#i called her li in my mind bc i like how it's shortened for love interest and it's cute

[galaspar]

Li and her cat

[summersun4youforever]

✨ Tag 9 people to learn more about their interests!

tagged by my fav @loulovehome thank you pu hope that this quells your curiosity! 

MUSIC

fav genre? not to be that person but i think i have a toe in most genres, i suppose my favorites have got to be anything taylor swift does, pop punk, r&b pop/new age r&b, and bluegrass

fav artist? again, not to be that person but i love so many artists! let’s do this based off of genre: taylor swift, 1D, 5sos, massive focus on ZAYN, the Avett brothers, and counting crows

fav song? fav song of all time (since i was young) is going to be come around by rhett miller but more currently i’d say you are in love by taylor swift and dRuNk by ZAYN

song currently stuck in your head? i have no idea how it got there but i have stressed out by 21 pilots stuck in my head??

5 fav lyrics? ok let’s do this kids. edit: this went in a “fav love song lyrics” way so sorry in advance.

1)  I hope that I don't sound to insane when I say / There is darkness all around us / I don't feel weak but I do need sometimes for her to protect me / And reconnect me to the beauty that I'm missin' (January Wedding - The Avett Brothers)

2)  Hands around my waist / You're counting up the hills across the sheets / And I'm a falling star / A glimmer lighting up these cotton streets / I admit I'm a bit of a fool for playing by the rules / But I've found my sweet escape when I'm alone with you (Disconnected - 5sos)

3)  This is the worthwhile fight / Love is a ruthless game / Unless you play it good and right / These are the hands of fate / You're my Achilles heel / This is the golden age of something good / And right and real (State of Grace - Taylor Swift) 

4)  What if I changed my mind / What if I said it's over / I been flying so long / Can't remember what it was like to be sober / What if I lost my lives? / What if I said "Game over"? / What if I forget my lies? / And I lose all my composure (Back to Life - ZAYN)

5)   I never said I was perfect / Or you don't deserve a good person to carry your baggage / I know a few girls that can handle it / I ain't that kind of chick, but I can call 'em for you if you want / I never said that you wasn't attractive / Your style and that beard, ooh, don't get me distracted / I'm tryna be patient, and patience takes practice / The fact is I'm leaving, so just let me have this (Jerome - Lizzo)

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

fav book genre? murder mystery and young love!

fav writer? jane austen, lisa jewell, and rick riordan (nostalgia ok?!)

fav book? the way i used to be my amber smith, rebecca by daphane du maurier, and then she was gone OR watching you (both by Lisa Jewell)

fav book series? i guess the whole percy jackson situations? i have everything RR every wrote, and i liked it all but i havent touched the older ones in ages

comfort book? not one specifically but the nancy drew books

perfect book to read on a rainy day? bird summons by leila aboulela

5 quotes from your fav book that you know by heart? i hope i can name five...

1)  “The point is, life has to be endured, and lived. But how to live it is the problem.” “I am no traveller, you are my world.” (both are My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier)

2)  “And I’m terrified he’ll see through the tough iceberg layer, and he’ll discover not a soft, sweet girl, but an ugly fucking disaster underneath.” (The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith)

3)  "I cannot make speeches, Emma," he soon resumed; and in a tone of such sincere, decided, intelligible tenderness as was tolerably convincing. "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it. Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne with them. The manner, perhaps, may have as little to recommend them. God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover. But you understand me. Yes, you see, you understand my feelings and will return them if you can. At present, I ask only to hear, once to hear your voice.” (Emma by Jane Austen) (sorry for the length, the shortened versions were not cutting it for me)

4)  “Read, read, read. That's all I can say.” (The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene)

5)  “...amazing how boring you can get away with being when you’re pretty. No one seems to notice. When you’re pretty everyone just assumes you must have a great life. People are so short-sighted, sometimes. People are so stupid. I have a dark past and I have dark thoughts. I do dark things and I scare myself sometimes.” (Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell)

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary (im a very judgmental reader) | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

fav tv/movie genre? i like dramedies, mockumentaries, and procedurals 

fav movie? ive got a massive list on my phone but ill pick Doob (No Bed of Roses) and 3-Iron as my favs for today

comfort movie? 2000s romcoms, im talking clueless, 13 going on 30, how to loe a guy in ten days, ten things i hate abt you, legally blonde

movie you watch every year? mamma mia and all listed in prev question

fav tv show? too many, currently im rewatching arrested development

comfort tv show? new girl

most rewatched tv show? new girl

ultimate otp? shawn and jules from psych (ultimate bc ive been watching since diapers literally)

5 fav characters? winston bishop, stiles stilinski, bellamy blake, clarke griffin, lydia martin

tv shows or movies | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

super fun even though it took me an hour lmao, I'm tagging @technosoot @hometothecanyonmoon @sassylilnoodle @sushiniall @rosegold-thorns no pressure and sorry if youve already been tagged!

edit: i somehow managed to forget what i consider to be one of the greatest opening verses ever???? so bonus lyrics:

Step out the front door like a ghost into the fog / Where no one notices the contrast of white on white / And in between the moon and you / The angels get a better view / Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right (Round Here - Counting Crows)

[purplesurveys]

1183

survey by xflirtykaosx

Alphabetti Spaghetti (1/3)

And we will fall in love with shooting stars. - A

Have you ever seen an Aardvark? I don’t think so.

Were you ever abandoned in a public place as a child? Where? Abandoned is a pretty harsh word lol. My parents did like playing pranks on me and hide whenever I’d get distracted at the grocery or department store. They’d let me get nervous or even tear up for a bit until showing up again.

What accent do you have? I guess just your standard Filipino English accent that’s common among people who were able to take up English studies. I don’t really know how to describe it.

Is there someone in your family addicted to something? What is it? I don’t think so.

Have you ever been under general anaesthetic? What were you having done? I think so? When I had a tooth extraction done on me two years ago I was told I was going to be injected with anaesthesia, but I didn’t feel as if anything changed throughout the procedure. Either my dentist told me fake news lol or he’s just really good at his job for me to not notice anything.

How do you show the ones you love affection? It depends on the person. Around my friends, I know I’ve had taken a liking to them once I start getting especially talkative with them. For people I have even deeper relationships with, I like...buying them gifts, I guess. Getting them things that remind me of them. I would also bend over backwards to do nice deeds for them, like driving them to their destination even if I find it far.

Are you more passive or aggressive? I tend to be very passive aggressive in the way I deal with things.

Do you like the band Aha!? Not in particular.

Do you know anyone called Aidan? What are they like? Nope.

Ever heard of the band Ajax? No but I know that’s a brand of like cleaner or something. That’s close enough to ‘band’ haha.

Do you know anyone called Akash? I don’t either.

Do the sound of fire alarms scare you? They would obviously be scary if it rang for a real reason. Who wouldn’t freak out over a fire?

Do you live in America? If so, which state? If visited, where'd you go? No, and I’ve never visited either. I’d love to take a trip to cities like New York, New Orleans, Portland, and Chicago one of these days.

Have you ever had an ant infestation in your house? Only when there’s food left out accidentally.

Aora - did I spell that correctly? I don’t even know what you’re referring to, so I can’t tell you if you’ve spelled whatever it is right.

Do you have a preference in Apple? What type do you prefer? I don’t quite get this question - like a preference within Apple products? I mean, a phone and a laptop are essentials for me, and generally I do prefer having an iPhone and Macbook over other brands; but I can live without an iPad, an Apple Watch, iMac, Apple Pen, etc...if this is what you mean.

Are you an Aquarian? Is anyone in your family/your partner/best friend? ...You mean Aquarius? No. I don’t believe in astrology nor pay attention to zodiac signs either, so I wouldn’t be able to name Aquariuses that I know right off the bat.

Have you ever worn any type of armor? Which type? I don’t think I’ve ever had to, no.

Do you use the word ass a lot? Kinda, but it’s usually part of a longer word, i.e. asshole, asshat, deadass, etc.

Have you or your family had an attorney? What for? Not to my knowledge.

Is your car/family’s car an automatic gear or manual? Automatic.

Are you interested in aviation, piloting and aircrafts? Just the slightest bit. I would love to learn how to fly a plane, and I would be willing to pay for lessons. It’s just the type of activity that’s super hard to squeeze into an already-hectic schedule of mine.

What was the last award you recieved for? A academic distinction in college.

Axl Rose - like or dislike? Like, but I’m nowhere near a passionate fan. I just don’t have any reasons to actively dislike him.

Do you like air being spelt ayre or ayer in rap or hiphop or is it nasty? I don’t care.

Is the sky outside Azure? If not, what shade is it? No, it’s pitch black.

Belle amour (we've been here before). - B

Do you call anyone baby? Is it sweet or an overrated name for affection? Just my dogs. I find it sweet; it’s my preferred term of endearment if in a relationship.

Bby - does this shortened version bug you? No; my friends and I use this with each other.

Do you know what BC in terms of time stands for? Before Christ, but I prefer using BCE.

BDf - For or against? I don’t know what this is referring to.

Do you prefer beach breaks, city breaks or winter breaks? Why? Beach breaks. Winter break is an immediate cross-out since we don’t even have winter; and I already live and work in an urban area as it is. Beaches are my way to go if I want to escape life for a bit and completely unwind.

Do you spell out boyfriend properly or put bf in texts/online? I can use either depending on what I feel like typing out. It’s not that serious haha.

Do you know what bg is short for? Upon reading this question I immediately thought ‘background,’ but if this question had another meaning in mind I wouldn’t be aware of it.

Do you know anyone with the last name Bhays? No.

Have you ever been bird watching? What did you see? No, doesn’t sound like my kind of hobby.

Do you like Bjork? Not in particular, but just like the Axl Rose question I don’t have anything against her either.

What does this read: bk 2moz miss u lyk fk. Doesn't this text speak annoy? No one types like this anymore at least among people I know, but I imagine it would lowkey bother me a bit.

Do you like BMWs? They’re whatever. I don’t pay attention to cars much.

What is the nearest book to you called? How many times have you read it? There aren’t any books here up on the rooftop.

BnQ - gone there? What did you buy? Idk what that is.

Are you more brainy or brave? I wanna say brainy, if anything? I’m pretty jumpy lol.

Did you like the BSBs (Backstreet Boys) as a kid? How about now? No, I’m a little too young for that generation of artists and groups.

Burgers, Hot Dogs or Salads at a Barbecue? We don’t really practice ~barbecues~ here. But at Filipino parties I would usually flock to lumpia and fried chicken, hehe.

Do you have a Byro? No, because I also don’t know what that is.

Cold eyes and filthy lies all leave me petrified. - C

Do you have a Cactus (Cacti)? No, I don’t like plans.

Do you know what a CCTV is? Yes...?

How many CDs are in the room you are currently in? None where I am right now but I have all of Beyoncé’s albums save for Lemonade in my bedroom. I also have Paramore’s self-titled album and Hayley Williams’ Petals For Armor. My CD collection is about to experience a revival because of BTS, though. My plan to get all versions of all their albums is rock solid, lmao.

What's your favourite cereal brand? Cookie Crisps.

Do you like children's TV shows still? Which one(s)? I’ll revisit an episode or two of shows I watched as a kid at a given time for old times’ sake, but I don’t regularly watch children’s TV shows anymore. I haven’t for a very long time.

Cinnamon - Yum or Yuck? I’m actually kind of in the middle about it. I feel like too many desserts have been banking on cinnamon, so the taste of it can be a little tiring. It’s delicious if I haven’t had it for a while, though.

Do you know anyone with the initials and or name CJ? Quite the opposite; I know PLENTY of JCs, even my sister is one. I know one or two CJs but that’s it.

Have you ever met a self professed clairvoyant? What did they do/say? No.

Do you watch CNN News? What's your prefered news channel/show? I don’t tune into the channel but every once in a while I will encounter a CNN link on social media that I’d actually click on and read through. As for preferred news sources, I don’t have one as there are matters to criticize about 99% of them lol; but I am most likely to trust articles I from AP or Reuters. Just things you pick up as a journalism student. 

How many cousins do you have? I have 9 first cousins. I lose count by the time I try to go beyond that since I don’t even know all of my dad’s cousins, which makes it hard to track who my second cousins are.

Do you still draw with crayons? When was the last time you did? Drew what? I don’t remember anymore.

Do you know what a CSS feed is? What is it? I’m familiar with the term but never bothered to learn about what it is.

Do you like cycling/biking? What type of bike do you have? ...I don’t even know how to ride a bike.

Do you really like it, is it is it wicked. - D

What is the most dangerous animal you've petted/held? I can’t decide between snake or crocodile.

Do you like Death Metal? If so, which band(s)? I wouldn’t say I do.

Did you ever keep a diary/journal? I did a million attempts to keep a diary when I was younger, but I was never able to keep up with any of them and I ended up having 4598358395 notebooks with one or two entries each at most. Having a Tumblr page for surveys has so far been my most successful streak at keeping some type of journal.

Do you prefer small, medium, large or no dogs? I prefer all dogs.

Do you know what DP stands for in porn? Yes.

Have you ever dressed up as a celebrity for a party/Halloween? I went as my favorite female wrestler once. I wouldn’t strictly call her a celebrity, but she’s a very well-known personality in the wrestling industry so she’s popular in that right.

DS or Wii? Why? Wii. I was able to make more memories with it.

Does dust make you sneeze or cough? Sneeze, usually.

How many DVDs do you have all together? Idk, I don’t buy DVDs anymore.

Do you dye your hair regularly, sometimes or never? I’ve never done it.

Every love lies sometimes . . . - E

What's something you refuse to eat? Most fruits.

Don't you think the word ebb is so pretty? I’m neutral about it. I don’t use it a lot.

Do you like Chocolate Eclairs? I love eclairs in general haha. Chocolate eclairs in particular sound delicious.

Ever tried edible paper? Yeah, with the White Rabbit candy.

Eevee - pretty name or too Pokemon-y? Definitely very Pokemon-y. 

Do you sometimes mix up the spellings/meanings of affection and defection? Erm, no? They have completely different spellings and meanings, so I personally have never switched them up.

Do you have a big ego, low self esteem or somewhere in between? I think I’m somewhere in between. I’m insecure about some things about myself, but I don’t really put myself down 24/7. I feel like that would put such a strain on my mental health, which I certainly would never need.

What Element does your starsign fall under? I think earth? My co-workers were just discussing this last Friday, but I couldn’t really butt in since I can’t bring myself to care about astrology. I know they mentioned Taurus being an earth sign though.

Do you show your emotions easily and freely or hide them? Depends...I can do either depending on the situation.

What is your favourite form of entertainment? Korean reality shows are quickly becoming a favorite of mine at the moment. I also like compilation videos on YouTube.

What will they write on your epitaph? I’ve honestly hadn’t put much thought into this yet, and I don’t plan to anytime soon. It just seems like a super grave thing to think about lol.

Estimate/guess what number we are on now? Maybe 60s or 70s?

Do you know basic social etiquette? I mean etiquette will always differ per country or culture, so what is basic in other countries might not be here, and vice versa. I think it’s hard to measure.

Does your country use the Euro, Great British Pound, Dollar or other? Other.

Do you still get excited on Christmas Eve? Yes. Mostly for the free food and the opportunity to see relatives I really only ever see every December 24.

What animal/creature that is extinct do you wish wasn't? Those that went extinct from human activity.

What colour eyes do your parents have? Black/dark brown.

[rogertaylors-lipgloss]

Update: Links to Chapters Two and Three

Untitled Ben Hardy x Reader Chapter One

I don’t think y’all are ready for this. I’m not ready for this. 

Reader works for the costume designer for the Bohemian Rhapsody film, where she meets Ben Hardy and the rest of the BoRhap boys. I said that this would be a slow burn but I lied and there is already smut coming in the second chapter, which will be coming very soon bc I’ve already written most of it. What can I say? I’m a slut for some smut. 

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.3k 

You looked around at the costume area wondering how you had ended up here. You had been an American student studying abroad in England when a production team had reached out to the history department at the school you attended. They were looking for someone with an extensive knowledge of 20th century fashion and you were the only one who fit that qualification. It seemed odd to most people when you told them you studied the history of fashion, but something about the way people used clothing to express themselves had historical connotations that you desperately wanted to find. You had written your undergraduate thesis on the relationship between feminism and fashion in the mid- to late 20th century and it had earned you a spot in a master’s program in England.

The movie you had been hand-picked for was an upcoming biopic of Queen, one of your favorite bands, and its charismatic front man Freddie Mercury. You had already met the head costume designer, Julian Day, several times beforehand but none of the cast. This wasn’t your first day on set, but you were still nervous. Looking around, your eyes found Julian, who was busy adjusting the clothing of whom you assumed to be one of the main actors in the film. He looked up, and smiling said, “Ah, Y/N! Could you come over here and take a look at this?” You walked closer to get a better look, and the man he was working on turned to greet you. “Y/N, this is Ben Hardy. He is playing Roger Taylor in the film. Ben, this is my newest assistant, Y/N.” You were eyes locked with his, which were the clearest shade of green you’d ever seen. They perfectly resembled aventurine, you thought, recalling the stone from a geology class you’d been suckered into taking a few years ago. His heart-shaped face was framed by a shoulder-length, shaggy blonde fringe that you correctly assumed to be a wig.

Ben caught you staring, and he flashed a smile. “Hello there, Y/N.” He had a thick accent, but you hadn’t been in England long enough to know the origin. Looking at Julian and then back at you, he said, “another fashion student, I assume?”

You snorted. Not that you had anything against the fashion industry, especially given your studies, but his tone felt dismissive. “No actually,” you said. “I’m a historian.”

He looked a bit embarrassed, and Julian interjected, “She’s doing quite well, actually. Y/N has been helping me research fabrics and patterns. She’s even spent her free time trudging through every thrift store in the country trying to help me out.” You beamed.

Remembering why he had called you over, you positioned yourself to take in Ben’s outfit. Julian had dressed him in a black button-up shirt, a glossy gold and black jacket, and tight black pants. Cocking your head, you realized what needed to be changed. “Roger wouldn’t be wearing a shirt,” you said.

“Most girls let me take them on a date before they want to see me naked. How scandalous!” Ben said, wiggling his eyebrows. You laughed.

Julian rolled his eyes. “Just take it off, please.” Ben winked at you as he started unbuttoning his shirt.

After finalizing the last touches on the outfit, Julian turned to you. “I need you to make another trip to the shops today, try to find some more pieces for the boys. It also wouldn’t hurt to stock up on some things for the extras.”

You nodded. “Sure thing, Julian.” You walked over to wear you had left your bag, picked it up, and started fishing for your keys as you made your way for the door.

Ben had overheard and rushed to catch up with you. “Wait,” he shouted. “D’you mind if I come along? I mean, it would only make sense seeing as it is my wardrobe your shopping for.”

He didn’t know anything about you, but he didn’t care. Something about you drew him in, enticing him. Towering over you, his wide eyes bore into yours. You knew nothing of him apart from his role in the film, but he seemed decent and he at least had a good sense of humor. Not to mention you thought he was drop dead gorgeous. So you shrugged and said, “sure.”

Shortening his stride to match your own, he walked silently with you through the chaos of the production stage. “Hey Ben,” someone shouted. “Where are you going, dude?” You looked over to see a couple of other actors lounging about. You both stopped walking, and you hung back as he walked over to where they were sitting. Ben looked back at you and gestured for you to follow him. “Guys, this is Y/N. She’s helping Julian out with costuming. Y/N, this is Joe, Rami, and Gwil.”

A tall, gangly man with dark brown hair and flawless cheekbones reached his hand out to shake yours. “Gwilym, actually. Gwilym Lee. You may also call me Gwil, though. If you’d like.” You smiled and shook back. “I’m playing Brian.” The others introduced themselves as Joe Mazzello, who was playing John Deacon, and Rami Malek, who was playing the legendary Freddie Mercury. Where Joe was pale and redheaded, with a childlike gleam in his eye, Rami was more serious, with wide eyes and lovely olive skin. You recognized them both from Jurassic Park and Mr. Robot, respectively.

“So, what are you two doing?” Joe asked excitedly, clearly not wanting to miss out on any potential for fun.

“Y/N has to go to the shops to gather some pieces for us and the extras, I was just tagging along.” He looked down at his feet to hide his flushing cheeks, running a hand through his hair.

“Well obviously we’re coming with you, right guys?” Joe looked over at Rami and Gwilym, who shook their heads slightly and chuckled. Joe was the only one who couldn’t sense that Ben was trying to get to know you and might possibly want to be alone.

Luckily for Joe, you didn’t catch that either. “It might be a tight squeeze, but I think there should be enough room in my car.” Rami and Gwilym exchanged glances. Clearly you were a saint for entertaining Joe, they thought.

“SHOTGUN!” Joe shouted as he began jogging towards the parking lot.

           At the university, everything you’d needed was within walking distance. So when you were hired, Julian had been kind enough to rent a car for you, knowing you would have to drive for the job pretty regularly. The car wasn’t anything to lust over, just an older Volkswagen Golf. But it was easy to drive and had just enough room for you shove stacks of books and clothes into the cargo area. You silently thanked God that you had decided to clean it this morning. After you unlocked the car, Joe dove into the passenger seat, clicking the seatbelt before any of the other boys could wrestle him out. Ben reluctantly slid across the backseat, with Gwilym and Rami close behind. The three boys squished together in the back was quite a sight, and you laughed as they struggled to fit.

           One of your favorite stops wasn’t far from the studio. It was housed in a large warehouse and the inventory was constantly in flux. As you checked to make sure you had the studio’s card before getting out of the car, you didn’t notice Ben jump out of the car and walk over to open the door for you. “Oh my god, could you be any more obvious, Ben?” Rami rolled his eyes, warranting an elbow to the ribs from Gwilym. You didn’t hear them and smiled at Ben as you slid out of the driver’s seat.  

           The owner of the shop recognized you and gave you a nod as you walked in, Ben, Rami, Joe, and Gwilym trailing rowdily behind you. Ben admired you as you walked down one of the rows filled with clothes, gently tracing your hand along the full hangers. The way you could so quickly discern whether or not a garment was worth your time, without even pulling it from the rack, was impressive. He desperately wanted to know more about you.

           “So,” he broached. “what did you do before you started working for Julian?”

“What did you do before you were cast in the movie?” You quipped back. Seeing him taken aback, you quickly covered, “I was studying at a university. It was difficult to get my visa switched over, but Julian somehow made it happen. I hope to go back and finish up after the film wraps.”

           “He must have really thought you had potential. I can tell he’s quite thrilled with your work, though it’s not hard to see why.”

You blushed at Ben’s compliment. Before you could respond, Joe and Rami jumped out of a nearby rack nearly giving you a heart attack. The two boys, from what you could tell, had been up to no good. Joe was dressed in a vintage fur coat with a broach the size of an apple. Rami had on an outrageous hat with large feathers of some kind sprouting out of it. Suddenly, Gwilym appeared at the end of the row, wearing nothing but an old nightgown and a feather boa. You busted into a fit of laughter, tears springing to your eyes. God how you hated the sound of your own laugh, a snort followed by uncontrollable cackling, but to Ben it was utterly charming, and he let out a laugh of his own. Turning to Ben, you asked, “are they always like this?”

“Well, we haven’t started filming yet, but so far, yeah.”

“Oh hush, you love us,” Gwilym jibed. “Got to keep ourselves busy somehow, love.”

“It’s all Joe really,” Rami sarcastically replied.

“Hey, I can’t help it if I’m the only one with a sense of humor on this set.” The boys responded to Joe with a round of “whatever” and “yeah right.”  

You glimpsed closer at the nightgown Gwil had on. “Gwilym,” you said, “I think you’ve actually done me a huge favor.” You pulled out your phone and scrolled through until you found the right picture. The boys huddled around you trying to look at the screen. Absentmindedly, Ben placed his hand on the small of your back while he peered down at the photo, and you met his eyes with a shy smile. It was a still of Brian May from Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” music video.  

“It’s uncanny,” muttered Rami. Gwilym put his hands on his hips and made a superhero pose.

“Well, at least that’s one thing I can cross off.” You switched over to look at the daunting list Julian sent you on your phone. “Perhaps you boys could give me a hand with some of this?”

After giving Rami, Joe, Gwilym, and Ben detailed instructions on the types of pieces you were looking for, the five of you split up to tackle various sections of the store. By the time you had finished and loaded back into the car, the trunk was overflowing, and the boys all sat holding multiple bags of clothing, shoes, and accessories. While you knew there would still be plenty of thrifting trips left in store for you, the boys had done an excellent job. Arriving back at set, Rami immediately had to go work with Polly, his movement coach, and Gwilym, Joe, and Ben helped you carry everything back to the costume department.

“I had a lovely time, Y/N. I look forward to hanging out again, as I am sure we will,” Gwilym said before wrapping you into a warm hug.

Joe followed suit. “Yeah, I hope you realize we are going to harass you constantly now. So, uh, you’re welcome.” The two of them waved before heading back to rehearse their lines.

Ben lingered behind, helping you begin to put your finds onto hangers. You appreciated the company, especially the company of someone so beautiful. You blushed to yourself. He’s an actor, you thought. He probably has models dripping over him constantly, why would he ever be interested in someone like you. You were short and pale with voluminous curves, definitely not a model.  “You don’t have anywhere to run off too?” You asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Nothing too important. Besides, it’s quieter back here and the company’s much better.” He looked down at his feet. “Unless, I’m bothering you, then I can- “

You grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, interrupting his self-doubt. “You’re not bothering me, Ben.” He looked down at your hand touching his and smiled at you. The two of you silently fell into a pattern: Ben pulled the clothing out of the bags and handed each item to you, which you in turn put on a hanger and placed on the rack. Julian watched the two of you knowingly and smirked to himself as he worked on pinning a costume. Once everything had been crammed onto two rolling racks, Ben helped you push them over to where a steaming area had been set up.

“Ben!” You looked up and saw a production assistant running towards Ben, almost fuming. “Where have you been? The rest of the cast is almost ready to start rehearsing Live Aid and we needed you twenty minutes ago!”

“Oi, I’m sorry mate! Just helping out some special crew members,” he said, giving you a wink. “I’ll be there in just a moment.”

Turning to you as the production assistant huffed off, he said, “I don’t really want to go, would you come watch?” He looked over at Julian. “If that’s alright, that is.”

Julian nodded at you. “Go. Have some fun.”

You shot Julian a grateful smile and smoothed down your shirt. “Why not?”

Chapter Two 

Chapter Three

Tag List (I tagged some of you guys who reblogged, I hope that’s ok! Also if I missed anybody, I’m so sorry and send me a message)

@onceuponathreetwoone @disasterdeacy @thetinyfiore @queenislife-1974 @derekxsammy @itsametaphorbriansblog @caborhapch

[shiranuieditorial]

by no means am i defending, excusing, or even advocating for anything less than constantly roasting and calling out jkr on her bigotry, but the real fact that no one wants to notice here is: “cho chang” is a justifiable, passable chinese name, if you’re willing to think outside the box and do some twisting around to find the right loopholes.

yes, it is linguistically well appropriate, especially for “my arrogant white ass clearly didn’t do any sort of research at all about this subject and as such had decided to just racist my way through by piecing together ‘asian-sounding’ syllables” standards. the chinese language family legitimately does allow for this name to exist, and it’s not even one of those weirder names you’d usually find on phone directories and college admission lists.

no, it’s not “just two korean surnames strung together, wtf jkr?” like many people love to parrot without fully understanding what they’re talking about. i’m 100% serious.

ADDITIONALLY!!! the phoneme of “cho chang” sounds similar to the following words: 惆怅 (chóuchàng, meaning “melancholy”), 愁肠 (chóucháng, “pent-up anxiety”), 酬偿 (chóucháng, “reward”), 酬唱 (chóuchàng, “to respond with a poem; to communicate in poems”). even though this was likely coincidental/not fully intended by j/k/r, and the way the name is canonically spelled is too different to be any of these words, it still serves as a cool little easter egg for those of us who know how to move on from and enjoy this franchise beyond “but it’s not a real chinese name! it’s racist eurghhh!” :D

below is the name-fix i did for my hp reimagining and au’s.

her english name: Celine Chang.

i decided to give her an english name because it’s common for asian diaspora in europe to have western given names, so it makes sense for cho to have one. usually, the top 2 reasons they wouldn’t have one is bc they were born and raised in their ethnic country of origin where they didn’t need to have a western name, so they only had their ethnic name when they moved, or their ethnic name is easy enough for english-speakers/europeans to pronounce or even similar enough to an existing western name that it just singlehandedly doubles as both (eg. lola, marie, naomi, tara). i chose celine bc it really fits the image of cho i have in my mind.

her chinese name: 曾楚楚.

family name means, “great-grands” (as in great-grandparents and great-grandchildren), and given name means, “all neat and tidy; spotlessly clean; dainty, delicate, and lovely”. in standard beijing chinese, this is read and romanized as Zeng Chuchu; but in cantonese, this is read and romanized as Chang Chocho, as i headcanon her family to originate from hongkong instead of mainland. her official birth name, as her parents chose for her, is 曾楚 Chang Cho with only one cho. for social usage, it’s repeated to make it sound nicer on the ears, and because it alters the meaning a tad bit.

her full name as she prefers it: Celine Cho Chang.

a bit too heavy on the letter C, but that can pass as the wizarding world’s general fondness for alliterations. i’m thinking of having this be her legal name that’s written on legal documents, since they obviously won’t be able to use foreign characters on british papers.

voila! it makes sense now and still sounds the same as what she’s called in canon. the only thing i “changed” was the addition of an english name, which wasn’t even a crucial change to make.

the professors and other adults would call her “ms. chang”, her fellow students would call her “chang”, or “celine” if they don’t care much for noble heritages, while her close friends may call her “chocho” or “cel” or “pretzel”, the last being a light-hearted little nickname i’d given her, because i headcanon she likes pretzels and it was an homage to the severe pretzeling i had to perform in order to straighten out jkr’s white bullshit.

wanna hear my take on sue li? of course you do!

i had “sue” be a shortened nickname form of her non-chinese given name, sukma, while “li” is her family name coming from her paternal line.

her full name is Nadiya Sukma Darmali,

her chinese name is 李谦栩 Li Qianxu (“plum” + “modest, humble” + “vivid, lively”); chosen on a whim because i’d been wanting to use these 2 kanjis in a name somewhere and this was the only opportunity at the time,

she has a brother named Ashton, 李穆彦 Li Muyan (“plum” + “solemn, serene, reverent” + “virtuous, erudite man; learned scholar”), whose name is prone to change in the future because i’m always unsure of everything,

and they have parents and an extended family, just because.

everyone still reading this, feel free to use this version of cho and sue for your own fanfics and fanarts. if you do, i’d like to be mentioned somewhere in an a/n, please.

so, why did i call this “the better side of carelessly-made asian names & characters”? i’m glad anyone’s even still thinking about this topic nowadays tbh. here’s the non-exhaustive list.

fai zhang (rick riordan) → the syllable “fai” only exists in cantonese chinese. meanwhile, the syllable “zhang”, as written this way, only exists in post-1960 prc standard chinese. chinese people don’t mix up languages for naming usage like this; there’s a different, very structured formula if this needs to happen, and only the diaspora living in poorer/less educated/not up-to-date/poc-majority regions do it. chinese-americans are more uniformed and standardized, so it won’t happen in america unless they emigrated from a region as described above.

furthermore, grandmas would never ever commit all the above mistakes and even go as far as to use westernized order for an eastern-order name on top of it. we sinos always use the correct order when talking to another ethnic-sino person. that’s just the rule.

outside of the linguistic problem, this is just not a good name in general. the constant “single-character given name” approach lacks creativity and care. most chinese-americans of the modern day would have a dual-character given name, so this would’ve been the better choice for him.

fortunately, frank still has his english name to fall back on. frank zhang, albeit not euphoniously flowing smoothly together at all, is an acceptable for his id and passport.

at least cho chang could be fixed while still retaining the original idea; fai zhang absolutely cannot be saved without throwing out at least one component in favor of something else entirely different. rr most definitely, very clearly pulled a “done no research #yolo #swag #thissoundsasianright?” and then refused to listen to his fans’ criticism and people still adore him for his “perfect unproblematicness”.

fu manchu (originally sax rohmer’s fault) → fu can be several famnames in chinese; all very rare but they do exist, so this is not the problem. the problem is that naming your character manchu is akin to naming someone American Smith or Jamaican Jenkins or British Johnson—undoubtedly terrible choices. nonsensical, not cool, absurd, no one likes it. this type of shit is very disrespectful to chinese people worldwide, as it shows the artist/writer’s inherent lack of care for poc’s cultures.

now, you might consider it a redeeming point, the fact that marvel (and other medias that have adapted this character into their own storylines too, i think) is trying to pass this off as an alias he took up, instead of his real name, which is actually zheng zu and an acceptable name on its own. until you realize that a) this doesn’t excuse the racism and stereotypes present in the original idea of dr. fu manchu, which are inevitably also present in other adaptations, and b) marvel could’ve just given him a normal menacing supervillain alias like all the other supervillains get???

fah lo suee (sax rohmer) → it’s obvious from first glance that this name was made by a westerner who had less than 0 clue what they were doing. technically, you can do a full session of mental gymnastics and say that fah was meant to be fa, which can be either actually fa or cantonized hua, and lo was meant to be luo or maybe even lou, and suee could be taken as a germanic (namely, a dutchized spelling, is what comes to mind) spelling for sui, shui, or xue as per the common pre-standardization folk sentiment of “it’s spelled however i think it’s spelled”. except the way this name and the character were presented made it clear early on that this isn’t about showcasing old spelling variants; it’s about being white and racist. marvel comics adopted her character too and named her zheng baoyu, which is okay and fine and finally, marvel.

gogo yubari (quentin tarantino) → okay, this is kind of very risky grounds because it’s just nearing all sorts of wrong, but technically you can contort some arguments here and there and come to the conclusion that it’s actually an okay name?

“gogo” is a generic idea of what foreigners think a feminine japanese given name is. it doesn’t actually exist as a given name as of the present moment, but technically you can just use hiragana (or maybe even katakana if you’re on the edgier side) for it, and therefore not have this name mean anything in particular. it’d simply be a meaningless string of syllables, which may seem appealing to some families as it doesn’t put any weight or expectations or possible misfortune on the child, and/or it might amount to a better stroke count than if you used kanji; and all of this can theoretically work because girls’ names in japan is an absurdly flexible concept compared to boys’ names.

additionally, i feel like this choice falls victim to the “oh, i saw this super generic asian name once so i’ll just name my character this because at least it’s the right language, right?” writing trope. not a very serious glaring problem, just rightfully annoying to those of us who can catch on.

lu ren (geneva robertson-dworet, alastair siddons) → if you spent just 2 minutes reading the wikipedia article for chinese names, you’ll find that the 3rd paragraph from the start of the article mentions that one of the biggest naming taboos in chinese culture is intentionally naming your child the same name a real person you know has, including the western concept of honor names, and that this rule was taken to an extreme back in the day china still had emperors and kings; if you go through the wikipedia article for chinese given names, you’ll find this topic explained slightly more in-depth in the 2nd paragraph of the “description” section; there exists a wikipedia article for naming taboos, in which chinese and chinese-influenced cultural traditions are the main talking point throughout the article; this topic is mentioned in the “usage note” section of the wikibooks article for chinese character names; and on a similar note, there exists a wikipedia article for naming laws in china, which doesn’t talk about the taboos but is a useful resource to consult the legal accuracy of your stories; all of which goes to show that this is a well talked-about thing in english-speaking spheres, and it’s not hard to come across this piece of info if you had an internet connection or maybe an ethnic chinese person in the production and development team.

of course, if it was an unintentional coincidence that your child has the same name as another real-life person who is not an emperor, empress, king, or queen, it won’t count as committing the taboo and you may keep the name, but unfortunately, this exact naming taboo was done very blatantly, with every intention there could be, in the 2018 tomb raider movie when lu ren (whom i will distinguish by calling lu ren jr.) revealed his father’s name was also lu ren.

if you’re too lazy to leave tumblr, @fineillsignup has a long post with a short explanation on why this naming taboo exists (just scroll really far down until you see the word “PITFALLS!” and then slow down a bit), which i won’t be explaining myself because it would take too long and frankly it’s very hard to put into clear-cut, understandable words, but basically, this is a very serious thing, and it was a huge accidental misstep for a franchise seemingly as big and professional as tomb raider. the scene where lara mistook lu ren jr. for his father wasn’t crucial to the plot nor anyone’s character development, so i firmly believe the writers/director could’ve went another route with the misidentification idea, or they could’ve just not use that idea and have the movie be a few minutes longer, because lara’d still be just as determined to look for a dead man whose name only a handful of people still remember, but luckily she’s already at the right place to stumble upon lu ren jr., so like, it really shouldn’t be that hard to change a few scenes here and there, y’know???

additionally, it irked me throughout the movie that everyone pronounced lu ren jr.’s name with an ɛ (incorrect) and sometimes even æ (even more incorrect) instead of an ə (correct), and lu ren jr. literally paid no attention to it??? pls stand up for yourself and correct them.

nima (david koepp, john kamps) → nima is a swear word in chinese, usually shorthand for caonima or nimade though it also works on its own, equivalent to english “fuck, fucking, damn, damned, damn it”, so i’m deeply concerned with the motives and intentions behind this decision, especially since this character is supposed to be the main driving force of the whole plot and is decidedly not an antagonist at all. it doesn’t matter whether this is her chinese name or english name—there was no hint to follow and this is the only name we know of her, unfortunately making her a very underdeveloped character in favor of the main white guy—because she’s an ethnic chinese woman, so it’s inherent that neither herself nor her family would want to name her after a chinese curse word.

o-ren ishii (quentin tarantino) → absolutely not. this is an abomination and disgrace to lucy liu. first of all, just make her character an ethnic chinese, wtf? second of all, that is a very awkward and unnecessary way to romanize what i assume is most likely 石井黄蓮. what is it with that randomly placed hyphen? i’ve even seen people write it as o-ren ishi’i, which is even more unnecessarily clunky. at least the family name, ishii, is a normal common family name, but this does not redeem anything because, i must stress this again, refer to “first of all, [...]”

xi’an coy manh & her entire family (chris claremont, frank miller) → xi’an is the name of a city in china. likewise, coy does not exist in vietnamese either; it’s very glaringly european. ethnic vietnamese names do not consist of any word outside the vietnamese lexicon; the entire thing should be written and spoken in the vietnamese language. the only thing acceptable here is manh, which can be taken to be manh (萌; “sprout, bud, shoot”) or mạnh (孟; “eldest sibling, first of a series, first month of a season”), because in foreign countries it’s expected for these types of names to lose their diacritic marks. i think there’s been an attempt in the fandom to try to reconstruct her name into something decent and workable, but i don’t remember how to look for that topic again.

anyone has any more ideas to go on the list? i’m not in a lot of fandoms so this is all i know.

thank you for reading!

Hey, linguistics Tumblr, got a question for you.

So we know JK Terfling didn't bother to do the research on names when she applied the lazy moniker of "Cho Chang".

We also know that a lot of people from non-Western cultures will employ Westernised names for ease of pronunciation among the idiot white people.

With that in mind, does anyone have any thoughts on what Cho Chang's name Actually is, and what it might mean?

[thehoneybuddhadefender]

So angst with rfa+v mc being dangerous (like Seven dangerous but more) like shes been chased by many countries and she has killed (if u want that lol) someone and then she decides to leave them. Like say she cheated on them (but didnt) or dont just love them anymore bc she doesnt want them to get hurt. No happy ending plz (but dont kill anyone plz)

Thank you for your request, i know you told that i couldn’t kill anybody, but i killed someone. I’m sorry, that was the ending i thought so.But i hope you like it!

Yoosung

“Dangerous people don’t get hurt” This is what you’re trying to tell to yourself.

You’re too dangerous, and Yoosung is so young…With so many plans for his life.

He’s just an angel that deserves a bright future.

You can’t think about losing him, you can’t think about getting him hurt.

You can tell him the truth, but you know he’ll be by your side even by that. But you feel bad, he almost lost the sight of one his eyes because of you…

But now you’ll have to leave him.

You made your suitcase, and he saw you leaving “MC…Are you leaving?” He runs to you, with a confused yet set face.

You look at him, your eyes want to tear up, but you’re being strong, you just sigh “…I can’t be here anymore Yoosung…I’m breaking up with you.”

“What…?” He froze, and then he got closer to you “Honey…Don’t say that! Why? We love each other…!” He’s getting closer, this made the situation harder than it was.

“…I cheated on you!” You yelled, and then you saw Yoosung, his eyes are filled with tears…His face just says one emotion: Sadness.

“…What…?” He said with a broken voice, you close your eyes, you can’t seem him like this, it’s too much…

After some minutes of silence, he said like a whisper “…We can talk about this…” He was reaching for your free hand, you just give one step away from him.

“No. I’m in love with that person.” He froze again, almost not believing it, you heard the horn of the taxi you called, and like that you run for it.

You heard Yoosung screaming your name, but you tell to the driver to go, you will not look back…You can’t…Your eyes are just filled up with tears.

You don’t know what’s going to happen with Yoosung right now…But you believe that he’s going to be fine…Nobody will hurt him…

This is what you believe.

Now he feels worthless, depress, because he believes he isn’t good enough for nothing.

He just can’t go further in his life…

Not without you.

Zen

Your story is sad to tell.

And you can’t tell anybody that, you fear for his safety.

What’s left in your life now?

Your love, Zen.

But you fear his safety…He has so many dreams ahead of him…He has already fought so much for them…

You can’t mess up his life, he has a great life ahead of him.

This makes you smile…Just to think about it.

Every day you’re more distant from him, and he can see it.

He’s making breakfast for you, coming earlier from rehearsals, just to be with you.

Nothing seems to change.

You can feel his sadness.

This makes your heart break…But it’s better to forget about this sadness…You need to leave him.

You were with the suitcase on your hand, you walk to him “Zen…I’m going away.” He was not so surprised by it, he was feeling you so distant from him…But his eyes are filled with sadness either way.

“MC…I don’t know what have i done wrong…Or if you need something…Please tell me…I’m your knight…! I can protect you!”

“…You always think you’re such a dream…But i’m seeing another guy…He’s better for you…Even in looks.”

Zen just froze, with tears in his eyes, this was your opportunity to go.

You had to say such things to him…It was so cruel…But otherwise he would be so in shock and he would stop you…

After you left…Zen just don’t feel the same.

Your words hit him every day…He thinks he wasn’t good enough for the love of his life…And to be honest…

He thinks he isn’t good enough for anyone.

He’s smoking and drinking so he can numb the pain…

But nothing seems to work…

Zen is finished.

Jaehee

You’re living a great life with Jaehee.

You helped her reach her dream, she is so thankful for that, and she is in complete love for you.

And you’re for her.

She’s just smiling too much, you can’t help but smile too!

But this has to end…

You were preparing to leave, Jaehee runs to you “MC?!You’re going on a trip without me?”

You look at her “I’m living my life without you.”

She looked confused “What?”

“Jaehee…I’m not into you…Did you know what i mean? That was just for fun…A new experience that i didn’t like it…”

She looks really mad right now “What do you mean? We build a cafe together!”

“It would be better if we just kept being friends… I’m sorry… But now I can’t even be friends with you…It’s too weird.” You sigh and you enter the taxi holding back your tears.

You cried when the taxi goes.

Jaehee is angry…But also…She is broke.

She slowly comes back to her house, with tiny steps…She can’t believe that.

She sits on her couch, with a blank expression…Then she starts to cry.

And she cries all the day, she doesn’t want you in her mind,  but she still loves you so much.

She just works in the cafe and go home to cry…She wants to forget you, forget she is missing you…

This pain is too much…

She’s there in the cafe, with a broken smile, trying to hide all that sadness.

She thought she was going to live in eternal happiness because of you…

But she’s living an eternal suffering because of the same person.

Jumin

He is finally happy with his life.

He thought was satisfied with it, but now with you in it, he realizes the had a huge hole in her.

And now you made him finally happy.

But you can’t help to feel the blame when you think about how your life can mess his life.

His life was too cold without you, now it’s warm enough.

You know Jumin wouldn’t let you go that easily, it doesn’t matter what you say.

He would insist more and more, and he would want all the details to know why you’re leaving.

You know he would try to change everything you don’t like…But he can’t change your life.

Why you accept all this…?

You were gone before he could notice, you left a note, saying you needed to go…You wanted another life, another husband.

All lies.

Lies that he didn’t believe.

He pays who needed to find you, but nobody could.

He wants to feel your hand in his again, he wants to kiss your lips again, he wants to see you again.

That black hole that was in his life is back.

He doesn’t mind spending all his life searching you…Because he wants to find you.

You didn’t mess his life…You messed up him.

Jumin Han is destroyed…Because of a broken heart.

Who would think this was possible?

707

You should have been away from him when he said he was dangerous.

He doesn’t suspect you, you know how to erase your trace if from him.

Now you’re trying to do the same thing as he did in the past…Making him get away from you.

You wanted him to save you from this mess, but you don’t want to involve him in this.

You’ll fight on your on.

You were ready to go when Seven saw you with all those things, he runs to you “MC were are you going? What are you doing?”

You don’t say anything, while you were going to the door, he holds your arm, making you stay “Answer me!”

You look at him and then you sigh “I can’t live this life anymore…You’re too dangerous…Your head is messed up…!”

“What?” He gave a little laugh like he wasn’t believing it “…MC…My problems are in the past, we already beat all of them!”

“No…” You sigh “I just…Don’t love you…I mistake my feelings…I love 707…Not Saeyoung…Even if you want me to stay…I’ll go.”

Seven let go of your arm, looking at you, with a serious expression, he isn’t believing in any of those things you were saying “…I won’t let go of you…You can go now…But i’ll find you.”

You walk away, with a sad smile on your face…You wish he could find you.

But he doesn’t give up…He’s hacking any camera, anything, any files…He’ll know where you are…And why you were running from him.

But sometimes is too hard to type when the keyboard is too wet because of his tears that keep falling.

V

He was happy about this life with you right now.

Even if he is always terrified that he might lose you one day.

And this day came.

You know what V already suffers in his life, and another “lost” would be too much for him.

But you don’t want him to get hurt or killed because of you.

You’re too dangerous.

Your heart will sink, your happiness will disappear.

But you hope V will have a good life. You really do.

You have to go away…. This is hard, but you must do it.

Your things were ready to put on the taxi that was waiting for you.

V’s vision is worst, it’s more blurry than ever, but he could see your movement and that car outside

“What are you doing MC?” He said calamity, smiling.

You looked at him, sighing, your expression was sad, but you know he can’t see it “I’m leaving V.”

“….Leaving me…? Forever? But…I love you MC…” V didn’t even ask why, to be honest, he doesn’t know why you gave him a chance to be happy…It’s your right to take that happiness back.

“I just don’t love you anymore…” You could see tears falling from behind his glasses…You’re happy that you can’t see his eyes.

And you know if you stay there just a little more…He would make you stay.

So you took the opportunity and you enter that taxi…And then you go away.

V even asked Seven and Jumin to help him find you.

But all that effort was nothing.

He always says he forgot about you…And he’s happy that you’re finding your happiness.

He’s faking his smile to the other members, saying he’s ok.

He doesn’t know why he smiles. Maybe that way nobody will be worried about him.

But he is miserable now.

God knows that…

So he is hoping that God accepts him in heaven…Even if he’s shortening his life.