#just saw this girl i went to hs with and she just looked so cool

[phcenixfcrce]

ugh i hate seeing people that get to look the way they want. instead i work a stupid job that makes me dull my appearance. i wanna dye my hair i wanna get more tattoos and look how i want !!

[joeys-babe]

Joey B Imagines: Out of My League

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Summary: Flashback. The story of how you and Joe came to be. Years before marriage and your little family.

Warnings: none, fluff

Pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

Imagine universe: Beginning of… Into The Mystic

A/N: Joe is a senior in high school and you are a junior. It's your first year at Athens HS! Also, most of these students' names are made up.

————————————————————————-

August, 2014

(Joe’s pov)

“Yo! Joey!” - Zach

I turned around to see one of my best friends running up to me.

“First day of senior year!” - Zach

“Yup! Just think about it, we’re like the big dogs now.” - Joe

“Ya know it. I heard that there's this really hot new chick coming from Kentucky.” - Zach

“Well, I don't want any part of that. I've got enough going on with football and schoolwork. Don't be surprised if my next girlfriend is in college.” - Joe

“Damn dude, that was pretty forward. You haven't even seen her yet. This could be your Juliette, Romeo!” - Zach

“I highly doubt it.” - Joe

We rounded the corner to find a few more of the football guys and a few of their girlfriends with them.

“Yeah, her name is y/n.” - Cassidy

“Who is?” - Joe

After making my presence known, Cassidy turned around and rolled her eyes at the sight of me.

“Dude, what was that for?” - Joe

“Shoo, Joe.” - Cassidy

“What, why?” - Joe

“Because I'd rather you leave than explain that we have a new girl just to hear you say you're focusing on football.” - Cassidy

“She’s got a point.” - Zach

“Who's side are you on?” - Joe rolled his eyes

Before Zach could answer, the bell rang, telling us to head to first period.

The group disbanded, and when everyone else went in the direction of the same classroom, I realized I was probably going to be alone in this class.

My first period was chemistry, and sadly, the teacher was notorious for a boy-girl seating chart.

I walked upstairs and found the room. When I walked in, everyone was in their seats already.

Looking for my name attached to a seat number on the board, I found it and then went on trying to find it.

The tables were for two people, and in the back corner where my table was, I saw that a girl was already occupying the other seat.

She was pretty, I won't lie, but I'd never seen her before.

The girl was looking down at her schedule when I sat my stuff down on the table, causing her to look up at me.

A warm smile spread across her lips, and I found myself studying her face a little too long.

“Hi.” - Joe

“Hey.” - you

I sat down next to her, my mind trying to come up with a conversation.

“Enjoying your first day so far?” - Joe

“Yeah, pretty well, you?” - you

“Same. Other than my friend’s girlfriend being rude to me for no reason.” - Joe

She laughed. It was one of the cutest laughs I've ever heard, and it was infectious too.

“I'm sure you didn't deserve it.” - you

“Thank you! I walked up to them, and she just rolled her eyes at me.” - Joe

“Dang man, she has beef with you.” - you

“That's what I'm sayin’. I don't know what I've ever done to her, though.” - Joe

“Ask her.” - you shrugged

“Nah, I don't care that much. Why am I even telling you this?” - Joe

“I don't know.” - you laughed

There's that laugh again.

“I just started unloading on you, huh? Well, I haven't seen you before so tell me about yourself.” - Joe

“Well, I'm a junior, so that's probably why. I'm not that interesting though. I strive for good grades, and I do gymnastics with a side of dance.” - you

“Oh really? I play football.” - Joe

“That's cool.” - you smiled

“Yeah, I’m feeling really good about this season, I just know it's gonna be great.” - Joe

“Well, I wish you luck.” - you

“I appreciate that, and you too. Hope gymnastics goes well.” - Joe

“Thank you.” - you smiled

Before the conversation could go further, the teacher started talking about what we should expect in this class. The teacher didn't stop me and my new seat buddy from talking, though.

As we talked longer, I realized we had a lot in common. I wouldn't be lying if I said she was the first girl I've talked to about Star Wars.

She was really fun, though, and easy to talk to.

Our conversation lasted till the bell rang, and we both sheepishly smiled when we realized that we'd been loudly talking in a quiet classroom.

I stood up and started packing my things. She did the same. The rest of the students were filing out of the room when we both put our backpacks on, seemingly in sync.

“I… I’m Joe, by the way. Joe Burrow, but most call me Joey.” - Joe

“It was nice talking to you, Joey. I'm y/n.” - you

She shook my hand and walked out of the door, leaving me shocked.

y/n… new hot girl from Kentucky.

After talking to her, it felt wrong to refer to her in that way. She was really pretty, but hot isn't a word I like to use when referring to girls.

I hope I have more classes with her. Woah, what am I saying?!

Focus on football, Joe.

——

Sadly, I didn't have any more classes with y/n, but I thankfully had friends in all my other classes.

I had lunch B, and most of my football buddies were in there, but I found myself zoning out while trying to look around the room for her.

Ever since the bell rang in chemistry, I haven't stopped thinking about y/n. It was becoming a slight problem, but it seemed like all I wanted was to go to chemistry tomorrow and talk to her.

After school ended, the football team stayed after school since we had our first home game the same day.

Hours later, we were suited up and ready to go out and stretch.

When we ran out and took the field as the senior quarterback, I was naturally the one leading the pack, but my eyes drifted toward the sideline.

One of the cheerleaders was flipping while the others were in stunts, but when she landed her last trick and posed, I gasped lightly when I saw who it was.

y/n.

That's how Cassidy knew her name! She’s a cheerleader!

“Joe! Where are you going?” - Zach

The sound of my teammate yelling snapped me out of my daydream, and I realized that when the rest of the team stopped running to stretch, I kept going because all I was paying attention to was y/n.

“Oh.” - Joe

I turned around and ran to where I was supposed to be, but when I turned around, y/n was smiling at me. I smiled back.

——

We ended up winning the game, which is always amazing, but even better since it was our home opener.

After walking back into the locker room to hear what the coaches had to say, I showered and packed up to find my parents.

I wasn't at all surprised when most of the cheerleaders were standing outside waiting. Most of their boyfriends were players, so they'd wait after for them.

My eyes landed on my parents and brothers, but as I was walking in their direction, I heard a familiar voice calling for me.

“Joe!” - you

I turned in the direction of the voice to see y/n speedwalking over to me with a smile on her face.

“Hey, y/n.” - Joe smiled

“Hey, you did well! I knew you said you played football but I wasn't expecting that. You're super good.” - you

Is it hot out here all of a sudden? Why is my face heating up?

“Thanks. You're really good too. I know those flips are hard to do. You make it look effortless.” - Joe

“Thanks… sorry I distracted you though.” - you

“Not your fault, I just wasn't expecting to see you. You look uh… good, by the way.” - Joe

“You too.” - you giggled

Just as I was about to say something else, I heard my mom's voice calling for me.

“Sorry, that's my mom. I gotta go.” - Joe

“It's all good. See you in chem?” - you

“See you in chem.” - Joe

As I walked away from her, I felt something I'd never felt before.

Oh no.

——

Next Day

It was Friday and lunchtime.

All my teammates were feeling good after the win yesterday, and sure, I was too, but that wasn't what was on my mind.

This morning in chemistry, I found myself lost in a conversation with y/n again. The disappointment when the bell rang was insane. I never wanted to stop talking to her.

She was just different.

The attention she got from other guys was because of her looks, and she was pretty, gosh, she was pretty… but I didn't like being around her for that.

We had a lot in common and never ran out of things to talk about. She listened to what I had to say and gave great feedback. We talked about our futures and what we wanted to be when we graduated.

I told her about my hopes of going to the league, and what she replied with gave me a flutter in my stomach that I'd never felt before.

“If you make it to the NFL, you have to invite me to come see you.”

I’d known this girl for two days and I was already ready to make that promise.

My mind was so stuck on that altercation that I didn't hear Zach talking to me from across the table.

“Joe? Joe!” - Zach

I flinched slightly and looked up at him, all the guys at the table watching me with weird looks on their faces.

“Sorry… I spaced out.” - Joe

“Anyway, Cassidy told me that y/n was asking about you at their lunch.” - Zach

“What? What'd she ask?” - Joe

Should my heart be beating this fast?

“Asked if you had a girlfriend, I guess. Don't worry, though, Cas told her that you're focusing on football.” - Zach

“Oh. Okay.” - Joe

Is that really what I want?

“She’s so funny to tease.” - Chad

“Seriously, she's got cheerleader brain.” - Max

Why are they talking about her like that??

“I gotta go.” - Joe

I stood up from the lunch table, quickly finding a trashcan and throwing my stuff away before walking out of the lunch room.

“What’s his problem?” - Max

“I don't know, bro.” - Chad

Zach knew because he was right. What he told me yesterday was haunting me.

Romeo, this could be your Juliette.

——

My thoughts ran wild as I went to the office and asked to do some volunteer work.

The receptionist gave me the okay to go down to the middle school for the remainder of the lunch period.

I drove over to the middle school and went up to the office, clicking the button to signal the office worker that I was out there.

When the door unlocked I was able to open it. I did, and whose eyes I met surprised me.

“y/n?” - Joe

“Oh, hey Joe.” - you

“What are you doing here?” - Joe

“Gonna head to a class to volunteer, I have a free period right now. Aren't you supposed to be in lunch?” - you

“Well, yeah, but I had to get out of there.” - Joe

“Why’s that?” - you

Her brows were furrowed like she could hear the slight edge in my voice.

“Some of the guys were saying stuff about you, kinda pissed me off, so I left.” - Joe

“What? You left because of that? I’m used to it, Joe. I'm just a dumb cheerleader.” - you

“You're not, though, that's why I didn't want to listen to it. I've only known you for two days, but I look forward to every conversation we share. They don't know you as I do.” - Joe

y/n placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. Her eyes gave off a grateful look.

“You're the first person who’s made attempts to get to know me, and I appreciate it.” - you

“Not even your teammates?” - Joe

“I love ‘em, but they're not the Star Wars type like you are.” - you

“Yeah… I'm pretty cool like that.” - Joe

“Oh, whatever!” - you rolled your eyes

We laughed with each other before the receptionist cleared her throat. Both y/n and I froze when we realized where we were.

“Oh, sorry!” - you

“You guys can both go to room 379 if you’d like, seems like you two have a spark.” - receptionist

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, but y/n smiled at the older lady and walked through the double doors into the building.

There weren't any words shared between us as we walked to the room, both of us were thinking about what the woman had said. Do we have a spark?

——

Ten minutes into hanging out with the sixth graders, the teacher sent y/n and me to the copy room.

“Hey, have you thought about formal?” - Joe

“What about it?” - you

Winter formal wasn't coming until December, obviously, but I felt the need to ask.

“Like are you going? Date ideas?” - Joe

“I figured I'd go, yeah. I don't know who I'm gonna go with, though. Might just go with friends, the guys here aren't the best.” - you

“Ouch.” - Joe

“Hey, I don't count you with them. You’re separate.” - you

“I think that's good.” - Joe

“It is. You're a jock, but a nice one, you know? I like you.” - you

My face dropped as I looked at her, feeling my cheeks flush and my stomach flop.

“Not in that way!” - you rushed to say

“Oh… okay.” - Joe

“Why do you act disappointed? I thought you weren't looking for anything and focusing on football.” - you

“I don't know. I thought I was, but you're making it hard to.” - Joe

“What does that mean?” - you

“I barely know you, but I can't stop thinking about you. You understand me in a way I didn't think was possible… you're just different.” - Joe

“I feel the same way about you. You're nerdy but athletic and have these quirks that I'm obsessed with. You're oddly the guy version of me.” - you

“Nah, you're the girl version of me.” - Joe

“Oh, whatever!” - you shoved his chest

I'm feeling a little bold after she told me she can't stop thinking about me either. Should I make a little move?

“You look cute when you do that. You roll your eyes at me but are smiling.” - Joe

“Oh, uh. Thanks.” - you blushed

“You're welcome.” - Joe smiled

——

October, 2014

That's as far as we went talking about it.

Nothing ever came from that one conversation we shared at the middle school. That's the closest thing we ever did that could come close to showing feelings for one another.

We just continued being really good friends who giggle in the back of the chemistry room, but the eye contact we make while I'm on the field and she’s on the sidelines tells me there's something there.

In the past two months, I've concluded that no matter how hard I try to deny it, I have a crush on y/n.

I just don't know how to act on it.

She still thinks that I don't want a relationship right now, so I need to start dropping hints.

The first step of my plan was to ask her to study with me after school, like at my house.

So, when I walked into chemistry this morning, I had that idea in the back of my head.

“Hey.” - Joe smiled

“Morning.” - you smiled back

I sat my stuff down and took my seat next to her.

“I need to ask you something.” - you

“Oh, what's that?” - Joe

“They haven't announced it yet, but I won junior attendant for homecoming.” - you

“Really?! That's awesome!” - Joe

“Yeah, thanks. We have to have a guy from the football team be our escort…” - you

“And you want me to ask someone for you?” - Joe

She looked at me with a “boy, please” look on her face that made me laugh.

“I'm just playing. I'd love to walk you.” - Joe

“Okay, good. Thanks, Joey.” - you

“Mhm. When will you find out who won Hoco Queen?” - Joe

“Not till the game, but if I win, you’ll get a little crown too.” - you

“I get a crown too?? Now you have to win.” - Joe

“I'll try my hardest. You have to help my campaign, though.” - you

“Sounds like a deal.” - Joe smiled

——

Later that week, I met up with y/n during my lunch period and her free period. I helped her campaign, and when she wasn't around, I convinced the football team to vote for her.

I wanted to make sure she'd win.

——

“Junior attendant, y/n y/l/n, escorted by Joey Burrow.”

The announcer’s voice beamed through the speakers as we walked down the middle of the football field. My arm was looped with y/n’s, and I shortened my strides with the length of her heals in mine.

I hadn't seen her till she walked out and looped her arm with mine, but she looked so beautiful.

“You look gorgeous.” - Joe whispered

“Thank you.” - you blushed

We smiled for the camera when we reached the end of the field, and y/n gently squeezed my arm when we walked over and stood in our directed spot.

“You don't look too bad yourself.” - you

Our conversation was drowning out the announcer’s voice, who was reading the short paragraph that y/n wrote a couple of days ago. She'd made me proofread it so many times that I had it practically memorized.

“y/n would like to thank her parents and friends, especially her best friend, who is escorting her tonight.”

That part was new.

My cheeks heated up when I looked down at y/n to see her already smiling at me. She'd never come out and said that I was her best friend, but I couldn't say it didn't make sense.

“Surprise.” - you nudged him

“I'm your best friend, huh?” - Joe

“Yeah.” - you smiled

“You're mine too.” - Joe

“No way!” - you pushed Joe’s chest

“Don't tell Zach I said that, though.” - Joe

Her smile was infectious, and I felt my lips mirror y/n’s expression.

The announcer went on to introduce the senior attendant and read her little background story.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen. Your 2014 football homecoming queen is…”

I reached my other hand up to squeeze y/n’s that was wrapped around my bicep.

“y/n y/l/n!”

“You did it! Go get your crown!” - Joe

She let go of my arm and walked back to the middle of the field.

I watched with a proud smile on my face as y/n was handed a bouquet, a sash draped over her shoulder, and the crown on her head.

There was so much adoration in my heart for her, and when she turned around to look at me, my smile only widened.

“C’mere!” - you mouthed

I slowly walked over to her, and y/n re-looped our arms.

Bowing my head slightly, the crown was put on top of it. y/n laughed at the sight of the crown adorning my forehead.

“Lemme fix that. It's kinda sideways.” - you

She stepped on her tiptoes and fixed it, a blush forming on my cheeks when her fingers brushed down my face when she pulled away.

“You look cute.” - you smiled

“Thanks.” - Joe grinned

——

December, 2014

“Hey.” - Joe

“Oh, hey.” - you

I put my stuff down and sat down in my chair, the same routine since the first day of school. Hopefully, though, today some things will change.

Or at least be set in the right direction to change.

“I need to ask you a question.” - Joe

“Shoot.” - you

“Be my date too formal?” - Joe

I looked at her with hopefulness in my eyes. Please say yes.

“I'm already going with Chad… sorry, Joe.” - you

“Oh. It's okay, I just thought… nevermind.” - Joe

My shoulders slumped as I turned away from her and faced the board, biting the insides of my cheeks nervously.

The one time I shoot my shot with a girl, and I get rejected.

Guess that tells me what my priorities should be.

Focusing on football.

——

“What do you mean Joe’s here alone?” - you

“Yeah, Zach had to practically beg him to even come. Joe said there wasn't any point in going since he didn't have a date.” - Cassidy

“That makes me feel terrible…” - you

“Why?” - Cassidy

“Because he asked me, but I'd already said yes to Chad.” - you

“It's not your fault, how were you supposed to know that Joe was gonna ask you? I mean, he isn't looking for anything right now.” - Cassidy

“Yeah… do you know where he is?” - you

“No idea. Probably hiding in a corner.” - Cassidy

“Chad literally ditched me after pictures. Joe never would've done that…” - you

A few seconds of silence between the two girls went by before Cassidy had a lightbulb moment.

“Do you have a crush on Joe?!” - Cassidy

“What?! No!” - you

“You so do! y/n you should tell him! I honestly think he feels the same way…” - Cassidy

“No… he's focusing on football.” - you sighed

“So you do like him?” - Cassidy

“Maybe…” - you

When you admitted it out loud, it felt real. You like Joe.

Joey Burrow, the quarterback with the nerdy side that only you knew of, the one with the imperfect but adorable smile, the one that made you look forward to first period, your crush.

“I'm gonna go find him.” - you

You walked as fast as your heels allowed you and threw your half-drank cup of subpar punch in the trash can, pushing open the gym doors as Tongue Tied by GROUPLOVE playing through the speakers served as a soundtrack.

Zach wasn't hard to find as a sea of letterman jackets was in the hallway.

“Where’s Joe?” - you

“Oh, hey, y/n! He said he was gonna go take a walk around.” - Zach shrugged

You nodded and walked away toward the academic wing of the school.

Only the generator lights were on, but there was enough lighting to make out that familiar tall frame looking into the trophy cases.

Carefully, so as to not scare him, you slowly walked up behind Joe and tapped his shoulder.

“Hi.” - you

“Hi.” - Joe

“Chad ditched me…” - you

“That sucks.” - Joe

He hadn't even looked up at you yet.

“I'm sorry. If I had known you were going to ask me, I wouldn't have said yes to him.” - you

“S’okay, probably for the better.” - Joe

“Why are you just walking around by yourself, Joe?” - you

“Nothing else to do. Kinda bored.” - Joe

“Wanna go see what teachers left their classrooms unlocked?” - you grinned

Joe’s eyes drifted away from the trophy case for the first time and found yours. A smile pulled at his lips as he nodded his head.

You held your hand out to him, and Joe gladly accepted, clasping his fingers with yours.

There were so many unspoken feelings shared between you two as you made your way down the hallways to find an open door.

“The chem room is open…” - Joe

You gently opened the door and pulled Joe in behind you, the lights being motion-activated turned on as you two walked in.

Joe flicked the light switch back off as the moonlight through the window lit up the room.

Making your way to your table, you and Joe sat down in your respective seats without sharing a word.

“Your dress is pretty.” - Joe

With a longing glance, you examined Joe’s hair, outfit, and shoes.

“Thanks. You look handsome.” - you

“Thanks.” - Joe smiled

A few seconds of silence went by before Joe cleared his throat, immediately getting your attention.

“Uhm… can I be honest with you?” - Joe

“Always.” - you

Here goes nothing.

“I think you're amazing. Talking to you every day makes me want to come to school, and I enjoy every word that's shared between us. You get to see a side of me that many people don't because I feel safe with you. I hope what I'm about to tell you doesn't ruin that, and you might just see me as a friend… but I like you.” - Joe

“In what way?” - you

In all honesty, you knew exactly what he meant, but you wanted to hear him say it.

“In the way that I find myself staring at you all the time because I think you're beautiful, In the way that you give me butterflies when you laugh or smile at me. You are incredible, y/n; gorgeous, smart, talented, crazy athletic, loyal, trustworthy.” - Joe

He paused for a second to scan your face for somewhat of a reaction.

“Now that I think about it, you're so out of my league.” - Joe laughed

“Go on, Joey.” - you giggled

“What I'm trying to say is… I have a crush on you, y/n.” - Joe

“Mr. ‘I'm focusing on football’ has a crush on me?!?” - you

Joe felt his stomach drop at your teasing. He'd just poured his heart out, and was thinking the worst.

“So you don't feel the same way?” - Joe

“What? I didn't say that!” - you

“So…?” - Joe

“I like you too, Joe. More than friends.” - you

“Really?” - Joe smiled

“Yeah.” - you grinned

You two sat there, no words shared, just tooth-rotting grins.

“I've never done this before… what happens next?” - Joe

“I think there's another question you need to ask me.” - you

“Oh, yeah! y/n…” - Joe

He took your hand in his, the size difference making your heart flutter for a second before you shifted your attention back to his beautiful blue eyes.

“Be my girlfriend?” - Joe finished

“I'd love to.” - you smiled

Somehow, your other hand found its way into his. Almost as if magnets were pulling your faces together, you both leaned in.

Your lips molded together so perfectly like you were each other’s missing piece.

Maybe because you guys were.

Joe would forever be grateful that he took the leap of faith and confessed to the girl that he swore was out of his league, for she would become his everything for the rest of his life.

That chemistry room is where you found your first real boyfriend, who would be your first kiss, and unbeknownst to you, you were Joe’s first real girlfriend and kiss as well.

In fact, you were each other’s first everything.

And you'd also be each other’s last.

————————————————————————-

Authors note: One of my favorite requests to write, it was so fun picturing the beginning of their relationship!

Request for this fic;

Hope you enjoyed! 💕

[foxes-that-run]

Me!

Firstly the Video is a Haylor fest, as the lead single for Lover. It opens with Brendan and Taylor fighting in french.... made while Harry had a french girlfriend... Olivia and Meredith appear as daughters, a reference to 'Who is Olivia's Real Father?' in the Reputation TS Tabloid. Brendan then wears a floral suit (like Harry's on LOT 07/11/2018 San Jose, California) to give Taylor a kitten to make sure we know it is Harry laughing in the Olivia video. Benjamin also appears in the green room of the Lover video.

Actually before that open, a pastel coloured snake turns into butterfly's. There is a butterfly in every Lover video, on Taylors shirt and in a snake/butterfly tattoo in You need to Calm Down.

Of course, Harry has a large butterfly tattoo and in one Direction song he wrote, Olivia Harry said " The summertime, butterflies / All belong to your creation / I love you, it's all I do, I love you" he also tweeted this lyric before it was released. There is an adorable video of Harry implying Olivia is an emotion not a person.

A Ghost/Phantom reference for HYGTG, Stockholm Syndrome, Two Ghosts & Ready For it

And Taylor is walking in clouds which is referred to in the HS videos for Daylight and Late Night talking.

Throughout, Brendan Urie wears several suits that look like what Harry wore on Live on Tour, I put them all at the end. My favorite is this blue one where Harry sang Shania Twain's 'Still the One' at Madison Square Garden. (He loves TS so much, June 22 2018) TS invited Niall to play Wembly the same night. The other reference is from LOT Chicago, June 30, 2018.

Finally, the leaked Two Ghosts video gets a reference at the end. This makes me even more curious about why we never saw it, if Taylor did - did it serve it's purpose????? The stills were leaked in April 2020 - Me! was released April 2019, were they leaked for an anniversary of the video? Two Ghosts had been a single in 2017.

Lyrics

I promise that you'll never find another like me I know that I'm a handful, baby, uh I know I never think before I jump And you're the kind of guy the ladies want (And there's a lot of cool chicks out there) I know that I went psycho on the phone I never leave well enough alone And trouble's gonna follow where I go (And there's a lot of cool chicks out there)

A theme is that they cannot replace each other, Harry says as much in As it was with "Seems you cannot be replaced / And I'm the one who will stay, oh."

Not thinking before jumping is also similar to a Little Freak lyric 'jumped in feet first, broke an ankle, karma rules'.

He is indeed the kind of guy ladies want, which is covered again in Gold Rush. Taylor has a similar lyric to 'never leave well enough alone' in the One "digging up the grave again"

But one of these things is not like the others Like a rainbow with all of the colors Baby doll, when it comes to a lover I promise that you'll never find another like Me-e-e, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh I'm the only one of me Baby, that's the fun of me Eeh-eeh-eeh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh You're the only one of you Baby, that's the fun of you And I promise that nobody's gonna love you like me-e-e

Harry has a similar lyric in Adore you "Walk in your rainbow paradise (paradise) Strawberry lipstick state of mind (state of mind)". Again, the idea of the song is that there is no one like Taylor or Harry for the other. As it Was has the same idea: "In this world, it's just us / You know it's not the same as it was".

Someday (Harry sung by Ariana Grande and Buble has a similar lyric to the last line “And I can't lie, it's hard seeing you with her 'Cause I know she can't love you like I can”)

I know I tend to make it about me I know you never get just what you see But I will never bore you, baby (And there's a lot of lame guys out there) And when we had that fight out in the rain You ran after me and called my name I never wanna see you walk away (And there's a lot of lame guys out there)

How You Get the Girl opens with a reference to a fight in the rain and the first ghost reference "Stand there like a ghost / Shaking come the rain, rain / She'll open up the door / And say, are you insane, -ane?"

'Cause one of these things is not like the others Livin' in winter, I am your summer Baby doll, when it comes to a lover I promise that you'll never find another like

Taylor again references summertime from Olivia, and living in winter (London). There is a similar lyric in So it Goes, "I make all your gray days clear"

Then comes spelling is fun which think it is another Harry loves Scrabble reference.

Here are more of Brendan's outfits and their LOT counterparts

The California outfit has a.... Medicine reference.

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (22/09/24)

Post is a day late cause I was catching up to Magilumiere and ended pretty late so I just went to bed instead of finishing up the post and going even later. It was well worth staying up late cause it is THAT good. Looooots of yappin on this one, not just for that but some of the other stuff too. Buncha stuff ending next week too so more yapping then

blue - finale/completed green - new series/new to me pink - catching up

Anime

Plus-Sized Elf Ep12 (Finale)

I was going back and forth between 5 and 4 but ended up here. If it was normal lenght instead of short like this it would've ended up as a 4 for sure and maybe even a 3. But at the end of the day the show knew what it is. Just an ecchi show that served as a tool to promote the manga. They never did anything fancy and the animation was always the bare minimum with a lot of stills and pans. It being uncensored was a surprise for sure but there's not much more to say about it. There is only one joke and it's "damn this girl is thicc as hell", but it's never used in a negative way cause the author is clearly into it so it's not terrible. Tho it is also kinda like danberu with it giving recommendations for a buncha easy exercises anyone can do to lose weight and the such, which I didn't know was a thing cause I only ever saw the gags getting posted so that was cool to see. But at the end of the day, if you're interested in the series you'd be better off reading it anyway since synedoche's art is better

Manga

Yoshida Lemon Drops Ch1

This actually came out last month (and scanlations like 2 weeks ago) but I only now decided that I wanted to start it. I thought it was monthly because of that but apparently it's up to chap 4, there's just not been any more scanlated chaps, oof... But anyway, that was a decent little first chap just setting up the premise. I'ts a rom com between the most popular girl at uni and a guy that's not sure what he's doing at uni in the first place. They used to be together in a club in HS. The twist is that she confesses right at the end of first chap instead of it taking a billion years, it was pretty cute too. The artstyle might look familiar to you and that's because Wakaki has done many a series before including, his biggest one, TWGOK and more recently 365 Days to the Wedding which is getting an anime next season. I've never read or watched any of their other series but I know they're pretty well liked by people who have so I decided to give this new one a try. Hopefully scanlators pick it back up again soon, Mega just told me that the people who did this ch1 also did all of 365 so there's hope 🙏

Magilumiere Co. Ltd. Ch1 - 125

I've been meaning to read this for a long time and finally decided to do it now. Anime is starting on a couple weeks so I'm right on time tehe But anyway, the first chap was really good. I was already expecting good things cause my buddy Mega has always praised it since the start but I was still surprised. I wish every new series on WSJ could have first chapters this good. They did a great job introducing the mains and giving us a little taste of how the world works, plus the art is great, the style really reminds me of early MHA which is a big compliment. I'll go back to reading now and then give some more thoughts when I finish catching up (or if something comes up meanwhile.) Alright I caught up with it and all I can say is, it's peak, it's just peak. As I was reading it I caught myself putting it in the same headspace as Kaiju. Maybe cause they're both Jump+ titles? Maybe cause they're both different takes on their respective genres? I'm not sure but I did. And as much as I like Kaiju, and I like it quite a bit, it feels like Magilumiere blows it out the water. While I like the action scenes in Kaiju a lot more cause it has better coreography and a lot flashier scenes, everything else about Magi is just better, including the art. I think the biggest difference between the two is how much better the pacing is in this compared to it, but the characters also feel a lot more fleshed out unlike in Kaiju where that's only the case for like 4 or 5 of them. The only exception to this is Koshigaya but she's going to get a little arc soon so yeah. Me and Mega discussed it a bit before I went to bed, after catching up, and we think it'll still have 30-40 more chaps so I'll be looking forward to reading this for the next few months. Anyway I'm rambling a lot and still feel like I forgot some stuff I wanted to say but I'll stop here lol

Just one last thing I wanted to add, you can really tell how much the author loves and respects the genre which is refreshing to see. I wish other magical girl series that try to put a "twist" on the genre were half this good. They really do get it

Hakutaku Ch1

Well that was alright, I guess. Certainly the weakest out of the 3 in this serialization round. I wasn't expecting much out of it so can't say I was disappointed but wasn't impressed either. The art was good at least, the artist worked as an assistant for Black Clover before. It's about a boy who gamefies most aspects of his life meeting a girl that wants to make games and her convincing him to make a game with her. This felt a lot like a one shot to me but it's a serialization, so we'll see how the next few chaps go but I won't be expecting too much

[butmakeitgayblog]

What was the moment when lexa realized she had a crush on AWTR Clarke? If she’s been pining so long, what was the trigger?

Oof there are layers to this answer 😩

If you're talking about the first time Lexa's little heart went pitter-patter over Clarke, that would have to be in second grade when they were paired up to do a layout of the solar system complete with all the different distances from the Earth and the Sun. Except, Clarke kinda went above and beyond on it, throwing herself into the project and kind of just dragging (a very willing) Lexa along for the ride. She took what could've just been a simple crayon and construction paper assignment and turned it into a full blown art project. They worked side by side to make each every planet, moon, and star as close to perfection as possible (which still all came out a little wonky but dammit at the time they both thought their work was immaculate.) And for that whole week Clarke would sit next to her and smile at her and get excited when Lexa came up with an idea she liked. Sure, Clarke also frowned and guffawed at ideas that she didn't care for, but Lexa didn't mind all that much. Clarke was just passionate about her work she always reasoned, even then she understood. And she kind of loved it, the whole getting to work with someone who actually cared about this stuff as much she did. Who wanted to do well and complete the tasks above and beyond what was expected. Who treated her like she was actually there.

It was also really neat how Clarke's eyes kind of matched the shade of blue they used for the shooting stars and constellations...

It sucked when the unit ended and Clarke went back to her friends and Lexa became invisible again. But that little flutter in the pit of her stomach every time she saw Clarke never fully went away.

If you're talking about the first time she realized she had an honest to god "daydreams about kissing this girl, wishes she'd back me into a desk and ~capture my lips~ like they do in those sordid romance novels no one knows I read at the bookstore whenever I go into the city" kind of crush, that'd have to be in 11th grade (junior year of hs). She knew she was attracted to Clarke by then in the sense that Clarke was just,,, insanely hot. We've covered that already lol. Sweet, quiet, ugly sweater wearing Lexa Dorkus Woods has always been a lowkey horndog 😂 so by 7th grade it'd become a struggle not to stare (stealing glimpses was simply free real estate.) But when she knew Clarke was different from the image she put out in the world and was someone... someone special, someone Lexa wished she could get to know better and just wanted to be close to was actually when Clarke managed to get herself suspended.

Hear Lexa out 👀

It had been a raw deal right from the start. Clarke had been defending someone she cared about from someone else she had considered a friend. And Lexa had watched the entire thing go down. She had seen the girl come to school with a bruise on her cheek, very poorly covered in with makeup. And she'd seen Clarke's enter body bristle at the sight of it when her close knit grouo had all met up for lunch. When the girl had tried to casually just plop down among them like nothing at all was wrong, except Clarke wasn't having it, instead cupping her chin and wordlessly looking the bruise over with hawk-eyed precision. Lexa may not have been close enough to catch whatever words had been exchanged, but she'd sure as shit had a front row seat to Clarke marching two lunch tables over and launching herself into a one-sided fist fight with the back of a certain linebacker's head.

It may have been a surprise attack and it may have only left a few quarter sized knots on the back and sides of his head, but still. The dude was twice her size and Clarke had still beat the shit out of him.

And that moment was just... it spoke so much to Lexa about who Clarke was beyond the cool girl laid back exterior. Yes it was reckless and hot headed, and yes she'd ultimately ended up with a fistful of bruised knuckles, a sprained wrist, and 3-day suspension slip, but what Lexa saw was that she'd also been brave. And loyal. And protective of someone she cared about. And in that moment, something shifted when it came to the topic of Clarke Griffin.

[maybeimamuppet]

alright y’all. let me spin ye a yarn ye shan’t soon forget (it’ll take like 40 seconds to forget shh)

i saw MEAN GIRLS yesterday at MY OLD HIGH SCHOOL so here’s some notable moments

-literally as soon as we set foot in the building the fire alarm went off and we all had to evacuate

-3 fire engines and the fire chief showed up

-they entered the school with an axe

-no fire

-show begins damian adlibs a line and goes “and how her dodgy decisions caused another girl to get hit by a fire truck. BUS. A BUS.”

-for context overall i just need you to imagine a bunch of really talented kids being done so dirty by the adults in charge of them and this entire production looking like it has a $45 budget.

-they did not have desks despite being in a school.

-casting was piss poor except for like 3 roles which is sad bc those kids all had great voices and were just given parts that didn’t suit them

-damian CARRIEEEED. he was delightful

-the costumes. good god. i say again the budget but hoooo y’all. also there were almost no sets which was neat

-the show itself was censored to within an inch of its life which made me laugh bc it was not at all what i expected given that the other hs production i saw did not censor anything except maybe 5 words total

-it was opening night to be fair to the kids but regina had a costume malfunction right before the ‘what’s wrong with me’ feed in scene so the other three had to improv

-cady looked around for SO LONG and was like “your room is really cool. …and really… pink.”

-karen then joins in

-looks under the pillow

-“there’s no tooth for the tooth fairy D:”

-cady says “i don’t know, i would’ve thought regina had lost all her teeth by now”

-“no, i’m sure she has at least three left”

-karen then tries to put cady’s new shoes on over top of the shoes she’s already wearing

-THE BUS

-WAS A TOY BARBIE JEEP

-the jazzy was a motorized scooter STOLEN FROM THE LOCAL TARGET with the logo still on and everything

-karen and cady were sisters which was adorable and they looked so similar i thought they were twins but their body language saved it

-the choreography was absolutely piss poor it was wonderful

-during the ‘id rather be me’ feed in scene the orchestra in the pit raised their hands when they did the whole “raise your hand if you’ve ever said something bad about another girl behind her back” bit

-they played actual bells. like “for whom they toll” type in world burn

-the dresses they wore in ‘stars’ were the same ones we wore when i was there. in a production of the sound of music.

[davidpastrsnack]

lmao girl im sorry i did come for your neck 💀 but i needed to make sure you heard yourself there bc clearly if you wanted more from him, he was there for it. and ik its hard to see when youre in it sometimes. but from an outside perspective its like when youre watching a movie and think ‘just kiss already’. same vibes. thats why i told you it was said with tough love 🥰 but ok i see you with the exclusive talk!!! are you guys official now 👀 also ma’am!!!!!! not the i would have his baby rn bestie 😭 that is down bad. and that was too relatable but thats another story

it was a really good time having ty’s siblings! theyre so funny and its always nice seeing ty do his older brother thing, its just so cute. and they both clearly look up to him 🥺 but they all mess with each other and its hilarious. unfortunately for me, im now included in that 💀 but its okay, i have fun with it and at least ik it means theyre comfortable around me lol. if high schoolers think im cool and not old then i guess im doing something right lol. it was so funny bc they were asking when ty and i would be visiting his parents again and they were both planning on having friends around so we could see them lol.

and big brother protective ty? too good. ty’s sister had also been telling me about this guy she likes at school and how they’re partners for a project and now they talk more at school and how he texted her to see if she was going to the basketball games (bc he plays basketball). and i was like ooh girl hes texting you about you coming to his games? that’s serious hs flirting right there. and she blushed bc she doesn’t think he likes her. but basketball boy texted her while she was with me and ty and get this. it was to ask her about meeting up for the project and then he texts “oh wait, you’re not here this weekend, right?” like girl, he knew you weren’t here he was just trying to start a convo and using school as the starter 💀 and then at dinner ty’s sister went to the bathroom and left her phone on the table. and basketball boy had texted her so it lit up and ty saw it. and he almost had a heart attack i think. the amount of questioning the poor girl got, i literally kicked ty under the table lol. -roommate anon

no you're so right and definitely not the only person who has told me that😭 it's cliche but i would love to not go through being disappointed and hurt by someone again so i have been... cautious lol. not official yet but i will keep you posted. omfg i'm sorry what

aww that's so sweet though that they see you as part of gang. lol literally that's such a big compliment. aww omg they want to see you again, they really like you🥹 oh no here we go lol. omg pls tell her what time it is like you did me bc he likes her. aw poor girl😭 that's adorable though there is truly nothing like an older brother. can’t get over how much they like you that’s so cute💘

[bisluthq]

Thank you for the advice about my friend! I really appreciate it, and think you're right.

I have been socialising with more people and making some new friends, which has been really good. Though, in general, i'm not particularly social. I mean, i'm not as bad as i was in primary or early high school (because JESUS Christ), but still. I don't have a part-time job, and i generally haven't hung out with people outside of school since year 7 (excluding last year where me and the mentioned friend saw a movie). But, if and when the opportunity presents itself to hang out outside of school hours, I'll definitely take it up.

Anyway, in the midst of all this, something funny/strange happenend. Yesterday I had to walk home, and since there's a chip shop across the road from my bus stop, and since I was feeling pissy about the friend thing, I decided to grab something even though I wasn't that hungry.

When I went in, I ran into this girl from my class (we've spoken a few times but aren't very close. We sit at the same table but so do like 6 other people so😭). Anyway, that day we'd played a game, so we got to talking about that. Then I mentioned that I was walking home, and she offered me a lift. The walk wasn't far, but I accepted anyway because I'm not particularly athletic, and it's a 10-20 minute walk even though it's not all that difficult.

Anyway, that whole interaction made me feel better. It felt like some kind of sign from the universe that things would be okay, and in the moment, I kind of needed it. I think I'll be alright, but obviously, it's still a hard time.

See? That’s awesome!!! That’s something to celebrate!! It hurts A LOT and it’s okay to feel that hurt. It’s okay to be upset. But you’ve got to look on the upside - this is a chance to try new friend groups and extra murals and/or maybe a part-time job out and meet new people. Also depending on where you are and how the subject choices work (I kinda figured UK system based on the college comment and I still lean to that or former Brit colony now with that “years” thing and the chippy lol but you confused me for a bit by saying “grade”) you might be doing subject choices that don’t have your friend in with you and that’s another cool opportunity to make new friends?? I doubt you picked the same 3 so like there must be people who don’t overlap regularly? That’s an in. Just ask for opinions on homework or whatever.

This SUCKS but it’s also a HUGE opportunity for you. You two might reconnect btw but don’t spend time waiting for it. It’s not worth it. Like focus on finding shit that’s making you happy right now - and you’re doing that!!! And it’s awesome!!!

I’ll tell you one more friendship breakup story that hurts more to this day than that girl I was friends with throughout school and into uni and then she “broke up” with me that is similar to your story OR the friendship breakup that in effect was just a breakup because we never kissed or fucked but we dated like we were tooooo close and uncoupling was as hard as any breakup. The MOST HURTFUL one wasn’t those two, which like were for the better for all of us. The MOST HURTFUL one was one of my BEST friends in school (from primary all the way through into uni but we went to separate unis) and we used to actually say like we’re best friends and whatnot and anyway when I came out as bi she just… stopped talking to me. Like she just stopped all communication. She bumped into me once and asked me if I was turned on during sleepovers and I was like “… no???????? WHAT?????” and then she was like “so you’re saying I’m ugly?” and I was like “………. NO??????” Crazy ass homophobic cunt.

Also I made peace with that fact but my house now is in the same area as her parents’ and she had her wedding at her parents’ house so like VERY close to me and actively didn’t invite me (the other friend in the story went; my remaining HS bestie didn’t go but was invited because that friend thinks this girl is homophobic and is on my side and didn’t want to like go there even tho she’s straight af lol but for me she skipped it - they were never that close in school so it was also not a huge snub but it was weird I didn’t land an invite while living up the road from the venue) and her parents and I have the same local as a result obviously and I always worry about bumping into them lol.

anyway THAT’s a bad friendship breakup. Where friends are picking sides and where I genuinely think she’s a huge cunt and she thinks I’m a pervert and stuff. Your friendship breakups and the other two of mine that I mentioned are just opportunities for us all to grow 🤷🏻‍♀️

[mockerycrow]

So we all are gay here, what's your story for knowing you're also into women?? In my case it was 2013/2014 and i had a crush on either ellie (tlou) or matoi ryuko (kill la kill) when i was still in middle school .it was...i gotta say interesting because i saw these girls and went "oh if i were a boy i would treat you SO right" i didnt know that ellie a lesbian back then despite alr watching the dlc too (ig thats for growing up in an anti lgbt society) and i came to a realization that she's actually!!! Into girls??? And exclusively girls???? I HAVE A CHANCE!!! Thats like 3 or 4 years after which around 2016/2017 😭 (also in the year 2014 i knew right away I'm a bisexual but imagine not being able to talk abt it to anyone for years until i found my queer friends in hs, also still a bit of internalized homophobia oh lord)

Fast forward to 2020, we all graduated hs 2 year ago, well into 2 years into uni, and iirc i reconnected w a hs friend on instagram who was infamously known being borderline lesbian (she didn't know that yet at the time) and also the society we're in so religious and she came from a religious family AND LOOK WHERE SHE IS NOW SHE'S MY GF!!! It's amazing how same hobbies reconnected ppl that it was their own love story

(sorry if this too personal i have no one to talk abt this beside my rlly queer circle and they alr know us we all in the same hs afterall 😔)

- 🛼

okay so, the funny thing is—I knew I liked girls before I liked boys. I’ve always known I’ve liked women, it was never a big “aha” moment or anything, and when i figured out i also liked boys, it’s was just a “cool… anyways—“ moment LMAO

I would play moviestarplanet and pretend to be a boy to date girls, I would do that on every game possible. Ellie was one of my first video game crushes!

i’m bisexual w/ a strong preference for women, but i also heavily identify with the label queer, so i go back and forth. i’ve never had any experiences with women unfortunately:( just 2 men. hoping to have a girl come into my life and make the first move!!

and i know it’s bad, but i lowkey want that.. homoerotic situationship with another girl if that makes sense. kisses and praise behind closed doors but in public, we’re just friends. and if it develops into a relationship? yipee!!!!

i identified as a lesbian for a couple of years due to realizing that i liked girls first, then i liked 2 guys, broke it off with one of them years later and now i’m realizing that i heavily prefer women. sometimes i think i might be a lesbian, but then i’ll see an attractive man at the gym or something, there’s a lot of unresolved stuff internally but i’ll figure it out!

edit: this may be a shock to y’all, but i don’t really have friends LMAOO i stick to myself. i enjoy these talks

[zhuhongs]

ah, the universality of wanting to see a familiar face. idk i just. have a lot of thoughts

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Mon 15 March ‘21

FIRST TIME GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ARTIST HARRY STYLES!! From the bottom of the stairs to the top of the fucking world baby, get itttt!! He won Best Pop Solo Performance for smash hit Watermelon Sugar-- the other two categories he was up for went to others but he was a dark horse for any of them so getting one is awesome! Yeah the grammys are shit but I’m so happy for him to see him receiving validation and acclaim from the industry that has never appreciated what he (and his bandmates) are and can do as artists, it’s a fucking start you know? We can enjoy the moment! Harry did! His acceptance speech was short and it feels like he was blindsided and forgot everything (including not to swear on TV and as pro as he is you know that means he was absolutely reeling, I love that) but later he said “I want to thank my fans for giving me an environment to be free to make the music that I want to make and supporting me along the way the last ten years”, yes that’s right we have helped you find a place to feel good, and “this is an incredibly sweet icing on the cake of what I get to do everyday so thank you.”

But that’s not all! He also performed, and wore things! Say what you want about Harry (or better yet please DON’T at least to me but that’s a losing battle) we always get so hyped up about even just seeing his outfits and he does not let us down! BLACK LEATHER, TITS FULLY OUT, DICK BANANA CHARM, AND A MUPPET BOA? Yeah he did that! Shirtless under a patent leather suit, I mean: wow. Very glam rock, very… well listen it’s just very GAY in like so many different ways??? Harry Lambert said they wanted “something darker, sexier, and more unexpected” which is definitely about that look I’m assuming and not the pastel thrift store rummage bin hodgepodge he wore later, unless Harry(s) and I have very different ways of interpreting “darker”. (Harry L also said “free the nipple” and we can all see that he MEANT it.) Harry red carpet-ed and accepted his award in a lavender muppet boa, tits slightly less out but still cleavagey, and with a seemingly random collection of other garments YES BABY OKAY you just WEAR THAT THEN! About that Harry L said, “we wanted to do something that felt British and eccentric, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll and a little bit camp,” but the people have spoken and they said ‘we think he looked like Cher from Clueless’ so, sorry Harry(s)! Esquire struggling to describe the look-- “the kind of thing that Styles seems to make wearable” klasjdlk the doubtful ‘seems’ is sending me. Either way we can definitely all agree on the camp part, and that the matching face mask (as seen in the audience shots and in adorbs pics of him camping it up with Lizzo backstage) is amazing, love that (even if he does spend way too much time nervously pulling it on and off omg just LEAVE IT) and it even went also with outfit number THREE (or at least it did as well as any of his anything went together lol) which was a big floppy orange coat and plaid pants and a THIRD BOA, a dignified (haha JK NOPE it’s still a muppet) black number this time.

It seems the performance was filmed in advance rather than done live-- there were clues suggesting this might be the case, but the real giveaway was when a picture from it leaked before the broadcast, lol. Way to make it so we “can’t even tell if it’s live or not” Ben, and why is he STILL so obsessed with trying to gaslight us anyway my god just say what’s prerecorded it’s fiiiine. ANYWAY Harry played Watermelon Sugar and only WS; well after all it is his GRAMMY AWARD WINNING SONG. Plus it was a really nice version, all smooth and funky, with a highlight of the night being Harry’s full on 60s girl group choreo move with the backup singers, omg. Those backing vocalists were the duo G.A.W.D., and there was extra accompaniment by fellow nominee Devonte Hynes aka Blood Orange (who also directed the performance and no I do not know what that means) and “Spencer and Josh” on horns (the closest I can find to someone crediting them so, apologies guys). Anyway! All of them (regular HS band included) were decked out in matching gucci black leather too and looking good. And Harry looked so happy to be up there performing, just beaming like a lighthouse, so overall- good good stuff, I just keep on dancin!

The real bombshell of the performance though was subtle and needed confirmation after for the excitement to really hit-- it was Sarah drumming  decked out in tight black leather and visibly pregnant!! That’s right, band drummer Sarah Jones is PREGNANT by (Grammy Award winning) guitarist Mitch, there’s a HARRY STYLES BAND BABY on the way!!!! WHAT A NIGHT! It wasn’t enough for Harry to find love in his own band, he’s somehow cupid-ing that energy all over the place and spreading it around, AMAZING!

And Liam comes through with not just a sweet congratulations for Harry (“what a huge moment, proud to be your brother” awwww) but also the final word on the performance look- goddammit it IS one of the rejected Best Song Ever video looks, LMAOOOO. But did he tag HSHQ instead of Harry directly in acknowledgment of how the awards system really works and that they are all to be congratulated or simply because it was easier? We will never know.

Additional tidbits-- bassist Hynes was apparently playing creative director Molly Hawkins’ dad’s bass- did we know her dad was a famous bassist who played with Fleetwood Mac and many other 70s stars?! If I did I had definitely forgotten! And more Molly news-- she’s also pregnant!! Harry will soon be surrounded by quarantine babies, dreams really coming true huh? Harry posted a pic of himself with Mitch and Devonte looking very cooool, we saw the ceramic watermelons label execs were sent for the WS release last year, and Rebecca Ferguson who knows 1D from way back when (and has recently drawn attention for talking frankly about how fucked up the industry is and about having seen unnamed boy band members literally slammed against the wall by their management) congratulated Harry and posted a couple of baby pop star Harry pics, cuuuute. Louis’ merch handlers, in response to no complaints whatsoever, sent out emails apologizing. They say they’ve run out of lanyards which were meant to be sent out so they will “be adding a freebie which we know you’ll enjoy” to affected customers’ orders. That is sucky about the lanyards but that’s customer care! Niall posted about his cool bright limited edition merch to remind that it will be gone gone gone tonight and also shared a pretty and touching picture from a the large anti violence rally held in London to protest the killing of Sarah Everard today. And finally some good advice from Bebe Rexha, loved by larries; she says she loves us right back but please don’t kill anyone for not streaming her new song! Yes good plan.

[gunterfan1992]

Interview with Half Shy (the songwriter of “Monster”)

For the last few months, I’ve been collecting information for a second edition of Exploring the Land of Ooo that will also cover the production of Distant Lands. This means that I’ve started to look into the new songs that we have been graced with this year, and this of course includes “Monster,” the beautiful track from the masterpiece that is “Obsidian”. And so I reached out to the song’s writer, Half Shy, who was kind enough to chat with me via email about the songwriting process!

(Photo courtesy of Half Shy)

In many ways, Half Shy is living the creative Adventure Time fan’s dream: She got asked by Adam Muto himself to write a song for “Obsidian” after he heard her music through Bandcamp! (I’ve dabbled in fan music before, and the fact that someone from the show might listen to it just blows my mind.) What an opportunity; I am so excited for her!

Since a second edition of my book won’t be coming out until after all the Distant Lands episodes air, I thought it would be best to share my Half Shy interview now. Read on for the fascinating behind the scenes story of how Half Shy and “Monster” came to be..

GunterFan: What is your origin story? How did you get involved in music, and how did the Half Shy project come to be?

Half Shy: I’ve been making music pretty quietly since I was in high school with a keyboard and guitar. I played one or two shows a year after college when I could find a friend or my brother to get up on stage with me, but I don’t really have that performer gene in me naturally. I get too much in my head and forget what the lyrics are to the song I wrote, or what the next chord is. Total brain freeze. So that whole experience is a bit of a mental drain. It’s something I think I’d like to dig into and figure out, but right now I’m really enjoying the time writing.

Even playing a song for my friends I still get pretty nervous. That’s where the name Half Shy comes from. I’ve always been interested in making things that by their nature draw a bit of a spotlight, but at the same time, I am just really quite nervous about the attention.

I recorded my first songs under my old name Hey V Kay in my bedroom and started putting them up online one at a time. When I got enough I thought about packaging it up into an album, but then got really distracted by learning how to fix up motorcycles and going to automotive tech school. When I eventually got back around to it I named the album Gut Wrenching.

After a few years I realized that I didn’t want the day-in-day-out life of a mechanic, I just wanted to know how to fix cars for myself and to have that knowledge in my back pocket. I got back into making music but grew frustrated at the process of writing and recording songs. I felt like I wasn’t able to capture the ideas I had in my head. Like trying to draw on your computer with a mouse. Doable, but it’s not going to come out like you’d hoped.

So these last couple of years I’ve focused more on learning the technical aspect of it, from the initial ideas and lyrics, to the recording and mixing. During that process I put out Bedroom Visionaries, and while writing I happened upon the name Half Shy in an old Thesaurus which felt instantly right. Learning all of that has been fun, I even went as far as to create my own book to solidify a daily writing routine (lyricworkbook.com). All that has been a bit of a tangent from actually making much music though. I should be getting my books in December from the press so I’m really looking forward to getting back into making more music instead of dealing with printing presses, setting up websites, and sourcing ribbon suppliers.

GF: What is the story behind "Monster"? How did the show get in contact with you?

HS: I keep a log of “Song Starters” with neat things I’ve heard in the world, and I would look through it every now and then and notice just how many came from Adventure Time. Eventually I thought well, I have to make a song about this show that just keeps breaking my heart. It was around the time I was nearly done with the first [Adventure Time-inspired] song “In My Element” that I got an email from Bandcamp saying “someone bought your album (Bedroom Visionaries).”

I get maybe one or two of these a month at most so I love to go in and say hi to the person and say thanks, be curious about who they are, [and] what they’re all about. Turns out it was Adam Muto, the executive producer of the show. (I asked and he has no idea how he happened upon my stuff. He guessed that I must have tagged something #adventuretime and he just happened to see it.) So I sent him an email saying, “Hey wow thanks for checking out my tunes. Also... holy crap you’ve made the best show I have ever seen in my life.” [I] played it real cool like. After finishing up writing my second [Adventure Time-inspired] song “Betty” I couldn’t help but fangirl real hard [and I sent him another message saying], “I’m sorry this is probably awkward, but I really love your show and I wrote these songs about it.” He was incredibly kind and shared them with his Twitter Universe, and a while after that I got a random email from him saying basically, “Hey, I’m working on this thing I can’t talk about, would you be interested?” I was like… well you know I’m pretty busy working at a sign shop so I’m gonna have to pass on this once in a lifetime opportunity (J/K. Obviously I fan-girl squealed and said yes immediately).

We chatted a bit about what the project was going to be and the direction. He mentioned there [would be] two Marceline songs in the special, [and he asked if I] would I be interested in giving the love song a try? Trying real hard to suppress my instant imposter syndrome I was like, “Yea, totally I’d be into giving that a shot!” So I read through the story and loved the idea of the dragon mirrored in Marceline, thinking through how they’ve both built up a protective shell, how she grew tough for a reason, but now she can open up and be vulnerable with PB.

From there I wrote the initial demo with the first two verses mostly intact and we went back and forth a few times editing it down into the final version. I recorded the final parts for the show in my little home studio in Seattle.

GS: When you were writing the song, what emotions, thoughts, or ideas were you channeling? Was there any sort of memory of event that you were trying to artistically "catch" or "recreate" with the lyrics or music?

HS: As far as channeling an emotion, generally I’d say just the experience of existing as a human. It can be so hard to open up and be vulnerable. I can remember that feeling even as a young kid—getting really excited about something and having someone completely trash it or look at you like, “Why are you so interested in that? It’s dumb.” [It causes us to grow] a little more weary to share ourselves because we know that hurt and embarrassment. The pain of being misunderstood is something I think a lot of us can relate to. Then having to decide whether to keep sharing those vulnerable parts of yourself or think, “They’re just not going to get it, I’m going to get hurt, so why bother?” and then stop putting yourself out there. You lose a lot with that thick armor though. You might feel protected, but you’re not feeling a whole lot of anything else other than the weight and chafing of it (I had a whole lot of armor-related metaphors that I didn't end up using.).

I struggle with this in songwriting too. I’m not the bolt-of-lightning type. There are pages and pages of cliches, total garbage, bad jokes, and cheesy lines that I have to get through in order to get to something that I am excited to put out there into the world: “Here I did this thing, I know it’s a little (this or that), but I made it... What do you think?” It’s hard to open yourself up to hearing the other end of that question.

I filled about 5 little pocket notebooks just thinking through the story, ideas, and trying to get this song right. I wanted it to feel familiar and honor the past songs of the show ([e.g.,] using the ukulele and referencing a few of the familiar chords from “I’m Just Your Problem”) but also be pretty open and vulnerable and different for [Marceline]. [I wanted to] show that she’s going through some tough emotions but also figuring herself out and growing.

GF: I feel like “Monster” is, at its core, an ode to the “Bubbline” ship. How do you feel about your song being intimately connected to one of the most famous LGBTQ+ relationships in animation? Do you have any general thoughts on Marcy and PB, Bubbline, etc.?

HS: Oh, I’m a total fan girl of Bubbline. The whole story of how Rebecca Sugar and Muto slowly morphed it into this deeper relationship is just great. As a part of the LGBTQ community myself it really means so much to see the representation of characters like yourself portrayed in an intelligent way. Growing up I was too young to fully understand what was going on but I saw Ellen getting cancelled, and [I] heard people around me saying they’d never watch her show again after she came out. That stuff sinks in as a kid and so to have these characters who are not only intelligent, but funny, complex, and unapologetically strong who also happen to be queer is really great. I love that the story here isn’t about their orientation, but that they’re people struggling with how to be open and vulnerable in a relationship.

It feels like something sci-fi and animated shows do so well—to show that ridiculousness of limiting who a person should and shouldn’t love. Marceline is a 1000+ year old half-demon/vampire and PB was born from the Mothergum of an apocalyptic radioactive world, but you’re going to get hung up on them loving each other? It sort of brings it into perspective in a really interesting way.

GF: Do you have any other thoughts about the experience that you'd like to share?

HS: Just how lucky, thankful, and honored I feel to be a part of my favorite show, writing a song for one of my favorite characters. It’s also incredibly cool how the people on the show are so willing to connect and collaborate with their fandom. Everyone [on the production crew] was very open and a real joy to work with.

I’d like to give a huge “Thank you!” to Half Shy for agreeing to participate in this interview; she really was quite amiable! If you’d like to hear more of her music, check out her website and her Bandcamp. You can also follow her on Instragram here and on Twitter here. And of course, here is Half Shy’s awesome video of “Monster”.

[penny-nichols]

Ok. Penny headcanons post here we go

-disaster bi

-half Japanese half Ashkenazi Jewish

-let cody into the studio actually. Intentionally leaves the vent uncovered because just like Maya, she feels bad for them. Literally only covered it up when she was told to and even then did a shitty job at it

-Adrian Andrews's cousin

-Adrian put in a good word for her at Global and that's what helped her land the job.

-Part Time (at least before AAI2, maybe after as well) going to college for film

-wants to be a director but would probably literally be fine doing anything except acting

-Stage Fright and Camera Shy

-Definitely has a crush on Maya

-Maybe has a crush on Matt (pre reveal, anyway). Literally she's just like "but he seems like such a nice guy!" While Adrian and Cody are just telling her that this man is Red Flag Central

-big of heart, dumb of ass

-Was kinda nervous around Will before 1-3 not in a like "he's scary" way but in a "he's cool and I look up to him" way. Literally after 1-3 realizes that he's Just Some Guy. Will absolutely talk about him casually forgetting that he's famous.

-probably goes on friend dates with Will and people are like "awww are you two dating?" And they just look at each other. And then say no. Because they're not

-literally though her and Will are besties. Would literally have a teen slumber party if they could

-was the person who had to explain to Cody's mom that he kinda sorta saw a murder.

-"hey I heard you like bad girls, because Im bad... At everything" *tries to do a cool lean but misjudges where what she's trying to lean on is and just collapses*

-strong but built like a twig.

-Will literally just wipe her glasses on her sweater if she needs to clean them

-cosplayer

-was the steel samurai for every year for Halloween once it came out. Would've been the Copper Samurai (one of the brothers from the Nickel Samurai) Halloween 2018 and was already starting to plan her costume out before 2-4 happened at which point the Nickel Samurai was soured

-Pretty ok at sewing and crafting in general, and can get pretty creative with things sometimes. Hot glue is her best friend

-Will talk about studio drama but also doesn't like saying mean things unless the person is like. SERIOUSLY bad. So the studio gossip is just funny stories that happened on set. Like "WP accidentally got the Steel Samurai costume stuck on. It took us a solid 20 minutes to get him out without destroying it"

-that being said she WILL shittalk Matt, Dee, Jack, and eventually Sal

-initially she's really inspired by sal and a big fan but as she becomes less starstruck and a bit more critical of the media she consumes she's just like "oh wow he is uh... Really leaning heavily into the misogyny here huh. Okay then."

-Sal is just some guy (derogatory) now and if she wasn't so polite she would try to explain why some of what he's doing is maybe not the best. She wouldn't even explain it impolitely she just cannot talk to people especially those in positions of authority over her

-Has anxiety (runs in her family, Adrian also has it) but WILL go "Excuse me! He asked for no pickle!" If something happens to WP. If something happens to her she's just sitting there like "if I tell anyone about this I will explode"

-her and Blackquill are besties actually. Went to the same high school and they are Absolute Nerds. Probably both quiet kids so they sat in the back of the class together. Solidarity

-they still kept in touch after HS but didn't really see each other. When she found out about his conviction she just felt... Not exactly betrayed but disappointed that there was yet another person she thought was a cool chill dude who committed murder

-she starts working on the Steel Samurai and is SO struggling not to spill the entire plot to Simon because she KNOWS he'd love it she fucking KNOWS

-anyway after DD Penny FINALLY gets to see him again (she does NOT pay attention to the news though someone had to tell her "hey did you know there's a prosecutor called the twisted samurai") and she just runs up to him and hugs him. He's like a full foot taller than her.

-also she's a great hugger. Not making this up Capcom told me

-Anyway they get boba and talk like once a month it's nice they're chillin

-WILL ramble and go off on tangents if you let her. The only reason half of Turnabout Samurai ISN'T a Penny Monologue is because she's just internally like "must not bring up my blorbos this is a murder investigation"

-Clumsy as hell. If Adrian hadn't been the one to break Ami's urn, she would've.

-could probably eat eldoons without flinching honestly. Basically lived off packaged ramen in high school and now doesn't CARE about the salt as long as it's real ramen

-will casually name drop celebrities but she's not even trying to brag or anything she just forgets that other people know them.

-"yeah I was talking with John the other day and he said-" "who the fuck is John?" "The kid at work. Not Cody, the other one." "...Marsh?????" "Yeah, so you do know him!"

-literally idk who she'd be talking to in that scenario though. Her friends are like. Work friends, Simon, and Maya

-although literally most of the prosecutors office is like. Neutral airing on the side of positive to straight up positive about her (at least those who remain prosecutors). Paynes Don't care. Simon is her bestie actually. Klavier definitely did SOMETHING at Global during 7yg and she wasn't like... Weird about him being famous? (Although he probably barely remembers her), Sebastian is just like "oh yeah, that lady John works with. I remember everything about her" (<lies. He does feel like she's a good person though because John isn't like. Actively bitching about her which he will do about people he hates. #courtneysibs). Edgeworth is in a Steel Samurai forum with her. She has no idea who he is but he definitely remembers her and is just like "Steel Samurai... Good". Basically the only current Prosecutor who DOESN'T like her already is Nahyuta and that's because they got into an argument on the Steel Samurai forum about the Plumed Punisher.

- will be a 30 year old involved in shipping discourse but she's NOT on the bad side unlike so many 30 year old shipping discoursers. She's just like "fiction can affect reality. Die mad about it"

-I wanna hope that eventually she does get to direct. I want the ultimate steel samurai fan to run the series she deserves it

-also trying to get into shipping discourse with her would be extra funny if she ran the series.

-you think she's some rando who occasionally posts Steel Samurai news and art but she tells you "I did NOT introduce a fifteen year old for you to ship him with a whole ass grown man". You just got called out by the current showrunner of the steel samurai. #ratio

-sorry for slipping into second person now anyways Im gonna post

[foxes-that-run]

From the Dining Table

Note the subtle tattoo kiss. Like MMIH, Harry hasn't played FTDT live since 2018. Harry told the Grammy Museum:

Styles’ favorite track on the album is “From the Dining Table,” which he said is, “The one that makes me feel the most,” adding that, “it’s the most different than what I expected myself to write and it’s probably the most honest that I’ve been in a song as well.”

To Rolling Stone he said:

"The more vulnerable the song, he learned, the better. “The one subject that hits the hardest is love,” he says, “whether it’s platonic, romantic, loving it, gaining it, losing it  …  it always hits you hardest. I don’t think people want to hear me talk about going to bars, and how great everything is. The champagne popping  …  who wants to hear about it? I don’t want to hear my favorite artists talk about all the amazing shit they get to do. I want to hear, ‘How did you feel when you were alone in that hotel room, because you chose to be alone?'”

This quote is interesting because the song is self-aware of the wrong choice to be with be with someone who looked like his muse.

Why is it called from the Dining Table

When performing the album in his first ever solo show Harry introduced from the dining table by explaining it was written at the dining table in Jamaica and it kept the name.

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Woke up alone in this hotel room Played with myself, where were you? Fell back to sleep, I got drunk by noon I've never felt less cool

The open is remicinet of his comments to Rolling Stone above. So many One Direction songs, in particular Perfect portrayed that fun image of "trouble up in hotel rooms". FTDT strips it away to leave a lonely 22 year old guy who lost someone he loves and misses and does not feel cool. To me, what's special here is addressing some misconceptions about his life and what being that guy cost him.

[Chorus] We haven't spoke since you went away Comfortable silence is so overrated Why won't you ever be the first one to break? Even my phone misses your call, by the way

Harry and Taylor sing a lot about never communicating, and have said in interviews that they can say things to an instrument but not each other.

[Verse 2] I saw your friend that you know from work He said you feel just fine I see you gave him my old t-shirt More of what was once mine

Taylor's friend from work is often thought to be Ed, however Ed was Harry's friend first, and more a personal than a work friend to both.

When Harry was starting his Debut album he worked with a lot of music producers, including Max Martin, who worked in 1989. Harry spent a week with him in November 2016 before starting to work Tom and Tyler.

There are several shirts of Harry's that Taylor's worn and could have given to Max. To me, it's this Genius Jumper, which Max has worn, she lent to to lots of friends before it disappeared. have no reason to think Harry ever wore it though, other than it is a UK high street brand and it looks like the Cardigan-cardigan.

[Bridge] Maybe one day you'll call me and tell me that you're sorry too x3 But you, you never do Woke up the girl who looked just like you I almost said your name

1989 largely focuses on Taylors experience, in her later work she has reflected more on how things played out in tracks like Afterglow, Coney Island and The 1.

At the end of 2014:

October 1989 was released, Taylor jaded in interviews, November 1D released Four with Stockholm Syndrome and Fool's Gold. Harry and Taylor had been hanging out, made heart eyes at the AMAs

2 December may have left the VS Secret show together, (So it Goes, Pick you up). On that, this is the closing track, Ready for it is the opening track of the next album in order.

22 December - HS pictured with VS model Nadine Leopold, this was in NYC before he bought an apartment there. She looks well...

So I think this song is set in late 2014 rather than the boat, though I must admit I still imagine it in the Virgin Islands.

[more-stuff-of-pi]

A Piece of Home

request: Would you write an Iwaizumi Hajime imagine where in HS he had a massive crush on Karasuno's female soccer captain since their second year when he met her because she is best friends with Matsukawa's cousin who goes to Seijoh and was close with the Karasuno VB team so she went to their games and when he starts University, he finds out that she goes to the same one and they get together? {from @ofrosesandteacups​}

a/n: this is so so so specific and detailed, I love it! I wasn’t super able to figure out a way to incorporate being close to the Karasuno VB team (and I’m not sure if you meant that for y/n or not) but I hope you like it anyhow! I played around with a new style and I hope it worked well :) lmk what you think! Thank you for your patience, also, and I have my fingers crossed that it was worth the wait :))

notes: this isn’t edited for mistakes so beware. requests are open :) find my masterlist here

pairing: iwaizumi hajime x fem!reader | genre: fluff | warnings: none :) | word count: 2,058

The first time Iwaizumi Hajime ever saw you, he was mid-stretch in preparation for a small match with Karasuno and you were doubled over with fat tears streaming down your face. It caught him completely off guard. It concerned him, too, wondering if you had just been broken up with by one of the Crows seeing as you were wearing a Karasuno jacket. Though, upon closer inspection, the jacket belonged not to the Karasuno volleyball team, but to their soccer team which only served to further his confusion. It didn’t make much sense that a pretty girl from the soccer team would be supporting her school’s boy’s volleyball team that had practically no fanbase.

And then there was you -- who Hajime didn’t see as having any reason to be there -- straightening up with a huge grin spread across your face as you wiped at the tears with the back of your hand, chatting with a girl in front of you. The smile caught him off guard, too. He’s never seen something so open and genuine and carefree before. He may not have known you, but he instantly knew that he would do anything to see that smile again.

❁

The second time Hajime saw you was at a post-Saturday-practice dinner that he thought was just going to be him, Oikawa, Hanamaki, and Matsukawa. They were at their favorite local place, a little ways out of the way from Seijoh, but Oikawa swore up and down that the walk to it was a good cool down after a hard practice rewarded by delicious food. The rest of them swore up and down that it was because Oikawa liked to flirt with the people that worked there.

Hajime was hunched over a large bowl of ramen (“You sure you can eat that much, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa teased. “Shut it, Shittykawa, I’m hungry as hell,” he grunted. “You know, Oikawa, it’s the biggest boys who have the biggest appetites, if you know what I mean,” Hanamaki said with a wink. Hajime fought back a smile at Oikawa’s squawk as he shoved Matsukawa into Hanamaki) when the high twinkle of the bell tipped off at the entrance of the door, a familiar girl prancing in with you trailing behind. Hajime noticed sweat beaded high on your forehead, the sheen casting an angelic glow about you.

Mattsun noticed you both and introduced the two of you -- the girl was his cousin, Matsukawa Himeko, and a player for Seijoh’s soccer team. You were a player for Karasuno’s, the two of you meeting and immediately hitting it off at a training camp in your first year. (Though Hajime must admit that his eyes and ears only really processed what Mattsun said about you.)

You all continued to eat together. Hajime was staring at you, but he was trying his best not to. There was just something so magnetic about you that it made him feel like he had no other option than to look at you. Not like he would have wanted it any other way.

You caught his eye and grinned, secretively and warmly, lips spread across pearly teeth promising to keep the slip-up between the two of you.

Hajime’s heart jumped, shivers of electricity running down his spine.

❁

The third time was at another game, this time a soccer game that Mattsun had dragged their group out to because he had lost a bet to Himeko and didn’t want to ‘suffer’ alone. Hajime was immediately suspicious as Matsukawa was never the type to care over ‘suffering alone’. In fact, he sounded like he was mocking Oikawa and Oikawa, for once, didn’t complain about it, he only wickedly grinned in Hajime’s direction. For the life of him, Hajime couldn’t understand what they knew that he didn’t but then he was being distracted by the cheers and jeers alike erupting from the spectators.

It was easy to spot you, Himeko having told them to be on the lookout for her jersey number and yours. You guys had worn matching numbers since your first year, at first a coincidence that birthed a wonderful friendship but now a continued tradition. Karasuno’s black and orange looked incredible against your skin, the colors emboldened by the confidence and ease in which you carried yourself while thrown into the depths of a game’s battlefield. You had played wonderfully, effortlessly supporting and scoring goals and cheering on your teammates. You had all of the qualities he would expect of a second-year vice captain. Stunning and regal and light-hearted all at once. Simply incredible.

Hajime didn’t notice, but when you had walked over to greet their group with Himeko, Oikawa, Makki, and Mattsun all had sly grins spread over their lips.

❁

The fourth time was months after your third year had started. There hadn’t been any games to attend -- a fact Hajime lamented -- and so there hadn’t been any reason, any convenient excuse, for Hajime to see you. Yet he didn’t need to see you to still have his mind occupied by you. The two of you had had so few interactions, most of them short and yet so incredibly, impossibly sweet. They were all he could think about, the allure that you offered. And, he didn’t know it, but it was much the same of how you felt.

You were in the hallway outside of the tournament gym waiting with Himeko to congratulate them on their successful game. Hajime was shocked to see you, pausing slightly in his steps before trying to hide a grin and the tips of his burning ears. You smiled and Hajime forgot all about trying to hide his own as he easily returned yours, not giving it a thought beyond instinct.

You congratulated him on his game and he congratulated you on your elected captainship though Oikawa swooped in and rode on his congratulations. Hajime would have been mad if he wasn’t content simply being able to talk to this magnetic girl once again.

An easy casual friendship blossomed from then on. Whenever Himeko was with them, you were sure to be there, too, magnetic smile and all. You all had started to make it a tradition to attend every game that you could. Because you were from a different school -- a rival school, no less -- it was harder for them to attend your games and for you to attend theirs but you did every chance you could. Because of the physical distance, it was harder for Hajime to grow closer to you but he was more than happy being able to say hi to you every once in a while than not at all.

❁

The next time he saw you, third year had blinked by in a blur and suddenly you all were college first years, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and nervous, too. You had all been too busy with your respective sports and worrying over college entrance exams to really do much of anything besides an occasional congratulatory or comforting text for when they were due. So Hajime was beyond speechless to hear your laugh halfway across the globe. He had fully stopped in his tracks, desperately trying to decide if he was crazy and hearing things or just incredibly lucky that his long time crush was here with him in a foreign land.

“Y/n?” He called in disbelief, still trying to wrap his head around that you being here at his school was even a possibility.

Your smile dropped just the slightest, confusion taking over as you looked from your conversation to find the source of your name, not many people knowing it as you had only been there for a little less than a week. And then it fell completely when you spotted Hajime, his own disbelief overriding your previous emotions. “Iwaizumi?” You replied, quiet and shy, not sure that you were really seeing the beautiful boy in front of you.

“No way,” he said, a blinding grin that you had never seen completely taking over his features.

Your friend gave you a knowing smile. “I’ll leave you two alone,” they said, patting your shoulder as they left.

You didn’t have time to dwell on that odd smile before you were running over to Iwaizumi, meeting him halfway and lightly punching him in the arm. “You dog! I cannot believe you didn’t tell me you were coming to America!”

He laughed, playfully rubbing at the spot, “I could say the same thing about you.”

“Even the dog part?” You raised an eyebrow.

“After that punch? Especially the dog part.”

You laughed, still shoving him in retaliation before locking him in a huge embrace. Hajime was stunned. Though you shared a handful of friends and surely were friends yourself, you two had never hugged quite like this. There were more awkward side-hugs and weak high fives than Hajime cared to admit, but nothing quite as solid and grounding and purely wonderful as this. You almost pulled away, worried that he didn’t like the hug, and then Hajime was squeezing you back, holding on for dear life.

You two stayed like that for a while, until the sun had started to set. You were two friends longing for home and for each other and you couldn’t tell which one felt further away.

❁

There was nothing like being strangers together in a foreign world to bring two friends closer. Before, you were both polite with secret glances and harbored feelings on the side. Now, you had no filter with obvious glances and harbored feelings growing exponentially. The friendship blooming between you two was natural and anchoring and dangerous as Hajime could feel himself falling deeper and deeper. To think that you used to be just a girl with a charming smile he had a schoolboy crush on and now you were a woman with a contagious laugh he had fallen helplessly in love with.

There were many nights where you two stayed up together whether it was studying in the library until closing; kicking a soccer ball around and laughing at each other; talking about anything and everything until your roommates begged you to shut up; bumping a volleyball while shouting the scientific names for anatomy; snorting loudly at cheesy movies and crunching away at burnt popcorn.

It was the quiet things, the small things, the non-monumental things that had Hajime seeing you in a brighter light. It was the way that you were his personal piece of home.

It was the way that he was yours.

You were sprawled out on his bed, papers and textbooks scattered around you, pen clenched in your hand as you drummed your other fingers. He had been hunched over his desk, staring and yet, no matter how hard he tried, not absorbing what was in front of him. He glanced over to you, his frown instantly melting into a small smile at the way your eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“You remind me of home,” he said, gently and suddenly and yet naturally. He hadn’t meant to say it, only think it, but the flash in your eyes made it worth it.

“I do?” He nodded. “In what way?”

In the way that you make me feel safe, in the way that I feel grounded with you, in the way that I ache for you, in the way that I love you.

Hajime looked you in the eyes, searching for what you were really asking. He thought that by now there was no way that you could surprise each other, that you both were each other’s best friend. But he still couldn’t tell what you were asking him. He followed his heart like he so often does with you. “In the way that I’d always like to return to you.”

It was a long moment of just looking at each other, Hajime feeling as if he might not ever breathe again, you feeling as if you could fly. “I didn’t know you were so good with words,” you grinned. “Oikawa always did call you a brute.” And the disbelief of the first day was back before Hajime was throwing a highlighter at you. You laughed, dodging it, coming back to return his gaze softly. “Yes,” you said quietly.

He furrowed his brows. “Yes to what?”

“I’ll be your home.”

“You have been,” he admitted.

“Since when?”

He grinned. “Since second year.”

taglist: @samwrights​

[reversecreek]

struts onto the dash carrying this deliriously wriggling little elf in my arms like a swaddled bebe......... they’re genuinely my oldest muse of all time i think i created them when i was like. 13 possibly. n i haven’t written them in Years but. i’m literally so excited to jst vibrating w muse. smiles at u all demurely..... they have risen. u can find their pinterest here n their playlist here.

* alana champion, nonbinary + they/them | you know nyla palmer, right? they’re twenty-two, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, eight months? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to 6669 (i don’t know if you know) by neon indian like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole a two headed doll of a prairie girl with stitched on rabbit ears and butterfly wings, befriending shadow puppets & finding god with your eyes open underwater in a public pool you broke into thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is march 2nd, so they’re a pisces, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt she/her  )

HISTORY:

was born in georgiaaaa georgiaaaa (phoebe bridgers voice holds my bang...) to a vry honest hard working man named george (omgggg he’s called GEORGE and he’s from GEORGIA? ahaaaaa fuckk ur jestinggg) nd a woman who did her best named pamela..... george worked on a construction site n pamela was a pharmacist..... their house was this small rickety white thing with a wrap around porch n a very rabid overgrown garden tht kind of looked like the earth ws trying to reclaim it bc nobody ever hd the time or motivation to mow the lawn.... there ws literally a piece of fold out furniture just entirely submerged by weeds n foliage

nyla ws always closest w their dad george..... he hd this way of looking at the world tht was seeing the best in all of it.... he took them on long walks where he talked abt how u have to respect the trees bc they’re breathing fr us n we’re breathing fr them..... he hd a strange whimsical sense of humour n a gnome alter ego called grundlebolt who always tickled them..... in a way this closeness created a distance between nyla n their mother but not so much that it ws rly a problem. just enough tht nyla sometimes waited until their mother ws out of eye n ear shot to tell their dad they loved him bc they didn’t wna make her sad >_>

(mental health, death & grief tw) pamela always struggled w her mental health but george ws great n understanding n knew how to help her thru this... nyla didn’t get it too greatly at a very young age bt they knew their mum got “the sads” sometimes (how their dad wld explain tht she needed to lay down in the quiet for a while or why she’d stood at the stove n let the dinner burn until the smoke detector went off without doing anything abt it). when nyla was 14 they got home one day to a police car in the driveway n came prancing in exuberantly as they always did. immediately hugged the legs of an officer bc this is hw they wld greet everyone they ever met. they only realised something was wrong when they let go n saw their mum sat at the table crying. essentially there ws an accident at the construction site george worked at n :/ yeah. 

(jst mental health & grief tw now) this rly had an intense ripple effect on everyone tbh. pamela’s mental health deteriorated quite a lot without george there as her rock n nyla sort of had to step in as best they cld but it was....... hard. some days she ws better bt some days nyla had to sit her in the bath n stroke a wet sponge over her back bc they didn’t know how else to calm her down. nyla always had a very overactive imagination which george encouraged bt it ws like. losing him rly opened a window in nyla’s head n all rationality went floating out of it. their dreams seemed more real than being awake. fantasy wasn’t jst the way they coped bt it was the way they thought n the way they saw. everything on earth was alive. the trees n the clouds n the wall with a brick missing at the bottom of her road n especially their dad. their dad was alive in everything in nyla’s head. the sun shining extra bright in the morning was george. ponds were a veil they could dunk her head under and find george waiting on the other side. reality rly just pulled the plug n said bye tbh n they were ok w that <3

(abuse implied tw) their mum remarried too fast to a man named stephen n it was jst not a good arrangement. he was Not a nice man. i won’t go into this but home wasn’t a nice place for nyla any more n after a couple of yrs stephen wound up asking them to leave n their mum said nothing to contradict tht. there’s more to this bt long story short nyla left <3

(drugs tw) they couch surfed fr a while before settling living w their best friend. they got up to like... all sorts of trouble n grew up far too fast. nyla’s lack of sense n realism hd a habit of getting them into some sticky situations n these few yrs were a rollercoaster where they got by on the skin of their teeth. when they think of high skl they think of gravel and skinned knees and sucking sherbet dunkers to ignore the taste of pennies in ur mouth and getting lost in the woods a lot bc they’d take FAR too many drugs n be lead astray having conversations with kind trees whose branches held their hands

(drug mention) got by on odd jobs like making candles n selling them at market stalls. leaf blowing at cemeteries. face painting fr children’s parties (where they were blatantly high). random stuff. all over the place. in this time them n their best friend also hd a sugar daddy named tony who always wore very impressive colour block suits n mink stoles n jewelled fedoras n hd a swanky apartment w marble floors. rly just. surreal. lots of strange stories frm this time.

things kind of blew up in their friendship group n they fell out w their best friend raya bc she slept w this guy aj who nyla hd been madly in love w for yrs.... he was a Stinker n honestly so ws their best friend so good riddance i say bt obviously it felt like having their entire world flipped upside dwn fr nyla.... they split after this came out bc they just did Not want to b around these ppl any more n they decided to leave w this guy frm a band they barely knew tht much save fr a one night stand to tour w them..... this ws another whirlwind. jst chock full of them. it ws similar to being on a teacup ride at a carnival n spinning round n round n only knowing u were surrounded by lots of lights. tht’s how they’d best describe their time on tour.

SO in terms of them coming to irving 8 months ago they came w the band.... they honestly did pretty well on tour n wound up renting a big beach house on dorado as a kind of “retreat” sort of place fr them to shack up in while they worked on writing and recording their first big studio album (they gt signed w a label so it’s all vry exciting stuff). nyla among like 3 others were allowed to stay w them too bc they hd a lot of fun on tour. literally jst. taken on as professional groupies essentially. nyla loved it bc they’d never seen the ocean n when they first got there they jst threw off all their clothes n ran straight into the water. it was 3pm on a tuesday afternoon. they got arrested fr public indecency n didn’t get why bc they were like but i just wanted to hug the ocean u silly little oinker? i picture the beach house as like. the loudest one on dorado.... comes alive like a jungle at night..... they r probably bad neighbours. anyway. onto personality puts hand on hip.

PERSONALITY:

sets out patio furniture on someone else’s lawn n jst takes a seat n leans back like ahhhhh vat a nice day to be alive ya! (swedish accent suddenly bc they think it’s fun). they come out n start yelling n they’re jst so confused they’re like hey wat’s the big idea hey wat’s go on here why u angies why this happen?

likes drawing imaginary veins over their arms in all different colour blue pens in a sudden fit of hyperfixation n then forgets all abt it n goes out like tht n scares several townsfolk bt they’re oblivious they’re jst in her own world loving life already onto the next fixation. has many many different fads like this. one day will jst start snipping up a bunch of magazines bc they’re like EYES ARE COOL N THEY SEE EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :P n they’ll stick a bunch of them over their wall n then forget they was doing that n leap onto the next. quite a pattern. bt they love the vein thing a lot it makes them feel like a walking planetarium like they have their own constellations

sometimes jst doesn’t make sense. they’re honestly kind of strange. pops up in places like they suddenly materialised there n it’s like how did u get there where have u been when were u last seen are u ok. has the energy of an ancient deity frm deep in a mountain cave n an ambiguous forest sprite all at once..... talks shit honestly. abt anything n everything. sometimes outrageous. sometimes plain incoherent. like what are u talking about? i dnt kno. even i dnt kno sometimes.

luvs stick n pokes will let anyone tattoo whatever they want on them for the price of a gummy bear kindly placed onto their tongue n swallowed whole

has this obsession w being underwater w their eyes open luvs it. calls it their tadpole time. runs baths just to lie there blinking looking around n drifting her arms. best friends w the bottom of any local swimming pool n hs probably given it a quick kiss so it knows they’re bff’s n then got sick bc there’s sm germs in a public pool. says the kgb probably poisoned their oatmeal n r finally here to deliver on their promise n THAT’S why they got sick unrelated to the pool incident. what promise? noone knows.

unclear if they believe what they say or if they jst has a very expanded sense of humour where they nvr let on if they’re joking.... lines r blurred a lot..... 

loves excitedly shouting things. sometimes just screams at the sky bc they say it’s good to let the creatures in ur belly fly out every once in a while otherwise their wings get sore.

(drugs tw) still does an excessive amt of hallucinogens n it kind of shows. very bad fr their brain bt we’re going to ignore it.

dresses fun n strange n eccentric n careless. loves to experiment. does nt care abt what’s considered to be societally appropriate. living in their own world.

sleeps around a lot... jst doesn’t rly see sex as a big deal.... very free w themselves in that way..... sometimes greets their friends w a kiss on the lips they’re like awww :) kisses <3 when they run into them in the middle of the cereal aisle n then pulls away n suddenly breaks into a box tht has a free toy in it bc it’s a banana with googly eyes n that’s the best thing they’ve ever heard in their LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n isn’t he so HANDSOME????? enchante indeed my good sir ;)... gives the toy a kiss too.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

other groupies of the band: self explanatory a little.... i dnt have a name for the band yet bt all can b worked out..... i picture them as kind of. not that nice but like. there for a good time........ rock genre.... bit chaotic...... to say the least........ they dnt have to have come there w the band like nyla n the others they cld have been adopted in their time there.... whoever wld b wild n down fr a good time <3

chaotic trash goblin friends: idk what this title rly means it just came to me in a vision....... jst ppl tht r rly kind of off the rails n don’t care abt anything...... they r who nyla tends to mesh very well w......... they rly r living in their own world n by their own rules n they like ppl who do this too <3 inevitably they get up to no good n party far too much...... cld be angst to this if they enable each other’s bad habits...... world’s our oyster. opens my office door. let’s talk abt it.

nyla set up camp on their front lawn: maybe jst w a fold out chair. maybe w a literal pop up tent w someone else too. genuinely so bizarre of them bt that’s what we’re dealing with. they poke their head into the tent n nyla’s lying down crunching on a cracker crumbs over their tits n they just hold it out to them nt even fully consumed n are like hey polly want a cracker? :)

they responded to her craigslist ad: they posted one saying they cld cleanse their house of demonic energy bc they’re an all seeing eye in touch w the spirits. this is a lie. they came n waved sage around n did a little dance as they did it w bird sounds playing on a special cd they brought fr the occasion (had weird indistinct doodles over the case it ws brought in) n then ws like OOH! scary.... n jumped at something in the hall. they go in thinking maybe they’ve seen a ghost bt they just were startled by their own reflection in a mirror n is like. scary mirror placement...... might wna reconsider that........ they charge them merely 10 dollars fr their time n is like this was so fun we shd do it again some time :) also i think u have mould on ur bathroom tile! vanishes. they dnt recall them ever going to the bathroom.

came knocking asking for items for a garage sale: yes. u heard that right. they’re asking for ur muses things to set up their own garage sale. selling items that do not belong to them. they think this is a genius business strategy n don’t understand why ppl think this is so strange or why they cant just ask ppl to donate them things to sell bc hey they’re an entrepreneur? they even had a pencil behind their ear when they knocked on the door so why aren’t ppl taking their business seriously? probably got distracted several times trying to explain their pitch n chattered abt random other things instead.

honestly anything... fwbs... flings... good influence... someone who cnt stand the fact they’re barely coherent.... someone they stopped on the street one day n asked for their opinion on water beds.... we cn do literally anything. fling ur chara my way n we can talk.