#harry imitating a fan

[casthefallenangel]

Harry Styles Love on Tour (HSLOT) 2022 - tags to remember - part 2/5

part ♡ 1 ♡ 2 ♡ 3 ♡ 4 ♡ 5 ♡

#t #hslot #hslot highlights #baptising #oslo shooting #harry wearing a crown #harry fanning himself #harry untangling his necklace #heart balloon #harry slipping on a flag #(and then picking up the pride flag and kissing it) #relationship expert #howling #harry hitting himself with a microphone #fish hat #flying #hslot fashion #choke her with a sea view #if you behave yourselves #harry imitating a fan #larry in the same place #evil cackle #splits #my boyfriend #he's caring he treats me really well #he loves me he loves me not #pinky promise #warming up #hslot europe #europe

[onelifeforlouisandi]

Some Larries are blatantly hating Louis these days and saying the same things Harries say like Liam G cosplay, alcoholic etc. 😭

Oh yeah, they truly hate louis. The things they says I read like… why in hell are you a fan of someone you clearly hate? The things they say is so worrisome. Louis doing his liam g walk was like 🤯🤯🤯. That’s literally how he walks he isn’t playing a part, wtf.

#anon #those people have so many problems #like I just saw a picture of harry and louis side by side where they point out they are doing the same things but they are clearly not #it’s a picture of harry with a finger in his mouth #smiling because I think he is imitating a fan.. and then on the side is louis also with his finger on his mouth BUT louis is asking for his #mic to be turn up in his ear peace.. like the action isn’t the same .. they aren’t trying to achieve the same thing with their actions #the context is completely different…those pictures shouldn’t even be used that way… it just shows how dumb they are

[angstics]

i finally articulated my opinion on my "is gerard way doing drag" question. my definition of drag is when a person impersonates, exaggerates, or appropriates a mode of gender expression. drag can be artistic or political (or both). drag can be an identity. drag and transgender identity are confused as the same thing. for some, it is. what is considered cross dressing can also be considered drag. it's important to note that drag is essential to queer culture, and how the us government harasses queer people through cross dressing, and now anti-drag, laws. we wouldnt be here talking about pop artists doing drag without drag performers and nonbinary-trans-gnc people.

to some people, a self-identified man in a female-identified dress is drag. "cross dressing" depends on cishet norms. queer people, especially nonbinary-trans-gnc people, have called to dismantle the assignment of gender to clothing. under that lens, a man in a dress is just a man in a dress -- for it to be drag, context and intent matters. that's how you get women doing female drag, or androgynous people doing what gerard way's been doing this last year on tour.

in asking "is gerard way doing drag?", im assigning importance to the topic. does it matter? within my understanding, drag is about intent and context as much as gender presentation. intent and context is what makes something important. therefore: understanding why the question is important solves it.

male music artists have a long history of cross dressing and doing drag. there's a good chance plugging any dude into a search engine with "drag" or "skirt" will bring something up. bowie, queen, nirvana, manic street preachers, placebo. here's a list. newer artists: lil nas x, harry styles, anthony green, pete wentz, young thug. some are impersonating female caricatures, some are masculinizing female clothes (long, ill-fitting, straight). some, like molko and lil nas, wear feminine clothes without exaggerating or masculinizing. gerard is in that same grey area.

male music artists have a long history of cross dressing and doing drag -- photos: "i want to break free" mv by queen (1984) / placebo in london (oct 1998) / lil nas x at audacy beach festival (dec 5, 2021) / fall out boy at rock for people (june 17, 2022)

all that history is why it was so weird when kerrang called gerard's riot fest "dress and heels" "a compelling show of contrarian anti-rock star eccentricity". it is not anti-rock star, at least not as described. it may be compelling, contrarian, and eccentric, but no reviewer really cares to analyze why. the closest they get is by identifying non-binary connection (them.us) and its relation to the "minefield that is American gender politics today" (latimes.com).

fans were struck by way's outfits for a lot of other reasons.

1. we have to get it out of the way that they just looked hot -- gerard is perpetually attractive, skirts are pretty. easy equation.

2. he has a long history of gender nonconformity. more on that in my #mcr queer studies tag. gerard is a 45 year old famously androgynous person who doesnt do labels, aligns himself with gender nonconformity (2014 reddit ama, 2018 advocate article, 2015 he/they tweet), and doesnt seem to care to be known as a man.

3. the tour outfits were well-fitted. many were crafted by skilled designer marina toybina and her team. which leads to ->

4. the outfits were very casual and very feminine. as mentioned, most men opt for masculine, ill-fitting skirts. which is to say they are NOT showing leg and they are definitely not showing ass. gerard doesnt steer clear from shortness or tightness or movement. he also dresses in ways people dress day to day -- the miniskirt is as casual as the shorts as casual as the jeans. there's some discussion to be had about what casual means -- he could be imitating expected presentation or just using basics, like his frequent shirt and pants.

the miniskirt is as casual as the shorts as casual as the jeans -- photos: firefly music festival (sept 23, 2022) / uncasville (sept 1, 2022) / eden project night 1 (may 16, 2022)

5. there was variety. many outfits, many types. he wasnt just doing pure femininity. some looks were high concept, some low concept. some gendered, some genderless. some feminine, some masculine. it was playful. its honesty evident in its fluidity yet cohesiveness. expanded in the next points ->

6. they incorporate elements of masculinity and gender neutrality concurrent with the feminine. his aggressive, energetic performance style often doesnt mind what people are seeing when his skirt lifts or shirt droops. he has little to no make-up -- if he does, it's stage and not glam. the closest he gets is the agender black swan look at boston night 1, the stage contour at wwwy night 3, and dubious lipstick at firefly. he also maintains the same hairstyle: barely styled, not straightened-curled. pinned a few times, gelled back some other times.

he has little to no make-up -- if he does, it's stage and not glam -- photos: boston night 1 (sept 7, 2022) / when we were young night 3 (oct 29, 2022) / firefly music festival (sept 23, 2022)

7. the character outfits weren't caricatures, like green's sleazy hooker or queen's uptight housewives. gerard's characters were appropriated but not exaggerated. cheerleader, nurse, manson girl, jackie o, princess diane, st joan. all figures of pop culture. he wore them as they were. even comparing green and way's similar white-green cheerleader costumes there's a difference in presentation. green wears long leggings, way wears shorts. green's costume is based on a stranger things character, way's is a custom remade vintage outfit. green exhibits the masculinization of feminine clothes which way subverts. this comparison highlights what makes way's outfits different, and therefore exciting to talk about.

green exhibits the masculinization of feminine clothes which way subverts -- photos: saosin in garden grove, ca (oct 27, 2022) / mcr in nashville, tn (aug 23, 2022)

8. and when he played with masculinity, it was in a way that was dubbed "boydrag". the new jersey night 2 casino singer look was a dramatic caricature that heightened masculine features until they were pure style... the defintion of camp. he had a mustache -- thin like john waters or a confirmed bachelor, and drawn on with eyeliner. he had a suit -- a pink-gold, glittery woman's cut jacket with a glittery bowtie and pleated shirt. the dramatic flair is accentuated by the black eye make-up, the frank sinatra "my way" cover, the drum tag: "the house always wins".

the defintion of camp -- photos: new jersey night 2 (sept 21, 2022) 1 / 2

when i asked which outfits others considered drag, all replies identified the casino singer and jackie o as drag and the rest as "just clothes". this relation made me understand why the rest couldnt be drag despite all the connections i talked about above. the jackie o outfit doesnt exaggerate the source like casino singer, but the source itself is both highly dramatic and highly gendered. cheer is gendered but not highly dramatic, st joan dramatic but not highly gendered. diane is gendered and dramatic, but not highly. the list goes on and on. it's a fine line. especially cheer could tip into drag for me.

but the source itself is both highly dramatic and highly gendered -- photos: mcr at riot fest (oct 12, 2022) / jackie kennedy onassis (jan 3, 1971)

if drag is understood in this way, simply wearing gendered clothes isnt drag. the look itself has to be about the performance of gender, however that may be presented. that’s the importance of classification. we can see what the artist is doing.

#mcr #gerard way #mcr queer studies #mcr performance studies #qessay #mcr fashion studies

[olderthannetfic]

I think Harry Potter and Twilight have deluded people into thinking book fanfic fandoms are big. They generally aren't.

I'm well aware of October Daye just because I usually hear about any fangirls-gone-pro-writer. On Tumblr, I tend to see more reblogs from Seanan than discussions of her books, but I'm also not looking at the relevant tags. (For that matter, I see more reblogs from Neil Gaiman about random shit than discussion of his work, and it's not for lack of discussions existing.)

The thing is, even if a book sells very well, it usually has a tiny fraction of the audience of a CW show, never mind a blockbuster movie. Most "book" fandoms really get going via an adaptation of the book. HP was an exception, but it still got a massive boost from the movies starting to come out.

And more than that, fandomy books by fandom people often do a lot of what fans want in the canon itself and have that intimidating bar of the author's own style. A lot of fic writers seem to find it easier when they're crossing mediums, whether it's because there isn't one canon voice to imitate or because they feel less like they're stepping on someone's toes.

There's an entire world of fandomy m/m book series where the leads are buddy cops working on the werewolf task force or nerdy magicians in a Lovecraftian horror town. These things even have rabid fans. But they don't always have a lot of fic.

I mean, never say never, but I know Jordan has an AO3 account. Do I really want him seeing my fic of his stuff or would I rather just go work on my own original m/m while enjoying canons that feel complete as-is?

Even Temeraire only has 1,260 works on AO3 right now.

[pleasingforharry]

Wired Autocomplete Interview

actress!yn

Y/N L/N and Harry Styles Answer the Web’s Most Searched Questions | Wired

-

“Okay, take six,” You laughed as you imitated a clap board. You looked over at your boyfriend who had his lips rolled inwards to hide his giggles. “This is taking forever because of you, mister.” With one hand, you held his cheeks, your thumb on one side and the other fingers on the other.

“No, I promise I got this,” He grabbed your wrist and shook your arm.

-

“Hello, ‘m Harry—wait,” He shook his head at his lack of remembering his line. 

You threw your head back and groaned, “Oh my god, H. Come on.” You both laughed, along with the crew behind the camera, knowing how the other introductions got cut. “It’s week three of interviews, give him a minute.”

-

“Hi, ‘m Y/N L/N,” Harry introduced himself and finished with a sweet smile, before looking at you.

“And I’m Harry Styles,” You exclaimed with your best impression of his British voice. “And we are here to do the—” you dragged out, waiting for him to finish the rest.

Harry squinted his eyes, before dropping his head in defeat. Everyone’s groans were heard, as well as a slap of a hand to someone’s forehead.

You turned in your chair to completely face your boyfriend and rested your hand on the nape of his neck, playing with loose curls.

“Are you ever going to let us get to the interview part?” You giggled, leaning close enough to lay an innocent kiss on his cheek before humming for an answer.

“I don’t even know at this point,” He sighed.

-

“And this is the Wired Autocomplete interview,” you both finished in sync, before high-fiving one another. 

Harry raised a thumbs up at the camera but looked at his girlfriend. “Let’s do this, baby,” He whispered, not caring if the microphone picked it up.

[Autocomplete suggests the most common searches on the internet]

"I feel like someone is going to ask about my obsession with Dr. Pepper,” You smirked at Harry as you waited for your boards to be handed to you. Harry nodded, and shrugged one of his shoulders.

“I’d like the know the answer to that too.”

You tilted you head at him. “I told you not to question it, Harold. He’s the sweet one,” You imitated the high pitched slogan of Dr. Pepper.

[So WIRED asked Y/N L/N and Harry Styles some of the internet’s burning questions]

You were handed Harry’s question board first and adjusted so it could be seen by the camera and also the both of you.

“Is Harry Styles? Good question,” Harry joked, looking at the camera. “No, he isn’t, is the simple answer.” You chuckled before beginning to peel the first strip of paper. 

“Is Harry Styles... British?” Both you and Harry widened your eyes at each other, before furrowing your brows. “Is there something you want to tell me, H?”

He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Honestly, I thought I was hiding it very well, but yes, I am,” Harry answered to the camera with a sigh.

The next question was revealed. “Is Harry Styles... dating? You single bastards,” You joked, pointing at the camera.

Harry smirked at you, before answering. “Yes, I am. To whom? This dashing woman right here with me.” His arm slithered around your shoulder and leaned you closer to him as you crumbled up the piece of paper in your hand. “Two years, right?” He spoke against your ear, causing you to internally shiver. You nodded and smiled shyly.

“Not tired of me yet?” You asked. He used his free hand to scratch the back of his neck as he glanced away. You used the board to hit his chest. “God, I hate this man.”

“Two years strong.”

-

Next question: “Is Harry Styles... in a new movie?”

“Yes, I am. 'The Good and Bad Days’ coming out very very soon. And I’m in it with my beautiful costar here, Y/N L/N,” Harry explained, setting his hand on your arm that sat on your chair’s armrest and rubbing it sweetly. The board covered the interaction as you both stared at each other lovingly. You knew your fans were going to go crazy over the simplest things you do with Harry.

You striped another piece to reveal, “Is Harry Styles...in Stranger Things?” You both read out loud in confusing tones. You glanced at Harry, who only shrugged. 

“I don’t think so?” Harry looked at the camera then back at you. “Love?”

“I remember seeing something about you looking like Jonathan, but I don’t see it,” You held his chin to move his head in different directions. Harry hummed at the feeling of your touch, even if it was barely there. “But no, he wasn’t.”

You looked back at the board and peeled off the last question. “And last but not least, Is Harry Styles... a singer?” You had to use the board to cover your burst of laughter. Harry stared at the camera with a blank expression before shaking his head.

“You really think I can sing? I leave that talent to the professionals. The ones who have a new album ‘Fine Line’ coming out this December thirteenth,” He grew a smile as he somehow slipped in a self promotion. You were actually impressed with how he did that so smoothly.

“I liked that one, babe,” You gave him a high-five, which he took gracefully.

-

Harry received your board of questions and quickly cleared his throat before starting to peel them away.

“First question up is, How...to be Y/N L/N?”

You gasped, “Is that really the top searched question of mine? Guys,” You awed at the camera, “I love you all, but don’t be me, I have a crooked big toe.”

“They want to be as beautiful as you, love,” Harry added. You were about to awe again, but then it suddenly hit you. He noticed your expression turning bored. “What happened?”

“You f[bleep]ers,” You cursed before laughing, “You want to know how to be Harry’s girlfriend. I caught you guys red handed.” Harry furrowed his brows, confused on why your mind went to that.

He reached his free hand behind you to rub your back. “Are you sure they meant that?”

You smirked at the camera, “I’ll make a YouTube video, babes.”

-

Next is, “How... old is Y/N L/N?” Harry read. “Forty seven,” He answered for you, nonchalantly, before moving onto the next question. You rolled your eyes, before cupping her hands around your lips and mouthed ‘twenty four’. 

“You’re an [bleep], baby,” You snorted and pinched his thigh. He didn’t flinch at the gesture but actually bit his lip. His reaction to that only had your fans that were watching gasping in their hands.

“How... tall is Y/N L/N?” the next question read. Harry looked at you to allow the answer to fall in your hands. You tilted your head in thought, before getting an idea. 

You grabbed the board from your boyfriend and jumped out of your chair. “Hop down, handsome,” You directed him, and he followed suit. The camera had to zoom out to keep both of your bodies in frame. You set the board on the floor and stood close in front of your boyfriend. Your chests touched and your chin rested right between his collarbones as you looked up at him.

He tilted his chin down to look at you and smiled at your closeness. Even with the knowledge that he was on camera, sharing what he considered an intimate moment with his girlfriend, Harry still leaned down to plant a quick kiss on your lips.

You were very taken back by it, but didn’t want to make it obvious. Your eyes widened, but you quickly squinted them as you spoke. “Thank you, and I think this helps decipher my height because I have no idea. You guys out there definitely know his height somehow, though.”

Harry nodded, knowing that was very true.

-

You both were back in your chairs, answering more individual questions back and forth. But the very last board was about your new movie you guys were promoting. 

Harry held the board and peeled off the paper that time. 

“Okay last first question, “What is... ‘The Good and Bad Days’ about?” Harry read before motioning to you. “You give good summaries, darling.”

“Oh, okay, well quick explanation without any juicy spoilers, the movie is about this couple, Leah and Matthew, being newly wed and experiencing the truth about the beginning good and bad days of marriage. They love, they fight, they makeup, and do it all over again. Really intense movie because a lot of people can relate, which I hope you’re all getting through it day by day,” You said, giving a heart at the camera. Harry nodded in agreement and also praised your great explanation.

He turned his attention back to the board. “Does ‘The Good and Bad Days’... have a happy ending?” You and Harry glanced at each other and exchanged multiple expressions. 

You decided to answer again. “All marriages are different, as well as their endings. It’s either ‘Happily Ever After’ or divorce or something else. So, our movie tries to display the multiple outcomes of new marriages. The ‘happy ending’ is what you think is a happy ending is to a new marriage,” you break down, trying to avoid actually giving away the obvious answer. Harry smiled at you, clear heart eyes forming.

-

You and Harry answered the rest of the board and when you finished, he threw the board at the camera. Luckily it was light so the wind flew it right over before it hit the lens.

Harry waved and said, “Thank you for having us, Wired. We had a blast realizing that the internet doesn’t care one bit about Y/N’s Dr. Pepper obsession.” 

“Thanks, Internet,” You blew a kiss at the camera. “Don’t forget to check out ‘The Good and Bad Days’ when it releases in theaters two weeks from today.” Harry dramatically cheered, causing you to flinch and widen your eyes at him.

“Y/N is great in it, so don’t miss out,” Harry added, pointing at the camera. You awed and reached your arms out to wrap him in a hug and kissed his cheek. 

“Alright, we’ll be making out in his dressing room, see ya!”

-

#harry styles #harrystyles #harry styles au #harry styles fluff #harry styles x reader #harry styles x yn #actress!yn #harry styles imagine #harry styles boyfriend #harry styles social media #harry styles blurb #boyfriend!harry #Harry styles one shot #harry styles fan fic

[archiveikemen]

『Love Sparks From A Mean Lie』 Collection Event

Liam Evans

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection. I do not own any of the original content. Please support CYBIRD by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

Warnings and FAQ

Liam: What do you mean by that, Victor!? Kate and I are going to be apart for a few days…

Victor: I’m sorry. I’ve taken that into consideration and tried to make adjustments as much as possible, but… due to the circumstances at hand, this is the only way.

Victor: … Anyway, I need Kate to infiltrate a women’s club where there have been rumours about drugs being sold.

Kate: Only a woman can enter the club because it's strictly for women.

Victor: Due to the unsuitability of the Crown members’ physiques for crossdressing, we can only count on Kate.

Liam: Can’t I infiltrate the club too!? I can crossdress!!

Liam begged Victor with so much force, he looked like he was going to take off his clothes on the spot and put on a dress.

Victor: I want you and Harrison to investigate a gambling den in the outskirts of the city.

Victor: A ticket is needed to enter the gambling den, but I only managed to obtain one.

Victor: So I want you to use your disappearing abilities to get inside.

(Somewhere only women can enter and somewhere you’ll need to be invisible to enter…)

(... Both missions don’t have alternatives.)

Liam: …

Liam: … I understand.

Victor: Sorry, Liam. Thank you for being understanding.

Victor: I’ll take extra precautions to protect Kate from danger during your absence.

Victor: How about having Roger be on standby so he can rush in when the need arises?

Liam: Yeah… I’ll feel a little more at ease with that.

…

Liam was initially agreeable to the next mission’s arrangements after hearing about it from Victor…

But he was completely dejected on the way home.

(... Is Liam really okay?)

It wasn’t my first time seeing him anxious about being separated from me for a little while.

(This time, we’ll be separated for a few days…)

Kate: … Um, Liam—

Liam: … Okay!

Liam suddenly slapped his own face.

Liam: Sorry for showing you that foul facial expression, Kate. I’ve changed my mindset.

Liam: Even without you by my side… I’ll be alright!

Kate: Really…?

Liam offered me his pinky finger with a reassuring smile.

Liam: I’ll complete the mission flawlessly and come back to you. … I promise.

Kate: Then I’ll safely complete my mission too… and wait for you to come back.

I smiled back at him and we interlocked our pinky fingers.

…

Liam: *sigh*... Kate…

Harrison: How many times have you sighed now? There’s a saying that whenever you sigh, happiness escapes through your mouth.

Liam: … Which direction is Crown’s castle in?

Harrison: Southeast from where we are… isn't it over there?

Liam: *sigh*...

Liam: I hope the happiness that escaped me reaches Kate.

Harrison: … The mission hasn’t begun, yet you’re acting like you’re terminally ill.

Liam: I have ‘Kate Deficiency Syndrome’.

Liam: … Don’t you think the drawing on that signboard over there looks like Kate?

Liam: The flowers at the roadside too…

Liam: Kate… I’m doing well.

Harrison: Don’t talk to the flowers…

Harrison: … Didn’t you tell Kate before heading out that you'll be fine?

Liam: That’s because I’ll put Kate in a spot if I keep whining about not wanting to be apart, okay?

Liam: It’s not what I truly feel… but what I have to say to her.

Harrison: You’re like a toddler refusing to go to preschool because you don’t want to be separated from your parents.

Liam: … Hey, Harry. I have a favour to ask of you.

Harrison: What?

Liam: … I want you to imitate Kate and cheer me on.

Harrison: Huh?

Liam: Without a dose of Kate… I might…

Liam: … Abandon the mission and return to Crown’s castle right this instant.

Harrison: … Do you promise to pull yourself together and complete the mission without fail, if I imitate her?

Liam: I promise!

Harrison: … You’re not lying. Looks like I don’t have any other options, you’d better not laugh.

Harrison: Hmm… “Liam! I’m rooting for you, Liam! Please do your best!”

Liam: … Completely wrong.

Liam: Kate’s arms are in this angle. Her head tilt is like this. Her legs are this far apart from each other— *sigh*

Liam: Because of your bad attempt at imitating her, I want to see Kate even more now…

Harrison: … I can’t stand you.

…

(Oh…)

Kate: Liam! Welcome home!

A few days had passed after Liam and I were separated due to our missions.

Liam returned to Crown’s castle after he finally completed his mission.

Liam: Kate, I’m home…!

Liam pulled me into a tight hug without saying much.

The hug was so tight that it kind of hurt, but it made me incredibly happy to know he was really there.

Harrison: I’ll go report to Victor about the mission. Liam, you and Kate can go ahead, yeah?

Liam: Really!? Thanks, Harry!

Harrison: You owe me a whole table full of sweets to compensate for that stuff during the mission.

Kate: “That stuff”...? Did something happen?

Liam: I made a rather difficult request to Harry during the mission.

Liam: To protect Harry’s dignity, I won’t go into the details, but…

Liam: It made me fully aware that there is nothing that can ever replace you, Kate.

Although he was tired, Liam effortlessly lifted me up and sprinted straight to his room from the entrance hall.

…

My lips were quickly stolen before the room door could even close entirely.

Kate: Mmh… ah…

Liam: … I missed you so much, Kate…

Our countless passionate kisses continued, as if we were trying to make up for the amount of “together time” we lost, until we finally paused.

Liam: … The mission was completed perfectly like I promised. How were things for you during my absence?

Kate: I completed my mission safely too! I didn't encounter any danger at all.

Liam: That’s good…

Kate: I felt relieved too, knowing that you handled your mission well while we were apart.

Liam: That’s uhh…

Kate: … To be honest, I had a little problem on my end.

Liam: Huh…?

Kate: Even though you weren't there with me, I found myself reflexively turning to say “this tastes great, Liam” during meals.

Kate: While I was writing my reports, I accidentally wrote your name instead of someone else’s…

Kate: I was worried about you the entire time… and yet, it turns out that I was the only one struggling.

I recalled my days spent at the castle without Liam by my side.

My supposedly delicious meals tasted bland, and I felt moody even when the sky was clear.

As the days went by, it felt like the world was gradually fading away.

Liam: … T-That’s not the case! I… I wasn’t doing well at all!

Liam: I regret pretending to be strong and lying to you that I was "fine" so that you wouldn't worry about me…

Liam: I felt lonely and sad while I was away from you… it was driving me crazy.

(So I wasn't the only one…)

Liam: I’m sorry. I’ve said time and time again that I’ll change, and yet…

Liam: I’m still a weak and hopeless sorry excuse for a person who can’t even stand being separated from you…

Kate: That’s not true! I love you, Liam who’s always working hard to change and move forward.

Kate: There’s no time limit for the change to take place, so… it's okay to take it slow.

Kate: Besides, if you instantly became able to handle being separated from me, I’d feel so lonely too.

Liam: Yeah…

We smiled at each other, kissed, and expressed our love once more.

Liam’s lies showed how deep our love was, as it was proof that we couldn't bear to be apart for even just a little while.

And then—

Liam: Hey, Kate. I think I kind of bumped into something during the mission…

Liam: Can you help me check if I got any bruises on my body?

Kate: What!? That’s terrible… let me have a look right away!

I rushed to remove Liam’s clothes.

Kate: I don’t see any bruises on your upper body though…

Liam: Then what about my lower body?

Kate: L-Lower body…?

Liam: Yeah! I want you to help me check that area for bruises too. I can’t have a good look if I do it myself.

Liam responded energetically, he didn’t seem to be in pain.

Kate: Um… Liam. Sorry if I’m misunderstanding, but…

Kate: Are you lying about the bruises, by any chance?

Liam: … You caught me.

Kate: Liam, you said it yourself that you’re bad at telling lies…

Liam: I lied because I just wanted you to take my clothes off and pamper me… sorry.

Kate: Jeez… I can’t get mad at you if that’s your reason.

Kate: If you want me to forgive you, you’ll help me remove my clothes too.

Kate: Are you going to strip me this time, Liam…?

Liam: … That’s more of a reward than a punishment, Kate.

Giggling, we kissed again… those mean lies intensifying our night.

#ikemen villains #ikemen series #cybird ikemen #otome #cybird otome #ikevil collection event #liam evans #aikm translation #ikevil translations

[scotianostra]

25th January marks the annual celebration of Burns Night - a time to celebrate Scotland's favourite son, and world renowned poet and song writer Robert Burns who was born on this day 1759.

I have covered Oor Rabbie on may occasions so on this day I hope to bring you a few facts about Scotland's National Bard and his legacy.

Known as somewhat of a ladies man, Burns is known to have fathered 12 or 13 children, depending on the source, to 4 different women. His last born child, Maxwell, was born on the same day as his funeral 25 July 1796, meaning his wife Jean Armour missed his send off.

As a lad growing up in Ayrshire, Burns was always fond of supernatural stories, most of which were told to him by an old widow who helped out on his father's farm. These stories no doubt had an influence on his writings in the future and perhaps were the inspiration for his classic masterpiece, Tam O'Shanter and the lesser known Adress to the Deil and Halloween. Even in these poems he flattered the fairer sex with his words, this from the latter poem.....

The lasses feat, an' cleanly neat, Mair braw than when they're fine; Their faces blythe, fu' sweetly kythe, Hearts leal, an' warm, an' kin':

Of course Burns also gives another of his favourite subjects a mention in this verse, "the deil himsel," Look it up it's another guid yin!

Burns didn't always want to stay in Scotland - he hoped to move to the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Although following the success of his poetry collection 'Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect' (or the Kilmarnock Edition as it is known), he opted to move closer to home, settling in Edinburgh for a time.

For all his fame, Burns never forgot his humble roots. His love for farming stayed with him throughout his life and his writing often dealt with issues affecting the poorer classes, notably highlighting the need for greater social equality. Indeed he is known as the Ploughman Poet, a nod to his farming life.

And on his legacy, Burns has gathered some very famous fans since his passing, US president Abraham Lincoln could recite Burns’ works by heart. Bob Dylan says that ‘A Red, Red Rose’ by Burns is his source of greatest creative inspiration and Michael Jackson song Thriller is said to have been inspired by Tam O'Shanter.

In Japan at pedestrian crossing you don't get beeps like here in Scotland, they play a rendition of the Burns song ‘Coming Through The Rye’.

There are more statues in honour of Rabbie than any other male figure in history, only surpassed in total by Queen Victoria. (I am not including religious statues).

In 2005 Robert Burns was the first person ever to feature on a bottle of Coca Cola, about a million were made they currently trade for around £10 and I have one, unopened in my kitchen cupboard.

Arguably Burns most famous song, Auld Lang Syne, has appeared in over 170 Hollywood films including The Apartment, It’s A Wonderful Life and When Harry Met Sally. , but he only rewrote the verse, he sent the poem to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788 indicating that it was an ancient song but that he'd been the first to record it on paper. The phrase 'auld lang syne' roughly translates as 'for old times' sake', and the song is all about preserving old friendships and looking back over the events of the year.

In the US city of Atlanta, there is a life-size imitation of Burns’ first home in Alloway, South Ayrshire, although it doesn't have the famous thatched roof.

In Scotland, there are some 20 official Burns memorials dotted around the country, from Aberdeen to the final resting place of Burns in Dumfries, which commemorate his journey from Ayrshire to “Auld Lang Syne”.

‘My Heart’s in the Highlands’ was translated and adopted as the marching song of the Chinese resistance fighter in the Second World War.

In 2009 STV viewers voted Robert Burns ‘The Great Scot’, beating the likes of William Wallace, Robert the Bruce among others.

There are Burns Clubs scattered across the globe, but the very first one, known as The Mother's Club, was founded in Greenock in 1801. They held the very first Burns Supper on what they thought was his birthday, January 29th 1802, only to discover that his birthday was actually January 25th!

Since then Burns suppers have been held worldwide.

I know some of you out there will toil to understand some of Burns's poetry, don't fear you will find the Best of Robert Burns, translated into the "de'il's tongue" just Click here...

The song Ae Fond Kiss, was one of my mums favourites the words "Never met-or never parted, We had ne'er been broken-hearted" are inscribed on her grave......"

#scotland #scottish #history #makar #poet #Farmer #Ploughman #National poet #Robrt Burn

[delicatepointofview]

Harry probably imitating a fan during LOML — Toronto, Canada. Night One. (16/08)

#harry styles #stylesnews #stylesedits #hledit #hlcreators #hljournal #1dsource #gif* #hslot22 #hslot22:toronto1 #love on tour 2022 #love on tour #flashing tw #i mean looks like it right? he's pointing to someone does the dancey lil thing and smiles #in loml of all songs lol #terrible terrible coloring but oh well

[hldailyupdate]

“[imitates a fan] ‘GKDKDJS NO SIGNS!’ Okay… so we’re gonna move swiftly on. ‘Kay?”

-Harry jokingly making fun of a fan and deciding to skip on reading signs for tonight.

Love On Tour 2023: Reggio Emilia. (22 July 2023)

#harry styles #harry update #love on tour #love on tour 2023: reggio emilia #quote #july 2023

[papasmistakeria]

Cursed Enterprise headcanon (maybe AU) cause my favourite series is now Enterprise and they're the closest to the 21st century so I can make millenial headcanons for them and it'd still be considered canon:

One time, Malcolm had the crew do archery for target practice and survival training. Ironically, the person who had the worst score was Archer

Archer lost Porthos this one time and he was depressed for an entire month. In a show of good will and friendship, T'Pol decided to make it her mission to find Porthos. She brought Archer the beagle back and he was so happy he cried and hugged her for an entire hour. 3 days later, Hoshi and Travis showed up with the real Porthos. Archer was left with one question; If that's Porthos, then who the fuck is the beagle that T'Pol brought? In the end, Archer gave up trying to figure it out and decided to adopt the other beagle

T'Pol was fascinated by the human custom of international communities discussion through means of forums as a way to recognize cultures. For her research, she signed up for Twitter. It was then she's convinced humans are fucking stupid

Trip had top surgery twice; First time when he transitioned and second time on his arm when he grew those nipples

Trip has spent most of his young adult life trying to lick his elbows. Nearly died twisting his neck one time

Malcolm had a Green Day phase and Trip laughs at him for it

Because he's smaller than most Security Chiefs, Malcolm is very resourceful in combat. Meaning, he bites and claws at people like a rabid animal. He also has near perfect voice imitation which adds to the long list of 'Things Absolutely Fucked Up about Malcolm Reed'. Some people thought he's a skinwalker or some demon

Whenever he's drunk, Malcolm shifts through 10 different personalities and accents and all of those are just Dominic Keating characters

Hoshi has a soft spot for rodents. She snuck in a bunch of her pet mice into the ship during launch and some of them escaped and at the same time, the whole ship power died and the only ones still active are weapons and warp. Turns out, some of her mice are in Engineering having the feast of their lives (they're chewing on the cables). Trip nearly had an aneurysm while the entire Engineering crew were chasing multiple mice away with brooms

Hoshi's role model is Hatsune Miku

Travis' role model is also Hatsune Miku

Travis plays Roblox. One time he made a Roblox game based off the Enterprise but then the captain found out and told him to shut it down. Nobody even noticed that Archer himself plays Roblox

One creature that Phlox absolutely cannot stand is the Earth Wasp. During his first few days on Earth, he thought the wasp was a bee and tried to observe it but instead it stung him and he hasn't forgiven it

Phlox is a big fan of Scooby Doo and has spent years trying to find a talking dog. He still believes Porthos has the ability to speak but hides it

Hayes is a Brony. His favourite is Applejack

The Enterprise crew has a Minecraft server for everyone. The Engineers are the ones who built every structure in the server. The Science and Medical crew are the ones making farms and whatnot. Command crew are the ones mining. The Security crew logs in every now and then just to blow shit up and ruin everyone's day

The only time Harris regretted recruiting Malcolm to Section 31 was during his first solo mission and somehow Malcolm managed to bite a Starfleet security officer's fucking fingers off clean and Harris nearly had an aneurysm trying to do damage control

Shran tries to learn about human custom through their history since he's a firm believer that history is the door to the present. The next time he greeted Archer, he did a dab and Archer cried

Shran went to visit Earth as a show of diplomacy and for a date with Archer. Someone offered to give him more money if he gives them some money and he mistook that for weird human hospitality tradition. He got scammed

There's a thirst trap of Soval somewhere and it's on Forrest's private tiktok account

#star trek #star trek enterprise #star trek ent #enterprise #st enterprise #st ent #jonathan archer #t'pol #trip tucker #malcolm reed #hoshi sato #travis mayweather #dr phlox #phlox #thy'lek shran #headcanons #papas mistakeria special #the things I write about the enterprise gang is wild #anyway cursed headcanon series!

[harry-on-broadway]

The Last Line: Part One

Part One 

Word Count: 9.4K || Series Masterlist || Rating: M

A/N: I didn’t think I’d be writing another series so soon after TYTM but...this little idea of an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story that I’ve been thinking about for a long time just wouldn’t go away. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it. Would love to hear what everyone thinks! 

***

May 12, 2017

Review: Harry Styles Heads In A New Direction

By Penny Sanders

If you know someone, most likely a young woman, between the ages of 13 and 30, chances are you’ve heard of Harry Styles.

Or at least his former band, One Direction.

Styles is one of the five young men that were thrown together by the infamous Simon Cowell to create the best selling boy band of all-time. Over their brief career, One Direction’s discography cast a wide net, attracting fans of all ages. Young tweens and their millennial counterparts were drawn in by the clean-cut look of the lads clad in blazers and bowties and lyrics that felt like they were pulled from a self-insert fanfiction. However, as the years progressed the band added a bit of an edge – tattoos, rumors of an attempted threesome, and lyrics about a loaded gun (read: erect penis). But with 1D in the midst of an indefinite hiatus, all eyes are on Harry, Niall, Liam, and Louis (and Zayn too) to see what comes next.

Styles has answered that question with a 10-song debut that is worlds away from the five albums he put out with his former band. Gone are the bubblegum beats, replaced by alternatively somber and bombastic instrumentals. And forget cheeky “wink-wink nod-nod” lyrics to – gasp! sex! Styles readily admits getting himself off in a hotel room in the album’s closer, “From the Dining Table.”

It’s not a poor offering, but frankly, it’s not great either. While he pushes himself to redefine the sound that has been associated with him for more than five years, the result is a generic LP that will likely be forgotten as soon as one of the industry’s legitimate superstars releases a new single. And, to head off the question I’ve already received from many of Styles’ supporters on Twitter, I can guarantee that you won’t be seeing this album or any of its tracks, mentioned at this year’s Grammy Awards.

One of the bright spots on the album, the lead single “Sign Of The Times,” feels like a grand moment, but it also feels misplaced, almost as if it was a song that should have come a decade into his solo career. Despite poignant lyrics (the song is purportedly about a mother dying in childbirth), Styles’ falsetto needs strengthening and at times he sounds like a young boy trying to imitate his elders. He has talent and shows promise, but isn’t able to pull off a ballad of that caliber yet. Other songs, like “Sweet Creature” and “Two Ghosts” are instantly forgettable, though “Kiwi,” while memorable, is just plain painful to listen to.

Styles is obviously popular, and that alone will be enough to propel him to years of sold-out shows and chart-topping albums. But he needs something else – a secret ingredient if you will –  to launch him to further stardom and cement his name alongside his idols Nicks, Bowie, and Jagger. Otherwise, he’ll be nothing but a midnight memory.

***

September 21, 2017

Review: Harry Styles Rocks The Greek Theatre

By Penny Sanders

Months after the release of his self-titled debut album, Harry Styles found himself at the Greek Theatre, ready to play to a sold out crowd that had likely been waiting for this moment since One Direction’s final performance.

And let me just say, attending a Harry Styles concert is an experience like no other.

The intimate venue was a nice change of pace for Styles who was selling out stadiums in the latter half of One Direction’s tour. He was always seen as the charming one, and the small stage makes that even more apparent, giving him more than enough time to banter with the audience, introduce songs, and connect with his audience. I’m sure many of those in the front of the crowd will tell stories for years to come of the night they made eye contact with the heartthrob.

With just 10 songs of his own, he relied on some One Direction hits and other covers to fill out the setlist. With the exception of “The Chain,” most of the covers sounded nothing like the original version, leading anyone unfamiliar with Styles’ career so far to assume the guitar heavy, rocking versions of the songs – notably “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Story of My Life” – are the standard.

Styles has a charisma like no other, and even though it’s clear it takes him a while to warm up to the crowd, perhaps a symptom of never being alone onstage in his career so far, he’s a born performer who belongs on the stage. But for me, he wasn’t the standout. It was his fans.

The crowd was ready for fun, dressed to the nines, with nearly everyone carrying overflowing bags of merch. They sang along to the songs word perfect and clung to Styles every word, cheering louder than I’ve ever heard when he entered the stage. It was a joyous occasion and had an energy I haven’t seen in any of the concerts I’ve recently attended.

I spoke to a number of women in attendance last night, asking them what drew them to the show. Some cited their One Direction fandom, while others spoke of the sounds of his music, and how it reminded them of other classic songs they love. But for many, Styles himself was the primary reason for being there.

“He makes things really personal,” said Ally, a college student who came from Minneapolis to see the show – her third time seeing Styles this year. “A lot of the other concerts I go to, the artists don’t say anything other than a generic thank you. But Harry makes every show feel special.”

“He feels like a friend,” said Katrina, a local high-schooler. “School’s not always easy and I sometimes struggle with things, but when I listen to his music or go to one of his shows, it feels comforting. Like I’m in a safe place.”

These statements perfectly summarize why Styles’ concerts are so unique.

If he stays true to what his fans want and lets his personality shine on stage, that, in addition to strengthening his songwriting, could be enough to land him alongside his musical icons, and 50 years from now, we’ll see him headlining stadiums on his own, playing a career’s worth of hits as the crowd – full more than just women – sings along.

Longtime readers will remember that I was less than effusive in my review of Styles’s debut, but after seeing him live, I must eat my words and say he’s going places.

***

Transcript from the “Track After Track” podcast, Episode 147: July 21, 2018

Ethan: Speaking of concerts, Penny, you just saw Harry Styles at the Forum, right?

Penny: Yeah, I was there a week ago. Eight days? No a week ago. Sorry it all blends together.

Ethan: I mean, you are at a concert every night, pretty much, so I’ll give you a pass.

Penny: [laughs] You’re so kind. But yes, I was at his show.

Tyler: How was that? I never know what to make of these boy band guys. For every Timberlake, there’s 10 Chris Kirkpatricks.

Penny: It wasn’t terrible. He puts on a good show.

Ethan: Was this your first time seeing him?

Penny: No. I saw him twice when he was in One Direction. And when he was at the Greek.

Tyler: And?

Penny: Like I said, he’s not terrible. It’s clear that his music and personality has resonated with a lot of people, so his shows are filled with fans and have a great energy. Listening to the album on its own is kind of meh…there weren’t a lot of tracks that stuck out as memorable…but live it can be kind of fun. You can tell he loves performing and really feeds off the crowd.

Ethan: Confession: I actually haven’t listened to the album yet.

Penny: That doesn’t surprise me based on the number of EDM CDs in your car.

Ethan: [laughs] Yeah, the genre definitely isn’t my cup of tea, but I think Harry is someone the industry really needs to watch. He’s going to do big things. Well, even bigger since he’s already pretty massive. Tyler, have you listened?

Tyler: Yeah, but I just can’t bring myself to get into it. Like, you just mention his name and you can hear the teen girls screaming off in the distance. I just think it’s a red flag when your fanbase is that narrow. Like if teen girls are your driver, how are you going to succeed? What happens when they’re not 13 and hormonal anymore. You’re not seeing a lot of geriatric boy band fans.

Penny: Wow! Ageism and sexism all in one statement! That has to be a first for you! It’s fine to say you don’t like his music, but to discount it purely on the basis that younger women like it…that’s just plain ignorant.

Tyler: Let’s evaluate this in five years and see where he is.

Penny: Fine, in five years have me back on this podcast and we’ll discuss his Grammy win.

Tyler: You’re out of your goddamn mind if you think Harry Styles will win a Grammy. You need to start thinking with your head and not your – (inaudible)

Penny: Seriously?

Ethan: OK, let’s talk charts…

***

Talking Biz News  

November 8, 2018

Penny Sanders to join media start-up The Moment as Music Reporter

***

Present Day, 2019

“She needs to go back to copyediting and stop fucking up my stories,” Chloe barked, stabbing lettuce onto her fork to match her anger. “She knows nothing about film but is constantly trying to make corrections and I’m just like ‘No?!? That’s not how the fucking industry works.’” She looked across the table at Penny. “Am I crazy?”

“No, you’re not crazy,” Penny said, trying to soothe her friend. “I have the same issue with Darren. He came in thinking he was hot shit because he had been at Rolling Stone and started trying to explain how the charts work as if I haven’t been covering this for years. I can’t tell you how much time I spend undoing his edits before the piece goes to Skylar.”

“Why can’t this newsroom hire a competent editor?” Chloe asked. “It’s not that hard.”

“Probably because no editor wants to work here?”

“Good point!”

Penny and Chloe were eating a late lunch in the courtyard of the complex that housed The Moment, the entertainment publication they both worked for. They’d met three years ago during a summer internship at Variety and forged an alliance after realizing they were the only two women in the program. Penny had wanted to cover music and Chloe was determined to become a film reporter, and they’d been thrilled to finally end up at The Moment together after several years of freelancing and fighting for staff writer roles. Now, they were unstoppable, filing stories daily and dodging pointless notes from their first editors.

“Wait, Penny…didn’t you file your piece on ‘Old Town Road’ today?”

“Yes, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why? It’s such an interesting story,” Chloe whined. “And I haven’t seen anyone covering it yet.”

“That always makes me nervous.” Penny swirled her spoon through her bowl of soup.

“It shouldn’t. It means you’re ahead of the curve.”

“Or I’ve completely misjudged the story. Maybe it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Give it a month and everyone will be talking about it.” Chloe paused. “Is Darren taking firsts?”

“Yes.”

“Oh fuck.”

“Yeah, it’s not looking good for me, Chlo.”

The Moment’s typical reporting and editing process involved a reporter filing a story to one editor, who would do an intensive first edit, fixing the structure of the story, making notes on sections that needed to be added or get cut, and getting the piece 99% ready for publication. The second round of edits was largely focused on fixing grammar and spelling, as well as fact-checking, ahead of publication. Penny typically preferred Skylar, the publication’s editor-in-chief, to take on first edits. While she could be tough, she was smart and kind, and Penny’s stories were always much better after Skylar got her hands on them. When other editors, like Darren, took first edits, Penny knew to prepare herself for days of tears, stress, and questioning her life choices.

“What about you?” Penny asked, wanting to shift the conversation away from her anxiety over her story. “Have things calmed down post-Oscars?”

“Yes. Thankfully.”

Penny knew Chloe loved her job but from late August to early March, she was running from festival to festival, covering awards season. In addition to writing her articles, she, like Penny, found herself taking on media hits as an added responsibility, appearing on morning shows, podcasts, and radio programs to break down entertainment topics for everyday consumers. It was fun and super fulfilling, but it was also exhausting.

“When is Cannes again?”

“May!” Chloe said brightly. “Easily my favorite festival.”

“I have no idea why,” Penny said with a sly grin. “Two weeks on a French beach surrounded by celebrities, eating the most delicious food. It sounds horrid.”

“Oh my God, Penny? What are you doing here?”

Penny and Chloe turned in synchronicity to look at the man who had shouted at them from a table across the path.

“Do we know him?” Chloe asked, mumbling the question through the tentative grin she had plastered on her face.

“I can’t actually see his face,” Penny admitted, squinting trying to gain a better view.

“This is why you need to wear your glasses,” Chloe hissed.

“Of all the food courts in Los Angeles,” the man continued as he walked over to them.

“Wait…Tom? Is that you?”

“It is! How have you been?” He opened his arms and pulled Penny into him. She wrapped her own arms around him.

“So good. I didn’t realize you were out here.”

“I’ve actually been here for a few years now.”

“Shit. Really. I feel so bad that I didn’t reach out,” Penny said apologetically. “And I’m also surprised that my mom didn’t mention you.”

“Eh, it’s not a problem,” he shrugged.

“Care to introduce me?” Chloe asked.

“Ah, yes,” Penny said, composing herself. “Chloe, this is Tom Skoglund. He’s a longtime family friend, although I’m sure that title is being called into question since I didn’t even know he was living here. Tom, this is Chloe. She’s a friend of mine who also works at The Moment.” Penny stepped back to allow Chloe and Tom to shake hands and exchange pleasantries. “Do you want to sit with us?” she asked when they were finished, noting Tom’s sandwich and chips.

“If you don’t mind,” he said. “I’d love to catch up.”

Penny and Chloe sat back down as Tom pulled up a third chair and set his food down. “So you’re still doing the reporter thing?” he asked with a grin. He turned to Chloe. “Penny used to write a newsletter for everyone in the neighborhood. It had news items and opinion pieces all written by her. I seem to remember a glowing review for the second High School Musical soundtrack.”

“It’s full of bangers and you know it,” Penny said with a grin.

Tom turned to Chloe. “Do you also cover music?”

Chloe shook her head. “I’m a film girl.”

“Thoughts on the Oscars?” he asked as he took a bite.

“Anyone who actually pays attention to previous stats knew that Green Book would pull out a win so I wasn’t surprised. I will be curious to see what Netflix does next though. I personally thought The Favourite should have won, but that’s why I’m not a voter.”

“I literally only saw Black Panther and A Star Is Born so I feel like I don’t have room to say anything,” Tom said with a grimace.

“You sound like Penny,” Chloe said with a laugh. “She can tell you the exact week a song hit number one on the Billboard charts, but is frighteningly unaware of the latest movies.”

“I only have so much room for useless facts,” Penny said, earning a kick under the table from Chloe. She turned her attention back to Tom. “What are you doing here? Last I heard my mom said you were working in finance? Is that still the case?”

“God no,” he said lightly. “I had enough of that soul crushing job and decided to head out here to hack it in music. Got an assistant gig and worked my way up to manager.”

“Tom, that’s incredible,” Penny said with genuine excitement. “Who are you with?”

“Full Stop. With Jeff Azoff”

“Wow,” Penny said as Chloe let out a slow whistle. She turned to look at her friend.

“Yes, I know who the Azoffs are,” Chloe said. “And that’s impressive. Congrats, Tom.” Her phone chirped and she looked down at the screen. “Fuck. One of my sources wants to chat. I’ve got to take this.” She looked up at Penny and Tom. “It was so nice to meet you, Tom. Penny, I’ll see you at drinks later?”

Penny nodded and waved as Chloe disappeared across the grass, depositing her empty salad container in the trash. “So Full Stop,” she said, turning back to Tom. “You all have quite the roster.”

“Before you ask, no comment,” Tom said with a grin.

“Tom, I’m disappointed that you’d think I would stoop that low. I have a firm stance on not using friends for work stuff.”

“Well good, because you’d get nothing out of me.” He took a sip of his drink. “Remind me, are you still doing breaking news?” He grimaced. “I know I see your byline frequently, but I don’t always remember which article it comes in front of.”

“No. I moved on from that.” Penny didn’t miss the days of covering the desk at night, ready to pounce on any stories that came across the wire. “I mostly do reviews for concerts and albums now. I’m working my way up to business features, profiles, those types of things.”

“What should I go back and get caught up on?”

“I reviewed Maggie Rogers’ album a couple of weeks ago and wrote a review of Elton John’s show last week.”

“God, doesn’t he put on a great show.”

“One of the best. And I’m working on a feature about TikTok and ‘Old Town Road’ right now.”

“That sounds so interesting. Is it up yet?”

“No. I just filed it to my editor so there is a very good chance that it will never see the light of day. But if it does, I will send it your way.”

“Please. Let me give you my number.”

Penny pulled out her phone and handed it to her old friend. It was a strange feeling knowing that in the heyday of their friendship, they hadn’t needed each other's number, knowing they could always find the other in the cul-de-sac or the school hallways.

“Done.” Tom said, saving his contact information and passing the phone back to Penny, who quickly dashed off a text so he would have her information as well.

“I should probably head back into the office now,” Penny said. “But it was great to see you.”

“You too,” Tom said, standing to hug her. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d want to come to a little party slash happy hour thing I’m having on Friday. It’s super casual, basically just drinks and fancy snacks with a bunch of people from the office. I think they’d all love to meet you and talk music. Off the record,” he added quickly.

“That sounds like a lot of fun,” Penny replied. “I should be free Friday.”

“Great. I’ll text you my address and we can take it from there.”

“Thanks, Tom,” Penny said, collecting her trash. “I’m really looking forward to seeing more of you.”

“Same. I’ll see you on Friday.”

Penny waved as she threw her trash away and headed back to her building. She smiled to herself. It would be nice to have another friendly face around. They were too rare in her line of work.

***

Penny promptly shut her laptop at 5pm, stowing it in her tote bag and pushing her chair underneath her desk.

“Have a nice weekend!” she called out to the few staffers that were remaining in the newsroom, before heading to her car. She plugged Tom’s address into her GPS app, hit play on her Spotify playlist, and pulled out of the parking lot. She was about 45 minutes away, thanks to the heavy traffic that was a near constant presence in the city, but made it to Tom’s house before her 80s synth mix was finished playing, which she counted as a win.

She grabbed her bag and fished around in the backseat for the bottle of wine she’d purchased earlier that day. She wasn’t sure if this was that type of gathering, but she felt weird showing up empty handed. Hopefully Tom wouldn’t say no to some Trader Joe’s wine. She locked her car and walked up the path and heard some shouts coming from the backyard. She rang the bell and just a few moments later, Tom appeared with a smile on his face.

“Penny! Come on in!” he said, opening the door for her. “How was the drive over?”

“Not as bad as it could have been,” she replied, shrugging off her cardigan and tote bag.

“I can take those,” Tom offered, reaching for her belongings, and placing them in a nearby closet.

“Thanks,” Penny said. “And this is for you,” she added, offering him the bottle of wine.

“You didn’t have to bring anything.”

“It’s from Trader Joe’s, Tom. It is quite literally the least I could do.”

He laughed. “Well, thank you. I’ll put it out now. It’s an open bar, so help yourself. Once you get a drink, I’ll take you around and introduce you to everyone.”

Penny poured herself a rum and Coke, and followed Tom out to the patio, drink in hand.

“Penny, I’d like you to meet Tommy Bruce,” he said. “Tommy, this is my friend, Penny. We reconnected the other day.”

“Pleasure, Penny,” Tommy said, shaking her hand. “Do you also work in the industry?”

“Sort of. I’m a critic and reporter at The Moment. I cover music.”

“That’s sick. Do you go to a lot of shows?”

“Yes. I was at Elton John’s show the other day and I’m planning to see Post Animal in a couple of weeks.”

“I was at Elton too! I wonder if we ran into each other?”

“We probably did,” Penny said with a laugh.

“Are you planning to go to Leon Bridges?”

“I’m not sure yet. I have to get everything approved by my editor so it’s up to her.”

“I hope you can. He’s so good. Hey, Jeff!”

Tom and Tommy turned their attention to another man that had approached their small group.

“Penny, this is the man, the myth, the legend, Jeffrey Azoff,” Tom said.

“They exaggerate,” Jeff said. “Nice to meet you Penny.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Penny said, moving her drink to her other hand so she could shake Jeff’s. “I’m an old friend of Tom’s from growing up. I work as a music journalist now.”

“Yeah, you’re at The Moment, right?” Jeff said.

“Yes…” Penny said slowly.

“OK,” Tommy said, affably rolling his eyes. “He’s such a show off.”

“I try to keep up with those who cover our clients, that’s all,” Jeff said. “And if it makes me look like a show-off, so be it,” he added, as Tommy playfully punched his shoulder.

As the men continued to banter, Penny surveyed the room, making the silent calculation she faced nearly everyday. Including herself, there were four women total at the gathering, which felt like a huge accomplishment. Working in her industry, she was used to being one of the only women in the room, a blessing and a curse.

The blessing was that whenever she found another woman at an event or meeting, they instantly gravitated toward each other, which meant she’d made a lot of friends in just a few years. The curse was obvious: men.

The men that surrounded her weren’t the worst offenders – they kept their hands and other body parts to themselves and were generally very kind – but being the lone woman was noticeable. Men would casually throw out that someone was a “bitch” or offer Penny an explanation that they didn’t give to a male reporter two years her junior. Penny usually just took it with a grain of salt, sighing internally, complaining to Chloe, and then proving her worth by being the smartest one in the room. Keeping an eye on two women chatting in the corner, she started to move towards them to introduce herself when she caught sight of another person across the way.

Harry Styles.

Or was it? Was that actually him? Chloe was right, she needed to wear her glasses more often. But Harry Styles being here didn’t make any sense. What would he be doing at a random house party?

She felt a hand on her shoulder and stepped over to the side to allow the person to pass and collect her thoughts. The more she thought about it, Harry Styles being at this party made sense. She knew from stories she’d worked on that he was repped by Full Stop, so it wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibility that he would hang out with Tom and the other agents outside of work, but it was still jarring to see him out in the wild.

Whenever she told people she was a music journalist, their first instinct was to assume that she was close to many of the artists she reported on daily, but that wasn’t the case. When she was attending an event, it was a professional engagement. She was there to gather the facts, tell a story, and move on. Socializing with those in the industry outside of that professional setting made her uncomfortable. Especially when she was working on a review or piece of criticism. It was one thing to write those things and send them off into the vacuum of the internet, but when she thought about the subjects of the reviews reading her writing, she started to feel…guilty. She never intended to be mean – she knew how she felt when she received harsh notes from an editor – but the point of her reviews was to offer commentary and opinions. And if she thought too much about the people behind the work, her objectivity disappeared. So, she’d made a concerted effort to keep a firm boundary to ensure her writing was as good as it could be.

The few times she did meet musicians outside of work events, she could feel her brain going a mile a minute to remember if she’d ever written something slightly negative about them for fear they’d call her out on it, as despite what every musician claimed, they always read the reviews. And her brain started working overtime to perform these mental calculations as she saw Harry stop in front of her.

“Haven’t seen you here before. I’m Harry,” he drawled slowly, reaching out his hand.

Penny momentarily froze, but quickly recovered. “I’m Penny,” she said, shaking his hand.

“Do you work at Full Stop?” he asked, eyes glancing over her as if he was trying to figure out where she should be placed.

“No.”

“At one of the labels?”

“No.”

“OK, well I’m stumped as to where you fit it,” he said with a light laugh. “Care to enlighten me?”

“I’m a writer,” Penny replied, hoping the vague nature of her answer was enough to satisfy him.

“Have you written anything I’ve read?”

“Maybe.”

“Care to give me any other clues?” he asked, sipping from the plastic cup in his hand and leaning in closer to hear her response. Penny couldn’t tell what it was, but from the smell wafting over to her, it was something strong.

“I’m a journalist.”

“What do you cover?” Another sip, his eyes intensely focused on her.

“Entertainment,” Penny said simply, praying this game of 20 questions would be over soon.

“That’s kind of vague,” Harry replied quickly.

“That’s kind of the point.”

“Oh! A woman with an air of mystery. That’s…” he paused. “Enticing.”

“Enticing?” Penny quirked a brow and shot him a bemused grin.

“Yeah, it’s like a challenge. You’re making me work for it.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know, maybe a drink?” Harry asked hopefully.

“Wow. Subtle.”

“I try.” The corners of his lips ticked up. “Maybe I should try a little harder though.”  

Penny was thinking up a witty comeback, somewhat amused by the situation she’d found herself in and very pleased that she’d have a new story to share with Chloe at lunch on Monday, when Tom interrupted their conversation.

“There you two are! I was hoping to introduce you all tonight.” He looked at Harry, gesturing to Penny. “This is Penny. She’s a friend from back home who’s a big time writer for The Moment. She writes reviews for concerts and albums.”

Penny snuck a look at Harry and thought she saw a flicker of…something…in his eyes. It was so subtle and so brief that she didn’t have time to think about what it could mean before she felt Tom’s arm on her back.

“And Penny, you of course know Harry.”

“I do. I think one of my friends had a toothbrush with your face on it.”

“Hmmm,” Harry murmured. “Those were a hot item for sure.”

Tom’s eyes darted between the two, evidently waiting for them to continue the conversation he had interrupted. Seeing that that wasn’t going to happen, he excused himself and moved onto another group of people.

“So, music is the kind of entertainment you cover.” The banter was back but it had a harder edge this time.

“It is.”

“Have you ever written about me?”

Penny mulled her potential responses, trying to find one that could cause the path of least resistance. “No,” she said simply.

“Really?” Harry said. The challenge in his voice was evident. “You weren’t the one who said I sound like ‘a young boy trying to imitate his elders?’”

Fuck. Penny felt her face grow hot. “That might have been me.”

“I thought so.”

“How long did you know?”

“Once Tom said the name of where you work. There aren’t that many critics named Penny that wrote a scathing review of my album.”

“It wasn’t scathing,” Penny said, suddenly feeling defensive of her work. “It was critical, sure, but that’s what my job is. I’m a critic. And besides, don't musicians get off on bragging about how they don’t pay attention to the reviews?”

“Hate to break it to you but that’s a load of bullshit. We are all very sensitive creatures.”

“Well, that’s clear based on how you’re acting now.”

“How I'm acting? You’re the one that’s yelling in the middle of a party.”

“I’m not yelling!” Penny said, lowering her voice by a couple of decibels. “You’re the one that came over here trying to score and then decided to pick a fight because you can’t forget about one review from like two years ago.”

“I’m sorry–” Harry laughed in disbelief. “You thought I was trying to get lucky? What made you think that?”

“‘Ah! A mysterious woman! So enticing! I like a challenge. You’re making me bloody work for it. Let’s get a drink!’” Penny shot back in a poor imitation of his slow, deep voice.

“I did not say that.”

“Yes you did!” Penny yelped. “You totally did.”

“Whatever,” Harry mumbled, taking another sip of his drink while Penny just looked at him.

“That’s all you have to say?”

Harry looked at her blankly. “Yes?”

“Oh, I thought you might offer up a sorry.”

“What for?”

“For attacking my work.”

“I hate to break it to you, Penny, but I think you attacked my work first.”

“Because it’s my fucking job!”

“Everything alright over here?”  Jeff asked, stepping into the conversation. The look of caution on his face told Penny that her conversation with Harry had been overheard by the others at the party.

“We’re fine,” Penny said evenly.

“Yeah, peachy keen,” Harry added, earning a glare from Penny.

“I should actually be going,” Penny said.

“Oh, can’t you stay a little longer?” Jeff asked as Harry muttered “Bye, then.” Jeff cut his eyes over to Harry, who avoided his glance. “Alright then,” he said slowly. “It was nice to meet you, Penny. Hope to see you around.”

“You, too,” Penny said before swiftly leaving the group.

“What was that about?” Jeff asked, attention turned back to Harry.

“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“You were a bit, shall we say…dickish…back there?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“If you say so,” Jeff said. He paused. “Have you read any of her work?”

“I’ve read enough of it.”

“You should honestly read some more. The Moment in general is a really up-and-coming publication. They’ve poached some stellar writers and editors from Billboard and Rolling Stone. And Penny…she’s smart. I think you all would have a lot to talk about.”

Harry glared at Jeff. “What makes you say that?”

“She’s got an interesting perspective. Her reviews always leave me thinking about things in a different way and I can’t say that about many critics.”

“Oh really,” Harry shot back, suddenly combative. “Did you start to reconsider my album after reading her review?”

“Calm down, H,” Jeff said gently. “Your album is a fantastic accomplishment and you know it. And she doesn’t just write criticism, she does cultural pieces as well. Check them out. She was on a podcast last year that you might find interesting.” Jeff pulled out his phone, typing quickly. “Here’s a link. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.”

Harry shot Jeff another glare and drained his cup. “Thanks,” he said dryly. “I’ll move it to the top of the list. See you later,” he called, pushing past his manager.

He tossed his cup into a nearby trash can and combed the room for Tom, offering a wave as he walked out the door. Harry walked slowly down the driveway, feeling the cool night air blow through his hair, relishing the peace. He’d felt a little off all day, but couldn’t put a finger on why, and his encounter with Penny had thrown him even more off balance. He’d been feeling like this a lot recently. Like he didn’t quite fit in alongside the other pieces of his life. He reached his car and unlocked it, sliding inside.

He plugged in his phone and stared out the windshield. Penny. He hadn’t known who she was when he approached her that night. Only that she looked pretty and that the smile she’d worn when he saw her talking to Jeff and Tommy made him want to know more about her. But as the pieces fell into place, it was impossible to look past what she’d done to him two years ago.

He didn’t know why her review had struck such a nerve with him. It wasn’t like his debut had been released to unanimous raves, and after two years of looking back on it, while he was proud of what he’d accomplished, he could see the weak spots in his work and was hoping to improve upon them with his second album. The hurt that lingered was just one of those implacable feelings.

Rolling his neck and feeling it crack, he pulled on his seatbelt and scrolled through his music library looking for something to listen to on the ride home. But after cycling through the entire library twice to no avail, he opened the text Jeffrey had sent him earlier, pressing play on the podcast episode that had been shared with him before turning the key in the ignition. His drive home was long but while he usually grew antsy watching the clock change as he sat bumper to bumper with other drivers, tonight his mind was occupied listening to the discussion echoing through his speakers.

It was an episode from one of Variety’s podcasts last year, shortly after his Forum concerts. Penny was a guest, chatting with the two guys who served as hosts. One of them sounded cool, and the other sounded like someone that he’d like to punch in the face if they ever crossed paths in real life. The episode was about his tour, specifically his shows in Los Angeles. It was weird listening to people talk about him like he was a commodity for consumption, and not like a human, a blatant reminder of why he typically abstained from engaging with anything like this.

Much to his surprise, Penny played the role of his supporter throughout the podcast, jumping to his defense when the Asshole, or whatever his name was, levied harsh words at Harry and his fans. He wouldn’t have expected that based on what she’d previously written. On the track, they shifted topics and Harry’s mind drifted off as the episode played on, ending moments before he arrived at his home. He turned off the car but made no effort to head inside. Instead, he picked up his phone and opened Instagram where he typed in Penny’s name.

Her account popped up right away. He scrolled over her page, unsurprised by what he found. Lots of pictures of concerts, sunsets on the beach, and admittedly delicious looking food. There weren’t many pictures of her but he found one that was relatively recent, posted last Christmas. She was smiling alongside some other women, probably friends based on the caption, and once again he felt something tugging inside of him when he looked at her. Next, he redownloaded the Twitter app, something he swore he would never do, and typed in Penny’s name, skimming through her Tweets. Jeff was right. She was frustratingly and irritatingly smart.

Closing out of Twitter, he navigated back to Instagram, finger hovering over the follow button. He hesitated, but after a minute his finger came down on the icon and it changed from blue to gray.

As he put his phone in his pocket and locked his car, across town Penny’s phone lit up with a notification. She missed the initial alert as she washed her face and pulled on the old college t-shirt she wore to bed most nights, but she finally noticed it when she went to set her alarm: Harry Styles followed you.

What the fuck was he trying to do? After laying into her the way he did at Tom’s house, completely unprovoked, the last thing she wanted to do was interact with him in the virtual world. She deleted the notification, plugged in her phone, and went to sleep.

When Harry woke up the next morning, the first thing he did was check his Instagram notifications. He scrolled past most of them – comments and following alerts from random fans and bots – but among all of the familiar amalgamations of usernames, Penny’s was nowhere to be found.

He laid his phone on his chest and stared at the ceiling. What game was she trying to play with him? And why did he feel so upset? The silence that surrounded him as he laid motionless was so loud.

When he finally found the motivation to get out of bed, he pulled on some jogging shorts and a tank and laced up his sneakers, grabbing headphones on his way out the door. He was hoping that a run might clear his head, but thoughts of Penny from the night before echoed alongside the sound of his feet on the pavement. Clarity hadn’t been found when he reached the five mile point, so he begrudgingly turned around to head home and shower. His mind was still swirling as he got cleaned up, and by the time he was dressed for the day and brewing coffee, he had a plan.

He pulled up his contacts and scrolled until he found the name he was looking for, pacing nervously while the phone rang.

“Hey,” the voice on the other line said. “Is everything OK?”

“Yeah, Tom. Sorry for the early morning call,” Harry said, twisting his fringe around his finger as he continued to do laps around the island. “Are you heading into the office today?”

“Seeing as it’s Saturday, I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Oh, shit,” Harry said, cringing when he took note of the early weekend hour. “I guess I lost track of time.”

“Not a problem,” Tom replied, stifling what seemed to be a yawn. “I’ll be there bright and early on Monday.

“Oh, nice. Would you maybe want to catch up and grab lunch?”

“That would be great, seeing as it’ll have been close to 48 hours since we last caught up,” Tom said a bit facetiously.

Harry said nothing trying to extract his fingers from the knot he’d twisted his fringe into. “Oh, yeah,” he mumbled after a moment.

“H, I’m kidding,” Tom said with a light laugh. “You can always swing by. Would you want to go to the bistro?”

“No, why don’t we pick somewhere more convenient to you. How about Loqui?” Harry suggested naming one of the restaurants that was in the campus that housed both the Full Stop and The Moment offices.

“Uh, yeah that’s fine. I’ll see you then. Have a good weekend, H.”

“You too, Tom.”

Harry hung up the phone and tried to figure out how he’d distract himself until Monday.

***

As Penny sat in her editor’s office Monday morning, she was trying to calculate when her next dental appointment was scheduled for and whether or not she’d be able to add on some x-rays to survey the damage done to her jaw after clenching it as hard as she had that morning.

Darren had finished reviewing her piece over the weekend, and had suggested they review his edits first thing, which wasn't the way she wanted to start the week.

“I think the biggest problem you have here is that this isn’t a story,” he said, scrolling through the copy on his laptop. “You only have one example of this phenomenon if we want to call it that and I honestly don’t think that TikTok is that important to the success of the song. In my professional career, we’ve seen plenty of songs do this. It’s nothing unusual.”

“But you’re missing the point,” Penny said, pushing back. “The whole idea is yes, this hasn’t happened before, but it’s the way forward. This is going to be the new version of Justin Bieber getting discovered on YouTube or Shawn Mendes on Vine.” She could feel herself getting angry and took a breath to calm herself. “You’re always telling us to be ahead of the story and that’s what I’m doing.”

“But this isn’t a story.”

Penny bit the inside of her cheek as she struggled to keep her cool. “OK, then, what do you suggest I do?”

Darren sighed. “Write it up like a regular chart recap and include a couple of lines about how it’s getting close to a record.”

“Because of TikTok?”

“No mention of TikTok. We don’t want to look like we don’t know what we’re talking about.”

“We have a chance to scoop Rolling Stone and Billboard and you’re just ignoring it.”

“Because it’s not a story. End of discussion. I’ve got a meeting to go to.”

Darren stood up and exited the office, leaving Penny stunned and furious. When she’d collected herself, she moved back to her desk in the newsroom. She spun around in her chair, any motivation to work gone.

Editors, specifically Skylar, were constantly telling them to push boundaries and find the stories no one was writing on yet. Unfortunately, they weren’t always on the same page, which led to a great deal of frustration when it came time to file a story. Penny could submit a story thinking it was Pullitzer-worthy, but be left questioning her entire life path after a single round of edits. Almost as if she could sense the tension brewing, Chloe poked her head over top of the divider that separated their desks.

“I think you need coffee. Or a pastry. Or lunch. Basically you just need to not be in this office right now, so we’re going for a walk.”

Penny begrudgingly grabbed her purse and ID and headed towards the exit, close behind Chloe, who was listing off restaurant options.

“Loqui,” Penny eventually said, stopping the list. “I’m in the mood for some spice.”

After walking a few blocks they found themselves at the restaurant, scanning the menu above the cash register. They ordered – a beef plate for Chloe and chicken plate for Penny – and had stood off to the side waiting for their respective numbers to be called, when they were interrupted.

“So we go years without seeing each other and then all of a sudden it’s three times in one week?” Tom called from behind a partition.

“Oh my God,” Penny said, laughing with actual mirth for the first time all day. “What are the odds?”

“Nice to see you again,” Chloe added.

“Are you all dining in?” Tom asked, eyes shifting between the two women.

“Yeah,” Chloe chimed in. “Needed to get out of the office for a little while.”

“I feel that,” Tom replied. “You’re welcome to join us.”

Penny looked at Chloe, who nodded her agreement. Neither woman asked who “us” was.

Their numbers were called and when they’d collected their food they slid into the booth, leaving space around the plate of veggie tacos that had been placed in front of an empty chair.

“How’s your week shaping up?” Chloe asked Tom.

He shrugged. “Mondays are always rough, but it’s all downhill from here.”

“What is management like? Do you have a routine?” Chloe continued. “Like with reporting, there’s a certain cadence with different deadlines and interviews. Is there a similar thing for you all?”

“Sort of. If we’re on tour a lot of people have a routine they like to stick to. When we’re in the office, it’s a little less structured. Depends on what each client is working on.”

Penny kept her eyes on her plate, her thoughts still focused on her earlier conversation with Darren. Eyes on the floor, she saw the white loafers and yellow socks before the face of the man they belonged to.

“You’re out to lunch with Tom?” Penny asked in disbelief when her eyes met Harry’s.

“Yeah. I didn’t think there’d be a problem with that,” he mumbled as he sat in front of the plate.

“I’m Chloe. I don’t think we’ve met,” Chloe interjected helpfully.

“Harry,” Harry returned, extending his hand.

Penny stared daggers at him, but Harry refused to look at her. Penny knew he was observing her though, feeling his eyes burning into her whenever she looked away. Neither of them spoke, leaving Tom and Chloe to fill the silence with banal conversation.

As they chattered on, Penny continued to feel the heat of Harry’s glare on her.

“Can I help you?” she finally snapped.

“What?” he shot back.

“If you have something to say, just fucking say it.”

“I’ve got nothing to say,” he said, spooning some mushrooms and peppers into his mouth.

“Really? Because it looks like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“OK, then,” Harry shot back, putting his spoon down next to his plate. “Why’d you give my album such a shit review?”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I do!”

“That’s a great argument,” Penny said, rolling her eyes.

“Well how about this,” Harry said, turning to face her. “I’m trying to figure out how someone who supposedly loves music and everything it stands for can be such a hater.”

“A hater?” Penny could feel the prickly sensation behind her eyes that meant tears were just moments away. “I’m sorry. The 90s called and they want their slang back.”

“Yeah, all of your reviews are just so…mean. It’s like you forget there’s someone behind that album.”

“Almost like forgetting there’s a person behind the review?”

“Don’t twist my words like that.”

“I’m not. I’m just saying it’s a two way street.”

“All you are is a second-rate journalist who isn’t good enough to work for a legitimate publication, so instead of saying things that actually matter, you just share your shitty takes to try to get Twitter clout.”

Penny could feel her lips tremble, but she was determined to not give Harry the satisfaction of seeing her cry. “You know, it’s generally frowned upon to harass a journalist in a public setting just because you don’t care for what they have to say.” She sniffed and much to her chagrin, she could feel her eyes getting wet. “But now you’ve got me crying in a restaurant so I hope you’re satisfied.” She grabbed her purse, leaving her food nearly untouched on the table. “I’ll see you back at the office, Chloe.”

Chloe and Tom’s eyes followed her as she walked out of the restaurant. Harry kept his eyes locked on his plate.

“I should probably check on her,” Chloe said after a moment.

“That might be for the best,” Tom said. “Let me grab a box. You can take her her food.”

Chloe picked up her own bag and leftovers, balancing them alongside Penny’s. “Wish this could have been longer but…” she trailed off as Tom nodded. She looked at Harry. “I’m not entirely sure what this is about but I’ve never met anyone who loves music more than Penny, so whatever assumptions you have about her, she’s not a ‘hater.’ She’s also not second-rate. She’s fucking brilliant, but maybe you’re just too dumb to see that.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the restaurant.

Harry picked up his spoon and started pushing the remaining vegetables and bits of tortilla around on his plate. The air was heavy with the unspoken questions on Tom’s tongue. “Go ahead and say it,” Harry said after a moment.

“Is there something going on with you?” Tom asked, point blank. “You’ve been kind of moody lately and I’m here if you want to talk.”

Harry looked up at him. “That wasn’t what I was expecting you to say.”

“Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m pissed that you yelled at my friend like that, but whatever issues you all have it’s not my business and I don’t want to get in the middle of it.”

“Sorry,” Harry said, a little more firmly. “I just – I haven’t been feeling great and I’m sure this is just a byproduct of whatever that is.”

“Studio stress?”

“Yeah, that,” Harry said, taking the out he was handed.

“Well, you can always talk to me, man. Just gotta let me know that something’s going on.”

Harry nodded and focused on finishing his lunch.

***

Back in the newsroom, Penny picked at the remnants of her lunch that Chloe had deposited on her desk, refreshing the feeds in her RSS reader while she waited on Darren’s edits. When he Slacked her that he was through, she opened the Google Doc to find that he had completely rewritten it. Ordinarily, she would have fought back, challenging him on everything down to the placement of commas, but she felt too drained after her earlier bout with him and the subsequent battle with Harry.

She signed off on the two rounds of edits as quickly as she could and returned to refreshing her browser.

“Are you ready to talk?” Chloe asked, poking her head over the frosted glass between them.

Penny shrugged. “Not much to discuss. I suck at doing my job. Darren agrees! Harry agrees! So does Walt from who the hell knows! I should just quit while I’m ahead.”

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said. “Who is Walt and how does he factor into this equation?”

“Just some jerk on Twitter who also thinks I can’t write for shit.”

“Fifteen minutes,” Chloe said. “That’s how much time you have left to wallow. After that, you have to get up, look in the mirror, and realize that you are a bad bitch who deserves this job more than anyone.”

“I deserve twenty minutes,” Penny shot back. “But thank you for the words of encouragement. I know I just need to move on, but it’s hard to do that when it feels like this happens every fucking day just because Darren thinks I’m an idiot.”

“I know, Pen, but you just have to hang in there.” Chloe looked around before leaning in closer. “I heard a rumor that Darren’s days are numbered so things may be looking up for you.”

“Seriously?” The long running joke of the newsroom was that Darren had witnessed the CEO of the company hit someone with his car and that’s how he managed to land the job and stay gainfully employed for as long as he had.

“You didn’t hear it from me,” Chloe said, sinking back into her desk chair.

On slow days like this one, Penny typically filled her afternoon with source calls and research for future stories but with her motivation subzero, she made her way to the parking garage at 5pm on the dot, ready for a night of wine, takeout, and Friends reruns.

When she reached her car, she was surprised to find Tom there.

“Hey…” she said slowly.

“Hey, I didn’t want to miss you.”

“Should I be worried?” she asked jokingly. “I run into you after years of silence and a week later you’re waiting for me at my car?”

“I promise I’m not following you,” Tom said with a laugh. “I just had to tell you…I know this means nothing coming from me, but Harry isn’t usually like that.”

Penny sighed. “I don’t care, Tom. It’s been a day and I’d rather just move on to prepare for tomorrow’s battles.”

“I know, but it’s important to me that you know the truth.”

“Trying to make sure I don’t start a nasty rumor about your client?”

“No, just trying to make sure you don’t have the wrong idea about a great guy.”

“Great guy?” Penny’s mouth hung open in disbelief. “Are you trying to set me up with him now? Because I’m not interested.”

“No,” Tom huffed, rolling his eyes. “Although there could be something there…”

“Nope, not happening,” Penny said.

“Seriously,” Tom said, the earnestness returning to his eyes. “Harry’s a good guy and I think under the right circumstances you all would actually get along.”

“Tom, even if we were the last people on Earth tasked with repopulating the planet, I’d rather let the human race go extinct than willingly spend time with Harry Styles.”

“Wow, that’s uh, harsh and vivid,” Tom said, scratching the back of his neck. “You just need to understand that he’s under a lot of pressure with the new album.”

“New album?” That caught Penny’s attention.

“Shit!” Tom exclaimed, realizing the magnitude of what he’d shared. “That’s entirely off the record. I’m serious, Pen!”

“Woodward and Bernstein had Deep Throat telling them government secrets in a garage, and I have Tom Skoglund blabbing album releases next to my decrepit Toyota…does this mean my Pulitzer is on the way.”

“I mean it, Penny. I could get in a lot of trouble.”

“It’s fine, Tom. I’m not going to tell anyone. I’ll see you later.”

Tom nodded and headed back to the Full Stop office as Penny climbed into her car and pulled out of the garage.

Later that night after two glasses of wine and about 10 episodes of Friends, Penny decided to sign into her work email. She told herself that she wouldn’t check work emails off the clock, but she always gave into the temptation. She scrolled past the usual news alerts and reader feedback until one subject line stopped her cold.

“An Apology.”

She opened it before she realized what she was doing.

Hi Penny, the email began

It’s Harry. I’d like to apologize for the way I acted at Tom’s party the other night, as well as what I said in the restaurant earlier today. You’re right – it was entirely inappropriate for me to behave that way, and I’m sincerely sorry for any hurt or hard feelings that may have come about on your end as a result.

I just wanted to get this off my chest and conscience.

Hope your evening is treating you well.

All the best,

Harry

Penny was speechless, staring at her phone as Ross Geller’s cries of “We were on a break!” and the subsequent laugh track echoed in her empty apartment.

Harry had apologized.

When she recovered, her first instinct was to text Tom, attaching a screenshot of the email.

Did you put him up to this? she asked.

No, came Tom’s swift reply. See what I mean though? Not a bad guy.

Penny reread the email once, twice, three times, taking in the way he’d introduced himself, but left off his last name. The way his writing was devoid of exclamation points. The effort finding her address and sending the email entailed.

She doubted he’d got it from Tom, seeing as Tom had no clue about the message, which meant he’d either pulled it from The Moment’s website or her Twitter bio. Either option meant he’d taken the time to look her up, typing her name into the search bar to find her profile. Knowing that Harry had searched for her specifically made her feel some type of way. She wasn’t sure what.

She didn’t like Harry Styles, but maybe he wasn’t as horrible as she thought.

***

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[fighting-naturalist]

Okay now I’m more settled, some highlights in the questions at Michael Shanks’s panel:

The lady who had the brass balls (affectionate) to say in front of a crowd there for MICHAEL SHANKS “okay, so I’ve never seen Stargate, but...”

The very enthusiastic fan who explained a crossover Battlestar Galactica/Stargate theory to Mr. Shanks, who responded with a blank look, a long pause, and an eventual: “....dafuq?” actual quote.

The 17-year-old kid who went up to the mic, chewing gum, didn’t introduce himself, and asked “so you have three kids, right? which one’s your favourite? it’s sam, right?” spoiler alert: that’s sam. and according to him “my sisters suck!” absolute mad lad, we stan sam shanks 10000000/10

Teal’c described as having “a lot of dignity, none of which his actor possesses”  A very affectionate and poignant imitation of the late Don S. Davis 😭 ❤️

Mr. Shanks talking about the propensity of his characters to die and saying of Charlie Harris “when we were trying to figure out how to end the show I was thinking ‘oh please don’t kill him.’ And he fuckin’ dieddddddd” I can’t confirm if that really was his fate as I haven’t seen Saving Hope tho lol

Someone asking which love interest out of his major roles he thought had the best chemistry, for him to pretend to nervously look backstage and say “well, there was this GREAT show called andromeda...” as lexa doig wandered out, casually eating an apple

#i found it interesting the difference between him on stage and in person #in person he was very warm and friendly #on stage he was absolutely a delight but he was also quite sassy which was FUN #michael shanks

[zot3-flopped]

I don't understand why anyone would be shocked about Harry's success post-1D. He was always singled out as the Michael Jackson/Bobby Brown/Robbie Williams/Justin Timberlake from the get-go. It's not always about who has the technically best voice. You have to have the right mix of talent and charisma. Harry is so charismatic and puts effort into the image and presentation of his albums, music videos and live shows. That seems to be a lost art when it comes to make pop stars. Harry has gained many, many fans that were never into One Direction. Look on Facebook and you can see older people really like him and give him his flowers.

As far as the other 1D guys... Zayn got that early start and had a lot of potential to carve a JT/Weeknd type career. But his laziness and poor choices of singles for Icarus Falls (which he was obviously trying to ape Chris Brown by making it twice as long as it needed to be) derailed his momentum. How you fumble an opportunity to work with Timbaland so badly is quite impressive.

Niall actually did well for himself on the first album, and I'm glad he found a sound that works well for him. Idk if you've ever seen his full audition for The X Factor, but he was clearly just imitating Justin Bieber. He does not have a voice for R&B at all. Heartbreak Weather was derailed by COVID, and Niall was acting very passive-aggressively and salty by this. This new record was delayed a bit too long IMO, but it seems to have performed OK. I think Niall will continue to have a solid fanbase, but he'll never approach Harry's highs.

Liam is Mr. Trendhopper. Let's try a bazillion different genres and see what sticks. The end result was an album that had no congruency or artistic vision. Instead, we had an album with a random ass Christmas song, a bunch of random collaborations and a song that fetishes bisexual women (which reminds me of another former boy bander's song: JC Chasez's "Some Girls (Dance With Women). This was at least a bit more excusable since it came out in 2004. Liam really should've known better than putting such an offensive tune on an album in the year of Our Lord 2019. The fact that it got to #111 in the United States really shows how much he screwed the pooch.

Louis frankly has had way more success than he deserves. He can't sing at all, and with the way he's going I'd be shocked if his voice lasts another 5 years. Anyway, his albums are basically Oasis rip-offs drenched in dated imagery of hyper masculinity. Then there are his stage shows, where he puts in less than 0% effort and treats his own fans very poorly.

👏👏👏👏

#louis tomlinson #zayn #liam payne #niall horan #harry styles

[imposterogers]

hello, I don't know how serious you were when you said "someone needs to psychoanalyse Harry Osbourn" but ask and ye shall recieve? I am running on 4h of sleep, and just write my penultimate final so, like, this isn't the most consise or detailed but it does answer every rhetorical(?) question you posed. I'm explaining all the psych stuff assuming you don't have any orientation to the bullshit I'm about to spew, and I'm adding in links wherever explaining this will take too long so.... this is going to be a little pretty long.

Now, ideally psychoanalysis would be done via multiple hour long session (like nearly 20+) where the client just talks about their past memories, childhood, how they feel right now and what they think. Occasionally we throw in a dream or two, to see what their unconscious desires are. Essentially it’s very talk based, and in person is obviously the best. Since Harry is (a) fictional, and (b) not giving me enough screen time in the movie to just use the words he says, I'm not treating Harry like a client. Instead I'm just taking what we know about him and applying psychodynamic theories to him and treat him like a case study.

Now, I'm not actually sure how serious you were about the Psychoanalysing

We’re beginning with two main theories, 1. Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development: where the exploration of sexuality, formation of gender, it’s influences on self and the desires of a person are formed. 2. Erickson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development: which tells us what social needs were met, what weren’t, and how that influences personality/behaviour.

Note: Because it’s Freud and the late 1890s, sex and gender are the same and only the binary exists. Thus, this theory doesn’t look at gender, sexuality and is VERY outdated. These explanations are only used for heteronormativity, and homosexuality is considered a perversion from norm (which I’ll go into)

#1: Infancy to Toddler-hood:

My guess, due to Norman being abusive, cold, distant and uses money/luxury gifts to show his affection (if any), shit hits the fan from Stage 1 of the Psychosocial Stages: Trust vs Mistrust (0-Toddler age). At this stage it’s super important for a child to be around their primary care givers. Not having a primary care giver (parent, grand parent, nanny — someone who’s there with the child forming a deeply intimate bond) leave children with a sense of mistrust in the world. It make’s them prone to insecurity, and give the child unhealthy patterns of attachment, generally making them very “hope-less” (as in they are more likely to feel hopeless, isolated and alone and not just like... pathetic).

Assuming Emily Osborn died like a year after Harry was born, it's been somewhat implied she died due to post-pregnancy complications, Harry didn't have his mom around during the v imp phase. Norman is said to have really loved her and there’s a chance that after her death, Norman blamed Harry and treated him terribly. Either way, this means Harry grew up without the necessary bond post age 1, which has fundamentally fucked him and his perception of the world. Pair with this the entitelement that comes with wealth, and it's just truly too much.

#2: Toddler-hood to Childhood:

Now I’m going to the phallic stage (ages 3-5, toddler to child). This is from the psychosexual development, Freud’s theory. (Note: not the same theory as mentioned in the previous point). The middle stages in both theories are somewhat irrelevant to explain why Harry’s so.. that, but I can elaborate if you need it??

During the phallic stage, the idea is that the (cis)male child struggles with the Oedipus complex. He develops an attraction for the parent of the opposite sex, but is threatened by the parent of the same sex and thus begins to imitate the same sex parent to win the opposite sex parents affection.

So the son is attracted to the mother, but is threatened by the father (this specific fear in men is called castration anxiety for boys). Thus they imitate their father and his behaviour, hoping to receive affection from women who are like his mom. This obviously can influence the way he treats women.

Freud says neither heterosexuality nor homosexuality are innate, they are instead how we resolve our phallic stage — heterosexual is normal way to resolve it, and homosexual is to deviate from the norm. Now homosexuality could be a fixation of this stage — not resolving the conflict with his father and being heterosexual, will make him gay.

But I think he’s bi, so Harry associates with his father the way Freud expects children to, thus making him attracted to women as per normal (and also, this is why he identitfes as male, and doesn't have gender confusion). But he has unresolved his issues with Norman and wants his fathers affection and love. Both his parents are equally unattainable to him, one is dead the other is distant. Thus, Harry has to deviate from the norm on an unconscious level, and wants his fathers approval which he will get via the same resolution. This just means he loves and seeks approval from both men and women, which just like... makes him bi???? (keep in mind, sexuality and gender spectrum is the biggest limitation to Freud's theory

#3: Childhood

I’m skipping to the inferiority vs industry stage (ages 6-11) in the psychosocial stages where the child learns to either be industrious — confident, social, ambitious; or feels inferior.

I think Harry became industrious, he was taught to be strong and be the ruthlessly aggressive bully, and was also doing that because it was what got him his dad’s approval. He unlearns it, but it is also his nature, in a more innate way.

This stage in the psychosocial theory, starts right where the phallic stage in psychosexual ends. So, I’m guessing that Harry resolves his sexuality crisis via Freud, but his social needs of love, belonging and care are still up in the air, which he resolves via Erickson’s. This appeases his base consciousness, he has two problems, they are solved. It doesn’t matter if it’s healthy or not, he is literally 10. He does what worked for him, and associates with his fathers way again making him the confident bully that we see him as.

So now we come to Peter... what’s up with that?

Peter is smart like his father. His need for his fathers love is thus projected here. There’s a sort of transference, his need for approval from dad is not only found in Peter, but like Peter actually genuinely loves him too. Emily, his mother, no idea what she’s like but let’s she loved him unconditionally, and he probably felt safe around her — Peter evokes those same feelings in Harry. Thus, his means of resolving his gender and sexuality crisis during the phallic stage is coming back to bite him in the ass, via Peter. He’s like the mix between what he needed socially, love and acceptance; with what he desires, approval from his father who is a smart man

Why does he treat MJ like that? Because that’s how Norman shows love and affection to a person. Norman just spoilt this boy with his riches, and didn’t show an ounce of love or affection, and thus Harry assumes spoiling MJ is how he can show that he loves her.

Why is he dating MJ, the girl his best friend loves. Remember that bit about attraction to the opposite sex parent, so you associating with the same sex to win affection? Well. He’s doing that… but wrong. He is associate himself with what the object of his affection (Peter) is attracted to (MJ), in hopes that he will become like said object of attraction (like MJ), thus winning over (because Peter will now want him). I am not claiming that Harry is normal, or ok. I’m just saying, this is how you can explain it.

Why take Peter out on these not-dates? Same logic as point 2, it’s how he shows affection.

Why does Harry ask Peter to go hit on MJ? Denial. The defence mechanism of denial specifically

I can go on, but I will stop. PS. Also, you’re right. Not only is Harry in love, he subconsciously desires Peter? Like on a carnal level.

harry osborn has been psychoanalyzed

#ok go off?????? this is so interesting #long post #harry osborn #raimiverse #spiderman

[lol-jackles]

Have you seen the first episodes of the final season of "The Crown"? What do you think about it? How realistic do you think this is? There are many similarities of the events that happened after the death of Diana between the show and the movie "The Queen". Had you watched it?

Yes, as far as I could recall in 1997, the events portrayed are mostly accurate. I even remember Charles hosting Camilla's 50th birthday party as a way to non-stealthily slide her into Diana's previous place. Meanwhile Diana was showing off her fabulous self to the press in St. Tropez so that her son William can have a peaceful vacation. While The Crown shows the important role of media every season, by its final season it drives home the point that the media isn’t just reporting on events, it’s an active participant in the lives of these people and institutions. Later, William and Harry helped their father feed the media so they can enjoy their holiday in Scotland. Sad to think present day real William using these skills to alienate his own brother and sister-in-law ...... so anyways...

The Crown set up parallelism between Charles and Dodi as two men born to incredible privilege and wealth, both were instructed by their parents to get with Diana while they were already seeing someone else. Charles' courtship of Diana was handled with a lot more care in season 4 compared to the hasty and half-baked one in season 6 even though Dodi's feelings for her are more genuine than Charles.

Elizabeth Debecki really grew into her role as Diana. In the previous season she seemed to be imitating Diana, but this season she embodied the character and commanded every scene with a force of nature that the script clearly couldn't conjure on their own anymore. Debecki makes Diana very likeable yet with just the right amount of selfishness and immaturity. She is compelling, charming, beautiful, fun, and sweet, but also can be calculating.  She was also incredibly shy and would tilt her head down, so as not to be inconspicuous due to her height.  Debicki's Diana really feels like a child trapped in an adult's body, thrown into adult situations.

Then the 3rd episode. I was surprised how tense I was getting and then realized it was filmed and directed to give the audience a sliver of the anxiety Diana felt on a regular basis. When Diana and Dodi were hiding in a jewelry store and then had to run out back because fans where banging on the front window, it looked like a zombie apocalypse scene.

Diana was basically a hostage of the al Fayeds.  She’s trapped with Dodi who desperately wants something from her, who is being hounded by his father, Mohammed, who desperately wants something from her. I don't think The Crown showed that Mohammed wouldn't send backup after he told her to leave her security in England, which is why security around Diana was ridiculously small. The French authorities didn't know Diana was coming to their city so weren't prepared.

Diana and Dodi's last private conversation in the Ritz hotel was obviously a wish fulfillment, nonetheless the actors did a great job and makes you really feel for them, especially Dodi who until now was unsympathetic due to being so weak willed with his father. Diana's interaction with Dodi explains why he, like many others, was attracted to Diana. With her encouragement, Dodi took the first symbolic step standing up to Mohammed. Like I said, wish fulfillment for the audience.

After their tragic death, the "ghosts" of Diana and Dodi visit their respective families. I understand that the ghosts were not representing Diana and Dodi but the yearning of the living for the last goodbye and make sense when a loved one is lost so prematurely. And also how the memory of Princess Diana looms very large in the minds of people for decades, even to future generation born after her death.

Overall the 4 episodes were well done. My main criticism is they should have shown unprecedented mass public grief over her death as a kind of bookend to the unprecedented mass public adoration from season 4. I believed had she lived, Diana would have moved to the United States and possibly settle down in California like what her son, Harry, did. Rest in Peace, Princess Diana

#the Crown

[stylesnews]

I’m gonna read this out. Are you sure? Can I read this— What’s your name? ‘Yes!’ [imitates fan’s excitement] Connie. Make some noise for Connie everybody. Who are you with tonight Connie? ‘STEVEN!’ Who’s Steven? ‘My boyfriend!’ How are you Steven? ‘I’m well, thank you.’ Steven seems like the nicest lad in the world. I don’t know him! I know nothing about him! He could be awful. But he SEEMS — You’re nice, aren’t you? Is he nice, Connie? Yeah? Okay. This sign says 'Make'... First of all, make? [continues reading] 'My boy-f propose!' Should we ask Steven how he feels about this? Do you want to into the mic? It’s risky, if I lean over do you promise not to steal it? Promise? I will be third wheeling this proposal

Harry a fan propose in Melbourne, night II 

#harry styles #feb23 #lot23 #melbourne223