they’re the lucky ones.” We prod him again about his team. Is the bickering really fun? “Yeah, we take the piss out of each other a lot,” he says, grinning again. “I really love working with Rob and the thing I’ve always really admired is that he’s just a music fan. It doesn’t feel like I’m talking to a businessman who’s found himself running a label. We don’t talk about metrics and numbers, we talk about music that we love, documentaries, albums.”

It’s easy to imagine that meetings between Styles, Stringer and Azoff would be lively (“Tell Harry the songs you like on the album, you’ll make his fucking day,” Stringer advises). Styles values having people around him who care as much as he does and says their understanding of the business is “priceless”. For Harry Styles, it always comes back to the songs. Before we leave him to rehearsals, we return to Fine Line and the honesty that runs through it. With such a tight team behind it, Styles’ operation is to a certain extent an anomaly these days. Are his hits realer than all the rest, those with more writers? “I mean, not necessarily, it depends what you’re trying to do. More writers can take away from how personal it is, but it depends how you write, because if you have five different people writing the lyrics then it’s probably not going to be the same, it’s not going to be an exact story, for example,” he says. “There are songs that we have where there are four or five people, but that’s because we all work together and if somebody does something then they get credit for it, we don’t all sit there and go, ‘What do you think the lyrics should be?’ So it’s still personal. I’m biased because it’s my music and it’s probably a case-by-case basis, but if there’s a song where there are 12 writers on it, it would probably end up being massive but it probably wouldn’t end up being as personal as if it had been written by one person.”

Styles let his album grow of its own accord; he had the time after all. And that looks like being key to the success of what promises to be a seismic release. There’s time for one last question. How’s Harry Styles feeling right now, standing on the precipice? “Pretty good, really excited. This is definitely the most excited I’ve been about something I’ve made,” he answers. “The making of this album was so much more joyous than the last one, so the music and everything around it feels a lot more joyous.” Then, Harry Styles gets up to head downstairs, past the trestle table strewn with tea bags, crisps and sweet treats and into the rehearsal room. He slings his guitar over his shoulder, nods goodbye and the door swings shut.

A FINE JOB: Rob Stringer and Jeff rey Azoff share their Fine Line campaign secrets…

Jeffrey Azoff: “I’m excited for the tour. The show he put on last time was a full blown arena tour with 10 songs. The tour is a big part to set him up for long term. I’m excited for this next tour, having seen what he has planned, it’s going to be special again.��

Rob Stringer: “Jeff and Harry wanted to do arenas last time to get the scale and I was a little bit worried about that because it was only one record, and yet it worked so well. Because of that arena tour, there was such goodwill about him as an artist and performer. He had one album! He had to do the whole thing, there wasn’t that much material, but it worked. That gave everybody the confidence. We have so many more ideas to reflect this record, as you can probably tell, it’s very, very exciting. We’ve only just started and the tour is a massive part of 2020 in the development of this album, but we’ve got so many more ideas to come. So many more!”

JA: “Harry and I made a goal that everything we were going to do was going to be fun and whatever happened from there would happen. When we started working with Rob he added fuel to the fire of fun. Every step of the way we really have a good time, mostly it doesn’t feel like work. We kept everything really tight, which included a really tight group of writers and producers. Sometimes we want to try more things, but it was just a matter of time and giving Harry time. Once he found a group of people he trusted on the creative side, he knew he was going to get where he needed to go. That was a big lesson for me. The comfort and the talent was there, it was a matter of time.”

RS: “You can’t buy time. Time’s the most important thing. The best way I can stress it is that if it feels effortless then you know it’s working. The music allows the campaign to feel effortless. I think we’re in fucking great shape. I’ve worked with a lot of artists over the years and I get to pick and choose a little bit now because of where I am in the company, and the truth is it’s Harry’s uniqueness that attracts me. I want to work with those artists after all these years, if they’ve got that ability to do something different, and I think he has. This is a long term process. We’re excited for where he goes next and after that. You watch it and you just know that it has something special and unique about it, which isn’t always the case. Even though something might be very successful, that isn’t always the case.”

#music week #rob stringer #jeff azoff #fine line #fine line promo

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ocegion · 3 years

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I made this post some weeks ago and @sal-si-puedes was of the opinon that I should actually write it... So here it is. A bit late, but here it is.

______________________________________________________________

Nicolò walked through the dark as quietly as humanly possible, slow steps coming to a halt every time he thought he heard the slightest noise. He held his breathing in for nearly longer than his lungs could take, and his wide-open eyes resembled an owl. His heart was racing, but despite all of it, a slight smile was slowly making its way to his face.

His destiny was already within sight. Just a handful more steps and he’d be at the door.

He was alone, and if everything went according to plan, which it would, then no one else but Yusuf would ever know he’d been there in the first place. Andromache, for sure, couldn’t know; she was adamant that a minimum of a century had to pass before they even considered returning anywhere they’d been. So far neither of them had had any reason to doubt she knew what she was talking about.

This surely was no problem, though. No risk at all. All he needed was some discretion. Nicolò hummed happily to himself, already starting to look through his travel bag for the heavy metal keys. He only hoped the lock hadn’t rusted away too much.

Then, just as he was about to try and find the keyhole in the dark-

‘Who goes there? What do you want?’

Nicolò would start inwardly cursing everything within a few seconds, but for the time being all he could do was blink rapidly as the light coming from the just-opened next door blinded him and rendered him powerless to do anything but stand there like a goddamn idiot. He felt his throat dry up.

‘What are you doing here at these hours of the night? I swear, if you’re some filthy thief, you’re going to regret- oh.’

Nicolò remained silent. He stared into the face in front of him and, just as predicted, started to inwardly curse everything, himself first and foremost. The man blinked repeatedly at him.

‘Mister Nicolas, is that you?’

A surprised yelp came from the house, and a kind-looking woman, appearing about fifty-something years of age, rushed out the door, settling herself behind her husband, but poking out her head to curiously, meticulously examine Nicolò. Nicolò still said nothing, but he strongly suspected that his face said it all, if the muscles he felt pulling at his cheeks were any indication. He should, by all means, vanish into thin air to the best of his ability, but apparently, even after all these years, he was turned into an utter, useless fool the moment he was taken by surprise.

The woman yelled again - not so loud, Nicolò would have begged had his mouth not been so dry - and covered her mouth with her hands. A few more lights could be seen appearing in nearby windows, and Nicolò felt a knot forming in his throat, slowly suffocating him.

‘Mister Nicolas, it is you!’ she exclaimed, coming out of her poorly-deviced shelter and approaching him. She reached a hand out to his face, but when Nicolò instinctively leaned back, her hand fell. ‘How is it possible? Holy Mary, you haven’t aged a single day.’

He now managed to make some sound, although he didn’t quite get more than a few words stringer together. Luckily, arguably, he was interrupted before the silence became overbearing.

‘Could it be…?’ The man began, full of awe, but with a hint of fear, ‘Did you finally do it, Mister Flamel? Did you achieve the philosopher’s stone? Is that what this magic is?’

‘It’s not magic, it’s alchemy. Completely different things. Alchemy actually exists’ was what he finally blurted out, and yes, he most definitely was going to whip himself for that later on, because should that really be your priority right now? He had spent quite a few years learning all he could in the name of knowledge, but he really should be focusing on not making the mess he was already in even messier.

Too late. The couple in front of him, his neighbors from over two decades ago, were looking at him in utter wonder. A few more people, coming out of their houses to investigate the commotion, were whispering among themselves.

Under normal circumstances, he would be ashamed to admit he panicked, but he honestly didn’t believe he had any other choice. He shoved the key into the door, thanked God that it only took a bit of force to turn it, and slammed the door shut as soon as he was in.

He hid his face in his hands and groaned.

Andromache was going to make him wish he could die.

The muttering on the street not only didn’t die down, but it took strength as the minutes passed. Nicolò bit the inside of his lip, trying with all his might to figure something out. When he didn’t immediately come up with a solution, he just sighed and headed for the stairs. He might as well do what he had come to do.

Everything remained exactly as they’d left it years ago, with a thick layer of dust covering every available surface and spider webs making it hard to make out the ceiling even with the light of the candle he lit. He hadn’t been sure whether he’d remember exactly how to navigate the house, but it was easy finding their old bedroom. He coughed a little when the intense closed-off smell hit him, and he briefly considered opening the window, but he cringed and stopped himself from it the moment he heard the people on the street. Better not risk it.

He went to the table by the bed, the sheets destroyed by moths and who knew what else. A cloud of dust jumped to his face as soon as he opened the drawer, but his eyes landed on what he was looking for and his lips formed a triumphant smile.

He reached in, swept his thumb across the surface, and a faint red glow appeared where he’d cleaned the dust. Even in the dim light, the ruby shone like it had light of his own. Nicolò felt warmth spreading through his chest and cheeks, and brought the gemstone to his lips to place a quick kiss on it before gingerly securing it on his bag.

He had given it to Yusuf on the day that marked the tenth year since they first shared their love, nearly two centuries ago now. They had been in India, and although Nicolò usually didn’t pay much attention to such kind of thing, he’d seen the stone in a pendant and felt the overwhelming urge to give Yusuf something worthy of his beauty.

He’d never forget the tender smile on his lover’s lips when he saw it, or the infinitely loving look in his eyes as he allowed Nicolò to place the silver chain around his neck.

‘It is the red of the blood we once drew from one another, and that we now ache to spill to protect each other’ he’d muttered before sealing his lips against his own. As usual, he’d been able to put words to what was a mere unformed thought in the back of Nicolò’s mind.

The necklace itself had been worn away with the decades, but Yusuf had kept the ruby everywhere he went. He said it made him feel like Nicolò was always by his side, even if they rarely ever parted for more than a handful hours.

Dear God, how he loved that man.

And then, of course, they’d had to leave it behind. Twenty five years ago, their little family had stayed some time in Paris, laying low and resting from the last war they’d mixed themselves into. Nicolas Flamel had peacefully spent his days in the city researching alchemy, his latest passion, along with his wife Perenelle. He’d conveniently lived in the same house as his sister Adrienne and her husband Joseph, a bit of a strange arrangement, but nothing that raised too many eyebrows. It had been a quiet, pleasant few years.

Until, of course, Quynh had decided to get involved in the overthrowing of some corrupt local nobleman, and the next thing any of them knew was that that they had participated in an assassination and they had to vanish from the city with nothing but what they were wearing.

He’d left his favorite sword behind. Nicolò yearningly looked at it, dull with lack of use, resting on the room corner. He had hoped to get it back too, but it was too big to carry and be able to sneak out, which was what he was going to have to do.

He had the ruby, though, which was what mattered. Yusuf had spent the last two and a half decades bemoaning its loss. They were spending a couple days in a small town just a couple hours of riding away from Paris, and Nicolò had thought he could ride there, grab the gem, and ride back all before the sunrise woke Yusuf up.

He, technically, hadn’t been wrong. He had plenty of time before the first light. He just hadn’t planned for this mess.

He quietly made his way downstairs after one last wistful look at his sword and a couple more belongings. Maybe in another few decades. He approached the door, sighing with relief when he heard no commotion outside. Maybe they’d all gone to bed. As soon as he opened the door, however, he was met with even more of his old neighbors, all turning their heads just in time to see him slam the door shut once again.

He groaned, louder than before.

He started considering the possibility of just spending the rest of eternity running from Andromache.

He climbed up the stairs again, but instead of entering his and Yusuf’s old room, he made his way into the one on the opposite side of the hallway. His eyes briefly went over Andromache and Quynh’s belongings, but he went to the window, silently opening it. He gauged the distance between himself and the roof in front of him. Surely, if he made a good jump, he could grab the ledge and prop himself up. It wouldn’t be the first time he did something like that.

He placed his foot on the windowsill, tested it, counted to three, and-

‘There he is!’

Nicolò, for the most part, kept profanity off his mouth. His sisters and husband had a dirty enough mouth without him adding to it. God, however, would understand that this warranted the loudest, angriest curse his lungs could muster, he hoped as he lost his footing and plummeted towards the ground.

He didn’t die, he didn’t think so, but he did lose consciousness for a couple seconds, because the next thing he knew was that he was hissing as he felt his bones snapping back together. He held a hand to his head where it’d landed. He was mildly aware that there were people gathering around him, the light of the torches making him wish his concussion would pass even faster. The first thing he did when he had command of his own body, however, was to take the ruby out and sigh in relief when he saw it was untouched. He’d never forgive himself if his foolishness had led to its shattering.

He saw a foot stepping into his line of sight, and with a tired sigh, raised his eyes to meet those of another of his old neighbors.

‘You have all seen it. He should have died from that’ the man said, looking at him with wide, wide eyes, but talking to the crowd around them. When had it become a crowd? Shouldn’t these people be sleeping? Surely they had hard work to do in the morning. ‘Is that… Is that it? Is that the stone?’ he added, eyes wide with awe and an undeniable amount of greed.

Nicolò gritted his teeth as he stood up. He really wasn’t in the mood to have to fight anyone off the stone. He held the ruby high, clear for everyone to see. He projected a confidence he most certainly wasn’t currently feeling.

‘This stone has more powers than you can imagine. It’s kept me alive, but it can do many other things. Much worse things. Stand in my way, and you’ll discover what horrors made me leave it behind.’

God, was that him talking? He didn’t even know what he was saying. The circle around him widened as everyone took a step back, however, so at least there was that.

Nicolò took a step forward, wielding his most righteously furious look. More than a few people hesitated, eyes still fixed on the stone, but a second of meeting his eyes had them scrambling back. He wasn’t free of them, however, with the people following him from a distance until a couple streets over, where he got on his horse and rode away faster than he had in all his life.

Two hours later, he slammed open the door of the inn room he and Yusuf were renting. Andromache and Quynh, thank mercy, were currently on Persia, saving him from his leader’s fury for at least a couple months.

‘Yusuf. Wake up.’

The love of his life made a confused, half-asleep noise. Nicolò started getting their clothes and other belongings.

‘I said wake up.’

‘Nico, it’s not even morning. What’s gotten into you?’ He yawned, still not moving from the bed. He scowled. ‘Why are you wearing your riding clothes? Were you out?’

‘Just… Just get ready. We’re leaving.’

‘Nico, what have you done?’

‘Don’t ask any questions. Let’s just go. Please.’

‘My life, what the fuck have you done?’

‘I’ll tell you later, now just fucking go!’

__________

Nile blinks repeatedly, mouth hanging slightly open as she looks at Joe, who looks entirely too pleased with her reaction. She can tell he’s barely managing to fight off the urge to laugh out loud.

It still takes her a moment to collect her thoughts.

‘You’re kidding, right? You have to be kidding.’

Joe snickers. He makes a gesture to indicate her to stay put and exits the room, coming back a minute later. In his hand lies an old, worn down ruby which he gently places on Nile’s hands for her to inspect. She feels her face become a mix of incredulity and utter, insane amusement as she inspects the stone. The edges are worn down, but it still looks lovingly taken care of. She can, in fact, believe it’s a lover’s gift from nearly ten centuries ago.

'Behold, the renowned philosopher’s stone. Not much use to us, but it’s neat having it around.’

She still doesn’t quite manage to rein her expression in, which earns her a hearty laugh from Joe as the man reaches out to take the ruby back. His eyes are full of merry, but they also hold a fond warmth as he looks at the stony, gently caressing it with his thumb.

‘What’s so funny around here?’

Nile turns to look at Nicky, who just walked into the room and is casually leaning into the door frame, eyebrow raised curiously at them. Curiosity quickly turns into puzzlement when Nile just keeps staring.

‘Nicky, you’re in Harry Potter’ she finally says.

His expression immediately turns sour, like he’s licked a lemon. He presses his lips thinly together as he looks at Joe, eyes narrowed but somehow looking more devastated than pissed. Nile finally bursts into laughter, louder even than Joe.

‘Joe, you didn’t,’

‘He was livid when Harry Potter came out’ Joe explains with a carefree gesture of his hand. ‘It’s why he never liked it, even back when it was just the first book. I honestly don’t get it, it’s not like we ever let him live it down either way.’

‘The last thing I needed was a million children learning that name’ Nicky bemoans, cheeks taking a slightly red tinge. ‘It’s awful.’

‘You’re a legend, Nicky’ Nile muses, voice nearly cracking with the urge to laugh again. Joe hums good-naturedly, crossing his arms, eyes shining as he looks over at his distressed husband.

‘That he is, Nile. That he is.’

#Nicolo di Genova #Nicolò di Genova #kaysanova #my writing #this is basically a glorified shitpost

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evansfm · 3 years

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𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 –– 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 .

every morning evan woke up to a london sky that refused to let the sun in ; summer was drier than spring , but the clouds seemed to linger year round . . . not that she minded . she had , after all , grown up in county dublin , where things were always a bit damp . still , the lack of COLOR could be draining . . . so she searched for it in unexpected places , creating little pockets of color for herself in a rather grayscale world . golden lights strung on her balcony , isla’s bright red hair and matching smile , an array of bright letters boasting NME lining a wall –– covers from past decades , a rainbow rubik’s cube next to her keyboard , two framed photographs perched on her desk . the first seemed like forever ago , a beaming eloise with a twin on either side ; beck on the left , evan on the right , both planting kisses on her cheek one valentine’s day years and years ago . the second was more recent , backstage at a show in galway ; kieran sat in his chair with his fingers intertwined with evan’s as she draped her arms over his shoulders from behind , chin resting on top of his curls and a smile that looked SOFT compared to the goofy one ruairi wore , looming behind her with his chin on her head . she felt warmth every time she looked at them , but there was always a tug in her stomach . . . the undeniable feeling of something missing . she found her little pockets of color , but they still seemed muted without the people she loved –– the PERSON she loved .

their schedules had begun to clash –– and evan hated the way she was beginning to get used to the dull ache of his absence . distance had been a part of their relationship for months , but the time zones were killing her . they couldn’t always make time for hours wasted away on facetime ; she couldn’t always fall asleep to the sound of his voice on the other end of the line . they were both where they were supposed to be , chasing their dreams together , separately . . . but evan was beginning to wonder if the path she was on –– the desk , the deadlines , the distance –– was actually what she WANTED . there was a lack of creative control at nme ; she was a part of a greater whole , confined to a desk when she wasn’t out in the field . she felt restless . . . bored , almost . and with her most recent deadline met and a job of her own –– evan connely , sans nme –– waiting at the end of the week , she was distracted .

“ WHAT are you doing ? ” isla popped up behind her , coming out of nowhere to look over her shoulder .

“ jesus , ” evan startled , nearly dropping the plastic puzzle in her hand , “ where t’e fuck did you come from ? ”

“ charlotte’s office . answer my question . ”

“ playing wit’ a toy , ” she held up the half solved rubik’s cube , then let out an audible sigh as isla looked unimpressed , then jutted her chin towards the computer screen , “ trying to put together a mood board for t’is gig i’ve got wit’ saint valentine on friday . ”

perfectly shaped auburn brows raised , “ we got saint valentine ? ”

“ no , ” evan’s lips lifted into the faintest smirk , “ i got saint valentine . ”

“ you’re bloody joking . shut UP , ” isla gasped , rounding to her side of the table desk , just to roll her chair around , “ and you didn’t fucking tell me ? ”

“ no , because you couldn’t keep a secret if you tried .”

“ well that’s because it shouldn’t be a fucking secret , ev . this is fantastic , ” hazel eyes widened with excitement , “ so you’re shooting them for –– . . . ”

“ t’ey weren’t too explicit about it . i know for certain i’m covering bot’ shows at t’e o2 , documenting t’e whole thing from t’e moment they get there , ” evan huffed a curl away from her face , nodding to the screen , “ and t’en a shoot on site at t’e venue . so i’ve got to work wit’ what i’ve got . i’ve got ONE chance here , and nicky haven scares t’e absolute fuck out’a me , so i can’t blow it . ”

“ nicky haven scares EVERYONE . it’s part of his charm , ” isla leaned in , making herself perfectly comfortable in evan’s space as she took the mouse and began clicking through different ideas opened on photoshop , “ let’s see what you’ve got so far –– . . . ”

“ isla , it’s not a big deal . really i shouldn’t even be working on t’is HERE , right now . it’s not exactly nme related stuff , you kn–– ”

“ i TOLD you she was here today , ” a girl called sophie , who manned nme’s front desk in the mornings , materialized on the other side of evan’s desk . a junior writer , andrew , was hot on her heels .

“ soph , now really probably isn’t the best time and it really isn’t your busi–– ”

“ someone’s got to show her , ” sophie was , admittedly , obnoxious . and coming from EVAN , that was a feat .

“ show WHAT to WHO ? ” isla’s voice changed in tone , taking on a hint of authority as she looked at andrew , “ aren’t you meant to be doing some social media research right now ? ”

“ i WAS , but –– ”

“ but we’ve found something that evan HAS to see , ” sophie . again .

“ we ? ”

“ ME ? ” evan said in tandem with isla , brows lifting as she clicked the final piece into place on the cube . she glanced over at isla and felt a strange twist in her stomach when she saw the redhead had gone rigid .

“ is this about –– ”

“ rebecca stringer , ” andrew nodded solemnly , as though evan was supposed to know who the hell THAT was .

“ better known as BEX , ” sophie added .

it was evan’s turn to go rigid . her back straightened , and it felt like ice had just been shot through her veins . truth be told , she was more worried about conflicting schedules lately . . . not the way bex sing-songed a shortened version of kieran’s name . . . or the way she answered his phone and simply couldn’t remember who evan was . . . or the way she’d made sure evan could hear her promise to personally deliver kieran to his hotel room that first night in los angeles . it wasn’t exactly PLEASANT being reminded of the instinct that she’d shut down , intuition telling her something wasn’t quite right there . her brows pinched together as the rubik’s cube slid from one hand to the other and back . she glanced over at isla with a prompting look .

“ we’re . . . doing a piece about nepotism babies in the industry , and she’s a PERFECT example of one so i was having andrew look into the way she interacts with fans and her socials and what not . she’s one of like TEN people we’re looking into , ” she explained with an apologetic look . it was then that she turned a sharp eye to andrew and sophie , “ don’t know what THAT has to do with evan , though . ”

“ see for yourself . ”

“ SOPHIE . ”

“ what ? it probably isn’t even new information for her , ” she shrugged , reaching over two monitors to hand evan a phone . twitter was opened to a profile with bex’s beaming face in the icon , but the handle wasn’t hers . she gave the pair of them a skeptical look before glancing over at isla who only offered a half - hearted shrug . it didn’t take long to see what , exactly , sophie had been talking about , a slew of tweets and retweets .

bexupdates : bex & kieran pulled up to the venue together . . . and then left at the same time . why are they lowkey so cute annathefound : not bex wearing a baby tee version of the found’s merch . . . stanning her boyfriend just like the rest of us

ruairidailyposts : ok wait are evan & kieran even dating anymore bc i could be down with a bex & kieran moment cheerupbailey : @ruairidailyposts you know two people can have a relationship without posting about it right ??? they’re in separate countries rn lol

babybexxx : i just think that bex & kieran walsh as a power couple .

bxhq : no offense but bex is simply so much better for him than some rando from ireland like what thefoundupdates : @bxhq babes they LITERALLY grew up together ????

totallyconan : be honest do u guys think the reason evan isn’t on tour with them is bc they’re not together anymore like she literally never misses shows

adamfitzupdates : why are y’all so obsessed with a relationship that doesn’t concern you ??? chill bexlevitates : @adamfitzupdates bc it’s weird that evan knew him for so long and only started dating him AFTER the found started to get big like that’s shady

bexupdates : find someone who looks at u the way bex looks at kieran on stage wtf did y’all see that

newruleshq : no waaaay this man has a gf when he and bex look so good next to each other LMAO

thefoundupdates : according to the girl who wrote the article kieran literally WALKED OUT on the interview ??? rockstar behavior but also hope he’s ok

evan could’ve kept scrolling for hours as her heart rate began to rise and rise . the crease between her brows deepened , and she reminded herself of everything she knew to be true . kieran LOVED her . twitter was a BRUTAL place . it was as though the worst parts of her subconscious had come to life in 280 characters or less . her head began to swim as her heart sank into her stomach .

“ what does t’is –– . . . ” her voice cracked , and she cleared her throat , finally looking up from the phone screen , “ why , exactly , are you showing me this ? ”

sophie looked as though she was shocked by evan’s question , “ because i’ve dated musicians . . . and like HALF of those are in bex’s likes . which are public , by the way . just doesn’t seem subtle to me . ”

“ are you trying to insinuate something here , sophie ? ” her tone shifted , irritated as she handed the phone back .

“ like i said , i’ve dated guys in bands , too , and –– ”

“ enough , ” isla snapped , “ you’re sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong . BOTH of you should be off doing your jobs right now , so ,�� run along . ”

both of them scurried off without a word .

evan was still for a moment , but her fingertips were itching for the keyboard . she was no stranger to things like this , unkind words from strangers who didn’t LOVE the idea of her –– despite not knowing her . the good outweighed the bad on the internet , but the voices who didn’t like her were always the loudest . even BEFORE she and kieran had gone public with their relationship . . . even before they were ever in a relationship at all . over time , she’d learned to tune it out and focus on the kindness that flooded her comment sections and mentions . . . but every now and again something slipped through the cracks . . . and when they did , she absorbed them like a blow to the abdomen . they settled into her memory and cemented themselves there , tucked away until they found the perfect moment to make her self conscious . like the fan who had commented on the shape of her body before and after going to uni . . . and another from galway who made it their business to let everyone know she’d slept around while living there . . . and every time someone said she wasn’t good enough for kieran or any of them . that she had bad intentions , leeching onto the boys for fame . that her career was based SOLELY on the four of them .

if she caved and kept scrolling , she’d commit it all to memory . . . everything that made her intuition about bex STRONGER .

instead , she launched forward and snatched the rubik’s cube back up , immediately distorting its perfect faces and mixing it up again . it was good to keep your hands busy , she knew , when your mind began to run away .

the worst of it wasn’t even TRULY comments about their relationship . . . those hurt , but they didn’t sting quite as bad as real - time updates about kieran and bex showing up or leaving venues together . she dulled the pain by reminding herself that THREE other boys were never too far behind . that kieran would never . . . COULD never . . .

but then again , there was the tweet that weighed heaviest in her mind . kieran walked out in the middle of an interview , and he hadn’t told her . something rattled him to the point of his version of an outburst , and he hadn’t told her . that seemed like something he would have told her . . . it seemed important enough , she thought to herself , right ? RIGHT ?

her throat felt tight , and she kept running the tweets she’d read over in her mind . there was a deep furrow in her brow as she looked down at her hands , still vehemently mixing up the toy . something felt off kilter . . . but she couldn’t pin down which hurt more : the slew of tweets from people pretending to know what went on in her relationship . . . or the thought of kieran doing something as rash as storming out of an interview –– and then not telling her .

“ i didn’t know about t’e interview bit , ” she said quietly , eyes still trained on the colorful cube . she was certain her face was the opposite , color drained .

“ evan –– . . . ”

“ it’s fine , ” she said firmly , “ it’s probably not true . just like t’e rest of it isn’t true . ”

her voice sounded distant . . . and she wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince isla or HERSELF . clearing her throat again , she set the toy back down on her desk and scooted towards the computer .

“ i’ve got work to do , ” she said quietly , getting back to the monitor . though all she wanted to do was go home . how many more people thought that she wasn’t GOOD ENOUGH for kieran ? how many people thought someone like bex was a better fit ? how long would it take for the suggestion to become potent enough to make the people who KNEW them question it as well ? and if kieran had walked out of an interview , WHY hadn’t he told her ?

she glanced down at her own phone screen , hoping that maybe she’d missed a text or a call . . . but all she got was nothing . nothing but the words she’d seen written down , now cemented in her mind : bex is simply so much better for him . . . because SHE was there , wrapped up in the same world he was in . she was accessible . immediate . beautiful .

and evan was stuck in london with nothing but time to wonder .

#idk what to taaaag it

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hilarieburtonmorgan · 3 years

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Hilarie Burton Morgan On Home Beyond Hollywood And Working Beside Her Husband On ‘The Walking Dead’

FilmMagic

From her standout performances on beloved television series to a recent bestselling memoir, Hilarie Burton Morgan continues to take us along on her journey called life. Beginning her career as a MTV VJ in 2000 to regularly lighting up the small screen ever since, the 38-year-old actress and author wears multiple hats these days, with an even more important title of mother & wife leading her charge. Now with several exciting projects on the horizon, including her long-anticipated introduction into the expanding world of The Walking Dead beside her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan , Hilarie is no doubt maintaining a lasting impression.

To truly appreciate her on-screen chemistry with Jeffrey, it would be helpful to know how they first connected off-screen. “I knew right away,” Hilarie tells Forbes about how soon she knew Jeffrey was the person for her, while sharing the story of how they met. “My very dear friend Danneel Ackles is married to Jensen Ackles and I would stay at their house every time I would go out to LA. When I was 26, I went to stay at their house and I think they got sick of me dating drifters. So Jensen was like ‘I’m going to introduce you to someone that I want to hang out with’ and he introduced me to Jeffrey, who had played his dad on Supernatural . It was pretty from the jump. He started sending me packages right away of books and love letters and he laid it on nice and thick and it worked! Here we are 12 years later.”

AFP via Getty Images

Easter Sunday on AMC, The Walking Dead will reveal to viewers the backstory of Jeffrey’s character Negan and his ailing wife Lucille, played by Hilarie. Even though this important “Here’s Negan” season finale episode will be the first time you will actually see Lucille in action, Hilarie points out that her character has played an integral part on the hit series for some time now. “The mythology of Lucille has been around as long as Negan has been around,” Hilarie explains. “When it was introduced that he had a baseball bat that he used to kill people named Lucille, obviously there were questions surrounding who that was named after and he has been pretty forthcoming throughout the series that his dead wife was the inspiration for the name and he has talked a number of times about her cancer diagnosis, about her death, about what that loss meant to him. While Negan and my husband have been vilified over the last five or so years, to me what Lucille is, is a real glimpse into who Negan was pre-apocalypse and the man that she wanted him to be.”

Hilarie says being a real-life married couple portraying a married couple on television was an experience they really enjoyed together. “It was really wonderful. We have a really similar energy on-set. Neither one of us takes ourselves very seriously. We like joking around.” Hilarie also hopes that fans will better understand the violent ways of Negan after they get to see the love and heartbreak that he came from. “If there was ever a time for people to understand Negan’s aggression or his way of doing things, I feel like the entire world has been prepped for that over the last year. So Lucille comes in as the person who loves him the most and loves him even with his flaws. Perhaps the audience if they don’t already love him, which they should, perhaps they can follow Lucille’s example and love him through the tough stuff.”

Josh Stringer/AMC

In reality, Hilarie’s life with Jeffrey and their two kids is far less dramatic. When their son was in preschool, the couple decided to set roots as a growing family in Upstate New York and ultimately build their home on a farm. “We rescue animals and we got tons of chickens and ducks and cows and llamas and an emu and a donkey that are in love. We have got a really large vegetable garden that we definitely expanded on during quarantine and our son just turned eleven and our daughter is three and they are fully onboard with getting involved in there.”

Following the unexpected death of their local family friend Ira Gutner, Hilarie and Jeffrey decided to become co-owners of Samuel’s Sweet Shop to keep Ira’s storefront from closing, with the help of a handful of nearby friends, including another familiar face, actor Paul Rudd. “It has been such a wonderful experience for our kids because they all know what their first job is going to be,” Hilarie adds. “It has been fun for our community because we have been able to use it as the trophy case for all our food artists in town. During quarantine, when you can’t celebrate with the people you love, we hired all new people and created a new space to do gift baskets. It was so wonderful that our community and people from all over the country were supporting a small business, because we know what lockdown did to those this year.”

AMC

Last May, in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hilarie published her memoir The Rural Diaries: Love, Livestock and Big Life Lessons Down on Mischief Farm . In the book, which she says is meant to be a love letter to her husband, her community and her children, Hilarie very openly discusses the miscarriages she endured and says she did not expect so many people to connect with her story over the past year. “This has been a book that people have gifted their friends or their loved ones during a really difficult time. For me, the responsibility of being a voice for people who have felt like they needed to keep miscarriages or infertility a secret, I’m very serious about it. I never want to cheapen that for anyone because I know how terrible it is to fall asleep at night devastated.” Hilarie is currently writing a second book, which she hopes to have done by next year.

Even as new projects continue to pop up for Hilarie, her nostalgic fan-favorite projects from yesteryear also seem to have the possibility of returning in some capacity. When discussing her role as Sara Ellis on the stylish con artist series White Collar and her commitment to finding a way to work with that cast family again through a revival series or simply together on a new project, Hilarie says, “We’re going to get the band back together, hell or high water. We love each other.”

Hilarie’s six seasons starring as Peyton Sawyer on the hit drama series One Tree Hill has led to her having a substantially large and vocal fanbase for nearly two decades now . “Peyton was the Negan of One Tree Hill because there are people who really hated her and then there were people who really loved how messy she was. Those are the characters that I have always been drawn to, which is probably why I am so defensive of my husband’s character. I love Peyton Sawyer. I put so much of my real self into that character and really fought for her a lot behind the scenes.” When reflecting on the longevity of this series that ran from 2003-2012, Hilarie has noticed the loyal One Tree Hill fan community growing larger and larger as time goes on, as younger generations are now experiencing the series for the very first time through the in-demand world of video streaming. “It’s going to be weird when my son or my daughter comes of age and has to reckon with all the dumb stuff their mother did in her early twenties because it’s there forever,” Hilarie jokes.

FilmMagic

When referencing her One Tree Hill co-stars, which include Sophia Bush, Bethany Joy Lenz, James Lafferty and Chad Michael Murray, Hilarie says, “Those are going to be the people that I’m close with forever. Those are the people who were with me when I was most unsure about myself and we’ve all seen each other fall in love and break up and been through it. All of those life experiences matter, now that we are almost twenty years later and we’ll love each other forever. We’re always scheming on how to continue to work together.” When hoping Hilarie will elaborate further with any hints for fans, she responds, “I will say that the girls in particular are very, very close. We went through a lot together on that show and we evolved together on that show and so we may have some things in the works that we will be excited to promote later this summer.”

As Hilarie strives to make time for her new and revisited projects, she is consistently striving to make her family’s schedules work as one. “We definitely take turns. Jeffrey’s Walking Dead schedule is obviously the thing that takes precedent. So if I can maintain my side hustles around that (laughs) . The kids’ school year is a big deal for us and what has been really lovely is that in the time we have lived in the Hudson Valley, the film community there has really blossomed. Everything is about making it work for the family and I think once you have that as your center point, it makes every other decision that rolls around it very easy.”

Hilarie wrapped up our conversation thinking about other women in the world right now that have to juggle many responsibilities at once during this life-altering era of the pandemic. “For me, the struggle is always between being a good mom and working and quarantine pulled so many women out of the workforce. When I see those numbers of the amount of women that had to leave work to be able to take care of their children because schools were closed and because we didn’t know what this virus was going to do, that’s heartbreaking. Being able to be a working mother from home and take my kids to school and take them to dance class and write my book and produce movies is something I don’t take for granted at all. I want a shine a light on all the women who are doing it. Homeschool and working and cooking dinner and cleaning the house and just all of it. You’re never good enough. So for the women who out there trying their absolute best, I just want you to know you’re good enough and you’ve kicked ass and your kids are going to be great and they saw how much you cared and how hard you worked and that’s important.”

#hilarie burton #jeffrey dean morgan #the walking dead #news #2021

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hollygoeslightly · 5 years

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1. I couldn't help but find Sydney's actions at the end to be very deceitful. As much as it's framed as a tragic choice where he comes out a bruised victim unintentionally hurting Charlotte, I feel that his choice is quite like Ms Champion's and he and the audience cannot actually claim that the exact same thing is any better than her cruel choice years ago. They both left their betrothed for money and we have no idea whether her circumstances were dire or not, yet she was painted as a villain.

2. And as much as I fell in love with Charlotte and Sydney, Sydney's actions at the end when it came to his treatment of her, were deplorable. Even Lord Babbington didn't kiss nor touch Ester in that society until he proposed, even when it seemed a sure thing. He respected her dignity in society and understood what it meant to take advantage of a woman before truly providing for her or making a promise. Thus when they finally kissed, it was celebratory.

3. I had a feeling when Sydney kissed Charlotte before asking for her hand, in a sense rewarding the audience prematurely, that it wouldn't happen. Simply because in that society and context, he knowingly skipped the steps of honoring a woman rightfully rather than using her. He made no promises before they kissed. He didn't propose. Also, speaking to Charlotte about marriage is too important to delay for a week later. The fact that he didn't spare a minute to finish their convo spoke ill.

4. All of these little things at the end of the season, the last episode, left a bad taste in my mouth and gave me the sense that it would end badly. Because as much as we know that Sydney loves Charlotte dearly, his actions were irresponsible and spoke otherwise. Even with money, there are many possibilities for something to come through. You don't barter with a person though, risk hurting someone you love especially after promising them a life, or leading them.The irresponsibility is likeOtis!

5. I know that in that society, Sydney is smart enough to know how much his actions would have consequences on a vulnerable young woman who doesn't even have money to her name. He knows that it's important to have promised marriage before touching her. He knows that making such a promise, he mustn't break it, because she will make arrangements pertaining to her entire life and wellbeing, resting on him. He's also experienced the same vile taste of that happening to him! What do you think?

6. Also just to be clear, I don't want to demand anything of you and I don't want to be negative. I love your meta and I put weight on your interpretations which is why I'm asking. I also love the character of Sydney, which is why I'm deeply disgruntled by this. Not the end, bc I saw that coming, but what the last few incidents mean for his character. I trusted that he'd understand his impact; all the parallels to scoundrels, the context of society, and the contradiction to Babbington is not good.

Hey!

Thanks for the question. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to break down your question into parts in order to ensure my answer will make some semblance of sense.

Real Life and Reel Life

I’ve spoken about this before, but it bears repeating as it has a significant impact on how I interpret the show – I am not an Austen purist, nor am I a stickler for complete historical accuracy when it comes to my enjoyment of a particular movie or TV show. For instance, I know some people were frustrated by the historical inaccuracy of Charlotte wearing her hair down, but Charlotte’s modern hairstyle was never something that bothered me. Everyone’s mileage varies of course, but as long as the characterisation is cohesive and interesting and the creators have managed to convey the overall spirit of the period of time the story is set, I’m happy.

It’s also worth noting that while Jane Austen was a fairly historically accurate author, her body of work had a very narrow focus – middle class and upper class families in country villages in southern England. And while her body of work is historically accurate, it’s also intentionally sanitised. Regency and Victorian England was a time of significant social, political and economic change – beneath the shiny veneer of tea rooms and good manners was an underbelly of sex, drugs and gambling.

Why am I mentioning this? Because Sanditon was Andrew Davies’ attempt at expanding Austen’s focus – placing Austen’s signature study of manners against the backdrop of a fairly chaotic period in time. Personally, I loved this aspect of the show. Not only did Davies force the audience to confront their preconceived ideas of what a typical Austen character actually is, but it allowed the characters to push against issues outside of love and marriage. Don’t get me wrong, I swoon every time Darcy helps Elizabeth into the carriage after the ball at Pemberley or Anne reads Wentworth’s letter, but it was nice to have a slightly different interpretation of Austen’s work.

Finally, I firmly believe that part of the agreement you undertake when interacting with any form of entertainment is the suspension of some degree of reality. The amount of suspension is dependent on the work of course, but even true stories require some form of suspension (e.g. the amalgamation of characters, timelines sped up) to be entertaining. In the case of Sanditon, the characters inhabit a close approximation of Regency England, but not an exact copy (e.g. Charlotte wears her hair down, clothing is not always period appropriate). This is also the case when it comes to characters breaking a few of the social conventions that Austen routinely explored. For example, while Sidney kissing Charlotte prior to proposing to her in 1x08 would have been frowned upon in the real world, in Davies’ version of Regency England, Sidney kissing Charlotte is not a poor reflection of his character nor does it indicate that he knowingly took advantage of her – it’s simply a way to drive the narrative forward and create an entertaining story. This is supported by the fact that Charlotte’s reputation remains in good standing despite spending time alone with both Sidney and Young Stringer and that Esther faces no consequences for the exposure of her romantic/abusive relationship with her brother in 1x08. So while I understand that for you, Davies’ choice to overlook certain social conventions is frustrating, I think it’s important to acknowledge that the world Sanditon presents us is not 100% historically accurate, and for the purposes of entertainment, I don’t think it can be.

Sidney, Eliza and Otis

Following the fire in the new terrace apartments in 1x08, Sidney is forced to make a choice between love and money – his love for Charlotte and his desire to save his brother (The Worst) from debtor’s prison. Sidney is faced with an impossible choice and in the end chooses to sacrifice his own happiness (I think Sidney believes that Charlotte will be able to move on and find happiness again) for the well being of Tom, Mary and the children. As you’ve pointed out, this is a direct parallel to Eliza choosing money over her love of Sidney. However, I don’t think it’s accurate to claim that both decisions are equal in cruelty – doing so removes all nuance from the situation.

While I understand why some members of the fandom believe that Eliza could have had a valid reason for choosing money over love, I don’t believe the narrative supports that argument (whether this would have changed in S2, I’m not sure). Eliza is described by Tom (1x06) and Arthur (1x07) as intentionally betraying Sidney’s trust, choosing the safety of wealth over love.

Arthur – “Do you know, for years all I knew about my brother, Sidney, was that he was driven to the West Indies with a broken heart.”

Sidney – “And what’s your point Arthur?”

Arthur – “I admire your spirit of forgiveness that is all. If it were me, I do not think I could bring myself to trust her again.”

Arthur speaks of a betrayal of trust that he does not believe he could ever get past, a betrayal he is surprised that his own brother is willing to forgive. The reason Sidney is so damaged by Eliza’s betrayal is not because she was forced by circumstance to marry for money (if that was the case, it would be presented as two lovers torn apart by outside influences e.g. Sidney and Charlotte), but because by choosing to marry for money, she publically declared that Sidney was not enough. The love and future he could offer her was not enough. Eliza’s choice is so cruel, because her decision is so mercenary in nature – it’s a decision made out of choice, not necessity. She made the decision knowing what it would cost and she deemed that cost (Sidney’s self-worth) worthwhile.

This is also the case when it comes to Otis’ treatment of Georgiana. Otis made an active choice to barter with Georgiana’s name in order to extend credit for his gambling debts. He had multiple options available to him, number one being to stop gambling, but he made a decision where he would benefit and Georgiana would be placed at risk. On the other hand, the audience is made aware that Sidney is forced into a position where there are no right choices. Regardless of the decision he makes, someone will be hurt. He is the only one in the position to find the money to keep his brother out of debtor’s prison and as a result, Tom’s failure to insure Sanditon costs Sidney his future with Charlotte. Intention matters. Yes, all decisions lead to people being hurt, but Sidney is the only one who also suffers as a result of the decision he made.

While I understand the audience was upset by Sidney’s decision (I didn’t like it either), I also think an ending where Sidney and Charlotte marry while Tom is sent to debtor’s prison (most likely for the rest of his life) and Mary and the children are made homeless and shunned by society for Tom’s misdeeds, would have also been incredibly unpopular.

Sidney and Lord Babington

On the surface, I can understand why you’ve compared Sidney and Lord Babington. Both fall in love with feisty women and both intend to propose marriage to said feisty women – it’s an easy connection to make. However, I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Sidney’s actions are wholly bad and Lord Babington’s actions are wholly good simply because Lord Babington’s proposal ended in a marriage.

Let me give you another interpretation of Lord Babington and Esther’s relationship (not one I subscribe to, but one that can be drawn based on the narrative). Taken by Esther’s honesty and derision, Lord Babington makes Esther aware that he has feelings for her. Esther in turn rejects Lord Babington and tells him all further attempts on his part would be futile. Despite this, Lord Babington continues to pursue her, writing letters which she never answers – another clear indication that she is not interested. Lord Babington visits Sanditon with the express purpose of seeing Esther (1x05) and requests a private walk without a chaperone where he proposes marriage. Esther rejects his proposal. After hearing Edward speak badly of his sister, Lord Babington visits Esther in private, again without a chaperone present. Following Lady Denham’s recovery he once again goes on an outing with Esther without a chaperone. After discovering that Esther had a romantic relationship with Edward and Esther telling him that she doesn’t love him, Lord Babington proposes marriage for the second time and Esther finally accepts. They marry.

If S2 had gone ahead, I’m fairly sure Esther’s love for Edward and her lack of love for her husband would have been a major plot point. And while I think it would have all worked out in the end, that Esther would have realised she loves Lord Babington, what if it hadn’t? Esther may have come to resent her husband, trapped in a marriage by a husband who knows his wife does not love him, still pining for the one man she couldn’t have because of circumstances out of her control.

Again, I understand why the choice to ignore some social conventions may be frustrating, however in Davies’ version of Regency England, breaking these conventions do not have the consequences they would have had in real life. By judging the actions of the characters by real life rules, you are assigning intention and consequence where there are none.

I think it’s also worth noting, that apart from Sidney and Charlotte themselves, nobody knows that they kissed and only Alison, Mary, Georgiana and Young Stringer are aware that Sidney was intending to propose marriage. Charlotte’s heart may be badly bruised, but her reputation is still intact.

Charlotte’s Agency

Perhaps it’s because Charlotte’s agency is more quietly expressed than other characters, but I think the argument that Charlotte became passive in the final two episodes, overlooks the very active choices Charlotte makes in regards to her feelings for Sidney. Passiveness suggests inaction, and in 1x08 Charlotte chooses to act – she asks Sidney whether she can join him on his walk into town. This may seem inconsequential, but it is anything but. Because Charlotte is not only choosing to trust in her feelings for Sidney and in his feelings for her, but she is telling Sidney his feelings are reciprocated and those feelings are strong enough that they need time alone to discuss their possible future together. The agency lies with Charlotte the whole time.

We began with the scene with a rather inane discussion about the weather and Charlotte’s family – Sidney is both desperate to discuss their conversation from the previous night, but patiently waiting for Charlotte to indicate that this is something she wishes to do. She does, telling him she would rather continue their walk together than return to town for her dress fitting.

Charlotte – “We seem not to be walking into town?”

Sidney – “Ah, yes, your dress fitting. Forgive me, what a fool I am. Should we head back, perhaps?”

Charlotte – “No, there is absolutely no urgency about my dress fitting. A walk along the clifftops is much more to my taste.”

Sidney – “Good. My thoughts exactly.”

Sidney is willing to end their walk and the possibility of discussing their feelings at the slightest hint that this may not be something Charlotte desires. However, following Charlotte’s lead, Sidney admits that he wished to find time alone with her to discuss their conversation while glancing at her mouth every five seconds, and of course they kiss. What is important to note is that Sidney continues to check in with Charlotte at every point in the lead up to that moment. Charlotte only had to say no or ask to return to town for Sidney not to proceed, something she is well aware of and actively chooses not to do. Responding positively to Sidney’s actions is not the same as passiveness. You only have to watch as Charlotte stares longing at Sidney to know that she desired the kiss just as much as he did.

Why am I mentioning all this? Because in your question, you talk quite a bit about Sidney’s choices and actions, and the consequences they may have for Charlotte, without acknowledging that Charlotte is an active participant. Do I think that means she could have somehow prevented what occurred? No, but nor do I think it’s fair to remove Charlotte’s participation from her own storyline. She may be a victim of incredibly poor circumstances, but I don’t think it’s fair to say she is a victim of Sidney’s poor behaviour. Sidney and Charlotte not ending the season married does not cancel out Charlotte’s agency in choosing to pursue her relationship with Sidney.

Thanks for the question, I hope I made sense!

#askbox #sanditon #jane austen #sidney parker #charlotte heywood #lord babington #esther denham #sanditon meta #mine

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jlf23tumble · 5 years

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This one’s for @homosociallyyours and @silverfoxlouis, the former because she’s not going to listen and the latter because they’re listening as we speak! I saw a post earlier that low-key annoyed me because it either misrepresented today’s Stern interview or it skipped right over the fascinating bits, so here are the parts I enjoyed (I won’t waste my time on the shit I hated, lol):

Shrooms and the song-writing process are related to Harry’s anxiety about fucking shit up and needing to get out of his own head; related: coming from a band, if there's something you don't like, you can tell yourself that it wasn’t your choice.

The Rob Stringer talk made me SIDE EYE w/r/t the delay, like, okay, you’re a label boss who’s gonna drop a ton of money, but you’re cool with telling the artist to just relax and take all the time they need, you’ll just pick up the thread when hs2 is completely finished, lolz (I have my own theories about allllll of that, but okay!).

I love Stevie and her coven of nocturnal witches, too, but tell me more about how she hated Harry’s choice of first single (in my heart, she wanted “Golden”) and the song that she thought should have been on the album but isn’t, god, she’s such a yoda, and this entire bit was so much bigger than the coven.

I live in Harry’s soft, breathy “thank you” whenever Howard praises SOTT.

I feel like all the White Eskimo talk is a fic waiting to happen, the whole battle of the bands and them winning studio time and how Harry talks to maybe one of them and there’s a guy who IS STILL IN WHITE ESKIMO I GUESS???? WHAT?

Howard Stern hatesssssssssssss Simon Cowell, so his attempts to get Harry to talk shit were both wonderful and expertly dodged, lmao.

My only positive comment about the discussion around Harry “putting on some timber” during his bakery (cashier at a baker) years was how much it echoed Louis’s comment about “having extra timber” during one of his recent BTS specials.

Were the guys in One Direction REALLY saying that Matt Cardle was “so fucking good” back in the day? This junior statesman!

Ralph pointed this out when we were talking about the interview, but a lot of the time, Howard just makes statements (as per usual), and Harry says, “Right,” which is a great response because it isn’t really an answer, yet it’s still participatory.

Howard is obsessed with coronavirus, so it was hella interesting to hear Harry’s thoughts about it affecting his tour, when his tour is still so far away (yet another tour is so much closer and in the direct line of fire).

Howard (like me) was pleased that Harry’s band is a mix of women and men and not just dudes (I should take a drink every time Bowie is mentioned, like around Harry’s clothes, how Harry is starting his tour in Philadelphia, the entirety of that convo making me want to see Harry’s face as much as all the xarries want to).

One of the things I hated seeing earlier today was this notion that Howard “forced” Harry to talk about the robbery because he absolutely did not, Harry went into CRAZY levels of detail about it when Howard asked, “When did this happen to you?” (and the way Harry talked about it wasn’t full of trauma or sadness, it bordered on humorous in spots but still serious; it clearly shook him up, but he wasn’t about to let it change his life of feeling free to walk around at night).

I wanted to hear a lot more about all the musicians hanging out in the ‘70s and being competitive in terms of who was writing the best songs about a particular party vs. the competitiveness of banging out the best single today. Harry’s focus was that if you say you like a song, people think you should collaborate…if two musicians hang out, they're dating or recording (like with Adele, and case in point, Howard immediately asked if they were working on something).

I also loved the bit about acting and how nervous Harry used to be about EVERYTHING because he’s waiting three hours to do three minutes, and he focuses so much on his voice or hands shaking, but this last SNL really helped (in my heart, his “little tweaks” were on the Sara Lee sketch).

I live in the guffaw from Harry whenever Howard unexpectedly hit his funny bone (like Harry saying Anne gave him some money to buy clothes when he first moved to London, and Howard saying it was good return on investment for her, what with the house Harry eventually bought her, etc.).

I absolutely LOVED the entire bit about Ben Winston’s attic (and Ralph’s related takes on it), the fine line of the plausibility yet the doubling down; the word “cocaine” coming out of Harry’s mouth; the parts about dating and keeping your relationship normal/secret, etc., GOLD, ALL OF IT.

Harry, like Phoenix Mendoza, writes every day, which is part of why he wasn’t really into giving up his phone to muggers because that’s his writing zone of choice for lyrics and poems (the whole robbery clapback here: “for the purposes of not getting mugged again, no, they’re on a different device”).

MITCH SPEAKS!! He was into his Nick Drake phase when Harry met him, but apparently everyone is into the open D (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) chord, so he was a shoe-in. Also, Harry met Adam in 2010??? I’d like more information.

We move back into 1D territory with Zayn’s departure, which is still shittily handled but somewhat more maturedly discussed, and yet another attempt to get Harry to talk shit about Simon, which is getting us closer to what we want/need (Harry’s very real answer to Simon being pissed that Harry didn’t consult him about going solo: “I’m in a band since I was 16, there were five of us, we had a lot of managers, lots of people at the label, and all of these decisions affect your life in a massive way, every decision I made was a group call. I didn't know who I was as an adult,” and a lot of that is paraphrased in spite of the quote marks, but just know that I am screaming LIAM).

There’s a lot of weird downspeak to Sarah and Ny (Adam and Mitch were talked at earlier), but everyone’s very much into Sarah, and rightfully so. I loved the slip up where Howard is trying to figure out if there’s anything romantic going on between Harry and the female band members, and someone says, “Mitch!” so you can hear Howard process Harry and Mitch for a hot sec, cracking the Hitch dream, before we get clarification and Harry gleefully taking us into the story of their love. (Me as the speech Howard gives Sarah and Mitch about how dangerous it is to be in a band together and to have a relationship because if you fuck it up, it’ll be terrible.)

SLEDGEHAMMER NICE.

We get a bit into the “Adore You” video because Howard’s an animal softie, and he loves it (it’s downplayed, but Howard also mentions how fans have put a lot of “thoughts” into the fish), but then we get into talk about how this song is about the girl Harry’s banging (HIS SNICKER HERE) and how the common denominator in all of Harry’s failed relationships is him, huh. All of this relationship talk here makes me want to DIE with how much I love it.

Everyone focuses on the gross talk from Howard about Harry having a lady therapist (this is a long-standing Howard trope), but some good shit disappears between those cracks, like how Harry decided to go into therapy, how he’s keeping his LA therapist instead of having two in different countries, etc., and it’s actually Robin who asks Harry about seeming weak or vulnerable in front of a female therapist, but clearly, he’s not bothered.

I’m so interested in how the shrooms tongue-biting incident cured a speech impediment I wasn’t fully aware of but that is still so impossibly endearing.

Harry himself picks out his opening acts, which we already knew but is always nice to hear confirmed.

The drug convo in text from earlier today makes it sound like he doesn’t smoke cigs, but to me, it seems like he doesn’t like to smoke weed (an edible king, relatable).

Harry says, “you’ve said it all,” which just makes me think he’s a long-time (or recent) Stern listener, because that’s what Howard says when he’s done/interview’s over.

We think it’s all done but the shouting, and then Robin gets into Harry’s clothing, which is where it gets dicey. Howard (of course) mentions that Bowie wore a skirt and how he himself did full drag on TV (“legs shaved and everything, you should see how gorgeous I am as a woman”), but Harry keeps it very much in the realm of what he wears is what he wears because it’s fun for him, he’s not wearing a school uniform or trying to look cool for his friends, he’s a lot more comfortable with himself: “At shows, I tell people to be who they want to be, I plan on telling my kids that, so I don’t want to be a hypocrite, I’m not wearing it for shock value.”

Howard says people will assume he’s gay or bi (like Bowie, YEAH, SIGH), but Harry says it’s not performative. This whole bit is fascinating on so many levels, he touches (without saying) on the entire queer-baiting issue, and it’s cringe-y, with Howard saying “I’m not criticizing, wear what you want, I’m a big mess, etc.”

Anyway, they pivot out of that with Howard moving beyond into asking Harry who he wants to badmouth: “Simon?” Harry: “This has been great!” and this entire bit about how Howard wants to know if Harry considers Simon a friend, and Harry saying he doesn’t talk to him gives me life. There’s a lot of gross talk about who Harry has his eye on for his next girlfriend, but I will tell you that I never in my life expected to hear the words SUSAN BOYLE thrown into this convo.

The interview closes out with Harry getting progressively more silent about the women he should date, saying that he doesn’t talk in interviews about his love life, he talks in music (oh?????), so Taylor Swift comes up, and Harry says it’s flattering to think you’re in a Taylor song because she’s such a great songwriter, which, true, I guess?

Harry hasn’t used a dating app (duh), but Howard thinks he should create one, and…scene.

#recap #stern show

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wiiired · 4 years

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Season 2 Awards

We’ve finished Season 2! Like last time, I thought it’d be fun to make a bracket of my favorite and least favorite moments, once again relying on Way Down in the Hole for the categories. So, without further ado, the best and worst of Season 2.

Best and Worst Boss: I’m going to give both of these to Frank Sobotka. There’s nobody more invested in the well-being of his union -- from bribing politicians to ratting on the Greeks to keep his men away from criminal charges, Sobotka was willing to do anything to protect IBS Local 1514. Over the course of the season, we see him be incredibly generous with union workers, gifting them cash when they’re in a hard spot, and drinking with them at the local bar. But Frank is also the reason that police attention falls on the union; while you can’t blame him for Stan Valchek’s personal grudge, he’s absolutely blameworthy for getting in deep with a criminal organization. Ultimately, Frank was too short-sighted to be a good boss, and his insistence in maintaining the status quo rather than looking for ways to adapt was ultimately his downfall. Of course, his downfall also cost the union its freedom -- in the final montage of S2E12, we see that IBS has been taken over by the feds.

Best Couple: My favorite couple is one that never happened -- Frank and Beadie (making my case: 1, 2). I’m a sucker for yearning looks, and there were definitely some looks traded between the union boss and local cop. They seemed to genuinely care about each other, beyond a friendly smile at the port or in the bar. One of the most memorable scenes of Season 2 is when Beadie confronts Frank and asks him to talk to the cops. Frank confesses to her that he thought he was doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, and Beadie says, “There are different types of wrong.” I feel like they could’ve been a couple that mutually supported each other -- Frank the stable union presence for Beadie’s kids, giving Beadie more flexibility to find the career she’s looking for. Alas, the Greeks ruined that one for me.

Worst Couple: Nick Sobotka and Aimee. Nick just isn’t ready to settle down. He isn’t making enough money to support a family, and while he loves his child he isn’t enough of a presence to be there for her. Not to mention, he abandons Aimee in his parents’ home and spends the night with Prissy rather than seeking comfort from his significant other. Aimee deserves better than this man who brought trouble onto himself, and consequently made her life more difficult (the three of them got dragged into Witness Protection thanks to Nick’s Greek connections). I say time to move on.

Favorite Quote: Any of the nicknames for Jimmy while he was riding the boat. Sailor Boy, Little Man in the Canoe, Captain Chesapeake, McNulty the Sailor Man, and my favorite, Prince of Tides.

File This Away for Later Moment: Stringer’s encounter with Brother Mouzone. The way that Brother Mouzone sees straight through Stringer -- remember that. Mouzone will be making an appearance in Season 3.

Rookie of the Year: Ziggy. On Way Down in the Hole, Van Lathan pointed out that Ziggy is a character who always provokes an emotional reaction; love him or hate him, you feel some kind of way when he shows up. Personally, I found my growing tolerance for Ziggy growing over the course of the season, and on a rewatch I was more attentive to the way he’s treated by Nick and Frank. It’s hard not to feel sorry for the class clown who just wanted some respect, and couldn’t get it, stuck in a job where he couldn’t succeed and ignored by his own father. Over a single season, Ziggy evolves from union jester to booster extraordinaire to convicted murderer, all because he couldn’t find his spot. Hopefully he’ll have time to change in prison, and he’ll be able to start over once he gets out.

Six M(e)n of the Year: Jemele Hill and Van Lathan picked Herc and Carver, and I have to agree. No one was a more consistent B plot than Police Brutality 1 & 2 (Jemele’s nickname for them): Herc’s pestering of Kima to join the team, and then getting Daniels to bring Carver on board, too; the bug-tennis ball-Fuzzy Dunlop subplot; those brief seconds where the two of them struggled to bring that air conditioner up the stairs; constant car surveillance and that amazing scene with the french fries (”You think I’m fat?”). I’ve always liked Herc and Carver because I think they’re funny, but I felt guiltier about it last season because they were unquestionably the cops most likely to beat someone up. This season, they’re the perfect combination of scheming yet inept and well-positioned as comic relief.

Favorite Scene: It’s either D’Angelo’s death in S2E6 or the scene in S2E11 where Beadie asks Frank to talk to the cops. First, D’Angelo’s death is dramatic because it’s so sudden -- everything is going well, and then thirty seconds later D’Angelo’s on the floor with a belt around his neck. The first time I watched S2E6 I didn’t actually believe that D’Angelo had died -- it wasn’t until the next episode that I understood he’d actually been killed off. Not to mention, D’Angelo was season 1′s moral compass, so losing him was pretty upsetting. Second, the scene between Beadie and Frank -- well, I’m just a romantic for them. Whether they should’ve been together or just good friends, you can’t deny how well Amy Ryan and Chris Bauer act emotional. I felt Frank’s regret for everything he’d done, even more so because I knew what was going to happen to him. And, yes, I think this scene is proof why Beadie and Frank would’ve been a good couple. While Beadie was there for a reason, she was the only person who was able to comfort Frank and understand why he made the choices that he did, and Beadie was the only person Frank was able to open up to. Maybe in an alternate universe, Frank comes clean, helps the cops nab the Greeks before they sail off on fraudulent passports, and Beadie drives him home, where with Ziggy in jail he decides he’s going to start anew. The two of them load his truck with suitcases, pick up Beadie’s kids, and drive off into the sunset.

Best Performance: Nick Sobotka. It’s hard to make a thieving, racist dockworker sympathetic, but Pablo Schreiber did it. Jemele Hill points out that Nick is the most openly racist of the dockworkers; despite working with and seemingly befriending black fellow dockworkers, Nick consistently uses the n-word, and in S2E7 gives an infamous speech to Frog, reminding them that they’re both white. Yet we also see Nick struggling to survive: living in his parents’ basement, giving money to his girlfriend when he can, and being affectionate with his daughter. He turns to crime because he can’t make enough money at his straight job. Nick Sobotka’s character is a masterful ruse to get white audience members, who may have resisted empathizing with the Barksdales, to see drug sellers as human. I also have to shout out Pablo Schreiber for being (a) very cute, (b) 6′5″, and (c) apparently very talented at playing believably nasty characters -- he won an Emmy for Orange is the New Black as George “Pornstache” Mendez, an abusive corrections officer who exacts sex from inmates in return for drugs he smuggles in. I guess post-Emmy he’s in demand, most recently playing Mad Sweeney on American Gods.

Stringer Bell Fuckboy Award: There are two options, both of them defensible. It’s either the scene where Stringer seduces Donette, or when he’s over there later playing with D’Angelo’s kid while Donette makes him dinner. Personally, I’d pick the latter. Not only are Stringer and Donette holding hands in front of D’Angelo’s son, but Stringer actually picks up the (world’s cutest) baby and bad-mouths D’Angelo to him! Classic fuckboy.

Favorite Trivia: Apparently, Lance Reddick (Cedric Daniels) hated Dominic West (Jimmy McNulty). In real life, Reddick and West are somewhat like their TV personalities -- Reddick is quieter and more reserved while West is very chatty and extraverted. In All the Pieces Matter, Reddick admitted that he found West rather annoying and avoided him outside of work.

MVP: Beadie Russell. Instrumental to the plot, growing exponentially from day-jobber in S2E1 to certified good police in S2E12, and maybe the kindest character on the show. A single mother supporting herself and two kids, it’s hard not to root for Beadie, who became a cop after realizing she couldn’t feed her family on a toll-taker’s salary. She also gets a disproportionate number of the season’s most quotable lines, from “What they need is a union” to “World just keeps turning, right?,” probably because she represents the viewer’s perspective (taking over from gone-too-soon D’Angelo Barksdale). While her weakness for McNulty will get her in trouble, I’m glad we’ll see the return of Beadie in Seasons 4 and 5.

That was fun y’all. Here’s my bracket for Season 1.

#season 2 awards #s2 #mine #text #the wire

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